Chapter 39

"I could just take care of both fights." Yosuke offered.

"Ah but you can't." Thanatos said. "You must each take a round."

"Well, I guess that's out the window." Yosuke sighed. "Alright, it would make sense if the second round was more difficult than the first, so maybe you should take this one."

"I can handle it." Rise said. She picked up her spear/laser and walked down the ramp. Taking up her place on the arena floor, she waited for her opponent as the ramp transformed back into a wall.

"You all accused me of playing mind games." Thanatos said. "I won't deny it, and if it's mind games you want it's mind games you'll get." The mass of shadow-goo that bubbled up from the arena floor grew massive before collapsing into a small humanoid form. As the excess fell away it became clear that it had taken the form of Naoto.

"You think because it has my friend's face I won't kill it?" Rise asked.

"That's part of it, but I intend to give you the full shadow experience." Thanatos laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rise demanded.

"I think you know." The shadow said. It sounded like Naoto but distorted like a bad recording and filled with malice. "I would think that this form would make you a more eager killer."

"That's absurd." Rise said. "Why would I be eager to hurt my friend?"

"Friend, such a funny word." The shadow said. "It means different things to different people. Apparently for you it's a person of whom you are jealous. A person you resent."

"I...I don't know what you're talking about." Rise said. She was less than convincing.

"You want what I have." The shadow was now talking as if it were Naoto. The shift was subtle but disturbing. "You want what I have with Yu. Why would he choose me over you? You're so much sexier and so much more fun. You'd do anything to have what I have. Anything except actually saying it. You're too afraid to make us both hate you so you just keep it to yourself and act like it's not important. You act like it's not eating you up inside but it is. You just tell yourself it's for the best. Just let everyone be happy. Everyone except you."

"Alright, I get it!" Rise shouted. "I feel that way sometimes and I'm not proud of that. I don't hate Naoto for it. It certainly doesn't make me want to hurt her. You, on the other hand, you're just a shadow. I have no trouble hurting you, no matter what form you take."

"Then let's do this." The shadow hissed. It reached into its jacket and drew a revolver as Rise readied her weapon.

The shadow leveled its gun at Rise. She took aim herself and shined her laser in the shadow's eyes. The shadow recoiled and fired blindly, emptying its gun. By the time its vision cleared Rise was no longer where she had been. The sound of footsteps made the shadow turn, just in time to see Rise rushing toward it. She thrust her spear forward and the shadow jumped aside, narrowly escaping the attack. It attempted to pistol whip her but Rise was already ducking under the strike and it missed by a comfortable margin. Rise planted her spear against her foot and fired. The point extended with extreme speed and hit the shadow in the chest. The shadow was lifted off the ground and tossed onto its back.

Rise attempted to pin the shadow to the ground with her spear but it rolled out of the way and left her off balance. Jumping to its feet, the shadow went for a punch but Rise easily dodged it. It was like she knew it was coming. The shadow jumped back and raised both arms over its head. It brought them down and a blast of wind fired out in all directions. Rise tried to brace herself but was thrown off her feet and sent sliding across the arena floor. She did not waste a second, rolling to her feet and running as soon as her wild skid stopped, narrowly avoiding a fireball produced by the shadow. While running, Rise fired her laser in the shadow's general direction. Her fire was inaccurate but appeared to be doing some damage.

The shadow clenched its fist and a spectral shield appeared between it and Rise. Her laser fire was stopped well short of the target and the shadow was given time to counterattack. A black circle appeared on the ground ahead of Rise. She stumbled but managed to stop before hitting it. The circle collapsed and another appeared below her. She took off running erratically as a series of collapsing black circles appeared around her. A gigantic white square formed, too large for Rise run out of in time. She planted the tip of her spear in the ground.

The square collapsed in a blinding flash that filled the arena with light. When the light faded, Rise was gone. The shadow raised its arm in triumph but the match did not end. With an angry shriek Rise came falling out of the sky, heading straight for the shadow. She slammed the heavy, blunt end of her weapon down on its head, slamming it to the ground. Before the shadow could recover Rise plunged her spear into its chest. The shadow writhed for a moment before bursting into a cloud of glowing ash and evaporating away.

"Congratulations, you've won." Thanatos said flatly. "Please leave the arena floor."

Rise walked up the ramp to the others, still trying to catch her breath. "Okay, how the hell did you pull that off?" Yosuke asked. "You were trapped in the middle of the giant light attack and then the next time we saw you, you were flying."

"I wasn't really flying." Rise said. "I used my spear to launch myself off the ground. I got a lot more air than I was expecting but it worked out." She took a deep breath. "All that running was exhausting and that shadow was...humiliating. Senpai, Naoto, I'm really sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Yu shrugged. "You're only human. We all have nasty thoughts sometimes."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of you sometimes." Naoto added. "The way you interact with people so easily, your fame, your exciting career, there's a lot to be jealous of."

"We can talk about it more after this is over, but just know that we don't hold it against you." Yu said with a comforting smile.

"Oh, you guys are the best!" Rise exclaimed. She hugged both of them in turn.

"Sorry to interrupt, but this is a disturbing development." Mitsuru said. "Thanatos is clearly changing tactics."

"Well straight up fights weren't working." Weiss said. "Playing mind games is a way to throw us off without having to expend energy on summoning more powerful shadows."

"It's a disturbing thought, but we really don't know what he's capable of." Pyrrha said. "This tactic is bad enough but if it fails we have no way of knowing what he will try next."

"I'm sure whatever it is we'll be ready." Yosuke said. "We've dealt with some pretty bizarre stuff before."

"We have seen our share of strange occurrences too." Aigis said. "We were once trapped in a time loop."

"Yang once blew up a nightclub." Ruby added.

"I'm not sure that really applies here." Yang said.

"Me and Ren rode an Ursa!" Nora exclaimed. "It was so fun. Well, at least until it broke."

"What were we even talking about?" Yosuke asked, clearly confused.

"Time for the next match." Thanatos announced. "Jaune or Pyrrha, who will it be?"

"I should probably take this one." Jaune said. "I'll have to fight sometime."

"Alright, just be careful." Pyrrha advised. "Remember what we practiced."

"I guess we'll get to find out if that practice has been worth it." Jaune said with a forced laugh. He descended the ramp and waited as it transformed into a wall behind him. Jaune had already faced his shadow and he was confident he could handle whatever Thanatos could throw at him. He had learned a lot from Pyrrha and his other teammates, and now he was ready to put those newfound skills to the test.

The glob of shadow material that rose up in the center of the arena piled upon itself before condensing into a humanoid form. "Hey there Jauney-boy." The shadow said before it even finished forming.

"Oh come on!" Jaune protested. "Cardin? I thought I was done with him."

"Well I'm not done with you." The shadow laughed. "If I'm not mistaken, the last time we had a proper fight I beat the tar out of you."

"I've learned a lot since then." Jaune said.

"I'm sure you're just as useless as you were when you were my lackey." The shadow hissed.

"You're not even the real Cardin." Jaune said. He drew his sword and pointed it at the shadow. "Let's just get this over with."

"I always preferred kicking your ass to talking to you anyway." The shadow said.

The shadow charged as Jaune crouched behind his shield. At a full sprint, the shadow swung its mace. Jaune blocked it and the force sent him sliding back several meters. It hit at least as hard as the real Cardin. The shadow lunged forward with a wild swing and Jaune side-stepped it. He bashed the shadow on the back with his shield and stabbed forward with his blade. The stab was misjudged and missed badly, leaving Jaune open when the shadow whirled around and smashed him in the face with the mace. Jaune saw stars and stumbled back. The shadow kicked his legs out from under him and Jaune slammed down on his back.

Jaune rolled out of the way as the shadow slammed its mace down where his head had been. Scrambling to his feet, Jaune got his shield up just in time to deflect another mace shot. Now as the shadow's turn to be off balance. Jaune pressed forward, attacking the shadow's side. He blocked its attempt to counter with his shield and got inside its reach. Jaune slashed at the shadow, his blade drawing a shower of sparks as it deflected off the shadow's armor. He swung his sword again but this time the shadow ducked underneath the attack, grabbed Jaune behind the legs and threw him to the ground.

The shadow leapt atop Jaune, straddling his torso. Holding its mace with both hands, it lifted the weapon over its head and slammed it down on Jaune's face. There was a blinding flash as the mace bounced back harmlessly. The shadow was clearly stunned and Jaune used the opening to turn the tables. He slammed his shield into the side of the shadow's head, knocking it off. Jaune quickly rolled over, pinned the shadow's mace arm down with his shield. He flipped his sword around and plunged the blade into the shadow's stomach. Black sludge bubbled from the wound as the shadow writed for a moment then fell still.

Jaune withdrew his sword and headed back for the seats. It looked like the others were cheering for him, even if he could not hear anything. Interesting, the ramp had not reappeared. Suddenly Jaune was on the ground. His head ached and he was seeing double. "Man you're stupid." The shadow laughed, standing over him. "Finish your kills moron." The shadow lifted Jaune by the collar, set him on his feet and kneed him in the gut. As Jaune doubled over the shadow nailed him in the face with an upward strike from its mace.

Jaune found himself on his back again. The shadow had played a nasty trick. As it approached, Jaune decided to play a trick of his own. The shadow stepped up to him, a confident smirk on its face. Jaune kicked it in the groin. The shadow stumbled back, giving Jaune the opportunity to get to his feet. He took a few steps back to catch his breath as the shadow recovered from the low blow. After a moment the pair charged each other. Jaune deflected the shadow's mace with his shield, spun around and stabbed the shadow in the arm. It groaned in pain and dropped the mace. The shadow tried a desperate punch. Jaune ducked it and sliced off its arm. He stepped back then lunged forward, thrusting his blade through the shadow's neck. With a quick twist, he lopped the shadow's head off. It burst into a cloud of glowing ash that evaporated away.

"Congratulations, you've actually won this time." Thanatos said. "Rejoin your companions."

Jaune climbed the ramp to the others feeling more than a little embarrassed. He expected some jokes at his expense. "I know, that was dumb." He sighed.

"You need to be careful." Pyrrha said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You should never turn your back on an enemy. Your life is at stake."

"Yeah, my bad, I guess I got overconfident." Jaune said.

"As long as you learn from it, it's fine." Pyrrha encouraged him.

"I have to say, I'm a little annoyed." Rise said. "Unless I'm missing something, you got off easy with the mind games."

"You're not wrong." Jaune admitted. "He was a problem a while ago but I'm totally over it."

"Maybe Thanatos didn't think you were strong enough to bother." Blake said.

"Again, not wrong." Jaune groaned. "I don't think that performance is going to change anyone's mind either."

"You did fine." Pyrrha said. Jaune was unconvinced.

"I've been thinking, we've all got very different levels of ability but all the fights have been pretty close." Ruby observed. "That means Thanatos must be tailoring the strength of the shadow to each of us."

"It makes sense to a degree." Naoto said. "If it drains even a little of his power to create the shadows, he wouldn't want to waste energy by summoning shadows that totally overmatch us. That said, if he did that and killed us all, it would hardly matter."

"What if just killing us isn't the goal?" Mitsuru theorized. "Thanatos said as much. His aims may not be what he says, but there may be some truth to that."

"Maybe we're missing the point." Blake said. "Maybe he doesn't have a choice."

"Do you think he really is following Nyx's will?" Akihiko asked. "That would tie his hands."

"No, nothing like that." Blake replied. "I don't believe that at all. Maybe it's a more basic limitation on his power."

"Shadows are the produce of the unconscious mind." Yu said. The look on his face said he was putting pieces together. "Maybe he can only summon shadows by drawing them out of us. If that's the case, the shadows would naturally be similar to us in terms of ability level."

"Or it's something else entirely." Naoto sighed. "As painful as it is to admit, I can't figure this out. I need more evidence. It's a terrible thing to say, but I think we would learn a lot if one of us died."

"If you're looking for volunteers I don't think you'll find any." Ren said. "We've been down that road with our shadows already."

"No, that's not what I meant." Naoto said. She was clearly sorry she had said anything in the first place but it was too late now. "Sorry, I'm used to investigating crimes. Examining the body can tell you a lot about the killer. Seeing what Thanatos does if one of us falls would be similarly enlightening, though I sincerely hope it doesn't come to that."

"If I survived you guys shouldn't have any problems." Jaune said.

"You've come up with some interesting theories." Thanatos said. "No matter, it's time for the next match. Aigis or Labrys, you're up."

"I'll do it." Labrys volunteered.

"I am sure you can handle whatever Thanatos may have in store." Aigis said. Labrys nodded and descended into the arena.

"It's almost too easy with Labrys." Hypnos laughed. "She's so unstable." If Labrys was angered by the insult she did not show it. She did look worried though.

A swell of black sludge filled the center of the arena then collapsed, leaving behind a humanoid figure holding a gigantic sword. As the excess fell away it revealed a gray-haired robot girl with a close resemblance to Labrys. Labrys did not appear to be surprised but she did seem discouraged. "You're not exactly creative." Labrys sighed. "You made me face Unit 024 the last time too Hypnos."

"Why would he need to be creative?" The shadow said. "It's so effective! You keep having to kill me over and over. You say how hard it is. You say you can still see the look of pain and disappointment on my face the moment you crushed the life out of me. Yet you don't seem to have any difficulty repeating the process. Well, at least a part of you doesn't. It makes me wonder who the real Labrys is, you or the one with the yellow eyes. She seems to take charge whenever something important needs to be done. Maybe it's because you're too weak to do it without her. Come on now, bring her out so we can fight. I know you couldn't bear to kill me again. You're too weak to relive that pain."

"My shadow won't be making an appearance." Labrys declared. "You're not Unit 024. You're just a monster wearin' her face. Everythin' you say drives that point home. She would never say those horrible things. She would never be that evil. I won't have a problem killin' you."

"We'll get to find out won't we." The shadow said. It swung its huge sword around as if it were no heavier than cardboard. Labrys pulled the axe off of her back and it unfolded. She closed her eyes for a moment and a look of grim determination replaced the one of doubt. But there was no madness, no rage, it was just Labrys, facing her past, however painful.