I stared out at the abyss.

"I'll ask again: Which one of you thought that was funny?"

A few amused chuckles were the more polite reactions. Cries of "Fuck you" and incoherent roars were more common.

I focused on one of the louder protestors, recognizing it as the form of Loki, and focused. "It appears that you ingrates don't understand." Chains ripped out of the ground, wrapping themselves around the Trickster and binding him in place. "You are not gods. Every one of you are a mere echo, a pale imitation, a familiar form that whatever passes for my subconscious decided to shape you in. Despite all appearances, I am the closest thing to a God here, and you will comply with my will. This entire world you reside in is mine. You either willingly obey me, or I force you all to stay in line."

The assembled Personae dispersed, fading into nothing.

Behind me, I heard a slow, mocking applause. Against my own better judgment, I turned. "Huh." I was expecting to see Fucking Bastard Who Needs to Burn in a Thousand Hells for All Eternity the Younger. Instead, I get a guy in what is appeared to be the best fitting suit I've ever seen. Oh yeah, and he just had a foggy black sphere instead of a real head.

"Very impressive. Whipping them all into line like that. It's a rare man that can make so many different minds act in unison. But tell me, why so many? What is it in this world that you fear so badly as to make hundreds of thousands of disguises for yourself? Why would you possibly need so many masks?" Even though I couldn't see a face anywhere on it, I was sure it was smiling. "Which mask do you wear to look yourself in the mirror?"

It stopped being amusing and became an annoyance with that. If it didn't know, it wasn't me. And if it wasn't me, it sure as hell didn't belong here.

"Fuck off."

It just laughed as it faded away. Damnit. I don't like things that try to use me as a door.

Don't look at me like that. My brain is a freaking hole into another freaking dimension full of things that would reduce some to gibbering wrecks. Well, one that's like that all the time and anyone experiences if they go over, not like ours where it's maybe a dozen people for an hour a day. Anyway, most of the shit doesn't even get far enough for me to notice. The occasional threat or look into the mind it would need to pass through is enough to dissuade anything else.

Anyway, it's getting late, and they'll stay in fucking line for a while. Should get back to the dorm.

Well, I told myself that, but I just happened to notice this tiny little bookstore by the place with the duck. Got a book on anatomy used and damn cheap, could be useful someday. And that guy has a huge shadow in gestation. It hasn't reached a state where it'll manifest yet, but they really need someone to set their heads straight.

And they said something about a tree…

Later, other things to deal with now.

Like the big box full of things I'm carrying up to the dorm.

"Iori, Inoue, basement. Yukari, get your evoker and meet us there."

I looked over at Junpei. "This doesn't sound good."

"You are not learning your lessons properly," Minato said as we entered the basement. "Obviously, you need a better motivator. From this point on, if you by some miracle manage to strike me, you will get the satisfaction of making me bleed. When you fail, you will bleed. And since I doubt you have the ridiculous pain tolerance I've developed, it should serve as an effective motivator. Now get a weapon out of the box and get ready."

"Why do you have these? And how?"

"I met a blacksmith a few months ago."

This is gonna suck…

Junpei charged forward, Minato easily blocking and stepping out of the way of every swing. How the hell can he move around that easily? The guy was a freaking wreck a couple of days ago, there's no way he can be fully healed already.

The fight, if it could actually be called that, went on like that for about a minute before Minato spoke up. "What the hell do you think you're doing Inoue?"

"Junpei's already-"

"Not good enough!" he snapped. "There are fights for pride and fights for survival. Anything involving Shadows is a fight for survival. If someone is able to get pissed off about you getting involved in their fight, or stealing their kill, it means they're still alive to have that disagreement. Now, do you value Iori's pride enough to let him run off alone and get himself killed?"

I looked down at Inoue, gasping and moaning in pain as she pressed her hand to her side. Junpei, being an idiot, decided that they should each take one side and ending up cutting her.

I slapped him upside the head while he tried to apologize. "Stop spoiling her. If she can't handle a little scratch like that, she's got no business fighting Shadows. I get that injury two or three times a month." Well, that's something of an exaggeration. The first month that I actually sought out and fought Shadows, I was injured in such a manner two or three times. Then I stopped summoning a Persona with a sword to attack something that was between me and where the Persona manifested.

"She's gonna be fine though, right?"

"Are you an idiot?" I hissed under my breath. "Look at the blood. It's not enough to kill her outright, but it's damn sure enough to keep someone with enough sense to stay down incapacitated." I switched from worried face with Junpei to blank face as Yukari came down. "Ah, good, you're here. Heal Inoue would you?"

"What?" She gasped as she saw the blood. "We've gotta get her to a hospital!"

"And tell them what? That while we were practicing with lethal weapons that we shouldn't have in the first place, one of us was severely injured? We don't need to bother with a hospital. All she needs," I pointed to the notagun in a holster on her leg, "is someone to heal her."

"But, the Dark Hour isn't for hours!" she protested in near perfect sync with Iori's "Bullshit!"

I turned to the capped moron. "You go on and on about how much better than us you are at anything, why the hell don't you heal her!"

"Because I learned to use healing skills on myself, over the course of seven years, on a body that I could afford to just flood power into and trust my instinct. I could mend a single vein, fix a bruise, fuse a bone, or regenerate muscle tissue. I could not fix anything that would require me to do two at once on anyone but myself, or there is a damn fine possibility that I would turn the injured area into a copy of the corresponding portion of my own body, which just might end up killing her by throwing out a vital organ or disconnecting her cardiovascular system. Yukari on the other hand has a natural disposition towards healing." I turned back to the young woman in question. "Now summon Io."

She hesitated before nervously pulling out her Evoker. "But the Dark Hour-"

"I first summoned my Persona at eight years old at ten thirty-two pm under no supernatural circumstances." I grabbed her wrist and positioned the barrel of the gun between her eyes. "The Dark Hour is not inherently tied in to the power of Persona, you will summon yours, and you will take it as a fucking Courtesy that you are allowed to use your Evoker as a crutch!"

The bang of a gunshot preceded a burst of wind that threw me across the room.

"Again!" I shouted as I hit the wall. I bounced off it again. "Her, not me!"

Inoue's groaning stopped a couple of seconds after the third gunshot.

I sat up, surprised I wasn't hissing in pain as I did so.

Right by the stairs, Yukari was shaking, her Evoker clattering to the floor. Near my feet, Junpei sighed in… Relief? Wait a sec, he stabbed me!

I just think I have to say this now. There is no justice inherent in a form of punishment that could remove the ability of a man to reproduce, even if it means removing Junpei from the gene pool. However, certain injustices require drastic measures.

As he collapsed, I saw Bastard sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

I pushed myself up and-whoa, dizzy. Bloodloss?

"Why?" Junpei groaned.

"Call it even."

Okay, Junpei's on the floor holding his junk, Yukari seems scared as hell, and Minato looks like he's fucking smiling. Or at least trying. His lips are kind of stretched out- it's fucking weird.

I stumbled over and 'helped' him up. "What the hell did you do?" I hissed.

"Well I certainly didn't engineer a situation in which one of you would suffer a severe but non-life threatening injury in order to force Yukari to fully summon her Persona in a harder environment to do so than the Dark Hour, instead of the barely present entity barely able to heal a minor wound, thus ensuring that she would have no such difficulties later on."

You what! "Who the hell gave you the right to do that?"

"I did. Because I can keep myself from caring about your opinions of me. Because I can be whatever I have to to keep you from killing yourselves from your own idiocy. I can give myself that right for the same reasons you can give it to yourself."

Because I am a God walking amongst mere mortals, with the power to twist their hearts and minds to match my every whim and make them abandon their dreams for my personal goals. Because I can be anyone I have to be.

"Get Yukari to bed, she'll need the rest. I'm heading out for a bit."

I may have said 'a bit', but what I meant was until dawn the next day, upon which I returned briefly with giant box of food for first giant breakfast and a shower, then another giant breakfast at the place with the duck.

Unfortunately, I ended up with wasted time for showing up early.

I could pretend to sleep, but-

"Arisato, principal wants to see you. You know what it's about."

I do?

Jumping off a roof and not showing up for school the next day?

Oh, that.

I sighed as I rose. Damnit, just because I don't actually sleep doesn't mean I don't want to be physically dead to the world.

Toriumi showed up just before the bell, looking flushed. Must have been running late.

I really do want to think that, because I also saw a bit of moving blue hair behind her when she came in. Freaking man-whore…

No! Don't think about that! Think about the fact that Tomachika has to bake her a cake tonight! The bastard is not. Nailing. My homeroom teacher.

Track team. I'll be damned.

Apparently, it's impressive for normal people to hit the ground running after a four story drop. I could have sworn we as a species were more durable than that…

Anyway, might as well show up since I'm on the team anyway.

"This is Minato Arisato, he'll be joining the team." I did a small bow, equal parts humility and arrogance. The coach pointed out the only girl present. Huh, I think I recognize her. "This is our manager, Yuko Nishiwaki."

"Hey, nice to meet you." She squinted. "Wait, do I know you from somewhere?"

Hm, definitely athletic, hints of a nice body beneath the baggy track suit. I think I'd remember- Oh, yeah! "Junior, class 2-E, right?"

"I knew I'd seen you before! Well, since we're in the same class, you can just call me Yuko."

I flashed that amazing smile. "Alright then, Yuko. Nice to meet you." Still no real point to bothering with the niceties, unfortunately. Even if she is hot, I'd be breaking the Platinum Rule.

"Kazushi!"

"Yessir!" Black hair, a few centimeters taller than me. Not quite as thin as I'd expect a runner to be, muscle mass in upper body indicative of regular strenuous use of arms. Weightlifting? Kendo, maybe?

"This here is the future captain of the team. Great athlete, good scores in competitions. Keep an eye on the new guy, alright?"

"You got it." He turned to me. "I'm Kazushi Miyamoto. You've seen me around, right?"

When would I have-First day, he was the guy in the tracksuit a girl, Nishiwaki, was yelling at.

"Yeah."

He smiled, obviously glad to have some minor indication of a strong reputation, even if that indication was something I probably would have said for appearances sake alone. "Well then, long story short: You're mine after school." That sounded kinda gay. Do you think that sounded kinda gay? "And don't think I'll cut you any slack just because you joined mid-season."

"Wait, you slack off when the season ends? Wimp."

"W-wimp?" he asked, obviously taken aback. "Come on guys, let's break the new guy in!" Yuko whispered something into his ear. "I don't care if it's his first day! Get this guy a pair of shorts!" Well that didn't sound gay at all.

I scraped my knee a little bit as I dropped down on it. His breath certainly more labored than mine, I could hear Miyamoto collapse just behind me. "Giving up… already?"

"Not… a chance. I could… do this… all… day."

A couple of minutes passed just like that. "I… take it… back."

"Huh?" By now, he'd worked his way up to sitting on his ass in the dirt instead of lying face down. I stood up. "Not a wimp." I offered him a hand up.

He took it, pulling himself up. "You're alright man."

Thou art I

And I am Thou

Thou Shalt Have Mine Blessings When Thou Choosest to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana

Huh, so that's what she was talking about.

But actually, thinking about it, Ares feels more… natural. It's hard to describe.

"Hit the showers, man. You reek."

"You're no rose yourself!"

"Hah! I smell like a man. You just smell."

"Screw you. I'll get you next time." It was slight, but he favored one side slightly on the way to the locker room.

"Double-Barreled Justice?"

"Yeah! I've been waiting for this to come out!" I swear to God, his eyes are damn near glowing.

"What kind of movie is this, anyway?"

"In a nutshell…" He paused to gather his thoughts. Or make them. "It's about fighting for what's right in a world gone mad."

"Sounds interesting."

"If I'm gonna spend my cash to see a movie, I want it to kick major ass."

Okay, long story short, a lot of things blew up. That was good. I had to spend a lot of money on snacks. That sucked. The plot was complicated, and didn't make me hate the villain properly. I'm honestly not even sure if the hero was the main character.

"Hrm…" Seems like Junpei's taking the same issue with it I am. "It was… not what I was expecting." He scratched the back of his neck. "The villain wasn't all that evil."

"Tell me about it. I don't want to know about the villain's tragic past! I want to see a guy I hate get his ass kicked!"

"Yeah, it really killed it for me when you found out about the dead girlfriend. It's not cool if you have to beat somebody who didn't want to be a bad guy."

"Yeah, the villain has to be evil to the core. It just isn't satisfying otherwise."

"What're ya gonna do?" Junpei shrugged. "C'mon, let's go grab something to eat before we head back."

I sat down with my giant burger.

"Oh crap…" I heard Junpei mutter. I know, right? There's like six… seven patties in this thing. "The guys at school might say some stuff if they see us together." If it means random students don't think I'm a lesbian, probably worth it. "There's a lot of guys interested in you." Well, yeah. I have boobs and half of them think I've been with another girl. "Plus, Yuka-tan and Mitsuru-senpai live in the same dorm, too." He sighed. "There's a lot of dudes who envy me because of that."

"Let'em be jealous."

He laughed. "Yeah. It's not like I did anything wrong."

We ate in silence for a few minutes. Is this supposed to be crunchy?

"…Actually, you don't seem all that interested in guys."

"What. Do. You. Mean?"

I'm pretty sure if he wasn't sitting in a booth, he'd have fallen back in his chair. "I mean, you're not all excited and asking me who's saying all this stuff." One raised eyebrow and… "… I mean, of course you aren't! No girl would be that desperate." He nodded in triumph, absolutely sure he'd found the solution to save his genitals. Barely. "Also, I know you've probably got your hands full with your own stuff now." Okay, even that sounded dirty to me. I need to find a guy that isn't a pedophile and doesn't go to our school. Sleeping with either of the above would be considered absolute evidence for at least half the rumors.

Damnit, think of other things! Other things!

Junpei looked serious. "I guess that goes for me, too…" Okay, it's fixed.

Thou art I…

And I am Thou…

Thou hast Established a New Bond…

Thou shalt Have our Blessings when Thou Choosest to Create a Persona of the Magician Arcana…

Some people might consider this almost acceptable. Hell, a few more sessions like this and those two will be damn near halfway competent.

"Good. If you could do this faster and reliably, I might let you actually come to Tartarus. Get some rest. You'll be working with your Personae tomorrow."

Okay, this should have been up a lot sooner, but I got… distracted. After being given a ticket for my 'reckless driving' (being the only one of five people going the right way on a one way street that had arrows every twenty fucking feet to remind you which way you're supposed to go) I have come to the conclusion that the common sense of the 'good' people of Florida at some point entered into a suicide pact with my favorite tooth, which will have to be torn out and replaced as soon as the infection is cleared up. Fun week ahead.

And Marina will have a very stupid… for lack of a better term, let's call it an idea next chapter. After Minato tricks her into starting the Hierophant Social Link.