Shin Megami Tensei: PeruSuri

by Orochi Shiki

Four girls, a new school, mysterious time-space phenomena, dark creatures and bizzarre summons. A whacky Lucky Star/Persona 3 crossover with a bit of Gundam SEED Destiny where nothing is the way it looks...YAOI/YURI PAIRINGS NOT INCLUDED! Sor-rie!

3. Chapter 2: Glimmer of truth

CHAPTER 2: Glimmer of truth

CHAPTER 2: Glimmer of truth

Kumiko gathered all the strength she could muster in order to get up; she was exhausted due to the long fight against shadows and the latter use of her Persona and just standing up was incredibly difficult to her. Yet, she wasn't willing to show any sign of weakness to this shady-looking person. He didn't transmogrify… just… who is this guy?!

"…Just who the hell are you, girl? And… don't you know this place is dangerous for someone like you?" He muttered to her as he stared her, menacing and unsettling eyes almost piercing her.

Kumiko didn't reply, but she returned the very same stare; the whole place seemed like being surrounded by cold and tense air.

"…I see… you must be an user as well…" both his voice and eyes softened for some reason, as his mind seemed miles away. "…still, you don't seem one of them…"

Taking advantage of it, Kumiko bent over the mysterious unconscious boy, but the red-coated man stopped her by pointing a gun at her and ordered her to not move. The girl didn't flinch, she just stared at him, coldly.

Noticing that, the man lowered his gun and looked at her, silent. After some instants, he said: "You don't seem to be afraid despite the risky situation you're in…"

Kumiko smirked. "I barely have strength to move, let alone be afraid…"

"…aren't you afraid of dying…? Why is that?" He asked, tilting his head.

"…I don't know… maybe because there's ultimately nothing to lose about it." She said with a grim smile.

At that remark, the man put the gun back in his red coat and turned around as he shook his head. "If you think such a bullshit, you'll never accomplish a thing."

"What…?"

"You have only one life… and it's yours only…" the man said as he took off, smiling sadly. "…just don't waste it like I did."

Kumiko just stood there, watching that threatening-looking man walking away. He looked like being about to hurt me and yet… who is he? And why do I feel like knowing him already…?

A moaning sound from the unconscious boy caused her mind to snap: she completely forgot about him for a moment! Immediately she bent over to carry him, but her strength was fading quickly as he seemed heavier than lead. Not good…and home is still far from here…going back alone won't be a problem but I have to carry him as well… I'm never going to make it… but if we stay here, we could be attacked anytime…

Then a low and confident voice boomed at her back. "This is the problem with you. You fling yourself into the action, without thinking about the consequences…"

Kumiko turned towards the direction the voice came from and noticed a man with glasses and a trenchcoat, sitting on the upper railing.

"Rei-Sensei! When did you get here?" She asked.

"I just arrived." He shrugged. "I figured something like this might have happened to you, so I made sure to come and get you once I was done with my business."

"Very funny…" she grimaced. "What about them?"

"Ah, the girls? They're all fine. Right now they're resting in their quarters at Kotobuki Hotel. It must have been a rough night for them… and you as well."

Kumiko puffed. "Meh, I'm not as helpless as you think! But most important… this boy…"

Rei jumped off the railing and walked over to examine the youth. Although he looked cold outside, he was quite surprised inside, as he recognized the boy's face. Well what do you know…a castaway from another world!… wonder if it's related to the time-space anomaly in this place…

"Do you know this boy, Sensei?"

"…as a matter of fact, you could as well say that I do. But let's save it for another time. Most important, this boy needs to rest. I'll make sure to take him to Tatsumi Memorial Hospital after accompanying you back home. I don't think it's wise forcing an exhausted girl to walk the dark streets by herself…"

"My, my, Sensei." Kumiko smirked. "Are you always so gallant or am I lucky?"

04/10/09

Right after the class being over, Kumiko was told by Rei to come to the hospital immediately, since the boy she rescued just regained consciousness; immediately, she packed her stuff and headed over there. Right outside the boy's room, she ran into Rei who was just done talking to a nurse. They stayed a few minutes outside, talking about him.

"So… his name is… Shinn Asuka?" Kumiko asked, cupping her chin.

"Yes. According to the nurse here, it's the only non vague information about himself he could give us." Rei quietly nodded. "It appears he's still shocked about what happened."

"…vague information? What about it?" The girl inquired.

"Mostly about him being surrounded by a greenish light and then suddenly finding himself in Port Station. But his memories are all fuzzy." The man continued.

Makes sense his memories are fuzzy… She mused. It's what happens when you don't have the "potential" and find yourself during the Dark Hour…

"When this boy first opened his eyes, he stayed a good deal of time staring at the wall, without saying a word" The nurse said, concerned. "We were worried about him being yet another Apathy Syndrome victim… but when we asked for his name and he told us, we sighed in relief. There are so many of them coming here lately…"

"…can we go and see him?" Rei asked.

"Sure, go ahead…" the nurse replied. "But don't ask him too hard questions, he still seems being confused."

The two entered inside the hospital room: they saw the boy, Shinn, hugging his knees on the bed as he stared ahead, blankly. He was wearing a light blue vest gown, just like the other patients inside the hospital and he was holding something in his right hand: a pink cellular phone. Both Rei and Kumiko felt a strong depressing aura around the boy and decided to be cautious in approaching him.

"Hello, Shinn. I'm glad to see you're OK now. You might not recognize me, but I'm the one who brought you here when you collapsed. My name is Rei, Rei Kurohagane."

Shinn slowly tilted his head to face Rei. "Did…I collapse? I don't remember…" he said, weakly.

Rei knelt next to the bed. "What do you remember then?"

"…it all feels like I had a long dream… I was in a place I never was before, the sky having a strange color… these…THINGS… chasing me… and…"

The boy slowly looked around and then his eyes stopped on Kumiko. As soon as he saw the girl, Shinn's eyes widened as he fell from the bed with a scream, causing her and the man to blink. He then grabbed the bed sheets, his head and arms appearing from under the hospital bed.

"It-it-IT'S YOU!!" He cried, pointing at Kumiko, who was pointing at herself, confused.

"Er… what did I do?" She asked.

"YOU!! You're the girl I saw in that dream!! You appeared from nowhere and then this giant snake appeared… and…" He screamed as he suddenly felt light-headed, being hard for him to remember everything.

Rei just stood there and stared at the upset kid. "It wasn't just a dream." He said, causing Shinn to jolt.

The nurse tried and make Shinn go to back to bed, but he angrily shrugged her off. "I'm fine! What do you mean with not just a dream…?!"

"…this is not the time nor the place to talk about such a delicate thing." Rei answered as he searched in his coat. "Besides, you're still recovering from fatigue. The doctor said that your physical conditions are OK, but for today you should just rest here. Tomorrow you'll be free to leave the hospital. Once you do, I want you to get to this address and search for us." With that, the man gave Shinn a small map with a circle around a certain address and the road he had to take to reach Kotobuki Hotel.

"Well I don't have much choice now, do I?" Shinn replied, bitter. "Fine, I'll stay put for today, but tomorrow, once I get better, I want an ACCURATE explanation!"

Rei didn't reply. He just nodded with a slight smile before he left the hospital room, Kumiko in his tow.

04/11/09

The sun was setting down as even that day was coming to an end. Much of Konata and the other's joy, Rei took care of all the transfer issues for the four girls and already managed to move all their possessions from the dorm to the hotel and they all received their own room to use at their own disposition; it appeared money wasn't a problem to him since the place seemed to be entrusted to him.

It was about evening, when Rei called them all in the lobby to talk about something. They were quite surprised to see Kumiko there as well; Tsukasa asked her if she had a room in the hotel herself, but she answered that she lived by the shrine, not too far away from there.

"I see…" Miyuki mused. "You're the one who helped guarding the dorm as we escaped two day ago. Thank you, Fukuyama-San."

"I'm just glad you're alright." She said, blushing.

"Talking about that night… man, it was crazy!" Kagami said, sighing.

"I thought we were all going to die…" Tsukasa continued, pretty down.

"Really?" Konata replied nonchalantly. "I thought it was pretty intriguing!"

Kagami didn't say a word, she just threw an angry stare at Konata.

"Anyway, Fukuyama-San. Do you know what Kurohagane-San is going to tell us?" Miyuki asked. "Do you think it's related to what happened back then?"

Before Kumiko had the chance to answer, the front door opened as Rei stepped in. He then gestured someone to come in; it took him a while, but finally, that someone managed to overcome his embarrassment and walked in. The five girls were quite surprised at the sight: a young boy with black hair and scarlet eyes wearing the Gekkoukan High School boys' uniform. They all, even Kumiko, thought he was pretty cute wearing it.

Rei gestured to the boy, who smiled at them with a slight blush. "This is Shinn Asuka. He too will stay at the hotel with us and… starting from tomorrow, he will attend your school as a 2nd year student."

"Oh, I see you fully recovered." Kumiko said softly with a slight smile

Shinn nodded. "Um, about last night…"

"I'm sure you all have many questions about it. Please, sit down." Rei said as he sat himself

Once they were all sitting at the table, Rei looked around and cleared his voice.

"I think you all already figured it out by now, but the day doesn't consist just in 24 hours. As a matter of fact, there's a hidden hour occurring every night at midnight, in-between a day and another: the Dark Hour."

"Wait!" Shinn interrupted. "…do you really think I could buy such a thing?"

Rei didn't say a word. He stared at Shinn, pausing for a moment and then kept on his explanation. "…I'm sure you noticed strange things around you during that time. No streetlight or electronic device working, the sky color… the coffins around the city…"

Shinn felt a chill. So that's why my communicator wasn't working… "Y…yeah, I noticed… it was all so strange… it really scared me! Are you saying I didn't imagine that?"

"If you did" Kumiko quietly replied. "that would apply to these ones as well. And I think you remember quite clearly what happened… right, everyone?"

The four girls all nodded, as Konata added: "So THAT'S why my game was no longer working all of the sudden!"

"Yes. It appears Kona-Chan wasn't lying after all… right, sis?" Tsukasa said, smiling to Kagami.

"…um…right…" Kagami muttered, swaying her gaze. "So you say it happens every night?"

"Right. Although normal people don't notice anything as they're all transmogrified into coffins… of course, there are exceptions, like us. And I think Rei-Sensei already told you this" Kumiko answered. "…but it's during the Dark Hour that there are these dark creatures roaming around: the shadows."

"Ah, those!" Konata said with a chuckle. "Yeah, yeah, we met'em! Man, that was quite a battle! I still don't know how we managed to win, though…"

After hearing it, Rei took one of the weird joysticks the girls used during the battle with the shadows and placed it on the table. "Remember when you used this device? When you pressed the button on it, you felt a strange energy taking different shapes from each one of you, right? That's the proof you have what it takes to fight those shadows: an inner power known as 'Persona'."

"Persona…" Miyuki verbalized her thoughts. "A Latin word meaning 'mask'… you mean we have the potential to summon 'masks' which can protect us from harm, right?"

"And not just you… even the kids at the dorm you came from have such a power… and… that applies to Kumiko-Kun here too."

Konata jumped on her feet as she stared at Kumiko. "Wow! You don't just draw cool Doujinshi, you fight shadows too?! You're SO cool!!"

Kumiko just let out a shy chuckle as she blushed.

"But… when I saw her summoning that big snake… she wasn't using that device, so…how…" Shinn asked, still doubtful about the whole situation.

Seeing that, Kumiko showed everyone the ancient-looking glove she was wearing on her left hand. "You see the symbol embedded on this old glove? This old artefact is known as Kamen no Fuuin, or, the Seal of Mask. It works as a contact between myself and my hidden part, and allows me to release it from my body. Some sort of ancient Evoker bestowed upon my family since ancient times."

Rei interrupted her to explain. "The 'Evoker' you used works in a similar way. You see. By pressing the button on it, you unlock the deepest reaches of your own souls, allowing you to release your inner selves."

Kagami looked quite perplexed by the explanation and the Evoker. "I still think it's kinda whacky… using a joystick to summon an ethereal being…"

Kumiko chuckled. "…well, the Evoker most of Persona-users harness is even weirder if you ask." She said, causing Shinn and the girls to blink.

"Anyway" Kagami interrupted as she pushed Konata back in a sitting position. "You said that those guys back in the dorm… that is, Sanada, Mitsuru-San and Takeba… have the potential too… and if I recall correctly, you also said they're a special squad with the task of fighting shadows… what about it?"

Rei nodded. "They're known as the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad; SEES for short. It's a group bearing the task of defeating the shadows and making the Dark Hour disappear… or, at least that's what they think…"

"What do you mean 'that's what they think'?" Miyuki asked. Instead of answering, Rei frowned for a moment, as if something was bothering him. "Something wrong?" The cute girl with glasses asked again.

"First thing first, there's still no real proof that vanquishing all the shadows will solve the problem. In order to erase the Dark Hour, one must first fully understand what truly happened when it first appeared, ten years ago… besides…" He said as his voiced became more concerned as he spoke. Seeing that the young ones were all worried, he then said it was nothing.

Shinn crossed his arms, gazing at Rei with suspecting face. "You sure know a good deal… how are you able to?"

Rei didn't flinch. He simply cupped his chin with a slight smile. "Me? I first came here to find some relaxing and not too hard minor job to do so to kill time… but when I came here, I noticed that something was terribly wrong and that time was gravely altered. Since a group was already focused on unveiling the current situation, I was planning to stay back and watch… but… there was something bothering me…"

Konata snapped her fingers. "…so you decided to make a contact with Kumiko-Chan, who's a Persona-user, in order to understand more of it?"

Rei patted Kumiko's shoulder, much of her embarrassment. "Actually it's the other way around: it was Kumiko-Kun the one who contacted me…" he replied. "I've been knowing her since she started attending high school. She's a good-natured girl and an excellent fighter… (Not to mention her non H Doujinshis are even more famous than expected.)… there's just so much she can do… so I made a bet with myself: I decided to search for more Persona-users like her to make a new group, one that could focus itself on the truth solely."

Miyuki winced. "Now I see! You're the one behind our mysterious transfer in this city… you called us because you KNEW we all had the potential!"

Rei shook his head as his smile broadened. "I never knew about you being Persona-users. I just took a wild guess basing myself on… something like a hunch about you being fighters." …it appears things here aren't much different from that other reality after all… I was pretty sure of the results, but not this far!… "Things went quite smoothly, so there's no point in complaining, I guess."

A long minute of silence followed after, as the four girls and Shinn were musing about the whole twist of events. No one of them expected such a story and to be summoned in this city with such a hidden goal. After completing his explanation, Rei simply sat on the couch, looking at the girls.

"It must have been all so sudden for you… and I realize I dragged you into this mess against your will… but I just wanted you to know about this whole situation and then decide… I can understand if you'll—"

Konata interrupted him abruptly by jumping up on her feet and raising a hand with a decisive smile. "OK, count me in!!"

Both Kagami and Tsukasa jolted at that. "Wait a second…" Kagami said, quite upset. "Are you sure you can decide such a delicate thing so fast?!"

The small girl nodded, proud. "In other words you want us to become heroes who will save this city, right? Sounds sweet! I'm so doing it!… and besides… look at Yuki-Chan: she already decided to herself!"

The twins gazed at Miyuki: there was some sort of fire burning in her eyes; you could easily she wanted to do everything in her power to settle things. "I… for the first time in my life… I felt I could really do something good for people… that I have the power to do things for the best… please, let me join, I want to help you!"

"Miyuki too?" Kagami muttered, narrow-eyed. "I'm not sure you girls realize how dangerous this might be…"

Tsukasa thought for a moment, and after a few seconds she said: "It's true it's dangerous… but I think that's a good reason to not let them go through this by themselves… I mean… umm… they're our friends after all!"

Kagami shook her head, hopeless. "You're all hopeless… throwing yourselves into such a mess… but, I guess I'd feel bad letting you go through all the danger by yourselves!"

"Sis!! So you will…" Tsukasa asked, smiling

"Hehehe, I knew you would have done it, Kagamin!" Konata chuckled.

"I…I'm just doing this because I hate the idea of putting Tsukasa and Miyuki in danger!" Kagami spat as she blushed violently. "Don't start thinking I care about you being in trouble…!"

Rei looked at the four girls. "You mean you're all going to join? That's great." He then faced Shinn. "What about you, boy? You heard the story as you asked, now what's your decision?"

Shinn was staring at the floor, clenching his hands: he was at loss, maybe even more than the quartet.

"…what do you expect me to do? This all sounds so ridiculous to me!… and besides, there's absolutely no proof I have that Persona power you babble about!"

"…you didn't transmogrify into a coffin. That means the chance of you having that potential DOES exist!" Rei answered.

"I don't understand…" he mumbled, his grip tightening. "…what am I to do? And… what does it have to do with me?…I…"

Kumiko sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to decide right away. After all, your potential didn't awake yet. Take your time until then by sticking with us, think, and then decide…" then, to Konata and the others. "As for you, I truly appreciate your cooperation. I hope we can get along."

With that, the girl bowed. Konata noticed and stopped her. "Hey-hey! You don't have to be so formal with us! We're teammates now… so, why don't you try and act a bit like this?" she said before putting a cap on and then she started imitating Junpei's speech, causing her friends and Kumiko to laugh. For the first time in a while, the blue-dressed girl realized she could really trust in her peers, something that was bothering her since she heard about having new teammates. But not anymore: her comrades were all friendly and nice.

"Perfect…" Rei proudly stated. "It appears we have enough members to—"

Konata interrupted. "Rei-San! Does the team have a name?? You can't have a real team if it doesn't have one…"

Rei then proposed the teammembers themselves to decide a fitting name. Thus, a discussion about it started. Konata proposed many names: Anti-Shadow Corporation, Non-SEES, Shadowbusters… even anime/game-related names such as SOS Team, Alpha Numbers and Londo Bell. But no one seemed to like any of them, and Kagami refused to use some cheap name from a show. Tsukasa then proposed something related to light like Hikari or Lux.

Miyuki had a great idea for a name then: "What about calling it Kagayaku?"

"Kagayaku…" Kumiko mused "the glimmer of truth in a sea of darkness, hmm? Yeah, I like it."

"Me too!" Tsukasa nodded. "It makes such a nice sound!"

"Yeah, I think it fits." Kagami agreed.

Konata crossed her arms and nodded. "…although I preferred Londo Bell, I gotta say that your name idea is nifty as well, Yuki-Chan."

"It's decided then." Kumiko smiled. "The team name shall be Kagayaku!"

"…a special team… now I really feel like some nifty superhero!" Konata said merrily as she clenched her fists in a dynamic pose. "When do we start??"

"Tonight." Rei said as he watched the time on his watch. "If we hurry, we still might be able to see it. Kumiko-Kun, go and help them prepare for battle. We'll rendezvous in front of the school gate."

Kumiko jolted. "…Sensei? Are you planning to…?!"

Rei stopped on the doorway. "This is the best time for it. With SEES reorganizing and all, we won't have to bother about their presence in there… especially since one of their members is hurt. Besides, it's a good way for all of you to build your strength up." He then gestured Shinn to come along and they both left the lobby.

It was just a few minutes to 12:00 AM when Kumiko and the others met Shinn and Rei in front of the school gates.

The lad kept on gazing the one that, starting from the following day, would have been his new school. Going to school like an ordinary teenager, huh… it feels so different… He thought. Meanwhile, Rei was still checking his watch with a slight smile, and when the girls asked him why he asked them all to meet in front of the school gates, he simply replied: "You'll see in a few minutes.". They all decided to kill time by chatting as they waited midnight; Kagami inquired herself about SEES and the different evoking device Kumiko mentioned: no need to tell she was quite shocked by the notion of someone shooting himself to the head with a pseudo-gun in order to summon his/her Persona and took back her remarks about the bizarre joystick-shaped Evoker they use.

"Anyway, why here of all the places?" Shinn asked.

"Please, be patient: it's almost 12:00 AM… you'll see it when the time comes." She calmly replied.

Meanwhile, Rei was still checking his digital watch: it was still a handful of seconds to midnight; as those passed, his smile seemed to broaden.

Then, midnight came. The digital watch simply ceased to function as a distant yet deep rumble could be heard; the moon turned from white to pale green, tainting the scattered clouds in the sky and the surrounding area below of spectral green, while a red liquid, similar to blood, started to form pools on the streets and to drip from the buildings and street lights.

Then a strong rumble coming from the school, similar to an earthquake, caught everyone's attention; save for Rei and Kumiko, everyone were quite amazed in seeing that a strange green tower with an absurd and impossible structure which looked like something out of a modern art picture was slowly raising up from the floor right where Gekkoukan High School was and reaching the sky.

"T…the school…?!" Shinn shakily muttered.

"Whoa, nifty!" Konata remarked, watching how high the tower was.

As for the other three girls, they were all out of words. Makes sense, since it was quite an out of the ordinary thing.

Kumiko walked up the few stairs leading to the tower's outer gate and then turned around to everyone. "This tower… we call it Tartarus. The inside of it is a huge maze… and this is where the shadows come from."

"…so this is why you asked us all to come to the school gates… for during the Dark Hour, it takes such a shape…?" Miyuki said, concerned as both Kumiko and Rei nodded.

"But…why… why does the school become such a thing?!" Kagami asked, feeling dizzy because of the too many information.

Rei fixed his glasses on his nose. "That's something we have to determine. Of course we have theories, but without solid proofs, those are of no use. And this is why we're here. If there's a secret about this place, chances are we could find it here."

"You mean… we have to explore it? ALL of it?!" Kagami asked, feeling exhausted just thinking about how high the tower is. Climbing up such a tower is already tiring, let alone a shadows-filled labyrinth! "Does anyone of you even have any idea of how many floors it has?!"

Tsukasa faced her twin sister with an embarrassed smile, answering: "Umm… no… I guess the only way to find out is actually exploring it… right?"

Rei chuckled. "Of course, I'm not asking you to explore all of it in just one night. But with the due time, little by little, I'm sure you'll climb it all without noticing."

"Exploring a massive maze with lotsa monsters, holding a secret which could be vital to save the world…" Konata mused aloud, enthusiast. "WOW! Now I feel like I've been sucked in a RPG or something!!"

Kagami scratched her cheek while puffing. "'cept this is NO GAME. It's real fighting we're dealing with! We could get hurt, or killed… or worse!"

"You right, Kagamin. This is no game… this is MUCH BETTER!!" Konata replied, causing the girl with pigtails to face-palm.

With that, Kumiko guided the group inside the Tartarus; the first floor didn't look as grotesque as the outside: there was this majestic staircase leading to a golden gate with some sort of clocks embedded on it; still, the walls around were non-existing, some coliseum-like shades scrolling upwards or downwards in a greenish mist, giving some creepy feeling.

"Wow, this place is really something!" Konata said, as enthusiast as a little girl, causing Kagami to shake her head.

Rei cleared his voice to get everyone's attention. All the teenagers gathered around the man as he started to explain what the group would have done that night. "Since is everyone's first time here, you won't proceed to higher floors; for now you'll just have to clean up the second floor, this way, you'll experience how Tartarus is. From the next time on, you'll have to climb as high as you can. Think about this night like a major warm up exercise before the real match!" he said, causing Kagami and Kumiko to remark about how much he sounded like Akihiko with the last statement. After agreeing on that, he cleared his voice and continued. "Kumiko-Kun, since you're the most experienced when it comes to fighting, you will guide the rest of the group during the exploration of Tartarus."

"Roger." She replied, decisive.

"As for you, Miyuki-Kun" he continued, while facing the pretty girl with glasses. "You'll stay on this floor and provide support and information from the outside."

Miyuki jolted. "I beg your pardon? What for?"

"Tartarus' structure changes every time you set foot inside" Kumiko explained. "…this is why we need someone who can see the floor layout from outside and provide us info."

"I see… so it's like a Dungeon Crawler?" Konata mused, cupping her chin, while Kagami stared at her in disbelief.

"I understand" she answered, still uncertain. "…but how am I to do so?"

"Just rely on your abilities…Personomicon's abilities. That way, you'll be able to." Rei said, with a soft smile.

"Y…yes… I'll do my best." She shyly replied as she smiled.

"So then… shall we getting started?" Kumiko said as she readied her chakrams. Then, her attention was caught by someone he failed to notice, kneeling down on the left edge of the floor: it was a young man with a red beret and long, two-colored hair, purple-blueish on the top and black down the rear of the neck; the guy also wore an elaborated and elegant light blue garment, white pants, blue gloves and boots. Seeing he looked like in trouble, the girl walked down to the strangely-dressed person and asked him what was wrong.

The man faced her: he had bizarre amber-colored eyes, looking almost no human and wore sunglasses on the tip of his nose. "Huh?? Hey, you mean you can see me??" he asked, jumping back on his feet.

Kumiko blinked: "Huh? Y…yeah."

Then the guy started to observe her, accurately. Then he nodded and rubbed his nose in a smart way. "Ooh, I see! You must be one of them! One of those both Master Igor and Eliz were talking about, huh? Yep, you came here to explore the place, huh?"

Kumiko nodded, still confused.

"If that's so" he continued, grabbing both her hands "You have to help me! I was tired to stick in 'that room' so I went out and checked the second floor for a while… of course, those shadows were no match for me, but… well… I was so caught in the fight I didn't notice that I dropped my precious paintbrush!"

Kumiko shrugged. "So… you want me to look for your missing brush?"

"Wow, you sure are smart!" The strange person said.

"Look, I'm in the middle of an expedition here. I have no time to spare in these petty things. Besides, if shadows are no match for you, who prevents you from getting it back?" She coldly replied, causing the guy to stare at her with watery puppy eyes.

"I… I would have done it myself… but Eliz will get mad if she finds out I stepped out for too long. B…besides, I'm not saying it's for free! I can reward you, of course! Please, please, please…" He begged, grabbing Kumiko's sweater.

"OK, OK! But this'd better be good!" Kumiko puffed.

She then felt someone shaking her and calling for her name and turned around to see Tsukasa, who looked quite concerned.

"Hey, you OK? You were just talking to yourself!" Konata asked. Confused, the girl in blue snapped in the direction the strange man was, but saw there was no one. Great, now I'm definitely going crazy… She thought, shaking her head violently.

"It… it's nothing. Come on, let's go." She said, as she walked up the staircase.

As soon as the girl opened the big golden door, she and her three companions found themselves in a big greenish room, its halls spreading in more directions. Konata, Kagami and Tsukasa looked around, in awe. They all were interrupted when they heard a voice echoing inside each one's mind: Miyuki's voice.

"Yuki-Chan? Where are you?" Tsukasa asked, looking around

"I am speaking directly to your minds via Personomicon…" she answered. "It is remarkable, I can see all the floor you are exploring…! And I can also see shadows, so please be cautious."

"Cool!" Konata said, raising a thumb. "Then… be my navigator, Yuki-Chan!!"

"Stop it, Konata… or people will start imagining naughty stuff between the two of you!" Kagami remarked with a sigh, while Tsukasa had a hard time understanding.

Then Kumiko told them to move cause that wasn't a field trip and the party started exploring. After walking for a while, they spotted a couple of shadows right behind the corner. Sneaking at one of the shadow's back without making any noise, Kumiko made a surprise attack by slashing it with her chakram before it had time to react and caused the second shadow to get scared and run off, prompting the girl to chase it.

"Aaaah! Not so fast, Kumiko-Chan!!" Tsukasa cried, frantically waving her arms. Seeing that Kumiko was too far to hear or notice and already ran behind the farthest corner, she sighed, dropping her arms. The three of them decided to follow after her, but in doing so, they left themselves open to an assault from a group of three shadows, which they could barely dodge.

"W…what are we to do?!" Tsukasa asked on the verge of tears.

" Oh, right! We have the weapons Rei-San gave to us, remember??" Konata said while readying her sword. Following her example, both the twins readied their own weapons. "Yuki-Chan! You think you can gather info about these critters?"

"Ah… Y…yes, I'll give it a try! Just a moment…" She shakily answered. Meanwhile Konata proceeded in slashing one of the shadow with her sword. Seeing that, Kagami aimed at it and finished it off with her machinegun.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it!" Kagami proudly stated.

"You're really good, sis!" Tsukasa said as she smiled. Then she aimed her crossbow to the closest shadow. Unfortunately she missed. "Waaah, I…I'm sorry!"

"Hey, at least this time you weren't about to hit one of us, that's an improvement!" Kagami said trying to cheer her sister up. But she got distracted for a moment and a shadow took advantage of it to attack the girl, who was knocked back by its tackle.

"S…SIS!!" Tsukasa cried as she dashed to her sister, who was painfully clinging her arm.

"S…shoot!" Kagami muttered in pain. "What is Kumiko doing?!"

Konata shook her head, so to not lose her calm and spoke to Miyuki. "Yuki-Chan? Are you done analyzing these ones?"

"Huh? Y…yes… they're weak against wind!" Miyuki said in a very concerned tone

"OK, perfect!" She replied as she dodged the second shadow's attack, causing it to lose its balance. "Now, can you do another favour? Think you can contact Kumiko and tell her to come here?"

"Uh… Alright, I will do it immediately!"

"Wind weakness, huh? Hehe, looks like it's SHOWTIME!!" Konata mumbled with a wicked grin. And with that, she grabbed her Evoker and summoned Nekonata, which blasted a gust of wind by her mouth to stun the other shadow. After that, the small girl charged to the one that looked weaker and finished it off with her sword. "Well, that should buy us enough time… at least until Kumiko won't come! Not bad for a beginner, huh?"

Kagami grinned. "Well that's not bad… but next time, you won't have all the thrill for yourself… ow…"

O…oh, no! It's… it's all my fault! Because I'm always so clumsy… I… I have to do something! The cute girl with short hair thought on the verge of tears as she clang her Evoker tightly. Then, decisively, she pressed the button and summoned Balshemikos, which released some warm and soothing energy from his bottle-ish tip, healing Kagami. The girl with pigtails was quite amazed when the pain she felt was totally gone.

"Whoa, Tsukasa! That was quite handy!" Kagami said with a proud smile

"So… that's my ability…?" Tsukasa said, still unable to believe what she just did.

"Watch out!!" Miyuki yelled. "The only enemy left is ready to attack…!!"

"Hmm… time for a little payback, then!" Kagami said, decisive, as she pulled her Evoker out and summoned Bonta-Kun, which used his rifle to finish the shadow off once and for all.

Miyuki sighed in relief. "Thank goodness… the enemies were all defeated…"

"Now I really feel like those years I spent playing RPG really paid me back!" Konata said as she crossed her arms, nodding. "Say, think we got lotsa EXP by this?"

"For the last time, Konata. This is NOT a game!" Kagami sighed. Then the three of them started to laugh, satisfied of their own workout.

Unfortunately, their solace didn't last long, for Miyuki saw a new, bigger shadow headed their direction. When she warned her friends about that, they all turned around to see something like a giant black raven flying toward them. They all braced, but the raven was halted as a flying golden blur, coming from behind them, collided with it making it fall. Before they could turn around, they saw Kumiko jumping past the group, dashing to the raven and, after recovering one of her chakram, slashing the shadow over and over. Once it was defeated, the girl faced Konata and the others, the cold glare in her look disappearing.

"Phew… it appears you're all OK…"

Kagami snapped at her. "Where the heck were you?! We had to fight those shadows by ourselves!"

"I…I'm sorry… I thought you were behind me! I… I think I still am not used to work with a team…"

"Just try and run slower from now on… we have to stick together in here!" Kagami puffed.

Then Tsukasa interrupted her, as she saw that when the bird-shaped shadow vanished, it dropped something. The four girls noticed it was a paintbrush: a paintbrush with a rainbow tip. Hmm… come to think, that strange guy I saw by the entrance told me he lost his paintbrush… so I didn't imagine it? In any case, we'd better keep it…

"Everyone, do you read me?" Miyuki's voice spoke once again in their mind. "Personomicon doesn't detect any other shadow on this floor. So, I think it would be a good idea to go back to the hotel for now."

"…Alright" Kumiko said. "I've found an Access Point as I trailed a shadow. We can use it to get out of here. Follow me."

After walking for a bit, they found the shiny device and used it to return to the entrance. Once they noticed they were back, the quartet walked to Rei, Miyuki and Shinn. The latter asked how it went.

"It was so cool!!" Konata proclaimed, joyful.

Rei smirked. "Good, cause you'll have to come here again and again and again… do I have to go on?"

Suddenly, Konata lost all her perkiness and sighed in frustration. "…grind, grind, grind… and grind… that part isn't that fun in RPG…"

Rei then faced Kumiko. "I guess you've still so much to learn about being a leader… try and run a little slower next time and watch out for your team members' condition, OK?"

Kumiko dropped her head. "My apologises, Sensei… I'll try and be a better leader…"

"Right" Rei nodded. "… but you should also look like a leader… so how about wearing one of these during the operations?" he said as he took out a sketch of a Real Robot-ish military officer suit with a very short skirt. All he gained was Kumiko, although looking cool and collected, bashing one of his chakrams violently on his head.

"Sensei, I think you should review your fashion tastes… anyway, go on ahead to the hotel, I have to take care of something first."

"…you mean that strange guy, right?" He asked as he rubbed his aching head.

"What, you saw him?!"

"No… but I sensed him."

Just what is his real potential? "OK, then… see you later." She said as Rei and the girls took off. Meanwhile, she headed where she spotted that strange person and noticed he was just there where she left him. Immediately, she took out the paintbrush, asking him if it was his.

"Oooh, my paintbrush!! I feel naked without it! I knew you were a good person, Kumiko!" The man said with a broad smile.

"…How do you know my name?" She asked, suspicious.

"Well… it's not an accident that we met! It was Eliz… my mistress… who told me to make a contact with you. Oh, sorry. I didn't introduce myself, right? I'm Maxwell, the Demon Painter." The man said while scratching the rear of his head.

"Demon Painter? You don't look too dark or grim for such a title…" Kumiko remarked with a smirk.

"Admittedly my title is all dark, but I'm actually just a nice guy who likes to draw!" Maxwell said with a chuckle. "Anyways, I promised a reward, right? Well, here you go!"

With that, Maxwell took out a small paper and magically lifted it in the thin air as his paintbrush kept on changing colors on its own at each brush strike. In less than a minute, the painter made a wonderful picture card with an ethereal being drawn on it.

"Card? What am I supposed to do with it?" Kumiko asked, as she arched an eyebrow.

"Well, you see… unlike 'HIS', your potential is limited to one Persona… but by drawing the power from these cards, you can channel new skills into your unique Persona. A special power only I can use and which could be quite useful to you in preventing the upcoming crisis the world is facing…" He said as he fixed his paintbrush.

"Wait a minute… what are you talking about?" Kumiko asked, uncertain, as she remembered of her strange dreams. "What is this crisis? And who's this person?"

Maxwell shrugged. "Well beats me! But Master Igor and Eliz kept on talking about this, so I figure it might mean something… anyway… if you need something, I'm always here, OK? I got to get going now. See you!" he said before opening a ghost blue door and walking in; the door vanished as soon as he closed it.

04/21/09

Things were progressing smooth and uneventful for the last ten days. The Kagayaku girls kept on attending school and doing ordinary stuff by day and exploring the Tartarus by night… or, at least, doing everything in their power to reach what Miyuki called a barrier preventing anyone from going any further. Unfortunately, the progresses were behind the schedule, since the new members –Especially the Hiiragi twins – were prone at getting tired quite soon. The best they all could do so far was reaching some first check point before a guardian shadow they spotted.

On that day, the first thing they had to do when they all reached school was going to the auditorium in order to listen the new Student Council president's – Mitsuru's – speech. She talked long about each students taking responsibilities for their own actions, so to make the school even better. At the end of the speech, it was followed by a long applause.

After the long school day was over, Kumiko headed to the pool in order to train with the swim team and Miyuki was asked to help with the Student Council while Konata and Kagami were waiting for Tsukasa to catch up with them in the courtyard. As they waited, they noticed a bunch of girls waiting for someone as they talked in a lively way. Then one of them, a cute girl with mid long brown hair, walked to the duo.

"H…hey!" she asked with her very tiny voice. "Aren't you the girls who were accompanied by Akihiko-Kun on the first day of school?"

Both Konata and Kagami glanced at each other. "Well, we're just classmates…" Kagami said, perplexed.

"So that means you see him everyday?? In the same classroom?? Awwww, you're SO lucky!!" Another girl from the bunch cried, while Kagami scratched her cheek with a finger.

The girl with the tiny voice quieted her colleagues and then talked to the two girls. "So you know him well? Think you could give us some info about him? Oh by the way, my name is Emiko, from 3-B… don't forget it! Oh, and give my regards to Kumiko-Chan when you see her!" She said with a deep blush and then ran back to the rest of the group.

Emiko Midorikawa: She's a Senior in Gekkoukan High and a major Akihiko fan, not to mention Kumiko's school friend. She's a quiet and reserved girl and also a good cook. Her dream is to share her hand-made lunch box with Akihiko. She seems to be the one who likes him the most in the fan club.

"Hey, sis! Sorry to keep you waiting." Tsukasa said as she got out of the school alongside Kenji, the blue haired boy they met at the Iwatodai dorm.

"Finally!" Konata sighed. "What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry…" Tsukasa said with a sheepish smile. "But I didn't remember which way the exit was, so I walked around the school for quite a while…"

Kagami placed both hands at her sides. "I see… so you met Kenji here who helped you find the exit?"

Tsukasa kept on smiling in an ever more embarrassed way and glanced at Kenji, who was scratching his cheek with a finger. "Actually, I took even more time since I met him. He kept on leading me around and around… he totally forgot where we were going and led me to the rooftop… then to the sports clubs… in the end, we saw the whole school but never made here."

Wow… so there IS someone who can match Tsukasa's clumsiness? And he isn't any less cuter than her! Konata thought.

Then a high-pitched squeal from the other girls caused the three girls and Kenji to face them. As soon as Akihiko came out, they all surrounded him as they kept on squealing. He didn't look too pleased of it though. Kagami thought that whole show was sickening. "Meh, look at that! All girls swooning over him! As if he was the oh so great guy they think he is! But he's nothing more than an exalted! Can't stand this!"

Noticing that, Konata faced her friend with a playful smile. "What's wrong, Kagamin? You wanna join the fan club? Come on, I know you like him…"

"Can't blame you if you do" a male voice said at Konata's back. They all saw it was Junpei. "Captain of the boxing team…he's a real chick magnet after all. Stuff you hardly see even in manga or in TV! Man, I'd better start playing buddy-buddy with him as soon as possible!" he said with a naughty smile.

"No way!" she snapped. "Why should I like some exalted fanatic like that guy?!"

She was so irritated that he didn't notice that Akihiko was coming to her, so she jolted when she heard him say: "So that's what you think of me, hmm? You think I'm an exalted fanatic?"

"Y…yeah, that's what I think!" the girl snapped at him while blushing violently. "Got a problem with that?!"

Akihiko shook his head and smiled. "Not at all. I appreciate your sincerity, Hiiragi…" then, to Kenji and Junpei: "Are you two free this afternoon? If that's so, I want you two to come with me at Paulownia Mall, in front of the police station."

"You mean… we're not going with your friends here?" Junpei asked, disappointed.

"Them?" The silver-haired stylish lad said. "I don't even know their names, they're such a headache. Well see you there." He said before leaving as the other girls trailed him, save for Emiko who looked at the lunch box she made and sighed as she went sitting on a bench.

"How strange…" Junpei mused aloud. "How can he not know their names?! I mean, come on!"

"Dunno" Konata replied. "Maybe he's not interested in girls… know what I'm getting at?"

"But at least he remembered sis' name!" Tsukasa replied.

Meanwhile Kagami was still in awe, since she didn't expect Akihiko to have such a reaction and wondered he was either teasing her on purpose or not. "Man, I can't STAND that guy!" she then cried.

"Anyway…" Kenji said. "He said to meet him at Paulownia Mall, right? So… um… Junpei? Where's Paulownia Mall again? I don't remember…"

Now it doesn't surprise me he got lost inside the school! The three girls thought.

Then Konata's mind snapped. "Oh right! I think I went to that mall! Isn't there an arcade named Game Panic over there?"

"Sure does" Junpei nodded. "Didn't expect a girl to go there, though… when I ask girls to go there with me they look at me as if I were some sort of alien or something!"

"I know what you mean…say, how about going there one of these afternoons for a little match? Playing alone isn't that fun!" The small girl asked

The capped lad's smile broadened. "Sounds sweet! Anytime is OK with me!"

Kagami interrupted, reminding them about their duties as students and not forgetting about studying and such, but Junpei replied he never studied as he laughed, prompting Konata to let out a satisfied chuckle as the girl with pigtails shook her head in disbelief. The small, blue haired girl was even more positive that that would have been a school year to not forget.

04/30/09

Nothing special occurred save for a new extracurricular activity starting in Gekkoukan High School: the computer class. Several students, including all of the Kagayaku members, Kenji and Junpei, decided to join the club: the kids from Kagayaku were quite surprised when they saw that the professor for the computer class was none other than their boss, Rei Kurohagane! The first thing the man said as the class started was: "I won't waste time by teaching you computer notions, you're free to do whatever you want with the computers. Want to play games? Go on and play games. Want to chat? Go on and chat. Want to view 18+ material? Do it. The only thing I recommend you is this: you clean up your own mess, OK? Viruses, spywares and so on, those are under your responsibility. That said, we can start."

Naturally there were a few who thought that time during an extracurricular activity must be productive – Kagami for one – but most of the students welcomed the notion quite openly, especially Junpei, who was quite glad the teacher agreed to the game tournament he proposed.

Once the computer class was over and the computer room was empty, Rei kept Kumiko so to talk with her.

"The Tartarus exploration is lagging… Almost 20 days have passed since you first explored Tartarus and you still have to reach the first barrier." The man said in a cold tone.

"I know" Kumiko replied "But the girls still have a hard time adapting to the Dark Hour and they're easily getting exhausted… especially Tsukasa… and Shinn still couldn't awake his powers…"

"You realize that there's still less than two weeks till the next full moon, right?" He asked.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure we'll reach the barrier before then." I don't get it… why do we have to do it during full moons?

05/01/09

"Kumiko, are you busy this afternoon?" Kagami asked, placing a hand on her classmate's desk while the dark-haired girl lifted her head to face her.

"Well, I was planning to go home and catch up with the latest doujinshi. I'm behind schedule with the names' delivery… but to tell the truth, it's such a boring work I really don't feel like doing it today…" she replied, letting an exasperated sigh. "Why? You planning to go somewhere?"

Kagami swayed her gaze and blushed slightly, looking a bit annoyed. "The teacher gave me the task of bringing today's homework to Sanada-Kun, who has been hospitalized. I don't feel like meeting THAT guy by myself… so…"

"Oh, I see!" Konata butted in with her usual playful smile. "Kagamin is too shy to meet the guy she likes…"

"What you NUTS?! Why am I supposed to like SANADA-KUN?!" The girl with pigtails cried, frantically waving her arms.

"I hope he's better…" Miyuki quietly said. "Why don't we all go and see him?"

"Good idea, Yuki-Chan! He'll be happy!" Tsukasa replied with a cute smile.

Konata scratched the rear of her head. "Dunno… he doesn't look like being interested in girls… but whatever!"

So the quintet decided to walk to the Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. Once reaching the hospital hobby, they inquired about Akihiko's room and walked there. As they spotted their classmate room, they started to walk there, when they saw someone coming out of the room; Kumiko almost had a heart attack when she noticed that the guy was the same person she ran into when she rescued Shinn: the shifty-looking guy with the dark red coat and the black beanie. The girl, normally quiet in an almost cold way, couldn't help but jumping backwards.

"Y…YOU?! What are you doing here?!"

The strange guy didn't answer, he simply tilted his head in an interrogative way.

"Um… friend of yours, Kumiko?" Tsukasa asked awkwardly.

"Friend?! No way!! You don't know what he was about to do to me! I don't know what he's up to, but--"

The shady person simply walked to her, staring her under his beanie. "Did you forget this is a hospital? Stop screaming like a bitch." He coldly stated, causing Kumiko to hush herself as she blushed.

Tsukasa spoke again, after a long pause. "Er… excuse me, sir… we're looking for Akihiko Sanada's room… is this the right room?"

"I see…" he said, glancing at Tsukasa who was smiling shyly. "You must be Aki's classmates… he's inside. But he seems to be busy talking crap with his new friends." With that he started to leave without even saying goodbye. Then he stopped on his tracks and, without looking back, he said to Kumiko: "Anyway, about what happened the last night… I wasn't planning anything funny with you, so stop making a big deal about it. Just don't forget what I told you…"

"The nerve!!" Kumiko puffed as the mystery guy walked downstairs. Meanwhile, Akihiko, who was hearing commotion from outside his room, decided to peek outside and saw the five girls.

"Don't misunderstand!" Kagami said, annoyed. "We're not here to pester you! I didn't want to come to the hospital to bring you these homework alone, so I asked them to accompany me!"

"Ah. Well thanks anyway, Hiiragi." Aki nodded. Then, noticing Kumiko was absent-minded: "Fukuyama? You OK?"

Kumiko snapped back to reality and faced her classmate. "Y…yeah, but who was that guy just now?"

"Oh, him? You didn't recognize him? Well, can't blame you… he's so different…" he sighed. "But please, come inside."

The five girls stepped inside the room and noticed that Kenji, Junpei and Yukari were there. Yukari bowed to her five Senpai as Kenji did the same, while Junpei just waved his hand.

"Sanada-Kun! You're alright!" Tsukasa said, heartened. "When I heard you were hospitalized, I was so worried about you!"

The silver-haired boy chuckled. "Meh, nothing to it. I'm used to this stuff." With that, he started testing one of his arm and gestured a punch toward Junpei, causing him to wince. "Can't wait to train again… I can't afford to lose any more ground with Fukuyama."

"Whoa, whoa., King of the Ring!" Kumiko said as she stretched both hands as to tell him to relax "I think I already told you, I'm NOT your rival. I don't want to!"

"Anyway, Senpai…" Yukari asked. "Why did you choose boxing as a sport?"

"Well, I just wanted to learn how to fight… because… I don't want to feel powerless again…" Akihiko replied, his eyes getting lost in sad, melancholic thoughts, causing everyone to not fully understand. Then, with a self-confident smirk: "…and I want to see how strong I can get! It's like a game, just I'm competing with myself."

Junpei nodded as he faced the girls. "I know, I'm into games too you know!"

"Yeah, VIDEO games…" Yukari remarked, shaking her head.

This prompted Konata to ask in Kumiko's ear: "…Hey, what's wrong with VIDEO games?"

"Beats me…" Kumiko whispered back. "…but I don't want to get in such an argument with Miss Popularity 2009 here…"

05/09/09

As she was walking to the school gates, Kumiko ran into Rei, who seemed like waiting for her. As the girl approached, he greeted her, asking her to approach.

"Whoa, you come at the school gates to greet me… now this is rare!" she smirked. "What is it?"

"I was thinking that you really look like a zombie in the morning… being up and bright is a pre-requirement to be fine woman." He said with a playful smile.

"Sensei… can't you be serious for a while? I know you're not here to make cheesy remarks!"

Rei's facial expression became more serious. "It appears things worked better than expected. You DID manage to reach the barrier before today…"

"Wasn't easy, but everyone got stronger… tougher… but, you know… I'm worried about that boy…"

"You mean Shinn?"

"Yes… it's been a whole month and his potential didn't manifest… do you really think involving him with Kagayaku was a good idea? I mean, in the end, it's possible he doesn't have the potential at all!... and without it…"

"Well, maybe it takes some time for him to fully adapt this whole situation… anyway, Kumiko-Kun… I want you to tell everyone to gather in the hotel lobby as soon as they're back from school and wait for the Dark Hour."

"So… we really are executing the operation tonight…?" the girl was about to ask him the reason why the operation was going to be executed in a full moon night, but she was interrupted by the first bell. "Uh-oh… better get going… I don't want to be late!" she said as she dashed inside.

The school day was once again uneventful, safe for several teachers reminding the students about the upcoming midterm exams. Once it was all over, Kumiko warned her four classmates about what Rei told her; after that, she tried and warn Shinn as well but for then he already left the school.

As a matter of fact, Shinn was having a stroll in the Port Island Station square, thinking about all the things happening to him in the past weeks. Shadows, time-space anomalies… people who become coffins… Personas… this crap makes no sense! He thought. How was I sucked into this mess?! I'm not supposed to stay here at all!

He shook his head as he walked next to the flower stand. "I can't stay here! I gotta find a way to go back… yes, if I just sit and wait, I won't solve anything! Screw Kagayaku and its load of crap! I'll find a way back on my own! Yes… I must focus on my real goal: going back and defeating HIM… But without that so-called special power, they say I'm helpless… Dammit…"

Shinn was so enwrapped in his own thoughts he didn't notice a blond girl with a white and blue dress was approaching him; she was enwrapped in something herself, but it wasn't thinking: she was dancing. The collision was inevitable. Both fell down the staircase leading in the back alley, surprising the local punks who were sitting there smoking weeds and drinking alcoholics.

"Holy shit, dude! You Gekko High kids have all luck!" A blond punk wearing a black shirt and a bandanna said with a cackle, making Shinn notice that he fell on the top of the dancing girl, both hands on her breasts. The girl, on her hand, was still a bit stunned, but as soon as she noticed Shinn was squeezing her breasts, she threw an angry glance at him and pushed him away without saying a word and ran away, leaving Shinn in awe, as red as a tomato, staring at his own hands.

"Damn kid!" A spiked-haired punk said, spitting on the ground. "You sure are a lame-ass, letting such a babe go this way!"

"What a loser! Wish I was in his place… I mean, have you seen that chick's melons?!" Another punk said, drooling.

Meanwhile, Shinn was brought back to reality by his cell phone ringing and, frustrated, he dashed back upstairs, as the punks kept on making even dirtier remarks about the scene they saw and one of them, a red-coated one with a black beanie, seemed quite perplexed, as if he knew that girl.

"Shinn-Kun? It's me, Kumiko. I've been searching you all over the school. Where did you go?" A voice said on the phone.

"It's none of your business. Anyway, what do you want?"

"Rei-Sensei contacted me. He want us to assemble in the lobby."

"…So?"

"I can't tell you now. Just come to the hotel."

"Fine, fine…" Shinn puffed as he ended the conversation and went to get the train for Iwatodai station.

It was the Dark Hour when Rei entered the lobby escorted them all in his room: it was a very big room, it also had a big screen and some sort of electronic device; it looked more like a control room than an ordinary room.

The professor started to talk. "You girls all did a remarkable job with your training and the Tartarus exploration. I know it must have been really though for you, but I appreciate your hard work. I really do."

Kumiko's comrades all smiled and exchanged complicity glances as Konata started to brag about her "war successes" and Kagami reminded her of how she was in trouble because of a big guardian shadow she couldn't handle, prompting the small girl to hush her friend.

"Now, I gathered you all here to discuss about tonight's operation." Rei continued.

"Huh, operation? Like some sort of mission, Sensei?" Tsukasa asked.

"It's part of our job in unveiling the truth." The man nodded.

"But why tonight?" Kumiko asked, hoping the professor could finally answer her question.

"I see your concern, Kumiko-Kun… since tonight is a full moon, it means one of THOSE shadows will appear and thus, minor ones will start roaming outside Tartarus… so you'll probably think that doing an operation in such a circumstance is way too dangerous…" Rei explained as he crossed his arms. "But the big shadow's presence will also make sure that SEES will be busy with it… in other words, no one will come and bother us."

"…leaving us a clear coast… yes, it's kinda risky, but it might work!" Konata continued his speech, cupping her chin. "So… what's our mission?"

The man asked Miyuki to focus and summon Personomicon. Immediately, the book-shaped Persona appeared in front of her. After a few instances, she said she sensed many things: a bunch of shadows in the station area, as well as Persona-users. Then, she said she was picking up other non-transmogrified humans on the other side of the Iwatodai area.

Immediately, Rei walked to his big computer and started typing something, making a map of the Iwatodai/Port Island area appear on the screen. Then the map zoomed to an industrial section, a few distance away from a stadium. Miyuki said that the readings came from inside the factory.

"According to the data Kumiko-Kun and I gathered so far, the Dark Hour exists since much more recent times than shadows… and it makes sense, since shadows exist alongside with man. Of course, this is just a theory, but… it is possible that the Dark Hour isn't a result of shadows after all." Rei said as he turned the computer in standby.

"Are you saying" Kagami stuttered in shock. "it might be a man-made phenomena?! Is it even possible?!"

"Of course, the chances of it being possible are slim, but there still is a chance… and… if it really is man-made…" Rei continued.

Kumiko interrupted, realizing. "…then the ones who created it might be able to move inside it!"

The man nodded. "Part of our mission is also to know what became of these people… we need as much info as possible. So, tonight. I want you to investigate on the humans inside the facility. Find and make a contact with them."

"Roger!" All the girls promptly replied.

The man then proceeded with explaining the formation. "Kumiko-Kun: as always, you shall be the team leader. Miyuki-Kun will handle the support from outside the facility. I will come along, but just as a supervisor. If the need arises, I will come and help, but I doubt it will be the case. You all trained hard, so I'm positive of your success. Now let's go!"

Rei and the girls all moved outside the hotel, passing in front of Shinn, who looked even more annoyed. Going on a mission and letting me out just because I don't have that power… dammit… I'm tired of this!! He thought as he ran in his room, something in his mind.

"It's so weird…" Tsukasa remarked as she stepped inside the facility. Although it was dark, the pale green light of the moon dimly enlightened the surrounding area, delivering its spectral hue. "It doesn't sound like a facility at all… and you can't hear any sound at all… it's so creepy…"

"Stand close to me, Tsukasa." Kagami said, holding her sister's hand. "You can never tell what dangers we're going to face."

Meanwhile Konata was walking towards a black coffin, surrounded by a reddish aura. "Kumiko-Chan? Is this one of those Transmogged people? Poor guy though… it's kinda creepy!"

They were all interrupted by Miyuki who, from the outside, warned them about the presence of several shadows, including one with abnormal readings, and about the presence of two more people: one at the top floor and one moving around the facility. She then gasped. "How strange… I thought I just detected… never mind… please move on…"

"Miyuki-Kun… are you alright?" Rei asked seeing that Miyuki was starting to feel chilly.

"No… I'm not cold…" she quietly said with a slight blush. " I think I'm just a little worried about the outcome of this operation… I have a bad feeling…"

Rei placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You believe in Konata and the others, right? If that's the case, you don't need to worry about a thing. Just keep on believing in them and your power."

The girl with glasses smiled sweetly. "I understand, Sensei… thank you…" she said as she resumed to focus on Personomicon. Once again, she gasped. "I…I was right!!"

"What is it, Miyuki-Kun?" Rei asked, fixing his glasses.

"I… I picked up Asuka-Kun inside the facility!" She stuttered.

"Shinn… should have seen it coming…" He mumbled.

"What…what should we do, Sensei??"

"Let him be."

"S…Sensei?!"

"I've been thinking about it…" he said, looking at the moon. "We never really gave him the chance to trigger his potential… this shall be the final test to see he's actually suited to be a full-fledged Kagayaku member."

While all of this was happening, Shinn was finding a way to get to the floor the two human readings were without being seen by the rest of the Kagayaku members. He first tried to get through the safety staircases, but the door was locked. Then it hit him: during the Dark Hour all electronic devices cease to exist. Using one of the blades he got from the hotel's storeroom, he managed to pry the elevator door opened with a sword and opened the elevator's upper side. He then looked upwards. Climbing the wire wouldn't have been easy, but at least he didn't have to worry about the elevator moving. Just a chance… can't afford to blow it… He thought as he climbed. I might not have that power, but… there IS something I can do… I can't just sit and watch…

As he kept on climbing, he spotted the highest doorway, and he figured he wasn't far from where one of the human readings was. The climb wasn't easy, but he suddenly gained all of his energy. Immediately, he reached for one of the blades so to pry the door open.

Then a strong metallic sound was heard as the machines started to work again…

"Hey, what was that?!" Kagami asked, noticing the metallic sound and the buzzing sound of machines.

"Maybe the Dark Hour is over?" Tsukasa asked, watching frantically around.

"No…" Kumiko said, watching outside through a window: the moon was still shining pale green. "There has to be something controlling the machines somewhere… probably a shadow in the main control room…" It's strange… did it activate the machines to lure us there… or maybe…

"Let's go get it!" Konata said, clenching her fists. "We can easily beat it…"

Kumiko shook her head. " That's not part of our mission. Now we need to focus on finding those people."

Their conversation was once again interrupted by Miyuki. "Everyone! One of the people inside the facility is really close to you, inside the generator room. The other one moved on the second floor… there's a shadow too… but it's moving so fast, I can't seem to pinpoint its location…!"

"We'll take care of the closest person. Come on, let's go to the generator room!" Kagami said, gesturing everyone to follow her.

"Wait, sis!" Tsukasa stopped her. "Do you know where the generator room exactly is?"

The pigtailed girl stopped on her tracks and puffed, hands on her waist. Then she faced the rest of the group with an annoyed and embarrassed face and grunted. Konata, who could barely stifle a laugh, contacted their navigator. "Yuki-Chan? Where's the generator room?"

As soon as the metallic sound stopped, the whole upwards tunnel Shinn was in was rumbling with the machinery buzzes. Then he felt his inside as being torn apart as he noticed he was being pulled upwards, towards the gears and wheels pulling up the elevator. Crap! This is no good!! After a first moment of loss, he promptly grabbed the other wire, that was pulled downwards and landed on the rising elevator. He was way off the top floor but if he didn't hurry and open one of the doors, the elevator would have crushed him soon! Immediately he jumped back inside the elevator and tried to stop it with the inner button. It didn't work. The elevator kept on going up and the inner door was blocked. Then it stopped again. Taking advantage of this, Shinn opened the lower emergency door with his blade and climbed the wired down back where he started. Fortunately, the first floor door was still open. As he was about there, he heard the same metallic clunk as the wire he was holding started going up rapidly. Immediately, he let it go and jumped down, instinctively looking up. His heart skipped a beat as he saw the elevator falling rapidly toward him. He had to be quick or else…

"DAMMIT!!" He desperately jumped outside, rolling on the floor a moment earlier the elevator crashed. The lad looked back to the broken elevator as the machines turned off again. He still couldn't believe what just happened. He was still shaking and could barely stand, but at least he survived.

"OK… OK… I got it… I'll walk the stairs up from now on!" He said to no one in particular with a nervous cackle as he got up on his feet.

"OK, this is it. This should be the generator room…" Kumiko said as she moved to open the door. "Locked… should have seen it coming…!"

"Oh no!! How are we going to get in now?!" Tsukasa cried as she walked to the door. Then she lost her pace, tripping on something and falling on the door, breaking through it. She immediately rose up on a sat position. "Ow…Whoops!"

"God bless Tsukasa and her clumsiness!" Konata said as she nodded.

"Hey, there's someone in here!" Kagami said as she walked inside the room: inside there was a young woman with blond hair and two deep violet eyes; she wore a beautiful blue dress with a white skirt and donned a very endowed figure. The girl seemed tense for some reason.

"H… hey… you're OK?" Kagami said, walking closer to the girl. "It's alright, we're here to get you out of here… you don't need to worry…"

"KAGAMI!! Get away from that girl!!" Kumiko said, strangely upset. The pigtailed girl didn't understand at once; then she caught a movement in the corner of her eye and could barely dodge a knife slash from the mysterious blondie.

"Sis, you OK?!" Tsukasa cried, dashing to her sister. Fortunately, she was unharmed.

"Hey, are you nuts?! We're here to help you!" Konata said, hands on both sides.

"Liars!!" the girl simply cried, pointing her knife to the group. "You're not good! Kurz said… you're bad!"

"Kurz…?!" Kumiko said, bracing herself. "Who's this Kurz?!"

Seeing Kumiko reading her weapon, the blond girl clenched her knife, biting her lower lip. "Don't… come near! Go away!" She shouted as she charged to stab her.

"Darn…" The dark-haired girl muttered. "Just what we needed, she won't listen at all…" Promptly, she dodged the girl's knife and hit her hand with the flat part of her chakram, so to avoid to cut her. Then she placed her foot on the knife, preventing her from picking it up. The blonde stepped back, clenching her aching hand as she glanced at Kumiko with hatred-filled eyes.

"Will you be quiet for now and answer our questions?" she asked in a cold tone.

The girl didn't answer… once the pain at her hand was gone, she reached something at her side and pulled a gun out.

"So she had another weapon?!" Kagami said, bracing herself. Then she noticed she wasn't going to aim her at anyone of the group; rather, she was aiming it at her own forehead, her eyes shut. "What the…?! Would she rather commit suicide?!"

"No wait…" Kumiko answered, tense. "That is not just a gun… it's an Evoker!" So this girl is a Persona-user?! Now that explains why she can act during the Dark Hour… "But… something's way off…"

As a matter of fact, the blond girl's hands were shaking violently as she couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger and she looked like she could barely even breathe. Instantly, her eyes snapped open and stared at her Evoker in shock. Then she dropped it and sunk on her knees as she moaned loudly.

Even Kumiko felt bad for her. "Although an Evoker is not a real gun, the gesture is still the same…shooting yourself to the head… it's not something easy to handle…" she said, saddened.

"Is this the reason why Kuro-Sensei made that other Evoker, Kumiko-Chan?" Tsukasa asked.

Then a male voice from the outer window boomed. "I should have known that psycho wouldn't have been able to handle it… it's so hard finding a decent helper…"

After that, a weird figure jumped inside from the window: although a man, this person was wearing a purple blouse with a white foulard, a white skirt and black stockings; he had mid-long blond hair and a smart-ass facial expression.

"Sheesh, what a bunch of bitches… I don't know who packed this group but he has bad tastes… the same tastes a certain someone I know has…"

Kumiko faced him with a cold, piercing stare. "I see… so you must be this Kurz person this girl was talking about…"

The man (?) graced her with a mock bow. "Tsk… Stellar and her big mouth… anyway, you're pretty smart for a bimbo who likes to wear ecchi tight-long stockings… just what Hentai series did you come out from?

Kumiko's eyebrow twitched as she smirked. "Hmph… I don't need to hear that from a crap-talking drag queen!"

Kurz winced and snarled: "Ugh… I'll make you swallow these words, wench… anyway… today I'm just here to recover this woman. But next time, I'll settle things with you…". Then to the girl. "We're going home, Stellar."

With that, Kurz took the girl and they both jumped off the window. When the Kagayaku girls looked outside, both him and the girl named Stellar were gone…

Stellar Loussier: A strange girl who also seems to be a Persona-user, but she still doesn't seem like being able to use her Evoker. It appears she's mentally unstable and to not like the concept of shooting herself or death itself. Looks like she's in league with Kurz, but who are they in league with and what's their true intent?

Kurz Weber (Can't say more, but some people know who I'm talking about, it's a real person): A cross-dressing mystery man (?) who shares his name, face and voice with Kurz from Fullmetal Panic, but dresses like Illya from Fate/ Stay Night. Not much is known about him, safe that he seems to know Rei and he has tendency to bash people around, but he seems like being more a nuisance than a real threat.

"Everyone?? The signal in the generator room is gone… what happened?" Miyuki said

"Forget it, Yuki-Chan… things look more complicated than expected… she wasn't going to cooperate… and she escaped." Konata replied via transceiver.

"O…oh, I see… too bad… But the other reading is still in the facility… just… the shadow is moving there" Miyuki seemed quite agitated about it.

"If that's the case we have no time to spare! Let's go on the second floor!" Kumiko said as she dashed downstairs.

Shinn was just done climbing the staircase to the second floor. He looked around, looking for the control room. Then, he spotted a pack of shadows gathering around a certain door. If that's the control room, the person trapped there will be in trouble! Taking a deep breath, he clenched both blades and connected the two hilts to make a swallow-like weapon and after focusing, he charged to the shadows with a loud yell.

The more came, the more he slashed. So this is how it feels… this is how it works… is it any different?!

Even his standard potential didn't seem to be much, although he was somehow fetching himself… Shadows… Fighting in a world I never knew… an enemy no one knows about… a battle that has nothing to do with me… what a load of crap!

Then even more kept on coming and one managed to split the connected weapon in the original twin blades.

"WHY YOU…!!" He yelled as he tried to slash one of the shadow but this time he lost the pace and fell on his knees. As the shadow moved around him, ready to maul, Shinn let go a grim and bitter cackle. Tch… I don't know why but tears keep on falling… I don't even got the time to wonder why…

Before the shadows could attack, they were crippled by a bullet killing another one of them. Immediately, they turned towards the control room's door to see a tall and thin youth with short smooth blue hair and blue-green eyes; he was wearing a white jacket above a blue shirt and white pants. Immediately, he aimed to the other two shadows and killed them. Then, once things settled down, he put his gun away and sighed, walking towards the boy.

"Shinn…? Is it really you, Shinn?" The blue-haired guy said bending over Shinn.

"Tch… of all people… it had to be YOU…" Shinn muttered, completely out of breath.

"What are you doing here? Don't you know that when it's night-time—"

But he was interrupted by a big, weird-looking shadow looking like a masked wizard wielding some sort of magic wand.

"…what is this?! I never seen one like this before…" The blue-haired guy said, pulling out his gun.

"So this is one of those that computer professor was talking about?! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!" Shinn said as he stood up. The mage-shaped shadow was about to strike him with his staff, but the blue-haired one focused on his gun and shot it at its arm.

"What are you waiting for?! Get away, Shinn!!"

"Stop spitting orders around, Athrun! This isn't ZAFT and you're not my superior!" Shinn angrily spat.

"But you're in no condition to fight!" The elder guy, Athrun, said, his grip on the gun tightening.

"Shut up! I'm not through yet!!" Damn it… my power isn't enough?!

Then both of them felt the surrounding temperature rising as the mage shadow charged his fire skill, Maragi, causing a flaming explosion on the two young men.

"Ow… he's serious, huh… damn…" Shinn muttered, his whole body burning. Once the pain soothed a little, he saw Athrun walking in front of him.

"Hey!! Are you completely nuts?! This is no ordinary shadow!!" He cried.

Athrun quietly took out something from his jacket: Shinn gasped in seeing it was a joystick-shaped evoker, like the ones Rei gave the Kagayaku members. "I know… but… I can't go back now." With that, he pressed the button and yelled: "SAVIOUR!!"

Instantly he was surrounded by a blue aura as a gigantic red robot appeared above him and used its gunpower to badly damage the shadow.

"W…what?! Athrun is a Persona-user too?!" Shinn cried in awe. "Damn, am I the only one who doesn't… NO WAY, I'M NOT ACCEPTING IT!!"

So Shinn grabbed the Evoker he got from the hotel and with a loud shout, he pressed the button, causing a blue aura to surround him as a big, mainly white and red robot-like Persona appeared. Immediately it used its big blade to finish the shadow. As soon as it disappeared, Shinn gazed at the space it was and started cackling madly, sinking on his knees.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Kagayaku members arrived where Shinn and Athrun were.

"Phew… it appears the shadows are gone!" Tsukasa sighed as she catched breath.

"Shinn, what are you doing here?!" Kagami asked.

Shinn looked at her and graced it with a mischievous smile. "What am I doing? I just had my big debut… but he's not much as an audience…"

"He?" All the girls turned to face Athtun, who surrounded itself with bishi sparks and shojo bubbles.

"And you are? Friends of Shinn's? I am Athrun. Athrun Zala. It's always a pleasure getting to know all these lovely ladies…" he said with a smooth voice as he stretched a hand to Kumiko, who completely ignored him.

"Miyuki? It appears it wasn't a complete fiasco after all… Shinn's potential is finally awake and we got one of the two people we were looking for… by the way… did you say that this guy is…"

"Ah, yes…" Miyuki said, a bit embarrassed. "I'm positive I sensed him using the potential, so this Athrun person must be a Persona-user himself."

"I see… OK, everyone, let's get out of here… and about your escape, Shinn, we'll talk about that once we're back to the hotel." She said as she walked downstairs, leaving Athrun still hand-stretched.

"It's been a while, Athrun." Rei said as he saw the newcomer with the rest of Kagayaku.

"Professor, it's good to see you… so you managed to recruit people for your team, I see… but I wouldn't have expect Shinn to be one of them." Athrun quietly said

Then, noticing that the girls were all confused, Rei explained: "Ah this is Athrun. I happened to meet him a few weeks ago and revealed he had the potential too… but he said he had to do some individual researches, so he couldn't join Kagayaku… not right away. But I decided to provide an Evoker for him anyway."

"Individual researches?" Kumiko inquired.

"Let's just say I wanted to understand the picture in this town… and I was also searching for a missing friend of mine… unfortunately, I didn't get much info… at least not relevant ones…" He suddenly fell silent and thoughtful.

Rei nodded: "Well if that's so… maybe you should quit your individual researches and join us… we have the same goal after all."

Miyuki smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You'll find your friend, Zala-San… I'm sure of it."

Athrun smiled back and immediately grasped her hand. "Thank you, Miyuki… this is your name, right? I'm so lucky having such a beautiful woman as a navigator… I can't wait to work along side you…" He said, pushing his face really close to her and causing her to blush violently.

Then, suddenly, something hit Athrun on the back of his head, causing him to fall on the ground, face first. "What the…?!" He mumbled, cleaning his face and seeing that no one was doing nothing.

"Very well." Rei said in a quiet voice as he loosened his wrist for no apparent reason. "Let's go back to the hotel. I'd say the mission is accomplished, so there's no need to stay here any longer. The Dark Hour will end soon…"

With that Kagayaku, now bigger, walked back home after completing their hard mission…

Athrun Zala: Another peculiar teenager who was mixed in the whole situation and who seems like knowing Shinn as a military superior. He's normally a cool and rational guy, but has the tendency to act as a playboy, since he tries flirting with every single girl indiscriminately. He claims he's searching for his missing friend as he tries and figure out the situation. His Persona is Saviour of the Hierophant Arcana.

NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW!!

Konata: On the next episode of PERUSURI…

Athrun: So I'll start attending school? Hehehe, can't wait… it's filled with nice girls and… OUCH!! What hit me?!

Kumiko: A hard month awaits both SEES and Kagayaku… two words: midterms exams… ugh, I hate that word!

Junpei: Amen, sister.

Shinn: If only my female classmates stopped bullying those weaker…

Yukari: Shinn-Kun, you're from 2-E, right? So do you know anything about the missing girl?

Shinn: You mean Yamagishi?

Konata: Ah, the ghost story?

Yukari: Th-th-THERE ISN'T SUCH A THING!!

Konata: Right… there isn't such a thing… and Sanada isn't gay…

Akihiko: HEY!!

Miyuki: See you all in the next exciting chapter: "A Voice from the Dark"

Kenji: You really-really-really-really-really don't want to miss it!

Shinjiro: No really. You don't want to.

Kumiko: And you are…?

Shinjiro: …You'll know in the next chapter, so be quiet and wait.

Kagami/Tsukasa: See you in the next chapter! Read and review!!

BLUE VELVET: The PeruSuri trivia channel: Ep.2

Elizabeth: Good day everyone. I see you're even more than the last episode. This is heartening. Welcome to Blue Velvet. I am Elizabeth and this here is…

Maxwell: Maxwell, nice to meet you!

Elizabeth: Say, Maxwell… why weren't you here on the last episode?

Maxwell: Well, Eliz… I kinda… er… lost the key to the Velvet Room.

Elizabeth: (Sighs) Not surprised for some reason… Anyway, I'd like to open this Blue Velvet episode with a special way to thank one of our first reviewers: Mr. Thumbsup. Takes out a piece of paper He asked a Ranma/P3 crossover for Blue Velvet. Well, Mister… we decided to invite a special guest especially for you: ladies and gentlemen, directly from the Ranma ½ show… RYOUGA HIBIKI!

Nothing happens

Elizabeth: (Teeth-clenching) Maxwell… where's our guest?

Maxwell: I-I don't know! He said he was coming here, so he should be here soon!

Elizabeth: Alright… let's wait then…

A week later… spider webs appeared here and there as Igor is dozing off

Maxwell: I doubt he's coming…

Elizabeth: Perfect… just perfect! Our share never was so low… but you know what they say: "The show must go on anyway!

Maxwell: So we'll proceed with the program?

Elizabeth: Do we have any choice? That' the way of the pros.

Maxwell: Oh… OK… for today's episode, first thing first, we want to extend you all the authoress' apologies for delaying the chapter upload, but she had a few issues…. Cough-cough-cough-lazy bum-cough-cough…

Elizabeth: And so, as a form of apologize, she provided us footage of the difficulties she met in making this second chapter, all involving the final bits…

Chapter 2 bloopers - Take 1: The Kagayaku girls are in front of the control room in the facility. Tsukasa falls on the door and the group gets in. Instead of Stellar, they see a plain-looking kid with crazy light blue hair.

"Took ya long enough, girlies." He says, puffing.

"STOP!!" Shiki screams from her director's chair. "WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?! WHO IS THAT KID!!"

"Whaddaya mean, who am I?! I'm Auel Neider, and I work with the psycho girl you recruited for this thing… I don't understand why… I mean, come on! I'm better, more sane, not to mention I wouldn't hesitate to use my powers to kill Kagayaku members! You can't do such a thing without me, I'm your man!!"

Shiki puffs and breaks a paper fan. "GET-OUT-OF-MY-SET!!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Auel says with a smirk. "Don't get so mad, grandma! You gonna get wrinkles!"

"G…GRANDMA?! Why you little…" Shiki is starting to get royally ticked off as a big guy with very short blond-greenish hair comes in and calls Auel "Mama's boy", causing him to start whining as a baby and drags him away as he sucks his own thumb.

"Someone brings me a STRONG aspirin…" Shiki says, massaging her temples.

Chapter 2 Bloopers - Take 2: "OK guys" Shiki says to the PS crew. "This is the most important bit. Do it well, do it with enthusiasm… you ready?"

Everybody says "YEAH!!" As Stellar is busy reading the script, a horrified look on her face.

Then later, the chapter arrives to the part where Kagayaku meet Stellar, but she's not on the set.

"STOP!! WHERE'S STELLAR?!" Shiki cries. Then she feels someone tapping her shoulder and turns around to see Stellar with an "ON STRIKE!" sign.

"Stellar… WHAT… is the meaning of this?!" The authoress snarls.

"Strike means strike. Stellar is on strike." Stellar says, nodding as she crosses her arms. "Here it says: Stellar must shoot herself to the head… Stellar won't do it! When you shoot yourself to the head you die… dying is bad… Stellar won't do this scene!!" She cries angrily as Shiki bangs her head on a wall.

Auel pops out once again: "Hey-hey! I'll do her scene!!"

Konata walks near to Auel and whispers: "Mama's boy…" causing him to run off, screaming.

"Thanks, Konata…" Shiki says as she spits the gun she was putting in her mouth.

Elizabeth: Are those kids all like this?... For some reason, I think we haven't seen the last of Auel…

Maxwell: At least we know how to deal him…hehehe, me? I don't have a block-word. Nuh-huh. I'm nigh invincible!

Elizabeth: Hmmmm… (Approaches to Maxwell) Turpentine…

Maxwell: Tu…tu…turp… YAAAAAAAAAAAH!! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!! (Falls on the floor with convulsions and foam coming out of his mouth)

Elizabeth: Well, it worked more than expected. Well I'm afraid time has ran out, we have to bid you farewell… I hope to see you all next time… later days! (To Maxwell) OK, we're done… let's go… Er… Maxwell?? (Pokes him) Aw, he's totally KO… (Drags him away as everyone walk away)

The Velvet Room is deserted…

A lad in yellow with a leopard bandanna and one with green hair accompanied by two kitties walk inside

Lad in Yellow: (Pants) We…we're finally here… Hi everyone…

Green-haired Lad: Er… hey, there's no one here!

Lad in Yellow: If I only didn't get lost… AGAIN?! I wanted Akane-Chan to see me on TV! (Cries)

Green-haired Lad: Sorry, Ryouga… I can't help but feeling responsible…

Black Kitty (Kuro): It IS your fault… he got lost even more since he met you Masaki!

White Kitty (Shiro): You're both hopeless…

Masaki: SHUT UP!!