I felt an ice-cold bullet fly through my skull, but instead of blood, blue glass and mist flew from the other side.

I didn't know why my right hand was holding the gun into the air, nor why there was a whirlwind of blue glass and light flying around me, or even why I was enjoying this so much, but I grinned as I spoke the most badass words of my entire life, even though I wasn't the only one speaking it.

THOU ART I

AND I AM THOU

FROM THE SEA OF THY SOUL, I COMETH

I AM ORPHEUS, MASTER OF STRINGS

The being behind me screamed, no, Roared in rage as I grinned.

This was the most unreal, badass moment of my life, my crowning moment of awesome, even more awesome that that time I-

"Uwagh..!" I clutched my head and fell to my knees, my skull HURT DAMMIT! Like an axe smashing your skull from the inside! Orpheus screamed in pain, and I twisted around to see him spazzing out as a pair of white arms worked their way out of its mouth.

Suddenly, the arms stretched apart as Orpheus was ripped to pieces from the inside, and I spat blood out of my mouth.

Floating there instead was a larger being, dressed in black with a a helmet like a bleached dinosaur skull, dead-white and savage.

I couldn't see its face, but I could see the chain of coffins floating around its neck.

It roared with rage, hate, and… hunger as it drew a sword and flew into the air, lunging for the Shadow.

I rolled over to see the Shadow get into some screwed-up stance, but this bad boy just came down like a hurricane, slicing the Shadows mask in two.

I got up as Thanatos – don't ask me why I knew its name, but I did- ripped the Sshadow's body limb from limb. I could hear Yukari gasp as a writhing arm landed in front of her, but I paid her no notice, as I stared at Thanatos, transfixed.

I remembered what Igor had said, about honing my power, but I had no idea that-

I stood there, blinking, and I laughed like a maniac as Thanatos roared. Persona. Shadow. Thanatos. Hell, even Igor was a clever pun. As Thanatos turned back into Orpheus, everything began to fall into place, thanks to my basic GCSE Psychology. As Orpheus vanished, I turned to check on Yukari, smiling. Jung would have loved this.

"Are you alright?" I asked her, my heart was still racing. Heck, Yukari san must think I'm a psycho now.

"Yeah, I think so." She replied, still looking worried. "Is it over..?"

As I heard the slithering behind me, I answered "Nope."

Realising I'd already dropped Yukari's Placebo, I switched the gun from my right hand to my left, and put my foot underneath the real blade, kicking it into the air.

Catching the handle, I span round to meet my enemies. They looked like smaller versions of the Shadow I- No, Thanatos just killed. They didn't have weapons, but there were a lot more of them. Charging in, I pieced together what I knew and sliced the first one in the mask.

The sword got stuck half way. Quickly, I kicked it in the face, pushing it down but losing my sword in the process.

I swung around and punched the second Shadow in the face. Grabbing the back of its head, I rammed my knee into its face, cracking the mask. I reversed the guns grip into a tonfa, but a third Shadow jumped me, pushing me against the wall.

"MINATO-KUN!"

I twisted in the Shadow's grip so I could see the mask. Seeing a gorgeous crack right between the eyes, I smashed the gun right into it, grinning as the crack grew. Pulling my Leatherman out of my pocket, I flicked out the knife and rammed it between the cracks, prising it apart.

The mask broke and black blood, no, ichor burst through the crack, drenching me in the stuff as the Shadow melted.

I ran a quick morality test as it vanished into a puddle of goop. Yep, doesn't count.

I put the knife back, blinking the blood out of my eyes as the first two mooks charged. Smiling, I span the gun on my finger, catching it and placing it to my head, bracing myself as I glared at the closest Shadow. "rrrRRARGH!" I cried out, pulling the trigger as Orpheus appeared above me.

I gotta admit, the way it crushed that Shadow with its instrument was pretty damn awesome, but I was already rushing towards the other Shadow, the one with the sword in its face.

Grabbing the sword, delivered a roundhouse with my left leg, sending the Shadows head through my weapon.

I turned around, seeing that all the Shadows were dead and that Orpheus had disappeared. I saw Yukari standing there, staring at me in sheer horror. I smiled at her as the world turned black and face decided to make friends with the ground.

While I was happy that I hadn't fallen on my sword, I'm kinda worried about what state my skull's gonna be in when I wake up…

My eyes opened and I was in a world of blue. I almost panicked, but relaxed when I heard a familiar voice.

"It's so nice to see you again."

I turned to face the sound, and saw Igor sitting there, grinning as usual.

"You became unconscious after awakening to your 'Power'." he explained. "It's nothing to worry about though, so just, relax…"

I shifted into a more comfortable position in my uncomfortable chair as Igor continued. "By the way… I see that it was Orpheus that heeded your calling. That power is called 'Persona'… it is a manifestation of your psyche."

I clutched my head. I said everything fell into place, but it was really a load of guesswork. And considering how sneaky Igor had proved to be, now was the perfect opportunity to milk for some information. "Persona? Psyche?" I asked him, playing the confused child perfectly "I don't understand…"

Igor laughed, "It may take some time to fully comprehend, but there's no need to act for us." I sat stock still as Igor continued. "Unlike the people in the real world, our purpose is to help you." He smiled at rumbling my little game. "A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli. You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships."

"Carl Jung, right?" I asked.

Igor seemed to smile wider, if that was possible. "That is correct. However, that being said, your power is still weak."

"You mean Thanatos isn't my power yet?" I thought so, seeing as I couldn't summon him the second time.

Igor just laughed again. It seemed impossible to surprise him. Then again, if he was the manifestation of my ego…

"I see you already have a goal in mind." Igor commented with amusement. "When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. Perhaps Thanatos came about from act of killing yourself, so to speak." He chuckled.

"Your ability, however, evolves as you as you develop your Social Links-your emotional ties with others." he continued." The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please remember that. Now, then..." Igor paused, smiling. "Time marches on in your world, I really shouldn't keep you here any longer than I already have."

"Wait, there's more I need to ask you!" I didn't care about loosing my cool here, after all the work I did to come back I was not going out that easy without answers.

Igor chuckled again. "The next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord, and will leave through the same." Igor flashed me a smile as the Velvet Room was engulfed in a bright light. "Until then… Farewell…"

I opened my eyes and saw a white ceiling. I then looked left and I got a very nice view.

"Oh, you're awake." Yukari stood up from her seat, which was probably a good thing, since she hadn't noticed me looking up her skirt. "Um… How do you feel?"

As I sat up, realising I was in a hospital, and I honestly felt like I'd been buggered in the ear by a drunken cow, but I decided to use polite language.

"Like shit." I sighed. "What're you doing here?"

Yukari smiled. "Thank goodness you came to… How much sleep do you need?" she shouted, venting her frustations onto me. "You've been out for an entire week! I was so worried about you…"

I kind of gathered that from the fact that you were sitting by my bedside for about a week, but I decided not to say that, since Yukari continued "You saved my life, you know… I just couldn't leave you here."

Yukari then sat down on my bed, looking downwards, "The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you apart from some light wounds. He just said that you were exhausted." She looked up at the ceiling. "You just kept on sleeping, and sleeping, do you have any idea how worried I was?" She turned to me mid sentence, but then looked down again. "Um… I'm sorry I couldn't do anything… Even though I was supposed to be the one protecting you…" Yukari sighed, and looked into my eyes again, "But, your power… It was amazing! A-and the way you fought, you just wouldn't stop until it was over!"

"So, what were those things, Shadows?" I asked her, getting to business.

Yukari nodded. "They're what we're fighting against. And the power you used, we call it-"

"Persona" I interrupted her.

"Oh, Yeah, you said that just before you summoned didn't you?" she asked. "How'd you know that?"

"Honestly? I haven't the foggiest." I shrugged.

Yukari seemed a bit confused, so I guess the phrase didn't translate well into Japanese. She seemed to get the idea though, as she said "Well, We'll all explain it to you later. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I…"

Yukari seemed to be trying to get something off her chest. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorta like you…"

I kinda guessed that she could also summon a Persona, but I didn't think that she was talking about that. "What do you mean?"

Yukari stood up, facing the window. "My dad died in an accident when I was little... And my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms... You're all alone too, right?" Yukari's head fell down, looking guilty. "To be honest, I already know about your past... But, it didn't seem fair, so I wanted you to know about mine..."

She seemed to be bringing up a painful memory, as she turned back towards me, still looking at the floor. "It was back in ninety-nine... There was a big explosion in the area. My dad supposedly died in the blast, but nobody really knows what happened... He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group."

Yukari's head rose slightly as she unloaded herself. "So I'm hoping that if I stick around long enough, I'll find out something. That's why I'm going to Gekkoukan High, and why I was there when this happened to you." Yukari laughed bitterly "...Of course, I panicked and wasn't much help... It was my first time fighting them, too." Yukari really looked dejected, almost to the point of tears. "I'm sorry... You wouldn't have to go through all this if I wasn't such a coward..."

"It's not your fault." I told her. "Hell, I was scared too."

Yukari looked directly at me. "Really? But still…"

I shook my head. "I grew up in England, remember? I was in fights all the time." I thought back to the first time someone pulled a knife on me. "It's not the first time I've fought for my life either. The only real difference was that I wasn't fighting humans. And as for the big one, well, I just pulled the trigger; I wasn't in control of that thing."

Yukari stared for a moment, and laughed. "Hah, and here I am telling you all this the moment you wake up…" She smiled. "You know, while you were sleeping, I was thinking to myself, 'I've been hiding so many things from him, when he wakes up, I'm gonna tell him the truth.' So, thanks for listening." she told me honestly. "I've wanted to share that story with someone for a long time."

"Anytime." I smiled back. I may be able to salvage this. If I do, Junpei lives.

Yukari stepped towards the door. "Alright, I'd better get going. I'll let the others know you woke up. Oh, that reminds me!" She reached down beside my bed. "While you were asleep, we called your Uncle. He said that he'd sent some more of your stuff over, but to get this box over to you quickly." She hefted up a large wooded box, wrapped in plastic, with the labels: 'Fragile', 'Keep Dry' 'Keep Cool', and 'Gibson Les Paul'. "Although, when we told him that you'd been hospitalised, he didn't seem that concerned or surprised..."

"Uncle Amos brought me up." I told her with a grin, taking the box from her and laying it on my lap. "He knows I'm made of tough stuff."

I reached into the pocket of my jacket, which was hung up on a stand by my bed, poked around for my Leatherman.

"Are you looking for this?" Yukari asked, holding out my knife. "I took it out of your pocket so the police didn't confiscate it, because of all the blood..."

"Thanks." I replied, reaching out for the knife. I flicked the blade the blade out and got to work demolishing the packaging.

"Hey, um..." Yukari hesitated, but asked anyway. "Why'd you put the knife away?" she asked. "Fighting bare-handed couldn't have been easier."

I glanced up at Yukari, then got back to work removing the guitar case from the postage packaging.

Well, she was sharing her upsetting past, right? I might as well return the favour.

"Loads of kids carried knives back home." I told her. "One of my best friends was stabbed to death."

I saw Yukari gasp and cover her mouth in shock, "I-I'm sorr-"

"Don't be." I told her. "It was his stupid fault."

Yukari's jaw dropped at my apparent cruelty towards the deceased friend. "You know what they say, those who live by the sword die by the sword."

Yukari seemed to think this over, then finally said "Wait, your friend was carrying a knife when he got stabbed?"

I nodded, pushing the packaging onto the floor, and got to work opening my guitar case. "James pulled it out first." I explained. "The other bastard started the fight, but my friend was the idiot who turned it into a knife fight."

Yukari was stunned. "So, why do-"

"This is not a knife." I answered before she asked, passing the knife to her. "See the engraving?"

"Minato Arisoto, Leatherman Wave Multitool Custom…" She read.

"That's what it is," I continued. "A tool for making life easier. Not a weapon to be used in a fight. Yeah, I used it to crack open that Shadow's mask, but I broke it with my bare hands, the blade just finished the job before it could kill me."

I'd pulled my Guitar out of the case and began playing. 'Wish You Were Here' seemed appropriate.

"Oh, okay…" Yukari seemed awkward as she passed the tool back to me. "Well, I'll see you later, I'll tell the doctor you're up."

"Thanks Yukari."

She blushed, then walked out the door.

It wasn't until I reached the first chorus when

"DAMMIT! I did it again!"

I though I had the honorific thing under control too.

…

Japan is more trouble than it's worth.

Meh, I've fought evil shadow monsters, shot myself in the head and been in a coma for a week. I figure I can get away with it this once, so I continued my song.

"How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just, two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl... year after year.
Running over the same old ground...
What have you found? The same old fears?"

Wish you were here.