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Shattered Justice (A Persona Quest)

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[X] The other group is going to attack the Shadow first, and when it flees in your direction, you'll catch it in a trap.
 
[X] The other group is going to attack the Shadow first, and when it flees in your direction, you'll catch it in a trap.
 
[X] The other group is going to attack the Shadow first, and when it flees in your direction, you'll catch it in a trap.
 
Adhoc vote count started by SeekerofDreams on Mar 10, 2024 at 7:29 PM, finished with 5 posts and 5 votes.
  • [X] The other group is going to attack the Shadow first, and when it flees in your direction, you'll catch it in a trap.
    [X] Fuuka-san is going to coordinate your two groups so you charge the Shadow at the same time.
Click to expand...
 
All right, let's try to set up an ambush!


-Vote Closed!-​


It's not the worst tactic out there, but the Hanged Man being the Hanged Man, it's naturally going to be a bit complicated.
 
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The Fall of the Final Enemy- Part 4
  • Threadmarks
    • The one thing about fighting Shadows outside Tartarus that isn't inherently terrible is that it opens the option for strategies that would never have been viable inside the tower, due to things like 'not properly interconnected hallways' and 'the really strong enemies starting out in the center of the floor already.'

    Like chasing them into an ambush. Sure, you can sneak up on Shadows if their backs are turned to you, but you've never been able to chase them before, and only partly because of how aggressive they are. Shadows do flee sometimes. It's just that when they do, they vanish into a wall or something.

    The Shadow here- the Arcana Hanged Man- can't do that. Sure, it can fly, but you don't think it can go higher than it is already, and the bridge suspension should be enough to keep it from taking off over the bay.
    Even if it tried, maybe the statues would weigh it down. I guess sticking it at the bottom of the ocean would solve some problems...
    If it's not, you never stood a chance of defeating it in the first place. So no pressure.

    It's actually really simple to set up for this, since you're at two ends of a bridge. The group on the other side will run down, making an effort to be as scary as possible. If that works- you don't know enough about this Shadow to be sure either way- it'll have nowhere to flee but to you.

    There's a few options for when it gets here. It's in midair, so Mitsuru-nee can't just set down a patch of ice, but Yukari-san readies her bow, and Morgana has his slingshot, and the night is still. Their wind powers should let them aim true. You crouch just out of their way, at the side of the bridge, watching the reflection of the giant moon over the still red water.

    If you keep telling yourself it's water during the day, you don't have to think about what it is at night.

    Then a roar comes from down the bridge, and you look up. You haven't seen Thanatos in a long time, you can't even remember if you know his name from having been told in this timeline or the last, but there he is.

    Makoto-san's always been resistant to the idea of summoning him. You wonder what changed.
    Tonight is a good night for Thanatos.
    ...It's none of your business. What is your business is that Thanatos has the Hanged Man spooked enough to flee.

    ...Something large Shadows don't really do, you hadn't actually expected this to work even when the idea was suggested. Why is it...?

    There's no time to think about that. It's throwing a Maya at your face.

    You refuse to let it connect. "Kala-Nemi! Hama!" It misses, because you forgot it was a moving target. "Mahama!" This one does connect, because you center it on yourself and it's almost hit you.

    The why doesn't matter. What matters is that it's melted away before it could explode. Which you think might have been a possibility. Which is terrifying.

    "Wh-where did that come from!?" Yukari-san asks what you're all thinking, as she prepares her second arrow. "Fuuka?"

    "It... pulled it out of itself..." You don't like the sound of that. "It felt like those statues."

    Now that she mentions it, there's a trio of statues just beneath the Shadow- wait, no, duo, Thanatos got his hands on one. You think they might have been dragged behind it as it moved, which would be funny in any other situation.

    Whatever else might be happening, you know this: The statues are an important part of this fight. Maybe the most important part. And your gut feelings are your most reliable source of future knowledge, so you need to rely on them.

    Not that you can really get at the statues, since there's a giant floating Shadow between them and you that only Yukari and Morgana are able to damage, and that's only with wind-reinforced projectiles. Technically, you could run under, but you'd need a plan for what to do on the other side. And also to be lucky.

    You aren't sure why, but you associate the idea of trying to run past a powerful Shadow like this with extreme pain. You need a plan.

    What's the plan?


    [ ] Thanatos is doing a pretty good job of destroying the statues, actually, you'll let him keep doing that and see if anything changes.

    [ ] You desperately want to know what happens if one of the statues is thrown into the water. You just... need to figure out a way to do that.
    -[ ] How? (Varying DC)

    [ ] If you just fire a lot of magic in the statues' direction, if the Shadow lands, it'll be right in the middle of it. For that, you'll use...
    -[ ] Light.
    -[ ] Lightning.
    -[ ] Psychokinesis.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] If you just fire a lot of magic in the statues' direction, if the Shadow lands, it'll be right in the middle of it. For that, you'll use...
    -[X] Light.
     
    [X] Thanatos is doing a pretty good job of destroying the statues, actually, you'll let him keep doing that and see if anything changes.
     
    [X] You desperately want to know what happens if one of the statues is thrown into the water. You just... need to figure out a way to do that.
    -[X]Let Thanatos be the brute force, and if he ever unsteadies one, use Psychokinesis to push it over. And if one is ever in a rollable position push it to the side. You don't have to provide the force to move it, just need to provide enough so that when Thanatos acts the path of least resistance ends with the statue going over the side
     
    [X] You desperately want to know what happens if one of the statues is thrown into the water. You just... need to figure out a way to do that.
    -[X]Let Thanatos be the brute force, and if he ever unsteadies one, use Psychokinesis to push it over. And if one is ever in a rollable position push it to the side. You don't have to provide the force to move it, just need to provide enough so that when Thanatos acts the path of least resistance ends with the statue going over the side
     
    Adhoc vote count started by SeekerofDreams on May 9, 2024 at 12:41 PM, finished with 5 posts and 4 votes.
    • [X] You desperately want to know what happens if one of the statues is thrown into the water. You just... need to figure out a way to do that.
      -[X]Let Thanatos be the brute force, and if he ever unsteadies one, use Psychokinesis to push it over. And if one is ever in a rollable position push it to the side. You don't have to provide the force to move it, just need to provide enough so that when Thanatos acts the path of least resistance ends with the statue going over the side
      [X] If you just fire a lot of magic in the statues' direction, if the Shadow lands, it'll be right in the middle of it. For that, you'll use...
      -[X] Light.
      [X] Thanatos is doing a pretty good job of destroying the statues, actually, you'll let him keep doing that and see if anything changes.
    Click to expand...
     
    Okay, let's see if Thanatos cooperates.


    -Vote Closed!-​


    It's still probably a better chance than trying to reenact the spider thing.
     
    The Fall of the Final Enemy- Part 5
  • Threadmarks
    • Throwing the statues into the water would be a difficult endeavor, if you choose to undertake it. First, and most obviously, the Shadow is between you and them. Second, even if you could get at them, you're eleven. You aren't strong enough to be moving statues. You have psychokinesis, but you're not great at moving large objects with it, let alone things that are alive, so you can't just do that.

    Despite knowing all this, you want to try, anyway. You even have an idea of how to go about it.

    Step one is to hope Fuuka-san will patch you through to anyone who can't directly hear you. She doesn't have to to make this work, but it'd make things a lot easier.

    "It'd be easier if we could all reach the statues!" You're sure someone has to hear you, you just aren't sure it's anyone who can do something specific. "They're tied to the big Shadow!"

    They already know that second part, of course. It's been said before, even as the Hanged Man creates more Mayas out of its own body. But has they reached the idea that this means the statues have to be defeated? That doing that will make things easier for everyone?

    You don't see any immediate reaction. You hear Thanatos roar, but that doesn't have to mean anything. It keeps ripping at the statues with the ferocity you'd expect of some kind of predator.

    Its actions do knock one of the statues close to the bridge's edge, though, and that's a lot of what you need right there.

    Time for the first test. You reach out with Psio, and attempt to gain control of the statue's movements.

    ...You can't force it in any one direction. You can keep it still, which makes it a great target for the others, but lifting something of this weight remains beyond you, especially if it's fighting back.

    Part of you realizes that you should have brought up a more specific plan to the others when you had the chance, because right now, keeping this spell going is taking up all of your concentration. If you break the spell, the Shadow might move farther from the edge of the bridge, and then you won't get to see what happens.

    All you can do is hold it in place for the others.

    You don't have to do so for long. Thanatos keeps attacking, and when its sword strikes the statue, it moves up from below. You realize you can use that, and take the momentum for yourself, hurling the statue up and through a gap in the supports.

    The Shadow slams into the supports as well, but quickly recovers. It's hanging a bit lower to the ground, now, though you can't tell if that's caused by the statue being over the bridge, or the statue being dead. You suppose it doesn't matter that much.

    Whatever the cause, being slammed into the support cables definitely hurt the Shadow. As the final statue sits at the epicenter of everyone's strongest spell all at once, it drifts slowly to the ground.

    You can hit it now. You want to hit it, now, for the feeling of something physical against your spear. You run up. Ready yourself to strike. And then... you hesitate.

    Why are you hesitating?


    [ ] Because Thanatos' bloodlust is starting to unnerve you.

    [ ] Because you can't remember if there's a reason why this battle has to happen.

    [ ] Because you remember the girl who died in Tartarus, and how her blood coated the floor.

    [ ] Because this feels like a job for someone else- you just can't tell who.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Of all the things to be thinking about, this is definitely one of them!


    -Vote Closed!-​


    Is a climactic battle the time for this? Probably not, but it's going to happen anyway!
     
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