You've Really Lost Your Mind

[imperialsun]

Characters: Naoya and YOUR BRAVE PARTY OF anyone who wants to help with his Shadow
Setting: Forest Level, 12th of September
Format: Starting with prose, but we can switch it up
Summary: Someone's realizing his so-called twin brother is not really the twin he was looking for.
Warnings: BROTHERRRRRRR

How could he have been this foolish and let it linger on for so long?

Even if he already knew the answer, Naoya's steps felt heavy with each he took, Amon-Ra and Vishnu trying to reassure him that they'd defeat him. He already knew it was his shadow now...so why was it still here?

The forest area, he had said. Old memories if when him and Maki had walked on the journey to meet another shadow a while ago...this was no chance selection of the battleground. And he was right; the place had been completely transformed by the fog and the Shadow's will. The trees took on an 8-bit pixelated look, pink in color.

But even worse, an old model of the MSX machines stood before them; he'd spent countless hours on it, playing games...

After reading it, his hand clenched into a fist.

"He's right. I can't risk any of you in this." After all, the first time it had only been him and Maki.

[OOC- Anyone can join at all if you'd like!]

Comments

[boxingemperor]

This alteration of scenery was similar to what his shadow had done. The forest no longer looked real; it was pixelated, like it was pulled out of one of those video games Junpei obsessed over but even simpler in look. Naoya must've liked them as well.

He didn't plan on letting his new ally face it alone. Knowing what his own shadow was capable of, it didn't seem like a smart option. He'd have said the same thing, given the chance. However, his shadow has already been fought, and it may debilitate him in the same way.

"I'm still coming along."

[imperialeclipse]

As soon as those words were uttered, a counter appeared above Akihiko's head before a voice spoke.

HP [█████████░░░░]
SP [███████░░░░░░]
CHARACTER TYPE: BRAWLER

"Looks like they aren't listening to you! I suppose I should congratulate you on having others willing to follow you into the Lion's Den, but the guilt you'll feel sending them off to fight me with you is much more amusing."

[quiltrap]

Rose was just passing through when she noticed the odd look of the forest. After everything she had been through in the last few days, she was tempted to just turn around and walk away. But if these last few days had taught her anything it was that she could not keep holding herself away from the world...even this world.

So, pulling her craft bag higher up on her shoulder, she primly marched over to the people near the machine to offer her assistance.

[imperialeclipse]

As soon as she did, a counter appeared over her head and stayed there.

HP [███████░░░░░░]
SP [██████████░░░]
CHARACTER TYPE: FATE WARRIOR

"Oh who's this? A few ally you made this week? Just a random stranger helping you? Either way, you should count yourself lucky that they are, considering how you treated your own group..."

[technologic]

The forest area reminded April of the old computers she used to work on, and curiosity caused her to investigate further until she came the machine and the others staying by it.

And in reply to Naoya, she shakes her head.

"Nope, I'm going in."

[imperialeclipse]

And for her words, a counter appeared over her head and stayed there.

HP [████████████░]
SP [██████████░░░]
CHARACTER TYPE: TECHNO FIEND

"Ahh yes, dearest April-san, was it not? Naoya did find you quite charming, did you know that? But now the question is, do you really think he's trustworthy at all? He might say all those sweet words to make you feel better, but is he really?"

[thebigsister]

"You're being dumb."

Eleanor folds her arms over her chest, at ease underneath her suit once more. She's done it for the first time in a while, and as she'd thought, the familiarity was comforting. She didn't quite understand what was going on with the monsters and these Shadows, or how the fog worked.

She'd been definitely exposed to it before, and nothing had happened.

"Battles are easier when you have help."

And more exciting, but she had a feeling that was not the right thing to say.

[imperialeclipse]

And for her words, a counter appeared over her head and stayed there.

HP [████████████░]
SP [█████░░░░░░░░]
CHARACTER TYPE: DARK BERSERKER

"Straight out of one of your ally's mouth! What do you have to say to that Naoya? How does it feel to be called dumb? Granted you've been called much worse haven't you?"

The Shadow's laughter erupted all around them.

"Battles are easier when you have help. That's what friends are for...aren't they...Naoya?"

[miseris_socios]

Ken doesn't care if Naoya wants his help or not. He'd prefer to ask first, but this whole week has been screwed up.

So he steps forward into the forest, spear held at his side.

[imperialeclipse]

For his help, a counter appears over his head.

HP [████████░░░░░]
SP [████████░░░░░]
CHARACTER TYPE: SIDEKICK

"Ha ha ha. So how old are you exactly? Ten?"

And one else who wants to come join the party can reply here.

[imperialeclipse]

[You can get into verbal arguments with a shadow and have a bar over your head, aww yeah!]

I AM LATE TO THE PARTY, BUT IDC.

[pitiedthefool]

"Like I'd end up leaving you to handle this on your own."

Even without the 'order' he's been forced to follow all this time, he knows. Part of him is to blame for this continuing for so long in the first place because he fell for it. Nope. He won't be led astray like that again.

[evokingdeath]

"...Not bad."

He simply said, looking around at the scenery. He doesn't seem too concerned about the danger.

[nemophila]

"Brother...?"

Hm. That was an interesting bit of trivia. Jun had told Yu he would help him with the Shadows, and that was about as much business as he had being here. It was different when he realized it was the guy he recognized from his dream.

...

He didn't really want to think about that right now. So he was here to owe him a favor, simple as that. "I'm not afraid, if that's what you're worried about. I've handled worse than this."

[imperialeclipse]

As they advance forward into the trees, music played out as if to mock them. For the most part, apart from the pixelation nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening.

At least...until it started to talk.

"Shall I tell you a story? Most Role Playing Games start out with a crawling text, don't they? Let's see..."

And so it did.

Once upon a time, a boy named Naoya Toudou and his classmates at St. Hermelin High School played a game called "Persona". While playing, the students meet Philemon, who gave them the ability to summon reflections of their personalities, which are known as...Persona.

Of course most of you know that.

A short time later, Naoya and several others in his class go to visit Maki Sonomura, who was ill and bed-ridden. During their visit, they discover that the town is changing and demons are roaming the streets...

....

"Oh wait! Wrong game. That one's already done. I doubt He'd want a remake. Let's start again!"

...

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Naoya Toudou who arrived in the tower and realized he was the only one of his team here. At first he felt sad, but realized that over time he could replace all the allies he had lost! And so he tried to talk to others in the hopes of making new bonds.

...only over time he forgot about his friends. Didn't you, Naoya? After all you keep telling yourself you didn't want them here, but the truth is...you'd rather not see them at all!

And so, a new chapter begins in his life, with a rag-tag group of fools and imbeciles foolish enough to follow him into battle.

But!

Little did they know that The Game is about to take a much more sinister turn...

Violent gusts of wind then snapped at them, as the trees came to life, and everyone was tossed into a different direction. The foliage turned into a maze, blocking all the others from view. Now it was everyone for themselves.

"Ha ha ha! Now then! Let's see what happens when you have the Old vs the New go at it..."

READY?! FIGHT!!
Akihiko vs Reiji
Rose vs Aki
April vs Eriko
Elanore vs Ayase
Ken vs Brown
Minato vs Nanjo
Chidori vs Maki
Yu vs Mark
Jun vs Yukino

Akihiko

[imperialeclipse]

Out of the trees, a shade appeared. The teenager looked about Akihiko's age, although taller, his face in a sneer and a piercing gaze that rivaled even Shinjiro's. Most of the skin looked like a dull color, as if everything had been washed out of him. It was only the yellow eyes that seemed to have any life.

...oh and he didn't seem to have a shirt on.

REIJI KIDO SHADE
HP [█████████████]
SP [███████░░░░░░]
ARCANA: DEVIL / DEATH
CHARACTER TYPE: CAPTAIN NAKED

[boxingemperor]

[Captain Naked? What the hell? The reason is obvious but come on now...though it does give him an air of awesomeness Akihiko, what are you thinking?

The boy before him was a little like Shinji in his stature and appearance. Then he noticed the gloves. This would be a challenge...and he was more than up for it.]

I'm not holding back! Let's go!

Rose

[imperialeclipse]

On Rose's side, a small child walked out of the forest, skipping before stopping close to where she stood. She was completely devoid of color, apart from her yellow eyes. At the sight of Rose, she tilted her head, grinning.

AKI SHADE
HP [████░░░░░░░░░]
SP [████████░░░░░]
ARCANA: ???
CHARACTER TYPE: MALEVOLENCE SPLIT PERSONALITY

April

[imperialeclipse]

April might have seen Eriko around the tower before she ultimately disappeared, but regardless if she did or not, the colorless shade now stood close by, grasping a sword and readying itself in a fighting position.

ERIKO KIRISHIMA SHADE
HP [█████████░░░░]
SP [███████████░░]
ARCANA: JUDGEMENT
CHARACTER TYPE: HORROR FETISHIST

Re: April

[technologic]

April blinks over at the shade, faintly recognizing the girl as someone she had seen in the tower, and then moves so that she can ready her rifle as electricity starts to flicker and flare around her. The fact that the shade is using a sword, something metal, meant that this may be a simple fight for her, though that more than likely wasn't the case.

But for now, she'll wait and let her opponent make the first move.

Eleanor

[imperialeclipse]

She didn't come from where Eleanor was facing, but rather a bit farther away. A young teenager girl, completely devoid of color apart from her golden eyes, held a whip in one hand, and a gun in the other. The look of boredom on her face was pretty evident...

YUKA AYASE SHADE
HP [██████████░░░]
SP [█████████░░░░]
ARCANA: MAGICIAN
CHARACTER TYPE: LYING KOGAL

[thebigsister]

The tingle runs up her spine as the shade approaches and Eleanor turns to face it through the glowing red porthole. The weapons don't intimidate her much, as she shifts into the traditional Big Sister fighting stance. Knees bent and pointing inward, arms hanging listlessly at her sides and head twisted almost at an unnatural angle.

"Is this all you've got?"

Impress, the Daughter of the Lamb is not.

Ken

[imperialeclipse]

On Ken's side, the shade that appeared was...full of itself, the glowing yellow eyes mocking the tween. It held a spear that was even longer than Ken's and a...machine gun in the other.

HIDEHIKO "BROWN" UESUGI SHADE
HP [███████████░░]
SP [████████░░░░░]
ARCANA: JUSTICE
CHARACTER TYPE: TERRIBLE CLASS CLOWN

[miseris_socios]

Oh, wonderful. He looks like a jerk. Maybe it's just the Shadow twisting things and maybe he actually is one, but Ken doesn't care. Justice arcana, huh? Let's see how it handles what he has to throw at him.

Ken starts out with a Hama attack. Maybe it'll hit and maybe it won't, but given that it's a shade it's worth a shot.

Minato

[imperialeclipse]

This had to be a cruel farce. Did Minato know about Nanjo at all or what role he might have played, even indirectly into the creation of Strega? The other youth looked down at him with discontempt, his large broadsword on his back, but his rifle gun aimed at him.

KEI NANJO SHADE
HP [████████████░]
SP [███████████░░]
ARCANA: HIEROPHANT
CHARACTER TYPE: NUMBER 1 RICH SNOB

WELP

[fractus_animus]

... He recognized only the name. It was enough to make him slightly sick-feeling. It was definitely a cruel farce (with a small laugh to himself, he thinks, "rich snob" would fit the Kirijo daughter, too), but he wasn't about to just stand down. Even if that meant he was going to die. Even if that meant he was going to get his ass kicked.

Did he care? Not a bit. To the shade of one of Naoya's old friends, he just smirks.

"This will be like catharsis," he finally says, raising his Evoker to his temple. "Why am I not surprised we're all stupidly connected in some form?"

Bang goes the Evoker, out comes Thanatos. And it would listen to him today. There would be no fits of denial here. He was as calm and collected as he could be. He had no idea what the hell he was doing anymore, but he didn't care. Time to play 'guess the elemental weaknesses', right?

He'll go in with Bufudyne first. No sense wasting a Mind Charge on it if it won't work, though.

Chidori

[imperialeclipse]

Chidori's shade looked oddly determined, as her bow hung over her shoulder, hangun in her hand. The colorless foe prepared itself in a battle position, waiting to see what the other would do.

MAKI SONOMURA SHADE
HP [████░░░░░░░░░]
SP [████████████░]
ARCANA: PRIESTESS
CHARACTER TYPE: ILLUSIONARY IDEAL SELF

Chidori had an advantage, however...she could see exactly what Maki could do.

Void Absorbs Reflects Resists Weak - - - Element, Force Death, Curse

List of Skills Rank Skill 1 Media 2 Recarm 3 Diarama 4 Azure Cessation 6 Eternal White 8 Mediarahan

[floreatnoctem]

"This will be quick."

Chidori regards Maki's shadow with the kind of stony impassivity that someone generally displays to those beneath them. Considering this is just something dreamt up by Naoya's shadow, she thinks it's safe to say that this apparition definitely counts in that department. She raises her evoker with one hand, reaching for one of her axes with the other.

"If you're lucky, you won't feel a thing. If I'm lucky, you will. Medea!"

If she's really lucky, she doesn't add aloud, her Mudo spells will take care of this fake girl before she has a chance to try and retaliate.

Yu

[imperialeclipse]

When Yu looked up, there was someone a bit shorter than him wearing a hat, strange designs in his face, and a bag filled with spraycans. In fact, he might have seen him briefly when he had showed up in the tower a short while ago. With a hand-held axe stuck in the ground, he cranked up his pump-action shotgun in both his hands, aiming it at the other teenager.

MASAO INABA SHADE
HP [████████████░]
SP [█████████░░░░]
ARCANA: CHARIOT
CHARACTER TYPE: TROUBLEMAKER SO-CALLED BEST FRIEND

[pitiedthefool]

Yu vaguely recognized the name, at least. Though he couldn't help but note his family name. Inaba-san, huh. How fitting. This shadow really did know subtle humor, at least. Too bad he wasn't really interested in playing along for long.

Yu draws his sword, a click resounding through the halls as his Persona changes. Chariot Arcana... hm. Chariots were known for physical attacks if he remembered right from what Teddie and Rise would shout in battle. But then, all of them had the power of the wild card. Well, this would be interesting either way.

"Let's make this quick, then..."

His eyes flicker red for a brief moment, popping his neck back into place as the card drops before him and shatters on its own and Kohryu roars into existence. Ziodyne always was his best friend... Let's see if the same holds true, now.

Jun

[imperialeclipse]

Of course if he was using shades of his team against them, Jun would have to end with the woman who had aided him regain his own skills at the cost of her own. Only this time, she was much younger, her short hair, outfit, and chain a start contrast to the woman she would later become. But she still held some razors in one of her hand...and a double-barrel shotgun in the other.

YUKINO MAYUZAMI SHADE
HP [████████████░]
SP [█████████░░░░]
ARCANA: EMPRESS
CHARACTER TYPE: TEACHER OBSESSED EX-YANKI

[nemophila]

At first, he didn't recognize her. It took some attention to realize-- it was Mayuzumi, from her own high school days. The days where she had used her Persona to help her friends, long before she met Maya-nee or Tatsuya, or any of them.

It...bothered him, somewhere. He could still feel Durga's card in his pocket, and he could feel Chronos curl in distaste. "Aren't we clever?"

It was obviously just a trick to psyche him out, so Jun replaced his distaste with a passive and hard stare, lofting his flower before his face in one hand, the other waving forward to summon Chronos between them.

"Thou shalt pay for making a mockery of us!" Chronos voice his own displeasure in Jun's place, both its hands wrenching forward as a Garudyne swirled towards the shade.

[imperialeclipse]

When the group has finally defeated the shades, they will find that their paths connect, and they must climb a pixelated mountain. Once they reach the top, they can see an entire area arranged like a fighting match.

In the center stage way in the back, a single arcade cabinet that looks like the only thing that isn't made to look like an eight bit world. Small battle sprites of everyone is inside, with the defeated shades on the other side. This is what he's been using. Inside the pixelated ring, Naoya's body is laid downwards, his appearance showing that they've been fighting his own battle while the others have been busy. The pool of blood under him look fresh.

It's been winning.

NAOYA TOUDOU'S SHADOW
HP [██████████████∞]
SP [██████████████∞]
RANK: THE SELF CAPABLE OF DEMONIC CRUELTY

There's a sword stuck in Naoya's arm, keeping him from moving, and his Shadow looks up at the crowd with a small mocking bow, giving the body a kick before speaking to them.

"Took you guys long enough." Considering the both of them, it would be hard to figure out who is the shadow and who is the real deal, if it wasn't for the fact the shadow's grin is far too demonic. If they tried to get close to the ring, they'd find that there is a barrier stopping them from entering.

"What kind of friends are you if you arrive when everything's done? I didn't even have to get him to reject me! Tch. This is supposed the real me? What a pushover. Worse than the real Maki."

"Don't you da--"

This time he removed the sword from the other's arm as he talked, as Naoya stopped to pull his right hand in an attempt to cover it and block the blood from seeping and dying from blood loss.

"Here, let me help."

The shadow took the top of his uniform, and covered the hand in the cloth, violently tying it together as the other screamed in pain. The bleeding was stopped, but it was obvious in Naoya's eyes that he was in deep physical and mental pain. The shadow kicked him again, before holding his head up and pointing to the crowd.

"Hey look, your goons are here."

"..."

"What? You're not going to say anything?"

"I-i..." Naoya could barely see and the figured appeared blurred and a bunch of figures. "...Maki? Mark? Everyone..." His delusion was clouding his thoughts, but the Shadow just looked at them and began to laugh again, violently dropping the other to the floor again.

"Ha ha ha! Isn't this the most pathetic show you've ever witnessed? The great Naoya Toudou delirious and forgetting that ALL HIS FRIENDS AREN'T HERE!" As he said the last words, he kicked him over again. "Don't you remember? You are the one who left them! Did you really think they'd be here for you? Now...say it."

"..."

"Say that you aren't me! Scream out that someone like you isn't capable of doing this!"

"..."

"...You know why I'm here, don't you? Your mind might be clear, but it doesn't mean doubts can't grow over time...I don't need tell you who I am. And yet, here we are. Strange how I'm not just disappearing since the truth is clear to you..."

Again, he looked at the crowd.

"Ha! Ha! ha! What a turn of events! Hey Yu, you wanna explain to the peanut gallery why I haven't disappeared yet? 'And why is that', the others might ask? 'Why oh why does Naoya Toudou's Shadow linger on, when he'd already defeated his before? When he knows it's just a part of himself? When he's always been the bravest of us all?' Oh that, is just a pile of lies that grew out of proportion. And since you're all here, and you can't come in, I think it's time for me to tell you a story..."

"No! D-don't..."

[imperialeclipse]

A large white panel rose up, and behind them a movie light began to run a movie.

Only like everything else, it just looked like an old video game despite the heavy subject matter. Mocking his real self in the process.

"You've probably heard of the beginning," he explained, sitting down on top of Naoya. With a quick twist, he turned his hand at just the right angle for a crack to echo and break it.

The other teenager gritted his teeth and tried not to scream out in pain.

The screen showed two young boys.

"...There was a boy who had a twin brother. They finished each other sentences. They played together. They dressed the same. They depended on each other. Each, the other's pillar of strength...but one day, one of those brothers went to the dentist's appointment with his mother..."

"S-stop it..." Naoya's was pleading. His eyes were far more red than anyone might have seen him before. He couldn't even look at the screen. The shadow ignored him completely.

"...And he got into an accident. Dead at the age of nine. Oh how long his brother had cried and could not be consoled of the lost of his other self...How was he going to go on? How was he going to live this life...alone?"

Naoya had no answer for that.

"Kazuya..."

"Oh please! You were nine! Hell, you didn't even remember your own twin's eyes correctly! You thought they were yellow, then red, then blue..." As he spoke, the shadow move his hands over his own, and they kept changing colors, as he grinned. "See? Some kind of brother you are..." Again, he turned at the others, his face surprisingly serious. "So he put up walls. His family helped, of course. A deadbeat military father who had an affair with someone else, using his son's death and an excuse as to why he did it."

"..."

" And a mother who lost her damn mind and choked her son thinking he was his dead twin!...what a way to question your own identity. Are you really Naoya Toudou or are you Kazuya Toudou? Most children would have gone insane! You...chose to run away. Again. And Again. You were put in military school in the hopes you'd calm down. It only made you more distant and quiet." As he spoke, the screen's grim images made the whole story even more macabre, as it flashed back images of his mother...before switching to a youth holding a needle in one hand, and a lighter in the other.

"But it worked...for a time." The younger Naoya raised the needle in the air. "That earring of yours. It's a reminder of everything, isn't it? You did that to yourself at twelve years old. So your mother would stop strangling you thinking you were your twin. You could never hit her, no matter how much she deserved it." The needle punctured his skin, and he screamed it in pain, before falling to the ground.

The scene shifted again.

"Besides, it was a cruel reminder that he'd be gone forever, but you chose to carry his legacy around with you. Lost in your own depressive thoughts, you ignored those that actually cared, stuck inside your own family drama."

Naoya is a black shadow against the rest of the life that passes by him in high speed.

"Until..."

Everything stops. The scene switches to a hospital room, and Naoya is holding someone's hand, as a woman cries next to him. Maki's mother.

"It was only when Maki was put in the hospital did you realize what a fool you'd been! Oh, that promise you made then, to put everything in the past, to stop running and live for the future! How you'd protect everyone so no one would have to go what you went through...

Bravo! I always found it was a riveting speech worthy of any Japan Academy Prize film nominee!

The King of Fools, turned Emperor!"

It laughed quietly.

"Still, you were quiet and solemn despite that change in your heart. Mr. Popular in school because no one knew what you could do! " As he spoke, the shadow walked over to him again. " But if you think about it...If Brown hadn't told you about the Persona game, what would you be right now?"

Naoya wanted to scream out something at that moment. Anything to stop this. He tried, but it came out only as a half pathetic whine, the shadow crackling in glee.

"Ha ha ha! You do get it. Absolutely nothing! The world needs despair and hate so that heroes can rise against them. So that people like you can feel like they have a purpose..."

"I'm..."

"Isn't that right? I'm sure a few of you feel the same way..." He gave his real self a kick again, like some sort of rag doll.

"The Almighty Emperor! That's what you want, don't you? You don't really care about your friends, do you? Hell, you didn't even think twice about leaving for three years! You always were a loner by nature...but when the SEBEC events happened, you found yourself leading a group of individuals....You liked that, didn't you? Not just the Power of wielding a Persona."

As Naoya looked around him, shades of himself appeared, colorless. The only quality about them were their eye colors, yellow, blue and red.

"I like the ability to control."

"That they look up to me."

"That they count on me."

"Not only that," they said in unison, before disappearing, leaving only his Shadow again to finish the work. "We reveled in it! Everything! We didn't complain because...why would we?! The demons you slaughtered, the humans you had to kill on you way...we said they made us feel sick and that we never wanted to kill anyone again but...let's face it, we can't deny the rush that came over us each time. To call upon the power of Persona..."

It yawned.

"And when it was all over...you didn't know what to do with yourself! The battle lust, the power you'd been given...what good was it all now that you didn't have a cause? And then with Maki...you didn't want to influence her decision. You told yourself it was for Mark, but really....who are we kidding? After all...you fell in love with Maki's idea self! Not the real her, but a Shadow! See Yu? Now you know why he wasn't so judgmental on that furry pet you have in your team. He walked around with one too! Only she had a much better set of legs..."

Somehow, at that Naoya was able to get up and lunge at him. The shadow dodged effortlessly and he fell to the floor again.

"Face it! You liked Maki, I'll give you that. Us seventeen year old boys have urges to fill out, but it was the dream Maki that you really loved, wasn't it? And when she kissed you goodbye and admitted she liked you, your heart broke into a million little pieces. Never again, could you see her, since she'd be buried inside the real Maki. But was this Maki like the other? Could someone who likes me, like you at the same time, hmmm....well, maybe I should say another name....how about Eriko?"

Naoya tried to cover his ears. It was impossible with his broken arm.

"Oh Eriko! Deep down, you knew she had a crush on you. Girls aren't that subtle anyway. But you couldn't do it. You couldn't let yourself do anything. Not with Maki! Ha ha ha! You thought you had it bad with Mark liking her, but now your love problems just exploded! So what did you do?

You, the so-called changed Naoya Toudou you....ran away!"

The shadow stood over him.

"My, my, my. That's quite terrible, isn't it? Instead of facing your own heart head-on, you chose to leave once again. To an American School? Come on! There are plenty of places in Japan that teach video game programming. You didn't even realize that others might care for you...after all, it was only three years, right?"