AN:
Yo! I told you guys this one would be faster. I was more excited about this chapter than the last, for one, and I had an incredibly light week, for another.
If you liked the FF cameo last chapter, I hope the lower level cameo at the end of this one will delight as well. It's the FFII PSP version, visually, in case anyone wants specifics.
To Kingofclubs8129: Thanks! Emerald's one of the few major characters whose main inspiration hasn't been explicitly named as of yet, but most of the references to her are Aladdin-y, especially her whole thief bit and her name. "Diamond in the Rough," and all that.
Sadly, I don't explicitly plan on using Cloud or Sephiroth in this story, nor is Genie going to factor in majorly. It was mainly just a fun cameo, but if I go along with the spin off eventually those characters might show up in the story as 'Companion' characters like Beast or Jack Skellington.
I also got a weird vibe from Cinder in the episodes. Maybe not a Double Agent vibe, but now that she can barely walk or talk she seems more human. Maybe she's going to do something semi-redemptive eventually!
To HelpSomeone: If I do decide to do the spin off story, it'll be started as a different fic on this site and it'll be about exploring the reborn Worlds outside of Remnant. I have a basic plan, but nothing as specific as I had before starting this. If/When I manage to come up with a concrete outline in my head I'll start, but it won't be until I finish at least one of my other ongoing stories that I can dig into it.
To gamelover41592: Thanks. I didn't really like last chapter as much as the others, but I loved the cameos. If I do the spin off, Genie'll show up in the company of a certain Thief and Assassin from time to time.
To CraZramblinGhost: Thanks for catching that. I could've sworn I put 3.5 feet for just the blade, but I must've blanked. Derp. I fixed it as soon as you pointed it out. I'm glad I'm punny, but can you tell me which characters specifically I am making you love?
As for the Genie cameo, yeah it would be pretty sad. He's been waiting for his friends for over a thousand years, and doesn't quite understand they're gone yet. The way I see it, the end of the World sent him into a kind of 'stasis' until Atlas found him.
Anime does have a little too much enthusiasm for abusive parents. It's good for quick, effective pathos, I'll give them that, but it's almost becoming a cliché at this point that one character have a dad who isn't 'evil,' just a huge a-hole. Super fun.
Morrigan is pretty invested in getting rid of Raven's 'Weakness' so far, but the fact she is so invested means she still feels something for Yang and Tai. She's pretty much the parts of Raven that thought staying with Tai and Yang would make her too domestic and weak so she ran, then taken to the extreme, but there's still some of Raven's better parts in there, too.
To Wlyman2009: As soon as Chapter 35 hits, no more short end of the stick. Sora gets his Keyblade, Vale is (I mean, obviously, right?) saved, and there's a breather before the final battle begins.
To Guest: Yeah, it wasn't my favorite chapter either. I wanted to catch up with Emerald and Mercury for a moment before next chapter. I hope the action in this one can more than make up for it!
To warrior of six blades: Yep, everyone's going to have to deal with a little more than they expected now that Cinder and the others are down there, too. I hope the resultant fights are entertaining!
I also get your Sephiroth pity. It would be hard not to go insane when you were basically built from scratch to be... a little insane. In this story, Ruby and the others won't be rescuing any of the Blue Fairy experiments; Cloud, Sephiroth, and Genie are more just cameos in this story who'll show up more if I do the spin-off, as a combination of their KH and original canon editions.
I'm glad that the Master Keeper's origin was emotional. I feel like a weapon that strong should have a deep cost to making it, especially with 'I've made more mistakes than anyone' Ozpin.
Chapter 32: Pinocchios
Ruby and the others ran down the hallway, the noise of the battle behind them getting no quieter with the distance they put between it and them. Despite wanting to see how much butt her dad and uncle were kicking together, she was too concerned with what was ahead of her. When she'd last been in the research facility, she had spent the entire time zipping around at full speed and had been at the bottom floor in just a few minutes. Now, however, she realized just how large the facility was. The path to the only staircase leading down to Penny and, as Doctor Polendina had told them, the DISC was quite a distance away. She knew they should stay together in case they ran into trouble, but it still took all Ruby had to not turn into a torpedo of crimson petals and reach the finish line by herself.
"Hurry up!" she whined at her friends when she had to slow herself down for the umpteenth time in the past ten seconds, her voice rising above the cacophony of their boots slamming into the metal ground. In the enclosed space of the Blue Fairy hallway, they almost sounded like the crashing rapids of a waterfall, and they moved with more purpose in every echoing step than an entire army. To be fair, when the fate of the entire universe was possibly placed on the shoulders of four Huntsmen trainees, they would tend to be pretty determined.
"We're going as fast as we can!" Weiss snapped in response, her voice slightly more haggard than her partner's. Ruby's stamina had been unbelievable before she got her Keyblade. Now she could run for days without feeling it. Weiss and the others, however, were still the same people as before.
"Why not just glyph us to the end of the hallway?" Yang asked simply, also starting to show signs of fatigue. Damn, little sis, when did you get so strong?
"You know why," Weiss growled.
"No. I don't," Yang said. She grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head while she continued to keep pace. "I wasn't listening!"
"Ugh!" Weiss growled.
"We need to keep up our strength in case we run into any surprises down here. Even Doctor Polendina didn't know everything that's down here," Ruby explained before Weiss had a chance to berate the blonde.
"And of course, someone obviously tipped them off," Neptune pointed out tiredly.
Ruby frowned but didn't say anything. Someone did tip off Blue Fairy that they were going to be there, but she had no idea who it could have been. Everyone in their group had a vested interest in stopping DISC and – potentially – closing the research group down forever. Qrow, Taiyang, Ruby, and Yang wanted to save their home and friends from a massive, deadly explosion, Weiss and Winter didn't want that same act to stain either Atlas or their names forever, Neptune wanted to help Weiss and make sure Sun didn't die, and Doctor Polendina wanted to save his daughter. Other than all of them, however, Ruby couldn't think of anyone who had known about their coming plan to break in.
"Come to think of it, they sounded like they thought they'd been trying to stop Ruby from 'letting other people in,'" Weiss thought aloud. She turned her head towards her partner. "Like they thought you were already in here."
"Emerald!" Ruby shouted when she connected the dots. She looked over her shoulder at the others. "Guys, we need to be careful. Cinder and her goons are –"
"Here." Ruby turned just in time to slide beneath a slash from a bright red blade running right at her head. She slid past the man in the black suit that had just attacked her and used her hands to spring to her feet. As she flipped through the air, she summoned her Keyblade and landed lightly with the weapon pointed at her attacker. On the other side of him, Yang and the others readied for a fight against this newcomer.
"You!" Yang shouted angrily when she recognized him.
"Me," Adam Taurus responded, turning away from Ruby and aiming his blade directly at the blonde. His right arm flared up for a moment, shadow appearing to come out of the surface like sparks from a flame. "Human."
"Asshole," Yang growled. She stood up straight and pointed at herself with her thumb. "I've got this bad guy, okay? You guys go save Penny and Vale!"
"But Yang, we should -" Ruby began.
"No," Yang interjected quietly, her hair already starting to float upward and her eyes slowly becoming a brilliant crimson. "He's all mine, got it?"
Ruby sighed before finally assenting. "Weiss, Neptune, come on!"
Weiss nodded and used a glyph to bounce the two of them over the terrorist in the center of the hallway. He didn't even make a move to attack them, instead keeping his masked gaze and blood red blade locked on the burning bombshell. His stance was filled with pure, unadulterated murderous intent as he stared her down. "Be careful, Yang!" Ruby shouted.
"But kick his butt!" Weiss demanded.
"You've got this!" Neptune agreed. Then, with one final look at Yang, the three turned and began to run off without her.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you," Adam said after a moment of staring Yang down.
"Funny, little man," Yang snarled as she raised her burning fists into a fighting stance, "I was about to say the same thing." She roared and sprinted towards her enemy with fist leveled at her waist.
The Faunus swept his sword to the side, coating it in inky Darkness and raising it above his head as well. He sprinted towards Yang and prepared to enter a battle for vengeance. "I will destroy you, human!" he screamed before slashing down at her. She brought her fist up at the same time, and the two energies exploded violently between them. Neither was thrown back by the release of energy, however, with the force seemingly passing them by. In reality, their similar Semblances allowed the two of them to absorb the incredible impact that was translated into their bodies. The rest of the force expanded from the connection point, and the walls of the hallway around them bent outward in a sphere. Yang followed this blow up with one from her left hand, roaring again as her opponent brought his blade up to intercept it. The blows kept raining down from either combatant, fist and blade crashing into one another as they fought to land even a single, now impossibly powerful blow against their opponent.
"You need a friend to make this a fun fight?" Yang mocked as she sidestepped his next attack, letting the blade crash into the ground and waste all of the stored energy from her attacks. She grinned and unleashed her heaviest and fastest blow at Adam's head. He snarled and his arm writhed for a moment. The blade shot upwards suddenly, impossibly, and her attack was blocked.
"I don't need her help, girl," Adam growled, his claw of Darkness writhing around his weapon as he locked gazes with Yang. "Not to kill an animal like you."
"'Her?'" Yang asked. She lashed out with her leg before even the shadowy hand could react and kicked Adam a dozen feet away from her. He landed lightly on his feet and aimed his blade directly at Yang again. The girl's eyes widened a little in surprise, their red glow brightening before she narrowed them and grinned. "Oh, good. If Morrigan's close, I can kill two bad guys with one explosion."
"Hmph," the Faunus terrorist grunted. He dashed at her again and slashed upward, a blow that Yang jumped backwards to escape while launching twin Firagas at her opponent's face. He batted it away with his Darkness covered blade, then lashed out with the sword. Yang raised her fists and prepared to attack, knowing she was outside of his reach. She barely had time to react when the arm made of Darkness suddenly stretched towards her, placing her well within the blade's reach. She brought around a left hook and the sword was thrown from its path, eventually impaling the wall.
"Okay. That was new," Yang muttered, surprise still evident in her voice.
"And that's not all," Adam growled, retracting his arm. He twirled the blade out to his side and raised his left hand, bathed in Darkness, slowly. Multiple portals of Darkness appeared around Yang, summoning shadowy minotaurs from the aether.
Yang grimaced as the Heartless grunted like bulls and aimed their horns at her. "Um... what happened to 'You don't need help?'"
"I'm willing to make an exception," he retorted. "Kill her." The Heartless roared angrily and charged Yang.
"Oh, good. A real fight," she laughed before bathing her fists in fire again and readying for battle against the monsters and their commander.
R W B Y
Ruby, Weiss, and Neptune finally reached the end of the hallway and found themselves outside of the stairway that would lead down to Penny and the DISC. Ruby took a moment to smile at how close they were getting to their goal before summoning her Keyblade to her hand and shattering the door in front of them. She stepped through the doorway and looked over the railing at the ground seventeen stories below. "'Choose your own landing strategy, first person you see is your partner!'" she joked as she looked over her shoulder at Weiss. She gestured a thumbs up at Weiss, who smiled at the joke, then vaulted over the railing and tumbled in free fall towards the floor.
She landed silently, and was surprised when she heard the sounds of battle already going on from within the room that Penny defended. Weiss and Neptune landed themselves a moment later. "What's going on in there?" Neptune wondered for all of them.
"I have a guess," Ruby said angrily. She turned around to talk to the others and nodded. "You guys go find DISC and try to shut it down. I'll hold off Penny and Cinder so you have an opening to get through."
"We're not going to abandon you, Ruby," Weiss snapped, the idea of running from two fights insulting to her heiress pride.
"What, do you think I can't do it myself?" Ruby asked, insulted.
"Cause she can," Neptune agreed. Weiss looked angrily over at him for not agreeing with her. "Hey, you haven't seen her do half the things I've seen, Snow Angel. Cinder and a brainwashed robot are pretty much nothing, and that was before she had a Keyblade."
"Fine," Weiss growled, noting that she was outvoted. "Just be careful."
"When aren't -"
"Never! You're never careful!" Weiss hissed.
"Well... that wouldn't be fun," Ruby admitted with a shrug. She turned to the door again and kicked it open to see that her guess had, indeed, been correct.
Cinder jumped out of the incoming path of a large, blue laser Penny had fired, the blast burrowing through the ground where she had been standing a moment before. She summoned a ball of red and black flames to her hand and tossed it at the robotic defender, who used her string-blades to pull herself out of the way. The fire exploded uselessly against the wall and the blades extending from Penny's back flew toward Cinder of their own accord before the woman had even landed. The Maiden growled and raised her blade to deflect the attack, as she had no other choice, and the weapon was entangled in the strings. Cinder's weapon was torn from her hand a moment later, until she disintegrated it and remade it in her hand.
Cinder looked over and caught sight of Ruby. "Ah, good. A distraction," she said, smirking evilly. She opened up a portal of Darkness beneath Ruby's feet and opened another above Penny. Ruby yelped as she fell through the Darkness and landed on top of the android, causing the two of them to land in a heap on the ground. "Die, would you?" Cinder ran past the two recovering combatants and into the door 0710. Weiss and Neptune instinctively made to follow her, stop her.
"No! DISC first," Ruby shouted. She jumped off of Penny so she landed between the android and her friends, using Crescent Rose to slap away Penny's incoming attacks. The Keyblade dinged as it collided with the metal and she reset for the battle. She slapped the next attacks into the ground and began to move towards 0705, Weiss and Neptune following in her shadow so she could give them an open path into the lab. Ruby grinned and, with a flick of her Keyblade, shot a Magnet spell at the opposite wall. Penny tried to attack Ruby and the others for a moment, but looked over her shoulder in confusion. What looked to be sheer, unadulterated panic – more human than anything else the droid had ever managed – ran through the android's body when the force began to act on her. Ruby looked over her shoulder to make sure Weiss and Neptune had gotten through the door, then quickly deactivated her spell.
"Penny, are you -" Ruby gasped and flipped sideways over the next incoming attack, readying for another blow. "I was going to ask if you're okay, but I suppose that's my answer."
"Target identified: 'Ruby!'" Penny shouted in the silver eyed girl's voice. The droid also readied for battle and a dozen blades soon found themselves angled directly at Ruby.
"We're friends. You can just shout, 'Sal-u-tations!,'" Ruby castigated Penny. She took a deep breath; she couldn't just attack her friend for danger of hurting or – even worse – accidentally killing her. That Magnet spell had seemed to awaken part of Penny, too, but it wasn't the part that Ruby wanted to see again. That last fight with Pyrrha must have left a heavy mark on Penny's Heart, enough that it was capable of showing even with her memories and personality locked away. Finally, she made her decision. "Thunder!"
Yellow lightning rained down from the ceiling, the energy crashing into the web of metal strings that extended from Penny's back. The android yelped in pain when the energy coursed through her entire body, stunning her and causing her entire body to seize up. Ruby took this opportunity to rush forward, slicing through the strings that floated around Penny's body. The green and copper blades that hung from them clattered against the floor, one after another, until a third of them no longer were under the android's control.
It was at this time that Penny had recovered from the bolts of lightning, however, and retracted the rest of her blades to prevent a similar attack from so easily hitting her. She dashed past Ruby and lifted a pair of the blades from the ground before shifting them into blaster mode and firing at the Keyblade Wielder before her. Ruby used her Keyblade to slap the bolts of energy away, then used her Semblance to launch herself like a rocket at Penny. The mind controlled android shifted her weapons back into blades, and another pair appeared from her back once more. Those lashed forward and collided with the spinning Ruby, entangling her in the strings that held them and causing the young woman to tumble like a doll across the ground. The young woman groaned and looked up at Penny who held both blades above her to attack Ruby. As the blades came down at her, Ruby snapped another spell out. "Reflect!" A bubble of energy rapidly expanded from her body, forcing the strings that had entrapped her apart and deflecting the blow that rained down at her.
Ruby jumped to her feet before the shield dropped, then, before Penny could pull her weapons back, slashed through the two strings that had trapped her. Two more of Penny's blades were rendered useless. "Six more to go," Ruby said before shooting a grin at the emotionless Penny.
"Combat ready," Penny stated, a fraction of her usual tone returning for a moment.
"Yeah you are!" Ruby agreed. She launched a distracting Blizzaga at the ground. A burst of icy fog erupted between her and Penny, which Ruby then used as a way to dash around in a torpedo of roses to Penny's right side, sweeping her Keyblade around her at Penny's shoulder. As soon as she depleted Penny's Aura, the android would be too tired to resist. That would give Ruby all the time she needed to figure this out.
Fortunately for her, Penny did not react in time to stop the attack. The Keyblade slammed into Penny's shoulder and sent her flying into the cylindrical wall of the room within which they fought. Ruby grinned, until movement to her left caught her eye. She whined as the sword that Penny had managed to get out crashed into her arm and sliced a diagonal hole in her sleeve. She was sent tumbling from the shift in momentum, only stopping when she managed to dig her blade into the ground. She slid to a stop at the lip of the crater that Penny had blasted into the ground before Ruby's arrival. Ruby pulled her blade from the ground and she lifted it defensively. She was giving Penny too many openings, treating her like a friend in this fight. She slashed her weapon out to the side, the fire in her Heart bathing her weapon in a blade of Light. "Sora said it isn't even a good idea if Keyblade Masters do this, but we're gonna try it out anyways!" she shouted, her face growing into a wide grin. "I'm waking you up one way or another... Friend!"
R W B Y
The Eve of the First Great Keyblade War
Skye stood on the cliff that overlooked Daybreak Town, listening to the sounds of the people in the city below. The day was bright, happy, shining with the Light of Kingdom Hearts. Everyone seemed so happy and calm, completely unaware of what was coming. He bent down and picked one of the flowers at his feet so he could watch its petals rustle in the wind. "Ava," Skye said after a moment in Oz's voice. Despite everything, he couldn't help but smile that she was there. He looked over at her, and crossed his arms. "What do you -"
"Luxu."
The man in the black cloak fell silent, the act confirming what she had guessed. The woman, wearing a light pink hood and a fox mask, sighed and shook her head in disappointment. "What's written on the lost page?" she asked. Skye didn't respond and let his gaze fall to the ground as he considered leaving. It had been so long since they had seen one another, and even longer since he had been himself around her. "Luxu... have you been behind all of this? A... Are you the traitor?"
Skye took a half step back. "How could you think that!?" he snapped, summoning his black and white Keyblade to his hand a moment later. He glared at her from beneath his cloak, then glanced away from her with his eyes. "I'd never do that to you... Never, Ila."
Ava shook her head and continued to glare angrily at him. "Ava," she replied.
Skye sighed and fought off the urge to fall to his knees and just fall apart. As it was, he still couldn't deny himself the desire to tell her. What would one day truly matter? "Salem. Salem is the enemy," he muttered, his voice torn between being loud enough for her to hear and quiet enough to obscure the truth. "She played us all for fools and is trying to destroy... everything. Oz stayed here to keep an eye out, I left to search. Somewhere along the line she got – She got Aced to do her dirty work." He let those words sink in to the terrified woman's Heart for a while. "She can control our Keyblades, commands legions of Heartless. All in search of the χ -blade." He suddenly found he was incapable of stopping his words. The sentences were not even planned out as the information spilled from him. "Not that it mattered. The war was inevitable anyways. People were always going to war over the Light; if not all of you, it would have just been someone else. The World was doomed, even if Salem didn't do this. Something is going to survive, but only if we stop her. Only if we fight, and I know you hate that. I know you don't want that war, because doing it will end everything! The War feeds the End, but the End can't be prevented, only... changed, partly. I -" His voice caught and he shook his head in disappointment. "I... Oz is trying to hide it, but I know the truth too. The Keyblades? They're Hearts. Ours are, at least. New ones, ones that aren't like that, are showing up now that the War is upon us but... But our Keyblades are people Salem murdered. Our weapons are sin."
Ava was silent for a long time, shocked by learning so much so quickly. "But... But that's..."
Skye sighed and looked up at the blue above them. "Yes, that is the truth about the traitor." He let his gaze fall back down to Ava, who was shaking angrily. "Is this reality something that can be stopped by you, I wonder?"
"I can't believe this is reality!" Ava shouted, sweeping her arm across her chest.
Skye smiled beneath his hood. She's always believed a happy ending could be found for everyone. She was wrong, if only partly. Happy endings could only be found by those who tried to reach them – like her – as good people. She would find happiness in her ending, no matter what that ending was. The others were too busy fighting each other, trying to kill each other... They didn't believe the war was inevitable, they blamed each other and tried to stop it! They could have been preparing, as one, yet instead they all became their own enemies. "That's why, as fated, the battle is unavoidable," Skye said simply. He turned away from her to stare out at his home one more time, for the final time. "Even if there is another answer, it must come after the battle."
Skye smiled. "Maybe Oz – Maybe the Master was less interested in the fate of the World, and more interested in finding out how we disciples would guide the Keys?" he suggested. It made sense. Oz knew that stopping Salem would come down to the two of them versus her while the others either dealt with the traitor or died by his hand: the War was the duty of the others. But how that War turned out was based entirely on how the others pulled together again, on how guided their own fates. He'd been interested in seeing them heal, to fight as one, and they had simply refused.
Ava didn't understand. "Us over the World!? There's no way!" she protested. Skye turned around to explain himself, but she continued shouting. "Luxu... You're just making your own use of the Master's intentions." Ava summoned her Keyblade and Skye flinched. A fight? She wanted a fight!? "There's no way the Master would want something like that!" She swept her Keyblade forward and readied for battle with her friend. Skye kept his Keyblade at his side, unwilling to enter into this battle.
"Ila..." he muttered quietly. He dismissed his old Keyblade and quickly traded it out for his newer one. "Ephemer, do you know if I'm right?" The boy's voice didn't answer. He had become more and more quiet over the past eighteen months. It was likely that what had remained of his Soul in the Keyblade had begun to move on if it had not already left entirely. Skye smiled and turned away from Ava again before pulling down his hood. His blue eyes were filled with tears that had yet to streak down his face, and he kept them there. He slowly hefted the Master Keeper to his shoulder. "Ila, the World was doomed no matter what he did. He trusted you guys with saving what was left, and out of all them you were the only one who recognized the Truth."
Her Keyblade clinked, a noise of confusion and hesitation. "Your Dandelions, ready to run to the world outside, ready to be thrown into the winds of Darkness to protect the fragments of Light that will reappear," Skye muttered as the first tears drifted down his cheeks. He laughed once and turned around, entering his own battle stance. "You were never one to give up on friends, so this battle must be fated."
The red headed woman clenched her jaw behind her mask, and Skye's sad smile turned into a sad frown. "Don't cry, Ila. You've done everything you should have. You can live without regrets," he explained. He laughed to try and cheer her up. He exited his battle stance and reached into his pocket, only stopping when he pulled out a simple Keychain. It was that of his old Keyblade, blue eye an ocean of tears as it stared out from his palm. After a momentary hesitation, he tossed it to her and smiled when she dismissed her Keyblade and clumsily caught the weapon's Heart in her hand. "When all this is over, when the World ends and something else shows up, I promise to find you and get that back, okay? I promise, I'll come back to you."
Ava looked taken aback, and was completely dumbfounded. She could not even respond as he pulled his hood up and summoned a portal of Light. There was a loud, echoing clang as the clocktower bells rang out their song. Skye turned his head slightly and smirked. "It's the day of the Keyblade War, then," he said. The Light above seemed to dim, and night quickly fell, as if all the Light that had remained was now disappearing. Skye looked over at Ava one last time and waved at her. "I'll... I'll see you soon, okay?" Then he took a step backwards into the portal.
The world around him suddenly changed, the forested outskirts of Daybreak Town replaced with the stormy and deserted Badlands, where Ozpin had hidden the χ -blade years before, locked away behind a barrier that only a massive release of energy could destroy. "And here we are," Salem said. Skye turned and saw Ozpin standing with his Keyblade at the ready and his eyes locked onto his old love. Skye summoned the Master Keeper and entered his own battle stance. "At the Ends of the Earth." She raised her right hand out directly in front of her. A bright light flashed in her fist, summoning her golden and white Keyblade parallel with the ground. The weapon clanked as gravity suddenly began to act upon it, and she brought it up into her battle stance beside her head, the glowing weapon highlighting the mania in her black and red eyes as well as the twisted, black veins now trailing across her skin. "I've been waiting for you, Ozpin."
R W B Y
Yang's hair was basically made of flames at this point as she jumped around the attacks of Adam Taurus, still having trouble finding out a way to adapt to his crazy stretch arm. To make matters worse, these Minotaurs kept rushing her from all sides. She had been nearly trampled to death every time she had avoided one of Adam's attacks. But as soon as she started to pay attention to the Heartless, she would be forced to react at the last second to the incoming red blade of her living opponent.
Yang growled angrily to herself at the next Heartless coming her way. "Ruby's better at this whole 'planning' thing than me," she groaned, raising her hands in front of her. With a snarl of rage, she grabbed hold of the horns before they could reach her, and lifted the creature above her head. Turning towards Adam, she tossed the Heartless straight at him. She followed its soaring form until it took the blow from Adam's sword that was meant for her, then jumped over its already disappearing body and raised both hands together above her head. A brilliant blaze of energy covered her laced fingers, and she brought the two handed blow down with enough force to shatter solid titanium.
Adam Taurus, however, just stumbled back from the force of the blow. He grimaced and snarled as he stood up, revealing that the bone white mask on his face had a long, thin fracture down the center. "How did you walk away from that?" Yang asked before feeling a Minotaur slam full force into the small of her back. She was thrown forward and received a powerful kick to the face from Taurus.
Yang stumbled backwards a couple steps before regaining her composure. She grinned at her opponent then spat out a small globule of blood. She wiped a thin line of blood from the corner of her mouth and entered her battle stance again. "I'm getting real tired of this bullshit," she grunted. She lashed out with her fist and landed a fire coated blow on the skull of the next incoming Heartless, stunning it and letting her throw it straight through another one. The two disappeared in a burst of shadows and she turned her attention to Taurus' incoming sword. She sidestepped the blow and, using her prosthetic limb, grabbed hold of the blade. Tearing it from the grip of the man's shadowy claw, she quickly tossed it straight at the Heartless nearby and it shrieked and died as the blade pierced its skull and it died.
The shadowy claw, she failed to notice, did not stop moving however, and she yelped in surprise when it dug into the wall and straightened out. She was slammed into the wall, leaving a Yang sized imprint in the metal. "Ow," she groaned as Taurus walked over to his sword and lifted it with his one remaining hand.
"Rrragh!" Yang screamed, and an aura of flames erupted all around her body. Adam gasped in surprise as the sudden fires burned away the Darkness that entrapped Yang, and the resultant pressure change forced him to stumble back. His sword clattered against the ground far from him.
The woman, still on fire, grinned as she walked towards Taurus. He had already recovered, and was now standing defensively, trying to reform his arm. "Close," Yang said, her glowing features giving her the appearance of a fire goddess. "But you know – Horseshoes and Dust grenades." She raised her fist at the terrorist and readied to bring it down and end him...
Only for a sharp blow to glance across her exposed side. Yang roared in pain as blood spurted from the wound and her fiery blow went wide, the explosion instead punching a hole in the wall. "Tch," Adam growled to himself, disappointed the blow hadn't landed fully. Nevertheless, he rolled backwards, kicking Yang in the chin as he did, and came to his feet. His shadowy arm, which had been the thing holding his sword that had attacked Yang from behind, coiled back to its normal size and shape at his right side. "Close, but you know – Horseshoes and Dust grenades." He raised his blade at the panting young woman.
Yang cursed at herself. She'd put too much into that last blow, thinking she was free and clear. Stupid, stupid! She shouted at herself, already afraid it would be the last mistake she ever made. She fell to her knees and clutched at the pain in her side with both hands.
"Any last words, Bimbo?" Adam snarled.
"I'm a Dragon, you Steer," she snapped, earning a rage filled quiver from Taurus for her insult.
"You're dead, is what you are." Then he slashed down at her. She stared at the blow the entire time it came towards her, unafraid of whatever was coming next.
Only for another red blade to appear from nowhere, the flat of the incredibly long katana catching Taurus' blow. A feathered claw grabbed hold of his throat and lifted him from the ground. "Mom?" Yang asked as the bird like Heartless shrieked in rage at its newfound prey.
The new arrival angrily flailed its captive about, slamming him into walls, the floor, anywhere it could to just hurt him. Eventually, it just tossed him into the wall opposite Yang, where he dented the metal and then fell to the ground. "'M-mom?'" he echoed at Yang as he clutched his broken ribs. He looked up at the monster and snarled. "You look different this time." He lashed out suddenly with his right, shadowy arm in a surprise attack to destroy his attacker. The creature did not move, and simply took the blow. No damage was dealt to it, as if the shadows carving through it were meaningless. Raven's Heartless chittered for a moment, then began to slam its claws into Adam's face over and over again.
"Mom!" Yang's shouts for recognition were ignored, and the Heartless continued to mercilessly attack her prey, a roaring grumble in its throat that began to crescendo with every subsequent blow until the creature was basically screaming at the increasingly bloody Faunus.
"Finally, I was wondering when you would finally show up." A long, silver blade appeared out of nowhere and impaled the Heartless through its midsection. The large bird shrieked in pan and backed away from the Faunus while the blade disappeared in a burst of shadows.
"No!" Yang snapped, trying to stumble towards the Heartless. She fell to her knees and instead looked over at the attacker. "Great, it's Mom... Again."
"I'll be with you in a moment," Morrigan told the blonde before walking towards Raven's Heartless. The creature turned on the Nobody and cocked its head to the side in confusion. It's yellow eyes were red, now, and filled with recognition. "I have a pest to exterminate first."
The Heartless growled and raised its own bladed arms towards Morrigan. "An enclosed space against such a large creature. I wonder who will win," Morrigan mocked before summoning a much shorter and more manageable version of her weapon to her hands. "Now, I will destroy my weakness in one swoop." The Heartless hissed again before rushing Morrigan, and the fight between Raven and Raven erupted before her daughter's eyes.
"Mom," Yang muttered half worriedly, half jokingly, "could you save the internal conflict for later?"
R W B Y
Ruby flipped sideways over the next incoming blow from Penny and deflected the second attack that came her way while she was midair. The blinding white light around her Keyblade basically caused the attack to rebound at full speed off of its surface and into the wall. Ruby tossed her Keyblade after the dagger, spinning it top over bottom until it sliced clean through the steel wire. At that point, Ruby concentrated slightly and summoned it back to her hand just in time to land and raise a Reflega wall to block the incoming blaster bolts from every direction.
Ruby jumped forward just before the wall fell, and was through Penny's defenses with little trouble. "Um, I don't think this hurts," Ruby said, grabbing the Keyblade with both hands and aiming her stab straight for the android's 'Heart.'
The room went upside down just as the attack made contact, ice exploding out from the room that Cinder had run into at the start of this battle. Ruby groaned and shattered the thin layer of frost that held her to the wall. She looked over and saw that Penny was in a similar predicament. Ruby wondered for a moment if the attack had done its job and saved her, but shoved the thought from her mind so she could observe her old enemy. "Now, it's about time I get a Keyblade of my own," Cinder growled as she exited a cloud of frost in the doorway, her eyes surrounded with glistening crystals of energy. "And you aren't going to need yours when you're dead."
Ruby shut her eyes tight and shook her head, trying to get rid of a building pressure between her temples. When it subsided for a moment, Ruby rolled her eyes and readied for the next battle. "Great, we're doing this now," she muttered dryly. Another jolt of pain ran between Ruby's eyes and she stumbled sideways a few steps before desperately trying to regain her footing for the inevitable sneak attack Cinder was going to unleash on her. Surprisingly, none came.
When Ruby regained her composure, she saw Cinder was in a similar predicament. She was clutching at her back as if she had been attacked from behind, and when she turned Ruby could see a quiet light shining from the small of her back in the shape of a Keyhole. Upon locking her gaze on the sparkling shape, Ruby felt the pain run through her eyes again. This time it was bad enough that Ruby dropped her Keyblade and clutched at her head. She shut her eyes and found the back of her eyelids was a bright silver. Ruby screamed out in pain for a moment, and reached for her Keyblade instinctively. She opened her eyes a little and saw the weapon was starting to glow bright as well. The pain intensified again and Ruby fell face first into the ground.
"What the hell are you doing to me!?" Cinder shouted at Ruby as she fell to her knees as well. She screamed in pain and rage while she struggled to push herself to her feet, then summoned up one of her swords. Ruby couldn't tell – the pain in her head was bad enough now that she could barely think straight. Cinder snarled and stumbled towards the Keyblade Wielder, holding her sword above her head. "Stop it! Stop it now!"
Ruby screamed and curled up on the ground, clutching at her head even tighter as the pain continued to build. This wasn't the same as when her Eyes had done things like this before. When she used it against Cinder last, the attack was painless, and again against Xehanort. This was entirely different, pretty much feeling like a knife dug into both of her eyes.
"Then I suppose – argh!" Cinder snarled, fighting through the pain at the center of her back. "I suppose killing you will stop this!"
Ruby was able to open her eyes at that, and looked up. She could tell that the silver energy was already starting to expand beyond her eyes, something she was fighting to prevent. It felt stronger than usual, besides the intense pain, and she couldn't tell how much damage it would do. Ruby gritted her teeth and struggled to her feet, too, lifting her Keyblade in front of her. She couldn't just die!
But it looked like she didn't need to worry about that, anyways. A silver and copper streak slammed into Cinder and threw her through the exit door. "Sal-u-tations!" Penny shouted, her voice bubbly and excited. Without her synthetic skin, the smile she had across her face was a little scary, but she was standing like an excited child so Ruby could look past that. She realized suddenly that the feeling in her eyes had vanished almost completely, though there was still a painful pounding in her skull that made it a little painful to move. Work through the pain! The android turned towards Ruby and her green eyes sparkled happily. "RUBY! What are you doing here? Also, where is here?"
Ruby stood up and grinned. "Penny..." she felt tears drip from her eyes and ran forward to hug her friend. "I'm so happy to see you!" She pushed away from the android and thought for a moment that she looked exactly like she used to. "Everyone's waiting for us – your father -"
"You've met my father?" Penny asked excitedly. She smiled again. "Isn't he just the nicest, sunniest man?"
Ruby snorted. "Sure. Something like that," she agreed.
"So... what happened here, Ruby?" Penny inquired in her simply earnest tone. She looked down and yelped. "And where's my skin and clothes!" The robot covered herself and shook her head. "I'm naked!"
"We'll tell you all about it later," Weiss interrupted. Ruby and Penny looked over at the door that the heiress and Neptune had just exited, their features both paler and more worried than usual. "We need to get out of here."
Ruby's eyes widened when she understood. "DISC isn't here anymore?"
"The place was empty," Neptune replied. He sighed and gestured in defeat. "We checked floor to ceiling of every room, just in case."
"Hello, Weiss!" Penny said obliviously. She frowned and looked over at Ruby again. "Ruby, is something bad happening?"
"Something really bad." Ruby picked up her Keyblade from the frozen floor and walked cautiously towards the doorway. "Cinder's gone," she noted, shaking her head her head in self disappointment. She had basically let her go. "We need to go get Yang and everybody out of here so we can call Ozpin and Sora."
"Who is this 'Sora,' Ruby?" Penny inquired. "Your voice increases about an octave when you say his name... Do you... like him?"
Ruby blushed. "Yes, Penny. And I can't wait for you to meet him!" Ruby exclaimed, her problems forgotten for a moment.
"Ruby!" Weiss snapped. She pointed at her wrist as if gesturing impatiently at a watch.
"Right! Right..." the cloaked girl muttered sheepishly. She scratched back of her head for a moment, then ran into the center of the stairway. She pointed up and, grinning at her partner, pointed straight up. "Weiss, elevator us!"
R W B Y
Yang panted heavily as she watched the terrible sight continue unfolding before her. Morrigan and the Heartless were assaulting one another with their full strength, aiming to completely annihilate the other. She groaned and pushed herself up to a sitting position so she could lean against the wall, where she noticed she was sitting directly across from Adam Taurus still. He was glaring at the two combatants with purely hate filled eyes. "So, Morrigan and this Heartless are... components of your mother?" the man asked, voice filled with disgust. "Had I known I would have struck her down myself."
Yang's throat rumbled with a quiet growl, but other than that she ignored what he had said. She didn't have the strength left in her exhausted body to stand up, let alone launch a Firaga into his face. If she could have, however, she would have already turned him into paste on the walls of a crater. "Answer me, human!" he snapped.
"So, what do the White Fang think about you losing to a human?" Yang asked. She smirked at him for a moment. "You hate her a lot – which means she's the one that took your arm and left you to die around your crazy followers."
"You know nothing of which you speak," he growled, a little too quickly.
"Oh... They gonna kick you out?" Yang mocked again, though her eyes were now locked on the battle playing out. The wound Morrigan had dealt Raven's Heartless was taking a heavy toll. The creature was growing slower and slower with every passing second, to the point where Morrigan was just toying with it now. Yang glanced over at Taurus. "Wh-what? They are? Well, looks like your only friends are the crazies who want to kill everything."
"Better a universe with nothing than a world with humans," Taurus spat spitefully.
The man's Scroll beeped before Yang could mock him some more, and words came out over a loud, closed channel. "We're leaving. Mercury, Emerald, release anything you think would be able to cause trouble down here then leave. Taurus, if you're still playing with the little girl stop it and leave."
Adam glared at the device on the floor beside him for a moment. "Go ahead. Be a good boy," Yang said, grinning savagely at the terrorist.
"I'll kill all of you," Adam snarled. Then he reached out with his barely formed arm of Darkness to grab his sword off of the ground, and melted through a portal of Darkness. After only a few moments, he disappeared.
Yang was quiet for a couple seconds. Then: "What an a-hole," she grumbled. She sighed and looked worriedly over at where her mother was fighting... her mother.
Morrigan was definitively winning by now, having used her shortened saber to slice off one of the bladed arms and both of the Heartless' wings clean off of its body. The appendages had faded away into clouds of Darkness, long gone from the confines of the hallway. The Heartless lashed out with its remaining blade at Morrigan's legs, simultaneously reaching for the woman's throat with its claws. The Nobody scoffed and parried the blade, then telescoped the blade to full length and placed the edge in the path of the Heartless' arms. The left claw of the creature flew off as its arm collided with the blade, as if butter crashing into a hot knife. The blade shrank once more in the Nobody's hands and she sliced through the other claw before the Heartless could react. Another lightning fast move and the other bladed arm disappeared as well.
Morrigan pressed her advantage as soon as she had it, and slammed her knee into the monster's midsection. The creature seemed to hover in place, the blow paralyzing it for a moment, then was thrown backwards when the telescoping blade pierced its shoulder and pinned it to the ground a dozen feet away. Yang followed the Heartless with her eyes, catching sight of the battle occurring far off near the entrance. Maybe Qrow or the others would get there, maybe they would help! Maybe...
Morrigan stalked towards the Heartless with a grim smile on her face. "I've been hunting you down since you saved Yang from me," Morrigan explained, slowly shortening the blade as she approached. The Heartless growled at the Nobody, what remained of Raven within the creature trying desperately to protect her daughter from the worst parts of herself. "Perhaps, though, once you are gone there will be less of Raven's weakness to hold me back. Then I can..." Morrigan looked over at Yang and fell quiet. She turned back to Raven's Heartless and placed her foot on its throat before withdrawing her blade from its body, placing the now flaming edge above the Heartless' red eyes.
"Stop!" Morrigan lowered her weapon and slowly turned to see Yang snarling at her, standing beaten and weak. The young woman's arms were barely able to stay up in a fighting stance, and it looked like the girl would tip over at any moment. Despite that, her eyes were the same brilliant red as Morrigan's and her hair was moving like it was made of fire. Her shoulders were heaving with every breath, and a stain of red could be seen spreading down her side. Despite that, she raised her right fist, blanketing it with sputtering fire, and threw the spell at the Nobody.
Morrigan watched the spell drift slowly towards her, dying out with every second it moved through open air. When it finally hit her, it was little more than cinders thrown apart by her body. "There's more where that came from," Yang muttered defiantly.
"I'm sure," Morrigan responded calmly. She turned back to the Heartless and buried her blade in its body once more so it would be unable to run, then walked over to Yang. The Nobody removed her mask, then crossed her arms and stared down at Yang's defiant eyes. "I don't know why you are so difficult to kill. All of my memories, they are meaningless. Images in my mind. But those that contain you... They hurt." Morrigan glanced at the ground, then back up at Yang. "They make me weak."
Yang shook her head when she felt her eyes start to drift shut. "Shaddap," she moaned. She stumbled a step to the side and raised her fists again.
"Hmph," Morrigan grunted. She was about to say something else, when a frozen Beowolf crashed into her chest. It shattered into a million pieces and she was thrown backwards, flying over the Heartless and landing with a thud just beyond it. The Nobody growled and pushed herself to her feet, seeing those who had just entered the fight. Ruby was easing Yang to the ground while a green light flooded over the blonde, healing her. Meanwhile, Neptune, Weiss, and a robot were glaring at Morrigan, ready for a fight.
"Get away from Yang!" Ruby shouted, standing up and summoning her Keyblade. She ran straight at Morrigan and delivered an overhand blow. The Nobody sidestepped the attack, if just barely, and jumped back towards the Heartless. She turned just in time to see a bolt of blue energy laced with flames flying at her head and ducked beneath it. Weiss stabbed at her head as she ducked, so she moved just beyond its reach and grabbed the rapier with her hand. She spun around and tossed the heiress into Neptune, leaving them both in a heap on the ground. The android ran forward, only for Ruby to appear between Morrigan and it. "You're hurt, Penny. Let me deal with this."
Morrigan snarled and took a step backwards so she could stand above the broken Heartless. Ruby turned into a torpedo of roses and slashed diagonally upwards at Morrigan, the Nobody twisting to the side to avoid it. She hissed as the tip of the blade passed through her trailing hair. The girl was getting faster. Morrigan barely ducked beneath the next slash and rolled to her feet just in time to receive a glancing blow across her trailing left arm. She yelped and spun around to a stop above the Heartless once more. The girl was getting much faster. She would only have one chance to get away and still fulfill her primary objective. Morrigan took a breath and reached back with her good arm, placing her hand on the handle of the sword and preparing for her last move. Ruby shouted out angrily and brought her sword around in a horizontal strike one more time.
Morrigan was prepared, however, and pulled the blade out of the Heartless' shoulder. With just enough time to spare, she jumped and twisted midair, using her blade to slap the attack straight down. She then summoned a portal of Darkness in her path and continued flying through it, catching only glimpses of the Keyblade Wielder's eyes widening in panic before her weapon sliced cleanly through the chest of the Heartless. Then the door shut behind Morrigan, leaving the children alone.
"No!" Ruby shouted, hurriedly pulling her weapon from the Heartless' chest. She took a step back. Sure, it had been an inevitability, but... But Raven had still been in there somewhere. She had still been alive, despite the fact she had become a Heartless. She felt like... like she had just stabbed Yang's mom.
"Ruby what – No!" Yang shouted as she came to. She ran towards the Heartless, its broken form now leaking darkness. As soon as the young woman came near, placing her hand on the creature's arm, tears began to stream from her eyes. "M-mom..." She shut her eyes and fought off sobs. Tears fell from her face and landed on the Heartless' body.
Yang stopped crying and opened her eyes when a bright Light began to glow at the center of the hollow heart shape in its chest. Yang stared in surprise as the glow began to slowly expand until a pink, crystalline Heart was floating in front of her. "See you... soon," Raven's voice said from the Heartless' beak. Yang looked into the creature's red eyes and bit the inside of her cheek to fight off the tears, then nodded vigorously. She tightened her grip on the Heartless' arm until the Heart floated upwards, through the ceiling, and disappeared. Shortly thereafter, the creature's body disappeared as well, leaving the young warriors alone.
"Yang, I'm -"
Ruby was interrupted by a massive hug from the blonde. "She came back," she said happily as she continued to embrace her younger sister. Ruby felt Yang's tears on her cheek and smiled, quickly bringing up her empty hand to hug her sister back. "She always comes back."
R W B Y
Qrow sighed happily as he continued to sidestep the relatively clumsy blows of the Atlesian soldiers and droids, his Scythe dancing in a ribbon of destruction that knocked out humans, disarmed opponents, or completely decimated robotic enemies. Given the fact that the most recent enemies he'd fought had been monsters made out of Darkness, his sister's evil and emotionless body, and a Keyblade wielding witch older than Remnant that wanted to annihilate the entire universe, this was a really nice change of pace. He could even tell how much better at fighting he'd gotten. Him! Easily the best fighter on the planet who couldn't use a Keyblade, save Oz and maybe – maybe – his sister on a good day. He was breezing through this crop of highly trained soldiers like they were children waving around toys. Deadly toys that could burn through his body and murder him, but that was only if they landed a hit.
Tai was having trouble, but that was only because he was both rusty and only used to fighting upper level criminals or Grimm, not complete monstrosities like the ones Qrow had seen. Still, he was doing pretty well. Just like Firecracker, the guy could shrug off most hits and demolish large groups of opponents with every blow. As if to prove this to Qrow, the blonde man picked up one of the droids and used it as a bat to knock a dozen of the soldiers and other robots to the ground.
Ice Queen was the average of the two. She was an Atlesian Specialist, so she'd been training against groups of these soldiers her entire life. She knew just how to exploit their fighting style, and on top of that she'd been training with Qrow, so of course she'd have gotten really good. Anyone who learned anything from him automatically became twice as good as they used to be. A huge glyph appeared behind the group of soldiers, now thinned down due to the trio's constant attacks since breaking in, and an explosion of blue, Dust based electricity exploded through their numbers. The robots heads exploded from the overload, and the auras of the soldiers fizzled out from the damage before falling unconscious. Qrow furrowed his brow. "Showoff," he muttered before spinning his scythe all around him and taking out the last of his own opponents in one blow. And, of course, it was the most show-offy attack he could use, because why not?
He rested the long handle of the weapon across his shoulders and looked over his shoulder at – "Ruby, Yang!" he shouted.
Tai immediately came to his partner's side. "What the hell happened to her?" the father growled as he saw his far off daughter supported by her younger sister and friends. He looked over to Qrow. "I'll go help them, they're my daughters. You keep the entrance clear with your girlfriend."
"She's not – Oh, it's not worth it," Qrow grumbled as his best friend sprinted towards the next generation of heroes. He turned around to smile at Ice Queen. "You aren't half bad."
Winter didn't say anything, instead just glaring at him dryly a she sheathed her sword. "I'm glad we ended that. I was out of Dust," the woman stated when Qrow shrugged at her silence and walked towards her.
"Well, soldier you should always be prepared. Demotion!" Qrow responded with a small smile. He coughed and the smile disappeared when he remembered what had happened the last time the two of them had been alone.
She obviously realized that, as her cheeks reddened to the same shade as his. "Um..." Qrow began. His eyes widened a moment later and his jaw fell open. "W-what's that?"
"What's wh-" Winter asked as she turned around. She was cut off by a metallic tortoise the size of the hallway bursting through the wall just beyond the unconscious soldiers she had defeated. The room it had just exited was destroyed, metal and stone filling the room as the tunnel system began to collapse. Winter sprinted towards the soldiers. She drew her blade, her only thought of saving their lives.
"Idiot!" Qrow hissed under his breath, then looked down to notice he was doing the same thing. "Idiot-er!" He growled and readied his now Dust-less weapon to slice through the creature with all the force he could bring to bear. He jumped towards the creature, over Winter's head, and slashed down as hard as he could at the less armored base of its neck, behind the two black horns coming out of its skull and just beneath the lip of the outer shell. He whined when the tip of the weapon simply bounced off of the creature's skin, and a brown claw swiped at him before he could respond. He was sent flying by the powerful blow, and could tell without looking at his Scroll that he'd lost an absurd chunk of his monstrous Aura. Unless Winter had suddenly become a tanking brawler, he was worried about whether she could even survive a blow like the one he had taken.
Thankfully, she seemed to have learned from how easily Qrow had been batted away and was instead dodging the deliberate but powerful attacks of the creature. Still, that could only last so long before the adamantine tortoise decided to just walk forward. Qrow groaned and pushed himself to his feet before picking up his scythe and trying to think this through. The thing's skin was unbreakable even at what should have been a weak point. He tried to find a way to kill the thing, but couldn't think of a way. It was too physically unbreakable, given how Winter's weapon was bouncing off of its flesh during each of her brief counterattacks. They didn't have a –
Qrow's mind shut off when the tortoise finally decided to just run forward. Its claw slammed into Winter and she was thrown across the hallway. "NO!" Qrow screamed, sprinting towards the creature. He launched himself towards the huge tortoise with an explosion of fire at the end of his scythe, then brought the weapon – now trailing huge crystals of ice – down. The blade slammed into the tortoise's head and, for a moment, nothing happened. Then the ice began to rapidly spread across the monster's body, freezing it solid at an incredible pace. Qrow roared a battle cry as his feet hit the ground and brought his weapon up then down again as hard as he could. The powerful blow shattered the monster's skull and sent cracks running down the rest of its body. After a few seconds, the rest of its form exploded into large chunks of frozen flesh that ricocheted off of the walls and landed in a pile in front of Qrow. He began to pant, as if he had used everything within him to destroy the monster. "Huh, so that's what magic feels like... Winter!"
The veteran warrior turned on his heel and sprinted towards where she had landed, and now laid completely still. He dropped his scythe and slid to a stop on his knees beside her. His fingers flew to her throat to check her pulse, and his heart went similarly still. "No... You..." He positioned her on her back and placed both hands on her chest. He took a single deep breath, then began to perform the compressions. "Come on... Come on...!"
"Winter!? Wh – What's going on!?" Weiss snapped as the others came close.
Qrow ignored her and continued to methodically press down on the specialist's chest. "Dammit, Winter, you're not doing this to me," Qrow growled, his mind silencing everything around him. Ruby's words, Weiss' rage... it all disappeared. All that he had was pressing down on the woman's chest and the memories of their kiss flashing through his head. "Wake up... Wake -"
Winter took a gasping, hoarse breath and Qrow flinched backwards instinctively. "What..?"
"Sister, you're okay!" Weiss shouted happily, moving forward.
She was cut off by Ruby's uncle, however. "Fucking woman," Qrow grunted before grabbing Winter's cheeks and pulling her into a kiss. Probably not the best thing for someone who needed to breathe, but Qrow didn't really care at the moment.
The noise Winter made could only be described as "!" After a moment, however, her right hand drifted up to the back of Qrow's head and she began to kiss him back.
"Um... well at least she's okay," Yang pointed out.
"What are they doing, Ruby?" Penny asked innocently.
"Really? You don't – Kissing!" Neptune shouted. He shook his head. "What the hell did Doctor Polendina bother teaching you if you don't know something that simple?"
"We're all very happy, Uncle Qrow, but DISC is gone!" Ruby shouted. As happy as she was for him, they didn't have the time for this at that exact moment.
That snapped the two warriors out of it. Qrow pulled away and his jaw clenched tightly. "Dammit," he growled. He jumped to his feet and pulled Winter up with him. She didn't expect him to pick her up bridal style, and she moved to tell him off. Without looking at her, he cut off her coming castigation. "Your Heart wasn't beating, you don't get to walk."
Winter sighed in disgust. "I won't be happy about it," she protested angrily. She gestured at the door. "Proceed."
Qrow nodded, for once too aware of the gravity of the situation to make a joke. He sprinted up the stairs, taking care not to jostle the woman in his arms yet also determined to warn Ozpin as soon as humanly possible. He reached the city after only a few seconds, and gingerly let Winter down to her feet pulling his Scroll to his ear.
There was a brief second of ringing before the line picked up. "Oz! Oz, DISC wasn't in Blue Fairy!"
"I am aware," Ozpin muttered on the other side of the line. The ancient warrior stared up at the image of Jacques Schnee on a huge Scroll screen at the center of Vale.
"... is why I am telling you that this is not the way I wanted this to end. But with the Dragon on Beacon waking up, we have little choice. Either we destroy it and Vale in the process now, or we risk all of Remnant." He wearily ran his fingers down his mustache and chin. "I hope this will give you the time you need to make peace." Then the screen went black and the tremors started, followed immediately by panicked screaming and rioting.
"I am all too aware," Ozpin said before turning towards Sora and the others who stood with him. "We will call you when this is over, or..."
Qrow was quiet for a while, the only noise the static resulting from Vale's tower shaking because of the Earthquake. "You guys better live or I'm killing you."
Ozpin nodded. "... Goodbye, Qrow. It's been an honor."