Chapter 9: Medusa's Final Battle

Chapter 9: Medusa's Final Battle (9章　決戦! メデューサ 9-Shō Kessen! Medyūsa, "Chapter 9: Decisive Battle! Medusa") is the ninth chapter in the storyline of Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Featuring returning boss Medusa, Pit's goal is to defeat the goddess of darkness once and for all in order to restore peace to their land.

Air Battle
Now equipped with the Three Sacred Treasures, Pit jumps out of the gate and flies through stormy skies. Announcing that this will be the final battle, Palutena sends Pit into a nearby ravine that is situated close to the Underworld, where he carefully maneuvers past Trailtails and Shootflies. He then heads deeper into the ravine, using the Underworld Key to summon an eye-shaped portal which transports him to the Underworld.

Arriving in the enemy-infested skies of the Underworld, Pit must fight off an overwhelming amount of Underworld troops on his own until Dark Pit suddenly appears to fight alongside him. He then flies off, and Pit comes face-to-face with Medusa, who comments on his progress thus far. Once their conversation is done, she disappears and the Underworld Gatekeeper appears in her place.

Underworld Gatekeeper
Acting as the Underworld's last line of defense, the Underworld Gatekeeper engages Pit in battle. Though it mostly stays in one place, its wide array of projectiles make it formidable. It can fire blue lasers, fireballs, slow-moving orbs, explosive projectiles, and a massive purple beam. In addition, it will occasionally fold in and zip across the screen to inflict damage, which is always preceded by a brief streak flashing on the screen.

Once Pit has destroyed all of the Underworld Gatekeeper's guns, it will protect its face with a shield. Though this makes its defeat impossible for Pit, Dark Pit flies in and dropkicks the gatekeeper's head, which deals the finishing blow. Dark Pit orders the angel to keep moving before more defenses appear, to which Pit complies and flies down to the Underworld Castle.

Part 1
Once Pit lands, he enters a room with a large hot spring surrounded by statues of Twinbellows, Hewdraw, and Pandora. Palutena notes that each statue seems to have a corresponding door, which Pit must traverse through in order to proceed through the castle.

Through each doorway, he is teleported back to the environments in which he fought each boss: That First Town, That Burning Town, and the Labyrinth of Deceit. However, each version is distorted from their originals, as these landmarks were reconstructed from Medusa using the memories of others.

During his second fight with Pandora, Palutena reveals that these bosses are merely recycled souls molded to look like Pit's former foes and not the actual bosses he previously knew.

Part 2
Once all three bosses have been defeated, Pit can now proceed through the Underworld Castle. Here, he will encounter hoards of enemies, branching paths, and fire jets that will harm Pit on contact.

Along the way, Medusa confronts Palutena about turning her into a monster and hunting her down, attempting to make the goddess of light appear more sinister than she truly is. Palutena deflects her accusations, and Pit reminds Medusa of her own wrong-doings in the past. Upon questioning how she resurrected herself, Medusa admits that she can't recall how she managed to come back, prompting Palutena to point out that Medusa's state is significantly weaker than it used to be. The goddess of light offers to spare Medusa should she withdraw her forces and surrender, but this only strengthens Medusa's resolve to exact revenge.

Pit continues through the castle, facing strong enemies, obstacles, and puzzles until he finally arrives at the boss chamber.

Boss Battle
Upon arriving, Pit is confronted by Medusa, her enormous size intimidating the angel. Nonetheless, Pit announces his plans to defeat her before activating the Wings of Pegasus and initiating the battle.

Phase 1
During this phase, Medusa uses her power to keep herself at a distance from Pit, using stone debris, round projectiles, and lasers to help achieve this. Once Pit gets close enough to attack her, Medusa begins teleporting across the battlefield, firing eye-shaped projectiles, deploying mines that float around the screen, and occasionally slashing at her foe.

Phase 2
Once Pit has dealt enough damage, Palutena will bind Medusa in place, giving Pit a clear shot at attacking her. During this phase, she will shoot rapid-fire projectiles, use the mouth on the palm of her hand to release poisonous gases, deploy mines, and slash at Pit.

Phase 3
After taking enough damage, Medusa transforms into her monstrous, cycloptic form. Her head then snaps off from her body and gives chase to Pit, firing eye-shaped projectiles, large laser beams, and dark energy blasts. Once Pit has dealt enough damage, her head will return to her body and Pit must deal the finishing blow to her eye in order to defeat her.

Epilogue
Upon her defeat, Medusa's body freezes up and withers away into dust. Pit and Palutena rejoice as 8-bit credits begin to roll, announcing that peace has returned once again. However, an unknown voice interrupts and rips through the credits, revealing Hades, the true leader of the Underworld.

Hades confesses that he was the one responsible for resurrecting Medusa, much to Pit and Palutena's surprise. He then declares that he will pose an even bigger threat to them than the goddess of darkness had before bidding them farewell.

Weapons
The following is a list of weapons most commonly obtained in this chapter.


 * Bear Claws
 * Cursed Palm
 * Halo Club
 * Palutena Blade

Trivia

 * In the Japanese script, Dark Pit injures himself when he delivers a kick to the Underworld Gatekeeper's side. This was excluded from the English script for unknown reasons.
 * Once this chapter has been completed, the player can choose whether or not they want to equip the Three Sacred Treasures in subsequent playthroughs.
 * This is one of two chapters in which the player can use all three vehicles—an Exo Tank, an Aether Ring, and a Cherubot. The other is Chapter 19.

de:Kapitel 9: Medusas letzter Kampf es:Capítulo 9: Cara a cara con Medusa fr:Chapitre 9: Le combat contre Medusa