2 hours and 55 minutes.

That's how long Atticus had attempted to get some sleep. Key emphasis on the word 'attempted'.

Atticus craned his head from where he was lying down to glare at his multiple bottles of pills, their side-effect of a wired disposition the most likely reason he was up for so long.

'So much for trying to get an early night's sleep. Thanks a million for this, Lexapro." Atticus thought with disdain.

Atticus turned his head back towards the ceiling and let out a sigh. He supposed he couldn't blame all of his sleeping problems on just his meds. His more-often-than-not negative thought process almost always had something to do with his restlessness. He didn't necessarily like to admit this, but it was true.

Be that as it may, Atticus tried to think of the positive things that had happened to him recently. He was in an interesting location he had never been to, and that location was filled with intriguing people. He especially took a shine to Mitsuru and Akihiko, The former's intelligence making him want to work harder in school (Which, while he may have scored well back home in the fast track program, he had to admit that he was more often than not a consistently lousy student.), and the latter's kindness (as Akihiko had bought him dinner in the form of a beef bowl and had also offered to start a workout regimen with him) made him feel more than welcome to the school/dorm.

Atticus peered at his clock. 11:57, it read.

'I should probably just shut my eyes and wait until the sleep kicks in.' Atticus pondered.

And so, he did just that. Lying on his back and closing his eyes, he hoped and waited for the eventual slumber to finally overtake him…

*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*

Atticus awoke to a loud noise at the door. Apart from that, there seemed to be a commotion from down the hall. Looking around his room, he noticed the same sickly green color from the first night he had arrived. Curious from this, Atticus checked the time. That is, he would, if for some reason his clock was shut down.

'Huh. Strange.'

Suddenly, Yukari's voice rang from outside of the door:

"Wake up!"

Before Atticus had time to respond, Yukari continued on with:

"I'm sorry, I'm coming in!"

Standing up quickly from his bed, Atticus walked over to where Yukari was standing.

"What in the world is going on?" He asked.

"There's no time to explain, just follow me!" Yukari responded.

Atticus was confused, but he figured that asking questions would only lead to more trouble.

"O-okay?" Atticus stuttered out confusedly.

Yukari and Atticus were about to go down the hall, but Yukari stopped the later in his doorway.

"Wait, take this." She said whilst handing Atticus… what appeared to be a short sword of some sort.

"U-um…" Atticus was dumbfounded that Yukari just handed him a weapon. Let alone a weapon such as this.

"Alright, Come on!" Not wanting to waste time, Yukari grabbed hold of Atticus' arm and dragged him down the hall and stairs. Eventually, the two came to what Atticus could only assume was their desired destination: The back door to the lobby.

"Alright, we can escape through here, let's go-"

Yukari stopped short when the building was shaken by a large impact. Both Atticus and Yukari struggled to get their footing back when a beeping noise rang out between them. Yukari picked up what appeared to be a walkie-talkie.

"Takeba, do you read me!?" A voice called out from the device. It sounded like Mitsuru's.

"Y-yes, I hear you!" Yukari answered.

"Be careful, there are more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"

"What!?" Yukari exclaimed, punctuated by several loud and threatening knocks at the door they were standing next to.

Turing to Atticus, panic clearly shown on her face, Yukari said:

"Quick, we need to head further up!"

And head further up they did, all the while feeling more menacing shaking from the ground below. When the two reached the fifth floor, Yukari and Atticus spotted a door.

"Okay, yeah, the roof! We should be safe there!" Yukari said.

The two stepped through the door and out into the coldness of the night. The moon was still shining bright, its putrid green color somehow managing to set the mood of the situation perfectly.

Yukari sighed deeply before saying:

"I think we're okay now."

The night, however, seemed to have more in store for Yukari and Atticus.

The ground once again shook, this time ominously close. And what appeared next… made Atticus double take.

It appeared to be some form of monster with multiple arms, each one black, slimy, and holding a menacing blade. What caught Atticus off guard most was the blue, frowning mask it donned.

Then, suddenly, it pounced. Not before Yukari said:

"Those monsters… we call them Shadows!"

Then, out of nowhere, Yukari suddenly pulled out the gun she had almost used the night Atticus arrived and pointed it… Towards her head.

"Hey, wait!" Atticus called out.

But it was too late. Yukari was about to pull the trigger. Before she could do so, though, the beast who had previously just been stating them down lunged towards Yukari with one of its blades. She didn't appear harmed, thank goodness, but she dropped the gun, it sliding over to Atticus' feet.

Then, the monster was about to Attack again, Yukari screamed, and…

Everything stopped. Literally.

Except for Atticus it seemed. To make sure that he could, he tried moving his arm back and forth. It worked. Looking around him, Atticus could survey that the 'Shadow' was about to strike him.

"Jesus Christ, that was close. What the hell is going on right now?" Atticus, confusion more than apparent in his voice.

Suddenly, Atticus heard a very sinister chuckle, followed by what he presumed to be the same person who laughed saying:

"The turning point in yours and everyone's fate, that's what is happening."

Atticus turned around to where the voice was emanating. He flinched and went back several steps once he reached his destination, seeing a man had taken the spot behind him.

He was a tall man, well over 6 feet, and handsome with slick black hair and a chiseled jaw. He was also wearing a suit with a chain hanging out of one of his coat pockets, which Atticus could only assume was a pocket watch. The most interesting thing about the man, however, was his eyes. Not only did he have a slew of black vein-like lines leading to them, but the eyes themselves were glowing pure red, lacking any form of whites or pupils. Needless to say, He intimidated Atticus.

"W-w-who are you?" Atticus questioned.

The man gave another one of his low chuckles before saying:

"I'll tell you in just a minute. Right now, we have a deal to strike!" The man said with glee.

"A-a deal? What do you mean?"

The man stepped away from Atticus, looking over the scene that had become frozen over before asking:

"Your name is Atticus Slater, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"You, my friend, have quite the year in front of you. I'm here to help you with it."

"… How so?" Asked Atticus, suddenly curious.

The man smiled.

"Before I explain, let me ask you a question: Have you been feeling unfulfilled recently?"

Atticus was taken aback at this question. Not because it didn't apply to him, on the contrary: It applied too well. Atticus looked to the ground before saying:

"More than you know."

"I doubt it." The man began. "For example, I know things have gotten to the point where, well…" The man walked over to the ledge nearest to the 'Shadow' and stood atop it.

"I imagine you fantasize about doing this quite often." He said.

And then he jumped.

"Hey!" Atticus shouted out, running over to the ledge and looking down. He wasn't anywhere to be seen, however.

"What the-"Atticus verbalized before suddenly being interrupted by the man's voice behind him.

"Am I correct, or not?"

Atticus looked behind him and saw the man standing where Atticus was.

"Okay, how in the world did you do that?" Asked Atticus, amazed and slightly terrified.

"Answer my question." The man said bluntly.

Atticus looked to the roof below him, shame filling his being.

"… Yes, what you did is accurate to how I'm feeling." He answered.

"Well, I have some good news for you: From now on it doesn't have to be like that." The man said.

"… What do you mean by that?" Atticus inquired.

"What if I told you that I have a certain set of powers that could make this year of your life the best and most fulfilling time of your life, would you believe me?"

"I…" Atticus was going to say 'no', but then he remembered that monsters called 'Shadows' exist and that the man he was talking to could possibly teleport and survive jumping off of buildings.

"I… guess I would." Atticus admitted.

The man smiled devilishly.

"Good. Then this speeds things along quite nicely. Now, for the main event: What's say you and I make a deal?"

Atticus became more curious then he had the entire night.

"What kind of deal?" He asked.

"I can offer you not only the power to combat these Shadows, which will in turn help that girl over there" The man pointed to Yukari. "As well as her associates, but I can also give you worldly skills and pleasures that are far beyond your imagination."

"Okay… what do I have to give you? And if you say my headphones or my MP3 Player, you can forget this deal!" Atticus added somewhat jokingly.

"On the contrary, I can even make it so they work during this time as a little bonus." The man offered.

"Excuse me?" Atticus looked down to his MP3 Player and saw that it was once again shut down, like the last time he saw the moon like this.

"Oh…" Atticus said.

"As for what you would need to give me in this deal, that would be…" The man stopped ominously before finishing with a shrug:

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Are you serious?"

The man smiled in as friendly of a way as he could manage whilst pointing to the 'Shadow'.

"Remember how I said my power could help you fight these things?"

"Yeah."

"Well, these Shadows are a threat to humanity. And as much of a menace as I am to humanity, I kind of need them in order to keep my livelihood. I figured you could just do most of the dirty work and I'd let you off the hook of my usual price." The man finished with a chuckle.

"I… see." Atticus said.

The mystery man proceeded to lead Atticus back toward he was standing originally and said whilst sticking out his hand:

"So, do we have a deal?"

…

…

…

… Atticus took the man's hand in his.

"We do." He said firmly

The man smiled once again.

"Excellent. Now, this is going to sound nutty, I'm sure of it, but now I need to point that gun to your head" The man pointed at Yukari's gun lying at Atticus' feet. "And pull the trigger."

Atticus was about to protest, but then he remembered Yukari doing the same thing a while ago. Maybe the man wasn't talking nonsense.

"Very well." Atticus said, picking up the gun and pointing it to his head. "Hey, by the way, I never got your name."

"Pull the trigger, and you'll find out." Said the man, dangling the carrot.

Atticus shrugged, pressed his eyes closed, and pulled the trigger.

A deafening boom rang out in the area, over the now somehow screaming Yukari and the groans of the Shadow. Atticus looked up, seeing the faint glimpse of a bright light out of the corner of his eye. What he saw certainly wasn't what he was expecting.

It wore a full body of blue and silver medieval-style armor, the helm opening to reveal the same glowing red eyes the man Atticus was conversing with had. The helm also had two pointed horns bursting through it menacingly. From its back sprouted two demonic bat-like wings, the gaps in-between the bones of the wings rose and fell ghostly faces seemingly screaming in agony. Its feet, where the boots would normally go with its armor, were instead cloven hooves cast in iron. On the chest plate of the armor in silver, surrounded by blue, was the painted skull of a goat. The last thing of note about the being was in its right hand was a large jousting lance with a point jutting out beneath it from two ends, almost as if it was a pitchfork that was trying to be.

Atticus, Yukari, Even the shadow paused to bask in the power of the being above them.

"To answer your question about who I am," Began the being in a voice identical to the man Atticus was conversing with.

"I am Mephistopheles, Lord of the Damned."

Good morrow, People of Fanfiction! Sorry of this at all seemed rushed, I just wanted to get to some of the original stuff I had planned. Also, to any of you wondering why I skipped a couple days in the game: Most of what I had planned for those was just filler, and considering I take it most of you reading this have already played P3, It would most likely be redundant to you all. Anyways, please review to tell me what you think/what I can improve!