SEE FIRST CHAPTER FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS

KINGDOM HEARTS IS THE PROPERTY OF SQUARE-ENIX

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

-CHAPTER START-

Cranagan, Midchilda

One Week after the Battle of Belka

After the hectic craziness that had suddenly hit a little while ago, everyone was quite happy to have some down time to recover and get acquainted with new arrivals. Ginga had felt rather faint once everything that had transpired was explained to her, especially Subaru being a Jinchūriki, but she came to accept it. She was out of the hospital after four days, as were "the quartet" (Timmy, Caro, Erika, and Erio); Vita, however, still had a few more days to come of being in Shamal's care, to her frustrated mortification (made worse by Hayate insisting on participating in caretaking, also having taken "a few" pictures "for posterity"); Fate, meanwhile, had greatly enjoyed mothering/doting on Erio & Caro during their stay while recovering.

Negi and Timmy got along like brothers after very little time, as did (slightly surprisingly) Kotarō and Erio. Signum and Setsuna had set up a sparring match, leaving Signum amazed that the 14-year-old hanyō had become so skilled while so young; Setsuna, in comparison, developed the utmost respect for Signum, referring to her with naught but the most formal and respectful titles (usually "onee-sama"), which left the ageless swordswoman hard-pressed to conceal her fluster and light embarrassment at being addressed so, though she was starting to get used to it as the two began teaching each other some of their respective styles.

Kaede Nagase and Sarah got along quite well, Shamal and Chizuru were practically kindred spirits, Konoka & Caro became almost like sisters, and Negi's inherent cuteness very quickly won over pretty much every female in the entirety of RF6, their motherly/sisterly instincts kicking in with the kind, polite, and adorable boy, even though they knew full well what he was capable of magically. At the same time, Erika quickly found herself being fawned over by the 3A Girls due to her own innocent cuteness, which she didn't terribly mind; Chizuru especially, due to the motherly girl's experience volunteering at daycares, was well-received by the girl. The fact Yue and Kaede N. had already started teaching her some new tricks helped, too. Also, Anya had struck up a friendship of sorts with her, Erika's laid-back and patient personality helping to balance out Anya's more fiery traits.

Evangeline was still somewhat insular amongst all the new faces, but she had quickly formed a bond of sorts with Rika and Vita – her fellow "immortal lolis"; the two in question accepted her seniority amongst them, with Eva being 580 to Vita's 449 and Rika's 223. Evangeline had also taken it upon herself to teach Hayate some more anti-personnel-level spells and techniques, and also help the girl refine her fine control over her power. So far, they seemed to be progressing quite nicely.

It had been revealed that, though his list of "partners" was not as extensive as Negi's, Kotarō had "bonded" with Natsumi, Chizuru, Madoka, and Mei Sakura. Nanoha still fondly remembered the sight of Teana, normally so confident and steady, becoming so flustered, nervous, and bashful when Yūno had joined her, Nanoha, and Fate the evening after the return to Midchilda. A few days later, Subaru and Kaede F. had "tried out" the new spell Haruna had taught them, to Teana and Marie's surprise (and, soon after, joy).

Right now, as Teana and Nanoha sat together in the rec room, going over status reports on the Saint's Cradle – now set to be renamed the Olivie – as techs combed over & through the massive ship. They briefly took notice as Zest walked by, now healthy and strong thanks to the UNSC identifying which organs were failing and promptly flash-cloning stable and healthy ones for him that were "installed" without incident. Just yesterday, Megane Alpine had finally awakened, and upon recovering from the shock of learning everything that had happened, immediately began working to break the protective shell her little girl had built around her heart. Already, she'd gotten Lutecia to smile at least once.

"Uh, Takamachi, Lanstar?" a man reported from the PA speakers above the two girls' heads. "We've got a bit of a… situation brewing in the gym room between Fuyō and Shigure. You two might wanna get down there and break it up before they blow a hole in the wall."

Teana sighed as she and Nanoha got to their feet and headed down toward the cafeteria.

"Kaede-chan really hates Asa-san, doesn't she?" Nanoha said sadly.

"Yeah" Teana replied in a similar tone. "It breaks Asa-san's heart, really, since she still remembers when she & Kaede were friends and wants that back. …Yeah, probably not gonna happen. But I'm pretty sure that, after that incident on their Earth, Kaede's gotten most of the nasty stuff out of her system."

The duo opened the door just in time to see a chair go flying.

"Touch me again and I will smear the walls with you, bitch!"

"Or not" Teana said. She sighed. "Come on, peacemaker. Time to help me do what you do best."

"This won't be very fun…" Nanoha lamented.

-SCENE BREAK-

Two Weeks After the Battle of Belka

It was official: the Time-Space Administration Bureau had forged a politico-military and trade alliance with the United Nations Space Command, the Sangheili Alliance, Raynor's Raiders (which the TSAB, like the others, could not officially/legally recognize as a sovereign power, but they, like the others, did officially condemn Arcturus Mengsk's government, sanction Raynor's anti-Dominion actions, and offer the Raiders various types of aid), the Protoss, and the Phoenix League Federation. Already technology was being exchanged, though in a closely regulated fashion. Specialists from all factions were donating their time & services amongst the six participants, and all involved had taken the warnings & signs Teana had encountered throughout her travels seriously, and started preparing for the mysterious enemy to pop up at any time, from any place. The mostly-purified Kerrigan had even started her planned "re-conquering" of the Zerg early (with semi-reluctant assistance and intel from Artanis and his followers), feeling that they'd be needed to fight this unknown but resourceful and powerful foe. Eight days after Belka, the Phoenix League's allies, the three-species Tripartate, arrived, and promptly joined in the fun, bringing the coalition's count of participating civilizations up to either seven or ten, depending on how you looked at it.

It had taken nearly two weeks before someone was finally able to pull Dr. Halsey out of the TSAB's "Infinity Library"; Yūno had described her reaction to being introduced to such an utterly massive repository of knowledge as a somewhat more subdued version of "kid in the worlds' largest candy store".

Ala Alba had set up another magitech "link portal" between Mahora Academy and RF6 headquarters, in addition to the one already aboard the Starshot, and their members (which now included all of 3A) and Mahora Academy's mages were frequently going back & forth between the two worlds, ironing out details, setting up alliances & agreements, and exchanging ideas. Also, the TSAB had dispatched liaisons to Mundus Magicus to make contact with the Hellas Empire and Megalomesembrian Federation (though they planned to keep a very close and wary eye on the latter). Spells of the Vetus magic system were already starting to show up in the repertoires of a few lucky RF6 mages (though not before the Bureau heads AND Mahora's mages cleared said individuals to be taught them), while Negi could already pull off Photon Lancer and Plasma Smasher thanks to (TSAB's) Fate's teachings. Also, the first meeting between Fate Testarossa-Harlaown and Fate Averruncus had been… interesting, to say the least.

The status report from Averruncus was that, of his Ministrae, Koyomi, Tamaki, and Shirabe had adjusted well, and Luna/Shiori was more Negi's than Fate's now, but Homura had been unable to handle the revelation that the Lifemaker whom she'd worshipped as a benevolent god was in fact an actively malevolent Precursor with goals of two-planet genocide, along with learning the atrocious reasons he wanted to do so, and was presently on constant psych-watch with her powers sealed for her own protection. Despite their clashes in the past, Teana couldn't help but pity the girl.

Vivio was safe & sound, Scaglietti was dead, the Bureau had several powerful new allies, and the members of RF6 and Gamma Team had some well-deserved downtime. …A week from now, they would all look back on this time, when they were merrily thinking "we finally have some peace; what would dare mess this up for us?", and berate themselves for tempting fate.

It started mid-afternoon, when all contact with the city of Vendol, 250 kilometers west of Cranagan, was lost. A low-orbit flyover by the TSAB destroyer Naraka revealed a literal roiling mass of darkness seething through the streets and over & through the buildings. Recon drones were either shot down or chased off by literal demons patrolling the skies over the freshly-conquered city. Very few refugees/survivors of the city managed to escape and reach friendly territory.

The entire rest of Midchilda immediately went on high alert, as did the contingents of UNSC, Sangheili, Raider, and Phoenix League ships & personnel present (Raynor and the Hyperion, along with the Protoss ships, had needed to return to their own realm to defend their territories from Mengsk and rogue (i.e., not yet controlled by Kerrigan) Zerg, respectively). This readiness proved valuable when, less than two hours after Vendol's fall, a hostile force was detected approaching Cranagan's western border. The citizenry was quickly evacuated to the various safehouses, while the defending military forces set up positions and readied themselves, with the Shadow of Intent taking position over the city, lending its assets to the cause.

-SCENE BREAK-

Vita's hammer sent yet another demon hurtling through a wall, while Sarah's gravity-hammer pulverized several waist-high "ankle-biter" lesser demons in one blow. Signum and Marie were nearby, covering each other and teaming up to take down anything hostile in sight. A charged Plasma-Burst shot took down a "Type-E" demon soldier (identified to be about as strong, fast, and durable as the average Sangheili, but lacking the shields or durable armor of the saurian aliens, and a little less intelligent), and a swing of Levantine vertically bisected a "Type-G" (the "ankle-biters"). And then a huge war-mount lumbered by, its occupants somehow not noticing the four below as they focused the demon-beast's mortar cannons on a quickly-scattering squad of Sangheili.

"Damn" Marie said. "That thing has AA guns. I don't think we can fly up and dive-bomb it like we usually do."

"The guns only point up" Signum replied. "Let's toss Vita up at it from here; I should be able to throw her high enough."

"Hey!" Vita snapped. "Nobody tosses me!"

The argument became moot when something much bigger showed up: a friendly Scarab walker, which proceeded to burn/melt a hole clean through the demon-best with its main cannon. The creature toppled over, the ground shaking as it hit, the occupants spilling out to be gunned down by a passing Warthog.

Suddenly, a man-sized humanoid demon came charging out, sword held overhead and bellowing a war cry. Sarah, demonstrating one of the moves Zafira had taught her, responded by german-suplexing him, rolling atop him, and starting to beat him with chakra-charged punches.

"Wow, Sarah," Marie grinned, "right to the mount, huh? Not even gonna let him buy you dinner first?"

It took Sarah a second or two to get it, but when she did she blushed and shot an annoyed glare at her sister.

"Don't worry, sis" Marie continued, her grin still present. "I won't tell Vice or Ginga about this."

By this point, Vita was openly laughing. Sarah, however, smirked.

"Marie," she said as she stood up, "you do know that I'm big enough and strong enough to literally restrain you over my knee and spank you, right? And I know for a fact thanks to Kaede that you don't enjoy that sort of thing."

Marie's grin disappeared. "S-Shutting up now" she replied.

Signum, meanwhile, casually finished off the demon that had (barely) survived the beatdown that Gamma-7 had given him, all while trying to hide her own little amused smile at the situation.

-SCENE BREAK-

Because of a combination of advance warning, quick response, and massive military presence (especially the Shadow of Intent's contributions), the attack on Cranagan was pushed back & out very quickly with few casualties. Unfortunately, coalition forces had made no headway on reclaiming Vendol and had fallen back from there for now.

What was worse, while the main strength of the coalition was defending Cranagan the enemy had also attacked the less-heavily-defended city of Eragen, approximately 75 kilometers southwest of Cranagan. The defenders were putting up a hell of a fight, bolstered by quick aid from the TSAB cruiser Deva and the Raynor's Raiders battlecruiser Ephemeral. All the same, they would need help. So they got it.

-SCENE BREAK-

Eragen (city), Mid (continent), Midchilda

Day After Initial Attacks

Subaru rushed through a half-dozen Type-E demons, landing a skull-cracking blow to each one as she passed. A pack of Type-Gs rushed at her, only for her to pull out the MA5C she'd been carrying slung over her back and take them down. She then leapt over a wall in her path, landing in a courtyard where she found the same demon who'd shown up outside Scaglietti's old base after the Cradle took off, finishing draining the life energy from a Bureau marine and then tossing the withered dead husk to the side.

"Hello, Number Zero" he said. "You're looking well. I assume you have come here to stop me?"

"I'm gonna do a lot more than just stop you" Subaru snarled, an aura of deep-blue chakra flickering to life around her.

The demon smirked. "Bring it."

-Mini-Break-

Elsewhere in the city, the rather unique team of Erio Mondial, Erika Swanson, and Spartan-IIIs Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 were fighting their way through the hordes; the Spartans were mainly relying on their weapons, while Erio & Erika were using 'basic' spells and jutsu (though the latter was also proving her skill with a Needler). A swing of Strada bisected three Type-Ps at once, a round from Lucy's M395 DMR punched through the skull of a Type-E, a pink explosion ripped another Type-E open, and a blast from Tom's shotgun tore a Type-P apart. A swarm of Type-Fs – flying demons around five feet in size – swooped in from above, only for Erika to call forth a Vetus magic circle beneath her as several points of light formed around her:

"Sagitta Magica: Series Lucis!"

The barrage of Light-type magical projectiles easily brought down the attacking 'squadron', and the few survivors were quickly finished off by the Spartan-3 pair. The quartet continued on, carving through their attackers with such ease that the demons started running from them. For several minutes, they pursued the enemy forces; during this, Tom received and voiced a report that the horde was being pushed out of the city, retreating from the coalition's forces.

Suddenly, there was a palpable wave of malice-tainted dark chakra, along with a shockwave that knocked over a few (already damaged) buildings.

"…I think someone's pushed Subaru over the edge" Erio said.

"What gives you that idea?" Tom asked.

An explosion accompanied a tall demon being sent hurtling through the air over the team's heads, hotly pursued by a four-tailed, blue-and-black humanoid entity.

"I dunno" Erio snarked. "Just a gut feeling, maybe?"

"W-We should be fine" Erika said. "When A-Averruncus Secundum sent Shion into a rage, once she killed him she returned to normal… Well, plus she passed out, but…"

Suddenly, a boy's voice came over the comm.

"Hello?-! Any friendlies receiving this, I need help! I got separated from my team, and there's a bunch of these bastards trying to skin me alive!"

"Timmy?" Erio replied. "Where are you, man? How bad is it?"

"I'm by the Veyron Industries tower! There's a bunch of Type-Es, a swarm of Type-Gs, and one big armored guy! I can't handle them myself for much longer!"

"Alright, keep calm, buddy. We're on our way. Erika, we-"

But the girl in question was already gone, racing for her boyfriend's position at top speed, her muscles flooded with chakra and mana to boost her speed to Spartan-2 levels. Then she started roof-hopping, covering even more distance. She felt her magic building within her as her mind flashed to terrifying split-second "what-if" thoughts. She didn't care that Tom and Erio were shouting for her to wait up. She didn't care that she was making leaps that revealed her diaper under her skirt for anyone below to see. She didn't care that a few demons took potshots at her as she went. She only moved.

Less than a minute later, a Suiton: Suigadan heralded her arrival, taking down a Type-E and a handful of Type-Gs. She landed beside Tim, seeing him scratched up and with a bruise or two, along with holding a hand to his upper right side, where one of his ribs had been fractured. Erika was now in her cold, quiet, frightening persona that she took whenever she was seriously angry, fixing the demons with a cold glare that actually made several Type-Gs back away. The Type-Es, however, stood their ground, and a demon around the height of a Jiralhanae, clad in faded-gold armor and wielding what looked like a combination bladed shield and crossbow, stepped forward. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she recognized him.

"You're the one who stopped me from preventing Vivio's kidnapping…" she spoke in a low, deceptively calm tone, as she remembered the large armored being intercepting her charge at Quattro and smashing her aside hard enough to fracture her arm.

"And you're the soft-hearted child who tries to play pretend-warrior" the demon replied. "Go home, little girl. You're too weak to protect anyone."

"Erika…" Tim muttered. "Get out of here. Get backup."

"…I've always been that way, haven't I?"

The girl's low declaration caught him off-guard.

"I've… a-always been unable to help the people I care for when they're in trouble. Too scared to, not strong enough to… I couldn't do anything when Marie was suffering with guilt and ran away from us out of shame. I couldn't protect Vivio when that evil woman attacked us. All I could ever do was stand back, and wait for the big heroes to swoop in and make things right where I couldn't. I…"

Her head rose, and there was more courage and conviction in her eyes than Tim had ever seen in anyone's before.

"I won't be like that anymore."

Those present could somehow feel as pure magic – Holy-magic – swirled within Erika, coalescing. Her right arm began to rise.

"I will not stand by and let the people who are precious to me get hurt. Never again!"

The mysterious power within her began to flow into her rising arm.

"I won't let you hurt them! Not you, and not anyone else!"

Her arm was held out perpendicular to her body, open palm facing out at the confused and surprised demons.

"I don't care who or what you think you are! You do not…"

Motes of light rapidly began to converge in her hand.

"…hurt…"

A semi-formless bar of light coalesced into the loosely-defined shape of a sword, the 'hilt' in her hands.

"…MY…"

And in a flash of light, it took form.

"…FRIENDS!-!-!"

A pulse of power accompanied the weapon's manifestation, bowling some of the smaller demons over. It bore resemblance to a Disney-esque white and blue castle, the central spire forming the shaft of the weapon, and next to the tip was a violet and cyan eight-pointed crystalline star like a snowflake. The handle was golden in color, as was the inner edge of the handguard, while the guard's base sported curled, cyan wheels. From the base of the hilt extended a thin chain of three white links, attached to the other end of which was what looked like a glass slipper. The demons immediately recognized the weapon now held in Erika's hand, and even the Type-Es took a step back.

Nearby, Marie arrived, touching down on a rooftop, having heard the transmission and come flying in as quickly as she could… and as soon as she recognized what Erika had just manifested, her breath caught in her throat out of utter shock. The "Stroke of Midnight".

"A…" she gasped out. "A… K… Keyblade…"

Timmy was in awe at the amount of Light magic his girlfriend was currently channeling and holding. The head demon had an irrepressible nervousness and… fear… to his expression. Erika's eyes were closed as she basked in the warmth and strength that the weapon sent to her, merging and twisting with the warmth and strength of her own Heart. She could feel it; this key-shaped blade was an extension of her, and it represented the strength of her Heart, of her conviction to protect those important to her. The warmth and Light was like a calm, gentle voice that she could not quite hear, easing her fears, strengthening her resolve, bolstering her courage.

She opened her eyes. She gripped the Keyblade's hilt in both hands. And she charged.

-CHAPTER END-

Yes, I was planning this.

Next chapter: we wrap up Subaru and Erika's curb-stompings, and then get to the battle to retake Vendol.