Chapter 13

"They've been in this world before, and they can certainly defend themselves." Yosuke said as Rise scanned for Team RWBY. "I don't think we have to worry too much about them."

"Entering this world of their own free will is a far cry from being violently forced into it." Naoto countered. "We don't know what injuries they may have sustained, and it could be that the trauma they endured will aggravate this place's tendency to prey upon those who have not faced themselves."

"Naoto's right." Rise said. "They've got their own worlds here now with strong shadows."

"Let's get to saving them then." Yu said. "I think we should rescue Ruby first, she's the youngest."

"We're not going to have a choice." Rise said. "Something's changed. Maybe it was the way they entered. We can't just pick a world and go to it. Their worlds are connected to each other and we'll have to go through one to get to the next. Yang's is first."

"Well, let's do it then." Yosuke said. "There's no time to waste."

Ren slowly regained consciousness. Wherever he was, it was bright. Too bright. He blinked until his eyes focused and adjusted to the lighting. He was in the hospital. He could hear a faint beeping, no doubt some of the equipment monitoring his health. His senses were hazy, as a result of whatever medication he was on, he assumed. He wanted to sit up but did not have the strength. He felt exhausted. Ren turned his head and caught sight of Nora. She was sleeping in her chair somehow, though she was twisted in what appeared to be a painfully uncomfortable position. It seemed she was capable of falling asleep anywhere. He was happy to see her in one piece. He figured that meant the others were alright as well. That was great, but Nora was safe and that was what mattered most to him. He had given up enlightenment for her sake, and he would do it again. He wanted to wake her, to thank her for taking care of him while he was injured, to thank her for being by his side, but he was too tired. With a smile on his face, he drifted off to sleep.

Yang's shadow world was not what Team YYRN was expecting. Yang was energetic, happy and excitable, but her shadow world was a dark, dead forest. The group walked down a narrow path through twisted, leafless trees. It was a deeply unsettling and depressing place. After walking for some time, they arrived at a large open area. They would no doubt face a fight here. Advancing to the center of the area, they saw nothing. Though nothing was in sight, Rise could feel the shadows nearby, all around. It was surely an ambush.

Yu caught movement out of the corner of his eye, drew his sword and turned to face it. In the trees surrounding the clearing, he could see red eyes peering from the darkness. A shadow in the form of a twisted Beowolf rushed out, followed closely by several more. They poured into the clearing from all directions. With Rise in the center, Team YYRN formed a triangle, with Yu, Yosuke and Naoto each taking a third of the space. Yu fired his assault rifle into the onrushing mob of shadows, downing several. Naoto used her rifle and Yosuke his SMG, both to great effect, but the tide of shadows seemed endless. When one shadow was killed, it fell to the ground and the next simply rushed over it.

The Beowolf shadows closed to melee range and YYRN was forced to change tactics. They converted their weapons into their blade forms while Rise used her powers to boost their strength. Yu swung his blade in wide arcs, cutting down several shadows with each swing, their severed limbs dropping to the ground and liquefying. Naoto struggled to use her sword effectively. It was designed for stabbing, and that was difficult to do with enemies attacking from multiple directions. Luckily, Yosuke was able to take up some of the slack, slashing wildly with his twin blades. Still, the situation was not sustainable. The shadows just kept coming.

To buy some time, Yosuke whipped up a whirlwind around the team. The barrier of wind forced the shadows back, ripping apart any foolish enough to try to pass through. The shadows backed off as Yu and Naoto prepared a follow-up. Exhausted, Yosuke ended his attack, and the shadows came rushing back. Now splitting the field in two, Yu and Naoto each met their half of the onrushing horde. Yu reached out his hand and electricity leapt from his fingertips to the shadows then arced between them. On her side, Naoto produced a gigantic white square below the mass of shadows. The square collapsed and the shadows winked out of existence, destroyed by the power of light. Finally the shadows abated. Their much reduced numbers made the fight much more manageable. Careful shots from their weapons finished off the last stragglers, and the path ahead was open.

Yang had no idea where she was. One moment, she was in Junior's club, fighting Adachi, the next she was in some sort of forest. It was clear that she had lost her fight. She felt like a failure. First she had been humbled in her fight against Neo, now she had been soundly defeated by Adachi. She wanted so badly to protect her team and Ruby in particular, but she could not even win a simple fight. Truth be told, the encounter with Adachi was not much of a fight. Adachi had turned her aggression against her and beaten her with a single stroke.

Yang assumed she was in the shadow world. It made sense that Adachi would throw her in there. Presumably he had done the same to the others, but they were nowhere to be found. Yang felt a chill as a terrible thought entered her mind. Maybe Adachi had simply killed the others. There had been nothing to stop him from doing so. Yang felt physically ill. It only got worse when she realized where she was. Through a gap in the trees, she could see an old, dilapidated wooden structure. She had once come here in search of her mother, and almost found her end.

"You really should be more careful." Yang heard her own voice say. She knew well what that meant. Standing in the structure's doorway was her double, casually leaning against the frame. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"I take it you're my shadow." Yang sighed. "How about we skip the conversation and get this over with."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Her shadow asked. "You're in pretty bad shape." Her shadow was right. Her brief encounter with Adachi had done substantial damage. The pain in her neck made it almost impossible to turn her head, and she felt generally weak.

"I'll take my chances." Yang said. She was not about to back down.

"You see, this is exactly what I'm talking about." Her shadow said. "You're always so aggressive. You've already seen how easy it is for an opponent to turn that around on you. How is it that you haven't learned your lesson?"

"Just shut up!" Yang growled, charged at her shadow and reared back to deliver a powerful blow. Her fist struck an invisible wall between them. It was a painful mistake that left Yang reeling.

"We're going to have a nice chat." Her shadow said. "After that, I'll be happy to kill you."

Team YYRN made their way through the twisted forest. It seemed to get darker the further they went. Before long, another large open area indicated they would be having another battle. This time the shadow was obvious. It appeared to be a large yellow dragon. The smoke spurting from its nostrils hinted at its fire-breathing capabilities.

"This should be interesting." Yosuke said. "I don't think we've ever slain a dragon before."

"There's a first time for everything." Yu said.

Naoto opened the fight by sniping at the shadow with her rifle. The bullets struck the shadow's scaly hide and ricocheted off harmlessly. A follow-up blast of fire was similarly ineffective. The attacks were quiet effective in enraging the shadow. It charged straight for the group, fire spewing from its mouth. The four dove out of the way as the shadow slid past. Yu slashed at it with his sword as it passed, but his blade bounced off without leaving a mark.

The dragon turned and raced back at the group, its fiery breath forcing them to flee. As it passed this time, Yu hit it with electricity and Yosuke hit it with wind while Naoto tried darkness. All failed and the beast turned for another attack. Naoto's light attack failed and Yu's ice was quickly melted while Yosuke's continued wind assault only fanned the flames. Rise could do little but power up the others and try to keep from getting incinerated.

The shadow's repeated attacks were taking their toll. The group's auras and strength were waning. "I can't believe we're getting our asses kicked by a fairytale dragon." Yosuke groaned.

"That gives me an idea." Rise announced. "In fairytales, the dragon's weak spot is its soft underbelly. If one of us can get close enough, maybe it can be defeated that way."

"I'll give it a try." Yu said. "Yosuke and Naoto, I need you to use wind to push the flames back in the shadow's face. Rise, I need you to boost my speed and defense." They nodded and readied for the attack.

The shadow circled around for another assault but Team YYRN was ready. From directly in front of the shadow, Yosuke and Naoto blasted wind at it. Its fiery breath was blown back into the shadow's face, not injuring it but temporarily blinding the beast. It had the added effect of slowing it down. Yu glowed as Rise supported him with the requested boosts and he charged in. Running straight at the dragon shadow he raced through the wall of flames at its front. He drew his blade and slashed at the beast's belly as he passed beneath it. His blade scythed through the shadow with little resistance and a blast of black liquid sprayed from the gaping wound. The shadow roared in pain and fell to the ground writhing. Yu ran up its back to its neck, and with a single powerful swing of his blade, severed the shadow's head. The shadow melted and evaporated away.

"Way to go Prince Charming!" Rise yelled. "My hero."

"I've got to admit, even I'm impressed." Yosuke added.

"You say you want to protect Ruby, to always be there to support her, but you don't do a very good job of either." Yang's shadow said. "In a fight, she's usually the one protecting you. When she needs your help, she's lucky if you're still conscious. When it comes to just being there for her, you don't do a good job of that either. You'd rather run off and have a good time. She can be such a drag."

"I do everything I can to be there for her." Yang protested. "I still have to live my own life though."

"Of course you do." Her shadow said. "You're also quite the hypocrite. You tell Blake to take it easy, to rest, to make sure she doesn't get herself killed. You're the one who needs to heed that advice. You're the one most likely to run off and get killed. You're beyond reckless."

"I'm aggressive but I don't take stupid risks." Yang said. She could not help but feel that her shadow was right, but she was not about to admit that.

"This place is a monument to your stupid risks!" Her shadow laughed. "If it wasn't for the timely intervention of your uncle, you and Ruby would have been slaughtered. What you did at this place was inconceivably foolish. You recognize that and yet you fail to correct your behavior. How long before you do something dumb that gets Ruby killed. You want to protect her, but you're the danger. How many times would you have been killed, would Ruby have been killed, if not for pure blind luck?"

"It's not…" Yang started. "I don't…" She was lost for words. Her eyes teared up. She was losing control of her emotions, and not in a way that would make her stronger.

"Face it, everyone would be better off without you." Her shadow said.

"Leave her alone!" Rise shouted as Team YYRN raced in to protect Yang.

The shadow rolled its eyes. Yang just stood there, tears rolling down her cheek. "Why did you come for me?" Yang asked. "You should have gone for the others first. Or are they already dead?"

"The others are alive." Naoto said. "The way this world is laid out forced us to come here first."

"At least Ruby's okay." Yang said.

"She won't survive long in this world." The shadow hissed. It slammed Yang in the face with a tremendous right hook. Yang was sent flying. She crashed through the wooden wall of the structure and disappeared inside. "Neither will you!" The shadow shouted at Team YYRN. To their surprise, the shadow did not transform into some twisted monster, it retained Yang's appearance.

The shadow charged at the group, taking aim at Rise. She ducked under the shadow's punch and attempted to jab her spear into it. The shadow kicked the spear away then punched Rise in the chest. Rise was sent skidding across the floor on her back by the force of the punch. Yosuke swung his twin blades at the shadow, but it caught them on either gauntlet. The shadow pushed Yosuke's arms aside before upper-cutting him in the jar. He staggered back and the shadow followed up by hitting him with a shoulder block that knocked him off his feet.

Yu fired on the shadow with his assault rifle, constantly backing up to keep the shadow at a safe distance. Several bullets struck their target, but they only seemed to make the shadow annoyed. It charged at him through the hail of gunfire, forcing Yu to dive-roll off to the side. As he rolled back to his feet, Yu converted his weapon into its sword form. As soon as he was up the shadow was upon him. He struggled to dodge its attacks as the shadow unleashed a flurry of punches. Wild slashes from his sword were easily deflected and the shadow continued to assail him.

Naoto attacked the shadow from the flank, stabbing at it with her blade. Unfortunately, it seemed to have no trouble fighting them both at the same time. The shadow grabbed Yu by the elbow and wrenched him between itself and Naoto, forcing her to stop attacking. Still holding onto Yu, the shadow punched him hard in the face. He wobbled dizzily and the shadow slammed its fist into his chest. He tumbled into Naoto, knocking both to the ground. The shadow charged to finish them off, but was knocked off its feet by a blast of wind from Yosuke, his own strength boosted by Rise.

The shadow scrambled to its feet as Yosuke unleashed wind attack after wind attack. The shadow braced itself and inexorably advanced toward him. Finally close enough, it lunged forward and punched him in the temple. A second shot to the other side of his head knocked him out cold. Rise tried to attack with her spear, but the shadow knocked it aside, pushing Rise off balance. The shadow grabbed her by the hair and slammed Rise's head into its knee. She fell to the ground in a heap. Naoto was back on her feet, blasting the shadow with fire. It smiled and ran at her, slamming her to the ground and ending up sitting astride her. It repeatedly punched her in the head as she desperately tried to block until Yu tackled the shadow off of her.

Yu and the shadow rolled across the ground, each struggling to gain the upper hand. The shadow won. With its knee pressed painfully into Yu's gun, the shadow pinned him to the ground. It grabbed one of his hands, holding it away to prevent him from using it to block, and proceeded to rain down blows to Yu's head. He struggled to block with his other hand but it was a losing battle. The shadow as just too strong and too skilled. He could feel his consciousness slipping away.

There was a sudden flash of yellow and the shadow was gone. Yu looked to his side and saw Yang, the real one, pinning the shadow to the ground in much the same way it had done to him. Her hair burned and her eyes glowed a terrifying red. The shadow face displayed an expression of shock. "I will protect everyone!" Yang screamed as she repeatedly slammed her fists into the shadow's face. Her Ember Celica-enhanced blows doing visible damage with every strike. "I won't get everyone killed!" The shadow's skull finally gave way under the onslaught and its head was smashed into a black paste. Her rage burning, Yang did not stop punching, even after the shadow began to melt away.

Yu stumbled over to Yang, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her back. "It's alright." He said, smiling gently. Yang looked up at him and her rage faded. Yu helped Yang to her feet. The rest of Team YYRN was regaining consciousness.

"Let's go rescue the others." Yang said impatiently.

"We will, tomorrow." Yu said firmly.

"But what if…" Yang started.

"But nothing." Yu cut her off. "Do you think we're in any shape to go now?" His own face was bruised, and Yang's was bloodied. The rest of YYRN were just doing their best to stand. "If we fail, who will save them?"

Yang sighed and looked at her feet, frowning. "You're right." She admitted. She took a deep breath and looked up, a new resolve on her face. "I'll be ready."