Persona Jupiter! ...wut? (Candira and Malfrost)

Something was amiss. There had been sightings of strange monsters and reports of mystifying attacks in this area, which was why Lita was here in the first place. Word of these events had spread to Tokyo, prompting the scouts to look into the matter. This wasn't the only area where new threats had been sighted, however. So each scout was patrolling a different zone, collecting as much information as possible. Lita had been given this particular zone, and had followed a lead to the roof of an apartment building in midtown. She had wandered around all day and found nothing. Rather than wait on the ground floor for something to happen somewhere else, she had taken up a perch on the roof as she surveyed the place.

Until moments ago, everything had been lively, but since it was midnight, things were winding down. And suddenly, Lita was struck with unease. The town...something about it was too still. Even for this time of night, there were usually people out at restaurants or bars. But it was as though time had stopped. A dark aura descended upon the town at the stroke of midnight, and it seemed like all life simply... stopped. Frowning, the scout stood up and stretched her long legs, deciding that waiting around in a town with this darkness in it was a foolish idea.

So she tossed her chestnut ponytail over her shoulder and held her transformation pen. "Jupiter Planet Power!" In moments, lightning washed over her, transforming her into a champion of justice. Standing on the roof as Sailor Jupiter, she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. Just as she was beginning to feel a presence, she heard a scream. Her green eyes shot open, flashing in urgency as she ran toward the source of the sound, leaping from rooftop to rooftop until she found it.

A young man was being attacked by what appeared to be...Well, she wasn't quite sure. It was definitely a monster though. Growling, she unleashed a thunderbolt on the enemy and leapt down in front of the victim. "Back away from him, monster. This is one fight you don't want to get into." The proud Sailor Jupiter stood tall and asserted herself as a shield between the creature and the man who was, understandably, freaking out. "Are you alright?" she asked, over her shoulder. The standard whimpering and weak, "Yes," followed and Jupiter grinned. "Good. Get out of here while you can." And with that, she launched into an attack, charging her fists with electricity. Why bother with speeches when your attacks could speak for you? Besides, the scouts had learned in the past that only certain enemies would wait for flowery declarations of justice and punishment. Better to take the direct approach.

The monster was still recoiling from the last jolt. Now that Lita got a better look at it, she saw that it had the body of a man, but the head was an oversized orb with a super enlarged mouth. It hadn't seen the bolt out of the blue that had been her last attack, but it saw her coming--somehow--this time. It managed to dodge the first attack, barely blocking the follow up kick. It did not, however, block the quick fists that followed that as Jupiter spun, putting her weight behind it.

It howled again in inhuman pain and stumbled back, before rushing at her once more. Though she could handle herself well, this attack would work better if she had some decent back up. Or any, for that matter.

Another stroke of midnight, another coming of the Dark Hour. Everyone became wrapped up in their coffins, blissfully unaware of the Dark Hour. Those who were unlucky, were hunted by the Shadows. That is where they came in. The sliver haired young man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He didn't need them, not anymore at least. It reminded him of the good old days though, so every Dark Hour, he and his partner would wear their old glasses.

Yu Narukami had been the leading of a group of high-schoolers who had solved the mystery of the Shadows in Inaba. Once the Kirijo Group had recognized his potential , they recruited him to form a second branch of SEES, the group that hunted Shadows. He and his best friend, Yosuke Hanamura had signed up to help. Yosuke was off patrolling another part of town when he heard someone scream. He quickly jumped from his post and ran towards the source of the sound.

When he arrived, he discovered a sight he was not used to seeing. A girl was fighting a rather large shadow, and it was without a Persona. Most of the time, people couldn't damage Shadows without a Persona, but she seemed to be damaging the abomination well enough. He wasn't sure who she was, but if she was fighting Shadows, that made her a friend.

Yu quickly pulled out his Evoker, a gun shaped object and pressed it up against his head. "Come, Izanagi!" he roared loudly as he pulled the trigger and the area around him started to glow blue. A large silhouette appeared behind him and began to glow before it charged the Shadow. It struck a bolt of lightning at it before it impaled the Shadow with its large naginata. The shadow fell to the road and let out a final, agonizing scream before its essence completely shattered.

Yu let out a light sigh as his Persona vanished. He slowly approached the girl, curious about her. "Hey, are you alright? You have some impressive skills there." Yu gave her a large smile as he pulled off his glasses and pocketed it. He held out his hand, "I'm Yu Narukami...and I'm sure you are very confused right now."

The absolute last thing she had expected during her. Fight was an attack from another direction. As soon as she saw it coming, she braced for impact. It was yet another lightning bolt. But who else had the power to do that? She soon found out as another strange creature arrived to land the final blow. It's blade sunk into the beast she'd been fighting and then the beast was in the street, shattering as though Sailor moon had hit it. Surprised didn't really cover it.

When the other creature faded away, she was left in the presence of someone called Yu. He seemed smart enough to realize that at least she was not a threat and she was very confused. Lita straightened and let her hands fall to her side despite the fact that she was still wary. "Yeah, you could say that." The compliment hadn't gone unnoticed, but now wasn't really the time for pleasantries, was it?

Then again, if she was confused, it made her wonder why he wasn't. Most people didn't have the ability to fight youma, so why did he? Why wasn't he afraid? And why wasn't he freaking out about who she was or her outfit, for that matter?

"What is going on here?"

As Yu was about to answer her question, another young man wearing the same black school jacket as him appeared. "Yo, partner! I saw fighting in I." He had brown hair that ran down just past his ears and was spiked slightly at the edge. As he approached the duo, he blushed slightly as he saw Lita in her outfit.

"Woah! Buddy! Where did you find this beautiful girl!" Yosuke called out as he rubbed the back of his head meekly. Yu just laughed as he looked at his partner and then back to Lita. "She was fighting a Shadow when I met her, even though she doesn't have a Persona." Yosuke seemed to raise an eyebrow as he turned to look at the girl as well.

"Really, well that is something to be sure. Well, I'm Yosuke Hanamura. I'm this guys partner in crime!" He patted Yu on the back as he looked up at the sky. "Dark Hour will be ending soon. How about you follow us back to our dorm and we'll explain everything." Yosuke spoke to the girl as he began to walk down the street. Yu gave her a nod, indicated that that would be the best way to proceed.

Jupiter frowned a bit in thought crossing her arms. Should she trust these two? They looked nice enough, and they seemed about as impressed with her as they were surprised at her arrival. Since they were offering to share knowledge, she couldn't really afford to pass up the opportunity. She smirked a little at the newcomer's reaction to her outfit.

"Nice to meet you," she said,bent ending her gloved hand. "I'm Sailor Jupiter." She smiled and shook Yu and Yosuke's hands. "I'll tell you more later. Lead on."

"Sailor Jupiter? That is an interested alias, though I suppose it fits your outfit." Yu let out a small chuckle as they walked along the streets, passed the scattered coffins in the street. "I'm guessing you are wondering about what is going on right now, huh?" Yosuke looked toward Lita as Yu nodded his head slightly for him to explain.

"Well, you are currently experiencing what is known as the Dark Hour. It takes place every night during Midnight. Real time slows down as the Dark Hour occurs. There are also places that open up that are only accessible during the Dark Hour. It becomes possible to become trapped in Dark Hour if one stays in such a place when Dark Hour ends." Yosuke explained the basics of Dark House as Yu examined his phone and then turned to continue the explanation.

"Most people are unaware of Dark Hour. They sleep soundly in their coffins and remain blissfully unaware. Those they accidentally end up out of their coffins, or are targeted by certain beings with powers, get targeted by Shadows, the creature we just fought." Yu gripped the glasses in his pocket, as they were important to his shadow fight memories. He pointed the moon, which was much larger and brighter at the moment. "Shadows become stronger as the moon grows fuller. When the moon is full, seriously bad attacks normally occur, that is why we are here." Yu gave the girl a smile, wanting her to know that they protected innocent people, just like she did.

Once they were all off the roof and in the streets, it seemed as though they were relatively safe, but the world looked very different down here. All around there were...coffins. No wonder there was a malevolent presence here. They were shaped and sized differently, with different colors and textures. And they were all where people should have been. How strange.

As Lita followed along with the two young men, she learned that this happened during the Dark Hour. It was a common occurrence, that most people dealt with unwittingly in this town. Frowning, the green-clad scout took a few steps closer to one, curious about what they were made out of. When they started talking about Shadows, she returned her attention to the boys. "Shadows? So that's what you call them." She frowned, wondering what this was all about. What were shadows, really. And what did they want?

Apparently, they became stronger with the moon phases, and she could see that it might be a significant problem for someone who was caught up in the dark hour for some odd reason. So the average person couldn't defend themselves then? And why were there coffins and a dark hour in the first place? The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. It was probably best to not dwell on this information now.

According to Yu, they were on the same side--protecting those who couldn't fight back from the creatures of...well, whomever was against them all, she supposed. Darkness, she guessed. "Well, I'm glad you showed up. I probably could have handled it, but I always appreciate the help. So then, what I saw destroy that shadow before...was that something else?"

As Lita approached one of the coffins, she would noticed that it seemed to be made out of a smooth marble. It shined ever so slightly in the yellow light of the moon and it gave off a faint red glow. That was another thing that Lita would notice as she walked with the two boys, the atmosphere felt oppressive. It felt herself becoming fatigued much more quickly then she should have been. Also, everything appeared much more in hues of yellow in green due to the moonlight.

Once her attention was back on the boys and she mentioned Shadows, Yosuke let out a loud sigh. "Shadows are...well...hard to explain. It takes a intro-level college psych course to get them." Yu let out a small chuckle as he continued the explanation that Yosuke clearly didn't want to. "Shadows are the parts in human minds that people repress because they are undesirable. They represent all of our flaws and imperfections, the things we want to hide away and not show others or even admit to ourselves that we have." Yu stared up at the large moon that glowed in a terrifying light, completely opposite the light of the normal moon that often offered a warm comfort.

As Yu had been explaining the Shadows, Yosuke had been messing with his cellphone. He seemed to be checking his email. Once Yu had explained the Shadows and Lita asked about what Yu had done to defeat it, Yosuke decided to step in. "I can take it from here, partner." Yosuke grinned, seemingly eager to talk about this part. "What you saw defeat the Shadow was Yu's Persona. Anyone who accidentally ends up in the Dark Hour has a chance to unlock this power, but it requires an Evoker." Yosuke pulled out an object that was shaped like a girl, twirled it around his fingers and then put it away. "Personas are the opposite of Shadows to a certain extent. They are masks, or identities that individuals assume in order to face the hardships of life. For example, you have various Personas within you already. You have the Persona of Sailor Jupiter, one who fights the forces of darkness and protects innocent people. You also have the Persona of Lita Kino, a college sophomore." Yosuke gave her a knowing grin, it seemed he had managed to discover her real name in identity some how.

"You act differently when you are Sailor Jupiter and when you are Lita, right? Those are two Personas within you, and all of your Personas as a whole help form your identity, and also, shield your Shadow from others, understand?" Yosuke asked her, figuring she was most likely confused as to why she was receiving a Psychology lecture. As Yosuke finished up, Yu chimed in. "We are here." He motioned toward the building they had just arrived at. It was a large and very luxurious apartment complex. It was a lot nicer then Lita's college dorms, that was for sure. It gave off the aura of the rich and fabulous lifestyle. Yu walked up towards the large front doors and pushed one open, holding it open for Lita with a smile, "Ladies first."

Lita listened to all of the explanations offered to her, taking them all in. She was a little offended that they thought the rather simplified explanation they gave her would go over her head, but she would let it go. After all, it was only natural to think she would need time to absorb all of this information. She was, however, not okay with the idea that someone could just find out who she was after meeting her twenty minutes ago. She stiffened in defense immediately. Rather than step into the building with them, she frowned and eyed Yosuke suspiciously.

"I don't know who you are or how you figured out who I am, but consider our alliance shaky at best. Next time you want to find out about someone, ask them questions. There's a reason I don't just use my name when I'm out and about." She glared at Yosuke and shook her head in disgust. "I'll be around, looking into this, but I think I'll pass on going to your dorm." With that, she made what seemed like an impossible leap onto the first level of a nearby fire escape and landed gracefully before heading up the rest of it.