Shin Megami Tensei

Persona 3: RES

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Persona 3, SMT, or any of the characters in this fic. They all belong to Atlus, which is busy making Persona 4.

Prologue:

You're late. I've been waiting a long time for You.

It was ten o'clock in the evening. The moon, covered by a thick sheet of black clouds, began to appear out of the darkness and shine its light upon the city. A nearby electronics shop had several televisions in the window for display, mostly tuned into the evening news.

"The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has concluded in a year-long study, that Apathy Syndrome has finally disappeared, and will likely not surface again. The cause of the mysterious illness is not known, and probably never will be, as the MHLW is officially closing the investigative chapter of the study. Professor Shirakawa is here with us tonight to discuss the ramifications of the…"

Lights go off around the city, including the electronics shop. The evening news was halted that night. Small clatter could be heard in the distance, but not from the traffic. If one discounted the shocked gasps coming from the citizens of Iwatodai that night, you could have heard small howling coming from the shrine…

The Next Morning

"And now let us give a round of applause for this year's class president, from class 3-D, Yukari Takeba," a short, round man declared as he exited the stage of Gekkoukan High School's auditorium. He held his arm out for the beautiful senior to take the stage from him, and she waited until the audience quieted down until she began to speak.

"Thank you all so much for your courtesy. It fills me with pride and joy to speak to you like this today…"

She wore a pink cardigan over a white dress shirt, and an extremely small, yet not revealing, black skirt. She was the class president of this year's graduating senior class, and while she was the prettiest, most popular student in the school, that didn't stop Junpei from talking…

"So I says to 'em, 'go on in', and what d'ya know? It's the woman's bath! Oh man, you should've seen his face, or should I say, her face," he pointed sneakily at Takeba. She noticed Stupei talking but decided not to make a scene out of it.

"No way!" snickered Kenji Tomochika, who pointed again at Yukari.

"Yeah, totally! It seriously happened, I'm not lying. Scouts' honor!" Junpei exclaimed, putting his hand over his heart. Of course he wasn't exactly a scout, but he had fought demons last year and won, so that must have counted.

"Hey, quiet down you two!" shouted a teacher, and they both shut their faces quickly. They agreed to talk more after graduation was done.

"That is why I must say thank you to all my friends and classmates that have supported us in the last three years. So, thank you," Yukari quickly bowed, then walked elegantly off the stage, to much applause, of course.

As soon as the rest of the faculty had finished taking their turn at addressing the students, what was left of S.E.E.S. met outside. Junpei brought along Kenji, for good measure.

"Thanks for talking during my speech, Stupei."

"Hey! Do you have to call me that? How about we kiss and make up?"

"Ew!"

"Hey, you guys, stop!" yelled Fuuka as loud as she could, which still wasn't quite loud.

"Oh, sorry, Fuuka." Said Yukari, "so, what do you guys say to some karaoke in celebration of our graduation?" she asked, to the unanimous praise of everyone else. Kenji silently elbowed Junpei to give the impression of 'let's pick up some fine college chicks at the karaoke bar,' and the two "men" snickered about their "mature" plans all the way to Paulownia.

Fuuka and Yukari had idle small chat on their way to the karaoke bar. Things along the lines of, "I like your dress" or "how's your cooking going?"

Junpei and Kenji, made idle chatter, too. Things along the lines of, "Did Ms. Toriumi get bigger?" or "Yukari looked really cute today."

This was the time they were celebrating. When all worries escaped them for this one day, and indeed, when they got to the karaoke bar, things did seem that way. A small television set in the corner of the bar was playing a baseball game, while Yukari and Fuuka rocked it out to the tunes of Kimi no Kioku or Burn My Dread.

"So, who do you think will win this game, eh Kenji? I think the Swallows will beat the Giants today."

"The Giants? Defeated? Junpei, you really are Stupei," Kenji laughed.

"Hey!"

Soon, the baseball game was cut off short, as a special news bulletin was announced.

"Hey, what giv-"

"We interrupt today's baseball game between the Tokyo Giants and the Tokyo Swallows with an extremely important announcement from the Ministry of Justice. Today, at exactly 1:41 PM, 

Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested a terrorist suspected of attempting to blow up Tokyo Tower. This comes from an extremely reliable source within the Ministry of Justice, and has been confirmed by eyewitnesses. The terrorist was described as a follower of a doomsday cult that died off early last year. He was planning on carrying out a suicide mission while leaving a note outside the tower. The note reads "Nyx is dead. Nyx is dead. Beware the Reaper. Beware the Reaper."

"Authorities have no clue what the message means right now, however, police say that today's attempted bombing is somehow related to the incident last week in the city of Iwatodai. We will give you more information as it comes in."

Kenji sat there puzzled. Wondering, like most citizens, why some cultist would want to blow himself up in the middle of Japan. And what did that message even mean?

Junpei, however, knew the answer. And so did the girls, whose singing had suddenly gone way off pitch. Junpei pulled Yukari off to the side by her arm, Fuuka followed.

"Did you just hear that?" asked Junpei, a slightly frightened look on his face.

"Yeah, I did." Replied Yukari, "Fuuka?"

"Yes?"

"We're going back to the dorm, when we get there, do you think you can analyze the city to detect any threats?"

"I-I can try, but, Yukari-chan.."

"Good, we're leaving…now."

They left karaoke bar, and Kenji, in a hurried daze. Terrorism had been on the rise recently in Japan, but this was the first real lead the police had into the matter, and, of course, it was just up the S.E.E.S. alley of paranormal, psychologically screwed up situations.

When they got back to the dorm, they found two familiar faces. Well, three, actually, if you counted Koromaru;. Mitsuru and Akihiko had returned from university upon hearing the news. Even though the dorm was set to be closed down after today, Mitsuru had the contract renewed for another month after today's events.

"I'm guessing you saw the news?" asked Yukari, when she spotted the two university sophomores.

"We came as fast as we could, but it takes a while to reach Iwatodai from Tokyo. I was thinking of doing a scene analysis, but there were too many police. Fuuka, I trust your skills haven't diminished?" asked Mitsuru.

"No! Absolutely not, senpai!"

"Good, we're going to need you tonight. For the next few nights, actually. Yukari, I'm relieving you of your position as interim S.E.E.S. leader and assuming my old position."

"Y-yes."

Mitsuru, back in her position of authority, quickly began barking orders, "okay, we're going on lockdown from now until Spring Break. As soon as another attack happens, I want you, Fuuka, to analyze what happened immediately after. I want to know who did it, and what they're after, and especially what they have to do with Nyx!"

"Y-yes." Fuuka was trembling, less from fear than the immense responsibility placed upon her now.

"Akihiko, I want you to go over the old cultist material from last year. Junpei…walk Koromaru."

"Oh, come on!" replied Junpei. It was true he wasn't the most reliable or responsible in the group, but he wanted to help just as much as anyone else.

"Okay, Iori, then review the data we have on our battle with Nyx, I should have gotten at least a few seconds off of it. Come on, hurry! We have two weeks to respond to thia!"

…

And two weeks passed. Two weeks, without a single terrorist incident. It was almost as if the terrorists knew that they were being watched. Not only by the police, but by S.E.E.S. Nothing came up, not from Fuuka's analysis or wire-tappings, not from Junpei's studies or from Akihiko's record digging. Nothing.

Finally, on the last day of their formal observations, it happened.

"On the next episode of Phoenix Feather man R! Episode 109, Humpdy Dumpdy. Don't fall down the stairs, kids!

And now, the news.

Good evening, today, at approximately 1:30 PM, there was another terrorist incident in Tokyo. This time, a terrorist managed to smuggle a bomb onto a ferry boat crossing Tokyo Bay. Although bomb-sniffing dogs managed to locate the bomb in time, and the bomb squad members did defuse it, the terrorist was still able to make his escape. Passengers were subsequently evacuated and searched. One article of interest among the police team that was conducting the search was a laptop that was abandoned underneath a bench on the top deck of the ferry. Police say that, upon preliminary analysis, the data inside the laptop seems to belong to the terrorists, with numerous references to the 'Nyx' and 'Reaper' referred to in the note from the Tokyo Tower bomber."

"Although they are unwilling to provide us with copies of the materials confiscated today, the police have allowed the press to take photographs of the laptop, as it has a very peculiar emblem on its front. Any citizens with any information regarding this emblem, should immediately contact their local police department."

And there it was. As the gang huddled around the television for their evening news, every jaw in the room dropped. Fury, shock, and fear instantly filled each of their hearts.

Emblazoned in perfect crimson red, on the front of an expensive silver laptop was the following:

"S.E.E.S. – SPECIALIZED EXTRACURRICULAR EXECUTION SQUAD"

"But that- that can't…"