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Everything came so naturally to him, and he didn't know why. For the first few moments, it felt like he was running on autopilot, barely comprehending what his body was doing. But then, with a jolt of sensation through his spine, it all suddenly came into focus. Yet, that didn't change much.
He listened to the noises around him. People down in the Casino, panicking. Music blaring in his ears that didn't sound at all suitable for the Casino setting, but did match the adrenaline rush he was feeling. The people over the intercom in his ear. Two girls, a boy, and one that was sort of hard to determine the gender of, perhaps a younger boy. One of the girls mentioned a briefcase; yeah, he had been holding one, hadn't he...? And then it had disappeared out of his hands...
Well, whatever was happening, it was fine, right? These people were acting as though they were on his side, so... he would be fine if he just did as they told him, right?
...What was this that he was seeing now, though...? They were weird hallucinations. "Action!", they said in bold, white writing, "Jump". There was a symbol next to it. A blue X. He didn't know what it meant, but he figured that the gap it was asking him to jump across did look short enough that he could make it to the other side... so, he gave it a shot.
Jumping over the gaps between the hanging fixtures felt like something he had done thousands of times. His legs didn't feel all that tired, and his breathing didn't feel much heavier, as he ran as fast as he reasonably could, doing as the voices had told him. He was escaping. He wasn't sure where to, or who was after him. He could barely remember anything, actually. Where was he? Who was "Skull", and for that matter, who were the rest of these people? What was in that briefcase he had had earlier, and... what exactly had he done to get in such a situation?
...Men in black suits. That was who was after him. At least that was one question answered. He still had a million more, of course. But, a girl's voice was still insisting he should escape, and he agreed that he didn't want to have to fight anybody... even if, somehow, he had a feeling like he would be more than capable of doing so if it came down to it.
And so, escape he did, but this just led to more questions. How did he have such great balance? Such speed? He felt nearly weightless as he jumped between arches and climbed up onto a balcony with next to no effort. This... was awesome! Was this a dream, perhaps? It felt way too real to be a dream, though...
He was in the middle of a large, open area, now. There was two men in front of him... and suddenly, with their bodies shaking, they changed form, into bigger, hunched over beings with masks and glowing eyes.
He heard something drop down behind himself. He turned to see another one of those beings... and in his ear, he heard a now-familiar voice.
"Take 'em down, Joker!"
That was him, wasn't it? He was Joker. A smirk started growing on his face. They wanted him to take the enemies down? No problem.
It was like his body was being controlled by forces outside himself. He leaped into the air, turning mid-jump and landing perfectly on the beast that had been in front of him. One hand laid on the mask... and then, instinctively, he ripped that mask off, shoving the man away from himself, and landing perfectly on the ground.
The shadowy being transformed into something else... something big, with a bull's head. His heart was pounding as he stared up at it... yet, somehow, it felt so familiar.
And then, something happened. He could see those things again, those prompts... but they were different, now. No more "Jump" or even "Climb", but this time, they said "Persona", "Item", "Guard", "Attack"... and "Gun"...? He had a gun...?! Actually, he had just manifested a knife--or was it more of a dagger?--in his hand too!
...Well, the girl's voice in his ear was telling him that this large creature was no threat. It wasn't like he had any other option but to strike, right? The beast seemed to have a green heart next to it... and somehow, he just automatically knew that heart represented how much "life" it had left.
He decided on trying to "Attack", and it once again came so naturally. He lunged forward, slashing with his new weapon... and then as he jumped back to his original spot, he pulled out that gun he had, shooting the monster. New things popped up; stars around the creature's head, the number 115, and the word "Critical". He understood what this meant, as he noticed that the green heart had reduced; he had done that amount of 'damage', hadn't he? The enemy could only have a set amount... and it was stunned right now, it seemed.
It was the only thing that made sense to him right now. If he didn't just go along with all this new information that was coming to him, he felt like his brain would explode. There were no other explanations for what was happening right now, after all.
The symbols that popped up as the prompts returned; a green triangle, pink square, red circle, blue X... and what looked like a D-pad. Of course. This was a video game, one that he was somehow in control of, despite not having a controller... Not that any controller he knew of had those particular symbols. Actually, when had he even last played a video game? Ugh, right now, in the midst of the action, with this high-energy music in his ears, he didn't want to think about it too hard.
He decided to try to use the "Persona" option, this time. He had no idea what a "Persona" was, after all. Trying to do so brought up a big list in front of him. He glanced at his foe, who was patiently waiting for him to make a decision. It seemed like he had lots of time to think things through, then.
"Eigaon; heavy Curse damage to one foe." He didn't know what "Curse" was, but this would have to do. It cost 12 "SP"... how much of this SP did he have to spare...? Almost automatically, he glanced down to his bottom right, and there was his answer; 237 SP... And 440 HP, too. If this foe was weaker than him, like that girl had said, then he should be able to take plenty of hits, right?
God, it was almost getting to him. The shock of this being so different to what he was "used" to... even if the exact memories refused to come to mind. But, either way, he wouldn't let it stop him. He had to keep on going. He could think about it later.
So, he used the skill. He wasn't sure why a glowing blue being suddenly materialised behind him, but, well, when he suddenly felt so powerful, he didn't really care. He attacked this enemy--this "Sacrificial Pyrekeeper", it was apparently called--with this built up energy he had gathered. 147 damage. The beast was at its last sliver of health. One more attack would do it...
...But, it was the beast's turn to attack. He couldn't move from his spot, despite how wanted to try to dodge. So, he was hit, with a massive pillar of fire... Which, somehow, only did 108 damage to him. When it was gone, he didn't even feel any lingering pain. Maybe this whole thing being a video game was a good thing, after all...?
One more attack. The monster was down. But that wasn't the end of his problems. More of those shadowy men tried to attack him. This time, there were no prompts; he once again acted entirely on instinct. Perhaps, this was a cutscene, he thought to himself, as he deftly backflipped to safety, via platforms that he didn't even know where there before. More evidence of this being a video game. Oh, boy... what other surprises did this place hold?
Taking a deep breath, he ran through a door like the girl in his ear was instructing. He only just now noticing that he had an "objective" in the top right corner; "Escape the Casino." Well, it wasn't like he had any other plans, considering he didn't know if he had any way to heal himself from any damage he sustained... or what would happen if his HP ran out entirely. He didn't feel keen on playing with his life, right now...
He ran through some dark room, listening as the girl voice reiterated that his name was apparently 'Joker'... and informed him of some weird "reading" heading his way.
There were repetitive posters on the walls, and the words on them were... rather unsettling. "Black and White", "Success, Success, Success", "Winner Takes All", "Everybody's Enemy", "Victory Addiction"... He was getting bad vibes from this place already.
Without thinking, he ducked behind a wall... and right on cue, an agent appeared, searching for him, but unable to locate him. Once the agent was gone, he turned a corner... only for the girl to warn him of somebody up ahead. At her suggestion to hide, he slipped behind a nearby dumpster. There was a new Action prompt for him; "Hide", with a circle of glowing light visible where he could next hide, it seemed. With incredible speed and agility, he dashed to that new hiding spot and ducked down. Then he did it once more. The man blocking his path soon moved, and he could progress forward.
Right now, this... definitely felt like a tutorial. Though his heart was pounding, he wasn't even certain that he was in any sort of danger. Everything just felt a bit too easy... but, well, he supposed that things being easy for him when he was just starting out wasn't at all a bad thing, right?
It was almost confirmed to him to be a tutorial when he came across another agent blocking his path... But, instead of making him sneak around hiding again, the girl had a different plan for him. She told him to look up.
"Can you use that thing and just fly over there?"
Fly over there? How, exactly? Well, there was sparkling area on the pipe in question, and the prompt told him to press "L1", so he could obviously do something to get up there...
...And that something, apparently, was to... whip out a grappling hook?! How many gadgets did he have on him, exactly...?! He was like a super cool spy, or something!
Well, that was something else to add onto his list of things to think about, but right now, that had been just what he needed to hype himself up. He continued down the path as the girl told him to...
...However, the girl soon stopped him in his tracks once more. And right on cue, some enemies burst out of the ground all around him, surrounding him, and slowly closing in.
"Even you can't take on this many--huh? Joker, that weird reading from earlier's closing in on you, too!"
Oh. This was a problem, wasn't it? As the energetic music in his ears faded out, and all he could hear was the grunts and groans of the enemies around him, he could do nothing but look around, wondering how this was going to play out. If he couldn't take out all these enemies at once, according to that girl, then... how was he going to overcome this?
A new person approached. Red hair, black clothes. She had a steely gaze, staring right at him. "I'll end this, right now." She announced, drawing a sword.
It was her, the voice in his ear told him. The "weird reading"...
In a swift movement, she flung her sword right at him. He couldn't react. He had time to, but he just couldn't move. He was frozen in place...
...But, considering that the sword missed him, and hit the enemy behind him instead, perhaps that was what was meant to happen all along. Maybe his body knew better than his mind did.
Wait. If it missed, then did that mean...?
It did. This was no enemy. This was an ally! Gracefully, like a dancer, she flipped around with a rifle, eliminating the monsters that tried to swarm her. He couldn't help but stare, wondering who she was... and why she was helping him.
Once the enemies were dealt with, she approached him. "My weak self relied on you so much. That ends today." She walked past him, retrieving the sword she had thrown. Dramatically, she held it forward at the few remaining beasts. "Let's do this, Senpai!"
He... had no idea who she was! Ugh, the further he got into this place, the more questions arose! But, he was smiling, despite it. He had a powerful ally, after all, this one in the flesh instead of just in his ear. Maybe just maybe, she was in the same situation as he was. Maybe... they'd be able to talk about it, after this was dealt with.
One of the enemies attacked. She dodged it like it was no problem.
"It's been a while since we last fought side by side." She casually commented. "But this time, it's my turn to come to your aid, Senpai. Now, let's win this!"
This is the first time we've even met. He thought, giving out a sigh. But at least, some of his questions were being answered. For instance, he must have helped this girl out once before. That was good to know. He wondered why somebody as brilliant and skilled as her would have needed his help, though, if she could deal with those enemies when he himself couldn't...
Well, it was his turn to make an attack. He decided to use his gun, this time... and to his surprise, he actually had limited ammunition. Eight bullets...
Everything was a bit of a blur after that. He fired some bullets at one of the enemies, surprised by the loudness of the gun ringing in his ears. After that, his new companion slashed all of the enemies with an interesting attack.
Then, the words "Hold Up!" appeared in front of him. He somehow knew what that meant, and immediately ran forward, to hold his opponents at gunpoint. Immediately after that, before he even got a chance to understand what was going on, he and his companion attacked with all their might. It was like he had blacked out... and when he opened his eyes again, the enemies were all gone, having disappeared without a trace, and he was left watching this mysterious girl starting to walk away from him.
He wanted to speak to her. If not to ask her a question... at least, to congratulate her on her show of skill. To tell her that she did a good job. She was a lot stronger than him, after all. But... for whatever reason, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't say a word. It was like his jaw was fused shut, and his vocal cords cut. It didn't hurt him, physically, but... it did distress him, somewhat. And it was made even worse when he found that his body wouldn't move as he wanted it to; he couldn't even signal to her that something was up. This was...
.....Well... he guessed, if this was a video game like he thought it was, then... he couldn't exactly do anything off-script, now could he? Was... was this girl even real?
"...You still have something you need to do as a phantom thief, right?"
Wait, he hadn't been listening. His brain suddenly came back into focus again, and he nodded before even registering the question she had asked him. Did she say he was a... "Phantom Thief"...?
"Since I'm not a member of the Phantom Thieves, I'm in no position to interfere."
She did. Wait, so, he wasn't a spy, then? Or a superhero? He was... a criminal? A thief? That was...
She jumped away, high up somewhere. She probably didn't even need a grappling hook with legs like that. "However... please don't forget the promise we made, okay?"
Ah, yes. I'll remember the thing I never knew in the first place. Of course... He sighed once more, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants as he watched her jump away. However, he didn't get much time to think about it before the girl's voice in his ear told him he had to run. He could only hope that whatever promise he made would become clear to him soon... or perhaps, that it wasn't that important, although that was doubtful.
After he ran up the next set of stairs, things felt... different. He didn't know how, exactly, though. Maybe he felt... more in-control? Knowing he had to sneak, he hid behind the corner, carefully leaning to see if there was anybody there... and when he saw nobody, he went and hid on a wall next to a window, doing the same thing.
There were people this time... but none were looking at him, so he ran across the window. As he did so, he heard a voice speak from inside there; "He's not alone! Find them and kill them all!" That... wasn't a good sign.
Oh, he could hear footsteps, now. There were people chasing him. Not wanting to be caught, he ran, up some stairways, and down some halls... until he found a door with a green sign over it. It said 'staff only'. Did it lead to an exit, maybe? Well, it was his only choice right now, so he headed on through, grunting a bit with the force of throwing open the door.
He was on a balcony now, overlooking a crowd of people and chairs and tables... and a big stained-glass window. He was panting, looking over it, and hoping nobody down there would spot him... or at least, that they wouldn't have a gun.
"Something wrong? The exit should be up ahead!"
"...Through there...?" He muttered to himself, staring up at the large window that seemed to be the only way to exit the room. He admittedly took himself a bit by surprise; his jaw had unlocked itself, and his voice had returned.
Even more surprising was that the girl heard him. "That's just how it is...! After all that commotion, the bottom floor's... completely closed off. Hey, can you make it...?!"She sounded worried for him... and he found himself smiling a bit. Maybe... he had more impact on this 'game' than he thought?
More importantly... could he make it?
...Well, regardless if he could or not, he didn't have much of a choice, as he heard the agents that had been chasing him call out to him. He turned, and saw that they had their guns pointed at him. Taking a deep breath, he looked back over the balcony... and leapt over.
He landed on the skirting, running along it all the way over to that big window, stopping right in front of it. The men were chasing him. He had nothing to use to break the window... except for...
...He smirked, looking over at the men with their guns. Well, it wasn't like he had anything to lose, right? He didn't have any memories of any previous life... and, if this really was a game, he should respawn right? Despite his previous desire for self-preservation... he for some reason felt almost invincible right now.
And so, with a grin on his face, he gave his last words. "See ya!"
The next thing he or anybody else knew, he was flying through the air, shattered glass falling around him, and a voice in his ear. "What a show-off. You're so reckless, you know that?"
Yes... that felt right. This 'Joker' person was a thief, robbing a Casino in a mask and gloves and long coat and heeled boots...he definitely seemed like the type to dramatically jump out a window, and manage to land safely on the ground, unharmed. So that was exactly what he did, glass shattering around him as he stood. His heart was pounding.
...And then, there were the lights. The commotion; his friends freaking out in his ears. Hundreds of police officers. His work wasn't done just yet.
He fled. What else would he, a thief of his calibre, do in this situation, after all? Yes, yes, he was getting into this story, now...! As graceful and skilful as ever, he jumped and grabbed a nearby ladder, hoisting himself up and climbing it, out of the police's grasp, he hoped.
...Well, yes, he was out of the grasp of the crowd below him. But, that didn't stop him from being caught by the police that were waiting for him at the top, one of which slammed in the head with the butt of a large gun, sending him falling into the awaiting enemies below.
In an instant, they were on him. They pinned him to the ground, kneeling on him, and holding him there. To be fair, he supposed he preferred this to death. And... this felt a bit stressful, but not overly so. Somehow, it felt like things were... meant to go this way. He had done his best. He had done everything he was told to. He had no other option than to do what he had. What kind of video game would give their player an impossible situation...?
A man approached him. "Didn't expect to find some kid." They mumbled, kneeling down. "You have your teammate to thank for this."
Thoughts raced through his mind as he heard that. One of his teammates... was it a betrayal, or just a slip-up?
His question was answered as a hand was placed firmly on his head. "You were sold out." Ah, a betrayal, then. Seeing as he only knew one of his teammates by face--that mysterious woman, who had promised to help him--he... wasn't really sure what to think about this. He felt worse for the other teammates, who actually knew the person who sold him out, honestly.
A knee on his head held him as the man stood back up. He grunted in discomfort, listening as they did their police talk, and handcuffed him. What a strange situation he had gotten himself into...
But then... everything was just a blur.
In an instant, he blinked, and moments passed before his mind like a montage was being fed to his brain. He was unmasked. His mugshots were taken, as he wore a different outfit; a school uniform... and the next thing he knew, he was sitting on a chair soaking wet, drowsy, and sore.
What... had just happened..?
He looked around at the agents that surrounded him. Trying to move proved fruitless; he was handcuffed to the chair, it seemed.
God... he really was a criminal, huh? And he was serving his punishment now... for a crime he didn't even remember committing. How was he going to get out of this...? He had no alibi, no explanation... and judging from the pain, this wasn't just some petty crime he'd be thrown in jail for. No, it looked like they wanted answers.
...It was horrible, actually, he decided, as a kick in the stomach soon sent him to the floor, and a foot pressing down hard on his head just made the pain worse. What kind of fucked-up game was this, where he could feel actual pain...?! God, maybe he shouldn't have been so reckless after all... but, where exactly had he gone wrong...?
He looked around the room, as difficult as it was. Was there some way he could escape, some puzzle he was meant to solve...?
...A camera? That was the only thing he could see...
And apparently, the person noticed that, lifting his head up by the hair. "What about the camera? Are you thinking it can be used as video evidence?"
Everything paused. It was still moving, yes, but it paused. Those prompt boxes appeared again. He had three options, this time... like a dialogue tree.
> Of course not...
> What do you mean...?
> ...
...He wondered if he could say something other than those things... but, right now was not the time to test that out. So, he took a deep breath, and muttered; "Of course not..." Why would they let anybody get footage of them beating somebody up? The camera was so obvious it was unmissable, so they had to have considered it... right...?
"So, you're not that dumb. Which is good, 'cause we get to take as much time as we need!"
In a cruel move, he was kicked, hard, in the stomach. He was left coughing and wheezing, in incredible pain.
This... this wasn't any ordinary video game. He should have known that. He was... part of this world, part of this story. This... as much as he couldn't remember a thing about it, this was his story, wasn't it...? This world affected him, and he affected this world...
...He listened as his crimes were listed. It was a big list... and apparently manslaughter was part of it.
"...And you seemed to be enjoying every second of it, huh...?"
Tears were rolling down his face from the pain. I was... enjoying it...? That... didn't seem right, but... everything's hazy, I can't remember...
The only thing he could think about right now was... "Joker". The person he thought he was meant to be... was the protagonist, right? Even if he was a thief, a criminal... he was also a kid. One who apparently had helped somebody when she was weak... He couldn't have been just a heartless criminal. He... he would do anything he could to make up for it, if that was the case. This was his story now, after all... right...? So, if he wanted to change it, to turn it into a redemption story... couldn't he?
...He opened his eyes. In front of him was now not the man, but... More of that pop-up text. Red, this time... "Select Difficulty". A video game staple. "You can change this at any time... This choice will not affect the story". Those were good things to know. It made him feel slightly safer.
He mentally scrolled through each one of them. It seemed like the only one that was a locked-in choice and couldn't be changed was the "Safe" difficulty. "You can retry as many times as you'd like"... did that mean that he could die permanently in the other difficulties...?
...He had felt so powerful before. It felt... exhilarating. He thought for a moment. What did he want... to be safe? Or to have an adventure, in this world he was trapped in?
So, Easy difficulty it was, at least for now. He could change it at any time, after all. What thoughtful game designers.
"...You should know your place."
Suddenly, to his surprise, he was released; uncuffed, and thrown onto the ground. What was going on? He most certainly was not being let free, after all...
As he rubbed his wrists, the man came over and gave him a clipboard. He looked down at it in confusion.
"Sign here. It's a confession under your name."
> I understand.
> ...
He didn't even have to say it, this time. Just a nod of confirmation was enough to pick the 'first' answer, it seemed. The man pulled out a pen, pointing it at his chest.
"Don't expect to get out of here in one piece. We're going to make you understand... One must take full responsibility for their actions."
Oh, is that so? What consequences will you get for drugging and beating up an innocent, amnesiac teen...? He thought to himself, taking a breath as he slowly put his pen to his clipboard.
...Then he came to his new problem. What... what was his name...? He couldn't remem...
.....His hands moved on their own. He wasn't sure what he was writing... but, once it was down, and he looked it over, it all came flooding back.
Yes. Akira Kurusu... that's my name. He mentally nodded to himself, before handing the clipboard back. Apparently...
So, here he was. Akira Kurusu, now sitting in a chair at a table... and watching, as a cutscene played in front of his eyes, despite the fact that he was nowhere in the room where it was occurring. A woman, a prosecutor, named Niijima, was coming talk to him. She was apparently responsible for the case... he wondered if she would be as violent as the men before her.
Soon, she was sitting in front of him. Her eyes were... softer than he expected.
"I didn't expect it'd be you. You'll be answering my questions this time."
I don't know you and haven't had a single chance to even question anybody, but please, continue.
She did indeed continue... and thankfully, she seemed nice enough. Didn't want to hurt him, at least.
"...I couldn't figure out the method behind it."
> Of course you couldn't...
> Why would you want to know?
...Bold of you to assume I even know what "it" is. He sighed, but he couldn't say that. He wanted to say "well, what do you think it is?"... but it appeared that the second option came out of his mouth, instead. Well, that confirmed it; he had no way to speak outside of the options given to him; if he didn't choose one, one would be chosen for him.
"When and where did you find out about that other world? How is it even possible to steal another's heart?"
I wish I knew what you were even talking about...
"Now, tell me your account of everything... Start from the very beginning."
...I'll try my best. He put a hand to his head as everything faded to black...
...But instead of a transition to another scene... there was a shimmering blue light that appeared in front of him. A glowing butterfly... who spoke to him as it fluttered about.
"You are held captive. A prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance."
That got his attention. He sat up straighter, staring at the butterfly.
"This is truly an unjust game... Your chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there might yet be a possibility open to you... I beg you. Please, overcome this game... and save the world."
He couldn't believe his ears. This was a game, after all, then... and he was put here for a reason. To save people... To save the world.
"The key to victory lies within the memories of your bonds--the truth that you and your friends grasped. It all began that day... When the game was started half a year ago... For the sake of your world's future... as well as your own... you must remember..."
Yes, please. I want to remember... He watched as the butterfly fluttered high into the air... As slowly, everything went white...
...And then, in a void of black... he was asked to save his game.