The human mind is the most fragile, yet dangerous tool in the world. The fine line of cognitive awareness and inner turmoil. There are those who dedicate their lives to studying it

(Craft) And then there are those who beat the shit out of monsters inside of it! Like Joker, Leader of the Phantom Thieves

(Zach) And Neku Sakuraba, the Hallow-Skulled winner of the Reaper's Game. These 2 protagonists use a wide variety of tools and armors, but in this scenario these 2 will be bringing nothing but their absolute strongest weapons, armors, pins and personas.

(Ender) And despite the fact these 2 work best in teams, remember that death battle is a One on One battle. Meaning, no teammates allowed

Rules:
-Strongest Equipment Only
-No Teammates

(Craft) I'm Craft and they're Ender and Zach

(Zach) And its our job to analyze their weapons, armor, skills, feats and weaknesses to find out who would win: A Death Battle


As humans, we see the world only as we wish to see it. But due to that, there are those who have grown an egotistical and corrupted view of reality, forming dark realities in their heart known as Palaces. It is the job of a group known as the Phantom Thieves to infiltrate these palaces, and steal away the selfish desires to force the target back to reality

(Zach) The leader of this group of heart thieves is code named: Joker, the ultimate trump card. But before he was the heart stealing phantom thief, he was a boy simple known as Ren

(Craft) Or Akira if you read the manga, but whatever! One day on his way home from school, Ren saw a drunk man assaulting a young woman and he jumped in-between to help her

(Ender) Unfortunately, the man in question happened to be a high ranking politician and got Ren himself arrested for assault

(Craft) Are you sure this isn't taking place in America?

(Zach) With his record tarnished, Ren was sent to Shibuya City, Tokyo for one year as punishment. Its there he would be visited in his dreams by-

(Craft) The Penguin!? Did we just enter a batman comic?

(Ender) . . . ahem. This man introduced himself as Igor and revealed to Ren that he will soon embark on an incredible journey of 're-habilitation'

(Craft) Wonder what part of re-habilitation involves getting a weird app on your phone that teleports you and anyone close to you to a parallels hell dimension where people's deepest kept secrets become physical form. Must have missed that one in law school...

(Zach) You went to law school?

(Craft) I have a life!

(Ender) right...well this 'hell dimension' is known as the Metaverse. And it was within this reality, being faced with harsh injustice, where a special power awakened within the young teen

"Vow to me...I am thou...thou art I...Call upon my name and release thine rage!" Akira shouts as he rips a mask off of his face, spirting blood

*cue Will Power

(Craft) AH! OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK! That's GOTTA hurt! And whats with the red coat guy behind him!?

(Zach) This is the power of one's own soul and mind, one's ego given form: the power of Persona. And Ren quickly became very adapt with this power. A person and their Persona are one and the same, being able to move and think in unison. And when one takes damage, so does the other.

(Ender) In exchange, however, Ren's physical abilities grew well beyond that of the average man, being able do fight off giant monsters known as Shadows with ease, and become extremally quick and nimble. And with these abilities, Ren and his friends formed The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, with Ren as their leader: Joker

(Craft) And dont forget, the personas have freaking SUPER POWERS! Joker's main persona is Arsene, who resists curse based damage but is weak to Ice and Bless. He can fire off blasts of Curse magic with Eiha, Maeiga, and Maeigion. Decrease a foe's agility with Sukunda, or do the same to their attack with Tarunda. Who names these things...

(Zach) He can deal light physical and Gun based damage with moves like Cleave and Dream Needle-

(Craft) WHY IS THERE A FREAKING GUN ELEMENT

(Zach) and with Adverse Resolve, Ren's critical hit chances are increased when in a desperate situation.

(Craft) BEHOLD MY ULTIMATE SPELL: AK-47!

(Ender) But while most people can only have a singular Persona, Joker is a special case known as the Wild Card, allowing him to wield a maximum of 12 at a time. The other 11 he will be given will be the personas he acquired by maxing out his Confidants with his teammates as well as his caretaker Sojiro and the ones that are finished just by completing the story: Sae and Igor

(Craft) AAAHHH! DESERT EAGLE! MY ONE WEAKNESS-

(Ender and Zach) FOCUS!

(Craft) Oh! Right well *ahem*

*cue Blooming Villain

(Craft) By maxing out the Fool Arcana, Joker can create Vishnu who is completly immune to Bless and Curse, as well as absorbs Ice magic. But is weak to Fire, Don't worry though, cause it can turn that weakness into an immunity with Repel Fire. Which launches fire spells back at its user! It can also shoot everything in front of them with Riot Gun...pew pew.

(Ender) Ali Dance halves the accuracy of all moves targeted towards it, and with Concentrate it can increase the power of its next magic spell 250x. Useful with spells such as Megidolaon and the wind spell Magarudyne. The latter also gaining a 50% buff from Wind Amp, and the ability Vahana's Wings reduces the SP-that's his magic reserves by the way-needed to cast said spells by 75%.

(Zach) With the Magician Arcana comes Futsunishi, who resists physical blows but is weak to nuclear magic. This persona is all about raw physical power with spells such as Auto-Maraku granting Joker an automatic defense boost, Matarukaja increasing his power, Apt Pupil increasing his critical hit chance, Regenerate 3 healing him throughout a battle, and Charge granting a 50% boost to his next physical spell. And, thanks to Futunushi's ability Will Of The Sword, that boost becomes 150%.

(Craft) He concentrates this power into powerful sword moves like Brave Blade and Myraid Slashes, at the cost of HP. And he becomes an unmovable wall with Firm Stance, where he halves all damage he takes by half at the cost of losing his ability to dodge. From Priestess Arcana he gains Cybele who blocks Bless magic and resists fire, but is weak to electricity. Plus with Drain Bless, Joker gets healed by Bless magic. Cybele here is a healer, with moves like Mediarahan and Salvation healing him back to peak condition! And when he doesn't need heals, she can blast foes away with the hard hitting bless spell Makougaon, which gets boosted by Bless Amp

(Ender) Mother Harlet is the ultimate Empress persona, who repels electric magic and is immune to Curse spells, but is weak Bless. However that bless weakness goes away with Null Bless. Her Debilitate spell lowers a target's strength speed and agility, and her go to magic is her Ice spells Mabufudyne and Ice Age, which have a chance to freeze a foe solid. These moves are aided by means of Ice Amp, increasing their damage and her special ability Goblet Of Sin increases the chances of status ailments on a downed foe. She also has access to the instant kill spell Mamudoon, which gets aided by Mudo Boost to increase the likelihood of success

(Zach) The Emperor Arcana grants him the power of Odin, who reflects both Bless and Curse, absorbs wind and is immune to Electricity

(Craft) Makes sense considering he's the freaking GOD OF IT

(Zach) And he shows that proficiency with hard hitting electric magic such as Thunder Reign and Wild Thunder, getting boosted by Elec Amp. And Odin's ability Hunting Premonition reduces the sp cost of these spells 75%. Plus moves like Concentrate to increase that magic power, Myraid Slashes for physical damage, Marakukaja to increase his defense, and Fast Heal reducing the time it takes Joker to recover from Ailments like Shock and Burn

(Craft) Jesus Christ this is a lot *ahem* from the Hierophant arcana comes Kohryu, a big ass dragon with immunities to Elec, Nuke and Bless, but weak to Psychic. Strange since...thats his main element. Using the powerful psychic spell Psycho Force, with Psy Amp boosting it by 50%. Using Concentrate, he can also boost the power of his other spells like the lightning spell Maziodyne, and healing himself back to full with Mediarahan. Spell Master cuts the SP useage of these spells in half, and its ability 5 Elements boosts damage he deals to foes with a status ailment

(Ender) Ishtar is the ultimate persona of the Lovers Arcana, and is the ultimate white mage. She is immune to Electric spells, and would be weak to wind if not for Drain Wind. She can heal Joker back to complete health with Mediarahan and Salvation, the latter instantly removing any status ailments. She can fire off the electric spell Maziodyne, with Spell Master cutting the cost of all her magic by half. And her special ability Mother Blessing further reducing the cost of her healing spells by 75%

(Zach) The Chariot Arcana grants him Chi Yu, who is completly immune to psychic attacks and resists physical blows and gun fire, at the cost of a weakness to nuclear energy. That physical resistance becomes an outright counter with Repel Physical, allowing Joker and Chi Yu to completly reflect any attempt of physical damage. As well as absorbing psychic damage with Drain Psy. He can fire off a massive physical attack with Gigantomachina, as well as using Psycho Force do deal severe psychic damage, the latter being boosted by Concentrate. Fortify Spirit makes him resistant to status ailments and with the ability Wargod's Wraith, the cost of Gigantomachima is reduced by 75%

(Craft) Metatron is the ultimate Justice Persona. He reflects wind spells, is immune to Psychic and Nuke magic, and is weak to Electric and Curse magic. He comes packing with our good old friend Concentrate, which he uses to power up his super powerful spells like Megidoloan, which deals non-elemental damage, as well as Makougaon, dealing powerful bless damage and getting its cost cut by its special ability Hereld's Grace and its power boosted by Bless amp. He can also fire off bless spells that have a chance to instant kill foes with Mahamaon, the odds boosted by Hama Boost. As well as dealing strong physical hits with Blade Dance and cleaving an opponent's HP clean in half with God's Judgement

(Zach) The ultimate Hermit Persona, Ongyo-Ki is all about raw physical power, being resistant to gun and physicals based moves and reflecting Bless and Curse magic. With Firm Stance, Joker reduces all damage he takes by half in exchange for not being able to dodge, Regenerate 3 restoring 6% of his HP every few moments, doubling to 12% thanks to its ability Oni Whisper, and Arms Master reducing the HP cost of his physical spells. Such as Myriad Slashes and Agneyastra. Lastly, this persona can cast Forget with Makajamaon, rendering its target unable to use abilities

(Ender) Lastly-

(Craft) THANK GOD

(Ender) There is the ultimate persona of the Judgment Arcana, Satan. This persona reflects Ice and Curse based spells, and is resistant to gun fire. It can also, instead reflect ice spells with Repel Ice and increase its magic power with Concentrate. Invigorate 3 and Regenerate 3 gradually restore Joker's SP and HP respectively, Fortify Spirit reduces chances of status ailments, and its ability Cocytus reduces the cost of Ice spells by 75%, including its spells Diamond Dust and Ice Age. Lastly, its Black Viper attack deals severe, non-elemental damage to every foe

(Craft) So TLDR, Joker has some serious fire power behind that mask of his! But he doesn't only rely on his magic spirit buddies to do all the work, hes got plenty of tools up his sleeves to do the work himself

(Zach) He wields Paradise Lost R, a powerful dagger that reduces the damage he takes from Curse magic, as well as the Tyrant Pistol R, a pistol which increases his magical power. He also dawns the Crystal Skull, increasing all of his stats and abilities as well as increasing his evasion against magic. But aside from his weapons, he carries a variety of thief tools into any mission

(Craft) Smokescreens, Hypno Mist to put enemies to sleep, a grappling hook, and an Element Set, Force Set, and Megido Bombs to deal all manor of elemental damage with a snap of his fingers. Joker's got a lotta gear, and he's got the skills to back it up

(Ender) Joker is a master of stealth and strategy. He excels in pinpointing weaknesses and exploiting them. Whether his opponent is a mere pixie or a giant god, nothing gets under his skin

(Zach) He's strong enough to keep his footing against roaring winds and match his fellow Phantom Thieves, and fast enough to dodge anything from bolts of lightning to explosions

(Craft) So he's super fast AND has super powers?

(Zach) Well, for as powerful as Joker is, he is not infallible. He runs on a limited supply of magic and when he runs out, he cant call on his persona any more. Not to mention he is a mortal man and can be put down just as easily

(Craft) Yeah but good luck doin that when the dude's tough enough to survive a supernova to the freaking face! And remember that Holy Grail we mentioned?

(Ender) Turns out, this "Igor" fellow Joker met was, in fact, a corrupted god named Yaldabaoth, who was actually looking to cleanse of of humanity by merging the Meta Verse with the real world, thereby making turning everyone into ignorant shadows. Doing this, he also attempted to erase Joker from reality, as the 'cognition' of him had faded from the public eye

(Craft) But Joker didn't like that idea very much...so he just didn't. Yeah Joker literally stopped himself from being erased from reality from sheer willpower! And in the final battle for the fate of mainkind, Joker's resolve reached a breaking point. And Arsene awoke to its TRUE POWER!

(Ender) Arsene was reborn as Joker's Ultimate Persona

"Pillage him...SATANAEL!"

*cue Rivers In The Desert

(Zach) Satanael resists all forms of damage, nullifies bless magic and absorbs curses. Its signature ability is Pagan Allure, which boosts all of its magic spells by 50%. With Tyrant Mind, it further increases its attack power, Heat Riser raises all of Joker's physical abilities, and Survival Trick allows Joker to withstand a fatal blow. With powerful spells like Maegiaon, Megidolaon, and Black Viper and the powerful gun attack Riot Gun its no reason to doubt Satanael is Joker's absolute strongest persona

(Craft) And all of those abilities PALE in comparison to its ultimate move: Sinful Shell. An attack SO powerful, it One Shot Yababadabado over there! Shadows, corrupt hearts, and mildly annoying criminals everywhere count your days! Cause its only a matter of time before The Phantom Thieves come for your heart

"PERSONA!"

Joker
Real Name: Ren Ananiya/Akira Kurusu
Age: 16
Weight: 5'9
Height: 150 pounds (estimate)
Leader of the Phantom Thieves
Part time Conveniance Store Clerk, Bartender, Curry Maker, and breaker of hearts

Weapons and Tools:
-Paradise Lost R (Dagger)
-Tyrant Pistol R (Pistol, Limited Ammo)
-Grappling Hook
-Element Set (Molotov cocktail, Freeze spray, Air cannon, and Stun gun)
-Forces Set (Psycho bomb, Atom match, Happy bomb, and Nuclear bomb)
-Megido Bomb
-Smoke bombs
-Hypno Mist (Puts foes to sleep)

Personas:
-Arsene
-Vishnu
-Futsunushi
-Cybele
-Mother Harlot
-Odin
-Kohryu
-Ishtar
-Chi You
-Metatron
-Ongyo-ki
-Satan
-Satanael

Feats: -Leads the Phantom Thieves
-Defeated multiple powerful shadows
-Survived massive explosions
-Routinely dodges lightning, explosions and fire
-Survived being erased from existence
-One-shot Yaldabaoth

Faults: -Limited SP
-Usually fights with a team


The city of Shibuya is constantly moving, memories being made, and voices drowning out silence. But for one boy, he was about to see a very different side of things

(Craft) One day, young Neku Sakuraba woke up on the streets of Shibyua with no memories of anything other then his own name. Don't worry kid, we all have our first drunken stuppor

(Zach) He noticed soon that no one in the city paid him any mind, almost as if he was invisible. And that's because, in a way...he was.

(Craft) Turns out NEKU FREAKING DIED and was transported to a plain of reality known as the Underground, where monsters called Noise ran wild. It was here he learned of his fate: team up with another player...or die

(Ender) The Reaper's Game had begun

"Why...WHAT THE HELL?!"

*cue Long Dream

(Zach) See, monsters known as Reapers will take people who have died and offer them a chance to be revived by winning the Reaper's Game, in exchange for giving up something precious. In Neku's case, it was his memories.

(Craft) Not sure what kind of game has unvoluntary players, but Neku doesn't have time to think about that! He's too busy being a badass!

(Zach) In the Reaper's Game, players fight against the Noise using special objects known as Pins. These pins are powered by one's own imagination, the stronger the imagination the stronger the pins are. And Neku is VERY imaginitive, making him an almost ideal player. His Player Pin, for example, can even let him read minds

(Ender) In this fight, he will be wielding the Darklit Planets Pin Set, widely regarded as the single strongest set in the game.

(Zach) Black Uranus-

(Craft) hehehe

(Zach) Grow up...

(Craft) Never!

(Zach) *ahem* Black Uranus allows Neku to summon bladed pillars from the ground to slash and skewer any opponents in its path. Black Jupiter allows him to summon bolts of lightning

(Craft) Black Mercury allows Neku to summon orbs of floating water that stay still for foes to run into. Happens more often then you'd think!

(Ender) Black Venus lets Neku fire concentrated projectiles from his palm that he can fire rapidly. These rounds can also lower the defense of any foe it hits. Black Mars lets Neku summon and command a torrent of flames that can inflict foes with the HP Drain effect, drastically increasing the amount of damage attacks do by a set percentage of their health.

(Zach) And finally, Black Saturn creates a dark barrier around Neku that negates any and all damage, hurts foes on contact with a chance to lower defense, as well as gradually heals him. SO all around, this set provides Neku with some strong offensive and defensive abilities

(Craft) He's also dripped out! Certain style sets in the Underground provide Neku with additional buffs as well as increasing his defenses by matching them with his pins. So may as well add Fashionista to his list

(Ender) As such, he wears the Cosmic SOS set. With this full set, Neku's attack power is increased 95%, his defense 65%, as well as granting him a 30% chance to nullify incoming damage.

(Craft) With abilities like these, its no wonder why the Reaper's hate him! He beat their game not just once, but THREE times! Mostly due to them lying about giving him all his memories back, and forcing him to back. He's strong enough to take down even the toughest of noise and even the strongest of Reapers, including the head hanchos like the Conductor and Composer, the latter of whom controls the ENTIRE underground!

(Zach) He's survived everything from falling boulders, cars, and explosions from all angles and is fast enough to dodge them too. And when at the end of his ropes, standing face to face with the Conductor, Neku and his friends summoned all their power into the ultimate pin; The Four Stars pin

(Craft) A Pin with so much power, it one shot Draco Cantus, a monster that was made of power from The Conductor AND The Composer!

(Ender) But for all of these powers, Neku isn't flawless. His pins have cool down times, meaning he can't afford to spam them. And without a partner, it is very easy for him to get overwhelmed.

(Craft) And he also has some anger issues he's working out after a couple dozen tragidies. But even then, when the Reapers come to play. Neku is there to take them head on!

"All the world needs is me. I got my values... so you can keep yours, all right?"

Neku Sakuraba
Age: 15
Weight: 120 Pounds (Estimate)
Height: 5'4
Music Enthusiast

Pins:
-Player Pin (Mind Reading)
-Black Uranus (Edged pillars)
-Black Jupiter (Lightning bolts)
-Black Mercury (Water)
-Black Mars (Fire)
-Black Venus (Rapid fire projectiles)
-Black Saturn (Barrier, healing)
-Four Stars

Cosmic SOS Threads
+ATK +95%
+DEF +65%
+30% chance to nullify damage

Feats: -Won the Reapers Game 3 Times
-Defeated multiple powerful Noise and Reapers alike
-Survived explosions and other elemental attacks
-Extremally Agile
-Psyches more powerful then average
-One shot Draco Cantus

Faults:-Pins need to recharge
-Usually fights with a partner


Alright the combatants are set, lets end this debate once and for all

(Zach) The Gentleman Thief vs The Reaper of Reapers!

(Craft) ITS TIME FOR A DEATH BAAAAAAAAAAATLE!


Neku looks at his palm as his timer ticks down

Defeat the Phantom of the Subway

'what the hell does that even mean?' He thinks as he enters the underground metro. There, multiple noise get slashed down by Joker, who pants

'these shadows are a lot different then normal...' he thinks and, just as Neku reaches the bottom step, he summons Arsene

'Is that...noise? And it came from that guy?' he thinks '...no doubt about it. Alright, game on!' Neku jumps and aims his palm out. Joker turns and dodges the fireball as he holds his knife close

"Joker? Are-okay?" A female voice comes through static. Joker glares forward as he cuts off the communications.

"You wanna play? Lets play!" Joker says as he aims his gun forward, just as Neku clenches his smoking fist

FIGHT!

*cue Phantom's Game by Brandon Yates

Neku shouts as he thrusts his arm out. Joker jumps as he dodges a torrent of flames, hopping onto a guard rail before taking out the Tyrant Pistol and firing 5 shots. Neku sidesteps the bullets with ease as he swipes his arms "Take this!" He shouts as Joker gets blasted by a lightning bolt, making the thief shout in pain. Neku runs up as Joker's body smokes from the strike, looking up. Joker jumps backwards and uses his grappling hook to pull himself up to the ceiling. He rains bullets down at Neku, who side steps them all. But one step proves to be a mistake as Joker jumps down and slashes him with his knife, spinning and kicking him in the jaw before grabbing his foot with the grappling hook and slamming the Player into the ground. Neku groans as he stands up as Joker uses his speed to jump over him and try to stab his back. Neku turns and grabs his arm "Not bad, but not good enough!" Neku shouts as he zaps Joker again before spinning and throwing the phantom into a wall. Joker looks as Neku begins preparing another pin.

"Arsene!" Joker calls as his starting persona appears and casts both Sakunda and Tarunda on Neku. Neku feels the effects but doesn't focus on them before readying another fire attack

"Burn away!" He shouts shooting the flames

"Vishnu!" Joker shouts as the Fool Persona appears. The fire attack bounces off of Joker and back at Neku, who holds his palm out and disipates it

"Nice trick pal, but its not going to save you" Neku says as a bladed pillar appears from under Joker, stabbing into him and carrying him into the air, a second one shooting from the wall and launching him forward. Joker corrects himself in the air as a third pillar shoots from the ceiling but this one Joke uses his grappling hook to attach too and swing himself off of it, above Neku and unleashing Magarudyne. Neku shouts as he gets flung into the air where Joker was falling and intercepts him with a kick. The 2 land on opposite sides of the room as Joker aims his gun and fires more shots at Neku. Neku, annoyed, activated Saturn and blocks to projectiles. He then shoots more lightning bolts, which Joker jumps to dodge. He hears a train whistle as a subway comes through the station. Smirking, Joker hops on and rides it through the tunnel. "Get back here!" Neku shouts as he runs and jumps onto a second subway on the opposite track. The 2 Subway trains race along side each other over a massive red void as Neku fires Venus. Joker counters with his own gun shots, each projectile canceling the other. Neku aims his palm at the tracks, shooting a lightning bolt at Joker's train's track, causing it to go haywire. Joker stumbles as his train car shakes, Neku unleashing another Uranus pillar to knock Joker off. The phantom uses his grappling hook to hook onto the bottom of the tracks, swinging around and jumps back out behind Neku, who turns and blocks his kick. He raises his arm for another lightning bolt

"Mother Harlet!" Joker shouts as Neku's lightning bolt bounces off of Joker and strikes him just as Joker casts Debilitate. "Chi Yu!"

"Get out of my sight!" Neku shouts, using Mercury to blast Joker with bubbles. Joker stumbles back as he uses Concentrate, before throwing smokescreens down and covering the field with smoke. Neku stands still and closes his eyes

'Metatron' Joker thinks as he changes his persona

"I heard that" Neku says as he fires another Lightning bolt, this time striking Joker hard due to Metatron's weakness. Using this chance, Neku unleashes more bolts. Joker pants as he feels his health low. He shoots hypno mist at Neku "What the heck!? What did...you..." Neku shouts before falling asleep

"Ishtar!" Joker shouts as he uses Salvation to heal himself. "Satan!" He shouts as the train car shakes, waking Neku up. He looks down and jumps back as Black Viper shoots up tring to bite him

"No you dont!" Neku shouts, shooting more flames at Joker, who counters with Ice Age. The two attacks collide, destroying the train car and making them both fall. Joker uses his grappling hook to grab onto another set of rails, pulling himself back to solid ground as Neku uses another skewer to push himself off of and jumps to the same land. The two pant and glare at each other

"Ongyo-ki!" Joker shouts as his persona lunges forward with Myriad Slashes

"Give me a break..." Neku says as he puts up Saturn again, blocking the assault. While slashing at the barrier, it inflicts the Persona with Defense Down, transferring it to Joker as well. Neku jumps backwards, unleashing multiple blasts from Black Venus. Joker crosses his arms, unable to dodge due to Ongyo-ki's Firm Stance, but the Defense Down debuff undoes his normal resistances as Joker gets pushed backwards into a wall.

"Ishtar!" Joker shouts, using Salvation once more before firing off Makougaon. Neku shouts as the wide sweeping bless spell left him no room to dodge, sending the Player flying into the air. He fixes himself before panting

"ENOUGH!" Neku shouts as he closes his eyes. "Shiki...Beat...Joshua.." He invisions his friends as Joker swaps back to Satan to make use of Invigorate 3 and Regenerate 3, unaware of Neku's plan. Suddenly, strong wings and light surrounds Neku as he holds his palm out "GET OUT OF MY FACE!" Neku shouts as the Four Stars pin glows. A skull shaped symbol appears around Joker before a massive beam of light envelops him, making the phantom thief shout in pain. Neku pants as he stumbles back, holding his arm tired. "Finally...won...!?" He looks as his timer hadn't disappeared "It cant be..." Suddenly the sound of a chain breaking echos through the area as blue flames cut through the light

"SATANAEL!"

Joker shouts as his massive Ultimate Persona cuts through the light, floating above the two of them. Neku growls as he fires Lightning Bolts and Bubbles at Satanael, who swats them all away as they activate Heat Riser. Joker runs forward and slashes Neku across his chest. Neku shouts before kicking Joker back and jumping onto a section of the wall, lighting the ground on fire with Mars 'Come on...come on...' He looks at his pin cool down as Joker and Satanael are barely effected by the flames, both taking out their guns and aiming.

"Ravage him" Joker says with a sick grin as Satanael unleashes Sinful Shell.

"Shit!" Neku shouts as he activates Saturn to block the attack, the shell pushing agianst thr barrier as Neku uses all his power to hold it back. Soon, however, the barrier cracks as the shell flies into Neku, making the young boy scream out in agony as he and the bullet fly out the hole they entered through, Neku being torn to sunder and his pieces falling into the abyss. Satanael disappears as Joker falls back on his butt, sighing

"This is Joker...i'm coming home"

K.O!


Joker taps his foot as soon Morgana in his car form pulls up to pick him up. Meanwhile, at the very bottom of Mementos, Neku's headphones fall

(Craft) Dammit this boss is bullshit! Maybe I need to grind some more...

(Ender) Neku gave it his all, but Joker proved why he was a leader

(Craft) Yeah but not before Neku gave him hell in the absolute closest battle we've had yet! I mean seriously, these two could not have been any more dead even!

(Zach) Not only were both extremally agile, capable of dodging most anything the other could throw their way, but the scale of their enemies-the Shadows and The Noise-were also relatively similar. And both, with their ultimate moves, could one shot monsters capable of corrupting and controlling all of Shibuya.

(Ender) Issue being, due to the nature of both their games and their universes, its almost impossible to put stats to ANY of their feats since their all powered by some non-real factor-Cognitive thought and Imagination. Making it impossible to judge how realistic to take ANY of their feats without making an absurd amount of assumptions.

(Craft) What sealed this battle, however, Was Joker's massive array of Personas.

(Zach) Indeed. Neku's pins were powerful, but with Joker constantly switching his personas mid battle, he could make himself resistant or flat out immune to multiple of Neku's attacks, and these personas also gave Joker more variety in his counter attacks. Joker also had more ways to deal negative status effects then Neku did

(Craft) Both had ways to nullify damage and heal themselves. But Joker's didn't have cool down, Neku's did. Meaning in a pinch, Neku couldn't rely on Dark Barrier to be off cool down every time. Where as Joker could just swap to Ishtar and instantly restore his health

(Ender) Now yes, Joker DOES have a limited amount of SP when Neku does not, however with his multiple methods of reducing the cost of his spells and restoring them with Invigorate, Joker could keep the fight going far longer then Neku could hope to. Even if he DID run out of SP, his multitude of bombs could help in the interim, and his Hypno Mist and Grappling Hook would allow him to stay a safe distance away to recharge.

(Craft) Poor Neku...he just Never Saw It Coming

(Ender) The Winner is Ren Ananiya...Joker

Results:

Both:
=Agility
=Scale of Enemies
=Ultimate Attacks were comparable
=Both work better with partners
=No safe or consistent way to judge feats

Joker:
+Personas let him be resistant or immune to Neku's Pins
+No cool down on abilities
+Easier access to healing and stat changes
-Limited SP

Neku
+No limit to his pins
+Far more consistent
-Attacks could be countered easier
-Pin Cooldown


NEXT TIME ON DEATH BATTLE

The sound of shoes squeaking is heard as 2 figures are shown punching the air: A young boy with green gloves and a larger man with red. The two fight a wide variety of other opponents with flashy punches as they then turn to each other, a bell dinging in the background

LITTLE MAC

VS

BALROG

(Punch Out! vs Street Fighter)