Chapter 15

Yang closed her eyes and waited for death. The deafening blast from Crescent Rose signaled her demise. She felt nothing. Yang opened her eyes to see the shadow clumsily stumbling forward. She looked down to see that her body was still in one piece. Glancing backward, she saw the blade that should have ended her encased in ice. Weiss was rushing forward, adding more ice to hold it in place. The shadow struggled furiously to free the weapon.

"Yang, do something!" Weiss shouted in frustration. Yang snapped out of her daze and turned to face the shadow. She stepped out of the blade's potential path and punched the shadow in the stomach. The shadow bent over in pain and Yang followed up by bashing it in the back of the head, slamming it face first into the ground. She aimed to smash its head further, but as her fist descended, the shadow disappeared in a cloud of burning rose petals, taking Crescent Rose with it.

"And here I thought I would kill both sisters." The shadow said.

"What?!" Yang asked.

"How do you think I got this beauty?" The shadow said as it stroked Crescent Rose. "You couldn't save her." The shadow taunted.

"No…" Weiss said inaudibly.

Yang stood there with a mix of rage and despair filling her. Could this monster have taken her sister from her? She took a close look at Crescent Rose. There was something not quite right about it. The curvature of the blade was too aggressive and the magazine sat at the wrong angle. "You're lying." Yang concluded. "That's not her weapon and she never would have fallen to you."

"It was worth a shot." The shadow laughed. "The look on all your faces made it so worth it. I think I know exactly how I can elicit another fun reaction. Dark Rose!" The grotesque shadow of Ruby's mother appeared above Shadow Ruby. With a sweep of its arm it unleashed a wave of wind that knocked the group off their feet.

Weiss leapt to her feet. "Ananke!" She summoned her Persona and used it to blast the shadow with ice. The shadow and its Persona recoiled in pain as the shadow growled in anger. Chie summoned her Persona and joined in. The shadow, seemingly on its last legs, withdrew its Persona. It fired a series of shots with Crescent Rose, causing the group to scatter and buying the shadow some time. Naoto returned fire with her pistol, but the shadow blocked the incoming shots with a spin of Crescent Rose. The shadow launched itself into the air toward Naoto, blade spinning ahead of it. Naoto managed to summon her Persona in time to take the hit, but the blow was enough to bring her to her knees in agony.

"Get away from her!" Yosuke shouted. He hit the shadow with several pin-point blasts from its Persona to physically push it back. The shadow braced against the attack but could not stop itself from being pushed backward. Yosuke continued hitting the shadow with wind, pressing the attack to the point that it exhausted him. When the onslaught receded, the shadow just stood up straight and smiled arrogantly. It swung Crescent Rose around and blasted Yosuke's Persona with a series of sniper shots. His Persona faded and disappeared as he dropped to the ground.

Weiss launched a line of flame at the shadow with Myrtenaster. The shadow dodged in a cloud of rose petals. Weiss launched a series of fiery attacks, but the shadow repeatedly dodged, closing the distance between them with each move. Soon they were at melee range and Weiss stabbed at the shadow with her blade. The shadow parried the attack and spun around, slamming the blunt side of Crescent Rose into Weiss's side. She tumbled through the air uncontrollably. The shadow used its speed to get in front of her and smashed her with a baseball swing which sent Weiss flying back in the other direction. She crashed to the ground and lay there motionless.

Chie's Persona swept in, engaging the shadow in blade-to-blade combat. Their weapons clashed as each attack was checked. The shadow hooked the Persona's blade, using it to tug Chie's Persona off balance. The shadow hit it in the back of the head with Crescent Rose and Chie's Persona tumbled away but recovered. Charging in the Persona brought its fist down hard, hitting the ground just in front of the shadow.

"You missed." The shadow taunted, readying a slash with Crescent Rose.

"Did I?" Chie said confidently, looking just above the shadow. The shadow looked up just in time to see a giant fiery fist slamming down upon it. The attack pounded the shadow into the ground where it lay groggily on its back. Yang rushed over and jumped onto the shadow, cocking her fist in preparation for her attack.

"You couldn't hit you sister could you?" The shadow pleaded.

"You…" Yang shouted as she punched with all her might. "…are…" She delivered another devastating punch, her hair engulfed in flame. "…not…" She brought her fist down hard. "…my…" She hit it with an elbow this time. "…sister!" She delivered a final punch, the combination of the impact and a shotgun blast from Ember Celica blowing the shadow's head off. The shadow dissolved and disappeared. Yang knelt there breathing heavily as the fire that had surrounded her slowly died away.

"Yang, are you alright?" Chie asked, rushing to her side.

"I'm fine." Yang said through gritted teeth. "I'm really tired of the games these shadows play."

"I think you got that point across." Chie said happily. "They'll think twice before messing with you again."

Naoto limped over, clutching her stomach. "Sorry to interrupt the celebration, but we're beat up pretty bad." She coughed. "I think the others are unconscious." She sat down beside them. "I don't suppose you can heal us." Chie shook her head.

"My Persona doesn't have that ability." Yang admitted.

"We're sitting ducks like this." Naoto observed.

"Look out!" Chie shouted, pointing. In front of her stood two figures.

"Not now." Naoto said, struggling back to her feet. She began to draw her gun but something stopped her. "Senpai? Ruby?"

Yu rushed over and helped Naoto sit back down. "I'll heal them." Yu said to Ruby. He summoned Norn and went to work. Ruby nodded and headed over to Yang.

"Is it really you this time?" Yang asked, tears in her eyes.

"Who else would it be?" Ruby asked cheerfully, giving Yang a hug. It was a bit too tight for her liking.

"Well I just beat the shadow version of you to death." Yang admitted.

"I just killed a shadow Torchwick." Ruby said. "It sounds like we've all had a tough time."

"What did you fight?" Chie asked Yu.

"I fought a shadow of Adachi." Yu said unemotionally. "It was strong, but nothing I couldn't handle."

"That's our leader." The recently healed Yosuke said. "Nothing fazes you huh?" Yu didn't answer. He just exchanged glances with Ruby. "Am I missing something?"

"Where are the others?" Yu quickly changed the subject.

"All around us if Yang's Persona is reading the situation correctly." Naoto reported. "We've all apparently been in the same place, just somehow separated."

"It's like they're in another dimension." Yosuke explained. Naoto thought about arguing that point, but decided it was as good an explanation as any.

"They must still be fighting then." Weiss said. "I hope they're alright."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Yu said confidently.

Rise slowly opened her eyes. Her head hurt, worse than it had ever before. She felt like the whole world was spinning and did not dare attempt to stand. What she saw snapped her out of the daze. Magatsu-Izanagi's sword was embedded in an ice copy of Blake – produced by her semblance – just inches from her chest. She screamed and struggled to push herself away. Kanji rushed up to her and grabbed her by the collar. "Sorry for this." Kanji said. He dragged her away rather roughly until they were a safe distance away from the shadow and its Persona.

Kanji then summoned his Persona and charged into battle. His Persona charged at Magatsu-Izanagi, sword held high, as the shadow's Persona struggled to free its sword. Just as Kanji's Persona swung its weapon, Magatsu-Izanagi freed its sword just in time to parry the attack. It countered with a very ineffective attack of its own before Kanji's Persona brought its sword around for a devastating blow to Magatsu-Izanagi's chest. The shadow's Persona staggered back from the force of the blow and Kanji pressed the advantage. Just as his Persona reached its target, it was met with a concentrated blast of wind to the chest, knocking it to the ground. Magatsu-Izanagi stood over Kanji's Persona and blasted it with wind again. It faded and disappeared as Kanji collapsed in pain.

Teddie sent in his Persona. It absorbed the shadow's wind attacks and countered by launching massive chunks of ice at Magatsu-Izanagi. Ice built up around Magatsu-Izanagi's legs, trapping it in place. Teddie sent his Persona in close and it swiped away with its claws. Blake joined in the attack, jumping on the shadow's Persona and slashing its back with Gambol Shroud. The shadow and its Persona roared with rage and electricity engulfed Magatsu-Izanagi. Teddie's Persona was instantly defeated by the strike at its weakness. Blake dropped to the ground convulsing as electricity surged through her.

Yukiko had been busy healing Kanji and Rise but turned her attention to Blake. Her Persona swept in and scooped up Blake, carrying her to safety while simultaneously healing her. Kanji charged back in with his Persona but after a brief exchange of sword blows was taken out of the battle again by a blast of wind. Yukiko blasted Magatsu-Izanagi with fire. Its attempts to counter with wind only intensified the flames. Still burning, Magatsu-Izanagi charged at Yukiko's Persona, brutally slashing away with its sword. With a limited capacity to withstand attacks, Yukiko was on the edge of defeat.

Blake decided a change of tactics was crucial to the battle. She charged directly at the shadow while its Persona was busy with Yukiko. She fired several shots as she approached but the shadow dodged the onslaught. As they closed to melee range the shadow pulled out a sword like the ones Blake had bought for each member of the Investigation Team. She slashed at the shadow, but it blocked her attack and overpowered her, pushing her away. The shadow lashed out in an attack of its own as Blake dodged away, leaving behind a smoldering copy with her semblance. When the shadow struck the copy it exploded, throwing it back. Blake took the opportunity to stab at the shadow's back, but it spun around and knocked Gambol Shroud aside before punching Blake in the face with its free hand. She stumbled, barely blocking a slash from the shadow's sword. Now holding the initiative, the shadow kicked her hard in the front of the knee, dropping Blake to the ground hard.

Seeing Blake in peril, Yukiko broke off combat between her Persona and Magatsu-Izanagi and sent a ball of fire screaming toward the shadow. Unfortunately, this put her Persona out of position, and Magatsu-Izanagi sunk its blade into Yukiko's Persona from the back. It twisted the blade until the Persona disappeared and Yukiko fell to the ground unconscious. Having taken care of all the opposing Personas, the shadow withdrew Magatsu-Izanagi and returned its attention to Blake who was still lying prone, struggling to crawl away without the use of one of her legs.

"Here kitty-kitty." The shadow sneered as it approached. It stomped on her injured knee and laughed as Blake cried out in pain. The shadow walked around to her side and kicked her hard in the stomach. She curled up in a ball on her side. The shadow kicked her shoulder over to get Blake flat on her back. "I want you to see this coming." It raised its sword high, preparing to deliver the fatal blow. "What?!" The shadow exclaimed, a sword now protruding from its chest. It spun around clumsily to face its attacker, finding Rise standing there, sword in hand. "You'll have to do better than that." The shadow slashed at Rise with its sword, but missed as Rise jumped backward. With the shadow overextended Rise lunged forward and plunged her sword into the shadow's neck. She wrenched the blade to the side, partially decapitating the shadow. It dissolved and disappeared.

Rise kneeled at Blake's side and offered her a hand to help her up. "You saved me once; I thought I'd return the favor." Rise said.

"That was reckless of you." Blake said. She stood, careful not to put weight on her injured leg.

"I couldn't stand seeing a shadow with his face." Rise said. She looked at Blake's knee, which was bent at an unnatural angle. "You should really heal yourself." Rise advised.

"I don't think I can." Blake sighed. "I don't have the strength."

"I can give it a try." Rise said. "I can't hold you up while I do it though." She helped Blake sit down before summoning her Persona. Light engulfed the team before receding. Rise dropped to her knees, exhausted.

"It didn't work." Blake said. "I feel stronger, but not less injured."

"Damn it." Rise cried. "That's the problem with my power. It can be so random. I don't have enough control. I'm so useless." She was crying her eyes out.

"You're not useless." A familiar voice said.

"Senpai?" Rise asked, tears in her eyes. Standing a few feet away was the rest of the team. They had finally been reunited.

"I'll heal them this time." Ruby said. Yu nodded in agreement as Ruby summoned Norn and went to work.

"Start with Yukiko and Teddie, and then they can help you with the rest." Yu advised.

"It's really you this time!" Rise exclaimed, hugging Yu tightly. "I hate this place." She said, burying her face in his chest.

"I take it you fought a shadow version of me." Yu said. Rise nodded and sniffled, wiping her tears away. "That must have been hard."

Yang knelt next to Blake. "Your leg looks bad." Yang observed.

"I noticed." Blake replied dryly. "Healing didn't fix it."

"What if I pop it back into place for you?" Yang asked. Before Blake could respond Yang forced Blake's knee joint back into alignment. Blake barely contained a scream of pain. "There you go. Healing should take care of the pain." Yang smiled. Blake wanted to punch her.

"Hey guys!" Yosuke called. "I found the victim!" It was the mechanic they had originally followed to this place. She was dazed but otherwise fine.

"We should get her back to the village." Weiss said. "Then we'll come back and deal with the culprit." The others agreed.

"So, what do you think we'll face in there?" Ruby asked.

"Well, the culprit is a person." Blake said. "He might have a Persona, but we should be able to defeat him. We've defeated so many powerful opponents so far, some guy isn't going to stop us."

"I think there might be more to it than that." Naoto warned. "In our experience, the primary actor in these sorts of incidents may be a normal person, but they usually have help."

"What kind of help?" Yang asked.

"There's usually a supernatural being behind it, as strange as that sounds." Naoto replied. "We had to fight three of them to save our world. They're more powerful than anything you can imagine. Just consider the power required to create that entire world and to draw people to it."

"Whatever we face, I'm sure we can handle it." Yu said. "Together we can overcome any challenge." He did always know the exact thing that needed to be said.

"How are you so calm about this?" Ruby asked.

"I have confidence in my friends." Yu answered. "That includes you and your team as well. I look at us and think about all the things we've been through and I just know we can do this."