Chapter 26
Kikuno was waiting for the group when they arrived at the warehouse the next morning. "Your timing is perfect." She said. "Junpei's been in and out of consciousness but right now he's quite alert. If you want to ask him anything, now's the time."
The group approached a bored-looking Junpei. "Hey guys, how's it going?" He asked.
"Alright, how are you?" Yu replied.
"I've been better." Junpei said. He seemed happy. It might have just been the drugs or the concussion though. "You know, with the head injury and all."
"Well, let's cut to the chase." Weiss said. "Who did this to you?"
"I can't help you there." Junpei said. "I didn't even see the guy."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"Well, we tracked Ken here." Junpei explained. "We opened the door and it was really dark inside. I charged in ahead of the others and then my lights went out. The next thing I know, I was in that dream world. From how sore it is, I'd guess he hit me pretty hard on the back of the head."
"Why didn't you turn the lights on before rushing in?" Yosuke asked. "That's what we did. There's a switch right next to the door."
"I never thought about it." Junpei shrugged. "Is there anything else you wanted to know?"
"Not really." Blake said.
"Sorry I couldn't be more helpful." Junpei said. "I'll let you know if I remember anything."
"It's alright, just focus on healing up." Rise said.
Naoto's phone rang. "Shirogane." She answered it. "Oh, detective Waters, what is it?" She asked after a brief pause. "Oh, well how much?" Another pause. "Really? I mean, I couldn't." Another. "I'm not sure they even know any…I guess that's true." She looked at the others. "Alright, well, I'm not sure we'll make it, but eight."
"What's it about?" Yosuke asked.
Naoto waved him off. "Alright, thank you very much detective. Goodbye."
"Well?" Yosuke pressed.
"It looks like we have something to do tonight if we have the time." Naoto replied. "Apparently one of Detective Waters' friends gave him a pile of free tickets to a hockey game in the city tonight. He's too busy to go so he's giving them to us. We just have to pick them up at the arena ticket office."
"I don't think any of us know a thing about hockey." Rise said. The others gestured to indicate their agreement.
"I didn't either the last time I was here, but I have a decent understanding now." Naoto said. "I wouldn't call myself an expert but I could at least explain what's going on to the rest of you."
"Is it even that fun to watch?" Yosuke asked. "I'm not really a sports guy."
"It's a…unique experience." Naoto replied. "It's certainly not for everyone. That said, the game is being held in Madison Square Garden, a very historic site."
"I guess it would be interesting to experience some local sports." Blake said. "On Remnant just about the only sporting events we have are combat tournaments."
"Depending upon how things go, it might not be so different." Naoto said. "Hockey is a bit on the violent side."
"We'll go if we have the time." Yu said. "Our priority is rescuing the next Shadow Operative."
"Of course, let's get to it." Naoto agreed.
With Ken's and Junpei's doors boarded up the group moved on to the next door in the dim hallway. The word 'Redemption' was inscribed on it. Again it was too vague a clue to determine whose world it would be. The eight passed through the door and into the disorienting void that would take them into the dream. They found themselves in some sort of maintenance room. Bare concrete walls surrounded them, only broken up by a blue metal door, a few air vents and an electrical fuse box. Judging by the stuffy dampness of the air, it was in a basement. But what basement? Without any distinguishing features, it was impossible to tell.
The door swung open and a man wearing a simple blue uniform walked in pushing a cart cluttered with tools. On spotting the group he stopped and let the cart roll away and into one of the walls. "There's your shadow." Rise warned. The man's skin melted away, replaced by the black liquid that seemed common to all shadows. Nothing about its physical form changed except that a mask slid up from under the uniform to cover the shadow's featureless face.
The fairly small room would be a difficult place to battle the shadow, but the door locked behind it and if the past was any indication they would not be able to open it until the shadow was defeated. The place was too small to even use Personas. Yosuke rushed up to the shadow and slashed at it with his kunai. It grabbed him by the wrist and Yosuke spun to stab with his other arm. The shadow grabbed that arm too and countered with a head-butt that left him dazed. Yosuke wobbled away from the shadow but it was unrelenting. The shadow charged forward and slammed its elbow into the back of Yosuke's head. He mumbled something incoherent as he fell on his face.
Weiss had moved herself to the shadow's flank. She charged and thrust Myrtenaster into the shadow's side, skewering it. The shadow twisted around to face her, wrenching Weiss off balance. It slammed its fist down on the back of her head and she lost her grip on her weapon. The shadow grabbed Myrtenaster instead and drew the blade out of itself with a sickening slurp. Weiss attempted to retreat and the shadow threw her weapon after her. The blade sliced through her coat, grazing her side, and pinned her to the wall.
The shadow ran at Weiss to finish her off while she was trapped, but Rise got in the way. She hit the shadow in the mask with her stun baton, sending a powerful electric shock coursing through it. Disturbingly, the shadow seemed powered up by the attack rather than stunned. It grabbed Rise with both hands and threw her across the room. She slammed into the concrete wall and dropped to the ground motionless. Yu attacked the shadow from behind, slashing across its back with his sword. Black liquid gushed from the wound as the shadow spun around to face him. The shadow got its arms up just in time to take the hit as Yu slashed across it. Badly hurt, the shadow put as much distance between itself and the group as possible. Teams RWBY and YYRN attended to their wounded, but the shadow did not rest. It staggered to the fuse box, opened the door and ripped the panel off to expose the electrical wires. It plunged its hands into the wires. The shadow tore the wires free and electricity flowed through it. Its wounds immediately healed and it became visibly charged.
Yang could not stand by while the group's work was undone. She ran at the shadow and lowered her shoulder into its midsection, slamming it up against the wall. It discharged its electricity into her. Yang writhed and fell down, but jumped back to her feet before the shadow could take advantage. She hit the shadow in the chin with an uppercut, snapping its head back into the wall as a blast from Ember Celica blew chunks of goo off its face. Yang reared back and punched the shadow in the chest with all her might. With help from Ember Celica, her fist passed clean through it and slammed into the wall hard enough to crack it. The shadow struggled to free itself, but Yang was easily able to resist its weak attempts and keep it pinned to the wall. She grabbed it around the throat with her free hand and pinned that to the wall as well. "Somebody finish this thing off." She said through gritted teeth.
Ruby approached with Crescent Rose in rifle mode. She pressed the barrel to the shadow's mask as it continued its attempts to wriggle free. Ruby pulled the trigger. The mask shattered and the shadow's head burst open in a spray of black liquid. What remained of its body melted and evaporated away. A metallic clunk indicated the door was now unlocked.
Yu helped Rise to her feet. She was still wobbly and braced herself with one arm on Yu and the other against a wall. "Maybe you should stay out of direct combat." Yu suggested.
"I think you're probably right." Rise groaned. "I'll stick to support from now on."
"Are you alright Weiss?" Blake asked.
"It's only a scratch." Weiss replied. "My aura should have healed it by now."
"I don't think auras work in this world." Naoto said. "Like your semblances, I think they're now properties of your Personas."
"I guess I'll need a bandage then." Weiss sighed. She pulled her hand away from the wound, revealing a bloody gash that was almost an inch deep at its worst. Her coat was torn and stained pink. "It's a good think I brought extra clothes too because I think this outfit is ruined."
"This isn't the time to worry about fashion." Blake said. She took off her bow and wrapped it around Weiss to cover and put pressure on the wound. "That should do for now."
"I don't think you should be walking around the real world without your bow on." Yosuke said. "Faunus might be oppressed on your world, but here they don't even exist. Most people would probably think it's just a costume, but it could definitely lead to some confusion."
"Once I can use my Persona I have some limited healing abilities." Rise said. "That should close right up. Then Blake can take her bow back."
"Well, the sooner we get out of this basement and find out where we are the better." Naoto said. "Let's get going before any other shadow show up."
The group emerged from the basement into a dimly lit nightclub. The music seemed exceptionally loud. "Hey, I know this place." Yosuke said. "This is that club on Port Island we went to."
"I think we had fun." Rise said. "All the details from that night are a little fuzzy."
"I could give you the rundown." Naoto said. "I managed to keep my composure, despite the antics displayed by the rest of you."
"Maybe it's best if it remains a secret." Rise said.
"I remember everything." Yu said. "You should have seen…"
"Yu, stop." Rise said. Her tone indicated that she was entirely serious. Yu shrugged and cut his story short.
"Now we just want to know more!" Yang protested. "So, did things get hot and heavy?"
Rise hurriedly summoned her Persona. "Would you look at that, there's a shadow here." She said, desperate to change the subject. "Now, let me heal Weiss." A white light emanated from Rise's Persona and the same light engulfed Weiss.
When the light faded Weiss removed Blake's bow and examined the wound. The dried blood was still there but the gash was now a shallow scrape. "Thanks, that looks a lot better." Weiss said. She handed the bow to Blake. Blake looked at the blood-soaked bow and frowned. With a heavy sigh she tied it over her cat ears.
"So, where's that shadow?" Ruby asked with Crescent Rose at the ready.
"What shadow?" Rise asked.
"You lied about the shadow so you wouldn't have to tell your story." Yang accused.
"No I didn't!" Rise said. "Well, maybe I did. It doesn't matter because there's a shadow right there now." She pointed up to the club's second floor where a blob of black liquid spilled over the railing. The liquid moved to the center of the dance floor before forming into what appeared to be a ten foot tall caricature of a king with a mask for a face that wielded a golden sword.
"The King's Game, of course." Yosuke said. "You know…"
"Shut up!" Rise shouted. "Just fight the damn shadow and forget anything happened."
"Alright, alright, what is the thing weak to?" Yang asked.
"I can't tell, try something." Rise replied.
Before Yang could make her characteristic reckless charge, Blake attacked. As Blake rushed at the shadow, her Persona fired an arrow crackling with electricity. The arrow embedded itself in the shadow's chest. Blake separated the halves of Gambol Shroud, throwing one to wrap it around the shadow's neck. She ran past the shadow and tried to use her momentum to pull the shadow off its feet. The shadow stood firm and Blake came to a sudden halt at the end of the tether. With its free hand the shadow ripped the arrow from its chest and snapped it in two. Dropping the destroyed arrow, it grabbed hold of the tether that connected the halves of Gambol Shroud. It tugged hard and Blake was powerless to prevent herself from being wrenched toward the shadow. She did her best to avoid hitting the shadow head on but it did not help. The shadow stuck its sword out to its side at Blake's neck level as she hurtled toward it uncontrollably. At the last moment Blake manage to raise her half of Gambol Shroud to take the blow. The force and angle of the impact still snapped Blake back and slammed her into the ground where she lie in a daze.
The shadow unwrapped Gambol Shroud from around its neck. It stood over Blake, sword held high with the point down, preparing to impale her. Her Persona fired another arrow into the shadow to distract it, but the shadow reached out a hand and unleashed a blast of fire into Diana. The Persona faded away and Blake lost consciousness entirely. Weiss' Persona arrived to intervene, forcing the shadow to abandon Blake to avoid a powerful stab. The shadow countered with a slash of its own, and Ananke caught the attack on its shield. Ruby rushed forward to pull Blake away from the battling giants. Ananke used its shield to push the shadow's sword back then stabbed straight forward. The shadow side-stepped the attack and trapped Ananke's sword arm under its own. The shadow spun around and threw an elbow that Ananke blocked with its shield. The force did push Ananke back, and with its arm trapped, the Persona was forced off balance. The shadow spun its shield and stabbed Ananke in the stomach. The blade pierced the Persona and it began to fade into static as Weiss doubled over in pain.
Naoto's smaller Persona managed to approach unnoticed and slashed its blade across the shadow's neck. The shadow recoiled from the blow and released Ananke, allowing Weiss to withdraw her Persona. The shadow hacked wildly at Naoto's Persona but it was too small and fast. The distraction gave Yu an opportunity to attack with his own Persona. The shadow spotted Izanagi-no-Okami at the last moment as the Persona lunged forward. The shadow deflected Izanagi-no-Okami's blade and also successfully defended as the Persona spun around to attack with the other half of its weapon. Yu's Persona had overreached and the shadow quickly took advantage. It grabbed Izanagi-no-Okami by the arm and threw it into Naoto's Persona, sending them both tumbling into a wall. A concentrated and continuous blast of fire from the shadow forced Yu and Naoto out of the fight.
An enemy shooting fire? Now was Yang's time to shine. She charged at the shadow as it blasted fire at her. Her Persona flew in front of her to absorb the attacks. Just before reaching the shadow, Yang dove down and smashed through the shadow's leg. The shadow wobbled and spun around to try to stay on its feet, but Turan lowered its shoulder and slammed into the shadow, knocking it to the ground. Turan pinned the shadow to the ground while Yang jumped up and knelt on its chest. She rained down punches to the shadow's mask, a blast from Ember Celica accompanying each blow. Turan held the shadow's sword, so it swatted at Yang with its arms. Yang ducked and deflected attacks, all the while keeping up her onslaught. The shadow's mask cracked and black liquid began to ooze through. It only encouraged Yang to hit harder. Finally the shadow's mask fell apart, allowing her to punch at the soft sludge beneath. After Yang had smashed the shadow's head nearly flat, it went limp, melted and evaporated away.
Yang stood up and straightened out her clothes before walking over to Rise. "So, now will you tell me?" She asked.
"No, I won't." Rise said. "And if any of the others do I'll kill them in their sleep."
"You know Rise; I never thought I'd be afraid of you, but right now…" Yosuke started.
"So, where do we go now?" Ruby asked, not concerning herself with the conversation. "Who's dream is this?"
"Hold on a second." Rise said. She summoned her Persona and scanned the area. "Oh, it's Yukari's. She's just outside the club. A strong shadow is there with her."
"What's her story?" Weiss asked.
"Her father was killed in an explosion while the head researcher on a Kirijo Group shadow project." Naoto said. "He was blamed for the incident which killed dozens at first, but was later exonerated. Atoning for his misdeeds drove Yukari to fight shadows. Now she's an actress in a kid's show."
Yukari sat on a bench in the Paulonia Mall and waited. It was boring to be in the mall alone. "Yukari?" A voice called from nearby.
Yukari turned to look. It was her father. "Oh, hey dad." She said.
"What brings you here?" Her father asked. "I thought you were busy shooting that show."
"We have a few days off, so I came to visit my boyfriend." Yukari explained.
"Oh, you're meeting him here; I'll go so I don't embarrass you." Her father said.
"No, you don't have to." Yukari said. "He just called me to say he'll be late. He's stuck at work."
"You're still dating the guy from high school right?" Her father asked. Yukari nodded. "I always like that kid. What's he up to?"
"He's attending Gekkoukan University now." Yukari replied. "How are things at home?"
"It's alright." Her father answered. "I'm pretty busy with work. I feel bad for your mother. I don't get to see her too much. I'm just picking up a few things before I head home."
"Back off shadow!" Rise shouted as Teams YYRN and RWBY approached the pair. "Yukari, this world isn't real!"