Chapter 6
*Recommended Music: F.O.E. (Persona Q Soundtrack)*
Yang charged at the massive shadow, dodging a swing from its giant sword as she closed in. The statue-like shadow was at least three times taller than her, but Yang still assaulted it with her usual reckless abandon. She delivered a few Ember Celica-enhanced punches to its legs, but after grunting angrily, the shadow simply kicked her away. She tumbled across the ground and rolled to her feet, then charged back into the fray. She leapt into a punch, hitting the shadow in the center of its chest, but it was unmoved. An almost casual swipe of its free arm knocked her away for a second time.
"I don't think that's going to work." Blake advised as she fired a few shots at the shadow. They embedded in the shadow's surface and chipped off tiny bits of its stone exterior, but did no noticeable damage. Ruby flung herself toward the shadow, propelled by Crescent Rose and attempted to hook its leg as she sailed past. Her scythe found its mark but it just stopped her abruptly, the shadow not so much as stumbling. Ruby dove out of the way as the shadow slammed its sword down on the spot where she had been standing. She fired a few parting shots that had the added effect of accelerating her escape.
The group continued to circle as the shadow lumbered toward them. It was large and dangerous, but too slow to cut off their movement. Aigis fired every type of dust round she had at the shadow with an added boost from Weiss' glyphs. The effect was always the same though, nothing but superficial damage. The only encouraging aspect was that at the very least the shadow was not immune. They could wear it down eventually, if it did not wear them down first. Using her glyphs, Weiss tried to freeze the shadow's colossal limbs in place so they could attack without fear of a counter, but the massive beast easily shattered her snares and continued its methodical approach.
Yang again attempted to hit the shadow up close, this time leaping onto its shoulder to deliver several punches to its head, but it just shook her off. Before she could recover, a devastating swing of its sword sent her flying across the room and into a wall. Enraged and empowered, Yang charged again with her Persona Turan joining the assault with repeated blasts of fire. The shadow, clearly discomfited, thrashed about until it managed to pound Yang straight into the ground. Knowing she was reaching her breaking point, she retreated before the shadow could attack again.
"Nothing works on this thing." Ruby complained. "Wind and ice can't even push it back. We need to try something new."
Labrys stepped in front of the others. "Get down!" She warned. As the others dropped to the floor, Labrys began spinning around, picking up speed with the help of her rocket-propelled axe. Her hand detached from the end of her arm and extended on a chain, the axe at the end swinging in a wider and wider, faster and faster circle until it finally reached the shadow. Labrys' axe slammed into the shadow's non-sword arm with tremendous force. Shards of stone flew off and a small but distinct crack appeared at its shoulder. Labrys reeled in her hand, bringing the axe back with it. "Focus on the crack!" She commanded.
With Weiss powering up their shots with her glyphs, Aigis, Ruby and Blake concentrated their fire on the shadow's damaged shoulder. The shadow recoiled in pain as its arm was blown off. The shadow quickly regrouped and renewed its advance, swinging its sword wildly as the group scattered before regrouping on the other side of the room. "That's good but we need to do better." Blake said. "I don't think we can keep this up."
Aigis thought for a moment. "I have an idea." She reported. "Yang, hit the shadow with fire from our Personas. Helia, use your flamethrower. Weiss and Ruby, when I tell you, hit it with ice. Labrys, keep it occupied with traps from your Persona. Blake, get ready to charge it." The others nodded and prepared for the assault. "Fire! Now!" Aigis commanded. Yang and Helia created a firestorm around the shadow while Labrys' Persona Ariadne laid traps on the ground around it. As the shadow stumbled blindly through the flames, it was assailed by spears that lanced upward from the ground, courtesy of Labrys' Persona. The beast stumbled back and forth trying to find a clear path as the flames continued to heat it up. "Fire, stop. Ice, attack!" Aigis yelled. Weiss used her glyphs and Persona to blast the shadow with ice while Ruby and Aigis joined in, both utilizing the Persona Isis. The shadow stumbled around as a series of loud pops filled the air as the sudden change in temperature caused the stone to crack from thermal shock. "Everyone, hit it, now!" Aigis ordered.
The group charged the weakened shadow, hitting it with everything in their repertoire. The cracks expanded and large chunks of the shadow began to break off. The shadow crumbled until it finally dissolved and disappeared. "It seems our guests are made of sterner stuff than those that came before them." The mysterious voice returned, no longer threatening, just back to its original monotone. "Now, if you would kindly proceed into the next wing, you'll learn about one of the most illustrious families in the history of Remnant."
Opposite from where they had entered, a doorway opened up. Above it was a sign reading 'The Arc Family' in large yellow letters. "I have a feeling I know where this is going." Blake said. The moved on into the next wing of the museum. The walls were lined with portraits of imposing warriors, all bearing a distinct familial resemblance to Jaune. Along with their given names, many had impressive sobriquets like 'The Yellow Death' or 'The Iron-Willed' among others.
"For generations the Arc family have produced some of the bravest and most skilled Hunters in all of Remnant." The voice said as the group neared another archway. "There is but one stain on their honor…" Just ahead was another large, open area. Above the entrance was a sign that read 'Jaune Arc, The Disgrace'.
After ascending the stairs the Investigation Team found themselves in an unusually dark area. So far they had had no trouble seeing as they had fought their way through the Tower. Here though, it was too dark to see more than the vague outlines of the objects that filled the space. Like any shadow world, the Tower was creepy, but the darkness only made it worse. Fear of the dark is one thing, knowing there is definitely something dangerous in that dark is quite another.
"There's a shadow here, I can feel it." Rise warned. "It's powerful, but there's something strange about it too."
"I think I know what it is." Teddie announced. "It smells kind of like one of the ladies who was thrown into the TV before you guys started rescuing people."
"Which one?" Yosuke asked, his voice shaking. Deep down, he knew the answer.
"Hey Hana-chan." A familiar voice called from the darkness. "Still not over me after all this time huh?"
"Saki…" Yosuke started. "Why? Why you? Why now?" The area was suddenly filled with light, revealing a twisted version of the Konishi family liquor store. Sitting there on a keg was Saki, or at the very least a shadow representing her.
"Good questions." The shadow mocked him. "I could ask the same about you. Why did you have to show up in Inaba with Junes? Why then? It was just in time to ruin my family and ruin my life. You only made it worse. I could have dealt with the resentment from my family and the judgement of our neighbors, but then I had to deal with you too. God you're annoying. Moron, like I'd ever want to be around someone as lame as you."
"I've heard it all before." Yosuke said. "If you're trying to make me mad you'd better find some new material."
"But why would I need new material when the old still bothers you?" The shadow asked. "You can put on a brave face and act tough, but you're still not over it, still not over me. But hey, if you insist." The shadow laughed evilly. "My death was the best thing that ever happened to you. You don't like to think that, but you can't help it. If I'd been alive, you never would have entered the TV world. You never would have gotten your powers. Your friends? Say goodbye. You'd be back to your boring, insufferable self again."
"Let's shut her up already!" Chie said, starting to run at the shadow.
Yu grabbed her shoulder. "Wait. He needs to face this."
"But…" Chie protested.
"He'll be fine." Yu said.
"You even got to be a hero." The shadow persisted. "Tell me you'd be better off with me alive. Go ahead. You don't believe it for a second. After all, it's all about you. You only wanted to 'avenge' me because it would break the monotony of your pathetic, boring life. It gave people a reason to hang around with you. It gave you meaning, at least the appearance of meaning. You still had a hard time accepting that you weren't the big hero. You put on a good façade, but the resentment just filled you. The new guy comes in and steals your thunder immediately. Then again, what chance did you really have in the first place? He's everything you're not. He's interesting, popular, strong, and a real hit with the ladies. You feel that way, even now after everything you've been through."
"That's not true." Yosuke argued.
"What?" The shadow countered. "My description or that you feel that way. There's no point in lying, I know everything you're thinking. At least last time Yu and Teddie were the only ones to see the darkness in you. Now the gang's all here. You could just die from the embarrassment."
"Enough!" Yosuke yelled. "Fine, I do suck, a lot. I'm a real piece of shit. I hate myself, I resent my friends and sometimes I even feel like Saki's death was a good thing. I admit it. But you know what? I accept that I'm a total ass. So what if I feel that way or I'm not as cool as I want to be? It doesn't matter because with their help, I can get over it all. I've seen the error of my ways, and even if I still have really shitty thoughts sometimes, at least I can admit it. At least I feel bad about it. The fact that you'd bring it up proves that much. I do my best to be the best person I can be, and that's all anyone can ask. It's not some part of me I'm going to hide away and deny; it's a part of me I'm trying to fix. Now, since you're a shadow, I assume we'll be fighting each other. You're not going to get to me, so let's just get this over with."
*Recommended Music: The Hero From Junes (Persona 4 Arena Soundtrack)*
"Have it your way." The shadow sneered. "I bet you expect me to transform into some horrible monster. What fun would that be? Particularly when I can do this, Yamata no Orochi!" A gigantic eight headed serpent appeared above Shadow Saki.
"Is that a Persona?" Yukiko asked.
"I don't think it's the same." Rise said. "Shadows shouldn't be able to wield Personas. It seems like a part of the shadow itself."
"Whatever it is we have to fight it." Yosuke said with determination. "I am getting really sick of having to fight familiar faces." Given the trials the Investigation Team had faced recently, they all felt the same way. He summoned his Persona but it was almost immediately grabbed in one of the serpents' coils. Yosuke groaned painfully as the monster squeezed him. Shadow Saki just laughed. Yukiko used her Persona to burn one of the monster's heads. It gave an angry hiss before falling limply to the ground. The shadow retaliated with a blast of ice and Yukiko was knocked unconscious. Kanji and Yu tried to counter with electricity, bit it had no effect. The creature simply wiped them out with a casual blast of wind. To Teddie's dismay, ice attacks seemed to have no effect, and it was all his Persona could do just to dodge the shadow's counterstrikes.
Naoto's Persona zipped between the shadow's heads, making sudden attacks before quickly dodging out of the way. Soon, several of the heads were completely focused on the threat, lunging at the Persona but not nearly fast enough to catch it. It flew between two heads, slashing both as it passed. The two tried to counter but only succeeded in slamming into each other. The resulting shock seemed to stagger the entire beast and gave Chie an opening. Her Persona flew in and slashed mightily at the head still squeezing the life out of Yosuke's Persona. As they recovered, other heads tried to chase off the attacker, but Chie's Persona fought them off while continuing to work on freeing Takehaya Susano-o. Finally Yosuke's Persona was released as the serpent reeled from the sustained assault.
"It's time to end this." Yosuke declared. He concentrated deeply and his Persona unleashed a concentrated blast of wind directly at the serpent. It writhed in pain before it faded to static and disappeared, leaving Shadow Saki on its knees in pain and exhaustion. Yosuke carefully approached the wounded monster. "I never got to say goodbye to Saki. You're a poor substitute, but you'll have to do. Even though you hated me, I still loved you, and that's never going to change. I'm sorry. Goodbye." He turned around with tears in his eyes and started to walk away as his Persona annihilated the shadow with a focused blast of wind. It dissolved and disappeared.
Teddie had been busy healing everyone and getting the injured back on their feet. "We're all good to go." He announced with satisfaction.
"Now's not the time Ted." Kanji admonished.
*Recommended Music: I'll Face Myself (Persona 4 Soundtrack)*
Yu walked up to Yosuke and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"I appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine." Yosuke replied. "This isn't new stuff. I've gone over it all in my head for a long time. Maybe now I have some closure. It's just a shame I had to get it in front of everyone. That shadow was right about one thing, the embarrassment is real."
"We're all here for you." Yukiko said cheerfully.
"Yeah, I know." Yosuke said. "Let's just get moving."
"The path ahead is blocked." Chie reported. She stood in front of a staircase leading to the next level. Her hand pressed against a barrier no one could see.
"Maybe it's for the best." Yu said. "Let's head back to the entrance and wait for the others to finish their task. I think we've all earned a little rest." The others agreed and descended the stairs they had used to reach the floor. To their surprise, instead of bringing them down one level, it returned them to the portal at the base of the Tower.
Jaune stood there in the center of the area, but he was not alone. "Your family has such an amazing history." A familiar voice said. "It's so impressive."
"Thanks Weiss, that's…unusually nice of you." Jaune replied. Team RWBY, Helia, Aigis and Labrys looked on as Jaune conversed with his shadow. To their surprise it had taken the form of Weiss. "So, you want to go somewhere? We could have dinner, see a movie."
"Are you serious?" The real Weiss said. Jaune turned to look and did a double-take.
"If you're over there, than who's this?" Jaune asked, clearly confused.
"Be careful Jaune, that's not Weiss." Ruby warned. They had never discussed shadows with anyone from JNPR, so she would need to explain the situation in a way he would understand. "That's a…shape-shifting monster." She thought that would get the point across.
"Really?" Jaune asked. "Oh man, I knew she was being too nice."
"Too nice?" The shadow said. "I can fix that. About your impressive family, how in the world did they end up with you? Are you adopted or something?"
"I've asked myself many times." Jaune admitted. "No, I'm not adopted, just a bit unique I guess." He said with a laugh. He seemed to be having a hard time accepting that he was not talking to the real Weiss.
"You're so pathetic." The shadow said. "Even with Pyrrha's help you're still a terrible fighter. It's a wonder you haven't been killed yet. It's only a matter of time don't you think." Jaune thought that was a bit harsh, but he could not quite deny it. He was certainly nowhere near as skilled as the rest of his team or indeed just about all the students at Beacon. "You're desperate to live up to the family name, but you'll never be anything other than a stain on their reputation." Jaune could not understand how she knew that worried him. "It doesn't help that you're an idiot too. You're completely oblivious. How could you not see that I have no interest in you at all? You're just a constant annoyance and I really wish you'd just leave me alone."
"One day I'll win you over." Jaune said confidently.
"Not going to happen." The real Weiss said. The others in the group stared daggers at her. "Alright, not the time."
"Plus, how could you not see how interested Pyrrha is in you." The shadow continued. "You'd have to be braindead not to notice. It may have hit you just how lonely she is, but you still can't see how much she wants you."
"Nah, she's just being friendly." Jaune said. He did not sound so sure.
"You're breaking her heart." The shadow said. "The pain you put her through must be excruciating. You seem desperate for any other girl but don't notice her at all. You torture her. Deep down you must know that." Jaune had no answer. What if that was true? That would make him a pretty awful person. "I know what you're thinking, and you are a terrible person."
"What?" Jaune was surprised. "How?"
"Let's face it, you're a fraud." The shadow said. "You shouldn't even be at Beacon. You showed up at the foremost combat school in the kingdom without any talent and without an Aura? I wonder how you managed to get in." The shadow gave him a knowing look before waving its arm at the group. "I bet a lot of people wonder the same thing. Maybe we should tell them."
"Just stop it." Jaune demanded. "Why are you doing this? Why did you drag me to this horrible place? The whole thing is just taunting me constantly."
"You don't know?" The shadow scoffed. "This place was created by your own mind. It's a product of your own thoughts. I am too. You know the truth and you know you deserve to suffer, so here we are."
"That's it, I'm leaving." Jaune said shakily with a mix of anger and fear. "Guys, let's go." He started to walk toward Team RWBY and the others.
"Not so fast." The shadow called after him. "Your suffering is incomplete. Your execution awaits." The shadow morphed into a giant and devilish version of Jaune. The word 'unworthy' was written across its chest-plate in blood with the word 'liar' smeared on its shield. Glowing red eyes, a twisted smile and bloodstained hair completed the look. "Behold, your true inner self!"