Oh man, I think I'm starting to regret ever wanting to do this leader stuff... So many questions all at once, so many people looking to him for answers. It felt good, but on the other hand, he didn't think he had all their answers!
Turning to the first boy who had asked one, Junpei nodded. "There's always some way out. This one's a little different from the one I've seen before, but if we all stick close together and search we'll get out of here just fine."
Then he turned to the lighter-haired young man, but his words were directed at all present. "As for the Potential, I'll explain everything I can once we're outta here and i get in touch with my partner, alright?" Man, that sounded cool. All professional-like. "As for monsters..."
It was fortunate he turned to survey the path back to the center when he did, for all that he'd only been about to point for emphasis. The maya seemed to ooze from the very bark of the tree behind him, its mass coagulating into a semi-solid black puddle before it formulated one grasping hand and reached within itself to pull free a pale blue mask and hold it aloft as though to see.
Junpei yelped and stumbled backward, even as more began to appear behind it, all in a very deliberate path between them and the center. Regaining his composure and shoring up his resolve, Junpei gripped his Evoker. "Thanks for the visual aid, guys..."
Now was his chance, though. His chance to show what a professional badass Shadow-slayer he was before a crowd of bystanders. He grinned.
"Ha! No problem! Check this out!" His arm lifted, twirled the trigger-loop of his Evoker around his index finger as he raised it toward his head, imitating Minato in a motion he'd been practicing ever since he'd gotten the device back.
However...he had yet to master the trick, and the gadget slipped, spinning through the air clear away from his finger, tumbling down to land in a patch of knee-deep undergrowth some yards behind him. "Aw...crap!"