AN:

Hi there!

Okay! Three quarters of the way through and just in time for Volume Four's premiere! Woo hoo! I can't wait to watch the premiere!

Now, time for a few responses.

To gamelover41592: I love me some Qrow and Winter.

To Taromaru: When Sora has his second Dive and claims the Master Defender in a few chapters, Sora's Darkness will probably use the form of a Darkside at first and then shift into Anti-Form Sora for the last half of the fight.

To sethman610: Sorry, I must have just misunderstood then. As for if the other KH characters have stories written about them, the answer is yes. I'm not going to go into detail, but they were great heroes in their own right eventually.

To grimlock987: No, this fight isn't going to be super one sided, but it isn't going to end with Sora being incredibly triumphant. Any victories that come will be hard earned.

To Kingofclubs8129: Oh, yeah. The last time Jaune saw Sora, he was a half broken kid being controlled by Salem. He doesn't know that Sora's better, albeit not yet in control of his Keyblade.

To Guest: Yeah, I'm glad they have Big Hero 6 in the next game at least. As for the other Marvel Worlds, if I do write the story they would probably show up as worlds the main squad of the story would travel to.

To warrior of six blades: Yeah, I feel for Oz, too. The whole thing is really how he became so... focused. Now that he knows what she did, he's a bit... colder, like he is in RWBY. Because of that, and the fact that he's so focused on the mission at hand, he's going to be less distraught about her Fall than most people would be. It's more of an 'Of... of course' moment at that point given how things have gone for him so far. As for Sora's fight, yeah. He's in a fair bit of trouble.

Chapter 30: With Friends Like These

Sora hurriedly raised a Reflect wall in front of him, hoping that it was enough to deflect the explosion away from him and the surrounding buildings. It was not. The spell slammed into his wall of Light energy, pushing against it with the force of a spell that only a Keyblade wielder could summon up. Sora felt the magical energy draining from his body and the light around Fenrir slowly die out until the pulsating explosion broke through the Reflect wall and exploded. The concussive force of both spells shattering sent Sora bouncing across the ground and through the front window of the restaurant he'd been eating at.

Sora groaned and pushed himself out from underneath a pile of Dr. Piper cans, eliciting laughter from Jaune on the other side of the shattered glass and inward bent steel. "Tell me, how was that for a fight?" Jaune asked. He swept his weapon out to his side and held his left hand out. "Give me the book, and I won't have to hurt you."

Sora took a deep breath and let it out in a heaving sigh. "What am I going to do with you, Jaune?" Sora asked, both earnest and exasperated. He raised Fenrir and grinned at his friend. "I'm not going to hold back, buddy. Sorry!" Sora sprinted at Jaune, glass crunching beneath his shoes as he did, and jumped through the empty window frame. He rolled to his feet a moment later and slashed upward at the Keyblade Wielder's face with both of his hands.

Jaune raised his Keyblade and deflected the blow to his right. Sora spun with the block and brought his weapon around to attack Jaune with a horizontal blow. Jaune dashed backwards and let the tip of the weapon slash just in front of his face. "You really have a one track mind when it comes to weapons, don't you Sora?" Jaune asked. He brought his weapon up and blocked the next incoming blow, looping the center gap of his weapon around the blade to give him time to examine Sora's new sword. "Wait, did you use the handle of Crocea Mors?"

Sora struggled valiantly if vainly against the incredibly powerful hold on his weapon. Had he the strength of a Keyblade Wielder, he would already have broken out of the hold and started attacking again. As it was, he was stuck trying to hold Jaune off. "Yeah, so?" Sora grunted as he continued straining against the strength of his opponent.

Jaune didn't look like he was even breaking a sweat at the moment, however. His arm wasn't even shaking at all as Sora brought his entire force to bear against him. "Come on, Sora. I don't want to hurt you unless I have to," Jaune said sympathetically and firmly. "The only people who I'm really angry with are Ozpin and his cabal."

"Jaune, stop!" Sora begged. Jaune just sighed and flicked his wrist to the side. Sora tried to keep a grip on Fenrir, but failed as it was twisted out of his hands and flew across the square. Sora stumbled backwards and clenched his fists at his side. "Jaune, you can't hate Oz for all this. He -"

"Oz?" Jaune scoffed. His eyebrows furrowed angrily and he backhanded Sora in the direction opposite that he sent Fenrir. Sora groaned when he finally skidded to a stop and clutched at his pounding skull. The sound of quiet footsteps was like fire in his skull while Jaune drew near. "So, you're friends with the bad guy now?"

Sora laughed and stumbled to his feet. "No... No, I'm pretty sure that's you right now," he retorted. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't: his left eye was bruised shut. So he summoned a bright green burst of magic to his hands and opened it a moment later. Jaune stopped above Sora and grabbed him by the neck. Sora choked from the pressure on his throat and knew what Jaune was going to ask when his feet were no longer on the ground. "Nah, I'm not giving you Jiminy's Journal, Jaune. But I have something else I can give you." Jaune stared, unimpressed, but waited nonetheless. Sora grinned and pulled back his right hand suddenly. There was a quiet, mechanical whir and Fenrir was yanked towards its wielder by a string. The basket of the weapon slammed into the back of Jaune's ankles and he yelped in surprise before flipping over and slamming face first into the ground, letting go of Sora as he did. Sora grinned and hefted Fenrir onto his shoulder.

"Okay. I deserved that one for just standing there," Jaune admitted. He sighed and pushed himself to his feet, making a show of it. He clapped for Sora even, and it didn't even come off as mocking. He shook his right hand for a moment before summoning his weapon back to his hand. "I feel significantly less bad about crushing you if you can fight back."

"You didn't think I could fight back before? Well, I beat the Heartless and criminal lackey your boss sent after me," Sora retorted, grinning widely. He flipped his blade to a backhand grip and summoned up a magical blaze to coat it. Sora let his smile grow a little more cocky. "What, did you think all I had going for me was a Keyblade?"

Jaune didn't answer the question, instead simply surrounding his Keyblade with a burning aura of Dark Fire. He leaped forward and slashed down at Sora's shoulder, only for the blazing black weapon to miss and scratch through the ground. Sora had spun out of the way – barely – and was bringing his weapon up in a backhand strike directly at Jaune's head. The Keyblade wielder jumped away from his weapon to avoid the blow. Sora followed, continuing his assault with the intent of preventing Jaune from focusing on summoning his Keyblade back.

Up, down, left, right, Sora launched his barrage of flame bathed attacks at Jaune, both of their long black coats trailing and catching the smoke and sparks that Sora's Firaga was giving off. Jaune stayed just ahead of each attack, avoiding the attacks by the skin of his teeth. He grimaced as the heat from the flames burned at his face on another attack, the fire catching a strand of trailing hair. He sidestepped the next incoming attack and dashed forward before Sora could tturn his attack in the other direction. His shoulder slammed into Sora's and he was send flying backwards, flipping midair to land on his feet. By then, however, Jaune had already summoned his Keyblade back to his hand and was on top of Sora. Sora brought his flaming Fenrir up at the last second and let their weapons crash into one another. The opposite energies of the spells fused for a moment, Light and Darkness mixing, then their opposite natures came to the fore. The spells exploded at the same time and Sora was flung away, leaving only a crater beneath Jaune's feet.

Sora pushed himself to his feet and laughed at the completely unharmed Keyblade Wielder. "You know, I think I underestimated you," Sora chuckled. He shook his head. "Not gonna do that again."

"You can't beat me, Sora. With the Keyblade, I'm better than you," Jaune stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You know it, and I know it – you're not on my level with just a little sword."

"Probably," Sora said. A fiery red glow began to shine at his left hip. "But I still have a few tricks I can show you. There was a blinding blast of red light, and Sora was standing across from Jaune with a blood red scytche of Light in his hand that coated Fenrir in its aura. He twirled the weapon almost as quickly as Ruby was able to and finally let it rest across his shoulders. "Still think I don't have a chance, buddy?"

Jaune smiled and shook his head. Sarcastically, he said, "I thought you said weren't going to hold back on me."

Sora turned red. "I, uh... forgot."

"That you said that, or that you could do this?" Jaune asked, a dry laugh escaping his throat.

"Er... Well, a bit of both?" Sora muttered. He shook his head to get rid of the red in his cheeks. "Doesn't matter – using it now!"

Jaune grasped the handle of his Keyblade in both hands and held it in a battle stance in front of him. He shot forward at full speed a moment later and lowered his weapon for a diagonal upward slash. Sora readied himself and shot forward himself with the help of a Firaga, readying his scythe for an overhand slash.

Sora brought the blade of the weapon down early, causing the blade to slash down directly in Jaune's path. The Keyblade wielder's eyes widened in surprise and he tried to slide to a stop, barely being able to do so before crashing directly into the blade. That was not enough, however. Sora pulled forward with both of his hands on the weapon's new handle and brought his legs up, bringing his full momentum to bear on Jaune's nose. He jumped off and flipped, pulling the scythe from the ground and spinning to attack Jaune.

The Keyblade wielder was still stumbling backwards, and as such was unable to defend. Sora's attack slashed across his chest, sending him stumbling again to the left. Sora spun with his previous attack and slashed in the other direction. Jaune stumbled to his right before Sora began to spin the weapon around himself and deliver a single, unending whirlwind of attacks that slashed down into Jaune a thousand times over in a few moments. Finally, Sora brought the weapon around and swept Jaune's feet out from beneath him completely before slamming his weapon's top into the Keyblade Wielder's chest and launching the most powerful Sparkga he could summon. Jaune cried out in his first demonstration of actual pain throughout the entire fight and was thrown away by the force of the explosion.

Sora didn't give him any time to recover from the onslaught, and set magical mines where Jaune was going to land. The flames erupted as soon as Jaune hit the wall and he was thrown back at Sora again. The Keyblade Wielder readied his scythe again and brought it around in a huge, two handed blow as if it were a bat. The top of the blade slammed into Jaune's forehead and he hit the ground at the center of the square, shattering the fountain and causing water to drench him. Sora raised his weapon above his head. "Thunder!" he screamed, and lightning erupted all around Jaune, channeling through the water. Jaune roared in pain until the lightning died down and Sora walked towards his friend.

"Now, maybe that smacked some sense into you," Sora said. He stopped at the top of the stairs leading down into the center of the square and let his weapon rest on his shoulder.

In response, Jaune groaned and pushed himself to his feet. "Okay. I was not expecting that," the Keyblade wielder said. He turned his head to the side and spat out a small globule of blood. He wiped it with his sleeve and looked down at the streak of red on the black. Jaune looked back up at Sora and sighed. "I didn't want to hurt you, Sora. But it looks like I don't really have a choice now, do I?"

"You're two months into using that Keyblade Jaune. You've shown me everything you could possibly know," Sora retorted. He took a deep breath and slammed the base of his weapon into the ground beside him, then pointed at Jaune with his left hand. "Give up."

Jaune shook his head. "Normally, you'd probably be right. From the stories you told us, it took you years to learn how to transform your Keyblade or use Za magic," Jaune agreed. Then he let his head fall slightly so he could glare at Sora out of the tops of his eyes. There was a massive burst of Dark energy surrounding Jaune, and the water around him dissipated from the massive explosion of energy that pulsed from his shoulders. The energy slammed into Sora and he stumbled backwards a step or two from sheer surprise.

That was... "Jaune, be careful!" Sora shouted, the fight forgotten. "All that Darkness could destroy you if -"

"If I let it. I know," Jaune responded, the shadows around him rippling with power. "But I'm not taking this power for the sake of power."

"Jaune, I'm your friend. Stop," Sora begged, worried about him. If he slipped for even a second, there might not be a Jaune for them to try bringing back to the Light.

"I'm in this to save Pyrrha and destroy the people who destroyed her," Jaune snarled, throwing his free arm across his chest animatedly.

"Salem and Cinder did that!" Sora protested.

"But only because of Ozpin and his circle!" Jaune shouted, the Darkness around him intensifying. "Besides, once I have Pyrrha back..."

"Jaune... He trusted her to be a hero. Shouldn't you?" Sora inquired. Jaune's head fell to his chest and the shadows around him disappeared. "He only did it because he had to."

"... So am I, Sora," Jaune responded. He raised his slightly tear streaked face and summoned the Darkness around his body again. Sora turned his head to the side in confusion as the energy began to escalate around them. "Now as I was saying, time with the creator of the first Keyblades has unlocked their secrets pretty quickly." He held his arms out to his sides and summoned his Keyblade back to his right hand. The Darkness intensified and shifted so that the entire aura surrounded the weapon in his hand instead of his entire body.

Sora grunted in surprise. Was he..? That wasn't possible. Jaune was only in his first few months of using a Keyblade! How could he... "Jaune..."

Jaune roared once more, and the Keyblade in his hand flashed with Dark power. The weapon was replaced by total blackness, its shape shifting slowly. Some of it slowly disappeared, the energy reappearing in his left hand seconds later. The energy in both of his hands shifted again and the basket of his Keyblade disappeared, the weapon in his right hand shortening and turning into a black short sword, and that in his left forming a circular buckler strapped to his wrist. Jaune twirled his weapon around him before raising his buckler in front of him. He angled his sword over his buckler and readied for battle.

"Still Pyrrha," Sora noted.

"Always Pyrrha," Jaune stated.

Sora nodded and got into his own battle stance, sliding his right foot back and raising his scythe over his right shoulder. This may not have been possible, but it was what had happened anyways. Didn't matter now: time to fight.

R W B Y

Three Years Before the First Keyblade War

Ozpin stood silently in the shadows, allowing them to mask him completely in the dark sewers of his tower. The place he had trained all of his students all those years ago and conferred upon them their names and weapons. He briefly wondered how Skye was doing; they had not spoken to one another in months, when his student had alerted him to an encounter he had with the adversary. It had not been a personal battle, instead Skye only saw them passing through the center of the city he was visiting, clad in the same black coat as he. He had overheard a return to Daybreak Town when they had spoken with some one. He had then spoken with Oz about it, allowing the man to track down this enemy as quickly as possible. The War would continue without them, but destroying the enemy would make it easier to ensure the Darkness did not advance unabated.

Unfortunately, he was nearly certain that the person rooting about in the gears grinding along on the path before him was not the Adversary. For one, this person was a child, no older than fourteen. There was no way for him to have been responsible for all the destruction the Adversary had released. For another, this young man had an aura of pure Light radiating from his shoulders. He wanted nothing more than to do right by the world. "Sorry, Buddy, but I have to do this," the boy said, snapping Ozpin out of his thoughts. He cocked his head to the side as the young man summoned one of the dozens of Starlight Keyblades, or 'Failures' as Salem had labeled them, to his hand. The boy raised the weapon and aimed it at the wall of gears for a moment before firing off a beam of light. The path that Ozpin had hidden behind the gears groaned and appeared as the gears – Ozpin's favorite décor – slid apart. Seems the boy was clever, to boot. Maybe after everything ended – Ozpin grimaced, poor choice of words he supposed... Maybe after the war ended this boy would make for a useful ally.

The boy was dressed in a black jacket that ended at the bottom of his ribs with what looked to be a very personal scarf wrapped around his neck and over the jacket's collar. His white shirt was bound by a belt that had a satchel attached and looked like it was filled with various useful items such as potions or elixirs he could use to heal himself as well as a few magical items he could use to destroy the Heartless he hunted down for his Union. He had black combat gloved covering his fists that matched his boots, into which were tucked grey pants with silver rivets and black, leathery lines moving around the leg in a sharp and snake like pattern. The young man had silver hair, which Ozpin thought made him look like they were related. Perhaps distantly.

The boy turned around suddenly, an angry look in his eyes. "Come on out. I know you're there!" the boy shouted. He raised his Keyblade in front of him and readied for battle. Ozpin smirked but remained where he was. He believed he was hiding his presence well, which meant the boy was more powerful than he had believed. Maybe the boy had only sensed him for a moment, and would forget about him a moment later.

Imagine Ozpin's surprise when someone else stepped out of the shadows a dozen feet before him. He... he hadn't even seen them! That didn't make any sense! How could he have not seen them, given how much the Keyblade had strengthened him? "Who are you?" the young man snapped, sliding his foot forward a little and narrowing his eyes on the figure.

This person was clothed in the same long, black coat as Ozpin was. The figure's, however, was tighter at the waist and on the arms, both of which helped to reveal that the figure had a thin and feminine figure. The Adversary, it seemed, was a woman. Ozpin was disappointed that he had not even considered that possibility prior to seeing this. He frowned and took a step forward, only to freeze in worry when the woman summoned a glowing, silver and gold Keyblade shaped like an old style skeleton key. A trio of circles dangled at the keychain's base. Ozpin swallowed his fear; this looked just like the pair of keys that made up the χ -blade's body.

When the woman finally spoke, her voice was at once painfully loud and disturbingly silent, making the man wonder how he could even hear her speaking. "Put that down and leave."

"Are you the person behind all this?" the young man snapped. He took a half step forward and glared harder at the woman. The hood ruffled as the figure cocked its head to the side. "You!?" Obviously he could see beneath the hood's lip. "How could you..?"

The black hood shook to the left and then the right, conveying a heavy sense of disappointment. "How utterly lacking of imagination," the Adversary muttered. Ozpin held in a gasp and summoned his weapon to his hand as the murderous intent of the woman suddenly erupted to fill the entire hallway. He ran forward to stop the Adversary, but was too late. She appeared behind the young man with Keyblade held in the hand that had been empty the moment before, her weapon hand empty now. The young man blinked in surprise, wondering what had just happened. Then he gasped in pain and fell flat on his face, Keyblade shattering in his hand. The Adversary turned around slowly, her face hidden by the unnatural shadows that the Coats could cast over one's face, and lowered her blade to her left side. "And how utterly lacking in skill."

It was at this point that Ozpin finally broke out of the shadows and stopped. He stared at his Adversary and raised his Keyblade to prepare for battle. The figure took half a step backwards upon catching sight of the Keyblade in Ozpin's hand. "You're one of Oz's students, aren't you?" the figure inquired after a moment.

"I am one of Ozpin's students, yes," Ozpin snapped in Skye's voice. He looked down at the boy on the ground and cautiously walked towards him. The woman did nothing to stop him as Ozpin crouched and checked to see if the young man was still alive. He was... barely. Oz stood up and reentered his battle stance. "What are you doing in Ozpin's tower?"

"Oz hasn't used it since..." The woman gestured at the Keyblade in Ozpin's hand.

"I believe he prefers Ozpin," he reiterated. "No one calls him Oz."

"We'll see," the woman said with a shrug. Then she ran towards Ozpin faster than he could see and soon loomed over him with her gold and silver blade ready to bear down and destroy him. Ozpin raised his Keyblade and blocked the attack, sliding the flat along her weapon until he was close enough to shoulder her in the gut. She stumbled a few feet back until Ozpin looped the Teeth of his blade around his opponent's leg.

Or should have. His aim was off by a few inches and he hit nothing but air. Ozpin's eyes widened behind his hood, only for him to be snapped out of his thoughts by a Keyblade blow to the face. He spun uselessly and grabbed at his hood to keep it covering his face. He raised his weapon to block the next incoming blow, and the force of the impact traveled through his entire being. He shoved her away and looked over his shoulder for a moment at the unconscious young man. He had to defeat this woman before the kid died.

Ozpin summoned a burning aura of Light around his weapon and he slashed with powerful and violent, yet carefully placed, at his opponent. She brought her weapon up and deflected the incoming blows one at a time, letting the light dissipate uselessly against the length of her blade. She slammed the last one towards the ground and elbowed him in the face. He ignored the pain and managed to bring his weapon up to crash into the woman's chin. She flinched backwards quickly, more out of surprise than pain, and her hood fell down with its momentum. Oz did not see her face at first, and lashed out with another two handed attack. The woman grabbed the blade with her hand and slammed her weapon down on Ozpin's wrist. He roared in pain as the bones in his arm shattered and he fell to his knees. He finally looked up to examine the woman's face and the pain disappeared.

"Salem?"

The woman's black and blood red eyes examined him silently, as if trying to see into his Heart. She dropped his Keyblade and used her now empty hand to pull his hood down. "Hmph," she responded simply. She dismissed her new weapon and crossed her arms. "Now, I was not expecting this. You really did have me fooled, Ozpin. I really thought you were... Wait, does this mean the Thief is the one out there? Ah, yes, that makes sense."

Ozpin wasn't really processing what she was saying. "Salem?" he repeated.

The woman sighed and shook her head before looking up at the ceiling of the hallway. "Well, this forces my plans up a little bit. That's fine," she muttered. She looked down at Ozpin again and smiled softly. "Come with me?"

"You're... You're trying to destroy everything?" Ozpin asked, still unsure what this was about.

"Destroy everything? No," Salem said. She sounded more disappointed in his statement than anything else. "I'm trying to remake it."

Ozpin surged to his feet, teary eyes filled with rage. "With Darkness!? What kind of World would that be!?"

"Better. Light is weak. If it were not, then Darkness would not be overtaking it, destroying it." The woman summoned a blaze of black flames around her right hand and raised it in front of her face to examine it dispassionately. She looked like whoever she had been before had died. "I just want to see it, really. I just want to see what it would look like." Her black eyes became hungry and somewhat manic, the Darkness giving Ozpin pause. She saw this and shook her head. "I don't know if I should let you keep this." She raised her left hand and summoned his Keyblade to her hand, surprising the man.

"How..? But that's -"

"Children always listen to their mother, Ozpin!" the woman chastised. "As I was saying, it wouldn't matter if I left it with you. It belongs to me regardless." She frowned. "I missed you, if it was any consolation."

It was Ozpin's turn to shake his head as a result of his disappointment. He expected that he should feel angry or distraught, but all he felt upon seeing Salem's face was... hollow. Of course she was their adversary; she knew the Keyblades better than anyone and had access to his students, knowledge of their desires and hopes... their Prices. "I'd say the same, but it seems the woman I knew really did die all those years ago," Ozpin retorted when he finally gathered the will to speak to the husk in front of him.

"Cold," Salem muttered. She tossed the Keyblade to the ground in front of Oz and her face actually looked hurt. She took a slow breath and frowned. "Well, I suppose that makes us enemies, Ozpin... The offer will always stand, though."

"Why?"

Her eyes became disturbed and manic, the result of all the destruction she had wrought in her wake – of the countless killed to create her Keyblades. Something in her had died as she chased after something she could use to create a weapon of incredible power. Maybe it was for Light once, or maybe it was only ever about knowledge. Now it was about power and destruction. No matter what it was about, actions like those leave an indelible taint on the soul."Because I can!"

Ozpin growled and summoned his Keyblade to his free hand, then ran at her as quickly as he could. He would destroy her if he – The Keyblade stopped long before it could have hit her face. "Meaningless," the woman muttered. She turned around and summoned a Portal of Light. "Light casts Shadows, Oz. Whatever it is you do to try and stop me..." She smiled over her shoulder with a cruel grin before pulling her hood back up. "It will just help me in the end." Then she stepped through her portal and it disappeared behind her.

Oz watched where she had disappeared for a moment, then spun on his heel and sprinted towards the nearly dead boy. One flash of bright green energy later, Ozpin's wrist was healed and the boy was awake. Still dying, but awake. "Ozpin? I thought you were gone?" the boy said as his eyes slid open.

"How do you know who I am?" Ozpin asked. He knelt beside the young man and his Keyblade vanished in a flash of emerald light.

"Oh, uh... You saved me once when I was a kid," the boy explained. He tried to sit up and his eyes widened in incredible pain. He fell back down immediately.

"Careful. I... I can't heal you. It's too much," Ozpin explained calmly. He shook his head and pulled out a vial from the boy's bag as well as a roll of gauze and began to bathe the roll of cloth in the elixir. At the most, this would only ease the pain. "You do not have long."

"Heh... I'm suddenly really glad I didn't drag my friend into this," the boy muttered to himself. He sighed and looked up at Oz, who had begun wrapping the roll around the young man's chest. "You have to stop her. I've been looking into the book, and I think she's the -"

"I wrote it and she is," Ozpin stated. He focused harder on wrapping the gauze around the boy. "But I cannot."

"Is it because you love her?"

Ozpin was taken aback at the statement and found himself frozen. Was it really quite so transparent with him, that he had once loved the woman she had been? He shook his head to clear these thoughts and sighed. "That's not why. She made the Keyblades, Boy. They belong to her," Ozpin explained and he once more helped the young man with his pain

"Then make a new one!" the kid shouted. He winced and slowly raised a hand to his chest to clutch at the source of the pain. "She needs to be stopped."

"You don't know what you're asking," Ozpin muttered bitterly.

The boy set his jaw and begged, "Then tell me."

Ozpin nodded slowly before answering. "Keyblades have a deep cost to them. The notes I found of hers... they state there are two kinds of Keyblades. The ones she created for my students, and the one she is using right now."

"What's the difference?" the boy asked innocently, not knowing the price of what he asked.

Ozpin sighed and tied up the bandage on the boy's chest. "First, you must understand that Keyblades – yours, mine... They are forged from Hearts stolen and shattered," he spat, voice bitter and angry. "And if I read her notes correctly, the one she was using was a more powerful variant, given its similarities to the... the χ -blade. I think that it was what she believed would be created when a Heart willingly became a Keyblade."

The kid's eyes widened as he understood what Ozpin was saying. "But who would agree to just being a weapon for..." the young man searched her words tentatively to avoid insulting Ozpin as well, "... her?"

"I don't know. Lies could be the source, or perhaps coercion. I am unsure," Ozpin said. He lifted the boy and brought him over to the railing so he could sit up in his last moments. The two remained silent for some time. "You came here for answers. Simply ask."

The young man looked down and shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I learned more than I wanted already," he pointed out sadly. Ozpin nodded. The boy added on, "She controlled your Keyblade."

"As she said, her creations obey her before any other," he replied. He sat down beside the boy, it would not be fair to force the boy to die alone, not when this was at least partially his fault. "Without a Keyblade, I cannot stop her, and the world will plunge into Darkness forever."

"Peachy last words to hear," the kid laughed. "End of the world is coming and it can't be stopped." He looked over at Ozpin. "Do you know how to make a new Keyblade?"

Ozpin looked at the ground. "I wish that I did not," he admitted. He pulled his knees up and let his elbows rest on them, his hands dangling between his legs.

"And if you stole someone's Heart to make one, I'd agree with you," the boy agreed. He grabbed his wound and groaned as his hand came back bloody. "But now if I sacrificed myself for it." Ozpin turned and stared wide eyed at the young man. "Hey, I'm dying anyways. Least I can do is find a way to save my friends."

"I... would rather not," Ozpin responded, holding back his more vehement protests.

"Then the World dies." The young man grabbed Ozpin's shoulder and smiled sadly. "You gotta do it, okay?"

"... You don't know – I do not know what you are asking. I don't know happens to you if I do this."

"Well, we don't have a choice!" the boy shouted angrily. Ozpin glared at him for a while, then gave in. This was not some death wish, but a sacrifice. He could respect one's sacrifice. Ozpin affirmed that he would do as he was asked, then stood up and summoned his Keyblade to his hand. He placed it gently over the boy's chest. "Just do me a favor – Don't name the weapon after me, okay? Ephemer doesn't make for any permanent sounding titles, huh?"

R W B Y

Sora slashed down at Jaune's shoulder with his scythe, the red light making it up flashing and leaving behind a trail of energy as it arced down. Jaune jumped to the side and brought his buckler up to punch the attack out of the way. Sora flowed with the defensive redirect and brought his weapon around to horizontally slash at Jaune's neck, this blow being slapped aside by Jaune's sword. The pommel slammed into Sora's temple, stunning him until he felt a pair of hands grab him by the hood and belt, lifting him up and then tossing him, weapon and all, out of the center of the square.

Sora's landing was heavy, and he groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. He yelped and jumped back when the buckler flew out and bounced off the ground where his head had been a moment earlier. "Stop!" Sora shouted at the shield, freezing it in space and giving him a split second to catch sight of what was on its face. The grinning ram that made up the crossguard of the Keyblade was at the center of the buckler. The edge was made of four black wings, their curves making up the circular edge of the shield. Aside from the questionable decorations, its design was remarkably similar to the shield Sora had seen in Jaune's Dive, down to the inward curves that marked the horizontal axis of the shield.

The loss of the shield's movement also gave Sora time to sprint towards Jaune and unleash a flurry of slash attacks against him. Jaune narrowed his eyes and held the small, black shortsword in front of him. The blade was almost half the length of the Keyblade's, and the end curved to create a shape similar to the teeth of the Keyblade. Jaune deflected the incoming blows with his now much shorter weapon before delivering a back kick to Sora's midsection.

Sora rolled backwards with the blow and brought his scythe up to stop him and rebound with a Firaga. He spun forward and the resulting blow sent Jaune flying. Or would have, had the Stop spell not worn off on the shield, allowing Jaune to summon it back and take the blow without trouble. He slid the shield onto his back and grabbed his sword with both hands, pulling down with his left and causing the short sword's handle to elongate into a long handle fit for a spear. The base slammed into Sora, who was still mid air, and he was suddenly upside down with both of Jaune's feet heading for his head.

Jaune landed on his hands and flipped back to his feet, spinning the spear around him. Sora got to his feet and growled before deciding to do the same. He twirled his scythe around him as quickly as he could and the two advanced on one another slowly, allowing the momentum in their hands to build up as much as possible. Jaune and Sora exited the build up at almost the same time, with Sora bringing his in an upward slash and Jaune attacking downward. The two weapons collided in the center. Sora felt the massive blow travel up his arms and the scythe hit the ground. Jaune pulled out his shield and threw it so the indentation on the shield trapped the scythe's handle against the ground.

Sora, in response, ran forward and slammed his shoulder into Jaune's midsection, a last ditch effort to tackle him away. Simultaneously, Sora let go of the energy holding the scythe together, freeing it from Jaune's shield. Jaune hit the ground beneath Sora, and the former Keyblade Wielder brought his hand up to Jaune's throat to hold him down, and began to punch him in the face. If he could just knock him out, maybe they could help him.

Jaune was not taking the blows with that in mind, however. He grabbed onto the wrist of the hand around his throat and tore it off of him like it was nothing, twisting until Sora yelped in pain and fell backwards, making sure his free right hand landed on the hilt of his sword. Jaune let go of Sora and summoned his sword and shield back to his hands before bringing them down to defeat Sora. The former Keyblade Wielder reacted like lightning, however, and brought his sword up to block the attack. He remained on his back and grunted when the blow connected, causing the stone beneath him to crack and push him into the ground.

Jaune looked like he wanted to say something to his friend, but then he shook his head. The weapons in his hands flashed and became one Keyblade again, held with both hands. Sora growned and slid his feet back to place both soles of his feet directly on Jaune's chest. He kicked out and Jaune flipped over him, giving them both time to scrabble to their feet. Both of them began to pant heavily; this fight was the most equal either had been part of in a while, and it was dragging on too long for either of their tastes. Especially for Sora – he knew that Jaune already had more power than him, and that the longer their fight lasted, the more the scales would tip in Jaune's favor. Keyblade Wielders have immense stamina reserves, while Sora himself was simply hiding how tired and bruised he was.

"What? No more words?" Sora asked, shooting the cockiest grin he could at the Keyblade Wielder across from him. Jaune frowned and ignored him. "Cause I could keep this going all day. You?"

Jaune took a deep breath and steadied his breathing. "Of course," he responded. Sora sighed and reached back down to his belt to grab the Wayfinder buckled there, eliciting a laugh from Jaune. "We both know how that turned out last time."

"Yep. A tie, I think," Sora pointed out. He hoped he could still do this, he hadn't really tried this since it had happened at Beacon. "I'm tired of ties."

"Me too," Jaune agreed. He got into an attack position and ran towards Sora again, barely letting Sora have enough time to follow through on what he was doing.

The Wayfinder glowed brightly once more, though this time the Light was a pure white instead of a bloody red. The sword in Sora's right hand lit up with the same energy, creating a blade longer than the natural one of the weapon and forged from pure Light. Other magical energies began to pour out of the star in Sora's hand: Fire, Water, Wind, Darkness, Light, and Earth. Each of these energies became part of a swirling wall around the Keyblade Wielder that blocked Jaune's incoming blow and gave Sora a little bit of breathing room. The energies began to sift into their six different types and coagulate into six differently shaped key weapons. The floated around Sora slowly, steadily losing speed until they hovered around him. Sora took a step towards Jaune, and the six weapons reacted immediately, rocketing to his back to form a pair of wings.

Sora frowned. Just activating this... thing was pretty tiring, and Sora could feel himself running on fumes. He had to beat Jaune really fast or he'd have no chance at victory. "Scared?" Sora supplied.

"Never again," Jaune responded.

R W B Y

Qrow was sitting in the main room of the house Ice Queen had helped them get during their extended stay in Atlas. Speaking of, she was there too. She was sitting on the opposite side of the couch, leaving space for at least four people between them. Qrow was playing games on his Scroll, murdering dozens of evil magic ninjas in an attempt to avoid the ever heightening awkwardness that now existed between him and Ice Queen, while the woman herself was sitting with her legs crossed, looking in any direction save the one that would cause her to see Qrow. So far, only Yang was willing to tease them about this; Ruby was too oblivious to things like this, and Neptune and Ice Princess were too busy with continuing their relationship to notice someone else's.

Row grunted in surprise when his game suddenly paused and the screen turned into a picture of Oz's face. The Huntsman shrugged and answered the call. "Oz? Didn't we just talk?"

"Go to channel seven. Now," the ancient warrior commanded. "... And I'm sure that Miss Rose and her friends will want to see this."

Qrow raised one eyebrow before looking over at Ice Queen. "Can you get everyone in here?" he asked. The woman glanced at him, then disappeared, glad to have an excuse to get away from their awkward interactions – or rather their lack thereof. Qrow returned his attention to the call and picked up the TV's remote. "Okay, Oz. What's going on? You sound worried."

"That is because I am worried, Qrow," the man responded quietly. "Very."

Qrow grunted an affirmative and flicked the television on, flipping through channels until he got to the news station. "What could scare... Oh." Sora was on screen in a fight with what looked like Blondie, the two of them attacking with spells and other things that would scare the masses. Sora had six key looking weapons floating above his shoulders like wings that he was using to block the massive, incoming Darkness that Jaune was unleashing in his direction. "Tch, I get it now." There was a string of information at the top of the screen, bright yellow letters over a blue banner that flashed to draw attention away from the battle: Widespread Panic as Two Unknown Figures Destroy Vale's Main Square in Battle to Death. "Yeah, I can see where this would worry you, Oz."

"If Jaune unleashes too much Darkness, it could wake up the Dragon."

"Which means Schnee'll use DISC. Dammit," Qrow grumbled. He shook his head and sighed. "We're coming up with a plan to break in to Blue Fairy but..." He trailed off when he saw Sora unleash all six of his blades against Jaune at once, the weapons arcing through the air. Blondie only managed to block a few of them, but was still tossed aside by the combined force of the one that looked like it was on fire and the one made out of Darkness.

"So what did you want us to see..." Ruby asked as she entered the room. She jumped over the back of the couch and sat beside her uncle with wide, surprised eyes. "Sora! What's going on!?"

"Blondie and Sora are having a go of it," Qrow explained. He put his Scroll down and tapped a button. "Oz, you're on speaker."

"Headmaster Ozpin, what happened?" Ruby asked as Weiss, Neptune, Yang entered the room behind Winter.

"Whoa! I really need to spar with you and Sora..." Yang muttered when Sora launched the most powerful spells he could from the tips of each weapon, each spell the same one that his weapon was made from. Jaune slapped them away with one move and dashed towards Sora. The younger man barely managed to dodge each of the incoming blows. "And, apparently, I need to fight Jaune too. Would never have guessed it..." She grinned widely, a stark contrast to the worried looks of everyone around her. "I cannot wait!"

"Perhaps we should focus on this battle for now, Miss Xiao Long?" Ozpin suggested.

"Oops... Hi, Headmaster," Yang replied. She brought her robotic limb up and scratched the back of her head, grinning embarrassedly. She jumped over the couch and plopped down next to her sister, followed by Neptune then Weiss and finally Winter.

Yang glanced over at her sister. "Come on, your boy toy will be fine," Yang said. She slapped her sister's shoulder. "Besides, you can just kiss all the boo boos away."

"Yang..." Ruby protested halfheartedly. She grimaced when Sora turned the six floating weapons into a buzzsaw that he threw at Jaune, only for the Keyblade Wielder to jump through the center of the attack and hit Sora's head with a spin kick that he continued into a spinning slash. Fenrir flew from Sora's hands. Ruby knew that it wasn't going well for Sora, and that meant it was probably just going to get worse. Sora blocked the next attack and slashed at Jaune, the bow parried by the black Keyblade in his hand. "Stay safe, Sora..."

R W B Y

Sora was not staying safe. He threw the buzzsaw again at Jaune, with the man doing the same exact thing he had last time. However, as he soared through the center of the circle, Sora roared and pulled his hand back. The keys listened and inverted so their blades pointed inward and moved with Jaune, shooting towards him before he could attack Sora.

Jaune was quick enough to respond, however, and summoned a powerful Refleza around his body. The keys that Sora had summoned slammed into the powerful wall of energy and immediately shattered into nothingness. Jaune landed in a roll and the now defenseless Sora felt a massive backlash as the last of his energy left him. The blade of Light around Fenrir flickered out and died after a moment, just in time for Jaune to unleash a lightning fast onslaught of attacks on Sora.

The Keyblade slammed into his chest; left then right Sora was slapped aside like a toy, and he could do nothing to stop it. He had absolutely nothing left in him to fight with against Jaune. The next attack might kill him. The blade approached his head and Sora shut his eyes. The blow never came. Instead, there was a quiet clank, the sound of a Keyblade being lowered and its keychain jangling with the movement. Sora felt a pair of hands pick him up and softly put him on the ground. "I said I didn't want to hurt you," Jaune stated. He unzipped Sora's jacket and pulled out the Journal, pocketing it himself a moment later. He stood over Sora as he finally noticed the noise of the bullheads outside of his boundary, news crews filming their entire fight; neither warrior had noticed through the din of their battle. From how the cameras were focusing on them, it seemed obvious they thought Jaune was going to try executing Sora. He looked down at his nearly unconscious friend and shook his head. "You'll be okay."

Jaune turned around and walked away from Sora, wanting to put some space between his friend and what he was about to do. Jaune summoned his Keyblade back to his right hand and, with his other, pulled the Keychain of Ozpin's former Keyblade out. "Jaune." The blonde raised an eyebrow and turned around to glare at the source of the voice. Sora was standing up, hands on his knees to support himself. He looked like he was going to fall unconscious any moment, and a thin line of blood was trailing down over his right eye. "Give me..." Sora took another deep breath and picked up Fenrir slowly, his hand barely holding onto the weapon's handle. "... back the... the journal."

Jaune stared at his opponent. "This battle is over, Sora. Give it up," Jaune ordered. Sora shook his head, causing Jaune to sigh in disappointment. "I'm leaving Sora. You can't stop me." He dropped the Keychain and tossed his Keyblade to his left hand, leaving the blade hovering above the charm on the ground.

"Is that Oz's Keychain?" Sora asked between panting breaths.

"It was," Jaune said, then he coated his Keyblade in a combination of Darkness and Light. "But not anymore." The blade flashed as it flew down, tip colliding with the charm on the ground. There was a moment in which nothing happened, the air sucking in. Then the Keychain shattered. There was a pulse of Light as the remnants of energy within the old Keyblade's Heart was suddenly released. Jaune turned towards Beacon in the distance, waiting for the next part of the plan to begin. And... nothing happened. Jaune frowned and looked down at the dissolving pieces of the Keychain, wondering what was going on.

He shook his head and turned back to Sora, who was glaring at him angrily. "What would you do if Ruby died because of Ozpin?" Jaune inquired, hoping to make his friend understand him. Sora's gaze fell as he felt for just a moment what Jaune felt, understanding the appeal of everything Salem offered. Jaune raised his hand above his head, summoning a dense ball of Darkness to his palm. If the Keychain's death didn't do anything, he would have to help it. "I'm glad you understand." Jaune let loose a massive beam of Darkness straight up and deactivated the barrier holding him and Sora in their arena of battle. The blast flew up and was visible for thousands of miles, with reports later claiming individuals in the Vacuan desert, the Mistralian cliffs, or the Atlesian city saw a thin black beam bisecting the horizon.

After a few seconds of letting the energy fly straight up, avoiding any possibility of it hurting anyone, Jaune let his hand fall to his side. "Goodbye, Sora." Then he turned on his heel and walked through the Corridor of Darkness he had just summoned.

Sora stared at the spot where the portal winked shut. "Dammit," he grunted, then he toppled forward and drifted into the land of dreams, where things were much better.

He was roused from a nice one where he had defeated Salem at their first meeting, and was now hanging with Ruby, Jaune, and the others on a beach. That went black and was replaced with Ozpin saying, "Sora. Sora, wake up."

The young man's eyes drifted slowly open and he groaned in dull, aching pain. "Ugh, five more minutes," Sora half protested.

"You're okay!" Nora shouted excitedly. She jumped forward, hammer on her back, and was barely stopped in time by Ozpin.

"That was an insane fight, man!" Sun shouted. "You were awesome, and I've seen you take out a dragon!"

Sora looked around. They were in one of the apartments Ozpin had bought. "It wasn't my best," Sora admitted. He sat up suddenly, ignoring the tunneling of his vision, and desperately clutched at the now empty pocket where he had put the Journal. He knew it was gone, but confirming it still made him a little depressed. He turned his semi downtrodden look to Ozpin. "Jaune took the journal."

"Why would he do that?" Ren inquired simply. He frowned and shook his head. "It is just a book, is it not?"

"Well..." Sora said, bobbing his head from side to side.

"That's not a good well," Sun pointed out.

Blake asked the next question: "What was special about this book?"

"Apparently it could open time and re create things that don't exist right now," Sora explained, grimacing. "I don't know how she wold know that, though..."

"Because I wrote one," Ozpin muttered. He stood up and looked at his students. "DISC must be stopped now at all costs."

"Why do we need to work harder to stop literally the worst thing that could happen?" Sun asked dryly.

"Because if it happens, the Opening will happen and the Journal will bring the Realm of Darkness back," Sora said as he figured it out. "Countless Heartless will spill in and swarm across the World."

"Oh, so... the literal worst thing that could happen just got worse," Sun muttered. He grimaced and shook his head. "Great, I always wanted to prevent the end of the world with my best friends."

"Don't knock it til you try it," Sora joked. He immediately regretted it, as his own laughter caused the aches to flare up. "Ow..."

R W B Y

General James Ironwood was currently working quietly and diligently at his desk, approving requisitions and other material requests from around the military. He sighed and put down his Scroll a few moments later, exchanging work for rubbing his temples and groaning. This had become much more painful in recent weeks; he had not seen Winter in a very long time and was sure that whatever it was she was planning with Qrow fell well within the bounds of 'Treasonous Activity.' And then there was the matter of her father, upon whom the Atlesian council was bestowing more and more responsibilities. At this point, Ironwood felt like a glorified secretary for the man. General of the most powerful military on the planet... sounded rather hollow when you had very little actual control over that military. But he had his own loyalists, men and women who followed him because they believed he was right about the DISC project.

For instance, the man in charge of all reconnaissance officers observing the former Beacon Academy Grounds in Vale and the Dragon Grimm therein. "Sir," the man said as the door opened and he walked through. He was a man of average height and build, with dark hair and plain features. A completely forgettable face. One did not become the leader of the Atlesian spooks by standing out, after all.

Ironwood looked up and stopped rubbing his head. "Colonel," Ironwood greeted.

"You'll need to see this," the man said, cutting past any pleasantries that they may have usually exchanged after a long while of seeing one another. He pulled his Scroll from his pocket and flicked the screen towards the General's. The device dinged to acknowledge it had received information on a private channel, and the General opened the message a half second later.

It was a video file, short, of the Dragon in Vale. It was zoomed in as far as possible, focusing on the creature's head, locked in an eternal roar of rage because it was frozen on Beacon's shattered, tallest spire as was usual. "This was taken the night after the battle that occurred in Vale Plaza," the spymaster explained, standing at attention.

"I don't understand, what's going on?" Ironwood inquired after watching through the five second video file a few times.

"It took me a few times to see it as well, Sir," the spymaster assured. He took a breath. "Focus on the creature's eye when you watch again."

Ironwood did as suggested and frowned. Something felt off that time. "I..." He shook his head and rewound the video, watching the eye even more carefully.

Halfway through, he realized what he had seen. "Is there any other time that the Dragon has made any movement like this before?" he asked, quickly deleting the file from his Scroll and deactivating the device.

"No Sir, it's never blinked once before this."

Ironwood grimaced and slammed his prosthetic fist onto the face of his desk, leaving a round dent in the center of the metal making it up. "So the fight, it woke the creature up?" he asked.

"As far as I can tell, Sir," the spymaster responded dutifully.

"Damn... Hide this for as long as you can from Schnee," Ironwood finally said, surging from his seat. He looked down at his wrist to check the time and nodded. That would do. "Can you trust the man who brought you this information?"

"The spy, yes. But it passed through half a dozen hands before reaching my desk, Sir. It's not a matter of if, at this point, but of when he sees it," the spymaster reported evenly.

Ironwood sighed. That wouldn't do. I guess we just have to trust that Qrow and Winter are able to stop Blue Fairy from destroying Vale, he grumbled to himself. "Go. You're dismissed," Ironwood said. He walked towards the window overlooking Vale and waited until he heard his door shut once more. God help us if they can't.