The name I call you by

You're useless if you're dead (1)

"Get up!" That voice rang in my ears, too loud and far to close. "Get up and fight for your pitiful excuse of justice!" He's.. mocking me. Mocking me for lying here right now. Any movement triggered protest from my body, even the smallest twitch of my fingers from where they lie on the cold ground. I'd love to get up just about now, my back and head lying against metal isn't all that comfortable.
"What? Giving up all ready?" Akechi's tone was still mocking me, trying to force a reaction.
Nothing.
"The leader of the Phantom Thieves, lying helpless before me on the ground. I never knew you were so weak, Joker." His hand curled around the collar of my shirt and pulled me up slightly, he looked... well... thoroughly pissed off.
His red eyes burned into mine from behind the black mask, if looks could kill I'd surely be dead.
"Well?" He's waiting for a response, I'm too tired to give one.
"Tch. Pathetic." He let go and let me drop back to the ground, I heard my head hit with a small thud. My body was fairly numb at this point, excepting the throbbing pain in my side.
I could still feel his eyes burning into me, waiting for me to get up and shrug it off.
Still nothing.
At this point, I could honestly care less. My eyelids felt heavy enough as it is, and the concussion I likely got from the metal floor didn't make things much better. I've grown too tired to fight against it, and let my eyes fall shut and the world fade to nothing.

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POV: Akechi

I waited a moment, watching the still body of my rival, before moving forward with caution. A ruse? It's likely. A few steps, no movement. I knelt down and poked his cheek, half expecting for him to grab my hand and push me away, to fight back like he always had against everyone else. But... nothing.
Was that seriously all it took to knock him out? I didn't even do that much.
"Get up Joker, your little game isn't funny; stop wasting both of our time." A moment passed, no response. 30 seconds ticked by, then a full minute.
He's... actually completely out. That's not right...
I let my fingers rest on the side of his neck, feeling a faint pulse. It shouldn't be that weak. Under closer inspection, it was clear that his face didn't have its usual color; someone only gets this pale when-
"..blood loss? But from what?" My eyes scanned his body for any traces of injury, locking on to his side. His jacket was darker than it should be. Why didn't I notice this before? No, it's too dark to see properly.
"What an idiot... you knew who you were going up against and you still got hurt." A sigh passed over my lips, and I picked up his light body. He's not useful to me dead. I can't believe I'm doing this...
My steps were quick, each one echoing from the metal floor to meet my ears. I counted each one to keep the nabbing feeling of worry from growing. Worry gets people killed, it's idiotic.
Though...
A shadow can't do this kind of damage, and Joker would easily be able to heal himself with a persona skill. He can't be stupid enough to walk around hurt like this; if he's able to beat me at my own game, he must be smarter than that. But why didn't he?
"Do you have a death wish?" I knew I wouldn't get an answer, which ended up fueling my bad mood.
The question at hand still bothered me though, it's horribly out of character. Unless he's unable to use a persona.
The realization dawned on me, and I hated how it made me feel; annoyed, but almost nervous. Though, it would explain why Joker didn't use a persona for that fight. He wasn't going all out, because he couldn't.
"You never cease to amaze me... with how stupid you can truly be."
This should be far enough... no shadows should appear out of nowhere. How bothersome, it'd be easier to just slit his throat now. But Joker is useless if he's dead.
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POV: Akira

I woke up, the side of my face lying against something cold, a stabbing pain in the side of my stomach. My first instinct was to cry out in pain, not noticing where I was.
"Shut up, will you? Stop being a baby." That same harsh voice reached my ears; Akechi?
"I'm almost done, so stay still. I don't want to have to do this again because of you moving." Another stab, I bit my bottom lip in order to keep quiet, letting only a sharp hiss of breath escape. A few minutes of this passed before I felt a small snap of thread.
"Done. That wasn't so bad, now was it?" There wasn't a hint of caring to his voice, which made his actions even more confusing to me.
"Why?" I had other questions, but for now it was better to just settle on that.
"I'm not letting you lose to anyone else when you've beaten me at full strength. That's pathetic, Joker, an insult." If I didn't know better, I'd think he actually cared about how I was to die, though I also knew better than to push it any further.
"To think... you'd put in the effort to help me. You must care after all." The statement ended up getting the butt of a sword pushed against the injury that was just closed, earning a cry of pain from me. I could see the smirk on his face behind the mask, stupid sadist...
"So..." I took a moment to steady my breathing, damn that hurts way more than it should...
"Where are we?" The fog over my mind had yet to lift.
"We're in mementos now, you decided it was a good idea to nearly keel over in the middle of a palace. Honestly, only an idiot would walk around with an injury like that." He was mocking me again, but he was right. Why didn't I-?
I forced myself up from the ground, with more struggle than should be necessary. "High pixie!" A moment passed, nothing.
"High pixie!" I tried again, still nothing. The hell? Wait-
"Arsene!" Nothing, not even a stir from my subconscious.
"I see... that goes to prove my theory then. You can't use a persona, but why?" The detective prince side of Akechi spoke this time, falling into that habit with the question. A quiet curse from him followed after.
"I don't know." That shouldn't be possibly as a wildcard, but.. "Can you use Robin Hood?"
"What-?" The way he said it was almost to harsh, almost seeming like I was suggesting something outrageous.
"Wildcards." My answer was simple and he understood.
"I don't need Robin Hood to test that. Loki!" The persona manifested before him, Akechi dismissed his persona after a moment.
"Not even a hint of power from you... pathetic."
I dismissed his words, staring at the ground. Not even a hint of power... but why? No, more like how? It shouldn't be possible, but yet...
The soft rustling of clothes pulled me out of my daze, Akechi stood next to me. "Well? Get up, I'm not waiting here all day for you, unless you want to be stuck with the shadows. I'm sure they'd have a field day with you."
I don't even want to know what he's thinking about... though I do have an idea.
Sitting up was hard enough, walking is likely to be far worse. Where's Morgan's when I need him?
I stumbled to my feet, only taking a few steps before my knees gave out on me. Warm arms wrapped around me, keeping me from falling over.
"Can't even walk on your own... what would the other Phantom Thieves say if they saw you in such a pitiful state?"
"Harsh words from the guy holding my right now." Testing my luck is likely not the best of ideas, but...
"Tch." I became weightless, one of his arms wrapped around the back of my shoulders and the other under my knees.
"Cut the crap and tell me what happened. Shadows can't do that kind of damage." It was covered expertly, but behind his bitter tone, I picked up a hint of worry.
"I don't really remember. My heads still a bit foggy... I'm kinda dizzy, actually." It's from blood loss, that much I know. That's what caused me to black out in the first place; Akechi would know that by now, though.
"Can't-?" He cut off before saying anything else.
"..I should've just slit your throat, it would've saved me so much trouble..." In my defense, this situation isn't my fault.
However, before I could say any sarcastic or flirty remark, the world began to swirl before me and blur the metaverse with the real world.

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