AN:
Hey everybody, what's up? Sorry it took so long. I had tests, and then I was sick this week. I haven't been able to do much until this weekend.
I finally was able to watch the first two episodes of Volume 4, and I'm super excited. Jaune might be my favorite redesign right now aside from Blake's. I thought the first episode was great, though I'm not willing to believe that Cinder, even if she is the Fall Maiden, killed Oz, and I'm surprised that Salem would given how familiar she seems to be with him. On another note, I hope we get some more Qrow soon. The more Qrow the better, honestly.
On to the second episode, I'm pretty sure I hate everyone related to Weiss except Winter (and maybe their mom depending on what she's like). I was hoping Jacques Schnee would be less of a stereotypical 'Douchebag Rich Dad' than he seems so far, just because I feel it's been played to death. Also, her younger brother is super annoying. Hate that kid. Weiss and Winter both are great, and I can't wait to see the casual day drinking Mrs. Schnee. I get the feeling that Weiss and Winter take more after her than their dad given the tension between Weiss and Papa Schnee. I'm also excited for the coming Ren and Nora backstory growth, what with how it's becoming clear they have a bad connection with those bandits.
I'm super excited because last chapter you guys pushed the average number of reviews from 6 per chapter(rounded down) to 7 per chapter! This is awesome! Not only that, but it was also the highest number of reviews I've had for any single chapter! You guys rock!
To gamelover41592: I would really like to include a lot of the things from volume 4, but sadly I don't think I'm going to have the time, in a manner of speaking. The story is going to be rocketing towards the final fight, so the major events and characters are pretty locked in. Allusions will be made in the chapter(s) bridging this arc and the final battle.
To HelpSomeone: I will try to update faster next time; I'm mostly done with my midterms. On top of that, this chapter was almost entirely setup for the next one, so it should be easier to write the next chapter's action oriented plot at a reasonable pace.
To warrior of six blades: Happy (super) belated birthday! I understand not agreeing with what Jaune is doing, and in a couple chapters Jaune is going to face what he's doing and decide if he agrees with what he's doing, either. Jaune is going to have a big chapter as soon as the Blue Fairy chapter couplet is finished and we're going to see if he's truly all the way gone.
To Blazer777: Just for that, I'm never ending this... Kidding, of course. I get it, but to paraphrase Rooster Teeth themselves in the RvB season finale– if you have a story, it deserves to be told even if it isn't canon. Of course, it was never canon given that it's a crossover, but still it's the thought that counts. The story's almost over; from how I've planned it out, there should be nine/ten chapters then an epilogue.
To grimlock987: Don't worry, the story is going to end pretty soon. I'd say the correct estimate would be about the middle of January if gaps between chapters are at their usual, maybe a couple weeks out in either direction. Also, the story is going to be really straightforward from now on. Everything from here on out is the payoff for the grand buildup from the rest of the story.
To goddragonking: Thanks, I hope to keep you entertained!
To Guest: I agree. The end of KH1 seems about the same as how strong Sora is right now. I love Deadpool too; it would be hilarious to see Wade poke holes in the video game mechanics that the characters accept as normal life, or to see him almost let loose strings of profanities but immediately realize that he's standing right next to Mickey Mouse and that would just be a terrible idea.
To Kingofclubs8129: Don't worry, Sora is getting his Keyblade back soon, at the end of chapter 35. As for thrashing Jaune, sadly Sora won't be the person that beats him down. I have two characters in mind for the last battle where Jaune fights his friends, and Sora'll be too busy with Salem when this is happening.
To Redemption's Avenger: I agree. At this point, due to how the first Book didn't end up coming true because of Oz's lies, Salem doesn't put much stock in prophecies. She will affect change, not wait for it to come to her. Sora won't be a Gray Keyblade Wielder in this story, but his journey has always been about seeing Light at the end of the tunnel and pushing on through the Darkness to see what comes next, and he's trying to help Jaune understand that.
To sethman610: Yeah, the Journal is supposed to be similar at the very least. Maleficent kept comparing it to the Book of Prophecy and saying it had similar abilities, if not exactly the same. Sadly, because of how late in the game we are, I won't be able to introduce any characters from Volume 4 without it seeming rushed. We've got three big events that are all happening almost concurrently, then the final battle. Even getting Penny the time she deserves is going to be difficult, so I don't know if I could manage with all the new characters, even though Tyrian and his weapons seem so cool!
To Remnant7: Sadly, I'm not going to be able to bring Xion in on the story. While I really like her and think she's awesome, I feel like she'll be 'alive' again at the end of KH3, so she'd be at the last battle with Xehanort and died centuries before this story takes place.
To G3r1k: Thanks for the high praise! I hope the rest of it has continued and will continue to impress you!
Chapter 31: Blue Fairy
A black doorway in reality flashed open in the heart of Atlas, the portal melting into the Darkness of the night. The two red headed warriors, one a woman and the other a man, standing on top of the building ignored the portal and continued their watch on the small shop across the street, which had an interesting amount of 'civilians' milling about it at midnight. "Honestly, Atlas personnel could not act less casual if they were trying their absolute hardest to do so," the man pointed out as three pairs of footsteps echoed behind them. He turned his masked face back to the people exiting the portal and fought off an internal flicker of disgust, at the trio and at himself for working with such base humans. Anything for the greater good, he supposed. "Cinder."
"Adam," the woman responded. She turned her gaze towards the woman with the Faunus, sneering mockingly. "You made a friend... Now, why is she here?"
The woman turned around now and crossed her armored arms. Her red eyes glared out with a severe lack of amusement from behind her mask and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Jeez. She looks like more of a buzz kill than Cinder," Mercury remarked under his breath. Emerald shot him a look telling him to shut up, but he just grinned back at her and winked.
Adam gestured with his physical arm towards the woman beside him. "This is Morrigan. She -"
"Is an enemy of your enemies," Morrigan finished for herself. She looked between Cinder and her flunkies, examining them each in turn. The woman walked around them, getting a closer look at those who had once been her prey, and now were her 'allies.'
Cinder scoffed and stared straight ahead, annoyed by the actions of the woman circling them. "I believe we should be the ones examining you."
Morrigan ignored the statement and continued what she was doing. Mercury looked a bit taller and stronger than he had in Raven's memories, and was wearing a long sleeved gray jacket that held tight to his body. His toes were tapping anxiously against the ground and he cast a few nervous glares at Morrigan. To be fair, her sword had appeared out of thin air and she was dragging the point along the ground around him, showering him with sparks of Darkness as she did.
Cinder simply grew annoyed at what was happening. She kicked the sword away when it got too close then stood up straighter, as if to convey superiority. Morrigan scoffed and stopped behind the Maiden to examine the tattoo on the woman's back. She had the oddest feeling that something was slightly off as she did, so she ran through Raven's memories in her mind, a stream of images flashing behind her eyelids for a moment. Dossiers, surveillance... What had once been a Heart outlined by a pair of high heeled shoes was now markedly different. It was as if the shoes had slid through one another and were now halfway through the process of separating on the other side. The main bodies of the shoes drifted apart to form a triangle unconnected to the sliver of skin visible between the top lines. Though, if this impossible pattern persisted, the sliver would become a circle and connect to that triangle. Other than that, Cinder looked the same as ever: angry and imposing. At least to anyone who was not Morrigan.
Emerald was much the same as Mercury, down to her anxiety regarding Morrigan's magic sword. Her hands were on her hips, trying to disguise the fact that she was already reaching for her weaponry. Morrigan let it slide, however; these three terrorists and their Faunus collaborator were her only way to get a chance at sussing out and killing her prey. If she had to help them kill some woman the Blue Fairy division of the Atlesian government was holding for some kind of hideous experiment... well, she was a Nobody. Even if she wanted to raise moral objections regarding what they wanted, she literally could not care as long as it got her what she wanted. "They'll do," Morrigan muttered as she came around again to stand in front of her new partners. She dismissed her sword and Cinder's flunkies became noticeably more comfortable.
Apparently too comfortable.
"Oh, you," Mercury said, flicking his wrist psuedo-dismissively. "You really know how to make a guy feel special."
Morrigan, Cinder, and Emerald all glared at he young man with the same annoyed look in their eyes. "Really? Nothing?" Mercury asked as he looked around. He frowned. "Hmph..."
"So, I'm assuming that you two were able to come up with something vaguely resembling a plan for breaking into this... place?" Cinder inquired a moment later, her voice somehow growing more sour. She smirked condescendingly at the Faunus terrorist.
Adam smirked back at her. "As a matter of fact, Cinder, we do have a plan."
"That's nice," Emerald said saccharinely. Her voice turned mocking. "A change of pace. You aren't completely useless for once."
"Ha!" Mercury snorted.
"Enough," Cinder growled, raising her hand beside her to quiet the two. She lowered it a moment later and cocked her head to the side slightly while fixing her gaze on the new individual. "Morrigan, you said your name was?"
"I take it this means it is finally your turn to examine me? To see if I will be useful to you?" the woman responded. She sighed and held her hands out to her side. "Go ahead. Ask away, Cinder Fall, Maiden of Autumn..." Morrigan shook her masked head at Cinder's quietly surprised glare. Very few knew of the Maidens, even in the highest echelons of any society. Cinder would have to be careful; this woman knew more than she should. Cinder clenched her fist and felt the powers of two other maidens coursing through her. Though it seemed she did not know nearly as much as she believed she knew. "I won't bite."
The Maiden hissed quietly, the noise full of indignant anger at this woman's insolence. Still, she would not let that distract her; she wanted to know as much about any possible allies before going in. "You say you are an enemy of our enemies," Cinder stated, one hand holding the wrist of the other in the small of her back. "Which ones?"
"Those little girls are almost more trouble than they are worth, aren't they?" Morrigan replied. Cinder's eyes narrowed slightly as she remembered the embarrassment she had received at the hands of the Silver Eyed girl. It could have been far worse, had that night played out even slightly different. From what Salem had said, Cinder was lucky she could even speak following the unleashing of the Silver Eyes.
"So you believe those children are going to interfere in our plans, somehow?" Cinder asked, frowning. That did sound like the silver eyes to find herself waist deep in Cinder's plans, regardless of whatever barriers may exist. She doubted that even the walls of a highly defended military research compound could keep that inexplicable luck from working its magic.
Morrigan scoffed and placed her right hand on her hip, leaving the other to dangle. She responded, "I would assume it as an inevitability."
Taurus cut in before Cinder could snap at their new ally. "Besides, we have been keeping ourselves apprised of their actions as well."
"And?" Emerald asked when it became clear Cinder was going to keep glowering at Morrigan.
"And it would seem that they have their eyes on the same place that we do. Our plan has taken their skills and ability to interfere into account," the Faunus terrorist explained, waving his good arm as he did so. "In fact, if we play the game correctly, we may be able to wipe half of Ozpin's pieces off the board."
"And, um, just wondering... who are those specific pieces?" Mercury inquired. The last time he'd seen any of them, they had demolished him, Cinder, Emerald, and Xehanort like it was no trouble at all. He wasn't sure who he was hoping would not show up, but he wanted to know anyways.
"Ozpin's Crow, two Schnee heiresses, a boy with blue hair, the girl with the red hood, and..." Taurus' face grew vengeful and he paused.
"Dramatic effect doesn't really work in real life," Mercury explained dryly.
"The blonde girl," Adam huffed, annoyed that he had been interrupted. His left hand drifted over to his arm of Darkness and he scowled.
"They have their own plan to infiltrate the underground complex," Morrigan elaborated. Her red eyes glimmered behind her mask. "Which, as it so happens, is perfect for us. When we interfere in their plan and lead every guard in the entire facility right towards them, you will have free rein over the whole of Blue Fairy's campus."
"We can work on the details, but the plan seems sufficient," Cinder stated simply. Everything was coming together nicely. Quite nicely indeed.
R W B Y
Ruby took a deep breath as she sat with her back against the wall. Just on the other side of the divide, everyone else taking part in the incursion into Blue Fairy was readying for the event itself. Over the past two weeks, Ruby and Neptune had tried to teach everyone else magic, and Ruby was beginning to understand why it had been so hard for Sora to teach it: Weiss barely even believed in it, while Qrow and Winter's only attempts at the spells had ended up fizzling out uselessly. The only one who took to it like a natural was Yang, who had already been a master of anything fire or explosion related before figuring this out and now was a living breathing Dust Bomb. Ruby had actually asked her sister to tone it down to make sure she didn't end up hurting any of their group during the break in or, God forbid, end up burning the entire city block to the ground.
"You taking a last moment alone?" her Uncle asked. He looked over at the door through which he had just passed. "I get that. Everything you've done so far either had lower stakes or no time to plan. No time to plan, no time to freak out. You just have to do. Now though..." Qrow trailed off for a moment, then sat down beside his niece. He took a deep breath. "I'm nervous, too. I -" he froze as an image of an injured woman with snow white hair shot through his mind's eye. "I'm worried about what happens if we mess up. It's normal, Ruby, so don't be embarrassed."
"No, that's not it," Ruby said resolutely. surprising her uncle. She looked over when he didn't respond, and explained. "Even if we mess up, Sora'll stop DISC. And it's not like any of us could get arrested or hurt. After all, we're us!"
Qrow laughed dryly, taking comfort in how assured her voice sounded. "You got that right, Kiddo," he acknowledged, patting the girl's head affectionately. "After all, we're the best in the world, aren't we?"
"You know it, Old Man," Ruby shot, earning a smile from the veteran Huntsman. She hugged the man and sighed contentedly, then frowned and pushed off a moment later. "Why are you worried?"
"This is the first time in a long while I've felt like there's a real danger in the mission," Qrow explained. He looped his arm around her shoulder and hugged her. "I've lost too many people to lose another. You, Firecracker..."
"Weiss' sister?" Ruby suggested.
Qrow took a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, Ice Queen, too," Qrow replied, his voice gravely with repressed laughter. Qrow leaned over and rested his head atop his niece's.
"What happened between you two?" Ruby asked compassionately. Girl couldn't not think about someone else. "Even I've noticed you're acting different."
Qrow laughed. "Guess I was wrong." He cracked a sideways, self deprecating grin. "Look, Ruby, Raven's not the only one in the family who was bad with the lovey dovey stuff." If he had been, who knew how the past decades would have ended up? As it was, he was getting the same feeling now that he would always get back then. Fear.
There were only a few things that made him afraid: Ruby or Firecracker getting hurt, or the possibility he'd ever fight Salem. Truly terrifying things. And now, just like when he was sweating through his jacket around Summer, he found that he couldn't breathe around Winter. With his luck, he'd let this one slip through his fingers too and he'd wind up doing the same with women named Autumn and Spring. He smirked when he thought about how Raven had made fun of him back at Haven for this same exact thing.
"Why not just tell her? What's the worst that can happen?" Ruby asked. She sounded older and wiser than she had just a year earlier; all this responsibility was changing her. Hopefully not too much, though. Some people got really boring when they started acting like that. "The answer is you don't, she marries your best friend, and you watch out for the kids."
Qrow opened his eyes and continued to look at the ceiling, his grin much less convincing now. "How do you know about that?"
"Know about what?" Ruby asked earnestly. Qrow looked over to answer, only for his mouth to slam shut and his eyes to widen in surprise.
It was only for a second, but Qrow was sure he saw a woman sitting beside Ruby. She was slightly ethereal, her pale skin almost glowing as it caught the light. She was smiling, her silver eyes shut and hidden beneath her dangling, red and black hair. A white cloak hung from her shoulders and seemed to wrap around both Ruby and Qrow like a protective wall. "Um..." he muttered. He raised his hand and rubbed his eyes with his palm, then opened them again. The woman was gone. "I... I.." He cleared his throat and pushed himself to his feet. "Let's get in there. Before anything surprising happe-"
"Ruby! Yang! Where are my two little girls!?"
"God dammit, Tai," Qrow groaned, burying his face into one of his palms. "Your timing couldn't be –" Qrow groaned as he realized it would only be a matter of time until that pun was said by either his humor-deaf niece or his similarly unfunny brother in law. "Just... God dammit, Tai."
The door flew open and the rest of their group ran out to look downstairs, where a blonde man was placing a heavy bag on the floor. "Oh, Dad!" Yang called, placing her weapon clad hands behind her. "So... Uh... What's up?"
"What, did I come at a bad... Tai-m?" the man asked, causing everyone to groan in physical pain, save Yang, who was now laughing boisterously.
"And there it is," Qrow muttered in disgust. "Every damn time you two open your mouths." He sighed and smiled down at his friend. "So, you're here..." he checked his Scroll. "... a day early. Dammit, why can't transport across an entire planet take longer?"
"Qrow! Hey buddy!" Taiyang said with a grin. He looked over at his daughters who were glancing nervously at one another now. Lying didn't come easily to either of them... "You guys have a good, peaceful time with your 'fun uncle?' And Yang, you haven't shown me your arm yet. I bet it looks super cool, right?"
"Yes!" Yang shouted, her voice cracking nervously. She wasn't keen on telling her father that she, who had just received a new prosthesis, and her sister were about to break into a highly secured Atlesian military research facility. "Yeah, um... Actually you did come at a bad time. We were... um... Um..."
"Playing Remnant: The Game and getting ready to go out for food?" Ruby suggested nervously. "Uh, reservations. Very expensive... um... can't add more people in?"
"Oh, I guess we always talk tomorrow. Who was winning?" Tai asked with a smile.
"Me!" Weiss cut in.
That was, of course, how Taiyang knew something was wrong. "Wait... Yang and Ruby told me you couldn't win a single round of that game if they gave you a ninety nine percent handicap from the get go," Taiyang stated, sounding distrustful of his daughters and their friends now. He tensed his legs and jumped up to land behind the group. He turned on his heel the moment he landed and growled angrily at his daughters. "What are you up to?"
"Guys!" Weiss shouted indignantly. "I'm not that bad at it!"
"You're worse," Yang growled under her breath. "It would have been more believable if you said that Sora won, and he's not even here!"
"The question at hand!?" Taiyang snapped, disapprovingly burning a hole in his friend's forehead with his glaring eyes.
Qrow sighed wearily. "You can't say no, because this is too important," Qrow said. He shrugged. "And besides, it's not like Ruby or Yang would listen to you anyways."
"Yup," Yang agreed.
"Sorry," Ruby supplied with a shrug.
"We're breaking into Blue Fairy," Qrow said. He gestured around him. "We've got an inside man, a pair of girls who can bench press trucks, a girl who can do crazy things with glyphs, easily the best fighter in the world except me, the blue haired kid who knows magic, and – saving the best for last here – ME."
"That is fair," Taiyang admitted. He looked over at his daughters. "After this, we really need to work on you guys not listening. I'm your father, for God's sake!"
"Pass," Ruby stated, voice bored.
"That sounds boring," Yang said simultaneously with a shrug.
Taiyang sighed in defeat and looked around at everyone present. "So, you're Qrow's girlfriend, right?" he asked Winter after a moment.
R W B Y
Eighteen Months before the First Great Keyblade War
Skye was growing increasingly uncomfortable as he waited for Ozpin to meet with him in the sewers connected to the Tower. The massive gears grinding away all around him did little to calm his growing worries that the ever emboldened Heartless would attack while he waited. They had grown incredibly powerful and rash in the past year, attacking him even in the middle of the day. Worse still, the ones that assaulted him were strong enough that, even if he did have the advantage of day's Light on his side, it was still a dangerous battle, to say nothing of fighting those same monstrosities at night.
"Oz, if you're here can we just get this going? I have a few kids in Egressa that I'm teaching more about how to use his Keyblade!" the man called into the shadows surrounding him. He held his weapon in his right hand, nervously tapping it against the ground and making it glow slightly to illuminate the sewer around him. He tossed the weapon up after a moment, spinning it perpendicular to the ground and catching it by the handle. He repeated the process a few times to try alleviating his anxiety and boredom. Neither were lessened. "Seriously, Oz, I'm leaving if you aren't here in five minutes!"
"Keep it together, Skye, I'm here," the gray haired man said as he stepped out of the shadows. Skye frowned upon seeing his former mentor. Ozpin didn't look too much different than when they had last spoken, although Skye had known him long enough to see that, somehow, the weight in his eyes had managed to get much heavier. Skye had assumed the weight of the World would have been the maximum, but it appeared he was wrong. Ozpin smiled as he approached his student and placed his hands on Skye's shoulders. "So you finally took on students of your own? Is it cliché to say it feels like just yesterday that I saved you from a couple thugs and started mentoring you?"
Skye scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Completely. They're talking with Ava's students. Calling themselves 'Dandelions,' now..." Skye sighed and let his hands fall back to rest on his waist. "I'll tell you all about my new apprentices later, Oz. First, I want to say I'm sorry I was out of contact for so long. About a year ago the Heartless started tailing me a lot closer. I can't usually think without getting attacked. Until maybe a week before you called this time, I could barely take a walk without running into a dozen Darksides trying to kill me."
Ozpin sighed. Placing his hands on his hips and glancing at the ground, he said, "That would be our Adversary's doing. She and I had a meeting about a year ago, when..." Ozpin crossed his arms and shook his head. "One secret at a time."
"You met them? Why are they – or you – not dead th – Wait, did you say her?" Skye asked, his arms falling slack and his eyes widening to create a dumbfounded expression. "I... Hmph. I wasn't expecting that. Destroying the universe always seemed like more of a..."
"Guy thing? Yes, I was guilty of the same assumption," Ozpin assured his student, smiling as he did. The smile disappeared a moment later and his gaze fell to his feet once again. "But, there are worse things that I learned from our battle." Ozpin walked over to the railing and placed his hands on it to lean against them.
Skye waited patiently for his old friend to continue speaking, letting the pained silence drag on for a couple minutes. Finally: "There was a boy, over there. He was looking for me, for some explanation for why the 'Foretellers' were trying to kill each other when the real enemy was still out there. He was good with his Keyblade, killed a dozen powerful Heartless on his own in the middle of the night to get here. I watched him the entire time, curious if he could find something about the enemy that I overlooked. She was watching him as well." Ozpin looked over and Skye was surprised to see tears silently and slowly streaming from Ozpin's eyes. "She fatally wounded him before I could respond, using a Keyblade more powerful than any I had ever seen. Then when I tried to fight her, my Keyblade would not listen to me. I was powerless, utterly useless."
"That doesn't make any sense, though, Oz. Keyblades only listen to their wielders, no matter what," Skye said, confused once again. "It shouldn't -"
"But it did, because she made it," Ozpin interjected. He turned away and pocketed his hands to hide how much they were shaking.
Skye didn't seem to understand for half a second, but it clicked quickly after that. "Salem? H-how? The Heartless devour anyone that they take, unless... Are they corrupting people now? Is she – Can we save her?"
"No!" Ozpin snapped. He looked over at his student. "You are not thinking this through, Skye. The planning, it has always been there, even before she was kidnapped. She has always been the Adversary."
Skye grew quiet, then placed his hand on Ozpin's shoulder supportively. "I'm... I can't... I'm sorry. I know that you, you know, loved her."
"There is nothing of that woman left behind her eyes," Ozpin brushed it off. He frowned. "Though, I appreciate your empathy. Betrayal such as this is something to which we two have become far too accustomed."
Skye nodded and bit his lip. "Then I guess the only question is, what now? If she can control our Keyblades, we can't stop her. We need to come up with some way around this."
"That brings me to the second thing I must tell you," Ozpin said, a small smile gracing his features. He held his right hand out to his side and took a deep breath. His fist clenched, and a burst of bright light erupted into being extending from his arm.
A new Keyblade appeared within the center of the light. The blade of the weapon was a charcoal gray. The blade alone was about three and a half feet long, smooth and cylindrical. At both ends it tapered outward, with the base of the blade a good measure larger in diameter than the rest of the blade. The teeth of the weapon formed an 'E' with a small rectangle carved from the inside of the base. The guard of the weapon was boxy and just over a foot long, formed from three, rust red rods and gunmetal boxes. The base was the gunmetal, with both sides of the guard formed from the rods. At the top of those rods were small gunmetal boxes connected through the hilt by another rod. The chain was tipped by a stylized Heart symbol that matched the blade in color.
"After learning the identity of our enemy, I thought it best I create a weapon we could use," Ozpin said, a small smile gracing his face.
"H-how!? We can make more, righ -"
"No!" Ozpin growled. He sighed and shook his head; his student could never know the cost of creating these weapons. He could never know what Ozpin had done to create this weapon. "The materials, I could only create the one and we should not waste our time on finding more of it." He gestured at the railing. "Place your Keyblade there."
Skye stared worriedly at his friend for a second, then nodded and placed the black Keyblade on the rails. "With a Keyblade like this one, as strong hers, I found I was able to sever the connection between her Heart and my weapon's," Ozpin explained. He lowed his new Keyblade and placed the teeth flat on top of Skye's weapon. There was a momentary, bright glow that appeared at the tip of the new weapon and soon enveloped the entirety of Skye's blade. Ozpin lowered his new weapon and grabbed the blade with his left hand so he could hold the hilt out to his student. "But this honor should belong to you. You're better with Light than I am."
"Oz..." Skye saw that he couldn't do anything to dissuade Ozpin. It was in the man's eyes, that stubborn glare. "What about you?" he asked as he dismissed his black and white weapon and grabbed the new Keyblade by the handle.
Ozpin let go of the new blade. Thank you, Ephemer, he thought to himself with a smile.
He looked up at his old student. "As I said, I severed the connection between Salem and Sting. That won't be a problem anymore," Ozpin explained. He shook his head. "Train your students, Skye. Devote yourself only to that."
"Why?" he inquired. He hefted his new, more powerful Keyblade to his shoulder.
"We know all that we can, which means we have no reason to continue gathering information. It would be a waste of time when we should be training for battle with Salem and the Traitor." Ozpin put his hands in his pockets. "I hope that everyone will be up to the task."
"Well, my students will be, and I'm not too worried about the others. But you..."
"I will destroy what she is so I can remember who she was," Ozpin assured his former student. He smiled a moment later. "I always wanted to see one of you surpass me. I'm glad it was you."
Skye blushed sheepishly. "Ah, thanks, but I'm not that great," he said. He scratched the back of his head and laughed. He grew serious a moment later. "How much time do you think we have?"
"A year, maybe a bit more."
Skye nodded then swept his new weapon out to his side, summoning a portal of Light behind him with the Keyblade. "See you soon, then, Oz." Skye turned around and began to walk towards the portal, only to stop halfway there and turn back to his teacher. "I've got a name for this one."
"Hm?" Ozpin laughed. "You still didn't name the old one?" He shook his head in disbelief.
"Maybe this one and I just click better, Oz," Skye joked back. Ozpin smiled, that was entirely possible given everything he knew about Ephemer. They would have made good friends. "The Master Keeper. What do you think? Or, Master Defender? The weapon of a true Keyblade Master, right?"
Ozpin laughed loudly at his student, then calmed down and nodded. "That's perfect, Skye. Sounds... permanent." Ozpin sighed and shook his head, saying, "Well, we've wasted enough of your students' time. They are expecting you, right? I'll keep an eye on things here, maybe see if I can find any more allies for our battle. Go, get that student of yours ready so we can save the universe, okay?"
Skye nodded once in agreement, then turned away and walked through the portal a moment later. Ozpin watched as the portal shut, then let his gaze rise to the ceiling. Victory seemed just within reach, which meant it was all the more dangerous it could slip away. He had faith in Skye, though. He had taken a student of his own; the student had become a Master, and had survived loss and pain better than Ozpin ever had. He remained kinder. Brighter. If that was the future of the World, then hope was in no small supply.
He supposed that was what separated Skye from his peers. His soul was less concerned with the grandiose things in life. Skye didn't want power, or fame, or control. No, his decision to go along with Ozpin's plan and become, essentially, a hermit was testament enough to that. He was only concerned with things Salem would have said were small compared to her work. Now that he knew the truth, Oz believed a better description would be good, or honest, the things that Salem had forgotten in her insanity. The question, however, was whether that strength would be enough to bind his other students together despite their growing emnity? Well, all he could do was put his hope in that smaller, more honest soul.
R W B Y
"Ugh! I'm so bored!" Mercury whined as he hung upside down on a metal bar, his head dangling next to Emerald's. She rolled her eyes behind her binoculars and kept her gaze locked on the front door of the shop within which was hidden the entrance to Blue Fairy. "Em, hey, Em! Em! Em! Em! Em! Em! Are they in there yet? Em! Em!"
"God dammit, no, you idiot!" she finally snapped, turning towards him and nearly smacking her forehead into his. He laughed and swung back and forth on his perch while his partner stumbled back a step and growled at him. "You nearly knocked me off of the building, moron."
"I would've caught you," Mercury retorted indignantly, stopping his swinging as he did. He continued swinging a moment later and sighed. "So, how are you doing?"
"I've been watching a storefront for an hour while you act like an idiot right next to me," Emerald responded dryly as she continued her surveillance. "So how do you think I'm doing, Merc?"
"Great. It's just that much fun being around me."
Emerald sighed in pain and tried to ignore her partner. "Em. Em! Em!" Mercury sighed and flipped to his feet beside her. He put his hands in his pockets and waited for the woman to say anything to him, notice him in the slightest. She did not. "Fine, I'm going to go get something."
"Yeah, sure," Emerald muttered dismissively. She froze a few moment later. "Wait, did you say you were going to go somewhere? Mercury? Merc?" Emerald took her eyes out from behind her binoculars and looked around in disbelief; Mercury had really run off somewhere. She sighed in defeat and placed her eyes back behind the lenses to continue her surveillance.
She saw suspicious movement in the corner of her vision and swept her head towards it, only to see the shit eating, liar's grin that Mercury had whenever he was being 'nice.' The silver haired man was standing in front of a cart vendor, a few rich customers in line before him and behind him. She knew she should return to watching the entrance to Blue Fairy, but found she was just far too interested in whatever the hell her partner was doing.
Mercury continued to just stand in line, acting like a completely normal member of society waiting to buy a useless product from a useless... wait, was that a flower vendor? She zoomed in and frowned as Mercury got to the front of the line and began to small talk with the salesman. "The hell?" she wondered aloud as he paid the vendor and turned away. She lost him in the crowds a half second later, then immediately looked around worriedly for him. How could she have lost someone with such a big head!?
"What you looking for?"
Emerald flinched and spun on her heel to glare at Mercury, who was standing with a single emerald orchid in his right hand, his left hidden behind him. She locked her eyes on the flower, then looked back up at her partner. "Oh, this?" Mercury asked. He shrugged and threw it to the side. "I got you a gift." He pulled his hand out from behind him to reveal a wallet filled to the brim with Lien.
In spite of herself, Emerald found herself smiling. "Idiot," she said, though she took the wallet and pocketed it with a smile. "We're lucky Little Red and her stupid friends weren't here to see you and ruin everything yet."
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," Mercury said as he leaned against the wall beside her. He gestured down at the street with his thumb and shrugged. "They're on their way in from the north."
Emerald growled in annoyance and looked towards where Mercury had said the group was approaching. "You couldn't have opened with that!?" Emerald snapped. And he was correct, there was Red's entire group. Her, the bimbo, the heiress, heiress the prequel, Red's uncle... and a blonde guy they'd never seen before. Eh, that he showed up probably wouldn't be too important. It wasn't as if one more person would help them hold off all the guards in Blue Fairy long enough to do... whatever it was they were doing, then also break out of the highly defended research facility. Emerald sighed contentedly. "Okay, okay, thank you."
"No problem. Maybe you would have seen them if you could pay attention for longer than five seconds," Mercury mocked.
"I really hate you," Emerald muttered as she lowered her binoculars to her belt and put them away. "Like a lot."
"Liar. You know you love me," Mercury retorted. He waved a hand covered in an aura of Darkness and summoned up a Corridor for the two of them to enter Blue Fairy. "You gonna tel Cindy and the others we're ready?"
"Big man when she's not around, hm?" Emerald snarked at him while sending the message.
"Just jump into vortex of Darkness so we can break into the evil lab and find the magic witch lady for our scary magic witch lady," Mercury grunted just before walking through it himself.
"Well, when you say It like that..." Emerald muttered as she passed through the Corridor herself, already summoning a bubble of illusion around them. She appeared a moment later beside Mercury in one of the upper level research rooms.
"You ever find it weird that we can just appear anywhere? Even if we've never been there before?" Mercury asked after a moment. He looked around. "I mean, what the hell is even in here? We've never even seen this room before! What do you think is in here?"
Emerald frowned. "Um... Huh. How do we do that?" she asked when she also realized it made no sense. She shrugged it off and decided to look around with Mercury as they had a few moments before their distractions made their own way into the building above. The walls of this room were lined with blue tubes. Mercury and Emerald looked at one another for a second, then went over to look into two that were close together.
"'Project BF-197, code named Cumulonimbus,'" Mercury read off of the Scroll connecting the tubes. "'Super soldiers infused with Dust that... share an Aura?' Jeez, Atlas is a terrifying place." They took another step forward and looked in on the science experiment freaks.
One was a man with long, silvery white hair and an arrogant, thin face. He had huge, arching bangs that outlined his face and ran along his He was wearing a black outfit with the chest cut out, save for crossing black straps. He was taller and slightly thinner than his counterpart. This second guy had blonde hair so spiky it made Sora's look tame or, dare Mercury say it, normal. The science freak was wearing black-blue pants and a matching sleeveless shirt. A spiky pauldron was on his left shoulder and a similarly designed band around his same wrist. Both hands were bound in black-brown gloves. "'Subjects cryogenically frozen until testing begins.' Hm," Emerald read at the bottom of the Scroll-plaque. "Oh yeah, Atlas is a weird damn place."
Mercury looked down at his Scroll, then back up at Emerald with a wicked grin. "Okay, we've wasted enough time. Let's run around and see what kinds of trouble we can stir up!"
"Well, we do look like Red and her friends, and they are experts at it," Emerald pointed out with a smirk. "I think we can beat them in that department, right?"
"Hm..." Merc grunted, already standing beside the door. He raised his right leg and grinned at the metal wall. "How couldn't we?" Then he lashed out and the door exploded into the hallway. He walked out and waved at the guards standing there. "Sup, morons?"
"Freeze," one of them finally managed, leveling her rifle on the pair now standing there.
"Real quick, who do we look like?" Mercury leaned over and whispered.
"You're bimbo, I'm Red."
"You're cruel."
"Then you make the illusion," she hissed back.
"You're too slow to be Red."
"And you're too tall. Shut up," Emerald growled. She gestured at the soldiers. "Which one?"
"Ladies first," Mercury responded.
Emerald rolled her eyes, but jumped forward nonetheless. Her chains wrapped around the throat of one of the guards so she could use them to throw him down the hallway. She turned before Mercury could react and sliced through the Achilles tendon of the other guard. She fell face first to the ground where Emerald slammed a foot into her temple, just light enough to make sure that the guard wasn't knocked unconscious. "That was greedy!" Mercury whined angrily. "I wanted to have fun too."
"It doesn't matter," Emerald pointed out as she turned back to him, "let's just get to the main hallway and let the others in." She grabbed Mercury by the arm and the two of them sprinted off to leave the woman to get the base on high alert looking for Ruby and her sister. The two of them rounded a corner, with Emerald changing the illusion around them so they were no longer visible, then they ran through the nearest door.
"Well, that was super easy," Emerald remarked when it became clear their job was finished, the bright red lights and screams of alarm klaxons sounding around them. With her abilities, Emerald made the noise of the sirens disappear.
"Yeah," Mercury agreed. He frowned and shook his head. He took on the vocie of a child and whined at Emerald: "I'm bored."
"Huh... me too," Emerald said after glaring angrily at his use of such an annoying voice, then looked at the ground to come up with a way to alleviate their boredom. Mercury got really annoying if left to his own devices. Finally, she suggested, "Wanna screw around with some of this highly sensitive and dangerous military equipment?"
Mercury glared dryly at her for a moment before grinning and saying, "God, I was hoping you'd ask that!"
"What's a 'Magic Lamp?'" Emerald wondered as she neared the closest project in the room.
R W B Y
Fifteen minutes earlier, Ruby and the rest of her crew were making their way towards the Blue Fairy store as inconspicuously as possible. It wasn't all that easy with such a large group of people all holding weapons, especially when more than half of them looked distinctly non-military, and in Atlas almost anyone who had a weapon was in the military. Sure, there were always one or two Huntsmen who were passing through on their way to and from missions, but to see more than six of those people in the same place at the same time was odd to say the least. They were getting odd looks from almost everybody they passed, including the man across the street selling flowers from a cart.
Ruby knew that what was coming was going to be difficult, not because she was expecting trouble when fighting against the swarm of guardsmen and robotic adversaries that no doubt were hidden in the ant hill style maze of tunnels that ran for miles beneath her feet, but because she was worried about how those battles could affect the people going about their lives above. If Ruby or any of the others got in a fight with someone of substance, it's entirely possible that it could have terrible repercussions on the civilians. The world could shake beneath them, and it was possible they may even believe they were under attack by the same people who destroyed Beacon, this time perhaps aiming to ignite the large deposits of Volcanic Dust that existed underneath the continent.
That was to say nothing of the break in itself. Doctor Polendina had confirmed Qrow's and Winter's fears that the facility had indeed increased their security since a certain red cloaked girl had appeared and disappeared just as fast, leaving behind only a few singed rose petals. The main hallway now had multiple patrols of a dozen droids each, and the door inside the shop was now being guarded by undercover soldiers. Specialists, specifically. Again, a problem given the fact there were so many people outside in this civilian area. Getting in a fight would just cause mass panic and, eventually, result in Grimm swarming the city. In large enough numbers, Polendina was sure that even his shields would be overwhelmed by the monsters.
Thankfully, Doctor Polendina had supplied a way around that problem. Ever since the Beacon incident, the entire world had been wary of Atlas. Given the fact that Atlesian droids had been attacking civilians, that was more than understandable. The tension was even great enough that the populace of Atlas itself was growing more discontent, which was one reason that the Kingdom – Schnee Corp specifically – had contributed majorly to the Haven Tournament and in clean up for Vale's capital. Still, protests and demonstrations had become common place in the northern kingdom. Doctor Polendina had come up with the idea to use old footage and communications from a more... vehement demonstration and a few well placed actors to get the undercover guys to exit and give Ruby's group a way in.
Speaking of which, a pair of rather worried looking people carrying weapons ran out of the shop, being warned about a 'violent riot going on near Schnee Corp's main offices. Seeing as the Blue Fairy group was on the man's payroll, they were sent immediately to deal with it. "That worked way better than I thought it would," Qrow muttered as the duo passed them. He slipped through the door immediately after Ruby and followed her to the door in the back. "Locked. Well, I guess we only have one option." He turned to Ruby. "Three feet of reinforced steel versus one Keyblade. Easy bet to make."
Ruby nodded, uncharacteristically solemn during this rescue mission, and summoned the red weapon to her hand. It glowed for a moment as she raised its tip towards the doorway, and a bright white flash covered the entire outline of the door itself. The air hummed for a moment before the door silently and smoothly slid open of its own accord. "Those things are really useful," Weiss remarked as Ruby dismissed her Keyblade.
"Yep," Ruby responded simply before jogging ahead of the group, physically shaking from the mere act of restraining her intense speed. She was going to destroy a doomsday device, save an entire Kingdom, put a major dent in Salem's evil plans, and bring back a friend she thought she had lost more than a year earlier! Waiting for her friends was necessary to make sure she didn't get overwhelmed by the numbers of the Atlesian droids, but that didn't make it any easier to stomach.
About halfway down the stairway, Ruby and the others were surprised to hear that they were not as stealthy about sneaking in as they had hoped. Klaxons were echoing from below, red light shining from the entry to the research facility itself. "Typical," Weiss groaned when she saw for herself. She shook her head at Ruby. "Did you become more of a trouble magnet lately?"
"Blame her boyfriend," Neptune joked. "He's worse than her."
"How is he not dead?" Weiss asked, dumbfounded. She shook her head and thought it through, only growing more horrified. "He must be attacked by monsters all the time!"
"Would you believe me if I said that, even with this, it's been a calm month?" Ruby asked while turning around. She saw the resolve on the faces of her friends and family. Ruby grinned widely and held her fist up in front of her. "Let's do this!" Then she turned on her heel and sprinted right into the thick of things.
There was a series of loud clicks and hums as soon as she and the others passed through the door and into Blue Fairy's first internal intersection, every hallway filled to the brim with Atlesian battle droids and soldiers all aiming their weapons at the small group of intruders. From within one of those masses of people and robots came a loud scream of rage. "FIRE!" Ruby yelped in surprise as bright blue light began to glow in the barrels of every Dust laser. Being as quick as she was, however, she quickly summoned up a Reflega wall that covered her and everyone behind her. The hexagons of light exploded into being just in time, expanding to full size just as the blasters fired and the deadly bolts rocketed towards them.
The incoming shots ricocheted from her wall and the blue beams flew back towards their origins, each of the bright bolts screaming as they sizzled through the steel of the robots that stood up suddenly to shield their human masters from danger. A few of the metal soldiers groaned and fell to the ground, the bolts having burned through important internal wiring, but many more remained standing as the bolts glanced off of the more heavily armored regions of their forms.
Ruby grumbled in annoyance as the droids and humans took a couple steps back, obviously trying to come up with a way to overcome this unbreakable mirror. "This is gonna take forever!" Ruby grumbled. Sje continued to hold the wall up, both hands stretched out in front of her. If she let it drop, they were dead. If she didn't drop it, they were stuck.
"No, it won't." A hand rested suddenly on her shoulder, and Ruby turned around to see the kind smile of her father looking down at her. "Qrow, his girlfriend –" Qrow and Winter visibly cringed at that one. "- and I will hold them off until you four can find your friend and DISC."
"That is the course of action that makes the most sense," Winter agreed calmly. She drew her sword and popped it apart into its dual form. "The three of us together should be able to keep them busy for some time."
Qrow drew his scythe in sword mode. "Your call, Kiddo."
Ruby glanced at the ground in front of her, then nodded. "Weiss, Yang. Freezerburn!" Then she dropped the shield. Ice erupted across the ground as Weiss used magic to coat the ground in a thin layer. Even as this was happening, Yang flipped backwards, a huge blaze surrounding her robotic fist. She lashed out with her fist and the fire slammed into the center of the intersection. The ground exploded from the force of the blast, and the ice melted then almost immediately boiled away into a thick cloud of steam.
"Hold your fire! You might hit our allies!" the same soldier shouted as the weapons hummed to life again. The soldiers, begrudgingly, did as commanded when they realized he was correct.
Ruby used this opening and looked over at her partner. "Weiss, Slingshot!" The white haired girl nodded and a huge glyph appeared behind the four younger warriors for a moment. Ruby looked back at the veteran Huntsmen, each now prepared for a massive battle in the enclosed space. "Kick their butts," Ruby demanded of her father and uncle before she and the others were suddenly flying over the heads of the soldiers and battle droids in front of them.
"I've got the hundred in the center," Qrow called before jumping through the steam at his targets.
"Right," Winter supplied simply, her hair melting into the steam until she disappeared completely and stalked towards the right hallway.
"Left. I guess," Tai grumbled. The blonde let loose a groaning sigh, then turned in that direction. He raised his fists in front of him and narrowed his eyes. "YAAAAARGH!" He charged forward screaming bloody murder.
R W B Y
"That weird blue thing really thinks it knows you," Mercury pointed out, holding the door open for Emerald. She exited the room and Mercury slammed the door shut despite the 'Genie of the Lamp's' protests.
"Obviously it didn't, Moron. It kept calling me 'Al,'" Emerald huffed.
"Oh, come on," Mercury said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "We both know you look nothing like a man." He stopped after a moment. "But to be fair to the weird blue thing..." He fell silent when a palm slapped across his face. He stared in surprise at the red eyed woman's furious face before letting loose a grin. "I was going to say that it did claim to have been in there for a thousand years! Ouch!"
"That would make anyone grow crazy," Emerald admitted. She was blushing now, a little embarrassed she had so needlessly hurt Mercury. Which was weird, because she usually loved doing that.
"Right? I mean look at Salem! If you think about how she spent a thousand years alone in a demonic wasteland, a lot of things suddenly make so much more sense," Mercury pointed out. He rubbed his cheek absently and continued walking with his partner. "Now, where to explore next!?"
"We're supposed to be looking for wherever the Maiden is being held," Emerald pointed out half heartedly.
"And?" Mercury asked, already opening the next door. He immediately shut it and shook his head. "Makeup for dogs."
Emerald rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Broom closet," she growled. She shoved the laughing Mercury away and walked past him.
"Anyways, the best way to find ol' Ledenica is to explore. Either we'll find a control room that'll tell us where everything is, or we'll find her," Mercury pointed out, jogging up beside Emerald. He laced his fingers at the base of his skull and slowed down until he was moving in pace with Emerald. "Easy as tricking the Bimbo."
"Fine," Emerald muttered when she couldn't find any mistake in his logic, which was also surprising to her. She looked over at him and scoffed. "Stop that, you look like Red's little boyfriend."
Mercury immediately threw his hands down and grimaced. "Ugh," he groaned. A disgusted shiver ran across his features. "Tell me before I do something like that next time!"
Emerald grinned evilly and waved a Darkness covered hand. "There, now it's perfect."
Mercury looked down and yelped in rage. He ran his hands through his hair and nearly roared. "You.. You monster!" he shouted in Sora's voice, his now incredibly spiky brown hair bouncing wildly while he jabbed his finger disapprovingly at his partner. Emerald laughed for a while and they continued walking for some time before she finally stopped laughing and let the illusion drop. "I hate you."
"You know you love me," Emerald supplied mockingly before opening the next door. She grunted in surprise. "What do you know?" She opened it all the way and drew her weapons, firing off bullets into the heads of the people within. It took only a few seconds, then she holstered them again and held the door open for her partner to enter behind her. "The control room."
"And who was right?" Mercury asked as he gestured with both arms at the large room filled with Scrolls and, now, corpses. The assassin grinned victoriously for a few seconds, then scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Of course, I was hoping it would take longer to find than it did..."
"Of course you were," Emerald laughed. She moved to the closest Scroll desk and shoved the corpse of its former user to the ground so she could use it. She swiped through a few menus. "Oh God, the directory is by project name? It'll take forever to find it."
Mercury leaned over her shoulder and stared intently at the screen for a minute. "There's a keyword search bar." He gestured at the upper right corner of the screen and glanced dryly at Emerald. "You want to impress Cinder so much the pressure's getting to you?"
"Ha ha," Emerald growled. She clicked on the search bar. "Um... 'Maiden?'" She hit enter and, to her surprise, only one project showed up on the list.
"Project Solo, BF-0710. One of two projects found on the 17th sub-floor of the facility, Level 07. Early stages research involving Subject Win-Maiden, Agent Ledenica." Mercury grunted as he read through it and looked over at Emerald with pursed lips. "So... you gonna make the call?"
"Do I have to do everything?" she groaned in retort, though she already had her Scroll in hand.
"Sure do, Al."
"I. Hate. You."
"You know you love me," Mercury retorted, his usual smirk back on his face.