Smaller, More Honest Souls

by MasterCaedus

Following the cataclysmic events of RWBY season 3, Remnant is in disarray and team RWBY is torn apart. Ruby and JNPR are the only ones chasing after Cinder Fall to exact justice. Worlds away, Sora fights the final battle for Kingdom Hearts against Xehanort and to gain justice for those he has hurt. Who is Salem, and could these battles be part of the same war against the Darkness?

14. The Storm

Chapter 14: The Storm

Sora ran along the back of the Nevermore, dragging the teeth of the Keyblade behind him. A long blade of Light was extending from his weapon, slicing through the Dark flesh of the giant Grimm like a hot knife through butter. As he reached the tail of the monster, which was already disintegrating behind him, he jumped from its back towards an uncoiling King Taijitu. "Three oh five!" he shouted gleefully. He brought the Keyblade before him at the open maw of the snake-like monster and unleashed a Firaga Burst, the condensed explosions traveling down its throat. A series of explosions ran up its body from its white head on the ground, ripping it apart until even the fangs closest to Sora disappeared in a fiery blaze. "Three oh six!"

"It's not fair to keep count when they're all only attacking you!" Ruby shouted as she bisected a group of Beowolves that had tried to charge past her. "Two fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty."

"What? How?!" Jaune shouted as he ran a pair of Ursai through. "I'm only at one sixty one!"

"That's still really good given it's only been fifteen minutes," Ruby told Jaune. "You know that, right?" She fired off Crescent Rose and decapitated a Griffon. "Two twenty one."

"Yeah!" Sora agreed as he hit the ground. He rolled to his feet and the Keyblade began to glow red. He brought it down to his side, then disappeared and reappeared behind a mass of Grimm. A moment later, their bodies exploded in bursts of light. "Um... Three forty? What do you guys think?"

Jaune sighed. "Nope. Three fifty," he muttered half-jealously. He bashed in the face plate of a Boarbatusk, then impaled it and sent it flying at an Ursa, its tusks impaling the bear just before it disintegrated itself. "And I'm at one sixty three."

"Great. Catching up, you see?" Sora asked. He flipped over an incoming Deathstalker tail and sliced the stinger off. When he was upside down, he laughed as he saw two very familiar faces run out of the Colosseum's halls – even with their great skills, they had still been driven backwards through necessity to defend themselves – and into the stands just as the last evacuee from that region of the stands ran into the halls. That area had been given priority, with most of the emergency responders going there to help ferry people away from the battle; the rest of the arena was in disarray. "Nora! Ren!" Sora landed and froze the Deathstalker solid. "Guys! Ren's awake!"

"That's -" Jaune began, but he was cut off by a sudden explosion of noise. Sora's eyes widened, the world slowing down in his perception as he saw just what was present in the path of the flames... Nora and Ren were about to die. "N-"

"Stopza!" Sora screamed, freezing everything around him with a massive explosion of magic. He wouldn't let his friends die. The world inside the Colosseum came to a sudden, silent stop as the explosion began to appear from nothingness. He took off at a sprint, struggling to keep up the immensely draining spell until he could get close enough to save the two. He panted as he placed one foot in front of the other over and over, sweat pouring from his scalp and down his face from the strain. He could feel his strength running out faster and faster with each moment; even Mickey had barely been able to hold a Stopza spell on his own, so if he hadn't been scared for his friends Sora would have been proud of himself. It only got worse, though, as he could feel his strength draining to its dregs. Desperately, he lashed out with the Keyblade. "Reflect!" The last of his magic rushed from the tip of the Keyblade and slammed into Nora and Ren just as time began to slowly start up once more. The explosion expanded quickly, soon enveloping the young Huntsman and Huntress and sending Sora flying away with the flames crashing against his Keyblade.

"-ora! Ren!" Jaune and Ruby finished screaming, time having restarted for them at the same time as the explosion. Sora crashed into the ground between the two, grimacing as he tunneled through the ground, stone slamming into his body. He groaned and pushed himself to his feet, Keyblade's tip digging into the ground as he leaned against it. He panted, but kept his gaze locked on where Nora and Ren had been moments before. As the smoke cleared, a small floating sphere of Light could be seen, hexagonal surface spinning midair.

Jaune looked over at Sora, tears welling up in his eyes. He hadn't lost someone else... "Sora... th-thank you," he muttered, knees shaking for a moment. He rushed towards Sora and hugged the Keyblade wielder appreciatively. "I... They -"

"They're my friends too," Sora said, patting Jaune on the back then pushing him away. He gestured over his shoulder at the wall of incoming Darkness. "We've still got to deal with-"

"Oh, do you?" a familiar voice inquired from within the flames. Sora's eyes widened and he jumped forward, tackling Jaune and Ruby to the ground just as a huge beam of black energy shot over them. There was another series of explosions behind them; the Grimm shrieked as they were summarily eradicated. Sora looked up, eyes wide, as Master Xehanort stepped out of the flames in his true form. The old man was sneering down at the three warriors. His Keyblade was at his side, glowing ominously. "I would not let monsters interfere in our battle, Seeker of Light." He held up his off hand and fired a ball of Light straight upward. It exploded, the sparks forming the image of a screaming wolf.

"White Fang! Attack!" someone screamed, their voice carrying through the speakers. It wasn't the announcer, so something must have happened to her. Sora pushed himself to his feet and stared at Xehanort as more of the bone masked terrorists appeared at his side. Sora glanced over at Nora and Ren, who were staring worriedly at them through their Reflega wall.

"We'll go save them. You deal with this," Ruby said as she saw the determined look on Sora's face.

"Good," Sora said, standing up and throwing the Kingdom Key tip first into the ground. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pellet of pure White Dust. He tossed it into the air and caught it, clenching the pellet in his fist and snarling at Xehanort. "Get clear. This is gonna be a big one."

Ruby and Jaune glanced at each other, then ran towards Ren and Nora. Sora let the Reflega wall drop, freeing up his magical reserves to slowly refill. Not that it would matter in a few moments. "XEHANORT!" Sora screamed as he cracked the Dust vial, causing a massive explosion of light to surround his body.

Xehanort began to grin. It was a massive, excited, and evil smile that would have scared anyone except the young man he was about to fight. Instead, as the powerful rays of Light slammed into the powerless terrorists surrounding him, Xehanort raised his Keyblade and deflected the raw energy. He slid back a few inches in the rubble, which caused him to raise an annoyed and, perhaps, worried eyebrow.

Finally, the light died down. Ruby stood beside Jaune, Nora, and Ren, cloak up to help shield her eyes. She was the first one to see what had changed, and it was jaw dropping to the young woman. Sora had already made a reputation as someone who did things that, even on Remnant, were considered impossible and beyond the scope of legend. But this was different. Different even from the last time he'd fought with Xehanort. He was cloaked in pure light, his hood pulled up over his head now had a glowing white crown shaped like his necklace resting at its lip. His vest was still black, though it now had a series of gray, nearly invisible fleur-de-lis running up and down its front. His sweatshirt was a bright, almost shining white that had fused with his gloves, black straps criscrossing up to his mid forearm where another strap ran around the circumfrence of his arm. His pants were bright white, with black, almost dragon shaped swirls running down the sides beneath his black pouches and straps. His shoes remained the same, save replacing the yellow lines with white. The young man was radiating pure, almost visible power.

Sora slowly raised his hands to both sides, then brought them down. Bright white light flashed behind him, and the aura of energy flowing from his body grew twice as large and became a blindingly visible white. Floating across the Keyblade wielder's back was a pair of Keyblades. One was deep black with a chain ending in a crown, a weapon whose color reminded Ruby of a crow's feathers. The other was bright white, with what looked like an exploding star in its teeth; its chain ended with a familiar star shaped charm – Sora's Wayfinder. After a few seconds, Sora's feet slowly began to rise from the ground, the Keyblades floating down slightly from his shoulders, lending them the look of two wings as they spun behind him. "Hope you're ready to lose, Xehanort," Sora said, eyes growing ever more serious. He angled himself forward and began to drift towards the old villain. Sora cast a quick glance at Ruby, and she nodded, grabbing Jaune, Ren, and Nora and using as much strength as she could to catapult them away from Sora and Xehanort's duel with her Semblance.

"Kick his butt, Sora!" she shouted as she soared through the air.

Sora grinned and watched Ruby go for a second before returning his gaze to Xehanort, who had abandoned the ground as well. His Keyblade angled at Sora. "Do try, Child. Can it be entertaining this time, at least?" Sora narrowed his eyes angrily on the old man, then roared and shot towards Xehanort with Keyblades swirling around him of their own volition.

R W B Y

Qrow shifted back into his human skin mid air, spinning before landing at a full sprint through the halls. People were screaming and running around, searching for their family or friends vainly after the explosion. Qrow didn't know how many people had died, but from what he'd seen it had been the result of a full sized air transport front loaded with fire Dust crashing into the Colosseum at full speed. More White Fang being brought in to attack people and keep the Huntsmen trainees in check while they murdered people. "Die filthy humans!" one of their number screamed, appearing before a family. The youngest child began crying. Qrow growled, red eyes glinting menacingly, and grabbed his scythe. With a powerful backhand attack, he sent the terrorist flying. The White Fang member's skull slammed into the stone and he went silent.

Qrow kept running, worried that things were getting worse everywhere. If this kept up... who knew what could happen? If another of those giant monsters was hiding out around Haven Academy, things would only escalate from there. And without any Huntsmen in the arena, the death and destruction the White Fang were unleashing on citizens – children! – would be bound to wake it up sooner or later. The only chance they had to keep everything from really going downhill was to stop Xehanort and Cinder as fast as possible.

Qrow nearly stumbled over his own feet as he ran. Xehanort and Cinder. He'd seen them both in action before, and if they were here, people were going to get really scared. Hell, even if Sora kicked it up a notch like he did last time he'd fought Xehanort and pulled a second Keyblade out of nowhere, that might only scare people more. A fight between people that strong would – Qrow was cut off as a massive wall of black and white, swirling energy destroyed the stone in front of him. He leaned back and slammed his weapon into the ground, the blade slowing him even as he approached the beam of death. He slid to a stop just before hitting it, the heel of his boot touching the energy just barely. "YOW!" he shouted, jumping away from the still continuous beam. He clutched his left leg and hopped from side to side. As soon as his Aura dealt with the burn, he gingerly placed his foot back on the ground. So, Sora and Xehanort had started fighting already. "Typical..."

Qrow leaned forward and readied himself to sprint forward again once the energy stopped. Once it finally did, he flew forward at full speed, yanking his weapon from the ground as he sprinted with ragged, furious determination. He reached the lip of the smooth canyon and jumped, soaring into the stands with his feet lanced out in front of him. His heels collided with the skull of a White Fang terrorist, the mask on the Faunus woman's face shattering as he kicked off and brought his blade around him, sending the Faunus flying away from the woman she'd been threatening. "Come and get me you sons of bitches!" Qrow shouted to the sky. He looked around angrily and dashed to the closest, terrified White Fang member. Qrow's monstrous blade slammed the Fang member into the stone, shattering it beneath the Faunus.

"That's the Grim Reaper!" one of the White Fang shouted, terror running through his voice. He raised his weapon and fired off a stream of bullets at the Huntsman. "Get him!"

Qrow turned towards the source of the noise, eyes wide with bloody rage. He disappeared, moving almost as quickly as Sora could, and reappeared behind the White Fang grunt. His hand wrapped around the White Fang member's throat, fingers in a vice grip as he strangled the Faunus. "You know, you guys are animals," Qrow growled at the terrorist as he used the terrorist's body to block the bullets flying at him from all sides. He threw the bleeding, perhaps dying White Fang soldier at another terrorist while running at another. He raised his blade and blocked the incoming bullets, then slid to his back under another series of projectiles. As he passed the Fang member, he jumped to his feet, causing the flat of his blade to hit his opponent in the chin. The terrorist's head snapped backwards and he floated inches above the ground. Qrow spun around and delivered a powerful punch to the terrorist's midsection and sent him flying.

"Stand down!"

Qrow whirled on the voice and felt his blood run cold. Wearing a small, red and white Grimm mask beneath his spiky red hair and deep black horns, was Adam Taurus. His red shirt beneath his robe like black jacket likely hid the blood of his human victims, just as his blood red blade did in his right hand. Qrow's eyes narrowed on the terrorist leader. This was the guy who'd hurt Firecracker. "I'm going to enjoy reaping you," Qrow muttered. He flicked his wrist, causing his weapon to suddenly extend and curve around into its scythe form. It glinted hungrily in the light.

Taurus laughed cruelly and sheathed his blade. He looked over at one of his lieutenants. "Lumious, go. Continue with our righteous mission," he told the golden haired White Fang soldier. The man nodded and charged off with the rest of the Fang.

"I won't let you go that easy!" Qrow snarled. He shot forward, scythe spinning like it truly was the weapon of Death itself. "I'll kill each of you if I have to!"

"It won't be so easy, Reaper," Taurus said, appearing in Qrow's path. His blade collided with Qrow's, glowing slightly as all of the force in his blow disappeared suddenly. He slashed out, causing their lock to end and Qrow to slide backwards. Taurus sheathed his blade once again. "You have to deal with me." He took off running at the Huntsman, blade slashing at Qrow's head over and over. As Qrow spun around the next incoming blow, he saw a ball of white crash into one of pitch black. Sora and Xehanort – this was on a whole new level, and Qrow didn't know what was going to happen with them.

"Am I not worthy of your attention?" Taurus asked with a condescending smirk as he slashed again. Qrow's eyes widened and he ducked beneath the blow. A moment later, he saw a small triangle of cloth float before him.

"I really don't like it when people hurt my cape," he growled, bringing his scythe around like lightning. Its handle crashed into Taurus' legs, tripping him. Qrow lashed out with a back kick as he stood up, and his foot crashed into the flat of Wilt. Taurus flipped midair and landed on his feet.

Dammit, people are dying while I deal with this guy... Qrow growled to himself. Taurus was good, he had to give him that. Good enough that this battle would last long enough for too many people to die. Qrow panted, fighting off a panic attack. Every death would at least partially be on him; he didn't recognize Aride's betrayal when he should have seen it a mile away. And now people were dying because of it. Stop overthinking. Act...

He was surprised when a black portal suddenly opened behind Tuarus. "Behind you," Qrow warned, grinning at what was coming the terrorist's way. The Faunus just scoffed. "Whatever..."

A long, red and black katana flashed out of the portal, its blade colliding with Adam's shoulder and causing him to stumble to the side. A moment later, more portals appeared around it and Qrow's eyes widened. Glyn, Port, Oobleck, and a few other Huntsmen that Oz had on his shortlist of trustworthy people jumped out of the black and red holes in reality, weapons at the ready. His blood froze when he saw a woman dressed in a long white coat with similarly colored hair jump out of one, hair and coat streaming behind her. "Ice Queen," he growled as his eyes locked on her. Then, out of the main portal walked a woman Qrow knew better than he knew himself. "So, I take it the reunion didn't go as well as you'd hoped, Rae?"

"It didn't go at all, you little shit!" she snapped, eyes burning. "You couldn't handle one damn thing for me?" She stopped when she saw the hurt look on her brother's face and sighed. "Sorry. So, who was giving my little brother trouble?"

"Adam Taurus was not giving me trouble," Qrow retorted indignantly. "Also – by five minutes!"

"Taurus..?" Raven's eyes hardened and rage seemed to gain a physical form as it rolled off of her shoulders. She turned to the surprised, but mostly uninjured White Fang leader. Raven placed one hand on her katana's hilt and slid her feet apart. "Go help Summer's daughter. I want this sack of shit for myself."

Qrow grinned. "He's all yours," he responded. He turned towards the battle Sora and Xehanort were having and sprinted off. "When it doubt, Ruby is probably at the center of it all."

Raven watched her brother run off for a moment, then turned on Taurus. "Why do you wish to fight me? If he could not defeat me -"

"My brother never beat me in a fight when I was this angry," Raven interjected, shadows covering her eyes. She turned her gaze back on Adam, the red of her irises glistening with their own internal red light. "And you would already be dead if he wasn't having a Goddamn panic attack." Raven Branwen then launched herself forward, slashing out with her blade faster than most could respond. Taurus was not most, however, and he raised his own blade in defense, then grunted in surprise as she passed through a black and red portal and disappeared.

"What the -" Taurus was cut off when she appeared above his left shoulder, her knee slamming into his face. She slashed out again and disappeared through another portal. Taurus reeled from the blow, then raised his blade to wait for her next attack. It came from below, her fist slamming into his chin and sending him flying. She went through another portal.

"You remember anything you did at Beacon last year?" Raven asked as she reappeared behind him. Her feet both collided with the small of his back and she kicked off to back flip away. She disappeared again and left Adam to growl and wait for her next attack. She instead appeared about five paces in front of him, her blade in its sheathe once again. She gave the dials a spin and drew the weapon once more. It was covered in yellow Lightning Dust when she drew it. "Maybe this color will remind you."

"What are you talking about you filthy huma -" Taurus shut his mouth and studied Raven's face for a moment. "Tch... You wouldn't be related to that blonde human bimbo, would you? No, wait – I see it. Her eyes were the same red when I sliced her arm clean off. It wasn't personal of course. She was human... so I was just attacking an animal one of my enemies took as a pet."

Raven just smiled, the sudden and illogical act unnerving Adam Taurus. She looked like a demon reveling in carnage at that moment, a monster ready to kill. If she had been wearing her mask, he probably would have thought she had become a Creature of Grimm in that moment. "I don't think you understand just how big of a fuck up you made just now," she said sweetly. She disappeared before Taurus could even blink, though this time no portal was involved. She merely moved as a few black streaks, reappearing behind Adam. He turned his head and glanced at her from the corner of his eyes as she slowly placed her blade back into its scabbard. "You know, I think I'll refer to 'an eye for an eye' as this now."

"What are you-"

Adam suddenly screamed in pain and fell to his knees as his right forearm and hand suddenly slid from his body, no longer connected to his form. He clutched uselessly at the bleeding stump of his arm, screaming louder as he saw it and his mind began to intensify the pain and shock. The Lightning Dust present on his arm suddenly discharged, cauterizing the wound with its intense heat. His hand fell from his stump of an arm and his palm hit the ground as the intense waves of pain ran through his body. When it finally ended, he no longer had even the strength to hold himself up and his chest fell to the ground. "F-finish it, you dirty h-human."

Raven scoffed, not even looking over her shoulder at the growling Faunus. "Why would I do that? Why would I give you the sweet release of death?" her voice still the same saccharine sweet it had been since Adam had bragged about hurting Yang. "No. No, I think this is much better. You see, you, the hero of the White Fang. The righteous geurilla. The warrior defending the honor of his people. The terrorist, if we're being honest instead of grandiose. I gave you what you hate the most. Pure, unadulterated shame at the hands of a 'lesser being.' You were just defeated by a... dirty human, I believe you said? And, before you decide to refer to my daughter – who is a Dragon you dirty animal – as a bimbo again so I'll kill you... Well, I'll just take your other arm and leave you here, writhing in twice the agony. Defenseless. Weak. A cornered, injured animal. Maybe a child whose parents you murdered today would come around and bash your skull in with a rock. Maybe you would die in the crossfire of those demigods over there. But either way, you'd die in shame. I, however, would rather you live in it." Then Raven began to slowly walk away from the downed warrior.

"Come back here and finish it!" Adam screamed, spittle flying from his mouth as he screamed bloody rage. "Finish it you bitch!" Raven just ignored him, moving on to find Cinder and her goons. They were responsible for Yang just as much as the defeated weakling behind her. And maybe they would at least provide an interesting challenge. "I will kill you! I'll destroy everything you love!"

Raven just smirked. He was welcome to lose to her again.

R W B Y

Sora roared as he crossed blades with Xehanort, fighting with all of his Heart at that moment so he could protect not only his friends, their world, and the future, but also so he could get a chance to do as his Heart was screaming at him to do. This battle was just as much for Sora at that moment as it was for the Light as a whole. "You seem flustered, Sora," Xehanort's dark voice taunted as he brought his Keyblade around in a horizontal slash that caused a small sonic boom to erupt as it moved. Sora ignored the attack, his twin Keyblades moving on their own to take the attack while Sora's fists grew charged with flames and lashed out at Xehanort's face. Firagas exploded around his knuckles as his fists moved in, the Dark Keyblade Master barely dodging the first of the fiery blows and moving his Keyblade up to bear the brunt of the second. The attack sent him flying, and he found that he had slammed into the stone of the Colosseum, body limp on the ground.

Xehanort groaned and pushed himself to his feet. When Sora had unleashed his full potential just a few minutes earlier, he had felt far more energy rolling from the child – no, young man's shoulders than he had ever felt in Sora's presence before. Even when using the same ability during their fight ages earlier for the fate of Kingdom Hearts, his powers had been incredible, but insignificant compared to Xehanort's own. Those around him had been much stronger. Now, though? His power dwarfed even that which Xehanort had felt coming from the Mouse King or even from his own old peer, the Wizard Yen Sid. Sora fought as Xehanort had once heard the Lost Masters had during their final battle two Keyblade Wars prior.

Xehanort dove to the side, dodging the pillar of white energy that ran his way and launching a massive Dark Firaga at Sora. The younger man raised his twin weapons before him, flats facing Xehanort as they crossed into an 'X.' They shot forward, the two weapons slamming into the heart of the black explosion and reversing its course completely. Xehanort's eyes widened as he watched the

flames the size of a house approaching him. The Fallen Master placed both hands on the hilt of his Keyblade and held it down at his left him. With a massive swing, he brought it up and batted the Firaga into the air. It exploded, a massive mushroom of Darkness expanding across the skies. Even from far above, he could hear the terrified screams of the citizens far below. The plan, despite this sudden interference from Sora – perhaps even aided by this sudden, massive display of power – was progressing as it should.

Sora wordlessly appeared before his opponent, Keyblade wings raised above his head. They began to spin like massive saws. He tossed them towards Xehanort, the disks of death igniting with coronas of pure Light as they rushed at their enemy. Xehanort jumped past the first attack, which effortlessly burned through the stone where he'd been standing before following him again. The other Xehanort flipped over as it neared him, the light missing his nose by mere centimeters. As he passed it, he slammed his own Keyblade into it and sent it flying for the other weapon. Just before they hit, however, they disappeared and then reappeared at Sora's back.

"Where is the usual smile, Sora?" Xehanort asked as he launched himself at Sora once again. His Keyblade slashed at Sora over and over again, but the young Keyblade wielder just stared at him with the same fury of all Keyblade Wielders of Light that came before him. Righteous and dispassionate. His only response was the seemingly automatic movement of his Keyblades to easily block each of Xehanort's blows. Whenever the old man's Keyblade hit one of Sora's, it was stopped in its tracks entirely, Sora's Keyblade not budging at all from the force of the blow. "Where are the lectures on the power of Light and the weakness of Darkness?"

"You threatened the people I care about. You nearly blew them up. Killed them," Sora said, his eyes never leaving Xehanort as they began crossing blades once more. After a moment, he caught Xehanort's Keyblade in the gap at the center of Oathkeeper, twisting it to the side and allowing him to deliver a powerful blow with Oblivion to Xehanort's head. The old man went flying, crashing into the announcer's box. "You don't get a merciful Sora right now." Sora's Keyblades angled over his shoulders, looking like cannons growing from his body as they began to glow with vibrant white light.

Xehanort's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He quickly summoned his Shadow and began to channel his own mega powered ball of Darkness at the tip of his own Keyblade as he summoned it back to his hand. He would not lose this fight; he had destroyed Sora when he had fought like this before. He would win this time. Xehanort's iron will began to budge, however, when he saw Sora raised his palms to begin channeling another two spheres of destructive Light. "RAAAAGH!" Sora roared as he let loose the four wells of energy, the streams colliding in front of him to rush at Xeanort in a single, thin stream of light. Xehanort roared in turn and unleashed a massive stream of Darkness to match and overcome Sora's attack. The Darkness shot forward, crackling with Xehanort's full power.

The earth rumbled.

The sky shook.

Sora's beam of light collided with the center of Xehanort's attack,sending its power flying apart in every direction as it tunneled through the center of the Darkness. Xehanort's eyes widened as the Darkness uncoiled before him, becoming useless as Sora's attack approached. Then it collided with Xehanort's Keyblade, and there came a massive explosion of Light that sent Xehanort flying over the edge of the Colosseum and towards the land far below.

As the old man fell, he could see the ocean swelling in the distance. Sora had awakened the monster. The old man caught himself mid air and floated in place, panting in pain. "H-how did you do this?" he asked as he saw a massive coil of fins rise from the ocean, followed by a large, black fin. It wasn't completely awake yet, merely stirring from its ancient slumber. He looked up at the Colosseum where the glow of Sora's power remained. He grinned and pulled out a small black book from the inside of his coat. He may have lost to Sora, but he could still claim a victory in the end. He forced himself to float upwards again.

"Come back for more?" Sora asked, rushing at Xehanort.

The old man grit his teeth and teleported behind Sora before raising a finger towards the Colosseum. "You can attack me, Sora. Or, you can realize that each of your friends may soon die at the hands of Cinder and my other students. Perhaps Mercury will finish the job with your friend in green, hm?"

Sora's eyes widened and he looked between Xehanort and the Colosseum. Xehanort smirked. "I think I can hear the young Silver Eyed girl screaming even now," Xehanort said. At that, Sora's decision was made. He turned to leave. "Wait! A parting gift." Sora flinched as a small black rectangle flew towards him. He caught the book in his outstretched hands and glared at the cover. The Key of Destiny.

"What is this abou -" he looked up and Xehanort was gone. "Damn..." Sora shook his head and slipped the book into one of his pouches. There would be time to see it later. For now, he had to help out his friends. He angled himself down to where a beam of black energy had erupted a moment before, and took off at full speed to aid his friends.

R W B Y

Ruby spun around the incoming dual knife attack of a nearby White Fang agent, firing off Crescent Rose as she spun so that her weapon rolled off of her shoulders and hooked around his throat. She used her momentum to swing behind him using her scythe as a tether and landed behind him, yanking the Faunus over her shoulders and sending him tumbling into some of his allies. He was followed by a huge explosion of pink Dust that sent them sky high.

"Everyone from this area has been evacuated," Ren shouted over the din of battle. He jumped over an incoming two handed sword blow and kicked his attacker in the face. As the Faunus stumbled backwards, Ren fired off StormFlower until the Fang agent fell unconscious. "We should move on."

"NO!"

Ruby turned in confusion to the source of the voice and shrieked as she was tackled to the ground. "Oh, you're alive! I'm so happy!" Ruby's uncle Qrow shouted as he hugged his niece in what one could call a 'rare display of emotion.' "My little niece! I – I was so scared you were hurt or dead!"

"You know me better than that," Ruby responded simply as she shoved her uncle from on top of her. "Die? Me? Pfft."

"Is it me or is she starting to sound like Sora?" Jaune wondered aloud.

"Ruby, don't get cocky," Qrow said as he reached down and helped his niece to her feet.

"Why? You are," Ruby retorted with a grin.

"Yeah. Difference is it looks good on me," Qrow explained, throwing her a half hearted smirk. He sighed after a heart beat and ruffled the young Huntress's hair. "I'm... I'm glad you're okay Ruby. I was just... I was worried. Okay? Don't go and make fun of a guy who cares about his family."

"Never would," Ruby said. She twirled Crescent Rose around Qrow's body and fired it off. There was a loud grunt as a White Fang soldier was hit and fell in battle. "You seem distracted." Tears welled up in Qrow's eyes. Ruby's eyes softened and she frowned worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I'll tell you later. For now... I am just so damn proud of how well I taught you," Qrow said, trying to make himself calm down with humor. "Go me." It wasn't quite working, because he kept almost crying when he looked at Ruby.

"Touching. Really." Ruby and the others whirled on the source of the voice just in time to receive a stream of pure Darkness for their troubles. They all cried out as Cinder lowered her hands, the criminal smirking as Emerald and Cinder appeared at her side ready to fight the Huntsman and the children with him. "Do tell the red head I wish her the best when you see her again."

Ruby struggled to her feet first. "You won't win..."

"I think we already have," Cinder retorted, taking a few slow steps towards her opponent. Her eyes glowed with butterfly wing shaped auras, the left of Darkness and the right a fiery orange. She raised her arms before her, summoning a fireball to one and a Dark Firaga to the other as she prepared to annihilate the Huntsmen before her. She brought them together before her, the red and black bubbling dangerously as she prepared to unleash their power and annihilate all her greatest enemies in one fell swoop. "Goodbye, Silver Eyes."

"No!" Cinder stumbled backwards as... Ruby's eyes widened. Yang's dead mom was standing between Cinder and the criminal woman's desired prey. Her long, blood red sword glistened threateningly. "I'm going to destroy you."

"Please," Emerald laughed.

"I just took out Adam Taurus with no effort," Raven said with a confident smirk. It faltered when Cinder began to laugh derisively.

"So did we. When we were weak," Cinder responded with a grin. "Now?" She fired the explosive energy out at Raven. The woman sliced a hole open in reality that the darkness passed through. Another opened up behind Cinder's crew and the fireball flew towards them. Cinder just smirked and opened her own Corridor of Darkness. The energy slammed into Raven's back a moment later. "So, you've got a little Darkness of your own, then? Interesting. Or, it would be, if you weren't all about to die." Cinder raised her hands and began to summon a huge ball of Darkness into her hands in an effort to create another beam of energy that would eradicate her prey.

Cinder shouted out in pain as a beam of light suddenly crashed into the ground in front of her, its aura sending her attack flying right back into her. "That's twice I've done that to you," Sora said as he slowly rose to his feet. He turned towards the three criminals and glared out at them from beneath his hood. His Keyblades were in his hands now, glowing with white light. He threw them into the ground to either side and clenched his fists.

"Fine, we'll kill you too," Cinder growled, the three of them gathering their energy simultaneously against the young Keyblade wielder.

Sora didn't respond, instead just raising his open hand towards the three. "I doubt it," he said solemnly. Then he shut his fist and they were thrown backwards by a sudden explosion in the air in front of them. They flew away, disappearing into a trio of black portals. Sora just stared at where they'd disappeared then raised his hands above his head. "Heal!" Green energy exploded outward from Sora's palms, healing everyone around him and stitching together his friends wounds. He turned around and his face finally broke into a smile. "It's good to see you guys! And you Qrow. Hey! And... some... random woman who... kind of looks like Ruby's sister. Hi! I'm Sora."

"Yeah, I know," Raven said, stretching her shoulder. She frowned. The kid's healing had even fixed some of her old war wounds right up, better than new. She looked at the kid's welcoming grin. "I'm Raven."

"My sister and Yang's 'dead' mother," Qrow explained, absently waving his arm as he stared at the place where Cinder and her goons had disappeared from moments earlier.

Ruby gaped. "Uncle Qrow, w-what? Yang thinks -"

"Thought, and that can wait," he turned to the Keyblade wielder and grabbed both of Sora's shoulders frantically. "What were they after?"

"No, clue," Sora said, slightly disturbed by the terror in Qrow's eyes. He'd never seen the Huntsman... scared like this. Sora shrugged and shook his head. "I -" Sora suddenly froze as he felt Darkness gathering, twisting across the landscape of Remnant. He looked up and gasped: Xehanort was unleashing a Meteor Storm spell above the Colosseum itself, the flaming stones falling from the sky and crashing everywhere. Sora raised his Keyblades above him in an 'X' and generated a Reflega field large enough to defend everyone close to him.

"Is this still televised?" Qrow asked Raven. He sounded like he knew the answer already, but didn't want to admit what was about to come. He drew his sword and it shook with the same rage and fear that controlled the Huntsman's arm.

"It was when I last checked," his sister responded, her voice laced with the same fear as Qrow's. The sky shook as a loud, terrifying roar took to the air. She placed her hand on her sword as the noise began to die out, only to be replaced by another. Sora picked up on what worried them, and immediately knew that they had failed.

"Have fun, Sora. We shall end our journey together soon!" Xehanort shouted to the young man as he let his hand fall to his side. He bowed midair while opening a Corridor beneath his feet. The old man let himself fall slowly into the rift. His face took on an evil, knowing grin. "Til' next we meet, Seeker."

"Dammit!" Sora growled as his enemy disappeared. Sora let the Reflega wall drop and looked up at the sky with a serious frown. After a moment, he shot upward, his speed causing everyone's hair to follow his wind trails. After reaching a substantial height and battering away the last of Xehanort's meteors, he immediately flew back down. "There's a giant sea serpent flying towards us."

"Goddammit," Qrow shouted, slamming his sword into the ground.

Ruby watched him with scared eyes; she had never seen her uncle act like this. Scared. Broken. He wasn't acting like the indestructible warrior that she was used to seeing, the man who could claim victory even if he'd already lost. Now he was acting like... like they were going to lose and nothing could be done about it. "We're screwed," Qrow growled.

"No. We're not," Sora cut in. Qrow looked over at him, and everyone else's eyes followed. The Keyblade wielder pointed towards the ocean. "I'll take it out."

"What?" Raven asked, genuinely surprised and disturbed at the thought of a child fighting a monster that could destroy a city. "No, you -"

"I'm used to fighting things like this," Sora said as he brought his Keyblades to his back. "I'll be fine."

Ruby saw his legs tense up. "Well, you're not going alone." The words came out of her mouth of their own volition.

The entire group now stared at her dumbfounded. "I'll be fine. You don't have to do this," Sora said. He opened his mouth to say more, then stopped. He studied the defiantly powerful look Ruby was giving him, and sighed. He let his Keyblades drift down to his hands. "Fine. But leave your scythe. Flying with two people is hard enough."

"What will I..." Ruby's eyes widened as she understood. "Okay." She tossed Crescent Rose to her uncle, who caught it with a confused glare. "Which one?"

Sora began to raise Oblivion, but stopped as Oathkeeper began to glow even brighter in his right hand. The Keyblade seemed to want him to let her use it. Like it wanted him to choose her. "Here," he said, handing the white weapon to Ruby. She took it in her left hand and he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Just hold on tight."

"To wha-?" she was cut off as they rocketed into the sky. She grabbed Sora's jacket, and screamed in excitement as he took a hard turn and shot off towards the monster. Sora's hood remained up, despite the high speed winds. Almost as if by magic. Ruby laughed at that thought. It was probably true.

"What's so funny?" Sora asked, his eyes still fixed on the edge of the Colosseum, over which a monster was about to attack a city sized school of warriors.

"I never thought I'd be holding a Key flying to fight a sea dragon in Mistral!" Ruby shouted over the wind. Sora laughed too; he hadn't thought he would be there either, with one of his Keyblades seemingly deciding on Ruby. Did that mean... she could use one?

"Oh... that's..." Sora shook his head from his thoughts as Ruby's words broke into his mind. He looked down at the ocean.

"Yeah." The sea dragon was huge, floating up towards the Colosseum like a black demon. It had the usual black scales of a Grimm, with bony plates protruding at intervals around its entire body like nearly impenetrable armor. Well, unless the weapon was a Keyblade. The black flesh of the creature was bubbling, with smaller Grimm appearing on its back every so often; its back was wide enough to allow a small pack of Beowolves to run along its length as it coiled once around the stadium, its head and tail nearing one another. Sora slowly let them down on top of its tail as its head began to coil around the Colosseum once more.

"What's the plan?" Ruby asked as her feet landed on top of the bottom plate. She swayed for a moment when the Serpent roared.

"The Keyblade should be able to crack these plates, and if we take them off, we can cut the Grimm in half," Sora explained as he twirled the Keyblade into a backhand grip. He stabbed down, the blade easily slicing through the bone plate. The Grimm shrieked in rage, and a group of Grimm began to grow from its back. Sora gestured at the approaching monsters. "After we fight our way up, of course."

Ruby twirled Oathkeeper in her left hand, trying to shove down her excitement about being able to use the weapon so she could focus on the, frankly, monumental task in front of them. Sure, Sora had claimed he'd fought giant monsters before. But Ruby hadn't, so the new territory she was treading was a little scary. "Race you?" the Huntress suggested as the nearby Beowolves growled and took a few cautious steps towards Sora and Ruby.

The Keyblade wielder grinned and launched a Firaga though the crack he'd formed on the serpent's armor. "You're on!" he said when the armor shattered. It shifted beneath their feet for a moment, and Sora ran towards the Grimm, Oblivion raised over his right shoulder. Ruby shot past him in a torpedo of roses, appearing as herself once again to deliver a powerful slash through the mass of Grimm. The Keyblade glimmered in her hands and shot off a trail of light, her eyes glowing with the same silvery light as the ancient weapon.

Sora stumbled over his own feet as he saw this. He's been right – that really was Light magic she'd used all that time ago. And it seemed to have a connection to the Keyblade, or that the Keyblade had unlocked more of her potential. Sora was getting more and more sure that she could find a way to summon her own. Not that he knew how to teach her how. And, besides, he had important things to do right then. He dashed after Ruby, slicing through the groups of Grimm that got too close with sweeping, circular attacks.

He broke through the line just after Ruby did and saw her sweep Oathkeeper beneath her, the blade slicing off the armored plate in front of her. She landed and rolled to her feet just as Sora passed her and summoned an explosion of Sparkgas that burned through the chests of roaring Ursai. As he passed them, he quickly turned Oblivion into a huge hammer and slammed it into the plate, shattering the armor. He grabbed a large, sharp fragment that flew up from the remains and tossed it forward. It impaled the next length of armor, causing hairline fractures to appear all over its shell. Ruby shot at it like a rocket, and slammed into it fast enough to shove the spike right into the black flesh of the huge Grimm.

The monster shrieked angrily and shook wildly, sending Sora and Ruby flying upward into the air. The Keyblade wielder spun midair and brought his Keyblade around for Ruby's feet to land against its flat. He continued his movement, and she shot back down towards the giant Grimm's back. Sora altered his own path and flew back down after her as she began to spin at full speed, shooting down with Oathkeeper in front of her. When she landed, her immense collision caused an equally massive shockwave that began to shatter the rest of the armor.

Sora hit the ground after her and raised his Keyblade above him to unleash a massive Graviga spell. The remaining splinters of armor condensed under the incredible force, causing the serpent's flesh to creak for a moment before a loud, painful noise from multiple stab wounds all across the serpent's body. After that, Sora and Ruby ran up the rest of the giant Grimm's body, slashing through the army of smaller Grimm that came their way.

As they reached the snout of the serpent, it growled and instinctively tried to snap at the prey that was right before its eyes, sending them both upward yet again. The air rushed around the two warriors, their clothes whipping about in the resultant wind. The giant Grimm roared and followed the two warriors, maw wide open and ready to kill them. It uncoiled from the Colosseum and flew after Sora and Ruby, the last remaining shreds of its bone plates shaking off as its body trembled and vibrated against the force of gravity.

Sora glanced down at Oblivion as it began to glow with a bright white light, one that quickly shot out to form a tether of light with Oathkeeper held out in Ruby's left hand. Sora grinned as he realized what could be done with this. "Let's go!" he shouted, forcing himself to fly down at the serpent, diverging from Ruby to stretch the line out.

When it hit the serpent, the giant Grimm began to sizzle and burn at the points of contact. The two warriors slowed as the tether of light dragged against the black flesh of the monster, its jaws snapping shut around the line. After another half moment, the maw and bone of the creature gave way and the line of energy began to cleanly slice through the entire body of the monster. The Grimm on the surface of its flesh sizzled and burned, exploding from the heat and pressure buildup of the Light tether. Above Sora and Ruby, the monster began to flop about, its body cleanly burning away into two halves that began to disintegrate into Black Dust that fell like snow towards the Colosseum. As it fell, it exploded in bursts of white Light that annihilated any of the remaining Grimm with which it came into contact.

Sora and Ruby finally approached the monster's tail, the light slicing cleanly through the final surviving piece of the monstrous Grimm. As their attack left it, Ruby and Sora both spun midair and the tether was cut. The Keyblades flashed brilliantly and the two fell slowly to the lip of the Colosseum, where the young warriors landed softly a few dozen yards apart. The white Light continued to fall around them, landing softly on their shoulders, sparkling calmly. The two turned to each other, ginning, and ran towards one another. They crashed into each other and laughed as they wrapped arms over each others shoulders. "That was amazing!" Ruby shouted as Sora's clothes flashed a bright white and returned to its normal coloring, his hood on his back. The Keyblade in Ruby's left hand disappeared after another half moment in the same bright light, and Ruby let out a slight whine. "Oh... time's up?"

Sora laughed and dismissed the Kingdom Key from his right hand. "That was great, Ruby!" he said back to her, grinning wildly. "You were just... amazing..."

Ruby blushed. "Oh, shut up..." she muttered, rubbing her toes against the ground bashfully. "It's... nothing."

Sora smiled at her. "It really was. I've never seen the Keyblade act like that before. It's never... wanted to help someone before." Sora laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I, uh, you, that is, uh -"

"What was that!?" Qrow asked as he stepped out of a red and black corridor of Darkness. Sora watched as he was followed by Jaune, Nora, Ren, and the older Huntsman's sister walk out of the portal. All five of them looked like they'd just watched something completely unbelievable occur. Which, to be fair, they had. It wasn't every day – unless you were Sora – that you saw a giant monster. And it wasn't every day – unless you were Sora – that you saw a pair of teenagers kill it with almost no trouble at all. "How did..." Qrow sighed and shook his head. "You know what, no. There'll be time for questions and answers later. For now... good job, you two. That was... awesome, Kiddo."

R W B Y

Ozpin just smiled, a quietly triumphant smirk that communicated his incredible, powerful pride in the warriors he had taught, and in those they had taught as well. Qrow had, despite his obvious belief otherwise, done well. He had tried to save every life without losing trust in his friend. Raven had fought in the open for the good of the world instead of for a simple thrill. Jaune had fought through his Darkness, with no small act of will, to protect his friends. Ren and Nora had overcome their fear and recent defeats to grow much stronger and braver, as true Huntsmen. And Sora had become much more than the simple Keyblade wielder he had been once before. He still had far to go before achieving his full potential, the potential to become...

"What are you smiling about?" Salem asked, waving her hand to slam shut their view of the rest of the Remnant and glare down at the tortured teacher. She walked over to him and crouched. "Well?"

"You lost this battle," Ozpin noted simply. His smirk deepened. "I told you that they would defeat you."

"Your 'Smaller, more Honest Souls?'" Salem asked. She shook her head. "Tsk tsk tsk, Ozpin. I remember you being smarter than this." The Headmaster palled. She never called him Ozpin, not unless she was about to gloat. Salem stood up straight and walked away from her former friend. "You see, unlike you, I can see the full picture. I made the full picture, really."

"What do you..." Ozpin flinched as he realized. "This was never about destroying Mistral. Your body is..."

"Falling apart. Yes, Mistral was an afterthought. Though, I am hoping to see if what the Schnees have planned will come to fruition," Salem responded. She turned to smile at her captive. "But you saw it, didn't you? You saw what I searched for? Two things I was not sure I could have. Two things I needed, but could not find. A Light so strong and pure that it could instinctively latch onto the power of the purest Light magic. And a Darkness so deep I could control it with a single utterance. I felt it, during their last battle with Xehanort, but now I know the truth."

"You won't succeed. She will not lose her Heart to you," Ozpin said after a moment. He shook his head, trying to shore up his bravery. "Her strength – Their strength only grows."

"I've seen. Hopefully it grows faster," Salem responded as she sat down across from the Headmaster and crossed her legs and laughed at Ozpin's increasingly terrified and worried face. "Ah! Now you feel it, don't you. Your 'Smaller, more Honest Souls' are fighting against the deepest of Darkness in an effort to breed hope and ignite the souls of all around them. And they did. They gave you hope. And then here I am, crushing it beneath my heel. One of those children will give themselves to me, just as he did all that time ago. The rest... well, I will use what I can and destroy what I cannot."

Ozpin glared up at the woman defiantly. He would not let the strength of his Heart falter. Never again. "I will not let you hurt a single hair on any of their heads."

"And I will love to watch you try, and inevitably fail, to do so," Salem responded, leaning forward and slapping Ozpin's cheek lightly, a condescending and mocking movement. "Just as you have since we crafted the very first of those weapons in that lost land so many years ago. Just as your five most loyal students did when their brother in arms fell. And just as those children you call warriors today will most certainly fail as well. I cannot wait to watch that fire, that vaunted hope, slowly die in your eyes for the final time."

AN: Okay, I got chills when I wrote the Raven vs Adam part. I hope everyone liked that part because it might be my favorite part of the story so far. It's short, but damn Raven went Mama Bear. Flip side, I have no doubt shaming him and leaving him alive just because she wanted to enjoy the sweet taste of vengeance will come back to bite her in the ass.

To gamelover41592: Oh, I also can't wait for Taiyang to see Raven or Ruby in person for the first time. And to meet Sora. I feel like Tai has more 'scary dad' in him than Qrow gave him credit for. And Yang probably has some really scary 'big sister' in her, too.

To Keyslinger Roxas: Surprised? Yeah, no deaths in this chapter. And, because of our heroes and their friends, there were very few civilian deaths. Just because one of the intended themes of RWBY is that not every story has a happy ending, that doesn't mean no story has one. As for Anti Form, it'll will show up later, in maybe five or six chapters, and it won't be good for Sora and his friends. He got better at guarding against his Darkness, but I doubt he'd ever be an expert at controlling it. It just isn't who he is. Also, he doesn't have any Black Dust yet...

To Warrior of Six Blades: I am a little mean to Neptune. Which sucks, because I really liked him in season two when they introduced him. He seemed cool, but down to earth. The only character growth we got in season three was his intense, debilitating fear of water. Which, you know, is pretty funny given his name and weapon. Also, I feel like making jokes about Ren and Nora's obvious thing doesn't really work for comedy when they are a chapter or two away from realizing their feelings, so I needed something to mine for laugh for a short while. Glad it was hilarious, at least.