"Ok that's enough for today! We'll meet up again next week, same time. Remember, keep on practicing your catches and make sure to practice your bat swings. Oh, Ichi! Practice tossing balls too! You are the pitcher after all, and I'd like to see you practice that fastball technique I showed you. Bye!" Junpei called out to all the kids he coached as he packed his equipment back up.

The kids waved to him with grins on their faces and wearing dirty pants and shoes. Junpei waved and smiled back, following them into the parking lot to make sure they were all picked up by their parents. Some of the kids ran back to him to give him a high-five or thank him. He was a great coach after all. Everything was normal except for one thing. One person, more like it. The guy was tall and he stood off in the shadows, staring at them all. Needless to say it made Junpei feel extremely uncomfortable. He decided to stay a bit longer to wait for the last kids' parents to come and pick them up. The guy just stayed still and kept staring.

Should I go confront him? This guy definitely isn't normal.

The last parents came, the last goodbyes were said and the guy still stood in the same place. Unmoving. Never blinking.

Alright, that's it.

But before Junpei could even take a step towards him, the man started walking in his direction. Junpei panicked. Did he want to talk to me? What the heck is wrong with this guy? Am I just tired? Maybe he's normal and I'm just over reacting. I've never seen him before. Is he-

"Hey, are you Junpei?" he asked.

Junpei nodded."Yeah that's me. Something I can help you with?"

"Junpei as in, the Persona-user?" He asked.

"Yep, that's-"

Wait.

"How the hell do you-" Junpei started to yell, eyes widening.

The man quickly pulled out something from his coat. Junpei stumbled away from him and tried to get a look at the object. It was a gun.

Wait, no. Not just a normal gun. That's-

The guy had an evoker with him. He raised it to his head and clicked the trigger. In a flash of blue light, a persona appeared in view. It was tall and lanky, hunched over so its back arched up. It wore a grey mask that looked like a phantom of the opera mask, covering half of its face. It had armor that covered its chest and legs that looked like they were made entirely of metal. It pulled out a long sword from its back and pointed it at Junpei.

"How…where…it's not even the dark hour how did you…" Junpei sputtered.

"Listen son, I just have some questions for you. You can come quietly, or I'll use force. Simple right?" The man looked at him with a bored face, which made things even creepier for Junpei. The fact that the guy could keep such an indifferent face in such a situation astounded Junpei.

His bag. Maybe he could pull out a bat and get a good hit in for a head start. The bag wasn't fully zipped and Junpei could see the handle of his metal bat inside. He glanced at the guy and put his hands up.

"Alright dude, chill. I'll come along. Just calm down. I don't want any trouble," Junpei risked another glance at his bag and his bat inside. He'd have to be really quick to pull this off.

"Good, I thought I'd have to knock you out. Believe me, I didn't want to drag you off. This was easier than expected," the man chuckled. "I knew you were a weak-Ooof!" The man grunted, getting a hard bat slammed into his stomach. He hadn't been paying enough attention, and with lightning speed, Junpei grabbed the bat and swung as hard as he could into the guy's torso.

The man recoiled in pain, holding his stomach and groaning. Junpei turned around and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He had left his bag, but that wasn't really as important as his life. He could hear the guy shouting curses behind him and heard pounding footsteps start after him.

Where can I go to? I can't just run into a store and expect him to not follow me in. Junpei thought, looking around him in a vain attempt to see someone he knew, or anyone at all who could help him.

The guy was catching up, the pounding of his footsteps becoming louder. Junpei made a sharp turn to the right. He heard a loud crack behind him and immediately looked back to see the persona's long blade stuck in the ground.

"Woah!" Junpei had to yell. Thank god he had made that turn. He kept running down the sidewalk, becoming aware of a pressure he felt in his pocket. His cellphone!

He pulled it out and flipped it open. It still had a good charge. Who was he going to call? Yukari was too far away and she probably wouldn't even pick up. Mitsuru would be too busy to pick up too. Junpei had no idea where Fuuka was at the moment. Maybe Akihiko? He was nearby and with enough luck, he might pick up. Junpei went to his contacts and pressed on Aki's name.

Ring

The footsteps were still getting louder and Junpei prayed that the persona wouldn't attack again.

Ring

Come on! Please!

Ring

…

Beep

"Hello?"

"Aki! You gotta help me!" Junpei screeched into the phone, reaching another street corner and turning left this time to cross the street.

"What do you need. And I swear if it's something stupid I'll-"

"There's a guy chasing after me! He's got an evoker and a persona! I don't know who he is but he is really angry! And I kinda swung a bat into his stomach so if you could hurry-"

"Wait, he has a what?" This time Akihiko interrupted. "That's impossible, it's not even the Dark Hour! Is this a prank?"

"I'm not joking, please! AHHHH!" Junpei yelled, dodging another swing from the large blade. The crack in the cement was much larger than the last one. Akihiko must have heard the sound, because he sounded much more concerned when he spoke again.

"Where are you right now? What's the guy look like?"

"He's-" But Junpei didn't get to finish, due to a large force knocking him to the ground. His phone skidded a few feet away from him and a hand grabbed Junpei's head and slammed it to the cement.

It hurt like hell and Junpei tried to get the guy off of him, but he was too strong. The guy picked him up by the neck and rammed Junpei's head against the building next to them. His vision blurred at first and then things started to go dark. He could only hear his own grunts of pain and the faint sound of Akihiko's voice still trying to reach him on the phone before he blacked out.

"Hey Junpei! You still there? Pick up! Answer me, dammit!"

The man looked to the phone, contemplating whether to answer him or crush it. He decided the more interesting thing to do would be to answer.

"Sorry, Junpei's not available right now. He's bleeding on the sidewalk. Don't worry, I'll take him with me," the man spoke into the phone with a sadistic tone in his voice.

"Who the hell are you? How do you have an evoker? What are you going to do with-" Akihiko was cut off again, by the phone being thrown against the road and shattering on impact.

The man picked up Junpei and put him over his shoulder.

"Nice job," the man praised his persona before recalling it. It disappeared in another flash of light and the tall man walked off into the night.