Solving magical mysteries and fighting fantastical monsters is just another day as we kick off Brogust with two pairs of high school heroes! Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, the pair of Hogwart student wizards who were instrumental in defeating the great dark wizard Voldemort once and for all! Yu Narukami and Yosuke Hanamura, the founding members of the Investigation Team that solved the mystery of the Midnight Channel in Inaba! Will the the finest young wizards of the age triumph again, or will the Investigation Team crack one more case? It's time for you to decide which glasses-wearing hero and his himbo redhead friend will be...
THE DEADLIEST WARRIOR!!!
Team Hogwarts[]
| “ | You're the one who is weak. You will never know love or friendship. And I feel sorry for you.
— Harry Potter
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” |
Harry Potter is the son of James and Lilly Potter famous for surviving an attack from the dark wizard Voldemort when he was a baby and for saving the wizarding world from him and his followers, the Death Eaters. Being the subject of Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy, which foretold the death and defeat of Voldemort, he was visited by the dark lord who murdered both of his parents before trying to murder baby Harry. Thanks to his mother's sacrifice he survived, causing the killing curse to rebound to Voldemort and destroy his physical body.
Harry grew up as a normal boy as his aunt and uncle hid his true history from him, thinking it was too abnormal, and neglected him in favour for their own son. On his eleventh birthday, Harry received an invitation from Hogwarts, which was swiftly taken from him and destroyed by his uncle, fearing that his true nature would be revealed to him. As more and more letters arrived the Dudleys and Harry moved to a remote location in the hopes to avoid anymore letter, however, they were instead visited by Hagrid who revealed Harry's true history before taking him to Hogwarts. During his time at the magical school, Harry befriended Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger who would aid him against the resurrected Voldemort. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry managed to destroy all the pieces of Voldemort's soul and finally killed the dark lord. With Voldemort dead and the Death Eaters defeated, Harry went on to marry Ron's sister, Ginny, whom he had three children with and went on to become the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Equipment:
- Wand: Although Harry is trained in wandless magic, he primarily casts his spells through utilizing the wand he first acquired at age 11. Harry's wand is 11 inches long, made from holly wood and enchanted via its phoenix feather core.
- Cloak of Invisibility: A magically enchanted cloak apparently forged by Death himself, Harry's invisibility cloak is one that provides complete physical invisibility. The cloak was incredibly durable for its kind, seemingly unripped when hit by spells and never losing its enchantment. The cloak itself is long enough to cover Harry entirely as an adult.
Powers & Abilities:
- Magic: Harry Potter is one of the most naturally talented and skilled wizards of his age, despite his lack of early magical training and knowledge. Although not the scholar that his friend Hermione is, Harry is nevertheless a highly skilled wizard in practical, combat-related usages. He has a preference for spells that instantly stun or disable opponents, such as conjuring ropes to trap his opponents or instantly paralyzing them, and even spells not meant to do so such as his Disarming Spell could still knock out human beings just by being hit with them. He is skilled and trained enough that he can even engage in wordless and wandless magic, the latter being such a rare and powerful talent that only other powerful wizards were shown to be capable of performing it. I am including the link to avoid an inevitable VC attempt by Appel in the future.
- Dueling: Harry was a highly skilled magical duelist, learning early in his career how to engage in magical combat. He is able to defeat adult Death Eaters such as Lucius Malfoy and Fenrir Greyback with ease, often dispatching lesser Death Eaters in a single flurry of well-placed spells. Harry was even capable of dueling with Voldemort on even grounds, using a mixture of his magical talent and greater discipline in the face of the Dark Lord.
- Apparition: Harry could utilize the magic of apparition, essentially teleportation magic based on concentrating on a location and disappearing from their current one to travel there.
| “ | Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first.
— Ron Weasley
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” |
Ron Weasley is the sixth and youngest son of the full-blooded but poor Weasley family, and second youngest after his sister Ginny. Raised in the Wizarding World since birth, Ron grew up with a deep sense of inadequacy as his older brothers found ways to excel in different ways. He expected to be the forgotten of his siblings until he went to Hogwarts, where he met a young Harry Potter on the train to school. The two bonded on the train ride, with Harry defending Ron from bully Draco Malfoy. As their first year continued, Ron also became friends with Hermione Granger, although her scolarly focus often clashed with his more laidback attitude.
Over the years, Ron proved himself a loyal and dedicated friend to Harry, helping him in his many adventures during his Hogwarts years. He also began to develop a crush on Hermione, one mutually shared but unacted on until they went on the run to hunt the Horcruxes to defeat Voldemort. Initially jealous of Harry and Hermione's competency, Ron temporarily leaves before rejoining them later on. Ron participates in the Battle of Hogwarts, where he and Hermione destroy a Horcrux and admit their feelings for each other. After Voldemort's defeat, Ron and Hermione get married, with Ron briefly becoming an Auror before deciding to help run his late brother's joke shop instead.
Equipment:
- Wand: Ron uses a wand made from willow wood, 14 inches long and strung with unicorn hair. Unlike Harry, Ron is incapable of performing wandless magic.
Powers & Abilities:
- Magic: Ron is a skilled wizard, capable of using highly advanced spells despite his young age. Ron's proficiencies lie in practical charms, mastering things such as levitation, fire creation, and protection charms at a young age. He additionally proved himself capable with defensive shield charms and stunning spells, as well as offensive hexes focused on turning people sick. Finally, he could perform magic nonverbally, a sign of a particularly talented wizard. I am including the link to avoid an inevitable VC attempt from Appel in the future.
- Skilled Duelist: Ron was a skilled duelist, capable of fighting more experienced, trained, and powerful Death Eaters at a young age. His time at Hogwarts and his surprisingly tactical mind allowed him to often manipulate the environment or his enemies to give him an advantage in a magical duel, easily dispatching Death Eaters at the Battle of Hogwarts and while escaping Bellatrix's manor.
- Skilled Tactician: Ron proved himself more practical and strategic than either of his two best friends, with an ability to think outside the box like Harry but developing actual solutions like Hermione. Ron's quick, practical thinking allowed him to keep a level head in highly stressful situations, with his lifelong knowledge of the Wizarding World and laidback attitude providing the right solutions for sudden problems that emerged in a moment.
Team Investigation[]
| “ | People can do it. As long as they open their eyes and look around, they'll see it. They'll see the truth!
— Yu Narukami
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” |
A young transfer student from Tokyo, Yu Narukami moved to Inaba prefecture to live with his uncle Dojima and cousin Nanako. While in Inaba, Yu befriends a trio of students at Yasogami high school; Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, and best girl Yukiko Amagi. The four friends discover the Midnight Channel, a strange phenomenon that they deduce is linked to a string of murders in Inaba. They discover they can go into the Midnight Channel, where they encounter a strange creature named Teddie, who teaches them how to fight Shadows and save the attempted victims. Yu resolves to prevent the murders as they occur, forming the Investigation Team to deduce the killer's identity.
By Christmas, Yu and the rest of Investigation Team discover that the human culprit is Tohru Adachi, Dojima's seemingly inept partner in the police department. Yu and Investigation Team defeat Adachi and his puppet master Ameno-sagiri, before discovering the source of the Midnight Channel itself; the goddess Izanami, who gave the power to enter the Midnight Channel to Yu and Adachi to determine the best way to grant humanity's collective wish. Yu and his team defeat Izanami in battle, with Izanami promising to leave humans alone so that they may retain free will. They additionally free their friend Marie, an amnesiac incarnation of an aspect of Izanami, from her siblings' control, before Yu finally leaves Inaba in March, wiser and with more friends than when he arrived.
Equipment:
- Blade of Totsuka: A two-handed sword given to Yu for defeating the Reaper, the Blade of Totsuka makes Yu's abilities more likely to strike a stunning blow against a target.
Powers & Abilities:
- Izanagi: Yu's first and primary Persona, a Persona inspired by one of the two Japanese creation gods. Due in part to his primary role as strategist and leader of the party, Izanagi's spells are dedicated to buffing his allies' offense, defense, or agility. For offensive purposes, Izanagi can also utilize powerful bolts of lightning or its large fork spear to stab enemies and potentially poison them.
- Loki: Upon completing his investigation of the Inaba serial killer, Yu unlocked within himself the Persona Loki, the Norse Trickster god. Loki is a very powerful single-target magic caster, using ice spells to freeze opponents in battle. It heals when hit by ice-based magic and ignores unholy magical damage, but possesses a notable weakness to fire spells.
- Kohryu: After developing a close bond with his uncle Dojima, Yu unlocked within himself the Persona Kohryu, the Yellow Dragon of Chinese mythology. Kohryu's offensive spells rely on a powerful blast of lightning, but its primary purpose is to act as a healer and defensive guardian, boosting Yu's endurance to far greater heights than his other Personas and allowing him to revive allies.
- Scathach: After developing a relationship with Yukiko Amagi, Yu unlocked within himself the Persona Scathach, warrior mentor of Cu Cuchlain. Scathach acts as a versatile caster for Yu, utilizing fire, ice, wind, and electric attacks to take on large groups of enemies with her spells.
- Wild Card User: Yu Narukami is a Wild Car User, a Persona-user capable of storing and switching between multiple Personas within his soul. He can only use one Persona at a single moment, but can swap between them in a near instant.
| “ | Ready or not, here we come!
— Yosuke Hanamura
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” |
A transfer student from a large city to Inaba, Yosuke Hanamura is the son of the new manager of Inaba's Junes. The resulting impact on the local businesses that Junes has results in Yosuke being isolated by many of his peers until Yu arrives. The pair quickly hit it off, with Yosuke introducing Yu to his only other friends Chie and Yukiko. The four end up learning about the Midnight Channel after Yosuke's crush Saki appears on it and dies later on, with Yukiko ending up a potential victim of the TV World later on. Yosuke joins Yu in entering the TV World to learn more about it, discovering the creature known as Teddie and Yosuke awakening to his Persona, Jiraya. They rescue Yukiko, and resolve to form the Investigation Team to solve the mystery of Inaba's serial killer.
As Yosuke and Yu bond, Yosuke reveals the stresses of being the son of Junes' manager and his fears of inadequacy. He tells Yu about how Saki reassured him that it ultimately didn't matter if the people of Inaba disliked him and he shouldn't judge himself by their standards. Yosuke also admits a level of jealousy towards Yu, due to the latter's skill and popularity, and apologizes for his feelings. After dealing with their friendship, Yosuke awakens to his true Persona, Susano-o, and helps the rest of Invesigation Team find the killer in Inaba and the true culprits of the Midnight Channel.
Equipment:
- Fuuma Kotaro: A pair of kunai forged by Daidara Metalworks, forged from nightmare sands. The daggers increase the power of Yosuke's offensive spells and the healing of his healing spells.
Powers & Abilities:
- Takehaya Susano-o: A Persona awakened after Yosuke and Yu solidified their friendship over winter break, taking the form of the Japanese god of storms Takehaya Susano-o. Takehaya Susano-o utilizes his speed to create massive gusts of wind to attack, as well as using his flaming shuriken to slash at an enemy. He can also heal allies, protect them with wind resistance, and boost his party's evasiveness in battle.
X-Factors[]
X-Factor - Harry Potter / Yu Narukami
Training - 80 / 30
While Harry Potter never claimed to be a prestigious student, Harry Potter excelled as a student in the subjects most relevant in a fight. His practical education at Hogwarts in curses, charms, jinxes, and dueling from both skilled teachers like Remus Lupin and cases of real-life implementation make Harry well-prepared for combat. Yu has received no training for how to use his Persona or how to fight, only receiving basic advice from Teddie in how the TV World works. He does have the benefit of advisement from Igor and Margaret on the nature of Personas, although the former's advice was more often cryptic musings on the future than practical advice and solutions.
Experience - 80 / 85
Harry Potter's fighting career is a mixed bag, having been facing magical threats since he has been eleven years old but often at sporadic intervals. His academic career saw long periods of downtime mixed with sudden, high intensity, and brief periods of highly dangerous magical threats such as Dementors, giant spiders, and even the occasional dark wizard. This is somewhat bolstered by the last year of the fight against Voldemort, where he lived on the run that put him under extreme stress as he went on the hunt for Horcruxes and fought multiple ruthless and skilled Death Eaters. Yu's experience is much shorter in terms of time, not even a year, but it contrasts with near constant adventuring into the TV World to investigate the Midnight Channel. In his year at Inaba, he went up against multiple Shadows, monsters that were various as they were deadly, with frequency and difficulty being on Yu's side.
Creativity - 60 / 80
On occasion, Harry gets to come up with an outside-the-box solution for his problem solving, as well as displaying some in-the-moment ingenuity when his back's against the wall. That being said, he has neither Hermione's scholastic knowledge nor Ron's Wizarding World familiarity to give him the type of flexibility that can be reliably counted on. As the leader of unofficial detectives, Yu shows a natural creativity and intelligence for problem-solving. He quickly adapts to the logic of the TV World, as well as the nature of Personas and the Velvet Room. As a battlefield leader, Yu also displays a talent for strategy and tactics, utilizing his abilities as a Wild Card and the talents of his team members to lead them through fights with confidence and effectiveness.
X-Factor - Ron Weasley / Yosuke Hanamura
Training - 70 / 25
Ron is a notably mediocre student, often only excelling in subjects like Defense against the Dark Arts that catch his interest and end up getting used with a level of frequency beyond the classroom. He displays a talent for dueling magic, utilizes jinxes and charms frequently in his fighting, and additional training in a practical setting while with Dumbledore's Army makes him combat-ready with regards to his own abilities. Yosuke is completely untrained, with only Teddie's advice about the TV World being a means of guiding him in fight, relying on experience to teach him along the way.
Experience - 75 / 85
While Ron has accompanied Harry on many adventures, much of the larger, more deadly encounters had to be taken by Harry alone, leaving Ron slightly weaker in this aspect. This isn't to say he's unprepared - he's fought many of the magical threats alongside Harry such as Death Eaters and giants, holding his own against each without breaking more sweat than appropriate for the situation. Yosuke was fighting alongside Yu from the very beginning, with both awakening to their Personas on the same day. He's fought many of the same things Yu has, right behind him as his second-in-command on the Investigation Team.
Creativity - 80 / 75
Despite his thick-headed nature, Ron has a surprisingly quick and sharp mind when it comes to problem solving. His lived-in experience in the Wizarding World means that he's often less surprised by its quirks, and thus can come up with many of the solutions that either work right away or serve as foundations for Hermione's practical knowledge. Yosuke isn't exactly dumb, but the reason he suggested Yu as the leader of the Investigation Team is the latter's greater intelligence. He takes a backseat on the battlefield to Yu's orders, while in investigating he's often as right as he is wrong with his deductions, relying on Yu and eventually Naoto to fill in gaps that he misses.
X-Factor - Team Hogwarts / Team Investigation
Team Experience - 80 / 90
Harry and Ron have been best friends since they met on the train to Hogwarts, and their experience as a pair shows it. From conflicts both amusingly trivial to full-scale war in the Wizarding World, Harry and Ron have been helping each other as wizards for years. The aspect that drags them down is that, by nature of Harry's status as the Chosen One, there are simply challenges that Harry had to face without Ron, leaving Harry slightly more experienced than his friend. Yu and Yosuke have the exact same timeline in terms of combat, resulting in a pair that are aware of what the other has faced and developing strategy, teamwork, and synergy with the other's capabilities as a fighter. With little exception, every fight they've been in they've been in together.
Teamwork - 80 / 85
Harry and Ron work well together, although the nature of wizard dueling places more emphasis on individual bouts than working together. The duo often fight independently, only supporting each other on occasion and otherwise sticking to their opponent until they win. Ron in particular has had occasions of doubt in Harry, leaving his friend entirely at least twice throughout their friendship, although these moments are exceptionally rare and never in the middle of a battle. Yu's versatility as a Wild Card allows him to be very flexible in a fight, with Yosuke often providing support to fill in whatever gaps he needs to when in a fight. He also follows Yu's orders without question, leading to a natural flow in combat.
Synergy - 85 / 80
One of the luxuries of Harry and Ron's fighting styles is their near identical combat style, resulting in dueling that gives them an easier capability of defending or assisting the other at a momentary moment. Their emphasis on different types of magic - Harry preferring to disarm and stun combatants while Ron going for curses that repel or harm opponents - also gives them some complimentary versatility. Yu's nature as a Wild Card allows him to compensate very quickly, with Yosuke easily fitting into where he needs to, but the reality is that Yu's versatility is so much greater than Yosuke's that it's harder for the latter to be particularly helpful in a way Yu actually needs.
Independence - 80 / 75
This is where Harry and Ron's dueling training really manifests itself. Their way of fighting is actively solitary and focused on fighting one person at a time, and neither has to rely on the other in a pinch to perform well in battle. Yu's Wild Card abilities make him flexible as a fighter, but Yosuke is notably restricted by what his Persona can do. He's an agile fighter with some useful support spells, but unless he's facing an opponent notably weak to his wind magic Yosuke has to rely heavily on Yu for offensive output. The reality is that if Yu falls, Yosuke's likely going to follow soon.
Notes[]
- Full votes require well-written edges OR a detailed explanation of at least ten sentences.
- Half-votes are the previously mentioned requirements sans the "well-written".
- Votes with little to no reason, bias, or irrelevant information will not count at all.
- All votes must contain proper grammar and spelling.
- All votes must clearly express a winner/tie to ensure proper tallying of votes.
- These requirements are abstract; I reserve the right to count or discount votes depending on their individual merit.
- My rebuttal policy is as follows; the initial rebuttal will reduce a vote to half, and a particularly outstanding rebuttal will reduce it to nothing. The first counter-argument, if adequate, will raise the vote back to full value. Going forward from there, all rebuttals and counter-arguments will only affect a vote if I believe it does so adequately.
- Rebuttals will no longer be accepted on the final day of voting, unless the initial vote is posted two days before the deadline. Rebuttals for those votes are acceptable until the day after voting ends. Counter-arguments against these rebuttals will not be accepted after the official deadline unless that vote's status determines the winner.
- Voting ends August 21st, 2022.
Battle[]
Prologue[]
"Think that means their next round's on you, Ron," Harry says with a grin, sipping his pint as Ron sullenly looks down. The sports bar erupts into cheers as Yu Narukami flawlessly throws a dart at the board, hitting his third bullseye in a row.
'Blimey, Harry. Mate's gotta bloody good poker face, on account of him muffing it up so much earlier," Ron whines as he looks at the perfect triple bullseye on the dart board. A man in a yellow motorcross jacket presses a button, the revving of a dirt bike playing over speakers as Yu and Yosuke high five over their victory. At their table, Hermione stifles a laugh as her friend and her boyfriend sit back down, tisking as Ron begins to sulk into his empty pint.
"Deal's a deal, Ron."
"Yeah, don't be too hard on yourself Weasley-san," Yosuke says as he approaches their table, arm wrapped around Yu's shoulder. "This guy's pulled quite a few fast ones over me before. He's got nads of steel."
"Bet you know that you jobber," Ron mutters as Harry stands. "Ron's still new to the city, so I'll cover him. Help me with the drinks, Yu?" The two older boys get up and leave, with Hermione also standing. "I'm afraid I've to go as well. I've got an early morning tomorrow." She gives Ron a quick peck on the cheek before apparating away. As the other boys leave, Yosuke lets out a whistle and looks at Ron, eyebrow raised.
Harry and Yu approach the bar, the former fishing out his wallet and handing a wad of paper cash to Chuck. "I'll take another two pints, as well as..." Harry asks, looking at Yu. Before he could answer, loud yelling and the smashing of glass and wood echoed through the bar.
"What the hell was that for?" Yosuke's high-pitched voiced yelled as the other patrons quit their conversations to watch the spectacle. Harry and Yu groan together as they see the sprawled out Yosuke, chair broken beneath him, as Ron stands with a finger pointed at him.
"You say another thing about my girlfriend and I'll thump you like the git you are!"
"All I said was that she's got a nice-" Yosuke starts, before Ron throws his glass at Yosuke and kicks him in the side. Yosuke yelps and rolls to the side, avoiding the former, before rising. Yosuke snarls and leaps forward, tackling Ron into the table, the furniture breaking underneath their weight as both men fall.
"Should we stop them?" Harry asks, turning back to see Yu casually drinking from a glass of dark, bubbly liquid. "Let them work it out. I won't get involved if you won't."
The wizard stops for a moment, before shrugging and leaning back against the bar, watching as Ron and Yosuke trade drunken blows while a crowd forms. "Take that! And that you cheeky little-" Ron yells, before Yosuke manages to shove him off, summoning Takehaya Susano-o behind him while Ron hastily draws his wand.
"Knock it off!" Chuck finally yells, the loud motor of a chainsaw echoing through the bar. "You two idiots know the rules! If you're gonna fight for real, take it outside." The two redheads glare at each other, before looking at their friends.
"You're gonna back me up on this right?" Yosuke asks, with Yu sighing in frustration as he pulls out a pair of glasses.
"This ain't a bloody game of darts. Harry's gonna make your buddy look like a bloated toad when he's done with him." Ron says as he runs to Harry's side. The wizard looks apologetically at Yu as he draws his wand, gesturing outside. Satisfied their best friends would be behind them, Yosuke and Ron storm outside, practically shoving each other out the door, with Harry and Yu reluctantly following.
Battle[]
As the first to step outside into the parking lot of Chuck's Lower District bar, Yosuke takes a moment to reconsider. "Ron, maybe I said something out of line. We don't-" He starts with his apology, only to fly twenty feet backwards as Ron fires a curse point blank into his back. The teenager slams into a black van, denting the white painted on skull. Yosuke's wounds knit togeter together as Yu casually follows, the massive dragon Kohryu removing the stunning magic. "I knew you'd have my back, leader," Yosuke says, a wicked smile appearing on his face as he draws his knives, his Persona conjuring behind him.
Harry is the last to exit Chuck's bar, removing his wand from his forehead. "Just wrang up my mate in dispatch. I got us a license for this, and we won't have to worry about getting written up." The white haired boy gave a thankful nod, drawing his own blade as he leans against the van. The spectacled wizard, catching Yu's intention, gives Ron a pat on the back before approaching the van. "Try not to make me look bad while I fix your property damage."
"Won't let you down, 'arry," Ron replies, apparating to the street, partly to take his friend's advice and partly to avoid the massive flaming shuriken that Takehaya Susano-o slammed towards him. Ron reappears in a sprint, shooting a curse at Susano-o. Yosuke deactivates his Persona just in time, before resummong it to throw several crescent-shaped blades of wind at Ron. The wizard creates a shield charm, blocking them, grinning at Yosuke's visible frustration.
"'At the best you got wanker? My gran can cast a spell faster than you!"
Yosuke growls, charging forward, Susano-o surrounding his wielder in a green aura as his speed and agility quicken. The Persona-user crosses the ten parking spots between him and Ron in a second, swinging the hilt of his knife into Ron's head. The hit connects, and Ron stumbles backwards even as he shoots a curse into Yosuke's chest. The teen puts his hands on his knees, keeling over as he pukes out a slug, face rapidly turning green.
Harry finishes mending the van's dent, looking over at the sparring redheads. Yu, for his part, summons Kohryu again, healing Ron's curse. "Nothing personal, right?" Yu asks, and Harry shrugs. "I could use the practice." The wizard and the Persona user shake hands, before looking at their respective targets. Harry flicks his wand, sending Yosuke levitating in place, before hitting him with a disarming charm to force the floating Yosuke to drop his knives, while Yu summons Izanagi to blast Ron with a bolt of lightning.
"It took you long enough," Yosuke grimaces as Yu strolls underneath him, Kohryu ending the charms. The teen lands with a flip, smirking at Ron and Harry across the street. "Keep Harry distracted, I'll get rid of Ron." Yu says, kicking Yosuke's knives over to him as he summons Scathath, who shoots a wave of fire at the two wizards. Harry apparates away, avoiding most of the blast, while Ron gathers the ambient fire in his wand and throws it back at Yu. The teenagers scatter, letting the flames singe and melt the chainlink fence that blocked off most of Chuck's parking lot.
Yu charges forward, Izanagi appearing above him, fork spear raised, while Yosuke buffs his friend's speed. Harry slings a flurry of stunning curses at Yu, who forces Izanagi to take the blows, switching it out for Loki instead. The Frost Giant conjures a tree of ice, which shatters into hail and snow that pummels Harry. Satisfied with Harry's temporary status, Yu turns on Ron, swinging the flat of his blade into Ron's stomach. The ginger wizard apparates a few feet away, muttering a charm that thaws his frozen friend. Before he can help Harry up, a blast of wind separates the two, Yosuke darting in afterwards and shoving Harry away.
Ron starts to follow until Izanagi blocks the path, its forked spear slamming into the ground. Ron looks behind the Persona to see Yu, and shoots a curse at the sidewalk. Chunks of asphalt and concrete buffet Yu, who summons Kohryu again to protect him. The yellow dragon roars as it strikes Ron with another bolt of lightning, who replies with a stunning curse that causes Kohryu to seize up. Yu swaps Kohryu for Izanagi again, quickly closing the distance on a paralyzed Ron, the Persona sweeping Ron off his feet with his spear. Ron starts to rise again, only to stop when he sees he's looking up the blade of Yu's sword.
"Way to go! That's what I'm talking about!" Yosuke says, laying sideways on the ground due to the several dozen conjured ropes wrapped around his body. Harry gives a chuckle and looks at Yu, who sheathes his sword and offers Ron a hand. "C'mon Ron, it's over. Let's call it a night." Ron grumbles, but stands on his own.
"I bet if those two hadn't gotten involved, I would've beaten you," Ron says to the grinning Yosuke, who stands up as Harry makes the ropes disappear.
"In your dreams, Weasley. I'd say you owe another drink after getting your butt handed to you again."
Before Ron could start the fight over, Harry gives a nervous laugh and grabs his friend. "Just put it on the tab. I'm gonna take him home, see you boys around."
As Harry and Ron walk away, Yosuke walks over to Yu for a high five, with the other teenager only sighing and putting his face in his palm. "Please don't make this a habit." Before Yu could continue, his phone begins to blare, a catchy idol song disrupting the silence of the night. "Speaking of..." Yu answers the phone, before quickly removing it from his ear as a loud voice yells at him and manages to reach Yosuke's ears.
"SENPAI! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Rise Kujikawa screeches, turning both teenagers' cheeks flushed red. "You said you'd only be gone an hour before I got you all to myself!" As Yu awkwardly begins to explain what happened to his girlfriend, he walks away from Yosuke, hand still in the air for a high five. Dejected, Yosuke walks back into Chuck's bar, alone.
Expert's Opinion[]
While Harry and Ron could hold their own in a wizarding duel, the sheer difference in versatility and battlefield experience quickly became apparent. Yosuke fit neatly into a support role while Yu did the heavy lifting on offense and defense, meaning they brought a more complete arsenal to this fight. The two wizards were ultimately too similar in abilities, and against the Persona Bros that couldn't cut it.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.