Chapter 11

"That's definitely the shadow." Rise reported. "There's something strange about it though."

"I'm on it!" Yang shouted. She charged forward and leapt to the upper level before running out of view of the others.

"Yang, wait!" Blake called after her. She attempted to follow but slammed into an invisible wall.

"VIPs only." The electronic voice taunted.

The upper level was dark, and quite a lot larger than Yang remembered it. "Come out so I can kill you!" Yang yelled.

"I'm so glad you finally made it." The voice was no longer distorted. Yang instantly recognized it as her own. "I think it's about time we had a little talk." Her doppelganger stepped out of the darkness. "This should be fun. My last guest was so boring." She waved in the direction of a chair where there was a person slumped over, the victim presumably.

"I'm not here to talk or have a good time." Yang said angrily. "I'm here to destroy you."

"You always were self-destructive." The shadow said. "The voting's still open, but you're a lock for 'Most Likely to Get Herself Killed' you know. You're always charging ahead without thinking. Take now for instance. You've succeeded in isolating yourself from your companions." Yang looked back and sure enough, she was alone. "You couldn't even learn from your teammates' example." The shadow laughed evilly. "I wonder why you're even here. I guess the 'why' isn't that important to you anyway. Take being a huntress for example. You don't even know why you want to be, except that it sounds like an exciting time. Is that all you care about, having a good time? How shallow."

"That's not all I care about." Yang protested.

"Well, you care about your sister, but you're pretty hopeless at keeping her safe." The shadow continued. "For all your talk about protecting her and making sure she's never alone, you sure to disappear a lot. Maybe it's because you resent her. She's so honest, so pure, so determined to be a good person. She wants to help people; you just want to have fun. If the two goals overlap, you're perfectly happy to have her tag along. If not, well, you can always just do your own thing. She'll be fine without you, you hope."

"That's not fair." Yang objected.

"Having a good time's what it's all about." The shadow ignored her. "That's why you dress that way isn't it? It shows people you want to have a good time. Having the goods to make it really sexy is just a bonus. You don't need a guy to have fun but it does help."

"You're really pissing me off." Yang seethed. She took a fighting stance and stared the shadow down.

"You like excitement and I'm sure your companions do too." The shadow said. "Don't worry, I've got them covered. As for you and me, let's party." The shadow mirrored Yang's stance with a devious smile.

"What are we going to do?" Yukiko asked. "We shouldn't just wait around while she's up there fighting."

"I don't think there's much we can do." Yosuke admitted. "We just have to hope for the best and be ready in case we get a chance to help out."

The center dropped out of the dance floor, opening up a round hole. Luckily, none of them were standing there. A mechanical sound emanated from the opening. "I'd hate for my other guests to be forced to just stand around." The voice was no longer distorted. It was clearly Yang's voice, but the demeanor was totally wrong. It must have been the shadow. "My friend will keep you entertained." Slowly, a shadow rose from the hole in the dance floor. It took the form of the club's bear mascot, but like all things in this world, it was not quite right. Instead of a man in an elaborate mask, the bear head was fused to the body. Add to that the fact that it was fifteen feet tall and it made for an imposing enemy.

"We can handle this grizzly!" Teddie shouted enthusiastically. He hit the shadow with a blast of ice, but the shadow was unfazed. It lumbered toward the group menacingly.

Yang and her shadow charged each other. They exchanged a flurry of blows, all of which were blocked or dodged. Another series of punches had the same result. It seemed that fighting herself was more difficult than anticipated. An enemy that knows every move you're likely to make is a tough opponent indeed. Both cocked their arms for power punches before swinging and missing as they simultaneously dodged. Every punch, kick and head-butt met the same result. The combatants jumped back from each other to catch their breath.

Yang and her shadow raced at each other and leapt into diving punches. They twisted in the air and completely missed each other, clattering to the ground a few feet apart. They stood up and reared back to deliver thunderous punches. Their fists met between them and in a flash of light they were thrown back from each other. Yang stared down her shadow as she shook her arm, still stinging from the hit. Her shadow looked back at her, smiling while stretching its arm. Yang needed a new tactic. All-out assault was not getting anywhere, her shadow knew exactly what she would do and when. She would have to do something she would never normally do. What could that be? She thought for a moment and came up with a plan.

Yang ran at her shadow as her shadow charged her. Instead of punching when they met, she deftly dodged her shadow's strike. Then the next, and the next. An uppercut flew just past her face as she slid to the side. Her shadow loaded up a powerful punch and swung for all it was worth. Yang sidestepped it, putting her behind the shadow. She took the opportunity to punch it in the back of the head, followed by a combo to the kidneys. Counter fighting, she had never tried it before. Her shadow retaliated with another flurry, but again overextended. Yang swept her shadow's legs and forced it to the ground with a powerful blow to the chest.

"Electricity isn't working either." Kanji said. "Rise, what will it take to kill this thing?"

"I don't know." Rise said, frustrated. "I can't get a good reading. Something's really weird about this shadow."

"Wind's no good." Yosuke reported as the shadow shrugged off his attack. Blake tried light and darkness, but they too failed to stop the shadow. Yukiko blasted the shadow with fire and it cried in pain. "Kill it with fire!" Yosuke shouted. Ruby and Yu simultaneously summoned Kikuri-Hime. The figure of a woman dressed in red and white appeared behind each of them. Together with Yukiko, they engulfed the shadow in flames using their Personas. Weiss joined in with Myrtenaster and soon the shadow was flailing and screaming as it burned.

Yang's shadow was stunned, now was the time to finish the job. Yang lifted her shadow to its feet by the collar, jumped back and charged into a punch with all her might. Her shadow's face changed, taking on Ruby's appearance. Yang hesitated, stopping her fist just inches from its target. "Fooled you!" He shadow shouted triumphantly. It grabbed her arm and twisted it until Yang's shoulder dislocated. Then with a twist it flipped her onto her back with a judo-like throw. Yang hit the ground hard, and she was dazed. Just as she was regaining herself, her shadow punched her hard in the face.

Yang struggled to maintain consciousness. Her shadow lifted her up by the throat, reared back and punched her as hard as it could. She went flying through the air before tumbling to the ground. She landed on her face, motionless. Screams of pain from the bear shadow and a cheer from the others filled the air. "Sounds like they've activated my trap card." Yang's shadow said with a laugh.

The shadow burned and melted, but did not disappear. When the black goo that had been the shadow fell away, a human figure remained in its place. When the smoke cleared, it was clear that the figure was Yang, or more correctly, a shadow in her form. "Be careful, that shadow's really powerful." Rise said. "I think that's actually Yang's shadow. It's in two places at once. That's why I couldn't get a good reading." She paused and scanned more. "It doesn't seem to be vulnerable to anything."

"This may be a shot in the dark…" The shadow laughed. A black circle appeared below Ruby's and Yu's Personas. It collapsed, taking the Personas with it. They dropped to the ground unconscious. "Now to heat things up…" The shadow continued. A blast of fire slammed into Chie's Persona. The Persona faded and disappeared as Chie was knocked out. "I should cool things off…" The shadow laughed maniacally. Ice hit Yukiko's Persona, defeating it and knocking the wielder unconscious. "Shocking, positively shocking…" The shadow taunted. A bolt of electricity hit Teddie's Persona. He screamed as his Persona disappeared and he lost consciousness. Blake charged at the shadow in a rage. The shadow met her blows before knocking her back with a head-butt. Blake staggered, giving the shadow time to hit her with a series of powerful blows. The last one threw her back and into a wall. She struggled to her knees and tried to catch her breath.

"Looks like things have gone exactly to plan." Yang's shadow said, walking up to the prone Yang. "It's been fun, but I think it's time to end this." Yang's shadow stood over her and lifted its arm to deliver the killing blow. It slammed its fist down with all its might, but was shocked to hit only the ground.

Yang, now lying on her back, smiled. "Fooled you." She said weakly. She grabbed the shadow's arm and used it to pull the shadow to the ground. She rolled over onto the shadow's back and began pounding the back of its head with her less injured arm. She rained down thunderous blows until the shadow dissolved and disappeared. Then she collapsed to the ground, falling flat on her face.

"We don't have a chance against this thing." Naoto said. "I really hope this works. Megido…" Naoto was cut off as the shadow pounced on her Persona, pounding it with punches until it faded and disappeared. The others looked on in horror. They had no answer to the shadow's power. Then, suddenly, the shadow collapsed, melted and disappeared.

"Yang must have defeated it." Rise said. "Thank god."

"I'll go see if she's alright." Weiss said, rushing to the upper level. "Yang!" Yang lay prone, not moving. Weiss ran over to her and knelt down. She rolled Yang onto her knees. She was in bad shape. She had two black eyes, and her nose was bleeding badly. There were cuts all over her face, but it was impossible to tell exactly how bad they were because of all the blood. One of her arms was twisted at an unnatural angle. Weiss could not tell, but Yang had severe internal injuries as well. "Yang, say something."

Yang stirred. "I'm a tougher opponent than I thought." She said with a weak smile. She became engulfed in purple flame, and a tarot card descended in front of her. The card shattered and the figure of a beautiful winged woman, dressed in beautiful if somewhat revealing robes appeared above her. "Turan." She whispered the name of her Persona. She looked like she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

"Stay with me Yang." Weiss pleaded.

"Is Ruby okay?" Yang asked. "Where is she?"

"She's…busy helping the others." Weiss lied.

"I think I could use some healing." Yang said. She was fading fast.

"The healers are…busy." Weiss said.

"You're a bad liar." Yang laughed. She coughed, producing a fine spray of blood that spattered Weiss's face. "I guess Ruby's not okay either. I failed her on both counts. When she recovers, tell her I'm sorry." Yang went limp.

"Yang, no." Weiss cried. Yang was still breathing but her breaths were becoming increasingly shallow. Weiss could feel Yang's pulse weaken.

"Tell her yourself." Blake said, limping toward them. "I've got this." She raised her hand into the air and her Persona did the same. Light emanated from her Persona's hand before spreading out to surround everyone.

When the light faded, Yang regained consciousness. "This feels a lot better." Yang said, seemingly in perfect health. She was still drenched in her own blood, but the wounds were gone. "Thanks Blake, I really needed that." There was no response. "Blake?" Blake lay on the ground. Yang raced over to her. "Blake, are you okay?" She was unconscious but breathing normally. Yang smiled with relief. "Thanks Blake."

Ruby rushed over. "Yang!" She shouted. "You're okay." She ran to Yang and gave her a hug. It was too tight for Yang's liking.

"It's thanks to Blake." Yang said. "She totally wore herself out healing me."

"I guess she healed all of us." Ruby concluded. "Let's get her to a place where she can rest."

"The victim should be right over here." Rise said, pointing. The others rushed over to check on her.

"What's going on?" The victim asked. "Where am I?"

"We're here to save you." Yosuke said. "Come on, we should get out of here."

"I'm Amber Kelly." The victim introduced herself. "Thanks for saving me. I know exactly how to thank you."

"Really, there's no need." Yu said.

"I insist." Amber said. "I hand-make match-grade dust ammunition. You can have all you need."

"Thanks, but we're stocked." Ruby said.

"Actually, do you think you could make ammunition for this gun?" Naoto asked, handing Amber her pistol. "I haven't been able to find any dust based ammunition for it."

"Wow, this must be an antique." Amber said, looking over the gun. "I can work with this. I don't know how much power you'll be able to get out of it though."

"That's not a problem." Naoto said. "Anything you can provide would be more than enough."

"One more lock, one more victim, then maybe we can get to the bottom of all this." Weiss said. "I'm ready for this to be over."

"Once Blake and Yang are rested up we can finish this." Chie said excitedly. "Then we can all go…home." She frowned, realizing they had no way to get home. The mood was suddenly heavy.

"Don't worry; I'm sure it'll all work out." Yosuke said, trying to lighten the move. "Come on, we shouldn't worry about that until we're done with the case."

"I'm more concerned about what we'll find in the next portal." Yukiko said. "We all have Personas now. There's no one left to face themselves. I wonder what's in there."

"Well, I'd have to assume whoever is responsible for this mess is behind the big door with the locks." Weiss said. "As for the last portal, I have no idea."

"We can handle it, whatever it is, just like the other ones." Kanji said. "Why waste time worrying about something we can't control? We'll get in there; kick the crap out of whatever shadows we find, and then move on to the bastard behind all this. We'll tear him a new one too!" Now that was something they could all get behind.

Naoto stood on Amber's firing range. She carefully took aim at the target and squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit the target and exploded in flames. "You see, I couldn't get more power out of it than that." Amber said sadly. "It barely even singed the target. Sorry I couldn't do better; the caliber is just so small."

"Don't apologize." Naoto said. "This is far more powerful than I anticipated. This is much better than firing a standard round."

"About those 'standard' bullets, I took a look at the ones you already had." Amber said. "I've never seen anything like them. They didn't contain any dust, and didn't even use dust as a propellant. Where on Remnant did you get them?"

Naoto considered saying they were from another planet, but she was not looking forward to having to explain that one again. "Like you said when I gave it to you, it's an antique." Naoto lied. "The ammunition came with it, so I guess they're antique as well. I couldn't tell you where they're from."

"Interesting." Amber said. "The propellant has similar explosive properties when compared to dust. It doesn't have the added effects though."

"Yes, the ammunition you've produced is quite a step up." Naoto said. "I think this will greatly improve my combat effectiveness."

"Look, I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on." Amber said. "Just be careful."

Yang sat a Blake's bedside. Blake's healing had not taken care of all of Yang's injuries, but she was fit enough to fight. Her new Persona would help take up some slack as well. Yang hoped Blake was not hurt. She had expended a lot of energy to heal the group, and had been pretty beat up from the fight herself. Yang blamed herself. She had raced ahead like an idiot and abandoned the team. Then she almost got herself killed – maybe she actually did before Blake had saved her, it was too close in any case – and forced Blake to take the drastic action that put her in this situation.

Blake's eyes started to open. She struggled to adjust to the bright light. "Wakey wakey Blakey." Yang said cheerfully.

Blake groaned. "How long was I out?" Blake asked.

"I'm so happy you're alright." Yang said. "I can't thank you enough."

"How long was I out?" Blake persisted.

"A little over a day." Yang sighed. "That's not important. What's important is that you're okay." Yang gave Blake a hug. It was too tight for Blake's liking.

"I would be better if you weren't crushing my spine." Blake said sarcastically. She still felt sore. Apparently she had done a poor job of healing herself. "And stop thanking me. You would have done the same in my place. Any of you would have."

"I'm sorry." Yang said. "I put you guys in the predicament because I had to rush off like a moron. I promise I won't do it again."

"Don't make a promise you can't keep." Blake said. "It's just who you are. You're always going to attack head-on. You'll always be aggressive. There's nothing moronic about it; it works most of the time, and your semblance feeds right into that. I should be the one apologizing. I did the same thing before, and I didn't listen when you guys told me to pace myself."

"Come on now." Yang said. "Don't tell me not to apologize for being myself right before you do the same thing. I'm just so glad you're alright."

"Same." Blake said. "Now, we've got work to do. We've wasted enough time already." Yang just smiled. She wanted to say something about taking it easy and being sure to rest, but she knew that just was not in Blake's personality. They were both constantly full-speed-ahead in their own ways.