/** Notes:

- Main Character must be able to look like Akira at some point

- Power must wear off

**/

Drabble:

"Cheater," Joker growls softly.

The replica of him smirks in reply, hand pulling away from his with a cocky head tilt. "Too late to turn back now."

He keeps his eyes on the replica's chest, where he knows her real eyes are watching him. "Switch briefcases with me."

The replica frowns. "You know that's not part of the plan."

"I don't care," his eyes are red but she doesn't flinch when he steps close. It truly is Joker talking now, with Akira buzzing questioningly in the back of his mind. Akira knows they should be moving. Joker won't reveal why he's trying to convince her to stop. "Give it to me."

Yume – as Cheater – is just confused about why he's arguing. This was agreed upon ages ago. "No." She turns and walks away.

Akira stops himself from grabbing her and pulling her away from the door. This is the plan, he thinks as Joker tries to wrestle control again. We all agreed. She will be alright.

Joker argues back that she won't, but he doesn't give any reasons why. Akira looks up when his copied self – like looking at a twin he didn't know of – smirks, waiting. Akira gives the signal, "Lead on, Oracle."

That's his cue. Cheater is gone, and Akira waits five minutes, muttering words under his breath to make it seem like he's the one being chased by guards. Then he's dodging through the shadows to the roof, where his teammates wait.

Skull flashes him a thumb up before turning back to hover over Oracle's shoulder. Ann smiles and waves, motioning him over.

"We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end," Queen says over their ear pieces. Akira watches his teammates jump and run around the castle through the cameras on Oracle's virtual screens. Mona's at her feet, frowning at one particular camera feed as static and unfamiliar voices can be heard through the headsets.

Oracle stills, head twitching side to side as she tries to find the source. "Hm…? What was that…?"

"Don't worry about us," Mona says, walking over to the feed of Crow talking with some policemen. The betrayal is expected and none of them flinch, yet Joker stews in the back of his mind. It's when their gaze lands on Cheater-as-Joker running around the ceiling hangers that Joker comes back in control with an angry rush. His fists clench and eyes redden while Mona calls to the double. "Just concentrate on getting away!"

Mona takes a few deep breaths before continuing to talk, hiding the fact Noir pops up behind them. She rests a hand on Joker's shoulder, giving him a long look before she goes to stand next to Ann. He watches her – Ann's chatting hiding the other teen's footsteps – and then goes back grinding his teeth at the camera feeds.

"This happens because you have no sense for aesthetics," Fox comments to hide him jumping down beside them.

"Nobody asked you, Inari!" Skull snaps over his shoulder, but it does the job and eases the tension.

It's Akira who starts panicking when on-screen Joker gets cornered by a mixture of police and shadows.

It's Joker who forces them to stay on track and have the group meet Queen for their get-away.

It's both of them who pause at the sound of glass shattering; watching the other Joker fall a couple floors from the casino palace. The Phantom Thieves stand in the shadows of neighboring rooftops, watching the decoy get captured.

("You need to be ready for what's to come," Cheater replied when he argued against her offer. "I don't have a Persona, I'm not a team leader, so I can be bait.

"You worry too much," she said much later with a hard grin and eyes a little too crazed. "I do have a very thought-out plan for when I get caught.

"The disguise just needs to hold until I'm in a cop car.")

"She destroyed the earpiece," Oracle gripes, pulling out her phone and dialling a number.

"Who you callin'?" Skull asks, eyes hard as he watches the cop car drive out of the Metaverse.

"Her lawyer."

Akira cracks a grin. Joker's still worried.

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona. All rights belong to their respective owners.

A/N: The drabbles are based on discarded plots and ideas unable to fit in for the main story: Source Code. I'm holding off on any major spoilers but… spoiler warning nonetheless. I hope people enjoy!

This idea came back when I was first scratching out Source Code. I was mid-way through the game and had no idea what would was about to happen. It's gone through a lot of revision since then, but I felt it fair to post this one first since it got the ball rolling. Also, I told myself Source Code's first chapter wasn't going to start anywhere in the first fifteen mins of the game, so this is fulfilling that note too.

Thanks for reading