Chapter 18

With the rest of Team RWBY pushed back, the shadow swung its claw at the helpless Ruby. She closed her eyes and waited for the blow but it never came. Instead there was a loud metallic clang and a grunt of exertion. Ruby opened her eyes to see Yu holding back the shadow's claw with his sword, struggling against its immense strength. "Ruby, you have to move." Yu groaned. His feet slid across the ground and regained their hold as he continued to defend her.

Ruby did not see the point in living anymore. Her life was not worth living. Her mother was gone, she could not make friends and she was a horrible leader. She would end up alone, a disgrace.

Weiss skated toward the shadow on her glyphs. She leapt at the beast, extending Myrtenaster to land a blow. The shadow was faster. It backhanded her with its free hand, still keeping the pressure on Yu with the other. Weiss tumbled through the air toward the cliff. She landed just before the edge, slid across the snowy ground and over the precipice. She managed to grab the ledge and just hold on, hanging over what seemed to be a bottomless abyss. With the help of a glyph, she sprung back up and into the fight.

Yu's strength was waning but he was not about to give up. The beast pressed him ever harder but and his traction began to fail. The shadow gave up the direct approach. It relented suddenly, causing Yu to stumble as the pressure was released. Before he could recover, the shadow blasted him with wind. He sailed across the field and landed on his back, unconscious.

Ruby was again undefended, but the shadow's second attack was no more successful. Yang charged in and punched the beast's claw away. She dodged a counter attack from the shadow's other claw and jumped up to punch it in the chest. The shadow staggered back but Yang overplayed her advantage. The beast caught her in its massive hand and threw her off the cliff. Blake rushed to the cliff side and threw half of Gambol Shroud, extended on its ribbon, to Yang as she fell. Yang managed to grab the lifeline with one hand. Her momentum tugged Blake to the very edge and slammed Yang into the rock face as the ribbon stretched taut. Blake struggled to pull Yang up without falling over herself, while Yang struggled to find purchase on the rocks.

After hitting Weiss with a blast of wind that tossed her across the field, the shadow turned its attention back to Ruby. This time it was Yosuke's turn to intervene. He pushed the shadow aside with wind of his own, slowly advancing as he unleashed gust after gust. At first the shadow stumbled and tripped, but it steeled itself against the onslaught. After regaining its footing, the shadow charged at Yosuke. He tried to dive aside but the shadow kicked him hard. He rolled across the ground before coming to an awkward halt on his side. With no need for fine aiming at such a large target, Naoto fired her rifle from the hip with one arm while she launched fireballs at the shadow with the other. The fireballs broke on the shadow and dissipated without doing any damage. Her gunfire was of little effect as well.

The distraction was just what Blake, Weiss and Yang had needed. Weiss rejoined the others as Blake continued to struggle to pull up Yang. Weiss immediately formulated a plan. She produced a path of glyphs that started underneath Blake and aimed toward the shadow. Blake figured out what Weiss was up to, stopped straining, and used the glyphs to run away from the cliff with blinding speed. On the other end of the tether, Yang was rocketed into the air, flying straight at the shadow. Adjusting her course with blasts from Ember Celica, Yang steered herself into the back of the shadow's head. She reared back and unleashed the most powerful punch she could muster. The shadow stumbled forward from the impact and flailed in an attempt to reach Yang, who continued to punch the beast in the back of the head. With the shadow too bulky to reach her, Yang was free to continue attacking.

Blake charged the shadow, firing Gambol Shroud as she ran. Once close, she too jumped on its back. With one hand, Blake slashed at the shadow with Gambol Shroud's blade while she continued to shoot it with the other. Weiss used her glyphs to zip back and forth past the shadow, slashing at it as she passed. The shadow struggled but could not counter. Still, it refused to go down and did not even appear to weaken.

"It keeps regenerating." Rise said. "You need to do damage faster."

"We're doing all we can." Yang growled as she continued to punch it.

"I don't know how long I can keep this up." Weiss warned. Her attacks were losing their speed and their power as she tired. Blake was totally exhausted as well. She emptied her last magazine into the shadow but continued stabbing. Her stabs were weak and slow however. Now without Ember Celica to boost them, Yang's punches weakened considerably.

"Just give up so I can kill you already!" The shadow hissed. "Your deaths are inevitable. Ruby's team will perish and her failure will be complete."

"I won't let you hurt them!" Ruby screamed with tears streaming down her face. Crescent Rose in hand, she charged at the shadow. She dodged to the side in a shower of rose petals as the shadow attempted to push her back with wind. Ruby jumped, and fired Crescent Rose backwards repeatedly to propel herself. She changed her angle of fire just before reaching the shadow, sending herself into a dizzying spin. In a flash of black and red she sliced into the shadow with her scythe. The shadow roared as Ruby's blade cut deep, creating geysers of black liquid. The shadow flailed weakly but was unable to withstand the attack. It melted and evaporated away.

Ruby dropped to the ground on all fours, physically and emotionally spent. All the while she cried hysterically. Yang knelt at her side, grabbed her by the shoulders and hugger her tightly. Ruby tried to say something but it was unintelligible because of her continued sobbing. "It's alright, we're all here for you." Yang said through tears of her own. "It's over."

"I can't…I don't…" Ruby stammered. "Mom…"

"I know." Yang said. "I miss her too."

"I feel like I lost her all over again." Ruby sobbed. "It hurts so much."

"It'll be alright." Yang said. "We still have each other."

"Even if that wasn't mom, the things it said, it's right." Ruby cried. "I am worthless."

"You're not worthless to me." Yang said, wiping the tears from Ruby's face. "You're the most important person in the world to me and you always will be. I'll always be there for you and I know you'll always be there for me."

"We'll be there too." Blake said with a smile. "Right Weiss?"

"Of course." Weiss agreed. "You're our leader, and our friend. You could never be worthless to us."

"If you were worthless, do you think we'd have come all this way for you?" Naoto said. "I don't care what that monster said, you're a great person."

"Yeah, and even if you are awkward you're friendly and caring." Yosuke added. "One of your teammates could learn a thing or two." He added under his breath.

"Come on, let's go home." Yu said, gripping his side in pain. "Everyone's been really worried about you."

"Thanks." Ruby said as she wiped her eyes. "I don't know what I'd do without you guys."

Adachi emptied his revolver into Torchwick. Torchwick spun his cane and managed to block two of the shots, the other four being absorbed by his aura. "Are you done?" Torchwick asked with disdain. "Make this easier for both of us and just give up."

"Fuck you." Adachi growled. He fumbled to reload his revolver.

"You need a better weapon." Torchwick advised. He pointed his cane at Adachi, drawing his attention. A crosshairs flipped up from the bottom as Torchwick prepared to fire.

"Well shit." Adachi sighed. Torchwick fired. A fiery projectile slammed into Adachi's chest. It exploded, sending Adachi flying back and into the wall behind him. Adachi slumped to the ground in a daze, his suit singed by the explosion. Torchwick approached with a confident smile. Adachi's suddenly leapt to his feet and reached out a hand toward Torchwick. Electricity shot from his fingertips. Torchwick raised his cane and caught the attack on it. The weapon began to glow as energy built up to a dangerous level. Torchwick fired, launching another explosive projectile and discharging the energy. Adachi dove aside as the shot blasted through the wall behind him, crossed the hallway, blasted through the wall into the apartment across the hall, crossed that, and smashed through the exterior wall on the other side of the building.

Much to Adachi's advantage, the blast created a cloud of dust and smoke, allowing him to reload his revolver while concealed. "Come out, come out." Torchwick taunted as he searched blindly for Adachi. Torchwick walked past Adachi's hiding place and presented the perfect opportunity.

Adachi leapt up and pressed the barrel of his revolver to the back of Torchwick's head. "I think this gun works just fine." Adachi sneered.

Torchwick froze in his tracks. "Hey now, why don't we talk this over." He said. "I'm sure we can come to a mutually advantageous agreement."

"Sorry, I like killing a little too much for that." Adachi said.

"That's a shame." Torchwick sighed. Adachi had not noticed, but Torchwick had moved his cane so that it pointed at the floor between them. Torchwick fired. The explosion, significant but much smaller than the last one, blew both men off their feet. They sailed across the room in opposite directions and slammed down hard, unconscious.

"I just talked to Jaune." Yang said, putting away her scroll. "He's really happy to hear that Ruby's safe. He's got good news of his own too. Ren and Pyrrha are being released from the hospital tomorrow."

"We should do something to celebrate." Rise suggested.

"Shouldn't we be focused on capturing Adachi?" Blake asked. "He's still at large."

"We can wait a day." Yosuke said. "I think we all need some rest anyway. You guys have been through a lot, you deserve a chance to unwind."

"That actually sounds like a good idea." Weiss said. "Do you guys have any ideas about what we should do?"

"We could go out somewhere." Rise said.

"I'm not sure Ren and Pyrrha are going to be up for that." Blake said. "Maybe we should do something here."

"Naoto and I could cook something." Rise said. She seemed quite excited by the prospect. "The dorm has a kitchen, we can bake a cake."

"I'd love to have some cake." Yang said. "A little party where we just hang out and have some food sounds perfect."

"Well, at least Chie and Yukiko won't be in on the cooking." Yosuke said. "I still have nightmares about the camping trip." Yu shuddered at the thought.

"What happened on the camping trip?" Blake asked.

"Our two friends, Chie and Yukiko, cooked curry for Yu and me." Yosuke said. "Well, it wasn't curry in any recognizable way. We almost died. A while after that Rise cooked an omelet for us. That was pretty much inedible too. Maybe we should let Yu handle the cooking."

"I'm game." Yu said.

"That's not fair!" Rise complained. "We're improving. I'm sure Naoto and I can handle a cake. Right Naoto?" There was no response. "Naoto?" Naoto and Ruby had been conspicuously absent from the conversation. They were not with the others in Team YYRN's dorm room. "Well, if she was here she'd agree with me." Rise said.

"At least let me help." Yu said. "I can teach you a few things."

"Really?!" Rise exclaimed excitedly. "Cooking with Senpai, it sounds fun."

"Well, I guess it's settled then." Weiss said. "I'll provide some hors d'oeuvres."

Down the hall in Team RWBY's dorm room, Ruby lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She still felt a profound sadness. Even with all the support her friends had provided, she could not shake it. The simple face was that her mother was still gone. Nothing would change that. She could usually push it to some dark, out of the way corner of her mind and not think about it, but recent events had pushed it to the fore. Her friends were happy to have her and everyone else back safe, and she did not want to drag them down with her own depression, so she decided to stay away for the moment. She had spent many nights crying alone, and one more seemed to be ahead of her.

There was a light knock at the door. Ruby had left it open. "Ruby, are you in here?" Naoto asked, standing in the doorway.

Ruby did not really want to respond but she did not want to worry the others. "Yeah, I'm up here." Ruby said, trying her best to hide her emotions.

"Can I come in?" Naoto asked.

"I guess." Ruby sighed. She was certainly not in the mood for a visitor.

Naoto approached, examining the complicated apparatus that held up Ruby's bed. Not feeling confident in the setup, she stood on the edge of Weiss's bedframe to put herself on Ruby's level. "I know you probably don't feel like talking to me, but I want you to know that I'm here for you." Naoto said. "I lost both of my parents when I was very young."

"How do you deal with it?" Ruby asked. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts." Naoto replied. "It always will. I try to live a life they would be proud of. If they were still alive, I'm sure they would just want me to be happy. They would be thrilled to know that I'm following in their footsteps as a detective, but I think the thing they would be happiest about is that I'm doing what I love. The best way you can honor your mother is to enjoy life. I for one think she'd be very proud of the person you've become."

"Thank you." Ruby said, her eyes tearing up.

Adachi slowly regained his senses. His vision was blurry but he could see flashing lights. He stumbled to his feet and staggered over to a window. The police were outside. Apparently his fight with Torchwick had not gone unnoticed. Given the level of noise and destruction, that was no surprise. What was surprise was the level of the police response. There were dozens of cars with officers in combat gear in cover behind them. Robotic soldiers were positioned at regular intervals. Armed airships hovered around, aiming spotlights at the apartment. He was surrounded.

Adachi knew a hopeless situation when he saw one. Even with dust he would not be able to fight his way through the small army outside. He looked around, desperate to find some method of escape. The television sat on a table across the room. Its blank screen beckoned. He collected his already prepared dust injections and slipped them into his pocket. He gave the still unconscious Torchwick one last kick in the ribs before he made good his escape.

Pyrrha walked into Team YYRN's dorm room, her arm draped over Jaune's shoulder to support her. She was mostly recovered but was still a bit unsteady on her feet. Following them in came Nora, carrying Ren over her shoulder. Ren looked embarrassed. Nora set him down on a chair beside Pyrrha and Jaune. They waited impatiently with Team RWBY and Yosuke for the others to bring the food. They downed the small but delicately presented sandwiches Weiss had provided. She was unhappy with the rapidity of their consumption. Surely they could not properly enjoy her work at that speed.

After a time filled with polite conversation, the main event arrived. Yu walked in carrying a very large and elaborately decorated cake. Yosuke looked to Yu for some indication of how much input he had had in the creation of the cake, but he was characteristically impassive. Yu placed the cake down on the table and Naoto delivered utensils. Rise looked on eagerly as Yang cut out a slice. She passed it to Pyrrha and went to work cutting pieces for everyone.

"So, how much did you have to do with this?" Yosuke asked Yu.

"They didn't let me do much but I tried to prevent them from doing anything catastrophic." Yu replied. He shrugged. "It should be alright."

"Should be?" Yosuke said with obvious concern. Yang passed him a plate with a slice on it. It looked edible enough. "I guess I should be the gentleman and be the first to taste this thing. I wouldn't want anyone else to get sick." A series of grunts drew Yosuke's attention. Nora's plate was empty and her cheeks were full. "Well, so much for that."

"It's great!" Nora shouted, her mouth still full.

"Nora, you really shouldn't talk with your mouth full." Ren admonished. "It is quite good though." Rise looked positively joyful and Naoto looked relieved.

"So, did we miss anything interesting?" Yu asked.

"Not really." Yosuke replied. "They're all pretty happy to just see each other again, and I don't understand half the things they've been talking about. I guess you had to be there."

Blake's scroll beeped. She glanced at the screen and put it away. "That was Sun." Blake said. "He says we should turn on the news."

Rise grabbed the remote and turned the screen on. The news was exciting indeed. A picture of Torchwick filled the upper right corner of the screen with the word 'captured' underneath it. "He was found unconscious by authorities in the ruins of a destroyed apartment." The newsreader said. "Though the building was heavily damaged, the police maintain that it was already in that state upon their arrival. There were signs of a struggle but no other individuals were present." The story complete, Rise turned the screen off.

"That's another reason to celebrate." Ruby said. "It's such a relief to know we won't have to worry about him causing trouble."

"Adachi's still out there though." Weiss said.

"We'll get him." Rise said. "It's only a matter of time." The rest of the evening passed with cordial and happy conversation. The exception was a bit of a row while playing Remnant: The Game when there was some disagreement over rules between JNPR and RWBY, but in the end fun was had by all. As it slowly crept toward midnight, a light rain began to fall outside.

The clock struck midnight and the television began to emit an eerie yellow glow. The party had not yet broken up, and the assembled group sat transfixed. After a burst of static, Adachi appeared, the image perfectly clear. "Narukami you little punk, I know you and your pack of misfits are watching." Adachi growled. This was no shadow, it was the man himself. "You've screwed me over for the last time. You know where to find me, let's end this." There was a burst of static and the screen went dark.

"I guess he figured out we're here." Rise said. "With us rescuing everyone he threw in it was inevitable."

"This is perfect." Yu said. "He's trapped himself."

"He's still dangerous." Blake warned.

"We've defeated him before." Yosuke said.

"I don't know what his powers were like the last time you fought him, but he's different now." Blake said. "He defeated us without breaking a sweat."

"He's tremendously powerful." Pyrrha said. "He's impossibly fast and strong. None of us could touch him."

"I never said it would be easy." Yu said. "If we work together we can stop him once and for all."