Part 11: 4/22/11

4/22/11

Today was the day we'd all agreed to return to the TV world. We were all starting to get worried about what might happen if we delayed any longer.



It rained yesterday, but it didn't feel like there was gonna be any fog, did it?
Looks like the weather's gonna be nice for a while, so a little rain's not gonna hurt anything.
But… were you able to sleep last night?

Speaking of this my grades are gonna shoot through the roof, all this lack of sleep is giving me plenty of time to study.



Haha, you too? That makes me feel better.
Anyway, let's take everything one step at a time, Leader!

After school ended we returned to the castle. Teddie had found a way to make the door open up to the highest floor we'd gotten to. I neither know nor care how that actually works. What was more important was how unsettling the atmosphere was getting.



Reporter's Voice: Now that has a nice ring to it… Let's see if we can interview her. Excuse me!
Shut up!
Reporter's Voice: Someday, though… That aside, wow! You're looking gorgeous in that kimono. You must have a lot of male visitors.
Leave me alone!
I'm sick of everything!
I'm sick of it…
……
I don't get what's going on with all those voices, but I can sense that we're getting closer.
Hang in there!

Seriously I want to punch that reporter guy when this is all done.



My dear Prince… Please hurry and take me away!
Somewhere…
To a world where no one knows me…
……
It's close!
She's just beyond here!

We were greeted by a huge set of doors on the eighth floor, which Teddie informed us he was quite certain she was behind.

VIDEO- "Three Princes"

Click Here For Video!

Yukiko, the real one, was clearly not in great shape. Her Shadow, though, was plenty energetic.



Oh? Oooooh, what's this?
Three princes are here to see me!? My my!
Are you the surprise guests who came in late?
Awwwww… I wish I'd gotten a better look at you!
My, it's getting crowded here. Why don't you and I go somewhere else…?
A land far, far away, where no one knows me. If you're my Prince, you'd take me there, won't you?
C'mon… pretty please?
Oooh. Is this "scoring a hot stud"!?
Three princes…? Wait, does that include me, too…?
Duh! The third one's gotta be me!
I seriously doubt that…

The third one was, needless to say, NOT Teddie. I really hope Teddie gets over this hot stud thing because it's kind of creepy.



She always leads the way… Chie's a strong Prince…
…Or at least, she WAS.
Was…?
When it comes down to it, Chie's just not good enough!
She can't take me away from here! She can't save me!
Yukiko…

The real Yukiko had heard enough. In retrospect this was a bad sort of turning point in the conversation.



Historic inn? Manager training!? I'm sick of all these things chaining me down!
I never asked to be born here! Everything's decided for me! From how I live, to where I die!
I'm so sick of it! To hell with it all!
That's not true…
I just want to go somewhere far away… Anywhere but here…
Someone, please take me away… I can't leave here on my own…
I'm completely useless…
Stop… Please stop…
I have no hope if I stay, and no courage to leave…
So I sit on my ass hoping that someday my Prince will come!
I don't care where we go! Anywhere's fine! As long as it's not here, I don't give a damn!
Historical tradition? Pride of the town? What a bunch of bullshit!

Yukiko was starting to get really upset, though I'm sure it's because of how much all of that really hit home. I mean how could she not sort of feel like that?



That's how I really feel.
Isn't that right… me!?
N-No…
Stop! Don't say it!

Those goddamn words.



I'm getting pretty sick of that.



Aaaah! This feels wonderful! It's building… more and more… If this keeps up… I'll… I'll…!
*chuckle * Ahaha! Ahahahahahaha!

Oh for the love of god.



Aagh!
Yukiko!
We have to stop it! That girls in danger!
We know!
It's all right, Yukiko… Just hang in there! We'll save you!

VIDEO- "Shadow Yukiko"

Click Here For Video!

Now, my Prince… Why don't we dance and make merry together? *chuckle *
Hang in there, Yukiko… I'm right here for you!
Oh really…? Then I'll make sure to give you plenty to deal with!

Boss Battle: Shadow Yukiko
And now the game has decided to stop playing the fuck around. Unlike the first two bosses, Shadow Yukiko has no weaknesses. She's totally immune to status effects, though she can be Downed by a crit. Her first turn is largely a wash, though you do want to be careful to have Chie guard so as not to let her get a One More right off the bat. When her second turn comes around, though…









…She summons a Charming Prince. The Charming Prince is a particularly annoying little bastard. It will buff itself and Shadow Yukiko with Sukukaja, it has Diarama, it can do some pretty nasty physical damage with its Cleave attack, and it can inflict Fear. That last one is actually by far the most dangerous, because if someone is Feared when Shadow Yukiko's turn comes around she can use an attack on them called Shivering Rondo. Shivering Rondo pretty much kills whoever it hits instantly. The Prince has one key flaw, though, he's weak against Ice. He also gets Dizzied by any hit on him while he's Down. We can keep him locked down for half of his turns, then, by simply hitting him with a Bufu skill and then whacking him during the One More. Personally, I like killing the Charming Prince before even really starting on Shadow Yukiko. One thing to be careful about is that if Shadow Yukiko gets a One More while he's up, she'll sometimes cast White Wall on the Prince to temporarily negate his weakness. If you do kill the Prince…







Why… Why won't he come…?
No one's coming! Now's your chance to attack!

Things are pretty easy for the first half of Yukiko's health bar. She'll just stick to her Agi, Double Fangs, and sometimes normal Attacks. These are merely damaging. It's when she gets to the second half of her health bar that things start to get entertaining. You'll know when you get there for two reasons.



That's not how it's supposed to work… You have to escort me!



She'll always use Burn To Ashes right after she ticks over into this phase, and she'll start using it every few turns or so from now on. There's no predicting it, she'll just do it whenever. If she gets One More in this phase, she'll use Matarunda on the party to reduce your offense. Things get even worse once her health gets critical.



You're no Princes… Die, you worthless commoners!

In the last bits of her health, she'll use Burn to Ashes even more often, and replace her Double Fang with Assault Dive. So how the hell do we deal with this? One common strategy uses a skill off of the Persona Slime, Red Wall. This can be used to negate Chie's Fire weakness. If this strategy has a weakness, it's the limited duration and relative expense of Red Wall. You'll really want to try and fuse it onto something other than Slime because Slime is himself weak to Fire. The strategy I use this time is to wear the Persona Senri, which is totally immune to Fire and can heal. This strategy's biggest weakness is that Senri has one of the lowest Endurance stats in the game, which makes you very vulnerable to Shadow Yukiko's physicals. Another strategy I like but didn't use this time is to get a Persona with Media (Valkyrie is a good source and indeed is a viable option). The group healing can really prove to be the difference between victory and defeat. If you're still having problems, you an always try to level up some more. The game expects you to be around level 15, if that's any help. Don't get discouraged, if you die a few times to this getting the hang of a real fight.

Shadow Yukiko was powerful well beyond anything we'd ever seen. I'm not sure how we defeated it.

VIDEO- "Konohana Sakuya"

Click Here For Video!

Yukiko!
Yukiko, are you hurt…!?
No… I'm not-
We understand. You're not the only one like that, Yukiko-san.
Everyone has something they can't show to other people, or don't want to admit to themselves…
Yukiko… I'm sorry.
I was so self-centered that… I never understood what you were going through…
I'm your friend, and I still… Oh, I'm so sorry…
Chie…
I was always jealous of you, Yukiko.
You had everything that I didn't… That jealousy was like a wall, and I was so lonely…!
I wanted you to need me… But it was me who needed you.
I can't do anything right on my own… I've caused so much trouble for Yosuke and the others.
If you weren't by my side, I… I wouldn't know what to do…

Yukiko had her own confessions, though.



I never saw the real you either… I was too busy trying to find an easy way out.
"I want to run away…" "I want someone to save me…" You're right, those feelings are part of me, too.
I understand now… You're me.
> The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest…

And Yukiko's Persona was born.



> Yukiko has faced her other self…

Her Persona is Konohana Sakuya. She's a goddess of life, and her symbol is the sakura.



Yukiko!
Are you okay?
Yes, I'm just a little tired…
You all came to rescue me…?
Of course!
Thank you…
Don't even mention it. I'm just so glad you're safe…
Hehe… Right on.

Teddie lacks social graces.



Huh…? Who are you?
Rather… What are you?
I'm Teddie! So, who threw you in?
I don't know…
I think… someone called my name…
But my memory's a blur. I can't remember who it was… I'm sorry, um… Teddie.
No new clues…
Not necessarily. Now we know for sure that someone threw Yukiko-san in here.
Hrmm…
Then it really isn't you guys…

I shouldn't have been surprised that Teddie still didn't trust us.



I-I always believed it wasn't you guys!
You little…! You're one lying sack of honey…
Anyways, let's hurry back home, Yukiko looks exhausted…
Thanks gain, Teddie!
Huh? Wait, you're leaving me here?
Leaving you? What're you talking about? You live here.
Well… yeah, but…
I'm sorry, Teddie. I promise to come again…
So be a good boy and wait here until then.

That damn bear…



My, it's getting crowded here. Why don't you and I go somewhere else…?
C'mon… Pretty please?
Gah… You're giving me the creeps! That's it, you're stuck here for the rest of your life!

We headed out to the food court so we wouldn't have to be in the horrible fog filled creepy castle.



No… I'm just a little tired…

I asked once more if she remembered anything, figuring maybe being out of that hellhole would help. No luck, though.



I'm sorry, but… I don't remember anything…
Well, no worries! You're safe, and that's more than enough.
But there's no mistake that Yukiko-san was… um…
…Attacked… the same way as the last two victims.
And I think the one we saw on the Midnight Channel wasn't the real Yukiko-san, but her Shadow.
Maybe the things Yukiko-san was suppressing in this world took form in the TV…?
You know, Teddie was saying something like that…
Awww, it's no use. I'm just going round and round in circles.
What kinda person could be doing this?

I was game to keep going, but Yukiko wasn't doing well.



> You should take some time to consider the situation…
Wait, can't we talk more about this some other time?
Yukiko really needs to get some rest. I'll take her home.
Oh, that's right… Sorry. Yukiko-san must be exhausted.
We'll talk about this all some more once she gets her strength back.

I returned home tired, but it was a good kind of tired. And Yukiko wasn't the only one who got to come home when she returned.

VIDEO- "Dojima and Adachi"

Click Here For Video!

Dojima had that dude who told us about Yukiko with him.



Hi there.
We got off work at the same time, so I'm giving him a right back to his place. And I thought we might as well swing by.
Nice to meet ya. I'm Adachi, the guy who's been your dad's slave since spring.
I can still work you harder, you know.
Haha, good one, Sir! Ha… ha…
Oh, I almost forgot! You're friends with Yukiko Amagi, right?
They found her safe and sound! Tell all your friends at school!

I played it cool, of course.



Yeah, for us on the force too.
But this doesn't mean the case is closed, though.
We were just questioning Ms. Amagi, but she says she doesn't remember anything that happened while she was missing.
And we can't figure out her whereabouts during the missing period, either. It's like she really disappeared.
It's all pretty fishy, if you ask me… Like there's something else going on…
Ow!
Stop blabbering, dumbass!
S-Sorry…
Ignore him. He's just spouting some wild fantasy.

I was worried they were still suspecting Yukiko of something.



…Yeah, I know.
Anyway, don't mind him. He can be a real pain sometimes…
I'm hungry.
Hey, you're right. My stomach's growling too.
Hahaha, so you do have a softer side around Nanako-chan, Sir.
Shut up and siddown… And wash those hands first!
Hm, I should do the same…
> Dinner promises to be lively for once…

Anyway, while we're no closer to the killer, we did manage to save Yukiko at least. I want to hope she was the last victim, but somehow I know that's just not going to be the case…

Next Time on Persona 4: Too Much Drama