[RL with Junpei]

[screwloose]

Stein's laboratory was...impressive, and rather creepy. It was an oddly-shaped building, like several huge stone boxes all jumbled together with small windows. The largest part was shaped like an arrow, thrusting upwards towards the sky. Lines of what looked like stitching crawled across the face of the building, each 'stitch' at least a foot long.

The building was surrounded by a wrought-iron fence, the top a forest of points, and there were several scraggly trees planted around the grounds. The trees were devoid of leaves, and each branch ended in an arrowpoint.

A whirring sound could be heard by Junpei's foot and he might look down to see a mouse scuttling by, but the mouse looked and sounded mechanical, its skin formed of random patches of fabric all stitched together roughly.

Welcome to Dr. Franken Stein's Laboratory.

Comments

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Junpei half-wondered if he'd been dropped into the set of a low budget horror flick. Okay, maybe it was high budget. Either way, it was creepy as hell, considering it looked like seamstress had tried her hand at architecture. Why had he told Shito not to tag along again?

... Oh wait, because he wanted to keep his balls, not carry them in a handbag.

As he walked up to the front door, he definitely tried to ignore all the noises and deranged scenery around him. That was, until he nearly stepped on said freakish mouse. He glanced down in time to see the odd creature scurry out of the way of his foot, and let out a high pitched yelp.

... Hopefully, no one heard or saw that part.

Nearly breaking into a run, the teen hurried to the front door and knocked lightly. Death City, huh? It was an appropriate name.

[screwloose]

The doors were thick and made of metal, but as Junpei knocked one of them swung open slowly on creaking hinges, revealing a large, dimly-lit room.

In fact, the door was completely dark except for the glow of a computer monitor at the far end. The monitor itself was partially blocked by a head - an oddly-shaped head, since Stein had a large bolt sticking out of his head. He had his hand on the bolt, and was rotating it slowly.

It clicked, and he turned around in his swivelling office chair.

"Junpei Iori?" he asked in a friendly tone. "There's a lightswitch on the right there if you don't mind."

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Were powers really that important? Junpei was sure that Jack Frost wouldn't mind just taking him straight to Shito's wor-

He stopped short at the sound of his name, freezing in place. Well, if he were to base his opinion soley off of his voice, he wasn't so creepy. Then again, if a giant spider had the voice of a pop idol, he wasn't going to jump into its web.

... Unless maybe, he didn't see the spider...

As instructed, he stepped inside the door and flicked the lightswitch. Hopefully this wasn't near as horror movie-esque as it looked, or he might very well leave as a zombie. Of the brain-eating variety.

"Uh... Yo."

[screwloose]

When the light switch was flipped, the room brightened considerably, harsh fluorescent bulbs flickering to life overhead. The room, it was revealed, looked relatively normal. There was a couch and a chair facing one another across a coffee table, situated between Junpei and the seated doctor.

More stitching crawled over the walls, though. Bookshelves on the walls were filled with scientific equipment. The floors had arrows on them, which seemed to be pointing the routes from where Stein was sitting, to the various exits of the room, skirting around the furniture. One arrow ran from Stein's feet, bent around the chair, and then went straight between Junpei's feet to the door he had just come through.

"Would you like a cup of coffee or something, or would you like to just get right to it?" Stein asked, swinging himself up out of the chair. He was wearing a labcoat over a sweater and a pair of jeans. The labcoat was stitched together, as was the sweater. In fact, the sweater was designed so that it looked like it had been stitched to his jeans.

Stein himself was even stitched up. A line of stitches ran down the centre of his forehead, to the right of his nose, and then curved across his cheek and ran into his hair just below his ear. And of course there was that huge bolt sticking right through his skull.

He pushed his glasses up and puffed on his cigarette, smiling as he waited for Junpei to answer his question.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

"I... uh, I think I'm good. Not a real big coffee drinker," he said quickly, his voice sounding much higher than he'd remembered it being. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"But thanks, Stein-sensei."

He took a few more steps into the strange room, looking around unabashedly. What was with this guy and stitches, anyway? Did he develop some kind of fetish after sewing himself back together or something?

He had a polite smile plastered on his face, though his eyes were wide as he took in his surroundings. Junpei didn't particularly want to offend anyone in a place called Death City. They probably buried people next to the sidewalk on a daily basis... Or worse, they slept in coffins like old-school movie vampires... or...

Thinking about it wasn't helping.

"So, uh... What did you need me to do? I mean, so you can figure out stuff..."

[screwloose]

"All right, whatever you like," he said amiably. The boy looked scared, and that sadistic part of him revelled in it. Stein was a sadist, after all, though that sadism was controlled and channelled.

Mostly.

"Well, first I have to examine you," he said. "But let me take a look at you..."

He fixed Junpei with an oddly penetrating stare, then suddenly blinked. "You have... the strangest looking soul I have ever seen on a human," he said. His grey eyes had grown animated and excited, almost hungry with their fascination, and he took another quick step towards him. "But you're definitely human, yes. And you have a very determined and strong soul. A very powerful soul."

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

His gaze made Junpei fidget uncomfortably, feeling as though he'd been placed under a particularly strange, stitched-up microscope.

"W-Woah, hold up. You can see my soul?!"

Yeah, because that didn't make things more creepy than they already were. But he had a powerful soul? Did that mean... that he actually did have some kind of magic powers, like Akihiko had told him?

"So... uh... What does that mean?" he asked finally, resisting the urge to take two steps back.

[screwloose]

"Volatile as well," Stein said, still looking deep into Junpei. "You don't like to be beaten, and you give up leadership reluctantly. You like to shine."

He looked up at Junpei's face, his eyes seeming to focus on him again. "It means you're definitely not a normal kid, Junpei."

He gestured to him, towards the door behind him. "Come on, outside."

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Junpei Iori was officially creeped the hell out. This guy could see his personality by looking at him. And not even for very long. Where were those crazy purple waves that psychic powers had in the comics?

"S-Sweet," he managed, turning to walk out the door. Well, he'd always wished that there would be something special about him... Maybe that's what this meant. If it was... Well, he didn't mind braving the sewing room from hell for a little while.

"What do we have to go outside for?" he asked once he was out the door, glancing back at the strange doctor.

[screwloose]

"I think we're going to need a bit of room," Stein said cryptically. He walked out onto the patio and down the steps to the cracked concrete blocks that formed a walkway from the gate to the front door.

Then he turned and reached up to turn the bolt sticking out of his head.

"Attack me, Junpei."

He stood utterly relaxed. In his labcoat, he certainly didn't look like a fighter, but a bit geeky, if anything. But looks were extremely deceiving in Stein's case.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Wait, they were going to fight? That was his big test?

"... W-With what? My hands?"

How was that going to figure out what his power was? Wouldn't he have noticed it by now, if it was as simple as throwing a punch at someone? Wouldn't he have accidentally broken things, or hurt himself... or... well... something?

Because so far, it hadn't even been a blip on the radar until he was told about it.

[screwloose]

"Have you got anything else to fight with?" Stein asked, smirking. "I'm unarmed, too. Let's see what you've got."

Figuring maybe it would help if he didn't look so relaxed, he settled into a fighting stance, legs spread and hands up in a bladed position. Now he looked like a martial artist, albeit one in a labcoat instead of a gi.

"If you can fight, your body knows it. Let's find out what your body knows, and see if we can trigger something," he said.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

"Dude, I'm pretty sure I can't fight any better with my hands than most guys... but I guess I'll try."

He didn't know what this was going to prove, beating up on a doctor. It wouldn't take some kind of fighting expert to accomplish that.

He raised his fists and threw a clumsy punch in Stein's direction. There was a fair bit of power behind it, but as for style, it was all but non-existent.

[screwloose]

Stein shifted a hand casually to block it.

"What, is that all you've got? I thought you saved the world," he said contemptuously, and threw a punch towards Junpei's stomach.

As it connected, there was an additional concussive force to the blow that hit Junpei's soul directly. It was just the slightest bit of Stein's power, just to see how Junpei's soul would react, but it threw Junpei back ten feet and felt like he'd just touched a live electric wire.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

The blow caught Junpei entirely off guard. For one thing, he didn't know that the doctor was going to fight back. For the other, he didn't know the doctor could fight back.

He landed hard on his back, the air knocked from his lungs. He struggled to breathe, not real keen on the idea of moving at the moment. That felt ten times worse than any punch ever had in his life.

"Ngh... W-What the hell was that? he wheezed, his hat slipping off his head as he tried to look up at his assailant.

[screwloose]

Stein was standing exactly where he had been standing when he told Junpei to attack him. He straightened out of his fighting stance and tapped ash onto the ground then put his cigarette back into his mouth.

"That was a punch," he said blandly. "What you did was a limp-wristed slap."

He smirked. "Oh, did I fail to mention that I'm the best fighter in the city? Come at me again. If we can get that power to manifest, we will."

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

It took another few moments for Junpei to peel himself off the ground, staggering to his feet. He wasn't too sure he wanted to go at him again. He winced as he walked forward, closing the distance between them again.

"Y'know, I don't think that's how it works," he mumbled moodily, replacing the hat on his head.

When he was within range again, he threw another punch for Stein's face, of about an equal untrained lack-of-finesse. He was by no means a hand to hand fighter - he barely managed with his katana. It was only his strength that got him by, and the sheer size of his blade - one advantage he was lacking at the moment.

[screwloose]

Stein barely seemed to be paying attention as he blocked Junpei's punch. He could tell that the boy wasn't trained and probably had never been in a fistfight in his life, and there was scarcely any need for him to pay attention anyway.

And he was watching the creature he could see inside Junpei's body. He had never seen a more well-defined soul in his life.

The attack he'd made hadn't made it awaken. It seemed to be waiting for something. But what?

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

It didn't feel like it took the man any effort to block his attack. He could tell that much - and it was frustrating him to no end. He threw another punch at him, hoping it would fare better than the last.

"What... the heck... is this testing?" he growled, his body still aching from the first time.

[screwloose]

"Hmm?" Stein was rather amused by the frustration, and hoping that it would help. But the soul stubbornly remained inside his body.

"Don't you have anything more? Reach inside yourself, kid. Come on. This is pathetic," he taunted him. He shot out a foot in a half-hearted attempt to trip Junpei, though he didn't really care if it would work or not.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

His taunting didn't help matters at all. The more frustrated Junpei got, the harder his punches became - but the wilder his aim became at the same time. He didn't feel any kind of power except for his own increasing rage, and that wasn't exactly special.

"Ngh! How... much more... do you want?!" he spat angrily, swinging again.

He was so busy trying to hit the man that he didn't even see the foot, and it managed to knock him off balance. He swayed for a moment before toppling backwards, windmilling his arms in an effort to save himself. In the end, it made little difference, and he landed flat on his backside.

"This isn't working," he grumbled irritably. "I don't think that's how my power works."

[screwloose]

Stein stood over him, his glasses gleaming in the reflected light from the sun. "Yes, I can see that," he said.

He dropped his cigarette on the ground and crushed it under his shoe, then he bent over Junpei.

"Let's try something else," he said cheerfully. He placed a hand in the centre of Junpei's chest, and synchronized with his soul. Junpei wasn't a buki, and yet, now as he did this, he realized that in a sense he was.

Junpei was a living weapon. But it was different, because instead of transforming, the weapon was inside him.

With a mighty wrench, Stein pulled the weapon out.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Junpei was glad that the man would listen to reason - it was clear that they were going about this entirely the wrong way. The only thing he felt was sore and tired, and he was positive that any high school kid would feel the same way in that situation. There wasn't anything 'special' about that.

He might not have been so glad, however, had he known what Stein had in mind for his second course of action.

Blinking at the hand on his chest, Junpei felt a weird sensation, a lot like when the doctor had first punched him back. It wasn't just physical contact - he was touching something a lot deeper, and a lot more invasive. It just felt... well, wrong.

"W-Wait, what're you-"

The sentence ended with a horrible shriek. Whatever Stein had just done, Junpei didn't think anything could feel that disgusting. It hurt in a way he couldn't put into words, his body curling in on itself defensively. It was though he'd just torn at his very mind.

Junpei's entire body was shaking as he opened his eyes, his hands clutching at his chest protectively. The tactic, however awful and violating, had worked. Instead of seeing the stitched face of the doctor, the gold metal of Trismegistus' wings filled his field of vision.

"W-What..."

[screwloose]

Stein heard the shriek and immediately trotted back a good few feet, relieving the pressure on Junpei's soul, but he had already done what he wanted to do. the creature rose up out of Junpei's body, and Stein could see with fascination that there was a fine chain of soul - probably invisible to anyone who couldn't see souls - that ran back to Junpei, connecting at the base of his spine.

"Now that is amazing," Stein said, grinning.

He hadn't intended to hurt Junpei, but the sadistic part of him was loving this as much as the curious part of him was. It was exciting and fascinating - he'd never seen anything like this before. And it sent a surge of almost sexual lust to know more.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Junpei couldn't help but stare at the strange creature, his mouth agape and his chest heaving. It was strange looking, but unlike the rest of his peculiar surroundings, the creature wasn't near as terrifying. Junpei knew that the pain of its summoning hadn't been its fault.

"T-Trismegistus...?"

The name slipped passed his lips unconsciously. He didn't know where it came from; he could barely pronounce it, let alone come up with it... But somehow, his brain just seemed to know that was what he was called, as though it were some form of ingrained knowledge.

At the sound of its name, the Persona calmly flexed its metal wings, lowering its helm to Stein silently. It didn't seem to have any recognizable eyes, or any decipherable facial features, for that matter.

"W-Woah."

Apparently, Akihiko-senpai had been right.