December 11th, 20XX (Sunday)
Afternoon - Holy Grail Temple
"Rebels who dare defy my rule… You shall perish." Yaldabaoth's godly tone echoes throughout the sky, as if a means to intimidate the Wild Cards. However, after everything that had happened… they were far beyond being intimidated. It was time for them to take their final stand- and they were all well aware of that. "Here it comes…" Yaldabaoth concentrated his magic, but… Toya and Akechi couldn't see any kind of attack.
"Up there!" Akira yelled out, point up to the sky. Toya and Akechi looked up and saw a large amount of concentrated energy, taking the form of arrows and beginning to dive down towards them.
"Shield us, Mastema!" Akechi yelled out as he ripped off his mask. The red flame burned around him, as Mastema appeared and erected a magic barrier. The arrows hit against the barrier and were reflected straight back towards Yaldabaoth. The magic hit him directly, but… he didn't even flinch.
"Completely unphased by his own attack…?" Toya said, looking closer. "He's even more durable than he looks… we're not gonna get anywhere from just chipping away at him. I can can hit him hard, but you guys are gonna need to cover me if I'm gonna be able to do that!"
"You really think you can handle that…?"
"Trust him, Akira." Akechi said to him, then looked towards Toya. "We'll get his attention. You focus on hitting him with everything you have!"
"Leave it to me!" Toya yelled out, before using a gust of wind magic to get himself away from them, creating distance between him and everyone else- just enough distance for him to be able to power up a blast without getting stopped.
"Orpheus!" Akira quickly ripped off his mask and summoned Orpheus-Picaro, quickly conjuring a blast of fire and shooting it straight at Yaldabaoth. Yaldabaoth barely took any damage from the fire, however, this definitely got his attention.
"Your focus should be on me!" Akechi yelled as he summoned Mastema, running forth and trying to directly attack Yaldabaoth with a powerful physical attack. However, Yaldabaoth sees right through this, and with quick reaction time, is able to grow an arm, and materialize a gun in it, seemingly out of nowhere. He uses the gun to completely block Akechi's attack, which throws Akechi for a bit of a loop. "A gun…!? When did he get that!?"
"He's able to materialize different kinds of weapons, and he gets… weird kinds of attacks with all of them." Akira explained, turning his head to Akechi.
"...Weird? What do you mean by that?"
"He attacks using mankind's deadly sins… and they all have different side effects."
"I release upon you the deadly sin of lust." Yaldabaoth's voice cut the two of them off, as they turned towards him. "The insanity of mankind shall bring forth the demise…" He lifted his gun up into the air and took aim at Akira, ready to fire.
"Move!" Akechi yelled to Akira, before suddenly pushing him away. However, by pushing Akira out of the way, he moved directly into Yaldabaoth's line of fire, and was hit directly. While the attack didn't necessarily hurt too badly, it… made Akechi feel different. His mind has in a fog… and he couldn't control it at all. He fell to his knees as his mind drifted off into something completely different.
"Lust…" Akira looked at Akechi. His cheeks had begun to burn red, and he wasn't even moving. This was the effect of that attack… Akechi couldn't control his mind anymore. "It's now or never, Toya!"
"It's NOW!" Toya yelled, with a purple flame surrounding him. "Mephisto, ATTACK!" After charging up as much as he possibly could, Toya used Mephisto's gun to fire a massive bullet straight at Yaldabaoth while he wasn't looking. Yaldabaoth actually flinched and recoiled back a bit once the bullet hit him, indicating that he did some actual damage to him.
"You dare to strike me?" Yaldabaoth said, turning towards Toya and pointing his gun towards him. "I release upon you the deadly sin of greed. The resentment of mankind shall bring forth ruin…" Finishing his speech, Yaldabaoth fired directly at Toya, with the power of greed. However, Toya was ready for Yaldabaoth to retaliate, and using his wind magic, he was able to quickly evade the attack.
"What's wrong!? I thought you were a god! You can't even hit a human!?" Toya yelled, taunting him while soaring through the air, evading all of his attacks.
"A mere human should not dare to taunt a god. This is your punishment." Yaldabaoth said in a much more calm tone, trying to strike Toya once again, but to no avail. Toya was too quick with the use of his wind magic, Yaldabaoth couldn't do anything to him. Fortunately for him, however, Toya couldn't retaliate while he was soaring through the air. This meant that eventually, Toya would tire himself out, while Yaldabaoth would still be perfectly fine and able to finish him off.
Meanwhile, back on the platform they were originally standing on, Akechi was finally coming to his senses. He held on to his head for a moment, regaining control of his mind and looking around, getting a feel for his surroundings once more. He looked up and saw Yaldabaoth putting all of his focus into Toya, trying to strike him.
"Toya! I have to help him…!" Akechi ripped off his mask and summoned his Persona once more, gritting his teeth and glaring at Yaldabaoth.
"Akechi, wait!" Akira called out to him, stopping him for a moment. "A regular attack won't do anything to him, regardless of if he's expecting it or not! The main body is too strong, we can't put a dent into it ourselves!"
"I know, but…!" Akechi clenched his fist while staring at the godly figure, before… suddenly, he got an idea. "Wait. You said we can't put a dent into the main body, right?"
"Yeah… why…?" Akira was confused, but Akechi… he seemed more convicted than ever, for some reason. He stared at Yaldabaoth, and more specifically, at the arm he used to hold the gun. It was much thinner than the main body, meaning it was much less durable.
"That's it…!" With his Persona still summoned, Akechi used ice magic to create a massive, dense wall in front of him. "Stay here! I got an idea!" Akechi pulled out the hookshot Toya gave him, and fired it towards the top of the ice wall. He zipped towards the top and got a footing on it, getting much closer to Yaldabaoth- and more importantly, much closer to his arms, while still being out of his line of sight. "Aim for the arm, Mastema! Break it off!" He yelled, commanding his Persona and aiming for Yaldabaoth's arm, and… just like he thought, it worked perfectly. He broke the arm right off, and it fell down towards the ground, including the gun.
"What…!? Impossible!" Yaldabaoth turned towards Akechi and saw that it was him who cut his arm off. And, in the moment of rage where he was fixated entirely on Akechi, he let Toya out of sight- just for a few seconds, but that's all he needed.
"Now's my chance!" Toya used his hookshot to get back to the main platform, and then used his wind magic once more… only this time, it wasn't on himself- instead, it was on Yaldabaoth's fallen arm, with the gun still in its hand. He quickly raised it into the air and held it above his head, with a smug grin on his face. "HEY! You think you're so tough!? Then try stopping THIS!" Toya yelled, before firing the broken arm straight towards Yaldabaoth, making sure that the gun specifically hit him. Judging by the dent it left in him, and the fact that Yaldabaoth recoiled once again after getting hit, it was safe to say that he definitely felt the impact of it. Akechi used the chance to zip back towards Toya and Akira, getting in between them.
"Good thinking, using his own weapon against him." Akechi said, getting up on his feet.
"We're doing good so far! He's taken a good amount of damage… if we keep this up, we can beat him for sure!" Toya yelled out to his allies, before taking a look back to the Phantom Thieves, who were still behind them. They were on the ground and only looked half conscious… but they seemed to be watching still. Toya felt a bit guilty… perhaps if he didn't disappear for so long, he would've been here sooner… to help them.
"Don't worry. They're tough. I have faith that they'll all be fine." Akira said, trying to reassure Toya.
"I know they will. I just…" Toya closed his eyes, sighing. "I wish things didn't have to happen like this, you know? Maybe if I just acted different… maybe things wouldn't look so bad right now."
"Not to break up the touching moment of self reflection, but…" Akechi spoke in an uneasy voice, still looking at Yaldabaoth. "He's looking pretty angry…!" Toya and Akira turned back towards Yaldabaoth, who had spread his arms out.
"Children of man… why do you resist my rule? Why do you insist on rebelling against the one true form of law in this world?"
"True form of law!? You're just some self-entitled prick! You don't care about humans, you just care about stroking your ego and making yourself look all-powerful like the false god you are!" Toya could feel a bit of Osiris's influence in his mind as he spoke, but… he didn't really care. Osiris's feelings towards Yaldabaoth might have been stronger than his, but they felt the same regardless.
"Humanity is so weak… and so delusional to think that I could possibly be a false god. Allow me to demonstrate." Yaldabaoth grew an extra arm once more, and this time, instead of a gun, he materialized a massive bell. "I release upon you the deadly sin of vanity. The fraudulence of mankind shall bring forth ruin..." With that said, Yaldabaoth began to ring the bell in his hands, causing a loud noise to echo throughout the sky. The Wild Cards all held on to their heads, covering their ears and trying to block out the sound, but that had very little success. The sound-based attack affected all 3 of them, and as a result, their bodies were… painted pitch black, much to Toya and Akechi's surprise.
"What… is this…?" Akechi said, looking at what had happened to his body due to the attack.
"Vanity… this is just like what happened against Madarame. We need to be careful- his attacks are gonna hurt a lot more if we're like this!"
"Bow down!" Yaldabaoth's voice overpowered Akira's, as he once again began to charge up magic, trying to hit them with arrows from above, just like last time. However, things were a bit different this time. There were many, many more in the sky this time- rather than just a few big ones, there were several small ones, all pointed towards them.
"My barreir won't be able to block all of those! We need a new plan for dealing with this!"
"Mephisto!" Toya quickly summoned his Persona, and then looked down at the platform they were standing on- specifically the part of it that was closest to Yaldabaoth that none of them had been standing on so far. Toya pointed towards it, gritting his teeth. "Break that part of the platform off!" He commanded, as Mephisto created a massive, blue explosion, blowing part of the platform straight off. He kept his eyes on the platform, still keeping Mephisto out. "Bring the rubble close and shield us with it!" Just as he commanded, using wind magic, the broken part of the platform was brought just above them, acting as a shield from the arrows that were above them.
"Now! While Toya's keeping that up, attack him!" Akira told Akechi, as he ripped off his own mask and summoned Orpheus-Picaro again, buffing Akechi.
"Leave it to me! Mastema!" Akechi followed suite and summoned his own Persona as well. From underneath the broken platform, Akechi fired a massive blast of light energy, aimed directly at Yaldabaoth. The blast hit directly, and when it did, the impact was enough to cause Yaldabaoth to stop firing off arrows from the sky. Toya grit his teeth, struggling to keep the platform up in the air for much longer.
"You wanna break this damn thing so badly…!?" Toya said, as a purple flame appeared around him. "Then HERE!" Using his wind magic, Toya hurled the broken platform at Yaldabaoth, hitting him directly. The platform broke in half as it smacked against his head, but… he could tell that Yaldabaoth felt that. They were doing fine… and they had a good pace. If they kept this up, they'd actually be able to win, against a god.
"Foolish mortals… I release upon you the deadly sin of envy. The resentment of mankind shall bring forth ruin." Yaldabaoth was preparing yet another attack using one of the deadly sins- but this time, Akira had an idea.
"Both of you, cover your ears! I'll handle this!" Akira called out to them, while holding on to his mask. "Come, Izanagi!" He quickly unmasked and summoned Izanagi-Picaro, then stared at Yaldabaoth's bell. He wanted until it began moving… and as soon as it did, Akira unleashed a powerful thunderbolt- but it wasn't aimed at Yaldabaoth. Instead, he aimed for the platform that they were all standing on, making sure not to accidentally hit anyone. When the bolt crashed against the ground, it made a sound that sounded like a massive explosion- which completely drowned out the sound of Yaldabaoth's bell. Since nobody was able to hear it due to the fact that it got drowned out by Akira's attack, nobody was affected at all. Yaldabaoth's attack was completely wasted… but Akira was well aware that such a trick wouldn't work more than once.
"Akechi, make ice blocks! Toya, you lift it up into the air!" Akira commanded the two of them, and without even questioning him, they followed orders. Akechi created blocks of ice, and Toya lifted them up into the air with his wind magic. "Here goes!" Akira fired his grappling hook at one of the blocks of ice, progressively making his way up towards Yaldabaoth's bell. When he got in close, he ripped off his mask one more time and summoned Izanagi-Picaro, staring at the bell with more conviction than ever. "Cross… SLASH!" He yelled, as he attacked the bell directly. The bell broke apart instantly, breaking into hundreds of little pieces, beyond repair.
"Insolent human…!" Yaldabaoth tried to quickly strike Akira with the same magical arrows he had been using since the beginning of the fight.
"Back here!" Akechi yelled out, quickly creating a wall of ice. Akira turned around and fired his grappling hook at it, zipping towards it and narrowly avoiding Yaldabaoth's attack. He landed down in front of Toya and Akechi, looking up at Akechi.
"Thanks… that was a little too close." Akira took a deep breath, before standing up again.
"So we've dealt with a gun, and a bell. Do you know if he has more weapons?" Toya asked, looking towards Yaldabaoth.
"Yeah, he has two. One of them is a book, and the other is-"
"This is why man is doomed... petty rebels like yourselves continue to try and change the direction of the world, even though it's against the wishes of the people. I will personally see to it that you are all punished for your crimes." As Yaldabaoth spoke, he materialized yet another arm for himself, and created another weapon… only this time, it was a new one. Instead of being a gun, or a bell, or even the book that Akira was talking about… it was a massive sword, one that was even bigger than the Wild Cards all put together.
"That answers that…" Akira looked up towards the malevolent god, gritting his teeth. Yaldabaoth pulled his new sword to his side, before attempting to cut through all three of them at once.
"Mastema!" Akechi quickly summoned his Persona and swung its sword at Yaldabaoth's. The blades clashed with each other, and while it did start a power struggle… everyone knew it wouldn't last long. Akechi might have been strong, but Yaldabaoth was a god. He had no chance against him, not alone.
"We need to help him!"
"I've got it!" Toya quickly unmasked and summoned Mephisto once more. He grit his teeth and glared at Yaldabaoth, before suddenly, a thunderbolt came from the sky that was aimed straight for the arm that Yaldabaoth held the sword with. The attack hit directly, and caused Yaldabaoth to recoil and draw his blade back. Most other attacks from Toya would have completely broken the arm off, but… unfortunately, this was the magic that he was the least versed in, since most of the time, every other attack was stronger. However, this was the only attack that he was in range to hit, so he had to settle for just forcing Yaldabaoth of him.
"I release upon you the deadly sin of gluttony. The passion of mankind shall bring forth ruin…" Yaldabaoth instantly spoke, as if he wasn't even phased by the thunderbolt that hit him directly.
"Gluttony… DODGE!" Akira yelled out, jumping back. Toya and Akechi couldn't react fast enough to Akira's command, and as a result, a sudden wave of gluttony hit them directly. They were pushed back by the wave that went through the air, but it didn't necessarily hurt them, it just made them feel… a bit weaker than they did.
"What is this… feeling…? I feel so much weaker…" Toya said, looking at his hands.
"It's gluttony. It's a temporary effect, but while it lasts… you probably won't be able to summon your Personas."
"No Personas…!? Then how the hell are we supposed to fight him!?"
"Just try distracting him! You can still use your hookshots, right? I didn't get hit by it, so if you can keep him distracted, I can get a good hit off still!"
"Hang on, distract him? How the hell are we gonna do that without Personas!?"
"Let me handle that." Before anyone else could answer his question, Toya heard Osiris calling out to him. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to talk back to Osiris.
"Wait, what? How the hell are you gonna distract him?"
"He's the one who created me, remember? I can distract him for a bit- at least long enough for that damned Fool to get his attack off."
"...Fine. You better not try anything crazy!"
"Please. Even if I wanted to, I can't while under the effects of gluttony." With that said, Toya took a deep breath, and surrendered his mind.
"T-Toya?" Akechi said, reaching out to him.
"I'll distract him. You two just stay back." Toya's voice sounded… noticeably different than it did before- it almost sounded… like Osiris's. And then, when he opened his eyes… Akechi instantly realized what was happening. There was a golden outline around his eyes… and even though Akechi was nervous- he understood what was happening.
"You heard him. Akira, get ready to attack!"
"Right!" Akira took a few steps back and unmasked, summoning his Persona and waiting for the right moment. Meanwhile, Akechi turned around, staring at Toya- or at least, at his body… as he slowly approached Yaldabaoth.
"So this is your true form." He said, staring up at Yaldabaoth. "Your disguise got exposed then, didn't it? How did you screw that one up?"
"...?! How would a mortal like you know of my disguise?"
"Mortal? I remember you creating me to be much more than just that." Yaldabaoth was confused for a moment, but then… he took a closer look at Toya- specifically, at his eyes.
"I see. So it is you. I see you have failed in the single task you were given. I expected as much of you."
"You… expected me to fail?"
"Of course. You were created to have a power close to mine… however, you were never meant to reach it. You were intentionally created with that flaw."
"You… created me… intentionally flawed? What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" He yelled, clenching his fists tightly.
"Did you really think someone who was made to be so close to a human would ever gain the power of the gods? You were created to fulfill your purpose… and then join the mindless masses underneath me. In short, you were nothing more than just a puppet."
"A puppet…" He paused. Then he chuckled- a chuckle that turned into fully blown laughter.
"Hm…?"
"You know… I've been conflicted. Ever since I lost against that damned Jester… I thought that was it. I thought I would become a puppet at that point. But, seeing now that I've been a puppet for this long…" He began laughing again, before giving off a sinister grin. "I suddenly feel more free than ever in my life!" He yelled, as a gunblade materialized in his hands. "And all of that freedom… it's gonna be used to tear you APART!"
"And what can you do? Your power cannot match my rule."
"You really haven't figured it out yet? I don't need to be stronger than you on my own anymore." Just as he spoke, he heard the sound of flames bursting. It was Akira, summoning his Persona and being fully prepared to attack. "I'm not standing alone anymore!" He yelled, now that he finally finished stalling. He quickly jumped away, and gave Akira the spotlight.
"Ravage him, Arsene!" Akira unleashed all of his power at once, sending the most powerful blast of dark magic that he could manage. Yaldabaoth tried to block the attack with his sword, but it was far too much for him to simply block. The attack broke straight through his sword, and still managed to damage him, knocking him back. It seemed like they were starting to deal some real damage to him now.
"There. My work here is done." Toya took control over his mind again, causing the golden outline around his eyes to disappear.
"I… I'm sorry you had to hear everything he had to say."
"Don't apologize. Just beat him, damn it."
"You're as cold as ever." Toya closed his eyes, softly chuckling. "I'm glad you're on our side now."
"Yeah… me too, Jest- I mean… Toya."
"You still feeling like yourself?" Akechi asked, with clear concern in his voice.
"Yeah. I'm feeling great." Toya turned back towards Yaldabaoth, who looked… hurt, and angry.
"I've been disrespected for the last time by you three." Yaldabaoth materialized one final arm for himself, and in it… this time, he had a book. The book opened on its own, and began to flip through pages on its own. "I release upon you the deadly sin of wrath. The passion of humans shall bring forth ruin…" After he spoke, the book stopped moving pages, and a black mist came down from the sky, aimed directly at Toya. The attack caught him off guard, and the mist surrounded him.
"Wrath…!? Hey, what does that do!?"
"Calm down. It's nothing too bad. It'll make him go berserk, but… he won't suffer anything else. If anything, it'll just make him more aggressive… it's perfectly fi-"
"I release upon you the deadly sin of pride. The ingratitude of mankind shall bring forth ruin." suddenly, the book started moving pages again… and then, Yaldabaoth had a weird glow around him because of it.
"Okay, forget everything I just said. Now things are really bad!"
"Why? What does pride do…!?"
"It's a barrier. It's gonna absorb weaker hits, and reflect the first strong hit straight back at the original attacker…!"
"What!?" Akechi looked towards Toya, as the mist around him faded. His body was twitching… and then he ripped off his mask, causing a purple flame to engulf his body. "Toya, focus! Don't let him get to your head! If you attack him now, you're only gonna hurt yourself!" Akechi pleaded, and… for a moment, Toya didn't even move. He just looked towards the ground, staying completely still, apart from his body occasionally twitching. Things were quiet… until suddenly, a pink beam rose around Toya's body, and without any warning, he began rushing towards Yaldabaoth, not even stopping to look at Akira or Akechi.
"Toya!" Akira yelled out to him, but… he couldn't possibly stop him. "He's gonna kill himself if he hits too hard! We've gotta do something!"
"Mephisto…" Toya called on his Persona, as he used a gust of wind magic to push himself into the air. He stared at Yaldabaoth- more specifically, directly at his head. "OBLITERATE HIM!" He roared, before suddenly, Mephisto shot a massive bullet directly for Yaldabaoth's glowing head. The bullet quickly ripped through the air, quickly making contact with the barrier surrounding Yaldabaoth.
"Mastema!" Akechi quickly ripped off his mask and stared at Toya, a state of pure panic overcoming him. "Shield him, NOW!" He yelled, as he quickly erected a physical shield around Toya. Just as it formed, the bullet started flying straight back… and smashed against the barrier Toya had around him. It took a moment… and then suddenly, the bullet went straight back at Yaldabaoth. With his barrier no longer surrounding him, the bullet hit him directly in the head- dealing massive damage- more than any other attack thus far. Once the attack made contact, Toya slowly fell back to the ground, landing on his knees and panting. Akira and Akechi ran over to him, picking him back up.
"T-Thanks…" Toya took deep breaths as he got back to his feet. The way he felt… it was similar to when Osiris influenced him in the past, only… it was even more violent.
"So… this is the power who resists ruin…" Yaldabaoth said, recovering from the hit that he took. "My control shall not bow down to ruin. My control is the ultimate truth of this world."
"You and your control can go straight to hell! We're not gonna sit back and let a false god control human lives any longer!"
"The abyss of the unconscious yearns for the ultimate ruin… You have no means of escape, humans." After he spoke, out of nowhere, Yaldabaoth regained all of the arms that the trio had previous destroyed- which included the weapons they were originally holding. Then, a moment later, they all show out dark energy… four beams of dark energy, shooting at each other and creating a sphere of energy… one that only seemed to get bigger with every second.
"This again…!" Akira's voice was filled with fear, as he took a step back. "This is the attack that destroyed all of us last time…"
"So you have no idea how to stop it…!?" Akechi's voice had just as much fear in it, as he processed what Akira said.
"No. He unleashed it on us last time… and… well, you can see for yourself how everyone ended up…"
"What are we gonna do then!? We can't tank a hit like that!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Toya said, slowly walking forward. "If him getting that attack off is the difference between us winning and losing this fight…" Toya gripped his mask tightly, before ripping it off of his face, as a purple flame appeared around him, burning brighter than ever. "Then we just have to finish him off before he gets it off!" Toya clenched his fists tightly as a blue beam rose around his body, signifying that he was concentrating all of his magic at once.
"If you're serious… then I support you, fully." Akechi stood next to Toya, as he unmasked as well. As he did, a red flame burned around him, just as brightly as Toya's was.
"You two are insane…" Akira looked at them with shock, but then… he sighed, and smiled. "You're right. It's not over yet!" Standing beside the two of them, Akira ripped off his mask as well, as his own blue flame began to burn around him. The three flames swirled around each other, burning brightly and shining throughout the sky. This was it… their ultimate attack- all of their magic at once. This was the only change they had at winning this. And, while they were all admittedly nervous… they were all convicted.
"Punishment shall strike you all… As you pass through the gates of destruction…" Yaldabaoth fully prepared himself, before suddenly, the sphere of dark energy erupted, shooting a massive blast from its core towards the trio of Wild Cards, who still refused to falter, no matter the odds.
"ARSENE!"
"MASTEMA!"
"MEPHISTO!" They all screamed as loud as they could, as they fired off their strongest blasts- using all of the strength that they could muster. The blasts all collided with each other, dark and light magic coming together and pushing against Yaldabaoth's Rays of Control. The trio put all of their power into these attacks… every single bit of power they had left. They fought hard, and used every bit of force that they possible could, but… even with all of that… it wasn't enough. It wasn't even close to being enough. Yaldabaoth's power… it was far too much for the three of them to handle, even combined. His blast engulfed the other three… and then hit the Wild Cards directly. When it did, they fell down to their knees, exhausted and bruised… and barely even able to move.
"It's… just like last time…" Akira struggled to move… he tried, but… his body completely gave out. He couldn't move a muscle, despite how hard he tried. This was the second time he had been hit by this… he couldn't possibly have any energy left.
"That power… what kind of madness is this…!?" Toya had a bit more energy, and he felt like he could possibly get up, but… there was no point. He knew that Yaldabaoth would just knock him back down.
"...No. I won't… let you win… that easily…!" Akechi said, smashing his fist against the ground. "You're no god… you're just a puppet master… pulling everyone's strings to force your ideal way of life!" He slowly got up to his feet, staring at Yaldabaoth with blood trailing down his cheeks, breathing hard. "I don't care how strong you are… you're not gonna win against us!"
"What drivel…" Yaldabaoth's voice echoed throughout the sky, as a lightning bolt fell down from the heavens, striking Akechi and sending him back, but he still stayed on his own two feet.
"What the hell are you trying…!?" Toya turned his head towards Akechi, staring at him. "Y-You're just gonna get yourself killed!"
"He'll kill us all… if I do nothing…!" Akechi reached for his mask and took it off of his face. A weak flame appeared around his feet as he summoned his Persona. "Mastema… attack…!" He called out, but… he couldn't even muster up the energy to cast another spell. Yaldabaoth laughed in response, before casting yet another bolt of lightning… only this time, it sent Akechi much further… in fact, it sent him flying off of the platform, as he began plummeting to the ground below.
"AKECHI!" Toya yelled, mustering his strength and trying to get over to the edge that Akechi was thrown off of. He saw Akechi pull out the hookshot and fire it towards the platform, but… it just barely didn't reach. However, just when Toya saw that it wasn't going to reach, he stuck his arm out and took a hold of it, keeping Akechi in place… or at least, trying. However, the weight of Akechi's body… Toya could barely hold it up. By holding on to the chain, Toya was dragged down, as he began to slip off of the platform. As his feet were dragged off of the platform, he grabbed on to the edge of it with his free hand, still holding on to the chain of the hookshot in the other.
"Toya…!"
"H-Hold on…! I can…" Toya grit his teeth and mustered as much strength as he could, trying to pull himself back up onto the platform… but he couldn't. Akechi saw Toya struggling to pull him up… and then he looked below, at the drop… the distance between where he was suspended in the air and the ground… it was even more than he originally thought.
"...Toya. You… you have to… let me go…"
"Wh-What…!? No… No, I won't!"
"Toya… if you don't, then both of us will-"
"I said NO!" Toya cried out as he struggled to pull the two of them up. Akechi looked up at Toya again, and… noticed something. Toya had… tears, streaming down his cheeks, and when Akechi listened listened closely… he could hear the sound of him sobbing. "It's not fair…! You… You just got your redemption! We fought against both of our darknesses incarnated together… so why,,, why should you have to die…!?"
"T-Toya…"
"I've lost so much… I'm… not gonna lose you too…! So… that's why… I won't...!" A purple flame appeared on Toya's face as he tried to pull the two of them up again. His body shook in pain with every passing moment, as he tried desperately to pull both himself and Akechi up. His tears kept flowing down his cheeks, dropping down onto Akechi's hair.
"...I don't deserve to know someone like you, Toya." Akechi said, closing his eyes. "Ever since I was born… I felt like a failure… like I was cursed. I felt like I ruined everything I touched… and… it awakened a darkness inside of me. I wanted to ruin everything… until there was nothing left to ruin… if you hadn't found me, I probably would have ended up like the cognition of me that we saw in your Palace…" Akechi coughed, as he began to sob a bit as well. "But… even after everything I did… even when it directly hurt you… you still didn't give up on me. You were the one to save me… even though I deserved nothing less than to die for my crimes. I… I shouldn't have ever gotten the chance to redeem myself, but even still, you made sure that I got that chance… and you stayed with me the entire time, making sure I never lost my way again…" Akechi softly chuckled through his tears as he opened his eyes again, looking up at Toya. "Thank you… so much, Toya. I didn't expect the final arc of my life to be spent fighting against a god… with the one person who ever truly cared about me." Akechi could barely even speak… his voice was cracking more and more with every single word that came from his mouth.
"A-Akechi…! Don't…!"
"Don't worry. I know you'll figure a way out of this. You'll save the day, right? Just like you always do. You did it with me… and now, you'll do it for everyone… I'm sure of that."
"Y-You don't have to do this! I… I figured everything else out, didn't I!? I… I can figure this out too…!"
"Save your strength. You'll need everything to kill a god, won't you?" Akechi chuckled one last time, with tears still rolling down his cheeks, as he stared into Toya's eyes one last time. "I'll be watching you… from wherever I end up, Toya. Thank you… and… goodbye…" With those final words, after closing his eyes… Akechi let go of the handle to the hookshot, and began to fall down to the ground below.
"AKECHI!" Toya screamed as loud as he could, a look of desperation and shock on his face. He stared at Akechi's face as he fell… he looked… peaceful. If he was going to die in any way… this is how he wanted to do it. Without the weight of Akechi dragging him down, Toya was finally able to pull himself up to the top, along with his father's hookshot, which was still in his hand. He got onto the platform and looked down at the ground… the fall was so far… there was no way Akechi could have possibly survived. With tears streaming down his face more than ever, he closed his eyes and raised his head to the sky, and began to scream his lungs out. Yet another person he cared about… he couldn't save.
And with that... Goro Akechi has met his demise. He lived as a villain for so long... and eventually, he died a hero. He went through quite the character arc in this story, including fighting against a manifestation of his own darkness. In a way, he stole the show for these past few chapters... and developed in a way that never really happened through the original game. To be perfectly honest- I didn't really like his character in the original game. I thought he had a lot of potential, but it just felt so... wasted. However, after rewriting his character arc in this story, and putting him in different situations... I've found myself somewhat attached to his character now. Writing his death brought me to tears, to be perfectly honest. It's probably the most emotional thing I've ever written- and one of the most emotional moments I'll ever write in my life. But... I'm still proud of what I did to his character, personally. Let me know if you agree or disagree.
But now, of course, comes the aftermath of Akechi's death. The Phantom Thieves are barely even conscious anymore, and Toya... Toya's more emotional than he's been in a long time- on top of all the damage he took from Yaldabaoth's last attack. Will he be able to finish things off? Or will he join his family, as well as Akechi, in the afterlife? You'll have to wait and see...
As one final side note, I read a review yesterday about someone being confused about something that happened in an earlier chapter, specifically chapter 14. I'll read it out to you here:
"I know this is a very old chapter, but I hope the author will come back and edit it.
He had his protagonist destroy Kaneshiro's camera, and therefore the pictures he took of Makoto. But then he starts the chapter complaining about said picture and the debt they somehow owe Kaneshiro."
When I originally wrote this chapter, I was trying to imply what Kaneshiro would do hypothetically speaking, if he still had the pictures of Makoto. However... reading back on it, I can see that I really didn't clarify that at all, and it's totally understandable why this was confusing to this person, as well as anyone else. With that said, I've updated the beginning of that chapter to flow better, and to make a bit more sense overall. They're still in a bit of a rush to finish the Palace due to the fact that Kaneshiro's knew who the two of them were, so I don't think any intensity will be lost. Overall, this should be a positive change in all regards.
I read every single review I get, no matter what chapter it's from. So if anyone wants to leave a review on something that happened in a specific chapter that happened a while ago, please feel free to leave a review on whatever chapter you want. I'll respond however I can.
(Even though responding to reviews will be tricky once I've finished this fic, but I'll figure something out.)