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There’s something wrong with Mementos today.
Akira can’t really explain it. Everything seems sharper. The reds are redder, the lights are pulsing harder, and the entire place feels like it’s about to pounce on them.
…Maybe he’s been spending too much time with Fox.
“Is something going on today?” he asks.
“I don’t think so,” Queen says. “No one’s been complaining about allergies or anything.”
“Only buzz I’ve seen online are like, spooky season stuff,” Oracle says. “You know, lots of rumors about ghosts and weird stuff.”
“I’ve heard a lot of those too,” Panther says, “I dunno if that’d really affect Mementos though.”
“You’re the leader Joker,” Morgana says. “If you say something’s off, we can go.”
Akira thinks. It could very well just be his nerves, and these requests are pretty urgent. Then again, it’s not good to take too many risks when it comes to Mementos. The Metaverse is as mercurial as the populace that formed it, who knows what could affect it.
“Let’s spend some time scoping our floors with weaker shadows,” he says. “That should tell us if there’s something we should be worried about.”
They pack up into the Mona van, and a few shadows in he’s convinced the bad feeling was just nerves. The shadows are acting completely normal, and the team takes them down easily.
He’s about to decide they should go back when one group of shadows they run into includes a shadow he’s never seen before.
“Oracle, what is that?” he asks.
“Uh, it looks like a Lilim?” Oracle says.
“But… it’s green ,” Fox says.
“That’s what you focus on? Not the weird bat head?” Panther sighs.
“Whatever, let’s just ask,” Joker says. He pulls out his gun and shoots at the weird Lilim, but it isn’t knocked down. “Not weak to that anymore?” Joker mutters.
“I’m on it!” Morgana says, casting Garula on the shadow, but that doesn’t knock it down either.
“Would it kill these things to be consistent?” Skull mutters.
Suddenly, the Lilim casts a spell Joker doesn’t recognize and… explodes into smoke?
“Did it just knock itself out?” Noir asks.
“But it didn’t even do anything,” Queen says. “That’s weird, why—”
Suddenly Queen’s hit with a psiodyne.
That Akira cast.
“Joker?! What are you doing?” Noir gasps, and Akira wants to say he doesn’t know .
He’s felt the power of dozens of Personas flow through him before, but this feels wrong. Something has forced his way into his body and is making him move.
“Is he brainwashed?” Queen coughs, still dizzy from his hit.
No, he isn’t. Being brainwashed feels terrible in its own right, but that’s in hindsight. That’s in realizing that what you thought you were doing wasn’t what was actually going on. But you’re not aware of it at the time.
This is a front row seat to someone else using his body, forcing his lips to curl as he attacks his friends, forcing him to call upon the multitude of selves within him and fire off attack after attack.
In short: it’s violating. He’s never felt so powerless.
Something forces itself through him, a spell he doesn’t know currently, and suddenly a Garula heads straight for Skull, though Mona pushes him out of the way.
“It’s the Lilim!” Oracle says. “It’s possessing him or something!”
“How do we fix it?” Haru gasps, “Amrita drop isn’t working!”
“Neither is Me Patra!” Mona says.
“Then we’ll just have to knock him out,” Queen says, pulling herself up.
Please, please knock me out, Akira thinks.
“Panther, go for Agidyne!”
Kumbhanda is forced out of Akira to take the hit, and Haru hits him with her own Psio skill.
Despite not being in control, he feels every bit of pain and is so thankful when it overwhelms him and he succumbs to darkness.
.
..
.
“Recarm!”
Akira sits up immediately and breathes a sigh of relief that he’s in control of his own body again. “Thank goodness,” he says. “Queen, are you alright?”
“None the worse for wear,” she says. “You?”
“I feel like I need a shower. Or an exorcism, or both,” Akira says. “Either way, let’s get out of here.”
Everyone nods in agreement. Ann takes the wheel since neither Akira or Makoto are really in a state to drive, and they can’t get out of there soon enough.
Akira shudders at the thought of what just happened. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to sleep tonight.