Chapter 2: The fool's Anomaly
Backtracking to the morning of April 8th, school would just be ending after the bell rang. Junpei would notice that Yukari didn't move from her seat like the other students did so he walked up to her and with a smile and a wave of his hand he says. "Yo Yuka-tan I didn't know my charm has made you silent once more." "Oh put a lid on it, Stupei!" Yukari says snapping back at Junpei like usual. "Wow, that's cold. I was just trying to cheer you up, Yuka-tan." Junpei says, drooping his head down; With both of his hands down at his sides but continuing anyway. "What got you so distracted, Yuka-tan. I don't think I ever was able to get the drop on you." Junpei said with concern in his eyes. "It's this new student that moved into the dorms yesterday. He feels off… And unusually calmer than normal." Yukari was fiddling with her thumbs when she said this. "Like he has this aura that feels kinda familiar yet I know I never felt it before"... Junpei would continue to listen to Yukari. He would just stare at her for a few seconds, not knowing what to say to her. "Would you like to hang out then? Maybe I can get your mind off of it." Junpei said, holding out his hand to her. "Is this just your way of trying to go out on a date with me?" Yukari raises her brow at Junpei, who jumps a little at her perception. "Normally I would say no, but this time sure. Where to?" Junpei would mentally celebrate with this. They would go around to some places like the park and have some fun then would go to Wildduck Burger afterward. They take their seat and made there order. When their order arrive Junpei would begin talking. "Wow , why are these burgers so huge?! Do they really expect us to eat this?!" Junpei complains. "You were the one who chose to come here! Why did you pick it if you were just going to complain?" Yukari would eat some of the fries and shake her head from the taste. "What did they put in these fries???" Yukari would look at Junpei. "You know. I actually enjoyed my time with you for a change. Good job." Yukari said with a smirk at Junpei. "Yeah I know I'm gre- wait what do you mean 'for once'!?" Junpei said, slightly raising his voice in shock, which got a laugh from Yukari. "I was always this fun to hang out with. The ladies go crazy when they see me." He said, puffing out his chest. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure they do." Right there Yukari would receive a text from Mitsuru telling her to quickly come home so they can discuss things. Yukari read through it and picked up her bag off the floor. "Junpei, I need to go for today." She gets up and starts walking away. "Oh yeah. The bills on you." she said, exiting Wildduck burger as the waiter would be ready to get the bill. "Wait what?!?!" Junpei said with a shocked expression that she would do that. He then picks up the bill and as he looks at it his hand shakes from seeing the price and how much yen was in his wallet. He would then hang his head low knowing that he would have to pay it another way… At the dorms. Yukari, Mitsuru, and Ikutsuki would be sitting in the monitor room, monitoring Makoto. "Kirijo-senpai, why did you text me to come here early?" "Well Takeba I called you here so we could see if Makoto Yuki has the potential." Mitsuru said like a professional. The same thing from chapter one happens and Yukari would be running with Makoto up the stairs as she thinks to herself. "Its that same feeling as before. We couldn't sense from the monitor, but now that I'm close to him I can feel something within him. It's almost warm and dangerous…" She thought. Afterward the same thing from Chapter 1 would happen and days would pass. It is now April 10. Makoto was sent to hospital to rest. "He still seems to be sleeping. I should've done something to help him back there. Why couldn't I? I wanted to protect him. Why didn't I? I swore… That I would… Protect him…. Yet…. i couldn't…" Tears were starting to form in her eyes. Clenching her hands tightly. She then wipes her face and stands up. She then walks out of the room and goes outside. She would then go up to Mitsuru at the dorm. "Mitsuru I need some help." More days would pass. April 13. Yukari would be checking up on Makoto once again. Yukari puts her hand in Makoto's. "That feeling is still there. It never weakened. Its still warmer than ever." Yukari face would loosen from the warmth coming from Makoto's hand. He slowly wakes up, opening each of his eyes slowly one after the other. "Where am I?" Makoto says still groggy. "You're in the hospital. You passed out for 5 days after what happened on the roof." Makoto nods. Understanding where he was now. "I'm sorry I didn't protect you when you were attacked." Yukari looks down, ashamed of herself for not protecting him earlier. Makoto thought about what she said and understood why she struggled. He would then hold Yukari's hand. "It's fine. It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have seen that coming." Yukari looks at Makoto not knowing how she should respond to that other than thank you, but she knew she had to do stuff before she could do anything else. Hours pass and Makoto and Yukari went back to the dorms with three other people. Ikutsuki, Mitsuru, and Akihiko. Makoto Looks at Ikutsuki with a serious look, not wanting to put his guard around him. "Oh. Someone seems to be on guard. Maybe you should 'cool' down." Ikutsuki said, chuckling to himself from his joke. Yukari groans from this joke from Ikutsuki. "Let me introduce them. The one who thinks he's funny is Shuji Ikutsuki, the owner of the dorms. And the other one is Akihiko Sanada." Akihiko gives a short wave of his hand "Yo." "We heard about what you did and decided that you will be a perfect addition to our team." Mitsuru said. Following up, Akihiko would continue. "We are a group of people that goes out at nighttime to fight these things called shadows. We do that by summoning these things that we call-" Akihiko would be interrupted when Makoto says "persona" Yukari would then speak up "Yeah… Thats right…" Mitsuru would then be shocked, but wouldn't show it on her face. She would then let Yukari continue. "We as S-E-E-S use our personas to beat shadows and clear the Dark Hour, which is a phenomenon that happens at midnight." Mitsuru would then pick up from Yukari. "We would like for you to join us in the pursuit of ending the Dark Hour." Which Makoto would nod without much hesitation. "Good then we can start making our way to it" Yukari would be confused when she said it, not hearing that there was something they would have to go to do this. They all would walk at the door when Akihiko would then say something. "Oh yeah. I told someone else to meet us there on the way. I tested him and confirmed that he also has the potential." Mitsuru would sigh not knowing who it was but would just continue onward to their location. When they go to their destination they would see the school ahead. "Is that… our school? Why would we be ..." Yukari would drift off when she sees something in the distance. When they get closer they would see someone. "JUNPEI?!" Yukari yells, clearly shocked from this. Junpei, in the distance would put his hand over his eyes to see the group walking towards him as he heard Yukari's yell. He would then smile widely and wave at the group. When they meet with him, Yukari would start. "Why is Junpei here? Didn't you say we found ourselves a new person who would join?" Yukari says, whispering to Akihiko. "Yeah I did say that, and they're right there in front of us." Akihiko says back. "That's right. I am a part of the team. I'm gonna lead this team to victory with my home run swing!" Junpei says with almost too much energy while emphasizing swinging an imaginary bat in his hands. "You're telling me that Junpei can wield a persona?! A dog would have more potential than him!" Yukari points her hand at Junpei. Junpei looks at Yukari a little hurt that she said that. "Yuka-tan you cant possibly mean that,"... "Well he is. I found him leaving Wildduck burger after the shadow was chasing me. Pissed himself after we ran by and afterward I watched him." Junpei would be doing a motion at Akihiko to tell him to stop but then he hears Yukari giggling at him. "Why were you there to begin with?" "Well, You left me there to pay the bill. And because I couldn't pay for it I had to wash the dishes instead." Junpei said, mad at Yukari for doing that. Yukari chuckles, then looks at Mitsuru. "So why are we here? You said it was to show us Tartarus, but you just led us to our school." Akihiko answers "Oh you'll see soon. Make sure not to blink." Yukari would look at Akihiko confused and a little concerned. It would then hit midnight as Dark Hour began to happen. Their school which was originally 3 stories would then begin to morph and shape itself into a big tower. The tower itself looked like it had was combined with multiple buildings and stairs on the outside, with multiple clocks and blood dripping from it like a waterfall. At the top was a clock that was split down the middle. Junpei's mouth would be wide open, looking up at the tower. He couldn't believe his eyes. Yukari although shock wasn't nearly as shock as Junpei. Mitsuru would look at Makoto, who would show no reaction to it whatsoever. "Why did our school turn into this?!?" Junpei said with his mouth still wide open. Having to wipe his eyes from looking up so high. "This is what happens when its midnight. This seems to happen. We are gonna explore Tartarus because it might be connected to ending the dark hour." Mitsuru says, as everyone makes their way into Tartarus. Junpei whispers to Yukari. "How big do you think it is?" Yukari would whisper back "I don't know. I have never seen this before." They were now in Tartarus. It was a big space with a circular platform. In the middle was a big staircase that led up to a large clock with a door in it. Mitsuru would hand everyone their weapons. Makoto with a sword, Yukari with a bow, and Junpei with a two handed sword. "Before we enter, we need to discuss who the leader would be." When Mitsuru would talk about who the leader would be, Junpei would immediately jump and quickly say. "Well clearly the leader is obvious." Junpei was overconfident with his chest out. And would hit his chest with his hand, puffing out some air from his nose. "I would be ok with anyone but Junpei leading us." Yukari said right after. "Ok then. Makoto you would be leading." Makoto nods. "Oh come on! Why have him lead? Look at him, he's so skinny. He looks like a shadow would eat him alive at the very sight of him." Junpei said with jealousy in his voice. "Well makoto has shown way more potential than anything you both have done. He also summoned his persona without any difficulty. Can any of you do that?" Mitsuru said which made Junpei surprised at what he heard. "Fine, but you better not screw this up." Junpei says at Makoto who nods. "It'll only be you three so far as Akihiko is still recovering and I need to navigate you all through tartarus. We will go over the basics of fighting and then leave afterward." Everyone nods as they enter tartarus. When they entered Tartarus, the halls and open areas would look like their school. "Wow. I can't believe we are still in the school." Junpei said holding his weapon, looking around. "Everything feels so surreal still." Yukari said looking, catching some glimpses at Makoto as she still feels the aura from him. Everyone would then hear something in their heads. "Be careful there is a shado-" "Oh my god, i'm going schizophrenic!!!" Junpei interrupts. "Iori, it's just me. I'm speaking to you using my persona's abilities. Now if you would. There is a shadow ahead. I'm going to teach you how to fight them." But before Mitsuru got the chance to start explaining, Makoto would rush at it; causing the shadow to look towards them. Mitsuru would raise her voice slightly. "Yuki! What are you doing! I wasn't done explaining!" But Makoto would side step the shadows attack and hit it with an upward jumping slash from behind which would knock it forward and leave it surrounded by Makoto, Junpei, and Yukari. It would then reveal its true form as a flying orb with a mouth and its tongue sticking out. Black goo dripped from its body. This would surprise Mitsuru. Makoto's moves were almost flawless and smooth. The other two, Junpei and Yukari would also just stand their shock at him. "G-Good job Yuki. You surrounded the enemy." Mitsuru was still in shock by how quickly he did that, which would make Yukari think, not expecting that even the Mitsuru Kirijo would stutter. Makoto would then take his evoker and summon his persona. Which would be normal Orpheus. He was a little surprised that Orpheus was turned back to normal. But he wouldn't think about it much as he shrugged it off and fired it with a fire attack at it. He intentionally uses agi to not look suspicious and knock the enemy down. He would then give a command. "The enemy's down! Go all out!" The other two would nod without thinking as they do the all out attack on the shadow, beating it. Mitsuru wouldn't say much about it other than good job and would keep an eye out on Makoto. "Good job, Yuki. I think its appropriate to go up a few more floors. The three would nod. They would continue up a few floors. Finding chests and breakable items along the way. They found multiple items that do elemental damage and some healing items. They are now on the 11th. Makoto more than proved his place as leader. "Have you ever wondered who left these chests that we keep finding everywhere?" Junpei would ask Mitsuru. Mitsuru takes a while to respond but would then talk. "No, I don't. But we should open them. They seem to have a faint energy coming from them. Its very similar to us, yet it's still different." They would make there way to the room. The room was big yet empty. "There's nothing he-" "Get back!" Makoto would pull Junpei out of the way as a shadow would land on it. The shadow had a head of a golden lion with one big wheel connected to it. Spikes would be on the side of the wheel. The shadow was the same size as the three of them. "Be careful. A strong enemy is with you." Makoto would look at the other two, who nods and get in position. Makoto would then grab one of the items suddenly and throw it at it. When the item hits it, it would create a weak wind vacuum that would hit the shadow and knock it down, Makoto would then rush at them and hit it 5 times with his sword, one horizontal slash to the right then one to the left, he then thrust its sword to the center of it, afterward would slash upward and jump. He finishes his attack with a slam downward with his sword, which makes the shadow dizzy. Junpei would about to do an all out attack when makoto would interrupt him. "No wait Junpei!" Junpei stops in his track with shock. Makoto would then pass his turn to Yukari. Yukari would then summon her persona and hit the enemy with a garu spell which would knock it out of its dizzy state. Then Makoto would give a nod to Junpei, He would summon his own persona, Hermes and he would use slash on them, which crits and finish the enemy. Their job now down for today they would continue back to the first floor and meet back with Mitsuru. "You all did great" Mitsuru says though wary of Makoto and his information. They would all then leave Tartarus for the day.