Chapter 25

"Weren't there more people here before?" Weiss asked as the group approached the infield. A single player stood next to home plate holding a bat. "I could have sworn there were a few when we got here."

"Maybe the dream's breaking down." Naoto theorized. "Rise, where is Junpei?"

"I don't know." Rise replied. "He was over here the last time I scanned, but now he's gone."

"So is the one guy left a shadow?" Blake asked, reaching for Gambol Shroud.

"I think you already know it is." Rise answered.

Like the pitcher before, the batter's body became a writhing, featureless black mass. The bat merged with the black liquid as the shadow grew over ten feet tall and a mask slid from under its helmet to cover its face. The most drastic change affected the bat, as when it reformed it was twice as large and studded with rusty nails. The shadow pointed the bat toward the group and electricity arced between the nails.

Ruby swung Crescent Rose around as it unfolded and slammed the blade down into the ground. She aimed at the shadow and emptied her clip. The shadow blocked the shots with its bat then went on the attack. Ruby summoned her Persona and it forced the shadow back with a blast of wind. Yosuke joined in the attack with his own Persona but the shadow persisted. Yosuke's Persona strayed too close and with a mighty swing the shadow clobbered it while simultaneously electrocuting it. Yosuke seized and collapsed as his Persona faded. The shadow advanced, swinging wildly at the group as they scattered.

Yu summoned his Persona and it charged at the shadow. Izanagi-no-Okami's blade clashed with the shadow's sword. Both charged with electricity, firing it into each other to no effect. With the shadow tied up Yang saw her moment. She charged in as her Persona launched fireballs at the shadow. Yang leapt into the air and landed a strong punch to the shadow's mask, causing the shadow to stagger back. Unfortunately, this had the unintended effect of forcing Yu's Persona off balance as the force holding back its blade was suddenly released. The shadow reacted more quickly and slammed its bat down on the back of Izanagi-no-Okami's head. As his Persona began to fade, the wounded Yu quickly withdrew it.

Now Yang was the one who was overextended, alone and too close to the shadow. Her Persona was having no luck with its fireballs and the shadow was able to focus on Yang. It swung its bat at her but she ducked under the attack and punched the shadow in the leg. The shadow tripped and fell to a knee just in time for Naoto's Persona to sweep by and slice at its arm. Still off balance, the shadow awkwardly swung at the fast moving Persona, missed, and fell over onto its side. Yang and Naoto's Persona continued with hit-and-run attacks as Blake and her Persona tried to finish the shadow off with light and darkness.

Their combined efforts came to naught as the shadow managed to scramble back to its feet, forcing Yang to back off. As Yang retreated the shadow took a low swing at her. She attempted to hop over the bat but one of the nails clipped her boot and sent her flipping through the air. The landing was rough but the force of the hit had knocked her clear of the shadow's range, allowing her to recover. Weiss summoned her Persona and the hulking knight engaged the shadow in close combat. After catching the shadow's bat on its icy shield, Ananke launched an overhead slash with its flaming sword. The burning blade caught the shadow's shoulder and cleaved its arm off. Frenzied, the shadow flailed wildly with its bat, one of the strikes shattering Ananke's shield. The shadow's onslaught managed to knock Ananke's sword out of position and the next swing of the bat struck the Persona in the chest, knocking it onto its back. The shadow raised its bat over its head for a finishing blow, but it was never delivered.

Blake swept through, severing the shadow's remaining arm with Gambol Shroud. The shadow seemed entirely unable to respond, now quite literally disarmed. It stood still, just staring at its severed limb as it melted and evaporated away. Yu re-summoned his Persona to put the shadow out of its misery. Izanagi-no-Okami rushed forward and severed the shadow's head with a single stroke. The shadow collapsed, melted and evaporated away.

"I might never go to another baseball game." Yosuke groaned as Yang helped him to his feet. The fights thus far had been tough on them both. "Who am I kidding, I'd never go to a game anyway."

"So where's Junpei?" Blake asked.

"Let's find out." Rise said as she summoned her Persona. "He's really close." Rise turned around to see Junpei emerge from the dugout, only feet from their position in the middle of the infield. "Huh, he must have been in the locker room." Junpei walked out of the dugout, still in his uniform, and sat on the railing separating the seating area from the field. A strange looking woman sat in the front row.

"Was she there before?" Ruby asked.

"I don't remember seeing her." Yu said. Junpei began talking with the woman. She had long red hair and wore a strange white dress that made her look like an old doll. On her head were a ruffled headband and a piece that had the appearance of a cross shaped spike impaled through her head. Though she was mostly expressionless, as she talked to Junpei she began to smile ever so slightly.

"Any idea who that is?" Weiss asked.

"Another ghost it would seem." Naoto said. "She fits the description of Chidori Yoshino. She was a Kirijo Group test subject and joined an organization that opposed the Shadow Operatives, SEES at the time. She and Junpei had a relationship that led to her joining them. Shortly thereafter Junpei was shot. He would have died but Chidori used her Persona abilities to absorb the wound, dying herself in the process but saving his life. She must be the shadow holding this dream together."

Practice was tough but Junpei was happy. He was doing well and the team looked like a real contender. Even better, his beloved Chidori had come to watch. He walked out of the dugout to talk to her. "You didn't have to come you know." He said. "It's just practice, and I know you're not really a baseball fan. It must be painfully boring."

"It's quite alright." Chidori said. "I kept busy." She handed him her sketchbook. Junpei flipped through the pages. She had drawn some scenes from the day – a panorama of the stadium, a few of him and other players in action, and a few more mundane scenes that only an artist's eye would appreciate. They were all amazing. "Besides, it makes you happy and that makes me happy. Just seeing you with a smile on your face makes it worthwhile."

Still as socially awkward as ever, Junpei was flustered by her affection. "I…wow…you're the best." Junpei stammered. "Well, I guess I should get changed and then we can head home."

"That sounds good." Chidori said.

"Junpei, back away!" Rise shouted.

"Holy crap!" Junpei exclaimed. "That's Risette!" He glanced back at Chidori and remembered himself. "I mean, oh it's Risette, it would be nice to get her autograph I guess." He turned back to the approaching group. "You've got quite the entourage. Are you doing a show here or something?"

"Junpei, don't you remember us?" Yu asked. "Remember, in Inaba, we fought shadows together."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Junpei asked. "Is this some kind of hidden camera show? Is the team playing a prank on me?"

"Junpei, this is all a dream." Naoto said. "You need to wake up."

"These people are making me uncomfortable." Chidori said. "Let's go home."

"Yeah, whatever you're up to, you can leave me out." Junpei agreed. "Chidori's right, we should be heading home."

"She's not even real." Weiss said. "That's a shadow. The real Chidori's dead. Don't you remember?"

"Now you're making me mad." Junpei said. "This is insane. Shadows and fake people, it's all nonsense. She's right here, how can she not be real?"

"Junpei, it's painful but you need to remember." Ruby said. "You need to wake up."

"Come on, the dark hour, shadows, the Shadow Operatives, you've got to remember that." Yosuke said.

Junpei grabbed the sides of his head in pain. "No, I don't want to remember!" He screamed as he curled up on the ground. "This…this is real. That was all a dream!"

"Come on now, you know the truth." Blake said. "Just wake up."

Blake started to approach but Chidori jumped over the railing and placed herself between the group and Junpei. "I won't let you take him." Chidori declared. "He must not return to his suffering." Chidori was engulfed in black liquid. It formed into what looked like a woman in a black body-suit with red flame graphics on the arms and legs, with tentacles for hair and a ram's skull for a head. The shadow Chidori had become wielded a hatchet attached to a chain.

"If I had to guess by looking, I'd say we should watch out for fire." Yosuke said.

"Looks like a perfect job for me." Yang said. She ran straight at the shadow, but her attack was stopped as soon as it started. Her bad day continued as she found herself encased in ice, courtesy of the shadow.

"Looks can be deceiving with shadows, you know that." Rise scolded Yosuke. "It's all ice based attacks."

"I'll help Yang." Ruby said. She rushed forward and began using Crescent Rose to carefully pick Yang free of the ice. She summoned her Persona to provide come cover by blasting the shadow with wind. One gust of wind got the shadow's attention and it fired a salvo of ice crystals at Ruby's Persona. The Persona disappeared under the assault as Ruby yelped and dropped to the ground unconscious.

Weiss rushed forward to help her downed teammates. Her Persona caught the shadow's icy attacks on its shield as Weiss passed Ruby to Blake to take her to safety. Weiss continued to chip away at the ice surrounding Yang as her Persona closed in on the shadow. Immune to the shadow's ice attacks, Ananke got in close and slashed at the shadow with its sword. The nimble shadow was too fast, dodging and ducking every swing from the massive blade. Yang was almost free and Weiss could devote more attention to her Persona's assault on the shadow. Frustrated she commanded her Persona to make an all-out assault. It was a mistake. Ananke wound up and unleashed a mighty swing that the shadow easily avoided. The shadow slung its weapon around, wrapping the chair around Ananke's legs. A tug on the chain slammed the Persona to the ground. The shadow grabbed the axe at the end of its weapon and began hacking viciously at Ananke.

Yosuke used a blast of wind from his Persona to knock the shadow back, giving the wounded Weiss the opportunity to withdraw her Persona. Unfortunately, Yosuke's attacks had no discernable impact beyond being a distraction. The help from Yang's teammates had not been in vain as she was finally able to free herself. She and her Persona swept forward, Turan melting the shadow's attacks before they could reach their target. Yang delivered a flying punch to the shadow, pushing it off balance. Yang continued to attack, but though the force of her blows was giving the shadow trouble in terms of balance, the strikes did not seem to be doing any actual damage. She gave up on her assault and retreated to attack more effectively with her Persona.

Ananke and Naoto's Persona unleashed streams of fire into the shadow, and finally it seemed to be working. Its ice attacks melted as soon as they materialized and the shadow groaned in pain. It began to visibly weaken, stumbling around and launching attacks at random. Suddenly, there was a flash of white light around the shadow and it seemed renewed. Its attacks were powerful again, though they still failed to reach their targets. Soon though, the fire took its toll again. Then in another flash the shadow was back to strength.

"It keeps healing itself." Rise warned. "Also, fire hurts it but it isn't the shadow's weakness." Yang and Naoto were tiring as a result of their continuous attacks. Yu approached Naoto and Blake approached Yang, having their teammates rest, limiting their action to protecting against the shadow's attacks. It was their turn.

Yu and Blake summoned their Personas, side-by-side. Blake's Persona drew back its bow with an arrow charged with electricity. It fired and the arrow struck the shadow dead-center in the chest. The shadow staggered back and seized as electricity flowed through it. Yu's Persona unleashed a powerful electric attack, using the arrow as a lightning rod to focus the attack. The continuous current surged through the shadow until it exploded into chunks of black goo that melted and faded away.

"That was more spectacular than I was expecting." Yu admitted. He turned to Blake. "Good shot." Blake shrugged; it was all her Persona's doing.

Blake had earlier propped Ruby up against one of the walls surrounding the field and she was still unconscious. With the battle over Yang rushed to her sister's side. "Ruby, are you okay?" Yang asked, her voice slightly trembling. "Come on Ruby, speak to me."

"Yang?" Ruby said weakly, her eyes barely opening. "What happened?"

"It looks like her Persona's weakness is ice." Rise said. "Remember that and be careful."

"My head hurts." Ruby groaned. "Did we win?"

"Yeah, we won." Yang said. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"You missed a heck of a show." Yosuke said. "Blake and Yu blew the shadow to pieces!"

"Guys, remember why we're here." Weiss said. "I think the resident dreamer needs some comforting."

Junpei was curled up on the ground crying. "I remember it all." He moaned. "Chidori…"

"I know it hurts but you're embarrassing yourself." Blake said. She turned to the others. "He's a member of an elite group of warriors tasked with protecting the world from shadows?"

"He sure is." Yu said. "Show a little compassion, he's had to relive the pain all over again."

"I just…" Junpei trailed off.

"Come on now, it's time to wake up." Naoto said. "You know this is all a dream."

"I don't think I want to." Junpei said. "What am I waking up to anyway? My life…hasn't gone exactly as I imagined." He was beginning to regain his composure. "I put on a smile but it's not all sunshine and rainbows."

"It can't be that bad." Rise said.

"I don't even have a real job." Junpei admitted. "I don't have to worry about money thanks to the Shadow Operatives, but coaching Little League isn't exactly what I imagined I would do with my life. And I'm all alone. I've got nothing. At least here I'm someone."

"But you are someone in the real world." Naoto said. "You've got a bunch of great friends who care deeply about you. You've got your whole life ahead of you. Don't throw it away to live in this fantasy."

"Look, it doesn't really matter what you decide." Weiss said, growing annoyed. "We're not leaving until you wake up."

"Fine." Junpei sighed. "Maybe you're right, maybe you're not, but staying here won't really fix anything." The entire world melted to black as the dream collapsed.

Kikuno was waiting for Teams RWBY and YYRN when they exited the television. "I don't think you should waste your time trying to talk to Junpei now." She suggested. "He has a severe concussion and isn't coherent at the moment."

"When will he be ready to speak to us?" Blake asked.

"Head injuries are difficult to predict." Kikuno replied. "He could be back to his normal self tomorrow, or it could take weeks. We'll just have to wait and see. Given the blow he seems to have taken, he's just lucky he didn't end up with a fractured skull. That might have killed him."

"How's Ken doing?" Ruby asked.

"He seems a little happier since you talked to him earlier, and he's certainly in higher spirits since you rescued Junpei." Kikuno answered. "The doctors just want him to rest now."

"Well, I guess there's no point hanging around here then." Yosuke said. "What should we do?"

"We could try more sightseeing." Rise said. "How about the Empire State Building?" She leaned into Yu. "They say it's pretty romantic…"

"I'm cold." Yang complained as the group stood on the Empire State Building's observation deck. The autumn evening air was chilly enough, but the whipping wind made it far worse. It was already sunset and would not be getting any warmer.

"Yeah, it's freezing." Rise said, pressing herself up against Yu 'for warmth'.

"Wow, look at the view!" Ruby exclaimed. She stared out at the vast expanse before her transfixed. The yellow and orange of the sky made it even more spectacular. "It's better than the view from Beacon!"

"I have to admit, it is pretty impressive." Weiss said. "What do you think Blake?"

"It's…pretty tall." Blake said. She seemed to be scanning the surroundings tactically rather than really enjoying the view. "This city is so big. There are so many people and they have no idea what kind of danger they're in. We might be the only people who have any clue."

"Don't be so pessimistic." Yosuke said. "They're not in danger as long as we're here."

"We don't have any cities this big on Remnant." Yang said.

"We don't have to worry about Grimm here." Naoto said. "Cities don't need walls or natural obstacles to protect them."

"I've never really thought about what it would be like to live in a world without Grimm." Ruby said. "On Remnant, you never feel totally secure."

"There are no Grimm but there are monsters." Naoto said. "It's just that on earth they're human."

"We've got those on Remnant too." Blake sighed.

"This got depressing really fast." Yang said. "Maybe it's time we headed back."