This chapter, I'll be introducing a familiar character to this story! Who is it? You'll have to read to find out. Enjoy!

July 25, 2009, Saturday, After School

When the last day of classes before summer break was over, Seth visited the SEES dorm to check on Fuuka's condition.

"How's Fuuka doing?" Seth asked.

Mitsuru shook her head. "She'll be fine, but she's been pushing herself too far supporting both of our teams in Tartarus, as well as our extensive excursion last night."

"But why now of all times?" She questioned. "We haven't been to Tartarus in weeks!"

"SEES did visit Tartarus between the last full moon and Yakushima. Although… perhaps Fuuka's been hiding this exhaustion for a while now."

Seth put his arm against the wall and leaned toward it. "You're probably far more prepared for the coming battle than we are."

"Can't your superiors send someone with a support Persona?"

"Daichi, Kasumi and Homura are contacting headquarters as we speak, but even I doubt they can spare a new recruit. We aren't exactly that big of an organization."

Mitsuru sighed. "If that turns out to be the case, we advise you and your team from exploring Tartarus until Yamagishi fully recovers."

"But we'd be going back to where we were when she first joined our cause. We'd be running her ragged all over again. It'd be best if my team went into Tartarus without support, just like we did before we teamed up."

"Are you insane?! You'd get yourselves killed! I understand you had to at first, but I refuse to let you enter that tower without some form of support!"

"Would you rather Fuuka get sick again?!"

Seth and Mitsuru watched each other, the former waiting for the latter to give a response.

"… No." Mitsuru answered. "For now, see if Heiwa is willing to give a support Persona user. If they can't, we'll discuss it another time."

Mitsuru walked toward and up the staircase as Seth left the dorm in a slightly bad mood.

July 25, 2009, Saturday, Evening

Seth arrived back at his dorm and saw all of his teammates sitting around in the lobby.

"… Please tell me they're sending someone!" Seth groaned.

"Well…" Luke hesitated to properly answer. "They aren't."

"Dammit!" Seth slammed his head against the wall. "… OW!"

"There's a silver lining, though!" Kasumi stood up in optimism. "Dad said they were keeping their eyes on this girl and she might have the potential, just like Fuuka-chan."

"How do you know she has a support Persona?" Seth asked.

"… We don't." Kasumi responded. "All we know is she might be a Persona user."

"Then we'd be taking a complete gamble." Seth said. "But it's the best chance we've got right now."

"Headquarters was kind enough to send us her picture." Daichi handed a photograph to Seth.

The photograph depicted a somewhat short girl with long turquoise hair, glasses and was wearing the Gekkoukan uniform.

"Another Gekkoukan student?" Seth asked.

"Her name is Fumiko Kazuya." Daichi stated before blushing. "A bespectacled beauty that lives up to her looks. She's a first year student who's always at the top of her class and she's super polite. First Hottie Homura, then Emi, then…" Daichi looked at Kasumi and panicked. "Kasumi's a looker, that's all I'll say…"

"Thanks for at least acknowledging my appeal this time." Kasumi said.

"And now we've got this cutie!" Daichi then began salivating.

"… Y-you scare me when you d-do that." Luke said.

"She stays at the girls' main dorm, so it should be a cinch for me to tail her tomorrow and help you keep tabs." Emi said.

"And that's why Emi's our recon expert!" Nobuo said. "She's always willing to do it and never complains! Just like me."

"Is spying on her really necessary?" Seth asked. "I know we need information, but this is invasion of privacy... though to Emi, it's normal at this point."

"It's extreme, but Headquarters has informed us that the Hands of Anarchy have been spotted in the area." Homura said. "Only a few, but that's more than enough to say they've got their eyes on her, too."

"No way!" Daichi proudly denied. "A girl that nice would never fight for the Hands of Anarchy!"

"They might not give her a choice." Homura brought up. "I wouldn't put it past the Hands to threaten her life or loved ones to force her to join."

"If they do, I'll kill every last one of them!" Daichi growled crazily.

"Now you're really scaring me." Luke said.

July 26, 2009, Sunday, Daytime

All of the members of Heiwa stationed at Iwatodai were at random parts of the city, except for Emi who had been following the young girl, Fumiko Kazuya, all the way from her dormitory. Seth and Luke were by themselves in front of Paulownia Mall with the older brother listening in on the earpiece connecting him with his friends.

"Emi, what's the status on Fumiko?" Seth asked while pressing his earpiece.

"She just finished breakfast and left the dorm." Emi's voice crackled. "I'll continue following her and update you on her whereabouts."

"Don't get jumped by the Hands of Anarchy." Seth said.

"Nobody jumps on me. I'm the one who does the jumping."

The communications were cut off for the moment and Seth turned back to the mall's entrance.

"Want to check out the mall?" Seth asked.

"Do we have to?" Luke asked.

"You want to get over your social anxieties, right?" Seth asked.

Luke thought about it for a moment and finally sighed. "All right…"

The brothers walked inside the mall and looked around. There were a lot of people walking around Paulownia today and Luke couldn't help but look down at his shoes.

"Are your shoes really that interesting?" Seth jokingly asked.

Luke didn't want to humor his brother with a response and Seth looked around at various stores.

"How about we go to Power Records?" Seth suggested.

"You know I'm not into music." Luke replied.

"And you need SOME kind of music to be into." Seth said. "Pop, rock, symphonic, anything."

Seth grabbed Luke by his arm and they entered the music store Power Records. There were a variety of CDs on display and one in particular had caught Seth's attention.

"Ooh, Risette!" Seth exclaimed as he picked up one of the CD cases.

"Is she big or something?" Luke asked.

"Only the biggest idol in Japan right now!" Seth answered. "She's really been rising in popularity since her debut." Seth put on a pair of earphones on his free ear to listen to the sample the store offered of certain songs. After several seconds had passed, he took off the earphones and handed them to Luke. "… Hear listen to this."

Luke sighed. "Okay, I'll humor you this time, Seth."

Luke put on the earphones and Seth restarted the sample song. At first it was a guitar solo, then combined with trumpets before the vocals finally came in.

You got yourself behind a door deep inside your heart, again
You wanna hide, you wanna come out, going round and round

At that moment, the song had caught Luke's attention and he paid careful attention to the lyrics.

Thinking hard about it doesn't help you one bit
Say Hello
You gotta say goodbye, the shrouds of lies, yeah!

Shout, friends! Just those words you feel that you need
And let your voice be heard all over the world
Stand up when you hear the knock on the door
It's me, come on out;
Get ready for your True Story

Seth could make out that the song had ended and approached Luke.

"So… What did you think, Luke?" Seth asked.

Luke silently took off the earphones and turned to Seth.

"… You want to know what I think, Seth?" Luke asked.

"Yes! Yes!" Seth replied excitedly.

Luke took a deep breath, placed the earphones back on the stand and looked straight into his brother's eyes.

"… Can we buy this?" Luke asked.

"Of course!" Seth locked Luke in a bear hug and lifted him off the ground. "I'll buy you anything you want!"

"Okay, I think you're a bit too happy right now." Luke said.

"Seth, can you hear me?" Emi's voice came from Seth's earpiece and he pressed his fingers against it.

"Emi?" Seth asked. "What's going on?"

"She's heading into the book store at Iwatodai Station." Emi answered. "There's been no sign of the Hands of Anarchy as of yet, but don't let your guards down."

"Gotcha." Seth responded before the communication ended. "Luke, want to go get some shaved ice?"

Luke nodded and the two left Power Records after purchasing the Risette CD.

After spending some time in Bookworms, Fumiko walked out with several more books in her bag than she had when she entered.

"Bunkichi-san and Mitsuko-san are always so nice." Fumiko said to herself.

Meow.

Fumiko looked toward the ground and saw a black cat sitting in front of her.

"Hello there." Fumiko knelt down and spoke to the cat in a softer voice than the already had.

While Fumiko was petting the cat, it was eyeing the locket hanging from her neck. In a flash, the cat snatched the locket off of her and ran away from her.

"Hey!" Fumiko somewhat shouted. "Give that back to me!"

Fumiko chased after the cat as fast as she could. Hiding from behind the stairwell at the strip mall, Emi popped out and watched Fumiko run off.

"… Oh boy…" Emi said.

The Carter brothers were sitting on benches just outside of Paulownia Mall and just finished eating their shaved ice after Seth had spent a half hour in line just to get it from the dessert vendor hanging about around the area.

"So, anywhere else you want to go around here?" Seth asked.

"Why are you asking me that?" Luke questioned. "You've been in this city much longer than I have."

"Seth, we've got a problem." Emi's voice cracked through the elder brother's earpiece.

"Emi?" Seth asked while pressing on his ear piece.

"She's on the move, and very quickly. She's heading toward your zone. If you see a black cat running by, catch it."

"What does a black cat have to do with-"

"Just do it!"

"Yeesh, no need to be testy." Seth said before looking around. "Luke, you see a black cat anywhere?"

"Emi, what are you thinking?!" Homura's voice shouted through earpiece speakers.

"And no need to shout, either." Seth commented. "We can hear you fine, Homura."

"If they let a black cat cross their path-" Homura said.

"Your silly superstitions again?!" Emi interrupted her. "We can't let this take priority over the mission!"

While Seth was caught listening to the two girls arguing over the communication line, Luke was looking around in search of some sign of Fumiko or the black cat Emi had mentioned. Despite the large number of people wandering about the entrance to Paulownia Mall, Luke managed to spot a black cat with a locket in its mouth running like the wind and following it was Fumiko.

"Seth!" Luke tried to get his brother's attention.

Seth had to pull out his earpiece to hear what his brother was saying. "What is it?"

Luke simply pointed toward the cat and Fumiko having their chase.

"Let's go!" Seth said.

The brothers ran after Fumiko and the cat while being mindful of any people that were in their way.

"Excuse us! Sorry! Excuse us! Sorry! Sorry!" Luke kept apologizing to anyone they were passing by.

Eventually, the cat ran into an alley and made a sharp turn partway through. Kimiko, a bit behind, stopped when she saw the cat slip into the alley and was about to enter when someone's voice spoke to her.

"Don't go in there!"

Fumiko looked toward the sound of the voice to see Seth and Luke running up to her.

"B-but the cat has my locket." Fumiko said.

"I'm presuming the locket has sentimental value?" Luke guessed.

Fumiko face became a bit sad and she nodded.

"My brother and I will get it back for you." Luke said. "We wouldn't want you getting jumped by thugs."

Fumiko looked at Luke with serious eyes. "You have no idea how important that locket is to me! I have to see this through all the way! I'm going with you!"

Luke wasn't sure what to do, so he turned to Seth to see that he was thinking hard about it, evident by his closed eyes.

"… Alright." Seth said when he reopened his eyes. "You can come, so long as you stay close to me."

Fumiko nodded firmly and the three moved through the alley with Seth taking point, Fumiko walking close behind him and Luke keeping an eye on the rear. As soon as Seth made the turn the cat had made, he saw it jump onto a person's shoulder and drop the locket right into that person's palm. That person happened to be wearing a white cloak and mask that completely covered every inch of his body.

"We were hoping the girl would be lured here unattended." The cloaked man spoke with his voice disguised by a filter within the mask. He then petted the cat's chin with his index finger. "Very good, Kagegiri."

*It's just Seth and I here and neither of us brought our weapons.* Luke began analyzing their situation as if time had stopped all around him. *Seth can fight with his fists, but that agent might be concealing a weapon somewhere. We need to get that locket back, but I don't want my brother getting hurt in the process. There's got to be something around here that we can use as a distraction and jump him before he has the chance to pull out his weapon.*

"Give me back my locket!" Fumiko shouted at the cloaked man.

"I promise to give it back to you…" The cloaked man dangled the locket in front of him to taunt them. "On one condition."

Fumiko was about to step forward, but Luke quickly put his arm in front of her to stop her.

"Whatever they are offering, don't take it." Luke said. "I know you want your locket back, but if you accept, it won't lead to anything good."

"I haven't even detailed her end of the bargain." The figure calmly said. "Perhaps I would only ask for something small."

"We know what you're going to ask of her." Seth spoke up. "Especially since your clothes belong to the Hands of Anarchy."

"Huh?" Fumiko seemed confused now. "What?"

"This guy's trying to force you to join his gang and help them bring people nothing but suffering." Seth said. "That's the short version, anyway."

The cat, Kagegiri, hissed at Seth, his hair and tail standing straight up with its fangs bared.

"You two young men are Americans." The figure said before eyeing Seth. "Did one of you perchance kill a follower of our cause?"

"… That would be me." Seth answered.

"You killed someone?!" Fumiko gasped.

"In self-defense. I'll explain later." Seth clarified and returned his focus to the figure. "Want revenge or something?"

"You must be quite powerful to take down one of our Generals." The figure said. "However, it is not the Dark Hour right now, is it?"

Luke thought something caught his eye and looked at the ground to see some concrete pebbles on the ground.

"Seth, we should run." Luke slowly backed away while grabbing Fumiko's arm.

"Why?" Seth asked.

Suddenly Seth could feel shade over his head and his instinct was to jump backwards as another figure with a white cloak and mask dropping to the ground and landing with the tips of a pair of knives nicking the ground.

"Fuck!" The new figure exclaimed, his voice disguised by a filter as well. "There goes my promotion!"

"Hey, watch your language around my brother." Seth scolded the figure.

"Could you stop treating me like a baby?" Luke asked.

"My knives have been itching to plunge into something." The new figure said before turning to the first figure. "May I?"

"Not even a scrape on the girl." The White Cloak with the cat replied. "That's your only restriction."

"Works for me!" The White Cloak with the knives flipped one of them in the air before dashing in on the two.

*No!* Luke thought. *He's too fast! We can't outrun him and we can't fight either!*

"FREEZE!"

The White Cloaks stopped what they were doing and turned around behind them to see several cops pointing their guns at them. At that moment, someone tapped Seth on the shoulder and he turned his head and saw Emi hiding behind him.

"You're welcome." Emi whispered.

"We've been compromised." The first White Cloak said. "Rogue."

The other White Cloak responded to the name and turned back to his partner.

"Dammit!" Rogue groaned. "I didn't even get to stab anything!"

The two Hands of Anarchy members threw down smoke bombs that shrouded everything in a cloud of dust that completely obscured everyone's vision. When the smoke dispersed, it was as if they both vanished.

July 26, 2009, Sunday, Evening

After being taken in and questioned by the police, Seth, Emi and Luke were in the station lobby with Fumiko sitting in a chair.

"Did they really have to take us in?" Emi questioned.

"They just wanted us to give details so they can search for them." Seth replied. "I doubt they can do anything, though."

"Fumiko?" Luke turned to her and noticed her gloomy expression.

"They…" Fumiko mumbled. "They still have my locket…"

"We promised we'd get your locket back, Fumiko, and we intend to keep it." Luke assured her.

"R… really?" Fumiko raised her head a bit with a hint of hope.

Luke nodded with confidence and a smile and Fumiko smiled with him.

"Th-thank you so much!" Fumiko almost sobbed in joy. "How can I ever repay you?!"

"Actually, there is something we could use your help with." Seth spoke up.

"Hm?" Fumiko looked toward Seth.

"We were actually looking for you for a similar reason as to those cloaked thugs earlier." Seth stated. "Unlike them, we're giving you a choice and you can always back out. Though it'll take a bit of explaining. We'll take you back to our dorm for the night and explain everything there."

A/N: Okay… So this story is turning out much differently than I was originally intending and I don't seem to be getting many views or reviews on it. Because of these, I am considering of discontinuing this story in about a month. If nobody speaks up about how much they like the story, how I can improve and so on, I will officially discontinue it and eventually delete it. Maybe I'll reboot it again, much like the Spider-Man movies, or maybe I'll bring in the characters in a future project for another series. I don't know where this story and its characters will go should this fan fiction end, but I'm giving it and the readers one more chance before any final decisions. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed!