AN: Finally! Hey everybody, how are you?

I'm good. Super excited for Kingdom Hearts 3 next week. Can't push it back now, can they? God, I hope not at least. Ugh, sounds like something they might do.

In all honesty, I'm super excited. It looks great and I'm so excited to see Sora finally have his confrontation with Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort, and Xehanort. I feel like we're finally getting to the Heart of the conflict.

Bad puns being pushed to the side now, it's time for responses.

To Gamelover41592: I always want the chapter title to be a fun fit for the chapter in more than one way, so I'm glad the last chapter was a great fit. I hope this chapter, even if it's less action oriented, is awesome too!

To Chretner: Good to hear from you again. I understand your thoughts on OJ, but as I start to communicate more in this chapter, it really comes down to the increasing differences between Jaune and OJ that he ran away. I had a lot of fun writing the Judy fight, so I'm glad you liked it. My DnD is going well, thanks for asking. Finally got enough schedules aligned to actually play again. They finally completed a section of the adventure they'd been on for months. I've never co-DM'd before, but it sounds nice. Not being completely in charge of everything, but still getting to craft the story. Good luck getting them into the Kingdom Hearts game. Thanks for the offer, but you're right; the Australia time difference would be rough.

Anyways, enjoy! This chapter is less action oriented, but it has a pretty good OJ fight in the middle and important groundwork for the endgame.

Chapter 25: Happy Birthday

The team stood together with Sora and Ruby, watching as the tiny blue Core was placed into its safe in the Vault of the Keyblade Academy by onetime headmaster Ozpin. The old man gingerly used both hands to place the relic in a small bowl within the dense box, then slammed the door shut. He walked over to Sora outside of the room and nodded. The Keyblade Master nodded back, then raised the Master Keeper and channeled his energy through it. There was a bright flash, and a series of walls of Light erupted into being, flashing outward concentrically around the safe in a sphere. Eventually, the last wall blinked into being just within the doorway, glowing to warn away any that would try and steal from this place. "Do you think that will be enough walls, Sora?" Ozpin inquired dryly, one eyebrow raised.

The Keyblade Master nodded. "I don't want to take any chances, Oz. He got through one of my walls before he had Mickey's Keyblade. Now that he has it, I don't want to take any risks," he explained. "And once Genie gets here, he'll make it harder to even think about getting in there."

"It's the end of the world. Sora's being the serious one," Ruby muttered to her sister, earning a soft chuckle. Ruby gave Yang a side hug. "I'm so happy you could come home for your birthday."

"Well, I thought it wouldn't be for another few weeks, but that makes it even cooler!" Yang said, returning the hug. This close she could notice her sister was a lot less tired looking, like she hadn't been to Beacon in a few days. "I guess you can say that I'm Yang for my age! Eh? Yang – Young? Eh? Eh?" She began to elbow her sister in the ribs to elicit a response. "Eh? Eh?"

Jaune snorted, causing Ruby and Sora to turn and glare at him with surprise. Ruby turned over to her sister and stopped hugging her. "You've corrupted him," she said, horror running through her silver eyes. She rushed over to Jaune. "Please, you have to snap out of it!" She began slapping the blonde across the face, causing him to yelp over and over.

"Miss Rose, please," Ozpin said after the third slap. He caught her wrist and cast an exasperated glance over his glasses. "Can this not wait until after they have delivered their report." He released Ruby's arm.

"Well..." Ruby groaned. She sighed and nodded, then threw her left hand straight up and shouted as heroically as she could manage, "But then we have to save him from this terrible curse, even if it kills us!"

Sora crossed his arms and glanced between Yang, Jaune, and Mercury. "So, what exactly happened that you were able to get this?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. He glanced at each of them sympathetically. "You guys were in bad shape when you got back, so it couldn't have been easy."

"You can say that again," Yang said with a grimace. She leaned against the wall and shook her head. "We thought Zootopia was an easy world, but it was an animal this time around." She grinned slightly at her own joke.

"They seem to be a very Light world," Jaune explained after a moment of silence. "Their police were unprepared for normal threats. So the Heartless there last time were weaker than other places." He looked over at Ozpin. "But when we got there, it was like Darkness had almost completely enveloped the world. Its people were at each others throats, basically about to start a war."

Yang picked up again. "The Heartless were way stronger than they used to be, and the people they corrupted were even stronger than that. They were tossing us around like we were all Ruby's size," she said, patting her waif-like sister on the head.

"We nearly got killed by a bunny rabbit," Mercury explained.

Yang stopped patting her increasingly annoyed sister's head and turned to glare at Mercury. "What you got against bunny rabbits, Pussycat?"

Sora turned to Jaune, confused. "Does this... does this make sense to you?"

Jaune laughed nervously and said, "Yeah, yeah it does." He scratched the back of his head. He decided to try and move on from this topic before they started pointing out his puppy dog status. "The Core over there was the center of a Heartless, one that someone was using to try and ignite that war on Zootopia. The closer the war got, the stronger it was. It was able to give people powerful abilities of Darkness, at the cost of their self control. They tried to kill anything around them. In fact, it got one of our friends from there."

Ruby gasped. "Are they all right?"

"That's the first good news we've got," Mercury said, smiling with relief. "Turns out you can break free of the thing's control, if someone you care about enough is able to get through to you."

Ozpin nodded in understanding. "Which gives you hope for rescuing Miss Sustrai," he deduced. He placed a hand on Mercury's shoulder. "I have little doubt that, if you find the Light that our enemy has locked within her, she will be freed."

"Never thought I'd say 'Thanks, Ozpin,'" Mercury muttered, earning a smile from the former Headmaster.

"Anyways, you should have seen our fight with this Heartless! It was so powerful, we thought we'd die. We gave it some of this!" Yang lashed out with her fist. "Then one of these!" She leaped in the air and pile-drived the ground. "And then, it threw Jaune through a wall!" She bounced to her feet. "Right into the Keyhole!"

Sora's face went blank. "You found a Keyhole?" He asked, awestruck. He walked over to Jaune and looked him directly in the eyes. "Did you keep it safe?" He began shaking Jaune by the shoulders. "Did you?"

"Would – we – be – alive – if – we – hadn't?" Jaune asked between each shake.

Sora stopped shaking him. "Uh... Probably not, now that I think about it," he said. He let go of Jaune with a sheepish grin and a bright red blush. "Whoops..."

"We managed to kill the Heartless and then I locked the Keyhole," Jaune said, wobbling as his balance returned after being shaken so violently. He shook his head and his vision steadied.

"Yep. He saved the world," Mercury said, patting his friend on the back. "Or one of them, at least."

"But if you won, how did you guys get so hurt?" Ruby asked. She looked over at her sister, who now looked no worse for wear. "Yang, when you got back you looked like you'd lost a lot of blood."

"Zootopia's Heartless had worn us down a lot," Yang began. She sighed and shook her head in disappointment. "So when OJ showed up, we were easy pickings."

The three glanced at the ground, feeling ashamed. "We couldn't lay a finger on him when he was being serious," Jaune growled, fists clenching tight enough that his nails began digging into his palms. He fought off the desire to slam his fist into something or someone. "I... I couldn't do anything to stop him."

Sora, Ruby, and Ozpin remained quiet and unsure of what to say. Yang decided to speak up; someone had to get this topic finished, after all. "OJ ambushed us when we were leaving. He didn't try his hardest and the three of us still got taken apart. He crushed Mercury's leg with his bare hand, and impaled me on a steel pipe. He didn't use his Semblance on us." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "He attacked Jaune head on, one on one, then laughed at us and let us go the moment he and Jaune crossed blades."

Ozpin frowned. "But you had the Core. Why would he not take it from you if he could defeat the three of you so easily?" he wondered aloud. Oz tapped his cane on the ground like a metronome to the time of his thoughts.

"What is it, Oz?" Sora asked.

Ozpin's cane stopped tapping. "Later. For now, we should go over the plan," he responded simply. He turned to Ruby. "It was your plan, Miss Rose. Perhaps you should start."

Ruby tossed the man a thumbs up, then turned back to the team. She glanced at Mercury before starting, a sympathetic look on her features before she steadied herself and focused on the task at hand, trying her best to look serious. Jaune and Yang knew that if this was the face her students got there was no way they took her seriously. "So, once I heard about what happened to Emerald, I knew OJ had something we didn't. He can go after two relics at once," she explained, putting her hands on her hips. "The problem so far is that we've only been sending one team out to look for these things. You three."

"We're not good enough?" Mercury growled, annoyed. He got a slap across the back of his head from Yang.

"Listen," she snarled, red eyes adding to the terror she struck in him. Mercury shut up.

Ruby grinned. "Thanks, Sis!" she shouted happily. She coughed upon seeing Ozpin's raised eyebrow and continued to act business like. "And that's not what I meant. You're good enough. You guys got the Core here. I think that proves it. But only for one place at a time. You can't be everywhere." An excited grin began to creep onto her face. "And then I got an idea. Me and Sora will go out with you guys to check out two worlds at a time! Then when we've found everything, the trap will be set!"

Jaune rolled his eyes. "You just wanted to be alone in a ship with Sora for... a..." He trailed off as he saw that Yang's hair was so bright that it was impossible to look at directly, forming a halo of flames from which only a pair of glowing red eyes could be seen.

Sora carefully and cautiously stepped back and to the side, putting Ruby between himself and Yang. "It – it's not what you think!" he squeaked out nervously. "I, uh... I don't even want to be alone with Ruby like that!" Now Ruby was glaring at him, her silver eyes awash with enraged power. Sora squeaked again, realizing his mistake. "Th-that's not what I meant! Rubes, I – I totally want to be around you!"

"I'M CHOOSING TEAMS! RUBY WILL NOT GO WITH SORA!" Yang screamed, advancing on Sora with both weapons readied. Ruby just... stepped out of her way.

Yang was only stopped from attempting murder by Ozpin's cane entering her path. "Yes, your uncle said as much when Miss Rose explained her idea to us all over Scroll," he said simply. "The decision was already made to separate them. If only to preserve Sora's health, if not his life." The cane dropped. "Sora has already requested travel to Gaia, while Miss Rose believes a trip to Bridge to Aincrad may be worth her time. That ensures an experienced Keyblade Master travels with both groups." The cane tapped on the ground at the feet of Yang, Jaune, then Mercury. "You may decide with whom you wish to travel."

"I've got unfinished business with Sephiroth," Yang snarled before anyone else could say anything, cracking her fists. She turned to her sister. "Sorry, Rubes. We can have a sisters buttkicking fest another time."

"I'm going to head to Aincrad," Mercury said after a moment of silence, his voice barely more than a hoarse whisper. "That's where Em's Darkness woke up, so it's the place a mind controlled, Dark version of her is heading."

"Which means I'm heading there, too!" There was a blue explosion of smoke, and the Genie popped into the hallway. He put his arm around Merc's shoulder. "Hey there, Silver, old buddy old pal! It's been too long!"

"Blue. It has been too long," Mercury said, smiling despite himself. He put his arm around Genie's shoulder, too. "There's no one I'd rather have looking for Em with me."

"Aw, you flatterer," Genie said, taking on the shape of a blonde woman with a bright necklace. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

"Okay," Mercury groaned. He shoved the Genie away, and the magical being returned to his normal form. "How are you planning to come to Aincrad with us?"

"Well, with my phenomenal, nearly cosmic powers, I thought I would just go as -" he snapped his fingers and was replaced with a thin, lanky, blue dog with a long black tail and floppy black ears. "Pluto! You can pretend I'm a companion creature!"

Mercury crouched down and scratched Genie behind the ears, causing the dog to bark enthusiastically. "Well, it's not the worst idea you've ever had."

"But you guys will have to do the heavy lifting. I'm a wish granter, not a fighter," Genie explained before tossing a grin to Sora. "But I'm good help, right?"

"Amazing help," Sora agreed from behind Ozpin, who was now placed between him and Yang.

Jaune walked up and put his hand on Yang's shoulder. "Where you go, I go. I promised I'd be there every time we found your mom, and I'm not stopping now." Her eyes turned lilac and she turned to Jaune, now giving her a soft smile. He chuckled nervously and joked, "Besides, I'd probably hurt myself without you watching my back."

She smiled back. "Probably," she agreed. She grabbed the hand on her shoulder. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and she turned away, rubbing at them with her sleeve. "Ugh, must have let the ol' Semblance burn too much. My eyes are all dry."

Jaune blinked and put his hand on her shoulder again, fretting over his partner. "Really? Well, my room here is full of different stuff my mom keeps sending me. I have like forty things of eyedrops in there cause she's worried about me being so close to Vacuo's deserts."

Yang laughed and turned around, all evidence she had even been close to crying hidden from Jaune on her sleeve. She put her other hand on his shoulder. "If someone told me the loser that barfed on my shoes would be one of the best people I would know..." she began before trailing off. She pulled him suddenly into a hug so tight Jaune's eyes began to bulge, placing her chin on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're with me."

Jaune slowly returned her hug, hands wrapping around her waist. Until a red Keyblade slammed into his head. "Too close to my sister!" Ruby shouted as he fell face first into the ground.

Jaune groaned and glared up at Ruby. "Ow," he growled pointedly as he pushed himself up and rubbed his head.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about," Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head as her Keyblade vanished. She looked at the half-annoyed and half-amused Yang. "I, uh... I don't see the appeal, Yang."

"Really? I think it's a hit!"

R W B Y

OJ roared in rage as he exited the Corridor of Darkness, stomping up to a huge tree just outside of the wall of energy he had erected around the cabin to prevent Grimm or Heartless from getting close. The Kingdom Key D flashed into his hand, its blade and handle tinged with more rust and Darkness than ever. He roared again and brought the Keyblade around with one hand, effortless carving through the tree as wide as he was tall. The tree stood where it was for a moment, then slowly tipped over towards the cabin. The wall intercepted the tree and it bounced off, twisting and crashing into the ground with a massive thud. OJ stared at the destroyed tree as, slowly, Grimm approached, attracted by his rage. He slowly turned one glowing, yellow eye on the nearest creature, a young Beowolf. OJ's grip on the Keyblade tightened and he vanished, reappearing behind the Grimm just as it exploded into a cloud of Black Dust. He panted, more with rage than with any semblance of exertion.

How? He snarled inwardly as he turned on the next Grimm, a small and lightly armored Boarbatusk. OJ raised his off hand and a streak of black electricity fried the Grimm into non-existence. How the Dust did he block me? How did he block my attack!? He rushed forward, ducking beneath another Beowolf's slashing claw to bury the Keyblade in its head, shattering its bone plate and Dusting it within seconds. He threw the Keyblade straight ahead without a moment's pause, and the Keyblade exploded with an aura of Darkness as it burned through a tree's core and the Death Stalker behind it. The tree exploded as blackened ice spread throughout its core, sending tiny needles of wood all around and through the bodies of the surrounding Grimm and the Shadows that had begun to congregate. Some vanished as the needles pierced heads or hearts, while others screeched in pain as the wood dug shallow cuts all over their bodies.

The Keyblade returned to OJ's hand. "How!?" he screamed at the forest before charging the enemies. Three Beowolves fell in quick succesion before he turned and launched a Blizzaga into the crowd of monsters. Ice exploded, freezing or entirely annihilating the weakest Grimm and Heartless, leaving only the newcomers – a Goliath Grimm and a Behemoth Heartless. They were advancing on him with little damage, thus far, as they had been outside of his attacks' range until now. He vanished again, reappearing above the two monsters just as their attacks would have hit. Massive bursts of electricity and thrown trees hit the ground where he had stood just moments earlier, the energy wasted. He aimed the Kingdom Key D in front of him and channeled Darkness through it, generating massive, spiked chains that spiraled around the two creatures of Darkness. They slammed into one another and roared, loud and low noises that shook bone and tree alike. As he fell, OJ yanked up with the Keyblade and the chains followed suit, the spikes tearing at the flesh of the creatures as it yanked them up and slammed them into one another. As they reached their apex and he touched the ground he dismissed the chains; he turned and aimed the Kingdom Key D at the two massive creatures plummeting like comets towards him. He turned the weapon as if turning a lock, and snapped, "Gravity!"

A black dome covered the ground directly beneath the monsters and pulled them down even faster, causing the two comets to slam into the ground directly in front of OJ, who lazily flicked the Keyblade out to the side as he summoned a Reflega that protected him from harm. The monsters were vaporized on impact, and the ground did little better. Dirt exploded out from the point of impact, displaced from the sudden impulse of the mass hitting the ground. It ballooned upward, then mushroomed out above him. Dirt and shards of pine tree floated down and created a massive cloud that slowly began to fill the huge crater around OJ, a crater that ended abruptly at the wall erected around the cabin and at the small circle of grass around OJ. "How did Jaune, that weak little... how did he do that?"

It made no sense. Weakened by that idiotic belief that his 'friends' weren't just using him. By the Light that he clung to despite the power of Darkness. How in the name of Hell could Jaune Arc, barely a Keyblade Wielder, block his attack? He dismissed the Keyblade and snarled at the sparks left behind by the weapon. Was it the reason? That the Kingdom Key wouldn't do it to its own kind? For some reason he doubted that. The Kingdom Key enhanced things that its wielder already had, and he'd been able to pass through Sora's Kingdom Key with his No Name. The Kingdom Key wasn't special, not in that way at least.

But the worst part about all of this was that he had run from Jaune like a coward. He'd run, as if he hadn't even moved on from being that person. That sad, quiet, weak, stupid Jaune Arc that... that let himself get shoved into a locker and watched Pyrrha die. That let himself get blackmailed by Cardin Winchester. That faked his transcripts. That disappointed his family so much they basically told him he would never amount to anything. But the moment that something surprised him, he scurried away back into his old habits. The habits of a coward.

He turned towards the cabin and narrowed his eyes. If that was the case, he was going to give them a nasty surprise in return. And he would get stronger. He would figure out this fluke that Jaune Arc had used to stop his Semblance. And then he would kill the woman Jaune Arc cared about the most, right in front of him. Once he murdered that bimbo –

Murdering Yang. That was the answer. Not just to the Yang issue, but to the numbers issue. When the time came, and he had all of the relics needed to pierce the barrier to the next World, there would be a fight. Oh, he could summon enough Heartless to keep them busy for a while, but he already knew how it would play out. Sora would lead the battle with his friends, and leave Jaune behind. They would likely have some sort of army on their side. Robots, huntsmen, maybe even students at his little Keyblade Academy if he managed to actually find any. Summon enough strong Heartless and he might be able to get rid of a few of Sora's friends. But if he had a powerful ally to take with him, one whom he could offer something they desired very much in the next World, then many of them could be distracted. Killed, even. And murdering Yang was the answer.

All he had to do was find Morrigan.

OJ turned his gaze to the cabin and slowly grinned. Until then, he had another guest to deal with. The Keyblade appeared in his hand once more. "Time for our next lesson, Emerald," he shouted at the cabin. He cast a glance at Beacon Academy in the distance. "I have a feeling that the test is coming sooner rather than later."

R W B Y

Jaune sat on the edge of his bed in the Keyblade Academy, staring at the mirror on the other side of the room. He'd changed into new clothes, ones he had especially for Yang's birthday. He had on a gray sweatshirt material blazer over a plain white t-shirt. He had a pair of black jeans on held up by a yellow and white checkerboard belt that matched his shoes. On a table nearby were a pair of glasses that would interfere with cameras that looked at him – hopefully they fooled people that would recognize one of Remnant's Most Wanted, too. Apparently Junior's club was under new management, so they were going to head there with Yang and swap stories about destroying the place as they – minus the juice box buddies Sora and Ruby – had a few drinks. Jaune raised an eyebrow and suddenly wondered how old Sora and Ruby were at this point. In Remnant time, they had to be approaching twenty, especially since Yang was turning twenty-two. The idea struck him as he realized that he was almost twenty-two. It had been about four years since he'd stepped onto Beacon's campus for the first time. It felt like a lifetime ago, now. He'd fought Grimm, witches, ancient Keyblade Masters, Heartless, and gone to jail since then. He'd been a hero and a villain and an astronaut... and he was barely into his second decade of life.

He heard footsteps outside his room, a trio of people running down the hallway. Keyblade students that Qrow had found while on leave in Atlas. They were orphans, and all of them kids. A ten year old blonde and his two five year old friends he watched, a blue haired girl and a brunette boy. If Sora managed to stop OJ, those kids might grow up to be something. Jaune groaned and fell back onto his bed. If. 'If' because the whole plan hinged on him being able to save more of the relics.

He shot up to a sitting position when three knocks echoed from his door. "Uh, come in!" he shouted, getting up and smoothing his clothes. The door slowly opened and a man walked in, shutting it behind him. "Mister Arc, I had been hoping we could speak before you left," Ozpin said as he came through the door, a mug of coffee in one hand. He nodded his head at the Keyblade Wielder.

Taking the hint, Jaune jolted to his feet. "Uh, right. You can sit," he mumbled, gesturing at the table and chairs nearby. Ozpin smiled and nodded again before taking a seat, his creaking oints and groan barely noticeable.

Jaune walked over and took the chair on the other side of the small table. "So, uh, what it you – what is it you wanted to talk about, Headmas – Er, Professor Ozpin?"

Ozpin took a drink of his coffee and raised an eyebrow at the young man. "Are you quite alright, Mister Arc? I am not here to deliver bad news," he explained simply. He placed his mug on the table and wrapped both hands around it, warming his joints.

"But, uh, then why are you here?" Jaune wondered, confused.

Ozpin stared at him for a moment, then laughed once, an amused by dry noise. He shook his head and wondered, "Have I delivered enough bad news that you cannot imagine me doing anything else?" He laughed again.

"No! I mean, yeah, but..." Jaune groaned and let his head hit the table. "What is it, Professor?"

Ozpin smiled at the flustered Arc. "I'll... keep this brief," he said first. He shifted in his seat. "Mister Arc, what exactly happened when OJ retreated?"

Jaune glanced up. And sighed. He didn't want to think about this... But Ozpin was asking, in person. It was kind of hard to turn his question away. "He'd knocked Mercury and Yang out of the fight. He launched a fireball at them and I took the hit. He gloated about killing Yang and Merc, then attacked. He let me block it, then he taunted us and got rid of us."

Ozpin considered the story with a frown, one hand on his chin. He took another drink, then put it down on the table again. "Right before he attacked, what happened? When he was gloating, what exactly do you remember?"

Jaune shrugged. " I mean..." He shut his eyes and thought backwards. "Uh, he... He... raised his Keyblade and it... he started channeling his Aura into it." Jaune frowned, but kept his eyes shut. "But that's what he did when he was fighting Sora and used his Semblance."

"That was what I expected," Ozpin said firmly. Jaune's eyes opened, already asking the question 'What?'

Ozpin cleared his throat and held up his open hands. "The Semblance is a reflection of what one's Heart contains. Sora's would therefore be the ability to... draw strength from others, and in turn amplify their strength. Ruby's is to reach a villain first so she could be a hero. Yang's is to take what life throws at her, and so on. But, I as much as that is true, there is a genetic aspect to Semblances, as well. For instance, the Schnee family." Ozpin motioned with his head at his hands. "You and OJ, Mister Arc, are like these hands."

Jaune stared at the two rough palms, then looked up at Ozpin. "Uh... calloused?"

Ozpin narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. "Mirror images," Ozpin explained. "Built exactly the same, with many of the same experiences. But you -" he held up his right hand. " – and him -" Ozpin shook his left hand. "- are opposites nonetheless."

Jaune stared at him, mouth open and a confused look in his eyes.

Ozpin sighed. "His Semblance, as he understands it, is to imbue his Aura into items or individuals, granting them the ability to bypass defenses. It's an incredibly offensive ability, fit for someone willing to kill anyone for his goals." He shut his left hand and let it hit the ground. He turned his gaze to his right hand and said, "On the other hand -" He glared at Jaune as he snickered. "- you were able to block his Semblance."

Jaune jolted in his seat as he finally began to hear what Ozpin was saying. "Wait, so I..."

Ozpin nodded. "You are his opposite, but you are built from the same parts. You have an entire world to protect, and people that you desperately want to shield from evil. A Semblance that would be highly defensive. Tell me, Mister Arc, have you ever deflected a blow so powerful that it should have annihilated you?"

Jaune felt lost. What was he supposed to do? For all of Ozpin's flowery language, the truth came down to the fact that they were built from the same parts. Heart, Body, Soul, all the same. Mirror images weren't all that different. They were almost the same. "I have," Jaune said quietly. "Yeah. There was this giant Heartless, and it shot a Firaga so big it should've vaporized me. But I blocked it. I did it, and it flew away." He shook his head. "So, I have his Semblance?"

Ozpin shut his right hand and lowered it next to the other. "It would appear so, though what its limits might be, I am unsure."

Jaune leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. He had to tell Yang – she deserved to know. He trusted her to watch out for him. And his parents should know, in case OJ ever came after them. They'd have to call him in. He had already planned to go home, to answer his mom's questions about OJ before Yang's party, and Yang had wanted to tag along. For some reason. "I believe, Mister Arc, that you are the key to defeating OJ. Your ability to infuse your Aura may be the only thing that can counteract his own ability to do so."

R W B Y

"You know, I said this last time, but this time is your birthday. You really didn't have to come with me if you didn't want to," Jaune told Yang as they waited for his parents to open the door and let them in. He raised his hand to touch her shoulder appreciatively, but thought better of it and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So... thanks for doing it, anyways."

Yang glanced over at Jaune and laughed. "Why wouldn't I come? Your parents love me!" Her yellow and black leather jacket squeaked as she crossed her arms over her orange shirt. Her rubberized black jeans glistened as she leaned into the sun to shove Jaune with her shoulder."And I can tell your dad all about Puppy Jaune, too!"

Jaune laughed nervously. "Oh, yeah... great," he muttered dryly. He gave Yang a thumbs up. "That's just what I was hoping to hear."

"Ah, I'm just kidding, Jaune." Yang slapped his back, then grabbed hold of his arm and shook it. "I wouldn't tell your parents about that!"

"No, just everyone else," Jaune pointed out to Yang's unashamed grin. He shrugged. "Whatever. At least I'm not a black cat."

Yang laughed. "No wonder OJ is such bad luck," she agreed with a smirk. "And kind of catty!"

The two grinned at each other as the door opened. Marz glanced between her son and Yang. "Am I interrupting?" Their heads snapped to her.

"Mom!" Jaune said hurriedly. He hesitated for a moment, then rushed forward and hugged her tight. "Mom, I... I'm sorry I..."

Marzenna sighed and wrapped her arms around her son. "I know, Jauney. I know." She let go and pushed off of him slightly. "Why don't we all head inside? Your father is waiting for us, and I think we both have... questions."

Jaune nodded and let his mother walk in, though he remained awkwardly where he was. Yang frowned behind him, feeling bad for him. So she put a grin on her face and grabbed hold of his wrist, yanking him in behind her. "C'mon, Jauney, you're too slow!"

Jaune stumbled after his partner, through his own family home, tumbling past the kitchen and into the living room where his father sat with his mother on the couch, an ice Dust air conditioner cooling the hot August air. Argent smiled and stood up to greet the two. "It's good to see you again," he said, grabbing hold of his son in a tight hug. He let go after a moment and turned to Yang. "You've been keeping him out of trouble, right?"

"Obviously," she responded before looking over at Jaune. She punched him the shoulder and he tumbled into the nearest chair. "But he's kept me out of trouble, too."

Argent smiled softly. "That's what I like to hear," he said before wrapping Yang in a hug, too. He let go an patted her shoulder. "Now, if only Jauney could find a nice girl like you."

Jaune choked in his chair while Yang laughed. "That's what OJ is most angry about," she said.

Marz raised an eyebrow. "So you two are together?"

It was Yang's turn to choke and Jaune's to laugh. "No, Mom," Jaune explained between chuckles. He motioned at Yang who was now staring at her boots with red cheeks. "She's into guys that are confident."

"Is my baby not confident?" Marz asked, leaning forward worrieldy. "I told you that you just need to be confident to make friends. It's great for -"

Jaune's face was as red as Yang's now. "Can we just get to your questions?" he asked quietly as his father made his way back to sit beside Marz. "Please?"

The married couple glanced at one another, an inquiring look on their faces. Finally, they turned back. "Okay, Jaune. You and Sora didn't tell me much about OJ, just that he wants to bring back Pyrrha at the cost of everything else. What exactly has he done, Son?" Argent asked, clasping his hand in his wife's.

Jaune took a deep breath. "He... he's from a different world," he explained slowly, making sure not to say anything that his mother couldn't hear, given the still confidential nature of other worlds. "He's a version of me that... fought against the person that got me to do bad things. When I let her control me, he broke out and fought her. But apparently that's how his world died. Remnant ended, and the only thing that survived was him – the other Jaune."

"But how?" Marzenna asked, causing everyone else in the room to exchange a look. She sighed in exasperation. "Something I'm not allowed to know about, then?"

Jaune didn't answer for a moment. "No," he finally admitted.

Yang picked up for Jaune, knowing he didn't want to talk about everything else OJ had done. Tricking them, hurting them. He blamed himself too much. "He found us not long after we started adventuring," Yang explained. "He tricked us into helping him find things he could use to do the same thing again and find a Pyrrha that's alive. When we found out, he tried to get Jaune to leave with him."

"He said no," Argent noted proudly.

Jaune didn't feel as proud, but he kept it in. He didn't want his parents to see how he felt. He knew what they'd say. "He tried to kill Yang when I told him no," he said simply. "And now every time we meet, he goes after her first." Jaune looked over at Yang in the seat beside him, hiding his guilt as best he could. His parents didn't see it, but she could. "He thinks I've... 'betrayed' Pyrrha because of Yang. He's almost killed her a few times."

Yang put her hand on his arm, comforting him. "Hasn't done it yet," she assured him, earning a relieved smile in return.

"Why are you so ashamed of him?" his mother asked, and the relief vanished.

Argent stared at his son, and Jaune felt a bubble of anger rise. He'd told his father this, and he hadn't told them for Jaune? The anger quickly deflated, though. "He's me, Mom," he explained, eyes hitting the ground because he just couldn't bare to look at his mother. "When he offered me the chance to go with him, I almost did it. I feel a... a pull in my gut every time he does. He was better than me, and he couldn't escape the Darkness. Maybe I've done it for now, but –" He stopped speaking as he saw his mother's feet. She reached out with her right hand and pulled his head up, eyes meeting hers.

Marzenna knelt down to meet him face to face. "Mom, I almost killed everyone," Jaune said hollowly. "And I'm not exaggerating. I mean everyone, everywhere. You guys, my sisters, Yang, Sora, Ruby, Ren, Nora..." He cut himself off before he could start rambling further down the list. "He didn't do that, but I did, Mom. If he's the bad guy here, how long until I fall into that role again?!"

"As if I'd let you," Yang said, her hand on his arm tightening. "You two are as different as cats and dogs."

Jaune laughed softly at that one. "She's right, Jauney," Marz said, leaning forward to hug her son. "He didn't have anyone to pull him back from the path he chose. The reason you'll never do it again is because you have us, and you have Yang. We'd never let you do that."

Jaune hugged his mom back. "Thanks, Mom," he muttered softly, holding her tight. After a moment, he cleared his throat and she pushed off of him. "I... I do have one more thing I need to tell all of you. It's something Ozpin told me."

"And what's the Wonderful Wizard have to say this time?" Argent wondered dryly.

"OJ and I, we have the same Semblance. Yang, it's why I was able to block his attack when we were... when he attacked us last time," Jaune explained to Yang. His gaze slowly fell to the ground once more.

She grinned in return. "Then we didn't escape. He ran away," she said triumphantly. She moved her hand from his arm and jabbed her index finger into his shoulder. "From you. And that just proves he's not you, Jaune. Maybe you'd have run before all this, but you stood there ready to die to save us."

Jaune smiled softly. "I... guess you're right," he said. He slowly turned back to Yang. "Though, when aren't you?"

"Only when you've got my back to figure it out."

Argent smiled and stood up. "We were about to have lunch. Would you both like to stay?"

Jaune and Yang traded a look. "We got time," they agreed as their stomachs rumbled.

R W B Y

A few hours after the drinks had stopped flowing and everyone's Auras had kicked their livers into overdrive, after the stories had all been traded, the club finally decided to kick out the crazy group of Huntsmen that were scaring away the entire clientele with their fights, use of Dust, and a redheaded girl with a hammer demanding more pancakes before slamming the hammer into the table, demolishing it. They didn't even serve pancakes. So now that the club was finally closed for the night, far earlier than it usually would be, the entire group exited the building. Yang was laughing loudly, hands in the air. "God, that was great!" she shouted, ignoring the screaming of the club's owner directed at them from behind. She turned around and glanced at all of her friends – her team, Jaune's team, Sora, and Mercury. "Especially when Nora started swinging from the hanging lights! You almost brought the roof down!"

Yang turned back to the street and froze.

"Oh, God, it's beautiful," she muttered, hands falling to her sides. Without any control over her actions, she slowly began to drift towards the motorcycle that was sitting in the street in front of her. It was mainly black, though there was a fiery yellow forming accents along the body. A large metal container was on the right side, different vials of Dust in a spinning tube near one end. The body of the bike curved out at the back past the second seat and beyond the rear wheel, forming a pair of stylized yellow flames. The tail light glowed, a solid red block above the back wheel. The wheels were spoke-less, held in place by magnetic Dust crystals that allowedc for increased speed and more powerful breaking. Yang went around to the front, admiring the large, twin cannons on either side of the front wheel before stopping on the headlight that rested just between two yellow stripes that trailed along the seat until they became the flames at the back; the light was in the shape of a flaming Heart. Yang's own emblem. She let her right hand rest on the hood before slowly turning to her friends. "Surprise, Yang!" Ruby shouted, bolting forward in a storm of petals and crashing into her sister. Her arms wrapped around Yang in a hug so tight that Yang knew even she couldn't match it "Do you like it? Please say you like it? If you don't like it, it was all Jaune's idea!"

"I love it, Rubes," Yang said, patting her sisters back.

"Yes!" Ruby shouted, pumping her fist.

"Great, now our gift looks lame," Sun muttered under his breath. Blake shot him a glare. "What? It's a custom battle bike! You really think magnetic boots compare?"

"You spent our budget without me!" Blake retorted angrily.

Weiss shook her head. "This is why we got her an experience," she said, gesturing between her and Neptune. "Two VIP tickets to the best spa in the four kingdoms."

"And cause I decided to not interfere in her picking," Neptune added.

Nora jumped up next, dragging Ren behind her. "We bought a lifetime supply of Cream de Fries!"

"Creme de Fraises," Ren corrected. "The main ingredient in a Strawberry Sunrise."

Yang glanced between them and the motorcycle. "I... don't know who the winner here is," she muttered under her breath. She glanced between them and the bike again. "It's... not coming to me easy."

"Well, maybe this will help," Sora said competitively. He moved around to the container on the side. "We all came up with the bike idea, but Jaune came up with this part by himself." He pressed one of a few buttons on a circle between the handles and beneath the windshield. The container sprung straight up and shot something out, until it drifted down to his hand. He caught it effortlessly, revealing a large red and black katana.

Jaune chuckled. "I, er... I realized your mom's weapon was on the Dragon Continent when she became a Heartless. Anything that got left behind was destroyed in the reconstruction, so I knew we couldn't find it. But when she comes back, she'll need one. And in the meantime, you can use it, too. Like, I don't know, like you've got her with you."

Yang stared at the sword in Sora's hand. Eventually, she moved towards him and grabbed it, holding it reverently as she ran her real hand along the weapon's edge. She bit her bottom lip, then returned the sword to its sheathe. She looked at the buttons for a while, then pressed one shaped like a down arrow. The sword slid back into its resting place. She walked around the bike to Jaune and put her hands on his cheeks. "I could kiss you," she said, causing the Keyblade wielder to begin to stammer uncontrollably. She settled for removing her right hand and planting one on his cheek, and the stammering intensified. She looked around. "You don't mind if I take her for a spin, right?"

Sora shrugged and put his hands behind his head. "Well, me and Ruby still have to finish setting up the trap and get ready for leaving tomorrow. We need to turn in now, anyways."

"We have an early flight back to Atlas to ask General Ironwood to send troops to help guard the – Well, you'll see," Weiss said, tapping her chin and grinning at the annoyed look on Yang's face. "Oh, you wouldn't want me to tell you the secret yet, Yang."

"Same here," Blake supplied quietly. "The remains of the White Fang that didn't follow Adam will want to help. They want to make people trust Faunus again."

"And we'll need to head to Mistral. We're being sent out to hunt down someone that threatened to bomb the school." The entire group spun on Ren and Nora. Ren nodded. "A Huntsman's duty is never done."

"Damn. I thought you guys would have another year before terrorism picked up again," Mercury muttered. He straightened his own disguise glasses before turning to Yang and Jaune. "Go. I, uh... I just want to go for a walk. Clear my head, you know? Never thought I'd be back in Vale after..." He trailed off. "Have fun."

Yang looked around. "You're sure?" They nodded. "Really?"

"YES!" They shouted all at once.

Yang shrugged. "Okay," she said. She let go of Jaune's face and jumped into the bike's front seat, grinning as Sora tossed her the keys, which were – to her great joy – shaped like the Kingdom Key. She started the bike up, appreciating the loud roar as the bike started before it turned into a powerful hum. She turned to Jaune and grinned. "Well? You gonna get on?"

"Wha?" Jaune wondered, pointing at himself.

Yang rolled her eyes and leaned out, grabbing his wrist and yanking him on behind her. She reached into the saddlebags and pulled out two helmets, one with a pair of yellow racing stripes she put on herself and a plain one that she tossed to Jaune. "Hold on tight, Good Boy," she said, then she gunned the engine and shot forward before Jaune realized what she'd told him to do. He yelped and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding on for dear life as they continued to accelerate.

"Yang, you didn't have to bring me!" he shouted over the wind as she weaved between cars.

Yang laughed. "I know!"

Jaune was quiet for a moment. "I meant, I know how you fly a Gummi Ship. I didn't want to risk seeing what you're like in traffic!"

Yang was quiet for a moment before laughing again. "I know."

Jaune grimaced and stared at the sky. "You're not feeling sick," Yang noted, and Jaune started. She was right, he was feeling... well, not good. Her driving basically guaranteed he'd never feel good or safe. But not sick, that was at least true.

"I... I guess not," Jaune muttered as they drove between two cars in traffic, then turned in front of a speeding truck with barely inches to spare. Jaune fought off the urge to cry at the semi honking right behind him. "How that's possible given the fact we almost died just now, I have no idea."

Yang didn't respond. Instead she just drove along, weaving through traffic as before. "Jaune... thanks," Yang suddenly said as she clutched the brake and the bike slid to a stop behind traffic. She turned around and pushed up her visor so her eyes could meet Jaune's better. "The sword, Jaune, it means a lot to me. That you would think of it means a lot to me."

Jaune let go of her and grabbed the sides of the bike. He was glad his helmet hid his face, lessening his anxiety under her lilac gaze. "You mean a lot to me."

Yang bit her lip and pushed the visor down as she turned back to the street. She felt her heart beating in her chest and she remembered an old thought: if Jaune ever wanted to get into a new relationship, he'd have to stop holding on to Pyrrha like she would walk through the door. Yang wasn't known for being patient when it came to things she liked, but if she cared enough she could manage. And, she had just realized after meeting his eyes and reliving their entire adventure so far, she thought Jaune might just be worth it. Ish.

For now, she'd just tease him.

She accelerated at full again, forcing Jaune to hold on tight in basically a hug. "Getting a little close there, Jauney?" Yang mocked as they shot through the intersection then swerved between cars and ran stop signs. "If you liked me that much, you could just tell me!"

"At what point are the police going to chase us!?"

"At what point could the police catch us?!" Yang laughed without turning her eyes from the street. "Ooh! A ramp! Let's take this jump!"

"YANG!"