Part 179: 12/7: Resume Pleasantries

Part 169: 12/7: Resume Pleasantries

Music: Desire



When last we left our heroes, Akechi returned, seemingly having figured out from Shido’s paranoia that we were fucking around in his head. But the game does a terrible job of emphasizing that, so there was much confusion about it (mainly from me)! Anyway, I wonder what he could possibly want.



Why’s he here…!?
Hmph… I’m impressed that you managed to deceive me. It seems I underestimated your abilities.



Under different circumstances, we could have been great rivals… or perhaps even friends.



Nah, miss me with that shit, bro.



You don’t allow yourself to be enslaved by such things as human relations or past selves… And so, your heart is always free. The exact opposite of mine. To be honest, I’m envious… I wonder why we couldn’t have met a few years earlier, Maaku…



Does he? Does he truly regret this turn of events? Well tough shit, he’s a murderer. I didn’t see him regretting that turn of events.



Oh, for fuck’s sake



But… it’s no use talking in hypotheticals. That didn’t happen in reality…
Akechi! Why are you cooperating with someone like Shido!? Don’t you see what this Palace looks like!? His true nature is--



What are you talking about? I don’t care for Shido, or this country.




GASP! What a twist!

Shido is your father…!?
Remember I said before, how my mother had been in a relationship with some good-for-nothing man?

Futaba and Maaku were the only ones there for that, so most of us don’t, actually.

So I’m his bastard child. My very existence is nothing but a scandal… My mother’s life turned for the worse after she had me… and died. I was a cursed child for her too.
That’s horrible…
I resented him, but he was already a high-ranking official by then. A kid like me could do nothing.



Music: Blood of Villain





Who cares? My targets were all doing the same damn thing in this eat or be eaten world. All I did was remove their evil from society. How is that any different from the Phantom Thieves?
We’re not murderers!



I guess he’s right. There isn’t really a huge difference between murdering people and not murdering people. I can see where he’s coming from.





And that’s when I—an utter disgrace to the world—will rule over him. I will prevail!



In just a few weeks, my plan would have come to fruition…! But no, you just had to interfere…! I can still take it back though. I’ll just need to kill you all.
Hmph, we won’t get killed for something like that. You talk big, but you’re really nothing more than a little kid throwing a temper tantrum!

Oh shit, burned by the cat!!!

Don’t lecture me, you piece of shit…

Weak response, though. Point goes to Morgana.

I am going to personally thrust Masayoshi Shido into a living hell. So, Joker… rest easy and die.



I agree. There is no need to speak any longer.
You sure sound confident, but don’t go pressin’ your luck. We already know all your tricks from back when you were workin’ with us.



I’m actually with Haru. Common misconception, there. Ryuji’s more a “bro” than a “partner.”

Huh1? Quit bluffin’!
It’s no bluff. If he truly is behind the mental shutdowns, he’s likely only shown us a fraction of his strength.





Ahhhh shit.




Boss: Goro Akechi

Music: Blooming Villain

Akechi doesn’t even get his own boss music. How lame.



I won’t let you stop me!



Those cannot be explained unless the true culprit has the power to make people’s hearts psychotic… *snicker* That’s right! It’s my power—one that you don’t have!

Oh hey, finally some resolution on that. Cool.



Allow me to show you!







That wasn’t Robin Hood… Could it have been a different Persona?

He can use two Personas too!?

Even the feeblest existence can gain tremendous power once the chains on its heart are broken.

Akechi then fucking backflips offscreen.



What did Akechi do!? The enemies are way stronger now!






The battle starts with both enemies using Desperation to raise their Attack and lower their defense just like Leviathan did. Once this wears off in three turns or so, they will automatically reuse it.



I’ve taken pains to simulate the experience of a first-time player going into this fight, so I’m low on HP and SP because this fight is a “surprise”!





Worth noting: under the effect of Desperation, these guys can and will fuck you up! Still, you should easily be able to take them down in just a few turns, even with their massively inflated health pools.




This guy’s out of his mind…!



You have deceived me and escaped death, after all.



He’s coming… Brace yourselves!



This fight is simply a continuation of the last fight, so buffs, debuffs, and turn order will all carry over. A note to make here is that it seems like in this phase, Akechi will only attack Maaku. Also sometimes when he calls his Persona he shouts out "PERSONAAAAAAARGH" and it's really funny.




Akechi is capable of using almost all of his skills from his time as a party member. Here, he uses Kougaon. He can also use Eigaon.



I didn’t have it equipped at the time, so I got knocked down, but Melchizedek is a great choice for this fight due to its resistances. It drains Bless and Blocks Curse, so Akechi can’t do much to it.



Akechi doesn’t actually have an awful lot of health for a boss, so a round of Matarukaja’d attacks courtesy of Ryuji will get him pretty near critical HP.

*chuckle* So… neither of us had shown our true strengths, huh…?



You should really watch the video for this fight, because this is certainly some fucking voice acting right here.






Kinda disappointed in Megidolaon after that huge animation.




Finally, Akechi can Charge up, but it just sets up another Megaton Raid from him. We guard through it.




And then, he’s down.

Music: Desire



So he’s able to turn people psychotic… I thought it was some special thing like the Nav, but it seems to be his own Persona’s power.

That’s the weakest Stand Persona I’ve ever seen, then.

I can’t believe that the ability to control and drive others mad was born from within his heart…



Will you please stop!? You’re fighting the wrong people! We both hate the same guy! Why do we have to go against each other!?
Killing us won’t make you happy.
But… I…!
This ain’t about what Shido says! You’re your own person! You gotta know that!

Uhhh, what’s going on? Are we trying to redeem the mass murderer here?

Damn it…!
You know… sometimes I think about that fake Medjed that you guys made up… That was the worst trap… but if not for that, I don’t think I’d be here right now. Uhhh, basically… it doesn’t matter where you start over!

What the fuck!? He killed your mom, Futaba!

And… you don’t really hate Joker, do you?

You’re thinking about how much you want to **** Joker, aren’t you?

That smile before we fought… Isn’t that how you really feel?
……!?
Follow your true feelings…! Even if you think people hate you or don’t want you around, that’s--

You’re right, they don’t! Because you’re a murderer!




Why am I inferior to you…!?

Oh boy, it’s time for the not-at-all clichéd “The real difference between Maaku and Akechi is that Maaku has friends” bullshit. I was cringing at this crap as an eight-year-old playing fucking Kingdom Hearts.

I was extremely particular about my life, m y grades, my public image, so someone would want me around! I am an ace detective… a celebrity!




How does someone like you have things I don’t!?



This really is a tantrum, wow.




This argument is meaningless…!




Music: Blood of Villain



A black mask…!




Wait, who’s he talking about…?
It can’t be… There was another intruder besides us within this Palace…!?




I’ll let you in on a little something… There’s a criminal using other people’s Palaces to accomplish whatever they damn well please. They don’t care about consequences. Psychotic breakdowns, mental shutdowns… anything goes.



fuckin’ what

makoto

come on

you’re supposed to be smarter than this



I’m surprised… This is actually a first for me. I might even have to try my hardest against you. You know… I just came up with a fun little idea… I wonder how far I can go with this…
Fun…?
You wanted to see my powers, didn’t you? Fine… I’ll show them to you!




All I care about now is killing all of you…



Akechi’s “Awakening” (I left in a segment before this scene because Daymond really goes for it. I’m not sure it’s a great performance, but he really, really tries)






Music: Awakening














He can use two separate powers…!?






No way…!









Boss: The Black Mask

Music: Will Power



You are the trash of society…!



Teammates are nothing but trash!



Well, we’ve got another fight in front of us here. And it’s one with a lot more health. To prepare, I’ve slightly cheated by using Mystery Stews at the end of the previous fight to restore 30% of Makoto and Ryuji’s SP at the cost of a temporary debuff to all their battle parameters (which Makoto can just dispel anyway with Dekunda), as is visible in the corresponding video for that fight. If you don’t feel good doing that, just do it at the start of this fight or use carrots or whatever, god knows we have plenty.

Akechi is the sinner of Emptiness, not represented by any demon, but let’s just say it’s Loki, how about that?



Speaking of Loki, here’s some concept art for him!




Akechi starts by casting Tetrakarn on himself, forcing us to break it by throwing ourselves at it. Annoying.



Now that he’s turned himself psychotic, he gets two turns! How fun! He’ll also use Brave Blade to inflict a lot of Physical damage.



He can use Negative Pile as well, which deals less damage but can inflict Despair.



Getting him down to 60% or so gives us this message.

Anything goes… if you say you’re teammates…!



Now he can use Makarakarn, which is much easier to deal with because most of the party blocks their chosen element.

He can also still use Eigaon and Kougaon, so watch out. Also the lower-level Maeigaon and Maragion, for some reason.



I don’t need… teammates… I don’t…



Let’s have Maaku guard, just in case.





This fight still isn’t very difficult.



*screaming in pain*



And Akechi’s down for the count. What a loser.