Akechi's eyes fluttered open as consciousness slowly returned. He remembered the showdown with the Phantom Thieves in the engine room of Shido's Palace... Kurusu's promise to defeat Shido... then, Akechi and his cognitive double shooting each other...
His body was weak, the left side of it felt like it was on fire as blood pooled on the ground below. Akechi was in an unfamiliar place, some kind of dead grey soil under him. There was slight fog around and a vague damp smell. The power of his Personae thrummed deep within him. Wherever this place was, it wasn't the real world. But it wasn't Shido's Palace either. Had he somehow been transported to a different part of the Metaverse when the Phantom Thieves took down his father's distorted desires? Akechi fished out his phone with a shaky hand, finding it broken.
"Heh… So this is how it ends for the great 'Detective Prince'," Akechi muttered bitterly to himself, voice raspy. "Alone and bleeding out in some godforsaken corner of the cognitive world. How pathetic."
He knew he should try to find a way out, to get back to reality and tend to his wounds before he bled to death. But what was the point? His revenge against Shido, the sole purpose that had driven him for so long, was now forever out of reach. And after all the mental shutdowns and assassinations he had carried out on that bastard's orders, Akechi had no illusions that he deserved to survive this.
Maybe it was fitting, to die here as alone and unwanted as he had lived his entire life. With a pained grunt, Akechi dragged himself over to prop his back against a large boulder, leaving a trail of red behind him. The movement made his head spin. He closed his eyes, trying to control his ragged breathing. He thought of the Phantom Thieves, of Kurusu and his infuriatingly unshakable conviction in his own justice. Akechi wondered if they were still alive, if they had managed to make it out of the Palace before it collapsed.
"You better…keep your promise, Joker," Akechi muttered. "Don't you dare…let my death be in vain. Take that shitbag Shido down…once and for all."
Akechi's strength was fading fast. He could feel the chill of impending death creeping over him, numbing the pain. His thoughts grew sluggish, disjointed. As his consciousness slipped away, Akechi thought he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, saw a blurry silhouette through the fog. But before he could make out who or what it was, the darkness rose up and swallowed him whole.
