Yukari had ended up staying behind with Mitsuru, while us three hung around in the Gym until it was time for the Dark Hour. Mitsuru had seemed pretty annoyed at me forgetting I could have cut out a tonne of hassle during the mission.

Junpei thought it was freaking hilarious, however. "Dude, I can't believe you didn't mention that you had a lock pick earlier."

"Shut up Junpei…" I grunted.

"He's right though." Akihiko noted with a smirk. "It would have saved us a lot of time and effort."

"Yeah, whatever." I shrugged.

"Admit it, you screwed up this time," Pharos chuckled.

"Shut up all of you!" I yelled, then froze as I saw Pharos' evil grin and heard Junpei burst out laughing even harder.

To get my rep back, I challenged them to a situp race to pass the time. Junpei dropped out pretty quick, so it was me and Akihiko grunting our way past three hundred when the Dark Hour struck.

Okay, I am never, Ever doing that again.

Apart from the whole 'knocking you out thing', that was downright traumatising.

Remember how freaky it was when the school first turned to Tartarus?

Well imagine that, only inside out and upside down. And don't even get me started as to what happened to the sandbag. That was just plain nasty.

I sat up, squeezing my bladder in the process. Damn, have got to find a toilet soon.

"Everyone alright?" I asked.

They are not here

Craps? I opened my eyes to see the Reaper.

"Oh, bugger me…" I whispered.

Not tonight, human

Huh? I looked around. Oh sweet biscuit cakes, I'm in the stair room. Safe. "How long was I out?" I asked, hoping he'd be pleasant.

It is seven minutes past the hour

Seven minutes huh?

"Mitsuru, where is everyone?"

" -^- oto -^- ra -^-"

"Mitsuru?" I asked. "Come in Mitsuru."

" -^- ta -^- me -^-"

I can't translate broken Japanese.

Still, if Mitsuru can't get a clear transmission at this level, then that must be why we never detected Fuuka earlier. She's out of range.

Come to think of it, Mitsuru has had problems scanning the higher floors closer to the latest barrier.

Hrm...

"Do you know where my friends are?" I asked the Reaper, trying to get as much out of him as I could while he was feeling civil.

They are above

"Right." I stood up. "Is Fuuka Yamagishi still alive?"

Whom do you speak of?

"She entered here ten days- ten hours ago?" I corrected.

I know not of whom you speak

That's either good, or really bad.

~Who are you… Are you Human?~

That looked like a good sign. "Thanks for your help." I said to the Reaper. "Later!" I jogged for the stairs.

Indeed the Reaper said. Later

"There's something else I have to tell you."

What is it, Pharos? I dodged around the Emperor Maya.

"Tonight, there is more than one Ordeal that you must face."

Aw, what! "So I have to fight the Emperor too?"

"Most likely. You must press on and find your friends."

I just hoped nothing pressed on me; I need a piss and I'm fit to burst.

I found Junpei and Akihiko on the next floor.

"Hey, here he is!" Junpei shouted, running towards me. "Man, we were worried about you!"

"I don't think we should enter Tartarus this way again…" Akihiko suggested. Thanks, captain obvious.

"Oh yeah!" Junpei said, "Did you hear a voice while you were coming up here? Kinda like…"

"Who is this..? Are you human?"

Holy Crap Junpei does impressions! AND he's a ventriloquist!

"Th-That's it! That's the voice!" Aaand Junpei just blew any chance of fooling us that he was. "It sounded like it was coming from behind us…"

We all looked behind Junpei. A turquoise haired girl popped her head around the corner, almost comically.

"Are you Fuuka Yamagishi?" Akihiko asked. Come to think of it, it was funny. The girl ran towards us.

"Wow, you're alive!" Junpei said. "That's Awesome!" He grinned and posed. "Never fear, Junpei is here!"

"Good." I said, walking around a corner. "Because I need a slash."

"Err… A what?" Junpei asked, cocking his head.

"A slash." I explained, pulling down my zip and getting to business. "Also known as a wee, widdle, wiz pee, piss, answering natures call, urinating, draining the sea monster, and relieving oneself." Ah, that felt good.

"What!" Junpei shouted, turning away. "Dude, here and now?"

"I've been holding it in all night!" I pointed out.

"Well we found her, so now we can go!" Junpei shouted.

Hey, I'm going right into the face's mouth!

"Seriously?" Pharos asked.

Well, there's always a time to be immature. Once in a while.

"Whatever…" Akihiko said, turning to Fuuka. "I'm glad you're okay… come with us."

"Thank you so much…" Fuuka said. "…I…I…"

"Looks like we made the right decision." Akihiko said.

Damn, I really needed a piss.

"I'll see if I can contact Mitsuru." Akihiko said, putting two fingers in his ear. Good luck.

"Where are we?" Fuuka asked Junpei as I finished. "I was at school, and then…"

"Well, it's a long story." Junpei said as I flicked off the hangers-on and zipped up. "I'll explain after we get out of here."

"And I'll explain any mistakes he makes." I said, walking over to them, brushing my hands together with a fireball.

"Dude, not cool…" Junpei groaned before looking into the corner. "Oh, that's hilarious!"

I turned to him. "Grow up Junpei." I said. "You don't just utilise toilet humour in the presence of a lady!" In the privacy of your own mind, however, you do it all you want. To be fair though, it looked like Fuuka found it slightly funny. If a bit surreal.

Akihiko, however, has having trouble with the transceiver.

"O-oh yeah, are ya hurt?" Junpei asked Fuuka, trying to regain his standing as a mature and responsible young man. "Have you run into any monsters?"

"So there ARE strange creatures in here, then…" Fuuka said, looking surprised. "I've managed to avoid them so far…"

That got peoples attention. "Are you serious!" Akihiko asked, "How is that possible?"

"Umm... It's sorta hard to describe, but…" Fuuka looked a bit uncomfortable. "I can sort of tell where they are…"

Oh hey, she can detect Shadows. Called it.

"Whaddya mean?" Junpei asked. "Are you Psychic?" Way to jump to the wrong conclusion, Stupei.

"She has the same power as Mitsuru…" Akihiko said, getting it in one. "Maybe even stronger, since Mitsuru's Persona is more battle orientated…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a spare Evoker. "Hang on to this." He said, passing it to Fuuka.

As you can imagine, she was horrified at the weapon in her hand. "But… But this is…!" She protested.

"Think of it as a lucky charm." Akihiko told her. "It's not a real gun." He turned us. "Come on, let's get out of here." He began walking down one corridor.

"Um… wait!" Fuuka said, "There's something down there!"

"Sweet!" I shouted, running down the corridor and pulling out my Evoker. There was another one of those Emperor Maya's. "ORPHEUS!"

BLAM

Orpheus flew out of my head, strumming a quick melody that exploded the Shadow's head. "Clear!" I shouted.

"Wha-what was that?" Fuuka asked.

"Persona." I told her. "That's how we fight them." I turned to everyone else. "Come on, we gotta leave the floor before the Reaper comes."

I'm already here

Crap. "Too late!" I said, looking for an exit while Fuuka began clutching her head.

"S-something's coming!"

Damn! I pulled out the weapons scroll and browsed it until I found… "HERE!" I pulled it out.

"What is that?" Akihiko asked.

"C-4. It should slow him down." I explained as I began strapping it to the walls. Adding the trip wire, I ordered everyone to "Hurry! He can't get us if we get to the stairs!"

We ran like hell, especially after we heard the very satisfying KRAKOOM behind us. Once we saw the stairs, we sprinted, Junpei carrying Fuuka in his arms, and I looked back to see a rather bloody Reaper respawn a new left arm.

So he isn't invincible, just crazy strong.

"OBSERVELATERRUNLIKEHELLNOW!"

I threw a grenade at it. "FASTER!"

The Reaper shot the grenade, so it exploded harmlessly just as we crossed the threshold of the stair room. Gasping for breath, we panted as it stopped just outside of the doorway.

"Wh-what is that?" Fuuka asked, almost panicking.

"The Reaper." I told her, since I was the first to get my breath back. "It gets you if you stay on a floor for too long."

I did not pursue her

"Though I'm guessing that it didn't come after you, since you're still here." I added. "Come on, there should be an access point on the next floor."

Everyone nodded, and climbed the stairs.

With Fuuka's help, we managed to avoid any Shadows on the next floor as we searched for an access.

We did, however, find the first window I'd seen since I'd gotten into Tartarus; a huge, corridor long hole that opened the tower up to the naked night sky. "Woah…" Junpei said, as we leaned against the railings between the pillars.

I had to admit, it was beautiful in its own messed up nightmare fuel way. "Check out the moon!" He added, "I've never seen it so bright!"

"Some research indicates that the Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon." Akihiko told us, leaning on the railing as I sat on the ledge, swinging my legs over and letting my feet dangle over the city. Laughing, he added that "Of course, the same can be said for humans."

Junpei nodded. "That explains Yuka-Tan's mood swings."

I sighed. "Junpei?"

"Yeah man?" He asked

"Next time we're discussing the menstrual cycle in biology?" I asked him. "Please pay attention. You may find it useful in later life." Akihiko and Fuuka both laughed embarrassedly.

Quickly changing the subject, Junpei asked "Hey, wasn't it a full moon the night we went to the monorail?"

Akihiko started. "…Was it?"

"I think so…" Junpei was concerned. "…Why?"

Akihiko turned to me. "Hey, was it a full moon that time we were attacked at the dorm, back in April?"

I'd completely forgotten Pharos's warning, what with finding Fuuka and the Reaper. I nodded. "Yeah, it was."

Silently cursing, Akihiko tried to use the transceiver again. "Mitsuru! Mitsuru, do you hear me!"

"-^v-Akihiko-^v-Shadow's-^v-"

"HEY!" Akihiko shouted into his mic. "Mitsuru! Come In!"

Fuuka blinked, as if hearing something we couldn't... or sensing something...

"-^v-Be careful-^v-"

Akihiko kept shouting, and Fuuka fell to her knees. "What is this thing?" she asked. "It's much bigger than the others… And it's attacking someone!"

"Bigger than the Reaper?" I asked her, sweating. I only had one block of C-4 left.

"No… but much more malevolent…" Okay, it's only evil, but not deadly. I rolled the scroll back up, but something caught my eye.

I haven't bought any bows. Yet there it was. I don't recognise that sword either…

Wait, that's Mitsuru's… so that bow's Yukari's… Yeah, I put them in here to transport them…

And I gave Junpei and Akihiko their weapons and Evokers when we were in the gym… wait, Evokers?

I quickly checked the third scroll, the one for tools. I kept a couple of spare Evokers in there just in case…

There were four. Yukari and Mitsuru's.

Crap. "We need to move fast." I said. "Where's the Access Point?" Pharos told me, and I started walking fast in that direction.

"Mitsuru can take care of herself." Akihiko told me catching up with me as I rolled up the scrolls.

"Not without these she can't." I replied, tossing him an Evoker. "It's one of the big ones. If we're right…"

"They come every full moon…" Akihiko replied. "Let's hurry!"

"Hey!" Junpei shouted, running after with Fuuka. "Wait for us!"

When we got down to the foyer, Mitsuru's bike was smashed, and Yukari was on the ground. I ran to her and checked that she was alright. She groaned, but seemed okay and let me pull her up, then I looked at the Shadows.

"What in the world?" Fuuka shouted.

She was right to shout. Empress was some huge blue fat woman thing with a pointy stick, and the Emperor was a huge, cumbersome suit of armour holding a huge claymore in one hand and an angry Mitsuru in the other.

"There's two!" Akihiko shouted. "MITSURU!"

"Ah… Ugh…" Mitsuru groaned. It almost looked like the Emperor was crushing her slowly.

"What's going on?" Yukari grunted, clutching an Evoker, her entire body shaking.

Wait, how did she have an Evoker? I looked at the smashed Bike.

Ah, like how Cloud's bike has swords… I looked back at the Shadows.

Aaand now they've noticed me.

Then they noticed someone else - Natsuki. "Why the hell is she here?" Junpei shouted, voicing my surprise.

She looked like a zombie. "F-Fuuka…" She said, falling to her knees.

"Moriyama-San?" Fuuka ran to her.

"That's how you look when you're alone." Time and place Pharos, this is neither.

"Wait!" Akihiko shouted. "What are you doing?"

Fuuka knelt down in front of the girl who bullied her. "Please, get out of here!" She pleaded, "It's dangerous!"

Holy crap, can someone that isn't Jesus actually be that forgiving?

"I…I wanted to tell you…" Natsuki stammered, "I'm sorry…"

Fuuka was surprised. Emperor, on the other hand, moved in to attack. Fuuka stood up and cocked her Evoker.

"Wait!" Akihiko warned. "That's not a weapon!"

~ I know… ~

Fuuka's voice didn't come in through my ears, but the gunshot from her Evoker did, just as the Emperor swung its blade.

Her Persona looked like a woman in a huge ballgown. Its head was bandaged, her face red. Fuuka and Natsuki were inside the ballgown itself, which looked like it was a crystal ball filled with water.

What really surprised me was how easily it deflected the huge weapon, so much that it sent the Emperor flying back into the Empress, dropping the sword and Mitsuru, who was caught by Akihiko's heroism.

"I'm alright…" Mitsuru said, pushing herself off him. "Be careful, normal attacks won't work on these Shadows… and all of our instruments have been destroyed…"

"Just stay still!" Akihiko warned her, healing the damage with some Dia. "Besides…"

~ I can see… ~

"Is that the voice?" Mitsuru asked.

~ I… I can see these monster's weaknesses, somehow… ~ Fuuka told us telepathically. Her voice wasn't tinny, like Mitsuru's was over the communications device. It sounded like she was underwater, and it went straight into my brain.

I pulled out my ear piece and tore off my mic as Junpei expressed his disbelief in a Junpei-esqe manner.

"Mitsuru!" Akihiko said, grinning. "Let her take your place."

"I get it now…" She said. "Yamagishi, can you assist the others?"

~ I'll do my best! ~

"Stay back." I said, standing up while pocketing Yukari's Evoker so she couldn't get involved in her state. Physically, she's fine, but she's in an absolute panic. "We'll handle this."

~ I'll try and find out the enemy's weaknesses. ~ Fuuka told us as Junpei and Akihiko ran forward. ~ Just let me know when! ~

"How's now?" I dragged a couple of scimitars from the scroll and shoved them in my belt behind me, then tossed the scroll behind me after pulling out a warscythe.

~ On It. ~ Fuuka told me as the Shadow's got to their feet.

"You love weaponised overkill don't you?" Pharos asked as I charged.

Who doesn't? I glanced to my left to see Akihiko, then looked right to see Junpei. Thunder filled Akihiko's fists, and flames rang up Junpei's sword. Switching to Pale Rider, I charged my Warscythe with darkness for an instant kill.

~ That won't work. ~ Fuuka told me. ~ The Empress can only be hurt by physical attacks, and only elemental skills will work on the Emperor. Light or Dark won't work on either, but you can't use both magic and weapons on either of them! ~

Can you feel life moving through your mind?

"Thanks Fuuka. You guys Magic the hell out Emperor!" I ordered, charging for the Empress.

Ooh, looks like you came back for more!

It swung its wand as I jumped up to stab my lance into the lock in its chest

Can you feel time slipping down your spine?

It stuck, so I swung round on it and kicked it in the fleshy chest above its iron armour

Ooh, you trying to try to ignore!

It fell down to the ground with the Emperor. ~ Great work, guys! ~

But you can hardly swallow!

I kicked the warscythe, breaking the lock.

Your fears and pains!

I was knocked off her by the surge of fat.

When you can't help but follow!

I got up to my feet, spinning the scimitars in hand.

And puts you right back where you ca-ame!

I stabbed down into its stomach.

Live and Learn!

It screamed.

Hanging on the edge of tomorrow!

I twisted to widen the wound.

Live and Learn!

It didn't work.

On the words of yesterday!

The fat had already closed around the blades.

Live and Learn!

It rose to its feet, knocking me back.

If you beg or if you borrow,

I charged my fist with a Getsu-ei

Live and Learn!

Plunging it into the Empresses belly;

You may never find your way!

It exploded in a mass of Ichor.

"Alright!" Junpei shouted. I looked over to see him Hi-five Akihiko over a ripped to pieces Emperor. "We kicked ass!"

"Too right!" he shouted.

~ Look out! ~ Fuuka warned us. ~ They're changing their weaknesses! ~ Oh, what? I groaned as the Emperor groaned to its feet, glowing slightly.

WHAM! I was knocked flying. The Empress just flung me aside as it crawled for the Emperor.

Wait, do the Arcana Shadow's have feelings?

The Empress shoved its head into the Emperor's broken armour. The Emperor began to scream and flung around wildly, but the Empress just ignored it.

~ It's eating it! The Empress is eating the Emperor! ~ Guess not then.

"What!" Junpei shouted, scrambling to his feet. "Okay, we are so gonna kill that—" WHAM! The Empress charged straight through him and scrambled up the stairs. For a fat thing, it could run.

"Come on!" I shouted, running after it.

A few floors into Thebel, I'd lost it.

~ Behind you! ~ Fuuka shouted. I twisted around, Evoker to my head as it crawled around the corner.

"What's it weak against?"

~ It isn't! ~ Fuuka said. ~ Neither physical nor magic attacks will work! It must be because it ate the other one! ~

Crap. I need a plan.

…

Okay, I need a new plan. Men in Black did not end pretty.

"Do you have a choice?"

I have a Megido gem. That'll work.

"It won't kill it though."

Damn… I twisted around the corner to see Empress slumped on the stairs.

Eating Mayas.

New plan arrived.

I grabbed a Cowardly Maya and ran straight at the Empress. Shoving the Megido gem into the Maya's hands, I threw it at the obese Shadow.

Empress ignored it, jumping straight for me, grabbing me in one hand, pinning my arms to my ribs and lifting me up in the air.

Not good.

I still had my Evoker, but since my arm was clamped to my sides… yeah.

And mouth's shouldn't open like that.

It ate me.

Great.

…

Just lovely.

So, now I'm covered in ick, in the pitch black, slowly getting digested. This is worse than that time when… when…

I scratched my head. My hand was oversized and gray.

Oh, so my soul is being digested and I'll be crapped out as a Shadow?

I am not having that. Evoker. Head. Click.

BLAM

Genbu got me out of there faster than anything other than a turtle bigger than the stomach it was inside could. It must have looked awesome from the outside.

For the record, getting backstage seats to a gut busting explosion is not a good idea. You get covered is so much ew it's unreal.

"scree…"

Holy crap, it's still alive? I grabbed the Megido gem from the floor and held it towards the writhing head.

"Stay down." I told it, smashing the gem in my fist. "Stay dead."

There was a gorgeous purple-gold explosion, much nicer than the black and red one I was just in. It eradicated any trace of the Shadow that wasn't on me or the walls.

"scree..."

Great.

I turned around to find the Emperor mask laying in a pool of gruesome next to its girlfriend.

I grabbed a loose stone from the floor that had been dislodged from the action and smashed the two masks in.

Panting heavily, I wiped ichor from my eyes and glanced to the side to see Junpei and Akihiko finally catch up with me.

"Dude..." Junpei gasped eloquently.

"Nice job," Akihiko grinned, eyeing the damage around me.

I just shrugged. Now to find a Shower Gem.

I trudged after Junpei and Akihiko through the clock face after checking my itinerary. My Leatherman was thankfully okay, and the scroll casings were waterproof, so they were okay.

My Evoker, on the other hand, was shot, most likely my MP3 player was too.

Thankfully, I made the wise decision of leaving my mobile at home. Other than that, I looked like a melting Shadow version of me, so I wiped my face and took off my jacket on the way back so I at least resembled human.

I'm not sure I had to bother though, because when I got down, everyone was focused on Natsuki, who was sobbing over an unconscious Fuuka. "I'm so sorry…" She kept saying. I think she's had sufficient punishment.

Like I said, female bullying is psychological and emotional. She must have been through hell this past week in that manner.

Looking down at Fuuka though, I'm surprised that she was of so much help. She gave responses much faster than Mitsuru did, and even gave decent tactical advice. She was someone who took information, thought it through, and gave us what we needed. She will be a big help knocking down monsters.

Yes, Will. From the way she carried herself tonight and how useful she was, she's gonna join us. And if she doesn't want to, I'll convince her to want to.

I am not losing that kind of powerhouse.