Minato sat on the couch watching his phone, waiting for Tanaka to call back. Akihiko and Junpei, however, paced around the room. Tanaka was a powerful man, but could he even do what Minato had asked of him?

That's when Akihiko's phone rang. It was Mitsuru. "Hey, what's up?" He sounded nervous. If Minato's plan didn't work, then they would have to fess up and suffer for it. Silence floated through the air as Mitsuru talked on the other end. Finally, Akihiko smiled a small smile. "Oh, really? How bad is the traffic? That bad, huh? Yeah, famous people really are jerks like that."

That's when Minato received a text from Tanaka. 'It's done.'

The plan worked perfectly. Tanaka was able to stall traffic and, as long as he's able to keep it busy until after Midnight, they'd be able to find Shinji and bring him back before the girls returned. How did Tanaka stall? Who really knows. All the guys know about it is that the airport was completely crowded for two hours and that was before the girl's plane landed.

Akihiko then hung up his phone. "I don't know how you did that, but that's amazing."

Minato just shrugged. "You just got to meet the right people is all."

Junpei then came from downstairs, hauling his massive sword behind him. "Alright, let's go whoop some ass!"

Akihiko nodded, putting on a pair of leather gloves from his pocket. "The girls won't be here until around 2 AM, so we have plenty of time."

Minato began heading upstairs, sighing a small and relieved sigh. Things were finally looking up for them. All they had to do was head into Tartarus and find Shinji. Normally they'd worry if someone was stuck in there alone, but it is Shinji. Things should be fine.

That's when Midnight came around. All three of the guys stood before the gates of the massive labyrinth, weapons at the ready.

"This is going to be easy." Junpei looked over at the others. "Right?"

Akihiko nodded. "Knowing Shinji, he would've ended up back at the doors after he sobered up a bit."

Minato then poked Akihiko's shoulder. "Um… Guys-"

"No time to talk, it's show time!" Junpei ran towards the gates, followed by a pumped Akihiko. Minato slowly walked towards the gates, having a feeling he knew what he was about to find.

The three opened the doors, prepared for anything. "Remember, we can't go too far in cause we don't have Fuuka."

"Easy." Junpei was cocky. "We'll be fine. We'll have Shinji even if something goes down."

The first thing they seen was not only a problem but a sign of things to go horribly wrong as well.

At first, the giant swarm of Shadows intimidated the three. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds, just crawling around the main floor. That's when several began flying after being smacked by an object that looked like a speed limit sign.

"Damn Shinji, could've saved some for us!" Akihiko smiled. Knowing he was okay made him feel better about the last few days.

That's when Shinji looked at them, his face flushed and a smile on his face. Not his normally sadistic smile he'd get from stomping a few Shadows, but the smile of a drunk man. In his free hand was one of the rum bottles. "Hey, guys! What took ya sho long!" He swung his sign aimlessly, knocking a few Shadows back.

The three stood back and watched. Only Minato shook his head. "He's only been in here for two hours, technically. He's probably not even done with the bottle."

Akihiko sighed. "Dammit, we'll have to sober him up as soon as we get out of here, won't we?"

Junpei shrugged. "We can just get him to bed and pretend he got sick. Let's not think too much about this and enjoy the show." He smiled and leaned on his sword, watching the drunk Shinji tear through the horde of Shadows without even trying, even taking a few sips of rum in the middle of an attack.

It didn't take long for him to clear the floor. Once it was clear, Shinji slumped up against a wall, chugging the bottle. Akihiko tried taking it away, failing. "C'mon Shinji. We need to get you to bed."

"Aw, Aki, you're such a killjoy!" Shinji smacked him on the back. "Shtay awhile, have a drink with meh!"

"We'll have one with you when we get you home." Akihiko tried helping him up, still failing.

"No way! I shtill havta kick shomemore Shadowy ash!"

"Damn, he really is drunk." Junpei rubbed the back of his neck. "Did we even have enough liquor to do this much damage?"

"I guess so." Akihiko sighed. "I swear we didn't, though."

"Nahhhh, we didn't!" Shinji took another swig. "We hit up my personal stash." He snickered a bit. "I've been hiding that under Mishuru's nose for weeks! She's such a… Such a…" He paused, then slumped over. It appeared he had passed out.

"Finally." Akihiko and Minato finally began lifting him up. "I thought this would be way harder honest-"

"Doofus!" Shinji busted into laughter, shocking Minato and Aki who proceeded to drop him on his ass.

"This is ridiculous!" Akihiko pulled his arm back, readying for a punch. "Sorry Shinji, but this is for your own good bud."

His punch never landed.

As he began to throw it, the sound of chains began to echo through the floor. Everyone except for Shinji froze in place. This sound was all too familiar to the group.

"The Reaper." Minato pulled out his Evoker, preparing for battle. "Get him out of here, I'll hold it off."

"Yeah, get Stupei outta here, Aki!" Minato looked beside him, seeing the drunk Shinji standing ready for battle. Other than his drunk smile and flushed cheeks, you could barely tell he was drunk. "I'll beat the livin' tar outta this giant punk."

"Shinji, you're drunk." Akihiko began trying to reason with him as the sound of chains inched closer, coming from the doors up the stairs. "This is a suicide mission. That's the Reaper we're talking about-"

"Reaper Shmeaper!" Shinji gripped his sign. "I'm not leaving til that shucker's stuck to my boot!" Shinji then proceeded to kick the air, nearly falling over.

It was too late for them to run. The massive Shadow had passed through the doors and began floating towards the group of Persona-users, its pistols aiming right for the drunk.

"Well, guess we have no choice now." All of them except for Shinji pulled out there Evokers.

That's when Shinji smirked, taking one last swig of the rum bottle before throwing it at the Reaper, hitting it right between the eyes. It looked pissed after that. "Alright!" Shinji grabbed his Evoker, pressing it right between his eyes. "Pershona!"