This might be a little too much for Minato fans... but then again, this is BLOOD FUCKING LUST!

Aigis carefully rested Minato on his bed and Yukari placed the back of her hand against his cheek. "He's getting colder…" she muttered. "Colder than a corpse…"

Mitsuru checked his temperature and hissed. He was ice-cold just like Yukari said. "Not good, he's sinking into despair again and that only empowers Makoto…"

"Minato, open your eyes!" Yukari begged, shaking his shoulders but like always, Minato was unresponsive and didn't respond to her calls. "Stop doing this to yourself!"

Mitsuru immediately caught Minato and pinned his hand against the mattress when she saw him mumble something. "Tch, Akihiko, give him another tranquilizer!"

"…"

Minato started moving and Mitsuru cursed, pressing him down and looking back with a glare. "Akihiko, did you listen-"she stopped midway during her scolding. "Akihiko?"

"Dammit," Akihiko looked downright miserable, almost on the verge of crying. "This is too much…" he walked closer, shaking slightly and hesitating to stab the needle into Minato's mangled body.

The silver haired teen finally injected the tranquilizer into Minato's bloodstream and cursed.

"I'll gladly get dowsed by alcohol again," Junpei bit his lip. "Minato, please, wake up…"

"Are you listening?" Mitsuru said, leaning down and whispering into his ear. "We're here for you, we forgive you…." nothing happened except for Minato falling to the effects of the drug and slipping into slumber again.

Aigis threw the blanket over him and sighed. She had managed to wobble Makoto briefly but was all she could manage. Her punches and bullets earlier didn't manage to hurt him. In the lobby, her goal was to throw into the access point and shatter him….. In the dorm, she had no idea on how to stop him.

Mitsuru doubled checked the window, shut off the lights to his room and closed the door with another tired sigh. Mitsuru and the result settled down in the lounge of the 2nd floor, exhausted and worried like usual. There was a little glimmer of hope when Aigis rocked Makoto but everything went downhill after the damn thing summoned a new persona.

"So, that bastard is Minato's desire?" Ken asked. "How can that be possible?"

Mitsuru pinched the bridge of her nose. "Remember, Minato broke down when he was still INSIDE the tower, if I recall, he was one step behind the gate…."

"That's true," Akihiko recalled and confirmed. "That tower is nothing but a pain in the ass, like always..."

"But how is that possible?" Yukari questioned. "Does Tartarus really work like that? Tapping into the negative feelings and creating monsters like that?"

"No," Mitsuru chuckled bitterly but she held in the tears. The death of her father was still fresh on her mind and it was eating her up from the inside still. "If that was a case…. I would have summoned a million shadows by now because you know I absolutely despise the place…"

"Then?" Fuuka asked.

"The fear and despair inside Minato-san is not normal," Aigis said. "I have never felt such a strong emotion from a human before…. Whenever I get too close to him, I feel it too…. Like it's a virus…"

"She's most likely right," Mitsuru said. "You remember how Minato collapsed that night, that breakdown was not normal, that grief was not normal."

"You can say that again…" Junpei cringed upon remembering the tragedy. "So, what does it tell us?"

"The emotion, the desire and the wish must be extraordinarily powerful to summon a manifestation," Mitsuru bit her lip. "Minato was always so strong and hard-headed…. That grief was strong enough to break down someone who could summon multiple personae."

"Are you really sure about this?" Akihiko said.

"Yes, I had my suspicions about this and what happened tonight confirmed it," Mitsuru replied. "Tartarus is something outside of this world; the rules governing that accursed tower are beyond us. Makoto was summoned that night when Minato was still in Tartarus and all of you saw tonight, Makoto only came out in Tartarus. Safe to say, that tower is responsible because he couldn't call him in the dorm."

"That is so crazy," Junpei muttered. "So… Did someone kill him?

"I do not know," Mitsuru said. "Maybe his time was up because I do not see anyone beating him one on one."

"That gives me an idea!" Junpei stood up. "We just keep Minato safe till he disappears again and this time, we do not let Minato head to Tartarus, how about that!?"

"No," Akihiko shook his head. "Minato can't survive like this. He has to let go and forgive himself or else he'll die…. One way or the other, either he kills himself getting to Tartarus or dies from the grief…"

"Akihiko is right," Mitsuru agreed. "He has to forgive himself…. Because I have forgiven him for what he did, long ago."

"Me too," Yukari added. "I still think Minato was possessed by some kind of demon. His voice change, strength and brutality were not normal… but despite that, in the last few days, he finally became one of us…"

"If only he listens to us," Fuuka whimpered.

"I do think he is listening to us," Aigis said. "However, his heart is not…"

"Hamuko reached out to him," Junpei recalled. "He calmed down for a few seconds… Maybe she can do it again?"

"Where is she and what on earth happened to her in the tower?" Akihiko asked.

"That was very similar to Minato's laugh and smile," Mitsuru said, thinking back to the old Minato who used to laugh and smile in glee whenever he was under pressure and pain.

"Should I search for her?" Fuuka asked.

"No, she needs the time alone-" Mitsuru was cut off by Aigis who looked pissed for some reason.

"No!" Aigis frowned. "Has she not told you what Makoto did to her?"

Mitsuru frowned back at her. "No. What?"

"Makoto tried to rape her the last time you left her alone,"

Mitsuru widened her eyes and stood up before bowing her head low. "I-I see…" she looked back at Fuuka. "Search for her right now….. And I will go alone…"

Fuuka smiled slightly and immediately summoned Juno. "Yes, senpai…"

…

Hamuko struggled with the building insanity inside of her. "Shit…" she cursed, curling into the ball on the cold ground of the park. It was winter already and Hamuko was cursing herself wearing only a skirt. After the beating she took back in the tower, Hamuko desperately wanted to rest on her bed, with her blanket but after what happened back there, she couldn't go back to the dorm.

Even now, she couldn't control the bloodlust. A numbers of voices were blaring inside of her mind and all of them were telling her to kill, murder, destroy and ravage everything around her.

"Ugh," she couldn't go back and risk doing something to her friends or God forbid, doing something to Minato who was defenseless and frail as glass. Hamuko rubbed her hands together and sighed. Everything was crumbling around her, she was really wishing for a decent living after Minato came back from the dead but nope, the fates didn't like her or him happy for long. No happiness or peace for her apparently.

Hamuko whimpered at the increase in the volume and bit on her arm to stop herself from lashing out. She had control it, had to control the urges. Hamuko sunk further into the ground and started panting in an effort to battle back the pain and cold.

"Hamuko?"

"Oh no…" Hamuko looked at the figure from the corner of her eye and winced. It was Mitsuru who was slowly making her way towards her. Another flare of bloodlust made Hamuko lower her head. "G-Go away..."

Mitsuru gulped. She could feel the evil energy swirling around Hamuko and she immediately linked it to the aura of Minato. "No…" despite the concern and fear, the heiress walked over to Hamuko and crouched down. "Hamuko?"

Hamuko gave her a piercing glare from the corner of her eye, clearly telling her to go away but Mitsuru refused to look away. Instead, she removed her own jacket and pulled it on Hamuko who relaxed a little upon the warmth. She looked up at the older redhead again who smiled at her.

"We haven't been on the best terms in the past few weeks," Mitsuru sat down next to her. "I-I hope you can understand where I was coming from…."

Hamuko remained quiet.

"I apologize for lashing out at you," Mitsuru gave a tired sigh. "The Kirijo group is in turmoil and of course, Arisato crying out in pain has done a number on me, like everyone else."

Hamuko finally sat up and clenched her jaw to control herself from tackling Mitsuru to the ground. What the fuck was going on with her!?

"I was a little hard on you because I knew you were the only one to reach him and you did," Mitsuru said. "I want Minato to get better so that is why I pushed you more… That is why I got angry at you."

"Grr," Hamuko growled lowly, remembering the slaps. "You little bitch…."

Mitsuru didn't hear the insult and continued. "It was stupid of me because us fighting like that only pains Minato further that is why…." the heiress took a deep breath. "I apologize because that is better for Minato…"

Hamuko finally calmed down and smiled a little upon hearing her words. "I-I appreciate that…"

"He needs you, I cannot say that enough," Mitsuru said. "Come back to the dorm, we all need you…"

"Senpai…" Hamuko said slowly. "I'll lose control…"

"I don't know what got into me," Hamuko admitted. "I lost my senses and only woke up after you Grrr-slapped…" she hissed through gritted teeth. "Me off Yukari…"

Mitsuru swallowed the lump in her throat and stood up. "You'll be fine, you need some rest…" she made Hamuko stand up and led her towards the limo. "

During the ride back to the dorm, Mitsuru kept glancing at Hamuko every so often. "What is going on with her?" she wondered. Hamuko was clearly not stable. She would smile, scowl and hiss randomly, hell, Mitsuru caught Hamuko staring at her a number of times but thankfully nothing happened during the ride and the two safely got back to the dorm.

Mitsuru led Hamuko towards her room and quietly closed the door. "…" she heard Hamuko laughing with her back at the door and shook her head. Maybe this was a bad idea…. But she had to better the rocky terms between them.

…

Hamuko couldn't sleep worth a shit despite being in her comfy bed. She kept twisting and turning on her bed as the demons ate her up from the inside. "Stop, stop, stop…." the redhead begged and clawed on her bed-sheets. It was 5 fucking AM and she barely slept for a few minutes which was bad since Hamuko knew that Makoto would attack tonight.

Yukari woke up earlier after hearing an infernal laugh from Hamuko's room. She immediately sat up. "Oh my God…" that sounded demonic and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. "H-Hamuko?" she had half a mind to check on her but Mitsuru had sternly told the team to leave Hamuko alone since a little push could set her off.

Akihiko had heard it too. He cursed out and fell back on his bed. "Makoto is coming tonight, got to rest up till then…"

"FUCK!" Junpei's cry came from the room beside him.

…

"Do not bitch out…." the voice blared into Hamuko's mind again. The redhead quickly looked outside the window and then at the mirror. "Geez…." she looked ugly as hell due to the dark circles under her eyes and her fucked up clothes and hairstyle. Dawn was settling on the city and Hamuko had spent the entire day locked up in her room which she had locked from the inside.

Downstairs, Mitsuru told everyone to prepare and keep the battle on the lounge. They weren't going to hurt or beat Makoto because Minato's condition had worsened so the only solution was to outlast him, survive against him till the end of the Dark Hour without casualty.

"Hamuko is still going crazy," Yukari sighed.

Mitsuru heard the laugh and nodded slowly. "She's just like a mirror image of Minato at times…. This is strange because as far as I know, they are not related…"

"I hope not," Junpei whispered. "Imagine if they find out that they actually ARE related."

"…"

"Idiot," Yukari spat.

"Plot-twist!" Junpei cried.

"Shut it!" Yukari scowled but deep down she knew Junpei was just trying to lift the mood and that was appreciated. "The Dark Hour is just around the corner…."

"Remember, we fight here," Mitsuru repeated. "If Minato tries to leave, stop him by force."

Akihiko came down the steps, punching his knuckles together. "I'm ready to get my ass kicked for our leader."

"That's the spirit!" Junpei stood up. "I'm willing to get my ass kicked too, for my buddy."

Aigis followed Akihiko and stepped into the lounge. Exhaustion was clear on her face but that didn't matter, she had to protect Minato and the only way to do that was to use her superior strength and keep the shadow away from his room. "Everyone, Hamuko-san is not alright…."

"We know," Yukari sighed. "I really want to check up on her but…."

"No," Mitsuru shook her head. "There is no telling what she'll to you…"

"There is something evil inside Hamuko-san," Aigis said slowly. "I have felt that before…. From Minato-san…"

"I thought so," Mitsuru clicked her tongue. "No wonder she's acting like him."

"…. Is she turning into what Minato was?" Akihiko said quietly. "Fuck no; I can't handle another friend going through what Minato has gone through…"

"I have no idea, Akihiko," Mitsuru grimaced. "If we go by the theory that Minato was always possessed then…. Whatever possessed him is now trying to get a hold of Hamuko."

"But, she's far more unstable than him," Mitsuru said. "Her symptoms are that of a bipolar patient…"

Ken opened his mouth to speak. "We need to check on her…." he stood up and headed for the steps. "Who knows what she is doing to herself-"

CRASH!

"Holy fuck!" Junpei shouted. That sounded like the window. "He's right!"

Mitsuru cursed herself for being so foolish again. "Hurry!"

…

Mitsuru didn't wait for Akihiko and blasted the door open by a strong kick. She stepped inside and swore under her breath. Hamuko clearly had a meltdown in the room since everything was destroyed.

"We should have seen this coming," Yukari hung her head.

"Hey!" Mitsuru ran over to the window that was shattered to bits. She looked out of the dorm and barely caught the retreating figure of Hamuko running away from the dorm. "Hamuko!" she shouted at the top of her lungs but it was futile, Hamuko never stopped running and eventually she disappeared into the night.

"She's running away again…." the redhead lamented. Just like before.

Mitsuru pulled back and cringed at the amount of blood on the glass. Most likely Hamuko ran through the glass and ended up falling on her head. "Tch!" she was never this stupid, what on earth was happening to her?

"I'm going after her!" Mitsuru told everyone and grabbed a hold of Hamuko's evoker but before she could dash out, Fuuka spoke up.

"Senpai, the Dark Hour is almost here," the teal haired girl said weakly.

Mitsuru ended up kicking the already damaged desk and collapsed down with another tired sigh.

"Mitsuru…" Akihiko whispered. He had never seen her so out of it; this wasn't the cold and calm Mitsuru he knew and he knew why….

Mitsuru stood up and dusted her pants. "Very well, prepare yourself for battle…" the fatigue was catching up to her but then again, everyone was feeling the mental and physical effects on the war against Makoto that had lasted over a week.

Soon enough, the Dark Hour struck the world and Makoto emerged from the depths of the tower, this time he was not going to fail. He was going to kill every one of those sinners and if that wasn't possible, he was going to finish Minato and be done with his objective.

Hamuko stopped running and screamed out towards the skies. Everything was at the apex now. She was seconds away from losing control in the dorm so she had to run away, or else, everyone would have suffered which would have worsened Minato's condition. "D-Dammit…" she cursed and fell down.

"Damn it all…." she passed out against a large rock.

"Hmmm…" Ryoji stepped out from the shadows and looked around the area. Hamuko was down and out and while this was the perfect time to do something nasty, he shrugged and crouched down to grab a hold of Hamuko. His mere touch caused was enough to trigger another flare of deathly energy which made Hamuko tense up in her sleep. "Just a little more…." he leaned down and whispered into her ear.

"When the time comes…. Pull. The. Fucking. Trigger!"

…

"He's coming…" Fuuka said shakily as the evil energy rapidly approached the dorm. Makoto was far more powerful than before and she doubted Aigis would be able to hurt him. Hamuko was still outside the dorm which meant the team was in a beating.

"Just one more hour," Mitsuru said. "One more time, this is all we can do for him."

"You got it," Junpei prepared himself for another thrashing. "I can take it for him…"

Makoto kicked the door open which made the piece of wood soar towards the end of the lounge. The shadow stepped inside the building. His look was more crazed than usual and he clearly had the intention to kill them all.

"Makoto…" Mitsuru hissed through gritted teeth.

The shadow wasted no time and evoked a very familiar persona from within. A darkened serpent rose up behind him and Mitsuru widened his eyes. This looked so familiar….

Samael immediately discharged a wave of purple energy that crashed into the teenagers, drawing out screams of pain that easily reached the sleeping blunet upstairs.

Akihiko and Junpei quickly stood up but Makoto was already one step ahead. He held out his hand and called forth another persona from his soul. "Thanatos!"

"Everybody summon!" Mitsuru ordered, quickly unloading a bullet into her temple. The rest followed her and summoned their persona, just in the nick of time to block the forward rush of the Death God who roared upon colliding with the six personae of the teenagers.

"Grrr," Mitsuru endured the resulting earthquake and shielded her face away from the small specks of the elemental spells emerging from the clash.

"Hahahahah!" Makoto laughed out to the skies. "5 on 1 and you guys are still worthless!"

Akihiko, Junpei, Yukari, Mitsuru and Ken struggled under the pressure. One by one, their personae kept breaking away under the power of Makoto's persona. The darkened male laughed for a few more seconds but abruptly stopped. "Wait…" the robo-bitch wasn't there!

Aigis came up beside and shot him on the head with a cannon-ball at point blank. Makoto reeled back from the blow and the Death God came rushing back into his psyche. The android wasted no time and drilled dozens of bullet into his body with her other hand.

Makoto fought back and grabbed a hold of her face.

"Guh," Aigis quickly activated Orgia Mode and launched the shadow towards the ceiling which came crashing down as Makoto tore through the materials of the roof and still kept going upwards.

"Palladion!" Aigis summoned her persona and sent the being through the hole on the roof. Palladion missed the charge by mere inches as Makoto was able to dodge in mid-air. Aigis fired another round of cannon-balls and bullet, causing a full-scale bombardment that pushed the shadow out of the dorm.

Makoto was struggling to come down as Aigis kept firing bullet after bullet, cannon after cannon, keeping him in the air and away from the dorm.

Akihiko and Junpei quickly followed Aigis and started spamming thunder and fire through the hole on the roof. The explosions weren't hurting him much but the force was strong enough to keep Makoto on the defensive in mid-air. The shadow screeched and howled, cursing the teenagers but he couldn't find a way to overpower the assault and the constants pressure was getting in his way of summoning a persona.

"Minato!" Makoto howled out to the skies.

Aigis lost focus and stopped firing upon hearing the painful of scream coming from the second floor.

"What the?" Akihiko and Junpei stopped spamming the elements for the same reason and it gave Makoto just enough time to plummet downwards with the black mist swirling around him.

"THOR!"

The three couldn't react in time and the shockwave that exploded from Thor's hammer sent the three soaring through the air until they crashed into the walls of the dorm. "Ugh…" Aigis deactivated Orgia Mode to cool herself down; the endless barrage of firearm took a lot out of her system.

Mitsuru looked at Yukari who nodded.

"Yes," Ken held the evoker to his temple and joined the two females.

Makoto was forced backwards by a collective blast of ice, wind and thunder. He growled at the three brats but kept moving forward slowly and slowly, reaching out to grab a hold of them.

Yukari heard Minato screaming at the top of his lungs and bit back on the tears. God knows what he was doing to himself but they couldn't take their eyes off Makoto for even a second. He was done toying around with them and one mistake could cost them a lot.

"Come forth!" Makoto shouted, summoning the personification of Death again.

Thanatos cleaved the incoming wave of attacks and released a wave of purple energy from his maw.

Mitsuru was fast enough to dodge the surge of energy but the others took the attack head-on. "Tch…" the heiress looked back at the shadow that was slowly walking towards her. "Come on, get up…." she couldn't do this alone.

Makoto stopped moving and smirked at the stairs. Mitsuru widened her eyes and shook her head. "No…" she shakily turned around to see Minato staring down at the carnage like a dead man. His wrists were cut open and a number of his teeth were damaged. "No…." she repeated, looking at the remaining chains on his wrist. Did he really chew on them to release himself?

Mitsuru had her back turned and Makoto took advantage by cutting open her back and then putting her face-first again the ground. "Smart as always, huh?" he leaned down and started pulling on her jacket, making Mitsuru pale a ghostly white. Was he trying to rape her too?

"Come on," Makoto tore away her sleeve and gave a lusty grin. "You were always hot enough to fuck-" a rushing punch from the side sent the shadow crashing into the opposite wall. He looked up and hissed at the android.

"Minato!" Yukari yelled at the dazed blunet who was staring lifelessly at his creation, almost begging him to finish his work. "Go back, dammit!"

Minato didn't listen and fell down the steps, landing painfully on his face.

"Shit!" Junpei cursed. He ran over to pick him up, hell, everyone stopped fighting and checked on Minato, fearing the worst and that gave Makoto enough time. The shadow grinned sickly and summoned the darkened version of Helel for another almighty attack.

Mitsuru hugged Minato close to herself upon catching up and ordered the others to form a circle around him as the heat started building up in the dorm. "Minato, wake up!" she whispered and ended up screaming seconds later as the light overtook their visions and blinded them.

Fuuka felt the heat too and she cried out in pain.

"Hamuko!"

…

"Ugh," Hamuko was rudely awakened by a shout into her brain. She sat up and held a hand to her head. "So dizzy…" she mumbled. The headache was painful and she was seeing double due to the pressure on her skull.

"Where am I?" she looked down to see some blood on her thumb. Fresh blood which confused her. "What the heck happened?"

"Hamuko!" Fuuka's voice blared into her mind, dropping the redhead to a knee.

"Minato!" Fuuka struggled to speak and the link disconnected momentarily but the support persona user came back moments later, begging Hamuko to come back. "We need you!"

"Tch," Hamuko glanced at her fist. She was still shaking at the thought of Makoto but…

"He's going to die!" Fuuka blared again. "Come back! COME BACK!"

"Do not bitch out…." a familiar voice spoke in the back of her head. It sounded a little like Ryoji which surprised Hamuko. Where the heck did he come from?

"Please, I beg of you! Minato is going to die!" she didn't sound too concerned for herself but she was sobbing over Minato's name.

Hamuko listened to Fuuka's begging for a few more seconds and scowled. She kicked the nearby rock and stormed off. "Fuck this!"

…

Aigis was sent to the ground by another punch that shattered her headphones. She quickly got on her knees to block the incoming punch by locking onto his wrists.

Junpei came rushing forward and stabbed his sword into Makoto's forehead, giving Aigis enough time to activate Orgia Mode once again. She quickly overpowered Makoto to the ground and smashed him deeper into the ground, cracking the floor and surface beneath.

Aigis quickly picked the shadow up and smashed him back into the ground as hard as she could. The ground eventually cracked open as Aigis rammed him down for the third time, sending Makoto into the hole on the ground that ran down deep into the underground.

Panting, Aigis started firing the remaining gunpowder into the hole without stopping. "H-How much time has passed?" she asked and cringed. The bullets were keeping Makoto down but like always, they weren't hurting him much. In fact, Aigis was the one feeling the pain due to the heat on her system.

"10 minutes…" Mitsuru announced with gritted teeth. "Just 10 minutes have passed…"

Aigis flinched but kept her attention on the cavity on the ground. Cannons and bullets rained down on Makoto who was slowly but surely coming to the surface. "Hamuko-san…"

"Minato's slipping," Yukari cried, rubbing his hands to provide some warmth. "Minato, please!" his temperature was getting dangerously low which would surely result in his death. Every time Makoto gained the upper-hand, Minato's condition worsened for some reason. He was afraid of the pain but still wanted to be punished. "Dammit…" Yukari sobbed over his broke frame. "I beg of you, wake up!"

Mitsuru and the others quickly joined Aigis into keeping Makoto at bay as Yukari attended to Minato. Mitsuru looked at Akihiko and despite being utterly exhausted, the boxer gave a smirk. A smirk he always gave when the odds were stacked against him.

"For Minato!" Junpei shouted.

"For senpai!" Ken followed. The four quickly summoned their personae and kept firing the spells into the hole on the ground, detonating a number of massive explosions that caused the cracks to spread across the ground.

Makoto laughed at their attempts. "I'm coming!" he shouted. "Keep trying, you know this is inevitable!"

The teenagers didn't pay attention to Makoto and nor to the fatigue building up in their souls. They just kept working and working, hoping for a miracle.

"Minato wants him," Makoto kept talking. "That son of a bitch deserves this! Stop getting in my way!" eventually, to everyone's horror, the darkened version of Minato rose up from the ground and summoned Helel again.

"This is the end…" Mitsuru bit her lip. She glanced one last time at Minato. "I'm sorry Minato…" she failed to protect a junior, failed to repay him for killing Takaya, failed to atone for her sins against him. "Forgive me….."

"Minato!" the rest shouted in unison, breaking and sobbing because they knew their leader was done for.

…

….

…

Makoto looked around the lounge and smirked. Everyone was down, some of them were still conscious but they were done for sure. He looked ahead to see Yukari hovering over Minato. To his annoyance, she had taken the attack for Minato.

"Ugh," Yukari collapsed on top of Minato and paled, barely able to feel his heart-beat. His death was close. "I-I'm sorry Minato…" she sobbed. "We couldn't save you…"

Makoto strolled over to Yukari and kicked her off of Minato. "Well, time to face reality, Minato Arisato…" he said, looking into his vacant eye. Minato's mouth was opened in a muffled scream and his face was still looking up at the ceiling, like he was completely frozen. It was a real pitiful sight for someone who was so fearless before but now, all of that was gone. Minato was nothing more than a corpse, just barely breathing. "If this was anyone else I would have felt pity but not for you…" he stomped on the open wound on Minato's chest and channeled some almighty energy into his fist, ready to end his life.

"Minato!" Junpei sobbed, trying to crawl his way towards Minato but his body refused to listen. "SHIT! Get up!" he begged but Minato was still motionless against the ground, rapidly turning getting pale due to the loss of blood and heat.

Mitsuru looked at his frail form and broke down after so many days of holding it in. She was strong and had seen a lot of stuff for 18 year old girl but this was too much for her. This was the apex of cruelty, especially for someone like Minato finally started to enjoy life after his battle against Theo. Makoto had reduced him to a broken mass of bones at this point, shattered him mentally and physically. His mind was most likely shattered already; all that remained was his body in the puddle of his own blood.

"Hahahaha!" Makoto laughed over Minato's broken body. The blunet was still staring up like he was dead, there was just one beat to take care of….

"Goodbye you piece of shit…."

"You deserve this…."

"You'll suffer in hell with your blasted parents…"

Minato began to leak out the last tears left in his body but still, he didn't move.

"This is for everyone you have wronged,"

"Judgment Day has come…"

"Eternity awaits…"

…

….

Makoto brought his fist down to end his life but a shot to the back of his head made him lose focus, forcing the energy around his fist to dissipate. "Ugh!"

"Get off him!" Hamuko grabbed a hold of his neck and sent the shadow head-first into the television. Makoto crashed into the glass screen and growled at the pain, the shot to the back of his head hurt him far more than before.

Hamuko leaned down towards Minato and bit her lip, trying hard not to cry at the sight. "Minato…" she kissed his forehead and hugged him close, finally giving him sort of warmth. His heart started beating against her slowly and Hamuko looked him in the eye determinedly.

"Your demons are mine," she said softly, repeating the exact same words Minato told her before his battle against Theodore.

"D-Demons…" Minato finally managed to mutter something.

"Give me your demons, I'll handle them. I promise…." Hamuko swore.

"…"

'Give me everything…."

Minato finally twitched and squeezed her hand back, regaining a little bit of warmth from her words and embrace.

"So you came back, huh?" Makoto was already up, laughing at the pitiful reunion of the two.

Hamuko kissed Minato on the head again and stood up, not shying away from Makoto. She stood in front of Minato and held out her arms, determined to protect him with her life.

"There is nobody left to hide behind," the shadow mocked but to his surprise, Hamuko scowled and cursed at him.

"Shut the fuck up!" Hamuko spat back venomously, widening the eyes of Makoto. How did she suddenly become so fearless?

"You are going to die…" Makoto said, holding out his fist.

Hamuko glanced down to see Yukari's evoker next to her feet. She had used it countless times before but this time, Hamuko ended up staring at a device like she had never seen it before. As if entranced by the silver gun, she picked it up and cradled it in her hands. She closed her eyes and pressed the barrel into her temple.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Hamuko yelled out loud, defiant and fearless for once. Her hand was still clutching the silver gun, the cold metal pressed onto his temple. "Do you hear me!?"

Makoto roared out in hate, getting pissed off by her newly found courage.

"I'm done running from you!" Hamuko shouted back even louder than his roar.

"Go on…" Hamuko opened her eyes and to her surprise, she saw Ryoji of all people standing in a never-ending land of light. The black haired teenager rose his head up and smirked. "Pull the trigger…"

Hamuko calmed down and her finger twitched against the trigger.

"Per…."

"So…."

"NA!"

A painful gunshot rang out in the air of the lounge and the ever familiar glass-shards and blue mist exploded from the other side of Hamuko psyche who was grinning wildly, eyes blazing with fury and vengeance. "Get ready to fucking die!" she yelled out in glee, forcing Makoto to take a step back as the glass shards swirled around her frame and collected behind her back.

"That power…." Fuuka whispered. So full of death, so full of power….

"That persona…." Mitsuru sat up against the wall, eyeing the junior who was still grinning manically at the shadow with her right eye glowing a demonic shade of red. "That's just like Minato…"

"Thou art I…." the voice of the coffin clad entity was demonic yet serene. Hamuko stuck her tongue out. "And I am thou…"

"From the sea of thy soul I cometh…" The familiar persona spoke behind her, finally making Makoto flinch under the hollow stare, "I am Thanatos, I was born of thee and I shall walk by thy side."

Hamuko screamed in unison with her persona, rattling the darkened teenager who took several step backwards. "H-How!?" he shivered. How was Hamuko able to inherit his power!? She had awakened to the wild card but how!? It was impossible!

Hamuko looked at Mitsuru from the corner of her eyes and smiled softly, letting the senior knew that she was in control. Mitsuru chuckled and fell back against the wall. "Make him proud, Hamuko…."

Hamuko stared back at Makoto who quickly summoned his own version of Thanatos. "Unexpected…" he muttered. "But not good enough…."

"I'm going to get you for every single wound you inflicted on Minato's body," Hamuko swore. "I'll pay it back a thousand fold. I'm going to cripple you, you stupid son of a bitch. I'll make you suffer; I'll make you grovel at Minato's feet for what you did!"

Makoto could feel the increase in her power and it was mind-boggling. "Tch…" regardless, he charged forward and his persona shot ahead for a skirmish.

"You dare do that to Minato?" Hamuko spat as her new persona shot forward. "Take all your fancy speeches and stick them up your ass, you worthless piece of shit."

The two similar personae crashed together, detonating another shockwave that caused the dorm to rumble. Hamuko gritted her teeth and yelled at the top of her lungs at the shadow, telling him to eat shit and die.

"I'm going to fucking mutilate your filthy corpse!" Hamuko gave another psycho-smirk, licking the blood off her lips. "Rip out every bit of your disgusting intestines!" she shouted, akin to Minato in his battle against Theodore.

Makoto finally lost his concentration and Hamuko's persona tore into his, shredding the darkened version to tiny bits that rapidly dissipated to mist. Hamuko called off her persona and taunted him, yelled at him, cursed him, finally releasing the pent up hatred she had for Makoto.

"You pissed off the wrong bitch!" Hamuko widened her eyes further. "I'm gonna cripple your ass! I'll fucking reduce to ashes, you filthy piece of shit!"

Makoto ignored the pain and shot ahead for Hamuko who quickly circled around him to dodge a punch. "Just like he told me…" she endured the next strike to her face and fired off a quick side-kick into Makoto's mid-section which sent the shadow flying towards the doorway.

"Ugh," Makoto got up. His power was wavering slowly but surely…. Which meant Minato was….

"You deserve to suffer!" he shouted at Minato.

"No Minato, you don't," Hamuko screamed back.

"I hate you!" Makoto scowled at the redhead.

Hamuko gave another blood-thirsty smirk. ""Nobody is getting in my and Minato's way," Hamuko looked back towards the blunet."Nobody…"

Makoto thought for a few seconds and eventually, he pulled back with gritted teeth. "I'm going to get you…"

"I'm going to kill you," Hamuko swore. "Like I said, every single wound on his body, I'm going to repay it a thousand fold, burn that into your head!"

Makoto roared and ran off just for the time being. The Dark Hour was almost over and he had failed again. "Fuck this!"

Hamuko watched his retreating figure disappear. She turned back towards Minato and crouched down, carefully pulling him into another hug and for some reason; he was a lot warmer than he was in weeks which brought a smile to her face. "I love you so much…"

Yukari stood up and smiled through teary eyes. "She saved him…"

"Hehehe," Junpei wiped his eyes. He had seen the entire scene play out and it warmed his heart. "I totally ship them for the rest of my life…"

"I'm nothing without you, you built me Minato," Hamuko whispered. "Whatever comes next, I have your back. I will not leave you again and I won't be left behind again…."

Aigis could feel something behind her eyes. "Hamuko-san…"

"That's Minato's girl," Akihiko smirked.

"I'm proud of you," Mitsuru said as she crouched down and squeezed Hamuko's hand with a genuine smile. She looked down to see Minato who, for the first time in weeks regained a little of fire inside his eye. He was moving about in her embrace. "Minato is proud of you too…"

Minato came to after so many weeks and saw Hamuko hovering above him with a smile. "Welcome back Minato, you sure slept for a while…"

Minato was still shivering and there was still a dull ache on his heart but he had finally some control of himself. "H-Hamuko…"

"I'll take care of your demons this time; I promise…" she chuckled. "After all, we are the one and the same…"

"We'll share the pain and happiness together, like we always did…."

Everyone came around the two and Minato looked around the smiling faces of his friends as they hugged him together just as the Dark Hour ended.

I'd ramble because there is a lot to be said but nah, I love you guys and you don't deserve rambling. I do think this is one of the better chapters. Thanks a ton to Steven Cold for the help. Also, please review? Because I kinda, maybe, possibly think this chapter deserves more than few of them?

Anyway, see you later, in another chapter. This fic will go over 100 chapters and I'll die happy if this breaks 1000 reviews too. Cheers my friends and good day/night. o/