Chapter 14

"I'm not going to the hospital." Yang said.

"You should at least get checked out." Rise urged. "You've been through a lot."

"I'm sore but I'm fine." Yang said. "I'm not going to waste my time at the hospital when Ruby's still in danger." She slammed her fist down on the table. "I'll fight you on this."

"Fine." Rise sighed. "Just don't push yourself too hard."

"Don't worry, I know my limits." Yang assured her.

Pyrrha looked over to see if Ren was awake. Now that they were on the road to recovery, they had been moved to the same room. Ren was staring at the ceiling like he usually was, no doubt lost in thought. Ren was perfectly happy to sit there in silence, but Pyrrha was getting bored. She still had a terrible headache and felt very weak, but she was getting restless. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I'll be fine." Ren said. In truth he felt much the same way Pyrrha did.

"That's good." Pyrrha said awkwardly. Getting more than a few words out of Ren was always tough. "Do you mind talking about that…other world?" Ren shrugged. Pyrrha decided that was as close to a yes as she was likely to get. "When I was unconscious, I guess I was dreaming, but a copy of me tried to convince me to kill myself. Did anything like that happen to you?"

"Something like that." Ren replied.

"It said I would be alone forever, so I might as well just end it." Pyrrha continued. "What was it like for you?"

"I was offered enlightenment in return for not regaining consciousness." Ren said. "I decided enlightenment wasn't worth it without someone to share it with."

"Have anyone in particular in mind?" Pyrrha asked.

"Not really." Ren lied. "I suppose you came back for Jaune."

"I came back for me." Pyrrha said. "I've got to come to terms with the fact that Jaune may never come around."

"He's slow but I'm sure he'll get there." Ren said with uncharacteristic candidness.

"I'm glad Jaune and Nora went home to get some rest." Pyrrha said. "I'm sure they were exhausted. I guess they don't have to worry about either of us being alone now that we're in the same room."

"There's something they're not telling us." Ren said out of the blue.

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked. "Something that happened in that other world?"

"No, though they're not talking about that either." Ren answered. "Last night Nora got a call on her scroll. The look on her face…she was worried. It passed in a moment and she wouldn't talk about it, but something definitely happened."

"I'll call Jaune and ask." Pyrrha said as she turned to the table beside her hospital bed, looking for her scroll. It was not there. "I'm sure I put it there last night."

"I suspect Jaune took it." Ren said. "Nora took mine. Whatever happened, they don't want us finding out. I guess they think it'll hurt our recovery."

"It must be bad then." Pyrrha observed. Ren nodded with a grim look on his face.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ozpin asked. He was disturbed to hear about Team RWBY's situation, but was confident YYRN could save the rest of them.

"I'd ask for a few days off from classes, but I don't want to seem like I'm taking advantage of the situation." Yu replied.

"That's not a problem." Ozpin said. "Is there anything I can physically do to help?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to put more people in danger." Yu answered. "Just work with the authorities to find Adachi. We need to keep him from taking more victims."

"I'll coordinate with General Ironwood, but if Adachi's as intelligent as you say he'll be very difficult to catch." Ozpin said.

"Just make it public that you're looking." Yu advised. "If he reacts anything like he did the last time, he'll go to ground. You might want to publicize the reappearance of his victims. Whoever he's working for will be angry with his failure. We need to isolate him. When he's desperate he takes risks and makes mistakes."

"I'll see what I can do." Ozpin said. He shook Yu's hand and Yu showed himself out. Internally it was tearing Ozpin up that he could not do more. The students were his responsibility, and that responsibility weighed heavily on his mind and his heart.

"Let me guess, Weiss' world." Yang said as she and Team YYRN approached what appeared to be a towering mansion.

"Good call." Yosuke said. "What gave it away?" He asked sarcastically.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Rise asked Yang. "It's no good if you end up hurting yourself."

"I told you, I'm fine." Yang replied. She cracked her knuckles and stomped toward Weiss' world.

Inside, the mansion had some similarities to Nora's castle. It was just as richly decorated and just as imposing. This place was much less insane however. Where Nora's world was bright and loud, this place was subdued and elegant. Fine carved designs lined the walls and the floor was covered by a simple but attractive geometric mosaic. Gilded chandeliers hung from the ceiling, filling the hallways with light. Eventually, the group arrived at a pair of large, heavy-looking wooden doors. A fight surely awaited them.

The group burst through the doors and into what appeared to be a spacious ballroom. The shadows stood in the center. There were five. Though human in shape, they were much more animalistic in appearance. Their heads resembled caricatures of wolves, snarling with big sharp teeth. Their hands were replaced with claws, but they held rapiers. The blades looked delicate but razor sharp. The shadows bore the uniform of the White Fang, with the exception of the mask which was absent.

True to form, Yang charged straight in. She ran at the nearest shadow, and the shadow reacted by charging at her. It thrust its blade forward and Yang tried to dodge. She was too slow. Only her aura prevented her from being seriously hurt as the blade slid across her abdomen. She punched the shadow's rapier aside and kicked it in the shin. The shadow fell to a knee and as it came down Yang met its chin with an Ember Celica-boosted uppercut. It was powerful enough to lift shadow off the ground before it slammed down on its back. Yang charged the downed shadow but was blind-sided by another. It slammed the pommel of its sword into the side of her head but she easily absorbed the glancing blow.

Yang turned to face the new threat, grabbed the shadow by the arm, and flipped it to the ground with a judo-like throw. Still holding its blade arm to prevent a counter attack, she repeatedly pounded it in the face with her fist until its skull collapsed under the assault. The shadow melted and evaporated away. Yang caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. She tried to react, but it was already too late. She felt a burning pain on her side and looked down to see a blade passing cleanly through her. The shadow she had earlier knocked down was back in the fight. Luckily, it had only managed to catch the edge of her torso, just a flesh wound, but it was terribly painful. It made her angry.

Meanwhile, Team YYRN battled the three other shadows. They were immune to the team's elemental attacks and were clearly dangerous in close range. Yu clearly felt most confident in his swordsmanship. He rushed toward a shadow and deflected its opening lunge. He slashed at it, but it deftly avoided his strike, leaving Yu overextended and off balance. The shadow readied a counter-attack but suddenly stumbled back. Yu glanced over his shoulder to see Naoto, her rifle leveled at the shadow. She let off a series of shots, doing serious damage. That gave Yu the opening he needed and he sliced the stunned shadow in two with a single stroke, leaving it to melt and evaporate away.

Rise's laser did little damage to the shadow, but it did blind it. She kept the beam focused on the monster's face as Yosuke moved in. He grabbed the shadow's blade arm and twisted until he heard a snap. The sword dropped from its hand and it groaned in pain. He sunk one of his blades into the side of the shadow's neck and stabbed his other into its gut. The shadow went limp, melted and evaporated. He was immediately set upon by another. It wrapped its arm around his throat and squeezed tightly as he struggled. Rise could not use her laser for fear of hitting Yosuke. Fortunately, Yu was finished with his shadow. He hacked at the shadow's shoulder until it released Yosuke. With him clear, Team YYRN opened up with their guns until the shadow was full of holes. It melted and evaporated away.

Yang threw an elbow backward, catching the offending shadow in the face as her eyes turned red and her hair became engulfed in flames. Holding onto the blade, she elbowed the shadow over and over until it let go and fell backward. Reaching back, she pulled the sword from her side. With a shout of rage she snapped the weapon in two and threw it to the ground. The shadow backed away in fear as Yang inexorably advanced. The shadow backed itself into a wall. Yang ran the last few steps, hitting the shadow in the face with all her might. Its head exploded in a spray of black liquid and the headless body slid to the ground where it melted and evaporated away. The flames in her hair faded and her eyes returned to their usual lilac.

"See, I told you I'm alright." Yang said as she rejoined Team YYRN.

"You're bleeding pretty badly." Yosuke pointed out.

"It's just a scratch." Yang said, shrugging it off. "My aura's already healing it."

"Just be careful, alright?" Rise implored. Yang rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement.

Weiss woke up in terrible pain. She lay on her side in the fetal position, hoping against hope that the pain would stop. She remembered Adachi and then nothing. Just darkness, then she was here. Where here was exactly was another question entirely. She knew she was at the foot of a set of stairs. A white carpet ran up the center of the wooden staircase. It looked familiar, but she could not place it. The pain stole her attention.

"Oh Weiss, what have you gone and done now?" A familiar voice said from the top of the stairs. Weiss groaned with the realization that she knew the voice and therefore where she was. It was her father. She was home. Except she was not. Her home buzzed with activity night and day, this place was dead. No, she was in the shadow world, right? "I'm very disappointed in you Weiss." That sounded like her father.

Weiss forced herself to sit up. She faced her 'father' who was walking down the staircase. He looked very annoyed. "What do you want?" She asked.

"Is that any way to greet your father?" He countered. "I thought I raised you better. I guess not. It seems you're just a never-ending disappointment."

After traversing more elegantly decorated corridors, Yang and Team YYRN arrived at another set of large doors. They burst through, ready to face the shadow inside. This time they faced a single gigantic shadow. This giant, twenty feet tall, human in shape and again wearing the uniform of the White Fang, had a mannequin-like appearance and wielded a colossal chainsaw.

"It seems like Weiss is really obsessed with the White Fang." Naoto observed.

"Her family has historically been the focus of their attacks." Yang explained. "Apparently she lost a lot of friends and relatives. She also fought a guy who looked a bit like this not too long ago."

"I take it she beat him?" Yosuke asked.

"Nope." Yang replied. "She's lucky to be alive."

"We should probably not get close to this one." Rise warned.

The shadow had other ideas. As soon as it spotted the group it charged. They split, rushing along the perimeter of the room to avoid being trapped by the hulking shadow. Along one side of the room Naoto launched fire at the shadow while Yang hit it with long distance blasts from Ember Celica. On the other Yu fired electricity and Yosuke wind while Rise boosted their speed, allowing them to put distance between them and the shadow. The shadow chose to attack the pair rather than the trio. It turned and lunged at Naoto and Yang, swinging its chainsaw ahead of it in an arc of death. Naoto dropped to the ground as the chainsaw passed over her. Yang jumped up and landed on the weapon. She ran up the chainsaw and launched herself at the shadow's head.

Yang hit the shadow in the side of the head, the combination of her punch and a blast from Ember Celica stunning the monster. She continued with a flurry of punches as the shadow struggled to respond. Finally it managed to grab her with its free hand. It threw her across the room and she slammed into the wall before dropping to the ground near Yu and his group. A bit wobbly, Yang struggled to her feet. Naoto was alone as the shadow cornered her. Its massive reach effectively cut off the rest of the room. She fired a few shots from her rifle and unleashed more fire but the shadow was not deterred.

"Boost my speed and give me a tailwind." Yu ordered. Rise and Yosuke complied as he charged toward the shadow with blinding alacrity. He jumped and slashed at the shadow's groin. The shadow groaned in pain. Yosuke and Yang charged in as well while Yu slid into position to hack at the shadow's legs. Yang and Yosuke soon joined the assault and got the shadow down to its knees. With a thunderous roar the shadow swung its chainsaw around in a circular attack. Its assailants were inside the effective range. Yang and Yosuke were knocked down by its arms but Yu was able to jump over the swing. At the peak of his jump he jabbed his sword into the shadow's neck. The shadow thrashed, forcing the group back. Naoto, able to escape the corner, rejoined the rest of the group as they hit the shadow with their long-range attacks. With Rise boosting their power, Naoto's fire, Yosuke's wind, Yu's electricity and Yang's Ember Celica tore the shadow apart. As it screamed in agony it melted and evaporated away.

"I find it hard to believe just how much of a failure you've turned out to be." Weiss' 'father' said. "You had every advantage and still, here we are."

"I know you're my shadow." Weiss said. "Can we just skip the charade?"

The shadow ignored her. "Just look at your team." It continued. "You couldn't even be their leader. And who is? A child of all people, and not a very smart one at that. Then there's your leader's sister, that dumb blond whore. It's unbecoming of a Schnee to be slumming around with such degenerates."

"Just stop it, they're good people." Weiss protested. "Much better than you."

"I suppose you think Blake is a good person too." The shadow pressed on. "A Schnee, teamed up with a filthy Faunus, how disappointing. You know they're inferior beasts and yet you act like friends. Do you really think she can ever be your friend? She's a member of the White Fang! She can say she's no longer with them, but you know how the Faunus lie. She's just waiting to put a knife in your back. None of them can be trusted, yet you sleep in the same room. How can you be so careless, so foolish?!"

"Just stop it!" Weiss shouted. "I've had enough of this!"

"Well I've had enough of you." The shadow said. "All those years, all that money, all that attention, wasted. It would have been better spent on your sister."

"Shut up!" Weiss screamed. She drew Myrtenaster and stabbed at the shadow. The shadow side-stepped the attack, grabbed her arm and slammed her to the ground. Already in pain, the slam was excruciating.

"You're a disgrace to the Schnee name." The shadow hissed. "There is only one recourse. You must be destroyed."

Yang and Team YYRN burst in. "Back off!" Yosuke shouted.

"About time you showed up." Weiss grumbled.

"I'll deal with you later." The shadow said to Weiss. It waved its hand over her and encased her in a prison of ice. Her arms and legs were encased and in her injured state she was unable to break free. The shadow stepped back and itself became encased in a cocoon of ice. After a moment the cocoon shattered, sending shards flying in all directions. The group had to dive for cover to avoid being hit. The shadow had drastically altered its appearance. It was now a thirty foot tall knight made of ice, wielding a gigantic frozen halberd.

"I'd say hit it with fire but I don't think it'll be that easy." Rise said.

"We may as well try." Yu said.