Kirumi Tojo's Palace | The Ultimate Maid's Failures

[kandata]

By now everyone may be used to find themselves in bizarre locations, between going into palaces and visiting Nekyia. It might not come as a surprise that it has happened again.

What might come as a surprise, though...is how empty this place is.

All around you there's nothing more than a large, gray, featureless expanse. In the distance there seem to be bars, curving upwards to gather so, so high above you, possibly hundreds of miles above, so high it’s hard to distinguish.

It’s a cage. So unfathomably large. You could escape, were you to get to the edges of the cage, but...it would take forever. No matter how you look at it, you're trapped. The atmosphere is so...hopeless. Devoid of anything even remotely positive.

Not that you want to hang around for long, do you? After all, this is someone's palace. Not a place to stick around at. What to do, though?

It’s all so...empty. Silent. Featureless. A flat expanse of hard gray tiles.

Gather together, everyone. Gather and choose a direction. North, East, West, South. All directions look completely identical, but could it affect your time in this place, somehow? Probably not. But all treks start with the first step. Perhaps, if you get moving, you'll progress?

Comments

[kandata]

[This thing must be really confident, to be facing these twelve without flinching. There's no grin anywhere on it, but its body language is very obviously mocking. It barely makes a move to defend itself, like that's casual.

Aubrey's Giant Slice strikes at its torso, the monster unraveling it to avoid Sayaka when she does the same thing]

You want her so badly? Have her!

[The Ultimate Maid swings Kirumi, who until now had been trying hard to get herself untangled from the threads it was held by, but any effort was impossible once the Ultimate Maid swung her, like a flail, aiming for Sayaka and Aubrey

It misses (rolled 6, 7)...and Kirumi slams against the floor, with an ugly sound. Whoooops. Kirumi Tojo is unconscious. The Ultimate Maid couldn't care less. If anything, that makes it easier to swing her around -- a dead weight is easier for this than someone struggling! Fortunately, McGillis is handling this, so Kirumi can't be used as a weapon ever again. Kirumi falls to the floor, unconscious, the Garudyne effective at wrecking the Ultimate Maid enough to make her free. The hand, a mop of string now, coalesces into a bear claw now, swiping at McGillis, but it being a new appendange means it's not used to that yet (rolled 2).

Good news about spider thread: it's very flammable! Shalem's Agydine strikes true, burning some of its shoulder, ashes and smolder left there. It burned a small portion before the creature solves this, some of the threads moving like a fan to extinguish the flames. The Ultimate Maid, relentless, focuses, unleashing a Hamaon onto Shalem. It's successful! Barely. Shalem was at the edge of the columns of blessed light that emerged from the ground, hitting him...and slowly starting to kill him. The 11 roll made it not as effective, but if Shalem doesn't get his rapidly depleating health healed, he'll die!

The Ultimate Maid is forced to bend one way or another by the strong physical attacks so many use against it. Even though it's not giving any huge indications of damage, hey, you're hitting it! Health points get lost even if the opponent doesn't writhe in pain! Argenti, Fray, Yi Sang, Aaron, Argenti and Soujuurou -- the last one with a punch -- are merciless against a creature that deserves destruction. Soujuurou will feel the uncomfortable sensation of the threads trying to capture his fist, though, ew!

The slash onto the legs is particularly good, though. The slash makes the creature stumble, and it gives a very ursine grown. Very unsettling to hear from such a spindly humanoid!]

You know what makes our team so good? We adapt everything and everyone into our plans!

[To demonstrate it, the Ultimate Maid hits the ground, and all of it shimmers. Tetrakarn! Physical attacks will get deflected onto the user! Better watch out. Not only that, with a swipe of its new bear claw, it targets the five who had attacked, a red, vague mist covering the area. Wage War!

Yi Sang, Argenti, and Soujuurou get inflicted with rage, feeling the need to physically attack the opponent. Aaron and Fray didn't get affected.

Watch out! The Ultimate Maid is trying to counter you all and keep everyone busy!]

[destage]

[Ohhhh, that is so bad. They're in a rush against time, aren't they? If Monokuma keeps using her like that, then she'll...

...Sayaka can't let that happen. She just can't, but the desperation of the situation means that while she tries to aim an Agilao (8) at the thread connecting Kirumi to the monster, she misses her shot entirely after dodging the attack.

Focus, Sayaka, focus--well, she at least tries to cast a Dia on poor Shalem, because holy shit we do not need the snake dying here. Focus, girl, focus--]

[vogelfrei]

[ The resistance to physical attacks makes the Exisal fairly useless right now, but McGillis remains shrimped inside just for the physical protecting the armor can offer him.

Combat-wise it seems better to just focus on his Persona and keep hitting the Ultimate Maid as strongly as he can - with a Garudyne (12) once more!

He's on the move though, trying to inch closer to where Kirumi is unconscious on the floor. He's hoping to snatch her away in a round or two... ]

[moodwrecker]

[She recognizes Wage War - she herself had that power, as a Shadow. Which is why she opts to swap to:]

Bufudyne!

[And with a roll of a 14, that should at least hit! She's tossing a dia on Kirumi as well but, you know, fighter not utility and all.]

[imperiosity]

[Hm, that round of attacks wasn’t bad but uhhh all the rage effects and then Tetrakarn definitely are, but he’s not utility so he can’t really do shit about it!! So for his part, he uses a Garudyne (11) at its torso, trying to shred as much thread as possible.]

Tch. Someone clear their heads!

[bloodweapon]

[Well, at least one Utility was spared. Fray immediately switches tactics, throwing an Energy Shower out for Yi Sang, Argenti, and Soujuurou.]

[idealitas]

[ Time for Yi Sang to get hit with Rage. This time though, it's pretty problematic with the Tetrakarn up. Rage don't care about silly things like physical refect shields though, as Yi Sang seems to land a slash on the Maid (18)...

Welp. Not only does the Tetrakarn knock him back, it delivers the slash right back at him too, knocking him to the floor. Rage making him take double damage means it's a deep cut across his torso, bleeding out on the ground. He's at critical health and unconscious. ]

[beautifulknight]

[ Thank Idrila Fray's clear comes in time so he doesn't have to...well, use his moves for that.

First, though, Argenti is going to cast Media on Shalem, Yi Sang, and Kirumi.

Next, he will send a Psiodyne aimed towards the threads (the middle of them so it does not hit Kirumi), using the force of the blow to try to tear/rend the threads holding onto Kirumi apart! (16) ]

[emptyself]

[ rage is not a fun emotion for soujuurou. but as some others have already noticed better than him, it's an emotion that seems to fit him like a glove. but at least, in those times, he was still himself enough to be able to make calculated risks. this time, it's like seeing red. there's no strategy, there's no plan, there's only a desire to attack.

he attacks again, blindly throwing another punch at the ultimate maid (16)-- and immediately feels the effects from it. he twists his body and jumps away from the battle with movements as smooth and automatic as a well-oiled machine, but from the way that his arm hangs limply at his side and the sleeve of his sweater is now red with blood, it's clear that he took massive damage right back.

he raises his one good arm, as if preparing to have to simply defend himself with one arm. ]

[kandata]

[You're all very kind for keeping Kirumi healed even at a time like this. It doesn't rouse her up, and it might be for the best she doesn't. Kirumi would be, at best, a liability, since her Persona is currently fused with Monokuma. She stays on the ground -- Kirumi has been freed!]

Hey, tin can! Let me gut you like a sardine!

[The Ultimate Maid roars like a bear and attempts to leap onto the Exisal, but even though this is a big hunk of metal, the Ultimate Maid is too large to cling onto it properly. McGillis will be able to maneuver and avoid the grip of its long, sharp claws. (rolled 5) Who in the right mind made Monokuma to have sharp teeth and claws?!

Good news, though: the sight of Yi Sang on the ground, unconscious and on the verge of death, seems to lead to the monster to ignore him. One down, eleven more that need to be killed -- it doesn't bother to give Yi Sang the final push because it wants as many as possible in that state. Lucky Yi Sang!

Being covered with a physical mantle means some will fall onto magical attacks to harm it. Its weakness to fire is already noticed, but wind and ice have decent effectiveness. This creature doesn't resist anything! Crystals of ice from Aubrey's attack gather on its shoulder joints, the threads having a hard time moving over each other when there's ice in the middle. The wind from Aaron's magic scramble some of the enemy, forcing it to gather some energy to coalesce back into its normal shape -- and during that, Monokuma's red jagged eye suddenly becomes visible, near the neck of the monster. Oho!]

Hey, knock that off! [Heat Wave! The Ultimate Maid's arm flails, heated air that somehow is physical damage sweeps the trial room, hitting Aubrey, and missing Sayaka and Aaron, the latter by the skin of his teeth (rolled 8, 14, 10. To Fray, since he has an armor, the creature grabs one of the podiums, intending to use it as a bludgeon against him. Adapt to enemies, is what this thing does! Fortuntely for Fray, the podium misses by quite a bit (rolled 3), pieces of podium blasting nobody nearby such as Argenti. Lucky, all of you! In fact, half of the podium bounces and strikes the Ultimate Maid on its head (rolled 1).

Soujuurou had a terrible time with the reflected physical attack! And the Ultimate Maid is merciless, refusing to give a moment of reprieve. Cackling, it lifts one of the bear claws and brings it down onto Soujuurou, to slam it and him onto the ground! (rolled 14)

Shaking its head, the monster decides to change tactics. The Tetrakarn is gone, deactivated by Yi Sang's attack onto the Ultimate Maid, so it decides it's time to do something new]

A-ha!

[The Ultimate Maid uses Makarakarn, to reflect magical attacks against their users! Not only that, that thing roars, an extremely realistic, irate bear roar that's enough to rattle some people.

Aubrey, Fray, and Argenti have been inflicted with Fear! Attacks won't be impeded, but they'll hesitate and attempt to flee afterwards!

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis makes an attempt to go and grab Kirumi, but the Ultimate Maid winds up blocking his path, so he is forced to continue circling instead. (7)

In lieu of being able to do something combat-useful here, he at least tosses a Media at Soujuurou, Aubrey, Yi Sang and himself. ]

[beautifulknight]

[ Argenti feels afraid, that sinking feeling in his gut... but he resists (1 = heads), eyes narrowing at the creature.

He has come a long way, he won't stop here, and ...

...

...Argenti's attempt to strike physically is still hampered by Fear, in some way probably, so he misses (8) ]

[idealitas]

[ Thanks to Fray, Argenti, Yoon, and McGillis stepping in, Yi Sang can function a little better. He's not at 100%, but he can manage something.

That would be a heal for Soujuurou with Diarama.

As repentance for my sins of shitty bear puns thrown at Tori, bro ain't attacking shit anyways with these aches (1). ]

[emptyself]

[ soujuurou is knocked down and he can't even resist when he's being clawed by such a huge thing. he's on the ground gasping, but it's really the bear's roar that makes him freeze in fear despite not being affected any longer by any debuff (7). maybe if he plays dead, the bear will forget about him? ]

[bloodweapon]

[The familiar icy claws of fear tear through him at that sound, even though theoretically he should be fine, as he has fought bears before. He hasn't fought monochrome, people-killing, manipulative, asshole bears before, though, and clearly that is a tremendous difference in this circumstance. It takes a lot to battle through that fear (heads), but Fray manages it and casts another Energy Shower on himself, Argenti, and Aubrey. Fear is only an acceptable emotion when you can control it and turn it into rage, after all.]

[moonshaded]

[Physical attacks are what she - she herself, Persona or no Persona - excels at, so with Kirumi freed and in the midst of everything else that's going on in the chaos, she darts in to take a hefty vertical sword slash (19) at some of those more brittle spider threads, just narrowly short of the hardest swing she can muster.]

[strawsandals]

[ Yoon is off the string and unleashed, apparently, because he's going to try to hit that red eye with his hammer (19). This fucking bear, man.

He is so angry. He deems this as an absolutely acceptable time to use violence, so here comes the hammer - the one Monokuma gave him, by the way! ]

[imperiosity]

[god that rage + tetrakarn combo

Okay, let’s see what he can do here… there’s a Media for Yi Sang, Soujuurou and Aubrey before he moves right back to physical attacks, like a Giant Slice (15) at the newly revealed eye.]

[kandata]

[The Ultimate Maid had been about to knock McGillis over, but the others' attacks distract the creature just in time! The monster is forced to ignore McGillis for the time being, which will enable him to continue his plan. Nice!

Soujuurou being frozen in fear, ironically enough, is pretty effective! This isn't a real bear, but with how the Ultimate Maid is invested in killing people here, when one seems to be on the verge of death it decides to focus on the rest. Seeing Yi Sang standing up again is very frustrating to it, though! The Ultimate Maid tries to ensnare Yi Sang, hooking the threads around Yi Sang and pulling from him, to do the move of slamming Yi Sang against the floor. (rolled 12) Watch out! It'll do that next turn unless Yi Sang or someone helping Yi Sang frees him!

Yoon's attack on the eye makes the Ultimate Maid scream. It's an inhuman scream, synthetic from Monokuma's voice box. There's no trace of Kirumi in that scream even though it comes from something that vaguely resembles Kirumi's uniform. The monster is starting to fray (not to Fray), the attacks starting to take the brunt]

Okay, vermin! I'm starting to get fed up with you all!

[Brandishing one of the podiums, the Ultimate Maid attempts to bludgeon Yoon, Kainé, and Aaron, but it seems Yoon hitting Monokuma's eye near the thing's neck has hurt the Ultimate Maid quite a bit! It's staggering, missing the mark against all three! (rolled 3, 10, 3)

This was a terrible round for the Ultimate Maid!

Makarakarn is still active!]

[vogelfrei]

[ With the other's making good headway on kicking Monokuma's ass, McGillis finally finds an opening to get through to Kirumi. Monokuma may not be focused on hurting her right now, but there is no telling when that will change - after all, the infernal bear knows that saving her is their objective.

So McGillis swoops up Kirumi in the Exisal's arms and then books it as far from the Ultimate Maid as the trial room will let him (14).

He'll join the fight again next round, for now it's time to guard this poor unconscious girl. ]

[bloodweapon]

Enough!

[That monster's going to Fray in a moment when Fray aims a sword slice at that thing's neck, following up on Yoon's effective attack (15)!]

Put an end to it now, while we have the chance!

[emptyself]

[ soujuurou does not attack.

instead, he sees yi sang’s situation and moves towards him. with a (4), soujuurou feels that there’s not much that he can do for the other, but that’s no reason to give up. he pulls yi sang out of the strings and shoves him away, uncaring of what happens to him in consequence.

oddly enough, he feels calm. ]

[strawsandals]

[ Fray may have the same idea as Yoon, and it definitely seemed to work last time. However, he's unsure what the consequence will be, so he preemptively steps in front of Fray to guard him (...1). He will also cast Media on himself, Fray, Soujuurou, and Yi Sang. ]

[moonshaded]

[It's much easier to fight this thing, in contrast to the poor rolls and AFK debuff that kept even Kainé's most violent attacks from doing much against the earlier stages of this boss battle. There's a tightness in her chest watching everyone leap in to put themselves in someone else's path, and her voice is low from that tightness.]

Give me a break. This isn't a martyr competition.

[We won't talk about the bowl stuff earlier.

There's a weak opening where the Monokuma eye stares out from the maid uniform, but you know what she's sick of? That fucking yapping. So Kainé's Lunge (17) is directed in the general direction of where sound seems to be coming from the monster.]

[beautifulknight]

[ Well, that just pisses him off, to be honest. ]

The only vermin here is you, you ugly, wretched scum.

[ Argenti's shout is loud as the creature dares to stoop low in ensnaring Yi Sang like that. But, suddenly...people are taking action as he is about to turn his spear upon it, making him hesitate first to see what in name of Idrila is going on with his allies. First there's Soujuurou getting in the way, then there's Yoon...defending Fray?

He will then just use Giant Slice (16) on the enemy in hopes of being able to bring it down first before things get extremely out of hand here. Eat shit, Monokuma! ]

Be extinguished by the light of Beauty!

[ Then he sneaks in a Media on to Soujuurou, Yi Sang, and Yoon. You know, just in case. ]