They settled in and Ruby pulled out the report to read.
"Ansem Report 3:"
"Wait, three?!" Nora complained, "What happened to two?!"
"The pages were scattered," Ren noted, "It would be suspicious if Ruby found them in order."
"The shadows that crawl beneath the castle… Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness?"
"Or something entirely beyond imagination?"
"All my knowledge has provided no answer."
Ozpin nodded knowingly. He'd tried to discover the secrets of the Grimm, but found he couldn't study them for obvious reasons.
"One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart."
"Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report."
"You should leave then," Neo pointed out, "If the Heartless are multiplying…"
Emerald raised her eyebrow though. Going off of her theory, that would mean that someone close to Ansem or maybe Ansem themselves were steeped in darkness. She wondered as the viewing went on.
"They still need a name. Those who lack hearts… I will call them the Heartless."
"How did the Heartless get below Ansem's castle?" Qrow wondered.
Emerald nodded, having the same thought.
"I don't know," Winter thought, "But now we know that Ansem named them."
"So did Ansem discover the Heartless?" Oscar wondered.
"I don't know," Blake shook her head, "But they were at least the first to document them."
"But they still don't reveal how to beat them, or anything about Kairi or the princess!" Ruby sighed.
"We'll find them Ruby," Winter said softly, "But for now, let's get that summon gem back to Glynda!"
"Oh, yeah! And I've got two pages of Pooh's book!" Ruby agreed.
Cinder rolled her eyes while Nora squealed in happiness.
Winter flew them back to Traverse Town.
As the Gummi ship flew away from Atlantica, Ruby, Winter, and Qrow's clothes came back.
Ruby sighed in relief, "Glad that's over."
She and Winter looked onto their laps to see that the sea shell top had remained, and sat on there now.
Winter scowled, but tucked the bra next to her.
Ruby blushed and did the same.
Once there, they found Summer standing guard in the first district.
"Hello Ruby!" she smiled, "Winter, Qrow. Robyn and Ilia aren't here right now, but I'm willing to help anyway I can."
"Where did we go?" Ilia wondered.
"Maybe you went to help Ruby clear the worlds?" Weiss suggested.
Robyn shook her head, "I don't think I would do that in this world. As Gordeau said, I'd fight for Traverse Town with my life. I don't think I'd leave it for very long."
"Huh?" Qrow wondered, "Where are they?"
"They went off world," Summer noted, "Something about keeping Ilia in fighting shape."
"Hmm…" Winter thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"I think I know where they went," Winter nodded, "But I'll refrain from 'spoiling' anything."
Neo smirked.
"Whitley also got some new goods in, if you need to restock," Summer advised before looking down, "Um…Ruby?"
"Yes, Summer?" Ruby tilted her head.
"Do you remember seeing a woman in a mask at the coliseum?" she asked.
"Huh?" Raven wondered.
"So the Traverse Town group knows Raven," Tai nodded.
"Why is she on her own then?" Roman wondered, "Shouldn't she be with us?"
"That's Raven for you," Qrow chuckled as Raven scowled at him.
"Yup," Ruby nodded.
"I wonder if she's still searching for her friend?" she sighed.
"Well, we know she's looking for a friend now," Pyrrha noted, "But we still don't know who yet."
"Ruby, if you see her, please tell her to be careful," Summer asked.
"She's not that friendly, but we all care about her dearly," she explained.
Raven smiled at Summer, "I know you do, Sum."
The two embraced and Summer cuddled into Raven's side.
"We will," Ruby nodded, "So, Whitley's or Leonardo's?" she asked as she turned to the other two.
"Leonardo's," Winter huffed, "We can see what Brother has procured on the way out."
"He is closer to the exit," Jaune noted.
"And it means we don't have to see him until the end of the world," Weiss nodded.
"And don't forget to show the Moogles your new blades, Ruby," Qrow reminded.
"Oh yeah!" Ruby smiled, "The Moogles are making me a better weapon!"
Yang chuckled at her sister's enthusiasm.
"Right," Ruby agreed, "So Glynda, then Pooh, then the Moogles, then Whitley."
Before they went, they stopped to drop off the puppies they had collected first.
Pongo pushed another box to them as the puppies ran around.
Inside was a very large potion.
"That's a Mega-Potion," Winter explained, "It works like a potion, but heals all of us instead of just you."
"That should be helpful," Lionheart noted, "Especially if the Heartless keep getting stronger."
Ruby nodded and they hurried to Leonardo's house.
"Ah, just the people I wanted to see," Leonardo noted as they walked in.
"You did?" Winter asked.
"He knew we were coming the first time," Winter noted, "It shouldn't be surprising that he was expecting us again."
"Of course!" Leonardo nodded, "I've been watching, and Ruby now possesses some great magical prowess!"
Ruby smiled triumphantly as he continued, "So, I cooked up a little something."
"I have?" Ruby wondered, "I've just been using the Keyblade most of the time."
"You possess all of the beginner level spells now," Gordeau noted, "Along with Stop. In terms of progress for a beginner, that's faster than anyone else has ever done it."
Ruby blushed in embarrassment, "I'm not that special."
Yang chuckled, "Normal knees."
He handed her a keychain that was a small book. Ruby's Keyblade turned all blue with a spinning ball where the teeth normally sat.
"Spellbinder," Gordeau noted, "This particular Keyblade is more built for Magic than attacking."
"So Ruby probably won't use it as much," Jaune noted.
"Thanks," Ruby smiled before turning to Glynda, "By the way, we found another summon gem."
"The poor thing," Glynda sighed, "Let me activate it for you! Bibbity Bobbity Boo!"
"I wonder who's inside this one," Pyrrha wondered.
"Could be anything that doesn't mesh with Traverse Town," Clover noted, "I don't even know what to expect this time."
The gem glowed with power and Ruby nodded, "Now for the pages!"
She walked over and put the pages into Pooh's book. It flashed as they were reattached.
"Do we have to go back to this world?" Cinder groaned in annoyance.
"Hey, Pooh is adorable!" Nora yelled.
She used her Keyblade to enter, and found herself in front of a tall tree. It had many holes in it and beehives all around it.
Suddenly, she heard a voice, "Hello, i-is anyone there?"
"That's not Pooh's voice," Summer noted.
"It must be one of his missing friends," Tai nodded.
Out of a nearby log, a very tiny pink pig stepped out.
He danced in place nervously before worrying, "Wh-Wh-What am I to do? I'm all alone."
"Aw," Velvet smiled at the pig sweetly, "He's scared and nervous. You should cheer him up Ruby."
"I'll probably try," Ruby pointed out.
Not noticing Ruby, the pig called out, "Pooh? Pooh? Where are you? It's me, Piglet!"
Ruby began to approach. Piglet only came up to her shin, so she cast a shadow over him.
"He's so small!" Ilia smiled, "He's adorable!"
"Small, pink, and adorable, huh?" Neo smirked, "Remind you of anyone?"
"Hmm…" Ilia thought, before smirking, "Nope!"
Neo looked shocked but lightly shoved Ilia as she laughed it off.
Seeing the shadow, Piglet turned around and gasped at the stranger.
Piglet ran away in fear, hiding behind the tree.
"Hey, don't be scared!" Nora smiled, "Ruby isn't gonna hurt you."
Mercury rolled his eyes, "This world is sickeningly cute."
Emerald said nothing. She actually kind of liked it, even if her colleagues didn't.
"Wait, don't be scared!" Ruby followed, but Piglet panicked and ran under the tree to the other side.
Ruby frowned, but got an idea. She snuck around the back of the tree and got behind Piglet again.
"Hey, don't scare him Ruby!" Velvet pouted.
"It's probably the only way to get him to talk to her," Weiss noted.
Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that how you talked to me the second time?"
Weiss winced, "Yes…but not for the right reason. I was trying to yell at you, and figured you'd run away from me if you saw me coming. I'm sorry."
"Well, you're not wrong," Ruby muttered, "But it's okay! We're besties now!"
Weiss huffed, but didn't say anything.
When the shadow overtook him again, he gasped and turned around in fright.
"Oh dear!" he gasped, "I was j-just…N-Never mind. I'm sorry!"
Pyrrha tilted her head, "Is that what I sound like? I'm…"
"No," Ren shook his head, "You don't. There's nothing to be sorry for."
"Oh," Pyrrha pulled back, "O…Okay then."
Ruby kneeled down and smiled at him, "Don't be scared. You're looking for Pooh, right?"
Piglet stopped panicking and looked up at her, "You know Pooh?"
"That's all it took?" Harriet rolled her eyes, "How does he know you didn't just hear him say the name and repeated it?"
Roman chuckled, "I don't think that really matters in this world. In case you haven't noticed, there's a distinct lack of evil monsters around."
"So there's no darkness to attract them," Emerald nodded.
Ruby nodded and Piglet sighed in relief, "Oh, y-you see, I-I have something for him. I have to take it to Pooh right away!"
Right as he said that, Pooh crested a hill into the clearing.
"There he is!" Nora smiled at the sight of the bear.
"What does Piglet have to give him though?" Penny wondered, "He doesn't seem to be carrying anything."
Ruby nodded her head in that direction and Piglet turned around, "Oh, Pooh!"
He and Ruby ran over as Pooh sniffed the air.
"Oh," Pooh noted, "I believe I smell a delicious something—a something like honey!"
Nora sniffed the air, "I believe I don't smell a delicious something…"
Before she could finish Ren chuckled and stood up. He walked out of the theater, then walked back in shortly after without anything.
"Ren!" Nora looked at him as if betrayed.
"I ordered them for you, Nora," Ren smiled, "They'll be ready in a few minutes."
"But how will I know?!" Nora complained.
"You'll know," Jaune chuckled, "You always know."
He looked up to see the tree right in front of him and smiled.
"Pooh!" Piglet called out as the two approached.
"Hello, Piglet," Pooh greeted, "How have you been?"
"Really?" Neptune wondered, "Nothing like, 'Where have you been?' or 'I'm so glad you're back!'?"
Cinder scowled, "This is the same bear who wanted to know how to say goodbye to himself. I doubt he's thinking about that."
"Oh," Piglet started nervously, before putting his hands on his heart reassuringly, "I-I'm so glad to see you. I thought you'd gone away."
"Wait, so each page works independently of the book?" Oscar wondered.
"Yes and no," Gordeau noted, "While Piglet was still able to wander this area, no one could visit until it was put back in the book."
"I brought wh-what you asked for," he noted as he pulled out an already inflated blue balloon.
"I'd ask where that came from," Winter began, "But I get the feeling this is like the 'episode' universe we watched."
"Right," Ren nodded, "The one where I can pull things out of thin air."
"Thank you, Piglet," Pooh smiled as he grabbed the balloon, "Now I can finally have some honey."
"Really?" Piglet and Ruby wondered, "But how?"
"I was about to ask the same thing," Blake noted, "I don't think the balloon's going to help him any."
"I shall hold on to the balloon, and fly like a bee," Pooh pointed to the tree, "Up the Hunny Tree, see."
"Wouldn't Piglet have already flown away then?" Ruby noted, "He's smaller than Pooh."
"Wouldn't be the strangest thing we've seen in this universe," Raven shrugged, "Remember Wonderland?"
Winter shuddered, "Don't remind me."
"But," Piglet pointed out, "If you take their honey, won't the bees be angry?"
"Hmm…" Pooh thought before looking at Ruby, "Ruby, if you could only chase away those bees, I'm quite certain I could get a small morsel of honey."
Ruby walked over to Blake and Yang, "You heard the bear! Shoo!"
Blake looked confused, but Nora and Yang laughed.
"Not us, Rubes!" Yang ruffled her sister's hair, as Ruby giggled.
Blake thought for a moment, then remembered Nora's pairing name for them and laughed too.
"Umm… sure," Ruby responded, "But how?"
Suddenly, the owl from before flew in.
"Oh." Pooh turned and nodded at the bird, "Hello there, Owl."
"So they're all named after the animal they are except for Pooh?" Jaune wondered, "That would probably get confusing."
"Good day, Pooh," Owl greeted, "What are you doing?"
He noted the balloon and smiled, "Using a balloon to get some honey? Splendid idea! Allow me to offer a few pointers."
He flew up the tree and began, "Now, Pooh can get honey by floating up this tree with his balloon. The honey is inside the tree hallows, not the beehives you see here."
"That doesn't make any sense!" Weiss protested.
"Explains why it's called the Hunny Tree, though," Sun noted, "And not, like, the Bee Tree or something."
"So," he continued, "When Pooh takes the honey, the bees will leave the hives and try to pop his balloon. If you swing at them, Ruby, they should disperse."
"Got it," Ruby nodded, "Climb the tree, hit the bees."
"Splendid," Owl smiled, "Now off you go!"
"Well, that should be easy for Red," Roman sighed, "I'm still not sure why we're watching this part of the universe. Seems like a waste of time to me."
Neo elbowed him.
It took a few tries, but eventually, Pooh got to the very top of the tree and dove into a pool of honey.
He began eating and chuckled as he did, "It is rather funny what I will do for honey."
"It is rather funny what I will do for…" Nora started.
Suddenly a voice called out, "Pancakes for Nora, kupo!"
"Kupo?" Pyrrha wondered before gasping, "You mean?!"
Ren smirked as a Moogle walked into the theater. He was pushing a cart and carrying a rather large stack of pancakes.
"Me!" Nora ran up to the creature, "I'm Nora!"
"Here you go, kupo!" he handed her the plate.
Gordeau nodded to the Moogle, "Glad you could make it, Mog."
"Always happy to help, kupo!" Mog nodded, "I also brought along a treat for you all! Though, I need payment for it, kupo."
There were quite a few groans, but Gordeau just shook his head, "This one's on me guys."
He walked over to Mog and handed him a large pouch. Mog smiled and bounced over to everyone in the theater. He handed each of them a light blue ice-cream bar as he passed.
"Ice cream?!" Neo smiled.
"That's right, kupo!" Mog nodded, "A special variety native to the universe you're currently watching called Sea-Salt Ice Cream."
"Huh," Qrow wondered as he looked at it, "Strange flavor."
Jaune shrugged and took a bite, "Huh. Salty, yet sweet."
Neptune eyed his bar nervously. He was uneasy about anything with 'sea' in the title. He took a bite though, and immediately changed his mind, "This is delicious!"
"See?" Sun nudged him, "Not everything from water is bad!"
Velvet smiled as she ate hers, "There's something nostalgic about the flavor, I just can't figure out how..."
Adam agreed silently. Maybe it has something to do with our otherselves...
Everyone had mixed feelings about the bars. Most people seemed to at least tolerate it, except for Neo, who took one bite and then handed it Ilia, "Too salty."
Ren was surprised, as Nora seemed more focused on the ice cream then her pancakes.
"Nora, your pancakes," he pointed out.
"I know!" Nora nodded, "But this is just so good!"
Ren raised an eyebrow in thought. He'd expected a similar reaction to Neo from her, considering Nora's taste for sweets. It confused him quite a bit, actually.
"Thanks, kupo!" Mog smiled, "I'll be manning the meal service station from now on, so feel free to visit, kupo!"
He walked out and quite a few people swooned at his cuteness, but none more so than Emerald.
He's so cute!
Ruby smiled and began to leave, when something caught her eye. In the grass, was another summon gem. She picked it up and left, finding herself in front of a vegetable garden. A house was nearby, so she ran over.
"Another summon gem already?" Robyn wondered, "That was fast."
"Now I'll have two new ones to try!" Ruby nodded.
She approached the front door, but a voice called out, "Nobody's home! And I'm all out of honey!"
"If nobody's home, who's calling to me?" Ruby questioned, but the voice didn't call back.
"Whoever's inside is probably used to dealing with people like Pooh," Velvet giggled, "It would probably work with him."
Pooh, who had gotten down from the tree, and Piglet walked up beside her and then around back, so she followed.
"This must be the second page," Blake pointed out, "I don't think Pooh could've gotten out of the tree that quickly."
"Which means we'll get to see some more of Pooh's friends!" Nora celebrated.
The two were looking in a hole. Above it, a sign said 'Rabbit's Howse.'
"Look," Piglet turned to Ruby, "Rabbit's house c-came back! But it looks like Rabbit isn't home."
"Rabbit, huh," Velvet blushed.
"Pooh's been calling and calling," Piglet explained, "But the house says no one's there."
"Nobody's home?" Pooh called out.
"That's right," the voice responded, "Nobody!"
"Silly bear," Penny giggled, "That means there is someone there!"
"I don't think he understands that," Ilia giggled too.
Ruby chuckled and figured out what was going on. She turned and walked into the front door to find a yellow rabbit inside.
As she did, Pooh called out again, "Who is this person named Nobody?"
"Oh," Penny giggled again, "He did know there was someone there."
"He just thought it was someone named Nobody," Pyrrha giggled.
"He's really a silly bear," Jaune agreed with a chuckle.
The voice didn't respond, so Pooh climbed in the hole, "Nobody, have you seen Rabbit?"
"No!" Rabbit called out, not realizing Ruby was in the house, "No Rabbit here! There's no one here!"
"You're caught Rabbit," Qrow chuckled, "Just give it up."
Rabbit sighed in defeat as Pooh popped into his house.
"Hello, Rabbit!" Pooh greeted.
Piglet entered right after, not having to crawl given his small size.
"Why, P-Pooh," Rabbit stated half-heartedly, "What a pleasant surprise…"
"He doesn't sound happy to see Pooh," Neptune pointed out, "I wonder why?"
"The first thing he said was he didn't have any honey," Summer remembered, "Maybe Pooh eats his whole supply every time."
"But if he doesn't have any, why is he worried?" Oscar wondered.
He smiled a bit dropping the attitude as he saw Piglet, "Nice to see you, too, Piglet."
"And…" he turned to Ruby, but raised an eyebrow, "Is this a new friend?"
"I'm Ruby!" Ruby greeted, "I ran into Pooh not that long ago, and I'm helping him find his friends."
"Oh," Rabbit nodded, "Thank you for helping us."
"No problem," Ruby smiled, "No one should be alone."
Weiss and Yang smiled at her statement.
He turned to Pooh, "P-Pooh, I'm sorry, b-but…"
Pooh ignored him and walked over to a cupboard.
"I'm all out of honey at the moment," Rabbit began.
Pooh sniffed the air and turned to Ruby, "Ruby, do you smell honey?"
Nora smiled, "He does have some!"
"And, just like you, Pooh's going to find it," Ren chuckled.
"No!" Rabbit protested, "I've nothing to give you! Don't waste your time looking around!"
Ruby ignored Rabbit and looked up. Hidden in the rafters was a full honey pot.
"Nothing, huh?" Ruby noted as she pointed.
"There's your reason, Newbie," Neo noted, "He did have some and was trying to hide it."
"I understand," Oscar chuckled, "But with Pooh or Nora, it doesn't matter."
Nora grinned wickedly and nodded.
"H-Honey?" Rabbit asked, unconvincingly, "Now, how did that get up there?"
He sighed in defeat as he turned to Pooh, "Would you like some, Pooh? Don't feel you have to, of course."
"He's going to want some," Raven shook her head, "It's his only motivation."
"Well, that and finding his friends," Tai noted.
"Oh, thank you, Rabbit," Pooh thanked as Ruby got the pot down, "I would like just a small smackeral. I'm quite hungry."
Pooh began eating, but didn't stop.
"Um, Pooh Bear…" Ruby started.
Nora suddenly felt something strange. Like someone was watching her.
She looked around and everyone was looking at her.
"What?!" she asked.
"That's just a very you thing to do," Pyrrha noted with a giggle.
But he just kept eating.
"You're not eating the whole pot, are you?"
Nora shrunk in on herself a little, but wasn't ashamed of it. She shook it off and embraced the looks as Pooh kept eating.
Pooh ignored her.
Ruby sighed, "Once you start, there's no stopping you is there…"
"Unfortunately not," Rabbit sighed, "If you need to go, Ruby, Pooh's going to be here a while."
Ren pulled Nora next to him, "You know I love that about you, right?"
Nora snuggled into him, "I know Renny."
"Okay," Ruby nodded, "I'll see you all later!"
She left the house.
She was about to leave the garden when Piglet ran up to her.
"Help!" Piglet called out, "Please! Pooh!"
"What happened?" Velvet wondered, "He was just eating."
"Piglet seems really worried," Ruby noted, "I should go help!"
Ruby picked Piglet up and ran back to the house.
Inside, she saw Pooh, but he was stuck in the hole.
"He's stuck?!" Ruby wondered.
"Why didn't he go out the door like Ruby?" Weiss wondered, "Then he wouldn't have gotten stuck."
"He probably didn't think about that," Winter noted.
"All this because he can't stop liking honey so much!" Rabbit sighed, "If Pooh doesn't slim down, my house will stay plugged up forever! If only there were something we could do…"
"Oh, wh-what to do?" Piglet worried.
"Oh, help and bother," Pooh sighed, "I'm stuck again."
"Again!?" Ruby wondered in shock.
"With how much he eats, I'm not surprised this has happened before," Ozpin chuckled.
"I came in through this hole," Pooh reasoned, "So it must have shrunk."
Ruby rolled her eyes, but smirked at the silly bear.
Most of the room did the same. A good portion of them appreciated the silly antics of the bear.
The few that didn't simply rolled their eyes.
She gave Pooh a push, but he didn't budge.
"Hm…" she thought out loud, "Let me go outside and try and pull."
"He's really wedged in there, huh," Sun chuckled, "I wonder how you'll get him out."
"I'm not sure brute force could work here without hurting Pooh," Velvet agreed.
She walked outside to Pooh's front.
"Oh," Pooh sighed, "How will I eat honey if I'm stuck here?"
He looked up to Ruby, "When it's lunch time, perhaps you could bring me a honey jar."
Nora chuckled nervously, before sighing, "Okay, yes, I've done that before."
"Really?" Jaune went wide-eyed.
"Really," Ren chuckled, "She actually would get stuck in some of the entrances to our shelters and all she would worry about was me still getting food to her."
"It didn't happen that often," Nora protested.
"No," Ren agreed, "Only once a shelter, then you learned."
"No honey 'til you're unstuck!" Rabbit huffed as he walked up to the scene.
"If Pooh doesn't slim down, my house will stay plugged up forever!" Rabbit worried as his ears folded, "If only there were something we could do…"
Suddenly, his ears perked up, "Wait, I know! A bit of carrot top juice will do the trick!"
Velvet's ears perked up, "Carrot juice?"
Mog burst back into the room and handed her a glass. Everyone looked at him strangely.
"What, kupo?" Mog shrugged, "I remembered this scene and when I saw Velvet I knew she'd want one, kupo."
"That's a little racist," Blake noted.
"But he's not wrong," Velvet shrugged, "Like you with fish or Sun and bananas."
Sun nodded as Mog left, "It's true."
He pointed across the small stream that ran through his garden, "I have a carrot patch on the other side of the stream. Carrot top juice is just the ticket to slimming down a Pooh!"
Nora gagged, "It's like your weird algae drinks."
"Those are nutritious and healthy," Ren defended.
"They're awful!" Nora protested, "They look the same coming up as they do going down!"
Yang gagged a bit too, "Food shouldn't do that."
Rabbit turned around, but froze and began to shake, "Oh, no!"
Bouncing down the path, was a strange looking tiger. He bounced onto the bridge, breaking it.
"So, going by this worlds logic so far, that would be Tiger," Neptune noted.
"Why is he bouncing?" Adam wondered, "Tiger's don't bounce."
Rabbit looked on in shock as the tiger tackled Ruby.
"Ooh hoo hoo hoo!" he declared while standing on top of Ruby, "Hey there! Name's Tigger! T-I-double-guh-RR. That spells Tigger!"
"Well, it's close," Ilia noted, "Just with an extra G."
"He spells it funny," Nora chuckled.
"Get off of me, please," Ruby whined, "I need to breathe!"
Penny winced, "I often forget that. I'm sorry."
In a quick glance, Tigger looked down at Ruby, "Well, now! I don't think I've ever seen you before!"
Tigger pressed her to the ground and put his face right in front of hers. Ruby, for her part, was too stunned to speak.
"He's very energetic," Summer noted, "He and Ruby should get along just fine!"
"I was kind of hyper a few years ago, wasn't I," Ruby noted.
"You mellowed with age, Rubes," Yang chuckled.
"Hello, Tigger," Pooh greeted from the hole, "You've just bounced my new friend Ruby."
Tigger pulled away from Ruby's face, but didn't get off of her, "Hey, Pooh! Say, you're lookin' mighty uncomfy today."
"They both seem rather unconcerned with the situation," Winter noticed, "But I didn't expect anything else from them."
"I think it's nice that even their biggest problems can't get anyone, except Rabbit, down," Pyrrha smiled, "It's a nice change of pace from Ruby's normal problems in this universe."
Tigger bounced, still on Ruby, as he continued, "Is that some new exercise?"
"Oof," Ruby winced, "Please get off."
"I can't imagine that felt good," Blake agreed.
He leapt off of Ruby and began bouncing around the farm, "Why, bouncin' around is a lot more fun."
Ruby gasped for air as she stood up, "Wh-Why do you bounce around so much, Tigger?"
"He's got a lot of energy," Nora shrugged, "That's why!"
"Why?" Tigger looked at her in shock, "'Cause bouncin' is what Tiggers do best!"
There were plenty of giggles and more eye rolls at the statement.
He pointed to himself proudly before looking around, "Speaking of which, my bouncin' spot has gone and disappeared!"
"So," he declared, "For now, this'll be my new bouncin' ground!"
"That's not gonna make Rabbit happy," Jaune winced.
Weiss nodded, "He already seemed like he was on the verge of a panic attack. This is just going to make that worse."
He began bouncing but Rabbit gasped, "Tigger's bouncing will ruin my vegetables!"
"And if we don't give Pooh some carrot top juice, he'll be stuck forever," Rabbit groaned.
"Please help me!" he begged Ruby.
"But how?" Clover wondered, "I don't think anyone could convince that guy to stop bouncing."
"You don't have to," Harriet shrugged, "Just give him something else to bounce on."
Ruby's eyes lit up, though not because they were silver, "Of course! That's a great idea!"
"Hmm…" Ruby thought before snapping her fingers, "I've got it! I'll keep myself under Tigger, so he bounces off of me instead of your vegetables."
Rabbit raised an eyebrow at her, "You think you can keep up with him?"
"Of course I can!" Ruby nodded, "I'm pretty fast!"
"That you are," Penny agreed, "But that's not your semblance."
"What?" Ruby gasped.
"Well, you are capable of traveling at an extreme velocity from one point to another by breaking yourself down to your molecular components," Penny explained, "Thus negating your mass and reassembling them at the destination. Theoretically making it possible for you to transport any number of people in the same way, as mass no longer matters."
She stopped and smiled, while everyone in the room just looked confused.
"I…uh…what?" Ruby wondered.
"You can use your semblance on everyone at the same time!" Penny explained simply.
Ruby just blinked in confusion.
"Did Penny just figure that out before you did?" Blake teased.
"Blake she knew you were a Faunus before I did!" Ruby bit back.
She took off, and while Rabbit harvested carrots, she kept Tigger from bouncing on them.
Rabbit managed to save all the carrots.
Tigger looked at Ruby in shock, "What's goin' on? Nobody keeps up with Tiggers!"
"Except for Rubys!" Ruby pointed to herself and smiled.
"And running's what Rubys do best!" Ruby stated proudly, partially mocking Tigger at the same time.
Weiss rolled her eyes, but smiled at Ruby's statement.
"Hmm…" Tigger looked at her then shook his head, "Maybe there's somethin' wrong with my tail…"
He bounced off.
"He doesn't believe you, sis," Yang chuckled, "But he really should."
"Thank you so much," Rabbit smiled at Ruby, "Now I'd better make that carrot top juice."
He ran into the house and made the juice.
He walked back out and turned to Ruby, "Would you wait inside please?"
"Now to get Pooh unstuck," Nora smiled.
"Hopefully it goes better than last time," Velvet nodded.
"Sure," Ruby nodded and headed into the house.
A few minutes later, Rabbit walked back in with a sigh of relief, "Oh, what a day! I gave Pooh the carrot top juice."
"All we have to do now," Rabbit explained as he walked over to Pooh, "Is push him out. Just a little push should do."
Ruby raised an eye brow and shook her head, "Nope. Not taking any chances this time."
"Oh, no!" Ruby went wide eyed.
"What are you going to do?" Blake wondered.
She ran as fast as she could and shoulder barged Pooh.
Yang laughed out loud, "She pulled a me! That's so what I would do!"
"And because of that," Weiss sassed, "It means it's going to end horribly."
"Hey, I have good plans!" Yang protested.
"I know," Weiss smirked, "It's just fun to sass you."
Yang smirked back, "As long as you can take what you dish out."
He went flying out of the hole, into a nearby pile of what everyone, except Rabbit, assumed were empty honey pots.
Rabbit stared out of the hole; slack jawed and wide-eyed.
As Pooh landed, he sighed, "First my vegetable patch and now this…"
"Oops," Ruby winced.
"I'm sure he's fine, Ruby," Penny noted, "Though I wonder what happened."
Outside, Pooh's head was stuck in a honey pot.
"Oh, bother," Pooh worried, "Where am I? It's ever so dark in here."
"Well," he shrugged, "It isn't so bad, I suppose. There is plenty of honey."
He began eating.
Nora smiled again, "He really does seem like me, doesn't he?"
"Yes, yes he does," Ren nodded.
Ruby chuckled at the bear and left. This time, she was forced out of the book.
"You done in there?" Qrow asked.
"For now," Ruby nodded, "I've got three more pages to find!"
"Good, back to the exciting stuff," Mercury sat back up.
"Indeed," Cinder nodded.
"We'll find them," Winter nodded, "Let's go see the Moogles."
"Wait!" Ruby called out, "Not yet!"
"Glynda?" she asked.
"Say no more," Glynda nodded, "Bibbity Bobbity Boo!"
She activated the other summon gem.
They left the house and headed for the First District. Before they could enter the accessory shop to find the Moogles, Qrow spotted something.
"Hey, guys?" he pointed, "That wasn't there before."
The two looked over. There was a new house in the district. It had a green door and above it a sign hung that said 'Geppetto.'
"Well, now we know where those two ended up," Lionheart noted.
"But how did they get the house up that fast?" Ilia wondered.
"How long were we in Atlantica?" Ruby wondered.
"How did they get it up so fast?" Winter agreed.
"They're okay!" Jiminy hopped out, "C'mon, Ruby! Let's let them know we're okay too!"
"They are probably worried about us," Winter agreed, "It would be prudent to inform them of our status."
Ruby nodded and the four entered the house.
There were clocks all around and blueprints for new Gummi ships.
"Is he working on Gummi ships?" Penny asked.
"Yes," Gordeau nodded, "He became fascinated after you all left Monstro. He's been learning from Roman on how to build new ships."
"Hey, it's Ruby!" Pinocchio called out as they entered.
"Well, hello, you four!" Geppetto greeted, "Glad to see you made it out too!"
"How did you get here?" Ruby wondered.
"Well, Pinocchio had been there before," Neptune pointed out, "And he got to Monstro on his own, so he would know how to get back."
"Pinocchio guided me here," Geppetto explained, "He said he'd been here before. Then, a woman named Robyn helped us. She even got us this house to live in."
Robyn smiled at her other selfs actions, "Glad to know I'm still helping people."
Geppetto sighed, "I don't know how I'll ever repay her kindness."
She shook her head, "You don't have to. I don't help you for a reward or recognition. I do it because people need help."
"A very noble stance, Miss Hill," Ozpin nodded.
He shook his head and turned to the four, "Say, I hear you all are fighting the Heartless."
"I wanted to help!" Pinocchio noted, "So I made you this!"
He handed Ruby a keychain with a star on it.
"He made me a keychain!" Ruby smiled, "He's so nice!"
Penny wondered something, as the star looked familiar to her. She shook it off and continued watching.
"For us?" Ruby asked as she took it.
"Of course!" Geppetto nodded, "Pinocchio and I can't thank you enough. We'll do anything we can to help you."
Ruby attached it to her blade and it turned into wood, with strings attached as the guard. A small star replaced the teeth.
"Wishing Star," Gordeau noted.
Nora raised an eyebrow, "Why is it called that?"
"In their world," he explained, "Pinocchio came to life because Geppetto was pure of heart and wished upon a star. It gets a little complicated after that, but that's the gist of it."
Penny tilted her head, "A wish? Interesting..." she made a note to try something later that night.
"Thanks!" Ruby smiled, "We'll see you later!"
"Let us know if we can help!" Geppetto nodded as they left.
"Okay, now for the Moogles," Winter nodded.
"I wonder how much progress they can make this time?" Ruby wondered.
"Well, you have four new blades to show them," Summer pointed out, "I would guess quite a bit."
The trio headed into the accessory shop. The Moggle from before was inside.
"Welcome, kupo!" the Moogle greeted, "Do you have more blades?"
"Sure do!" Ruby nodded.
"Is that Mog?" Emerald asked, trying to hide her enthusiasm.
"Yes, kupo?" Mog poked his head in the room.
"I don't think anyone needs anything Mog," Gordeau chuckled, "To answer your question, Emerald, no it isn't. Mog is a popular name among Moogles, but Mog is from a completely different universe than this one."
Mog nodded, before ducking back out.
"Great, kupo!" the Moogle nodded, "But someone locked the Synthesis workshop, kupo. We can't get in!"
"That's a bummer," Sun noted.
"But I can unlock anything!" Ruby protested, "I could open it up for them!"
"What do you think we're gonna do?" Qrow chuckled.
"Where is it?" Qrow asked.
"Right above us, kupo," the Moogle explained, "I came down here to try and access the back door, but I can't reach the ladder, kupo."
He pointed up to the ceiling where a ladder and a trap door sat.
"Well, that's an easier fix than unlocking the door," Jinn pointed out, "You don't even have to leave the room."
"Seems like a waste to summon you just to do that, though," Winter noted.
Ruby nodded at Qrow, who used his shield to boost her up. She pulled down the ladder and opened the door.
"Oh," Jinn shrugged, "That works too."
"That's the second time you've used our move!" Jaune complained.
Winter, strangely enough, smirked, "And who was taking notes about a certain shield and lightning move Qrow and I used earlier."
Jaune and Nora became embarrassed as Qrow laughed.
"Thanks, kupo," the moogle cheered, "Now let's get up there so you can show us your new weapons."
They climbed up to find a workshop, complete with a forge and multiple work benches.
"Okay, kupo. I'm ready!" the Moogle nodded.
Ruby cycled through Three Wishes, Crab Claw, Spellbinder, and Wishing Star.
"This is some great info, kupo!" the Moogle noted, "We're getting close to being able to create the Ultima Weapon!"
"The Ultima Weapon…" Ruby, Summer, Nora, and, oddly enough, Mercury whistled in awe.
"Sounds powerful," Cinder smirked. Quite a few people, herself included, began trying to figure out how to get the blade for themselves.
"Great!" Ruby nodded, "I'll be back when I find some more!"
"See you next time, kupo!" the Moogle waved.
The party headed to Whitley's.
"Sister!" Whitley nodded, "Just the woman I wanted to see!"
Weiss and Winter sighed, "I still don't enjoy seeing him, even if he is better," Weiss noted.
"Well, at least he's getting them better weapons," Clover noted, "That should count for something."
"You've got more weapons for us?" Winter asked with a scowl.
"Of course!" he nodded.
He produced a staff that looked like Winter's original one, except it was red instead of blue, and a silver shield with Qrow's symbol on it.
"These look like our original weapons," Qrow pointed out.
"They are," Ruby nodded.
"It looks like he reforged them," Summer agreed, "Probably in stronger material."
"Sometimes the best weapons are the ones you already know how to use," Mercury confirmed.
"That's because they are," Whitley pointed out, "However, I had the Moogles reinforce them with better materials. You should have no complaints…assuming you can afford them?"
Winter scowled and paid for the weapons as well as stocking up on items.
"I can't believe we still have to pay for them," Winter scowled.
"Apparently it's your Grandfather's rule," Harriet pointed out, "Whitley's just following his orders."
Winter sighed, "I suppose your right."
"Well, we should be off," Ruby nodded.
"By the way," Whitley noted, "I hear there's a new tournament at the Coliseum. I thought you might be interested."
"Another one, huh?" Roman chuckled, "I wonder what Red'll fight this time?"
"I'm just glad there's at least one fight happening!" Mercury smirked.
Ruby grinned and nodded, "We're on our way."
They left Traverse Town and flew to the Coliseum.
As they landed, they approached Phil.
"Right on time, kid," Phil noted, "I assume you're entering the Pegasus cup?"
Gordeau sighed at the thought.
Ozpin raised an eyebrow and then realized what it was, "Ah, you miss him, don't you?"
"Of course I do!" Gordeau grumbled, "I loved him."
"What's a 'Pegasus'?" Ruby wondered
"That's what Herc's horse, Hubert, is. It's a horse with wings," Phil noted, "Like last time, the tournament's mostly Heartless again, but a mysterious duo entered just before you three did."
"A horse with wings?!" Nora beamed, "That's awesome! I want one!"
Neo, Ruby, Ilia, and secretly Emerald agreed.
"Unfortunately," Ozpin sighed, "Salem made them extinct. Though," he turned to his son, "I'm surprised Hubert is here."
Gordeau scoffed, "Well, you saw me talking with Amber in the Ruby and Ren verse. Why should it be weird that my Pegasus showed up here?"
"Wait, you had a Pegasus?!" Neo went wide-eyed.
"Named Hubert?!" Ilia asked incredulously.
"He did," Ozpin nodded, "I gave it to him for his fifth birthday."
Nora gave the man a pleading look.
"No, Miss Valkyrie," Ozpin sighed, "I can't make you a Pegasus. I don't have that power anymore."
Nora pouted.
"As for the name," Ozpin noted, "I named him after our advisor at the time. He was an evil man, but he desperately wanted to be a Pegasus Knight."
"Why couldn't he be?" Jaune wondered.
"Because," Ozpin noted, "The Pegasus Knights were led by a very strict woman. She only accepted females into the corps and began to call them the," he glanced at Nora warily, "Valkyries."
Nora began grinning wildly as she began to wonder if she had some connection to this ancient order of knights.
"So you named your son's Pegasus out of spite?" Raven scowled, "That's low, even for you, Oz."
"Well, I was a different person back then," Ozpin pointed out.
Oscar turned to Gordeau, "What happened to Hubert?"
"He was killed when my parents destroyed the castle," Gordeau sighed, "Both of them were."
He shook his head, "But enough about that for now. Let's keep going."
"A duo?" Winter wondered, "Anything you can tell us about them?"
"I think I already know about them," Winter smirked.
"Oh," Neo nodded, "That would make sense."
"No way!" Phil scoffed, "It's against the rules to discuss other combatants before fights! Just get in there!"
Like before, the Heartless were nothing new, so they fought until they reached round four.
This time, they were pitted against three mushroom Heartless.
"Black Fungus," Gordeau noted, "And unlike the White Mushrooms, they aren't friendly."
The Black Fungi wandered around a bit. Ruby charged but the Heartless compressed and released poisonous spores into the air.
Ruby walked into the cloud and began choking, so she ran back out.
"Well that's annoying," Yang grumbled.
"But not uncommon, even among Grimm," Ren pointed out, "And most of us have ranged weapons to counter that."
Jaune grumbled again at that fact.
Winter hit one with Blizzara. It took the hit, then posed triumphantly and turned silver.
She tried again, but this time the attack bounced right off.
"And they can turn invincible," Raven rolled her eyes.
"But they don't seem particularly aggressive," Adam pointed out, "Staying at a range, you could take them out safely."
The round became a waiting game. The fungi had to get close to attack, so the trio just hit them with their ranged attacks. They won, not exhausted, but upset it took so long.
The rest of the rounds were uneventful until they reached the last round.
"I hate that he's right most of the time," Blake grumbled, "But he always did have a gift for strategy."
"I wonder who this duo is?" Ruby wondered.
"Why us, of course!"
Ilia and Robyn stepped into the arena.
"Oh," Ilia nodded, "Keeping me in fighting shape was signing us up for the tournament."
Robyn smirked, "With how easily I beat Ruby last time, this should be a piece of cake."
"Yeah, but she's got friends this time," Roman noted.
"And you caught her off guard last time," Neptune agreed, "She's learned since then."
"I thought so," Winter nodded, "Keeping Ilia trained, huh?"
"That's right," Robyn nodded before turning to Ruby, "I hope you're better than you were last time."
"Of course she's better," Harriet scoffed, "She's been basically training this whole time!"
"She's taunting her," Raven smirked, "Trying to get in her head."
"You caught me off guard last time," Ruby noted as she dropped into her battle stance, "It's not gonna happen again!"
The fight started and Qrow and Ruby charged at Robyn.
Robyn smirked and shot a fireball at Ruby.
But Ruby was used to this attack now, she easily dodged it and charged in, only for her swing to meet Robyn's.
"Told you!" Ruby smirked, "I'm not gonna fall for the same thing twice."
The two clashed and Robyn smirked, "So you have learned."
"Yeah," Ruby nodded, "And I also learned how to be the distraction."
"What?" Robyn wondered, right as Qrow uppercut with his shield, connecting hard into Robyn's jaw.
Qrow smirked, "Nice, kiddo!"
Robyn put her hand up, "I can't believe any version of me fell for that!"
Meanwhile, Ilia and Winter were circling each other.
"You know I don't really have magic, right?" Ilia playfully worried.
"That makes this a one sided fight," Ilia noted, "I don't think I stand a chance against a mage!"
Neo shook her head, "I haven't fought since I can talk, but that sounds like something I'd say to mess with my opponents."
Yang grumbled, "It definitely does."
"I figured," Winter noted, "But you also don't have Robyn's build, so I guessed you're a ranged fighter."
Winter shot Fira at her, but Ilia cartwheeled out of the way.
Neo smirked, "You even fight like me too!"
Ilia blushed and Blake nodded, "Well, she did introduce herself as 'the great ninja Ilia.' She should be able to dodge attacks easily."
"Oh, please," Ilia rolled her eyes and threw four shuriken at Winter.
Winter smirked. She let them come.
"What is she doing?!" Weiss complained, "Move, sister!"
"Do not worry, Weiss," Winter smirked, "I have a plan."
"Oh, come on," Ilia complained, "You're not even gonna try?!"
Right at the last second, Winter cast Aero on herself and deflected all four back at Ilia.
"Hey, you used it," Qrow noted.
"And now Ilia's in trouble," Pyrrha noted, "I don't think she can dodge all four without doing something drastic."
Ilia gulped and cartwheel out of the way of two, but the other two caught her in the side.
"Ouch!" she grumbled, "That hurt!"
"Isn't that the point?" Winter wondered as her new shield stayed up.
"A one liner from the Ice-Queen?" Clover laughed, "Never expected that!"
"No pun," Yang booed, "Not worth it!"
Robyn skid to a stop after flying back from Qrow's hit. She planted her foot and quickly reversed her momentum to fly at Qrow.
She attacked with a ferocious flurry of swings, but Qrow was able to block them all.
"You're good with that shield," Summer noted, "Ever think of expanding your arsenal?"
Qrow shook his head, "That's why I made Harbinger so wide. I can use it as a shield if I need too."
Ruby launched into Sonic Blade, but Robyn recognized it and jumped out of the way.
"Yeah, using her move isn't gonna help you here," Robyn smirked.
"Right," Qrow grumbled, "If Summer knows Raven, chances are Robyn does too."
"Fabulous deduction, brother," Raven sassed, "You figured that out on your own?"
Qrow scowled while Robyn smiled, "I'm just glad I'm preforming better now."
Robyn charged at Ruby again, but this time instead of blocking, Ruby jumped over the swing.
She landed on the blade and leapt over Robyn leaving her surrounded.
"Now Red's fighting like I would!" Neo pointed out.
Weiss facepalmed, "That's what I should've done against that brute with the chainsaw."
"That brute was my lieutenant," Adam scowled.
With a combo from Ruby and a spin attack from Qrow, Robyn was left hurting.
"I can't even be mad about that one," Robyn noted, "That was impressive."
Ilia watched Winter warily. With the shield up, she didn't have anything to attack the mage with.
Winter continued casting spell after spell at Ilia, but the ninja did a good job of dodging most of them.
Winter scowled, "You are frustratingly hard to hit."
"Welcome to my world!" Yang threw up her hands in frustration.
"Hey, you grabbed my leg that once," Neo pointed out.
"And you cartwheeled out of it and was right back in my face a second later," Yang grumbled, "I still don't get how you did that."
"Finesse," Weiss noted, "I'm not saying I would have won against her either, but I should've been the one to fight her. You could've countered the lieutenant better than I could, Yang."
"If you can do this, why did you run from me?" Raven asked.
"I know when people are out of my league," Neo noted, "And you definitely are."
"And I wasn't?" Cinder wondered, furious that Neo thought she was weaker than Raven.
"At that point I didn't care," Neo shrunk in on herself, "Either I killed you and got revenge, or you killed me and I got to see Roman again."
Roman and Ilia hugged the girl.
That was when she saw Robyn get hit by both Ruby and Qrow at the same time.
"Rob!" she called out, before raising her hand in the air.
"Please stop calling me that," Robyn groaned.
A familiar green glow surrounded Robyn and she smirked as she was back in the fight.
"Ilia can use Cure!" Winter pointed out, "And she's pretty good at dodging my spells!"
"That could make this a much more interesting fight," Mercury pointed out, "It'd be pretty one-sided if only the one team could heal themselves."
Ruby shot Qrow a glance.
"Go, I got it," Qrow nodded.
Ruby smirked and ran past Robyn.
"Ilia might be in trouble now," Sun nodded, "She doesn't seem like she's built to handle it like Robyn is."
The woman scowled and turned to intercept, only for Qrow's shield to hit the back of her head.
She turned and glared as it returned to his hand, "Now you ladies wouldn't be thinking of leaving me all alone now, would you?" he taunted.
Qrow shook his head and turned to Roman, "Was that you or me?"
"It does sound like me," Roman noted, "But I could see you saying it too."
"He's not wrong," Winter shrugged.
Robyn rolled her eyes and charged the drunk.
Ilia turned back to Winter, "Now, where were we?"
Suddenly Winter's shield dropped.
"There goes Winter's defenses," Penny winced, "Hopefully Ruby gets there soon."
Ilia smirked, "Gotcha'!"
"I wouldn't count on that!"
"Huh?" Ilia turned around, only for Ruby to hit her with a savage dashing attack.
"I didn't even see it coming," Ilia shook her head, "Nice job, Ruby."
"This fight is intense!" Nora squirmed in her seat, "It's even better than the Cerberus fight!"
"Ouch!" Ilia complained again. She recovered, but found herself in a corner with both Ruby and Winter closing in.
"Hey, can't we talk this out?" Ilia joked.
"Seriously," Neo teased, "I'm fairly certain this could be me and it would still feel the same."
Ruby charged. Ilia dodged, but couldn't dodge the Thundara attack Winter sent at the same time.
Ilia began taking hit after hit. If she dodged a spell, Ruby hit her with the Keyblade. If she dodged Ruby, Winter hit her with a spell.
"I think I'm about to be out of this fight," Ilia noted, "And we didn't even take one of them out!"
"I'm not doing anything different than the first time," Robyn pointed out, "I could've been protecting you, or maybe I'm keeping something up my sleeve."
"Uh, Rob?" Ilia started nervously, "I ain't doing so hot!"
"What?!" Robyn yelled as she a Qrow continued to clash and dance around each other.
Ilia dropped her guard for a second to talk and both Ruby and Winter seized the opportunity. They both hit her at the same time, knocking her out.
"And there she goes! That's gonna hurt for Team HART," Nora announced.
"Are…Are you pretending this is the Vytal festival?" Velvet wondered.
"Duh," Nora nodded, "And that's Hill, Amitola, Rose, Torchwick! Team HART!"
Robyn had been slowly whittling away at Qrow's defenses. He took some hits and so did she, but she was winning this fight.
That was until Ilia called out. Now they made her mad.
"No!" Robyn growled.
She stopped and blue energy began to surround her. It gathered on her blade, making it about a foot and a half longer and six inches wider.
"Didn't know she could do that," Harriet noted.
Cinder and Raven shrugged, "We can."
"By using magic," Ozpin pointed out.
"She's not a guy," Roman grumbled, "Otherwise I'd ask is she was compensating for something."
She charged Qrow, but changed her attack.
He expected a high attack like she had been doing, but instead she took the blade down by his legs and swung up, leaping into the air as she did.
He managed to guard his nether region, but the hit sent him flying into the wall, leaving him unconscious.
All the guys winced, "Thank goodness he had a shield!" Jaune noted, glad he had his own.
"I'd be more worried about that hit to the wall," Raven pointed out, "That's the second time you've done that in this world, brother."
"Qrow!" Winter called out.
"No time now," Ruby shook her head, "We've got a bigger problem!"
Robyn walked slowly over to the pair.
"So, you need a break?" she taunted.
"Man, you can tell this is a battle between friends," Neptune noted, "There's so much lighthearted taunting!"
Yang and Neo shrugged and both said, "I do that with all my opponents."
"Not a chance!" Ruby scoffed, but smirked at the same time. She began to run around, spamming Fira at Robyn.
Robyn rolled her eyes and began easily dodging them.
"That's my attack," Robyn narrowed her eyes, "What is she thinking?"
"It doesn't seem like a good strategy," Emerald agreed, "Unless…"
"You think that'll work?" Robyn scowled and leapt further than Ruby had seen her leap before. She landed right next to Ruby and began slashing.
The energy prevented Ruby from blocking, so she took three heavy slashes and fell down, panting.
Robyn pointed her blade at Ruby, "Give up?"
Ruby just chuckled, "I may have learned, but you didn't."
Robyn went wide-eyed and turned around to see Qrow rocketing towards her.
"What? How? He was unconscious!" Robyn complained.
"And you let the mage who can heal wounds get over to him," Ozpin noted, "Miss Rose distracted you yet again."
Neptune turned to Sun, "And that's how you do a one-liner, dude! That was impressive!"
Ruby smiled at the compliment.
Winter snuck over to Qrow, while Ruby kept the hot-headed woman distracted. She used Cure on him and got him back in the fight.
"Thanks Ice Queen," he nodded, "You got a plan?"
"Sure do!" Winter nodded, "Jump!"
Qrow did as he was told. Winter cast gravity on him once he was above Robyn and sent him careening down onto the unsuspecting woman.
"That's how that worked," Pyrrha noted and turned to Nora, "Please write that one down too."
Neo, Ilia, Qrow, Roman, and Gordeau went wide-eyed at the champion.
"Why?" Nora wondered, "We can't use it."
"Well," Pyrrha lied, badly, "I just thought you'd want it to be safe."
Nora thought and nodded, "Okay, sure thing!"
Gordeau looked around the room worriedly. Thankfully, no one else seemed to pay too much attention to the mistake. He sighed in relief.
She turned right as the shield connected with her face, knocking her out.
"We did it!" Ruby cheered as she collapsed on to the ground, "Now… let me just… catch my breath…"
"Yay, teamwork, comradery, good guys, go team, all right, good job…" Yang quoted herself as Ruby reminded her of that moment.
Blake playfully nudged her girlfriend.
Weiss giggled, "We did go right to bed after that, didn't we?"
"That was great!" a voice called. Qrow turned to see Hercules and Phil in the stands.
"Looks like Phil's trained another great hero!" Hercules praised.
"See, Hercules thinks they're heroes!" Jaune noted, "Why does Phil still deny it?"
"Yeah, but she doesn't have the strength of heart yet," Phil noted.
"What makes a strong heart?" Winter asked for the exhausted Ruby.
Phil scoffed, "If you have to ask, you're not a hero yet!"
"I see what he's getting at now," Ruby nodded, "It's kind of like how the silver eyes work."
Summer nodded, "It is similar."
"But," Phil noted as he walked over to Winter, "Here's your prize. For the squirt when she's recovered."
Phil handed Winter a paper scroll. She read over it as it described how Ruby could throw her Keyblade and have it return, like Qrow did with his shield.
"Nice!" Velvet nodded, "Another ranged attack to add to your arsenal."
"Ugh…" Ilia began to recover, "I feel like I got hit by a gummi ship…"
"I could see it," Neo noted, "You look exhausted."
"I probably am," Ilia agreed, "It's not often I fight that hard to dodge attacks."
Winter walked over and bonked her lightly on the head.
"Ow!" Ilia (both of them) complained.
"That was for hitting me with the door," Winter folded her arms.
"I guess I did do that, huh?" Ilia replied sheepishly.
Winter chuckled, "I just wanted to get you back for that. It was a very light hit."
"…Sorry?" Ilia shrugged as she rubbed her head, "Man you guys are good."
"They've got their teamwork down that's for sure," Robyn grumbled as she stood up.
"That was an impressive fight," Robyn noted, "I'm sure to learn a thing or two from it."
"I think we all could," Clover agreed.
Gordeau winced, a very specific image stuck in his head.
"Hey, good fight, Robyn!" Ruby smiled as she sat up.
"Hmph," Robyn huffed, "Just don't expect me to fall for that again next time."
"Yeah, whatever you say, Raven," Qrow rolled his eyes.
"I didn't say it," Raven defended.
"I know," Qrow smirked, "But it's definitely something you'd say."
Raven scoffed, but didn't argue.
She walked off.
"Uh, hey, Rob? Wait for me!" Ilia called out as she took off after the woman.
"So, onto the next world?" Qrow asked.
"Can I take a nap first!?" Ruby grumbled as she fell back down.
Team RWBY laughed at the shared moment they had a long time ago.
"You can sleep on the ship," Winter chuckled, "Let's go."
AN: Welcome back!
This chapter may seem a little dull, and it kinda is. Sorry it's mostly filler, but I did what I had to do.
No characters again, as Piglet, Rabbit, and Tigger stayed the same.
A few other quick notes:
Mog is actually going to be the version from Dissidia: Opera Omnia after he's no longer corrupted. The reason? He's here to help Gordeau find the missing people of Remnant.
Also, a few of you may be wondering where Hubert came from. I encourage you to go way back in the reviews to some short skits Luckenhaft. They made me laugh, so certain things actually became Canon to this story. I do need to edit that though, as I made a decision after that, and both couldn't be possible.
The only things canon from those now are Blake being a terrible cook, Hubert the advisor, and Hubert the Pegasus. Also, Luckenhaft, if you're still around, I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, so enjoy the spotlight from this chapter!
Reviews:
Odnoglazyy Rytsar: Might wanna tone down the Seph hype... he's not coming for quite a few chapters still.
WolfMaster2020: Thanks for the words. Yeah, everyone is slowly finding other people they agree with, even if they're not on the same side of the law or the war. As for Seph, since you've never played KH his motivation is different in KH vs. FFVII. Salem's motivation actually fits the main villain of KH better than this version of Seph.
The Keeper of Worlds: I mean... I just cast her and changed some of the dialogue to fit 'southern belle' over Ursula's normal speech, but thanks. It means a lot.
Carre: Honestly, I almost wanted Gordeau to break out into it after Jaune said it last chapter, but don't worry it will show up later.
Drake G. Reaper: Sorry Halloween Town wasn't here, but you'll see it next! As for the others, you got two right, but I won't spoil the others. I have my reasons and will explain when they show up, so just keep looking for it.
Cooldude101011: Okay, sorry this isn't your thing. As to the other point, I really need to go back and re-edit some of the Uncharted chapters. Not only are they filled with grammar mistakes, the first two still have a few things left over from the first draft of this fic, what you pointed out included. I'm just trying to focus on writing new ones instead of editing at the moment.
As to everyone else, I'm not responding to suggestions, but I am considering all of them. Does this mean I'll do them? No. Does it mean I'll at least look into them? Yes. However, I've said it before, but it's been a while, I have A LOT planned already, so don't expect to see suggestions show up any time soon.