Episode 23 - Possession
Walking slowly towards Scavenger, Mikoto coldly asks if they're up to something shady. Leader hastily claims they're simply a recovery team hired to retrieve the Doppelganger, and suggests they work together. Mikoto is skeptical, but Leader manages to fast-talk her into trusting them by pretending to be with Judgement.
Mikoto is disturbed by their report of the Doppelganger absorbing and controlling other materials after being damaged; she wonders if this could be the "soul possession" that Kuriba was worried about. Meanwhile, Leader sends Naru and Yakumaru off to pick up Seike while she persuades Mikoto to help her find the Doppelganger. She gives Mikoto a communicator in the shape of a Gekota badge, unexpectedly boosting the Level 5's opinion of her.
Shokuhou calls Mikoto to pass on some more information she's found. It seems the institute which created the Doppelganger backs up all their data onto a secret airship — one that constantly floats over the city, hidden by advanced stealth technology.
Thanks to Leader's searching ability, she and Mikoto catch up with the Doppelganger. They quickly discover that she can freely control any objects in her vicinity. The Doppelganger throws a large fuel tank at them, forcing them to retreat; in the meantime, she begins absorbing more rubble and other objects into herself.
Mikoto and Leader notice the Doppelganger heading towards a large radar facility, prompting Mikoto to suspect she's trying to locate the research institute's airship. Leader realizes the facility is very close to the warehouse where Scavenger was supposed to deliver the Doppelganger. Thinking quickly, she suggests luring the Doppelganger in that direction in order to steer it away from populated areas. Mikoto agrees and heads off to do so, but asks Leader to make sure the area is clear of the usual squatters and delinquents. Leader contacts the other Scavenger members and tells them to take care of it. Yakumaru easily accomplishes the task by pretending to be a scared young girl and spreading rumours of a toxic gas leak.
Confronting the Doppelganger again, Mikoto leads her towards the warehouse. Inside, an impatient scientist is waiting for Scavenger. They presently saunter in and inform her that the Doppelganger she requested will be arriving shortly, adding that "it's put on weight". The building starts to shake, prompting the scientist to look out the window in shock as Leader asks her to sign off on the delivery. With the shaking getting closer (and Seike blocking the woman's car from leaving), she reluctantly signs the form. Scavenger promptly make their escape just as the battle reaches the warehouse.
While she battles the Doppelganger, Mikoto tries to analyzes its ability to control matter. Electrical attacks are moderately effective against the absorbed material, but the Doppelganger just keeps gathering more and more rubble from the surrounding area.
From what's left of the warehouse, the scientist calls the research institute's chief to ask about Kuriba's theory of soul possession. He starts to brush her off, then glances out the window — across the city, a massive cloud of rubble is spiralling around the Doppelganger's position.
The Doppelganger merges all the rubble together to form a gigantic, monstrous form that towers over the city — and then asks Mikoto what she proposes to do now.
Tropes
- Crazy-Prepared: Leader is very thankful that she went out of her way to research all the Level 5 espers and their backgrounds after Scavenger got crushed by Accelerator. This is presumably why she recognizes Mikoto on sight, unlike Frenda and Mugino from before. It also gives her enough information to avoid making Mikoto's angry and win her trust, although the conversation is touch and go for a while.
- Curious Qualms of Conscience: When Scavenger make their escape, Leader feels slightly guilty at abandoning Mikoto after having gotten to know her, especially when she contrasts Mikoto's kindness with the students she knew in her past.
- Exact Words: Scavenger's contract just required that they deliver the Doppelganger to the pickup site. It apparently didn't say the Doppelganger had to be captured or incapacitated first...
- Getaway Driver: Scavenger's getaway from the warehouse is a collaborative effort. Naru creates the vehicle with her powers, Seike presumably makes it faster by reducing friction, and Yakumaru provides a chemical propellant.
- Imagine Spot: When it occurs to Leader that Mikoto and Shokuhou know each other, she imagines them together in a rather yuri-esque portrait surrounded by roses.
- Master Actor: All it takes for Yakumaru to fool the Skill-Out thugs is some dirt on her clothes and person, and putting on an adorable-yet-vulnerable face and a vaguely plausible sob story. She has them (and Naru) wrapped around her finger almost instantly.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Leader suffers multiple instances of this while trying to win Mikoto over, generally when she realizes she's just stepped into another logical minefield. Her biggest one, however, is when Mikoto gets a call from Shokuhou, and Leader realizes that if Mental Out showed up she would be utterly screwed. Fortunately for her, Mikoto is no more interested in having Shokuhou on the scene than Leader.
- The head of the research institute has this reaction when he sees what the Doppelganger is doing from across the city.
- Psychotic Smirk: Once she loses her face mask, we can see that Leader is occasionally prone to these — although she's careful only to do so when Mikoto isn't looking.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Leader manages to improvise on the fly to not only win Mikoto over, but manipulate things so that their mission gets signed off as successful. And she does it all while in a constant state of near-panic.
- You Have Failed Me: Leader is determined to have Scavenger's mission signed off because she knows this will be their fate if they fail again.
