DID SOMEONE ORDER AN AUTHOR WHOSE CIRADIAN RHYTHM DIED A SCREAMING DEATH AND HE DOESN'T FUCKIN' KNOW WHY!?

- X Ruby X-

Ruby stepped out of the Corridor with a sigh, walking towards the Master, "What's- where are we?"

Ruby couldn't help the question as they stood on the aged, crumbling remains of a giant, almost gothic building. The Master stepped forward, feet on the edge of the building as he stared out over the edge of a deep crater alongside another black cloaked figure bracing an arm on his leg, "Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Shinjuku ward, in what was once Tokyo, Japan… or, well, a Shinjuku in aTokyo in a Japan. You know how it is."

"Depressin', ain't it," the other figure said, confirming it was Braig under the hood, "You were right about humanity lovin' to screw themselves over here, weren't ya, Boss?"

"What are you doing here?" Ruby shot at him.

"What'dya think I'm doin' here, Ruby," Braig said, jerking a finger toward the Master, "He wanted me here before I went to do my own job on this world."

"Yeah," the Master said, stretching and patting Braig on the shoulder, "Braig here is your… eh, what do the Japanese say?"

"No," Braig said bluntly.

"C'mon!"

"No. It's a dumb joke and I'm not going to play into it, old man. You want to make it, do it on your own."

"Fine, fine," the Master said, "man, you're seriously a buzzkill now, kid."

"Oh, I'm not a buzzkill, I just can't be bothered to deal with it right now," Braig said, "get it over with so I can leave and get my job done with before people start asking where the hell I am. By the way, nice to see you're better, Ruby."

"Thanks…?" Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head. Man, it was weird to see this relationship from the outside.

"Anyways, Braig-y boy here is your Senpai!" The Master said cheerfully.

"...I have no idea what that means," Ruby said bluntly. The Master tripped, almost falling over the edge if not for Braig giving an exhausted sigh, catching him and chucking him back.

"Don't even try it," Braig deadpanned, "You were gonna try scarin' us by falling and then popping out behind us. Just get to the stupid point, and no more shitty jokes that rely on expecting her to know another language, please."

"Fine fine. Braig's been working in my camp since day one. Long time before I met you, in fact. Though he has taken the form of-"

"And no shitty pop culture references!" Braig snapped.

"Ruin all my fun why don't you!?"

"I'm honestly surprised she hasn't tried shooting us yet," Braig said, "and I don't want her getting so ticked off she does so hurry up and explain already!"

"Braig's Luxu I," The Master said bluntly. Ruby's eyes widened and she turned towards the gunner.

"Wha- but ho- you should be dead!" Ruby said, mouth falling open. Braig was… Braig was what!?

"Oh, yeah. Dead and buried and buried and dead," Braig, Luxu, whatever, said, "I jump around when I die, get reincarnated. Sorry for not tellin' ya when I realized you were working with him at the Graveyard, but wasn't sure how you'd react. Hell, I nearly got you killed just for implying I had a connection to the Master."

"So, you don't work for-"

"-Xehanort? Depends on what you mean by work for. I got goals from the Master, like you got a Guild to be makin' Luxu. Those goals leave me working with Xehanort."

"Bu- But… But why?" Ruby said, mind spinning.

"Long story," the Master said, "tell ya when you're older. But for now, just think of him as our guy in Xehanort's camp, making sure things go the way I want. Luxu, ya gonna head out?"

"Yeah," Braig said, "Sure. I don't need to be stuck in this irradiated hellhole any longer than necessary. Catch you around-"

"Wait!" Ruby said, "You said... you said Terra…that he killed Master Eraqus… is that tru-?"

"Metaphorically," Braig said.

"Which is the best kind of true," The Master cut in.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Braig said, "Xehanort landed the final blow on Eraqus. But he'd already been pretty heavily wounded by Terra. Can't say if he would've survived, really."

"O… oh," Ruby said, blinked back tears. There was the chance Eraqus would have survived, and even it was Xehanort who killed him, not Terra. Not Ter-

"Anyways," Braig said, raising planting a hand on her head and tussling her hair in an almost brotherly fashion, "I'll see ya both around. I got to hit up Germany."

"Bring a lamp!" The Master said.

"That's what fire spells are for," Braig said, vanishing into the portal.

-X Yang X-

Yang hammered into the Huntsmen-grade punching bag, chewing the inside of her cheek. The polymer groaned under knuckles, the chains bending, before it was caught from behind and stabilized. Yang blinked and looked up, meeting Lie Ren's eyes, who immediately nodded at her, "You looked like you needed a spotter."

"Thanks," Yang said, hammering the bag again. If the harsh movement hurt Ren, he didn't show it, "What're you doin' here?"

"I was going to do some weightlifting," Ren said, "but that can wait. Maybe you can spot me after?"

"Sure," Yang said, smiling at Ren, "How'd your practical with Goodwitch go?"

"Well enough," Ren said, "I'm fairly certain we got enough droids to pass, and we managed to avoid the proctor. How about yours?"

"We did great," Yang said, "crushed the robots, and took down the proctor… even if he was holding back."

There was little doubt in Yang's mind that, if Tai hadn't been holding back, Akoúo̱ would have melted and him grabbing her face would have led to some serious frostbite. It had hurt, but hadn't left damage her Aura hadn't immediately healed.

"Yes, I suppose that makes sense," Ren said, "Your Semblances are all suited for direct combat in some way. Mine… well, it was useless during the exam, unfortunately."

"What is it?" Yang said, "I don't think I've ever seen you use it."

"It lets me suppress emotions," Ren said, "far from completely useless, but it's better for when I'm fighting Grimm instead of people. Well, unless something happens that would make me lose my cool."

"That's possible?" Yang asked with a grin.

"Of course," Ren said, smiling back at her, "mispronouncing words send me into a frOthing rage."

"You just," Yang started as Ren gave a long O sound in frothing, before laughing, "but seriously?"

"I'd probably slip up at certain types of Grimm," Ren said, "or if Nora was hurt."

"So, are you two dating?" Yang asked, only to blink as Ren's eyes suddenly bugged out and his grip on the bag slipped, sending him flying back and crashing against the ground, "Holy shit, bro, are you-"

"We're not dating!" Ren said, sitting up and cool entirely lost, "Where'd you get that idea!?"

"You're almost always around each other, you cook for her," Yang started, "She's pretty free in hugging you."

"We're… we're not dating."

Yeah, they'd see how long that lasted. Especially with the Beacon Dance next month.

"Right," Yang said, "You want me to spot you for those reps?'"

"Sure," Ren said, before pausing, "Actually, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Have you ever thought about focusing your Aura into your fist before a blow, instead of just channeling it throughout your body?"

"You mean Localized Auric Enhancement?" Yang said.

"Yeah."

"I tried when I was younger," Yang said, "My dad uses it a lot, but I never could get the hang of it."

"That's too had," Ren said, carefully adding more weight to the bar, "with a Semblance like yours, you could probably destroy a Deathstalker with it. I could help you with it, if you wanted?"

"You'd do that?"

"Sure," Ren said, "The stronger each Huntsmen is, the worse time Grimm are gonna have."

-X Ruby X-

"So," Ruby asked, staring out over the crater and worrying her lip, "What happened here?"

"Man made hellfire," the Master said, a slight amount of distaste leaking into his voice, "or as close as you can get without magic or random biology in jackassess."

"...What?"

"You'll get it later," the Master said with a sigh, "You know the worst part of living like I do? With knowledge of the future?"

"What?"

"How often you have to remind yourself 'oh, yeah, they're stuck on lateral timeline'. You, Luxu, Diabolos and Phoenix, Ava… Galu and Invi were the worst, let me tell you. Because those two could figure out what the hell I was talking about half the time."

"Don't you mean couldn't-"

"No, I mean could. Invi once ruined six months of planning and made me a permanent enemy because I accidentally mentioned something Shiva was gonna do and then the worldlines crunched down into one and there was nothing I could do to abort it. Kingdom Hearts, I've never wanted to strangle an apprentice more than that, and never will," the Master sighed, leaning his arms on a rusted balcony, "Man, I miss them. Anyways, enough about the distance past, let's talk about what we're here for… which is technically a third my fault!"

"Technically a third your fault?" Ruby parroted pack with a tired sigh. Was this how Ren felt? She bet this was how Ren felt.

"Eh, you forgot to destroy a world that really, really deserved it for a couple of centuries, they manage to warp a single city and a fuckin' abomination with delusions of godhood off world before it blows up and that spirals into a dragon and beast of that abomination plummeting from the sky over a third world's Tokyo which in turn spirals into the extinction of humanity and a tidally locked earth. I'm not even sure how the last one happened if I'm honest."

"..."

"I guess you had to be there."

"...You live a very eventful life," Ruby deadpanned, "How do you forget to do that when you can see the future?"

"Odin was trying to kill me at the time… I think."

"For a couple of centuries?"

"He was trying really, really hard that time. Anyways, away from what I do in my free time, on to what we're doing here. Somewhere in this place, and by 'this place' I mean 'Tokyo' is a Keyhole, the path to the Heart of a World. Your job is to find it and lock it as part of Operation 'Cleaning Up Three Messes and Making One.'"

"What's-"

"Up-up-up!" The Master said, gesturing to his face approximately where his lips were, "Spoilers! So Braig is off to the dark half of this poor hellhole, I'm off to do some backdoor hacking to get rid of an idea even I think is terrible, you're off to find the Keyhole. Understood?"

"Must be a pretty bad idea if you think it's terrible," Ruby said, dryly.

"Tell me about it!" The Master said with a laugh, "I'll give you a hint on where to be looking. Once you get past the destroyed walls, look for the waterfront districts. It's there."

"If you know, then why not just tell m-?"

"Because part of the lesson is you finding it on your own, Lux!" The Master said, "We'll go pick up something to eat after, good luck!"

Ruby watched him vanish with an annoyed sigh. Good god, was he allergic to not being cryptic?

-X Braig X-

Braig stepped around the snow covered trees, long dead and rotting. They had, in all likelihood, died in their sleep, unaware that the spring they were waiting for was never gonna come.

Sad, really. And a perfect example of why the World Order was needed. Some worlds… they weren't capable of functioning when things from another world were introduced to them. The kids who made them, they didn't have it in them to imagine darkness like this.

And he legitimately wasn't sure if that was more depressing, or the idea that there were kids who could understand that darkness enough to incorporate it into their world. Both options sucked in their own way, in his opinion.

Stepping up to the rusted door of the military bunker, Braig quietly used space magic to warp it open, stepping inside and down the stairs until he came to a second, much less rusted door. opening it, Braig stepped into the room and swept his one eye around.

Black, twitchy humanoids broke from staring up at bodies frozen in cryogenic tubes. Each rushed towards him, only for Braig to catch Chaos Ripper and swing it once. The Heartless stopped, exploding into whisps as the slash hit them from a hundred feet away.

Braig watched them fade with a sigh, heading towards the nearest terminal. Hopefully whatever powered this dang thing was working…

[Welcome to Project Gestalt. Please insert password]

[_]

Braig stared at it before muttering, "Don't think there's gonna be someone I can ring up and trick into giving me the password. Letting try…"

[Gestalt]

After a second, Braig was in and left snorting, "Yeah, that's about right. Millions of collective years of human history across thousands of worlds and some lazy jackass still can't put effort into a good password. Let's see...

[What is Project Gestalt?]

Braig blinked at the document that came up, a shark grin splitting his face, "Oh… oh, that's gonna make things easier. Artificial removal of a soul, eh? Something tells me that's not what it actually is. Thank you, Master."

Less than half an hour later, Braig was tucking a USB stick into his coat, typing a code and striding out of the bunker to the noise of a couple hundred cryotubes warming.

Game. Set. Match.

Now to Jerusalem.

-X Ruby X-

Ruby rushed across the tilted buildings, feet glowing lightly as she went. Eyes scanning the buildings, Ruby was left wondering what the hell had happened here. What sort of weapon other than a Keyblade could be powerful enough to leave a city annihilated and the buildings that survived tilted away from the blast?

It was so bad Ruby was forced to run across metal girders, the glass that should have been there shattered or reduced to dust from the shockwave of the weapon. Leaping from the edge of the building, Ruby flipped in the air so her feet were angled to impact the broken wall. The moment they hit, Ruby began to run up the wall, one arm raised to block the beating light of the sun hitting her eyes.

Space magic was, in a lot of ways, a bit of a grab bag. You could warp space, obviously, for offensive and defensive purposes but it also let you mess with your own, and other people's, interaction with gravity. 'Flight' wasn't out of the realm of possibility for a true master of Space magic by manipulating their interaction with gravity.

Which was a level Ruby wasn't at yet. running on walls, even walking on thin air, yes. Flight? No. Not even Master Eraqus wasn't that good at Gravity magic. But then, while he was good with a bunch of magics, Light magic was where he was best.

Ruby rushed off the edge of the wall, releasing the spell so she fell back to the top of the dozen meter thick wall. A weak clicking came from her sides, and Ruby looked to see a pair of sentry guns pointing at her, one from a pile of rubble and the other with a half-melted barrel. Ruby, almost absentmindedly, blasted it to pieces as she stepped closer to the wall's broken edge.

"Someone didn't want people past this," Ruby said, eyes scanning the wall with holes across it surrounding the city and beginning to talk into the recording app on her Scroll, "But to keep people out or in? Both, maybe? But who destroyed it, and why? Which direction is the rubble?"

Ruby's eyes scanning both sides of the wall, before giving a tired sigh. Whatever had happened inside the walls had made figuring that out nearly impossible… nearly.

"Ways into Shinjuku conventionally are destroyed or barricaded," Ruby said, continuing the study the rusted remains of tanks and armored personnel carriers on the highways and roads. Eraqus's training going through her head like clockwork, his words in her ear. When you arrived on a new world, you were functionally blind. It was important to divine culture, history and situation as soon as possible, "small amounts of collateral from danger close missions, most likely. Near Remnantian culture, but city is abandoned. Lost cause? If so, why is damage restricted to Shinju-"

Extinction of humanity.

"Humanity wiped out through unknown means," Ruby said, "walls are likely a form of quarantine. Disease? Discrimination? Walls likely broken from the inside, declaration of war. Unable to stem the tide,resorted to desperate measures. High power crystal bombs? How many, to destroy a small city? Results likely… likely worthless."

Ruby paced along the wall, idly swinging Master Defender around her right hand like a baton. Mind jumping. Why the heck were they here? What were they achieving?

"Humanity extinct… but what about others? New race? Evolution? Maybe, maybe not. Master might just be having me do this as a training exercise while him and Braig do whatever they're doin-"

Ruby stopped as a group of shadowy figures climbed up the wall. They looked vaguely like the monsters in Riku's dive, more humanoid, but with the same glowing gold eyes.

"Combat mark," Ruby said, just before hitting the button to save the recording, "eight shadows."

Ruby stored her Scroll away and stopped spinning Master Defender, holding it in a familiar grip. Even with her head and pointed at the shadows, two fingers held out on her right hand pressed against the point where blade met guard..

Three.

Two.

One.

Ruby ran a hand down the blade, glowing light exploding into existence before she charged forward. The first shadow was swept aside like dist as the blade hit them, Ruby spinning in place as she cut two more down. Her heart pounded, time slowing to a crawl as she activated her Semblance and moved.

One slash through the armpit and into the skull, a second spin decapitated the next. Grabbing one by the head as it charged her she used it to block another's attack. Master Defender punched through the throat and head as she threw the one she was holding in the head and span the Keyblade over her head, the silver light hitting each and picking them up like a tornado before Ruby thrust Master Defender into the air and unleashed a blast of light, releasing the light and blasting them apart.

Now, where was the waterfront from here?

-X Blake X-

Blake wiped her forehead, sweat pouring down it as she stared down Pyrrha. The Invincible Girl was just as sweaty, spinning Milò in one hand. Gritting her teeth, Blake began to move. Fire wasn't always gonna be helpful, the fight with Tai had made that clear so maybe… maybe… Lucia had adapted Terminus Est to Light magic.

Thick, tight bursts of water formed off the edge of Gambol Shroud and her sheath. Pyrrha's eyes widened and she threw her shield up, pushing back against the blow. Blake created a second, activating a haste spell and launched herself around the edge of the arena as the first water hovered in air. Swinging her arms, Blake fired her both blasts. Pyrrha's eyes jumped around the area before she span into a whirlwind of red and bronze, both Terminus Est striking each other where she stood and exploding in a spattering of water.

"You can use more than fire?" Pyrrha asked, "well, for that technique I mean. Ruby's made it clear that a witch… mage… whatever the nomenclature is, aren't restricted to one element."

"I figured to couldn't hurt to try," Blake said, huffing and crouching so she could rest. Taking the offered towel, Blake dabbed her face after she slotted Gambol Shroud into the sheath, "but I don't think I'm gonna be using that in an actual combat situation for at least a few days. I need to figure out how to regulate the magical energy enough that it still cuts but doesn't take so much energy that I'm useless afterwards… though casting it twice in a row probably didn't help much."

"Here," Pyrrha said, offering Blake a bottle of water labeled with the Schnee snowflake. For a second, a petulant part of the cat Faunus wanted to refuse it, before cold logic pointed out that someone had clearly already paid for it and there wasn't any extra harm in drinking it.

Grabbing the bottle, Blake cracked the seal and began to gulp it down. Why the hell was she so thirst-?

Oh, right. Tai had baked the hall with them in it. She probably should have drank this an hour or two ago, when they got back. Certainly not after a training session with Pyrrha.

Blake flicked open her Scroll as the chirp, noting that Ruby was, once again, completely MIA from both short range and CCT based contact. Probably training with Riku or something.

Ilia:

Hey.

Just got in range of the Vale CCT.

Probably gonna be a few more days

before we land.

Gotta pass the Vytal Coast, you know?

Just figured I'd tell you.

:Blake

Good to hear.

They tell you anything yet?

Ilia:

Nope. Sorry.

How's what's-her-face doing?

:Blake

Ruby's fine.

Been back in combat for months.

Blake finished swallowing the water, throwing the bottle into the can before standing and stretching, "We should probably go get ready for dinner."

"Yes," Pyrrha said, pulling out her Scroll, "I'll call Yang, you… oh."

"Yeah," Blake said, shrugging, "She's probably just playing with Riku, don't worry about it."

"Yes," Pyrrha nodded, "Though I wonder why she didn't tell us before she went."

"Dunno," Blake said, a frown pulling the corner of her lips, "Ask Yang if Ruby mentioned anything to her."

-X AN X-

So, yeah. My pace has gone to plaid (ask my Beta, I won't fuckin' shut up in between new sections and hammering out new details for A New Land like how Team RNBY+Company get along with Anti-Quirk Legislation (hint: BADLY) and I'm pretty sure he's plotting to murder me over it) and I'm legitimately not sure WHEN THIS FUCKER'S GONNA SLOW SO GET IN LOSERS WE'RE GETTING AS MUCH MILEAGE AS POSSIBLE.

And yes, I did imply that MoM legitimately had no intended part in the incident that Odin holds against him (the fact that Diabolos has taken the time to actually get verification on that matter is why he was established to not take it personally).

Thoughts? Questions? Opinions? Good? Bad? Meh? I haven't gotten a review in a couple of chapters now. And that TV Tropes page could still use some help.