Minato stormed out of the SEES dorm, hands shoved into his pockets, his MP3 player blasting into his ears. He'd heard enough from Junpei about how all this shit was his fault. Like he knew about any of the information about the Shadows, Ryoji and Nyx. He kicked a nearby rock as hard as he could.

Who the hell does he think he is? Minato thought about everything that just happened, kicking the same rock even harder, sending it flying. He may as well be comparing me to Ikutski, the bastard!

Minato continued to march down the road, his steps ringing violently through the air. He couldn't hear it, though. His headphones continued ringing into his ear.

Until finally his MP3 player died and a nearby puddle turned to blood. Minato looked down at the puddle. "Shit."

He grabbed for his sword, but it wasn't there. He realized he forgot it when he stormed out. It didn't matter, though. He still had his Evoker on him-

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted from Minato's skull, sending him flying forward and making him see stars. He landed on his side, trying to shake it off. He looked up at his attackers. It was Jin and Takaya, Jin holding his metal briefcase which had a fresh dent in it.

"Hello, boy." Takaya smiled sadistically as he smashed the butt of his pistol into Minato's skull, instantly knocking him out.

Takaya smirked down at the twitching mass that was SEES's leader, Minato Arisato. He and Jin finally had gotten the jump on him after he went out to blow off some steam and had dragged his unconscious body to the top floor of Tartarus, where now he lays.

"You see, Jin? He is no immortal, he is not special." He kicked the blue-haired boy in the ribs, causing him to spit up a bit of blood. "He's just like us!" He then lifted his hand, smirking at the gun-like object in it. "And he's even more normal without this trinket." Jin sat back and watched as Takaya beat Minato, smiling all the while.

"Takaya, I know you're having fun, but…" Jin looked around, a look of unease all over him. "But did we have to do this here?"

Takaya laughed as he kicked Minato in the head. "But of course, dear friend." He looked back at Jin. "You aren't worried about a few Shadows, are you? We can defeat any of them that think to eat us."

"I know, it's just…" He continued to look back towards the entrance of the level. "I can't help but feel like it's not a good idea to be up here too long…"

Takaya ignored his friend and continued making Minato pay for everything that he and his friends had done to Strega, kicking him all over. This was sweeter to him than anything he had ever tasted. This was the purest form of revenge and he loved it.

"Finally…" Takaya then pulled out his pistol, rolling Minato to his back with his foot. "This fool will pay the ultimate price." He stomped down on Minato's ribs, causing him to spit up even more blood.

Just then, Jin looked over near the entrance again, his body shaking with cold chills. "Takaya, hurry up…" He then got up and moved closer towards his comrade, away from the entrance.

"Silence, Jin. You're ruining a precious moment." He continued to smile as he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet flying into Minato's left shoulder, making him scream violently. "How do you feel, huh?" He shot into Minato's right leg, forcing another scream from his mouth. Takaya died of laughter. "Oh, god I feel alive!"

A small breeze shot passed him from the entrance. Takaya took aim at Minato's head, smiling violently and sadistically. Another breeze shot by them, accompanied by the sound of chains. "Uh… Takaya…"

Takaya looked back towards the entrance. "Jin, stop moving around back there. You're starting to freak me out."

"Takaya…" He looked at his friend. Takaya never realized Jin moved beside him.

"What-"

The sound of pistol fire rang through the air again, but this time it wasn't from Takaya. Bullets slammed into Takaya and Jin from behind, piercing Takaya's shoulder and Jin's leg. The two of them looked back, Takaya firing a shot off with his own pistol towards his attacker's direction. Their eyes grew wide as their attacker floated closer, the worst thing that could've came after them: The Reaper.

"Shit…" Jin fumbled for a grenade, but it didn't make much difference. Soon as he pulled it out, a bullet slammed into his hand, a massive chunk missing from it now. Jin screamed, holding his hand.

Takaya fired a few more shots at The Reaper, all in vain. He then began to summon his Persona. He soon found out, though, that it was hard to summon your Persona when you take a bullet to your chest. The shot barely missed his heart, but still caused Takaya to nearly pass out. The pain wouldn't even allow him to scream.

The Reaper hovered closer, aiming at both of the humans. Its face looked as if it was smiling. Takaya looked over at Jin, who was already passed out from the pain of his hand being nearly blown off. He then looked back at The Reaper, lifting his pistol to try to get another shot off. The Reaper made him pay by blasting a massive hole into his wrist.

Takaya cringed, but smirked a sick smirk. "So this is how it ends, huh…" He spat at his attacker, his vision slowly fading away. Before his consciousness completely faded, though, he could see The Reaper look towards the back of the room, firing more shots…

Minato smirked as the corpse of The Reaper evaporated into thin air, only leaving behind the Bloody Button. He picked it up, looking at his trophy with pride. He then looked at his Evoker. Thankfully Takaya dropped it when they were attacked or this wouldn't have gone so smoothly. He then felt his wounds, freshly healed by a Dia spell from his Pixie. Yeah, he was thankful for that, too.

He then picked up Takaya's pistol, which was covered in his blood. He held it tight, seeing that it still had a few more shots left in it. He looked over at the unconscious Takaya, then at Jin. He walked over to Takaya and aimed the gun at his head. "If I do this… It'll make our lives so much easier when Nyx shows up…" He cocked the gun. "But it'll also make me just like you…" He continued talking to himself, contemplating every possible consequence. "Damn…" He kept his aim directed at Takaya's head…

…

…

…

…

Takaya woke up in the hospital, Jin in the next bed still asleep.

"Oh, you're awake." Takaya looked over to see a nurse. "The young man who brought you in last night asked me to give you this."

"Young man…" The nurse nodded as she handed Takaya a small note. Takaya had her open it due to his almost inexistent wrist.

The nurse walked away as Takaya finished opening the note. As he finished, a small button fell into his hand. As he began to read the note, a small smirk on his face. "Well played…"

The paper the note was written on had the Gekkoukan High School water mark in the corner. In dark blue ink, a small message was scrolled across the middle of the paper.

Better luck next time.