Qrow leaned back in his seat. He was honestly pretty happy to be helping to save the worlds, and if he got to help his niece out too that was an added bonus.
As he did however, he noticed a pair of silver eyes glaring at him from the front row.
"What?"
"YOU FORGOT ZWEI!" Ruby yelled at her uncle.
Weiss glared at Winter as well.
"Sorry, kiddo," Qrow apologized, "But you and I both know that dog can take care of himself."
Ruby huffed, not completely satisfied with that answer.
"So they're off to another world," Ren noted, "I do have a question though, do each of the different worlds have different rules?"
"Yes," Gordeau sighed, "And a fair warning, this first one is very strange."
As the trio approached a new world, Ruby had a question, "So, how do you land the ship."
"We don't," Winter explained, "We have a short-range teleporter that sends us down to the world."
She hit a button and the three were teleported into the world.
Everyone, save Neo and Pyrrha, went wide eyed at the display.
"That technology would be extremely beneficial," Winter noted, "We could transport supplies to troops without risking our supply trucks!"
"Or I could transport members behind enemy lines for surprise attacks," Adam smiled.
"Always a double-edged sword," Raven sighed.
They began falling instantly. It was a strange fall though, almost like gravity didn't work right.
Playing cards appeared on screen. They flipped around a few times to reveal 'Wonderland.'
"Wonderland?" Blake asked.
"Sounds wonderful," Yang chuckled.
"Yang!"
"What's with the cards?" Clover asked.
"I'm sure we'll find out," Harriet noted.
The trio continued to fall, Winter and Ruby went feet first, but Qrow lounged on his back.
"Way to take advantage of the situation," Roman chuckled, "Looks relaxing."
"I'm more worried about hitting the ground," Qrow winced.
They approached the ground and gravity seemed to kick in at the last second. Winter and Ruby landed hard on their feet, but Qrow was slammed to the ground on his back.
"Told ya," he sighed.
"Ugh!" he sat up and rubbed his head right as a white rabbit ran by. He was wearing a red waist-coat, glasses, and carried an oversized pocket watch.
"A rabbit Faunus?" Velvet asked excitedly.
"No, look closer," Ilia noted, "Whoever that is, they're like Jiminy. An actual animal."
"Oh, my fur and whiskers," the rabbit exclaimed, "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"
Weiss and Winter gasped, "That's…"
Weiss stood up, "That's Klein's voice."
"Who's Klein?" Ruby asked.
"Our family's butler," Winter explained, "But he's human. Not even a Faunus."
"Why is he a rabbit?" Weiss asked.
Gordeau chuckled, "I told you."
He panted as he continued to run, Qrow looked on in confusion, "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there!"
"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" Klein worried, "The queen, she'll have my head for sure!"
"That doesn't sound good," Robyn noted.
"Yeah," Mercury agreed before leaning to Emerald, "I get that vibe from Salem too."
Emerald nodded as she remembered what Salem did to Hazel when he only slightly bent the truth.
He rounded a corner out of view. "Uh," Qrow wondered, "Anybody know what that was about?" he asked as he stood up.
"Not a clue," Winter shook her head.
"It sounded like he was in trouble," Ruby mused, "C'mon, let's see if we can help!" She took off after the white rabbit.
"That's Ruby," Nora smiled, "Always wanting to help people."
There was a door at the end of the hallway. Ruby threw it open and prepared to walk through, only to be greeted by another door.
"Um, what?" Neo asked.
"Who puts a door inside a door?" Jaune asked.
"Strange," Winter raised an eyebrow as Ruby opened that door as well. Another door lay beyond.
"Why?" Oscar wondered, "What purpose could that serve?"
"In this instance, I'm not sure," Lionheart noted, "But if they were stronger doors, it could provide a layer of protection against theft and break-ins."
"That's a good idea," Penny noted.
Ruby growled and opened that door as well. This time it opened up into a small room. It had a small reading nook, a fire place, two chairs, a grandfather clock, and a bed.
Klein ran across the floor. He was much smaller now.
"Wasn't he bigger?" Sun asked.
"I don't see how that's possible," Neptune noted.
He approached a small door and entered.
Ruby approached the door and pondered, "How did he get so small?"
"No, you're simply too big," the doorknob said.
"It talks!" Winter (Both of them) recoiled in shock.
"A sentient doorknob," Ren raised an eyebrow.
"You weren't kidding about this being a strange world," Ozpin noted.
"I would suggest you stop trying to make sense of this world and just roll with it," Gordeau suggested, "It just gets weirder from here."
The doorknob yawned, "Must you be so loud? You woke me up."
Qrow chuckled, "Good morning!"
"Nice one!" Tai chuckled.
"Good night," the doorknob sighed, "I need a bit more sleep."
"Wait," Ruby yelled, "What do we have to do to grow small?"
"Why don't you try the bottle," the doorknob said lazily, "over there?"
"Are we really going to accept a drink from a strange doorknob?" Ruby asked.
"Maybe?" Qrow noted, "I don't think a doorknob has any reason to lie to us."
Suddenly a table and chair sprung from the floor. On the table were two bottles one with a blue label and one with an orange label.
The doorknob fell back asleep. "Well," Ruby asked, "Should we try it?"
"I don't see any other options," Winter noted.
"That's a good point," Ren agreed, "If they're trying to find the missing people, they should search the whole world."
"That would take forever!" Nora complained.
"Thankfully," Gordeau interrupted, "Due to the worlds splitting apart, most of them are pretty small."
"Sure, whatever you say, kiddo," Qrow shrugged as he leaned against the bed.
The bed flew into the wall, causing Qrow to fall on his behind.
He grumbled, but looked to his left and saw an opening in the wall. If they were smaller, they could get through.
"Is there a universe where I don't have bad luck?" Qrow sighed.
"Here goes," Ruby mumbled as she drank from the blue bottle.
She shrank down and was now just taller than the bottle.
"That's amazing!" Jaune noted, "I don't see any practical applications, but a liquid that makes you smaller?"
"It is an impressive work of either magic or science," Ozpin agreed.
"It worked!" she exclaimed as both Winter and Qrow followed suit.
They approached the doorknob, but it just snored away.
"Guess we try the hole, huh?" Qrow suggested as they walked through.
"Hey, it worked out in the end," Sun pointed out, "If you hadn't leaned on the bed, you'd be stuck."
"Good point, kid," Qrow agreed.
They were greeted by tall, broad-shouldered soldiers. Their uniforms included caps with two visors, pulled down so as to cover their eyes. Half of them carried spears, the other half axes. The strange thing was that their bodies were playing cards.
"That's an Atlas uniform hat," Winter pointed out.
"Why are playing cards part of the Atlas military?" Neo asked before teasing, "Is your budget that low?"
Winter grumbled.
Jaune put his hand on his chin, "I feel like I've seen those guards before…"
"You've seen card soldiers before?" Pyrrha asked.
"Not the card part," Jaune corrected, "But the guards themselves."
The soldiers parted to allow a view of the area, there was a large throne with a podium in front of it. Sitting on the throne was a short, elderly woman with short silver hair and brown eyes. She had a small crown on her head, and wore a red and black military uniform.
"Ah, now I got it," Jaune noted.
"Cordovin?" Weiss asked.
"She lookes like a queen," Ruby pointed out.
Nora gasped, "SHE's queen of the castle!"
Standing at the podium, was a young girl with wavy, dirty blond hair and blue eyes. She wore an orange top with a beige vest, light brown trousers with orange stitches on each side, and dark brown boots.
"Isn't that your sister, Jaune?" Ren pointed out.
"Yeah, that's Saphron," Jaune nodded.
"She looks nice," Pyrrha noted.
"Yeah, shame you didn't get to meet her," he sighed.
Pyrrha wanted to say something to Jaune, but knew she couldn't yet.
Klein ran by and up a small set of stairs nearby to his own tower. He panted briefly, before blowing a horn he had picked up.
"Court is now in session!" he yelled.
"I'm on trial?" Saphron Arc asked, "But why?"
"The defendant doesn't know what they did?" Robyn asked, "What kind of trial is this?"
"One ran by Cordovin," Nora grumbled.
Klein ignored her and panted again, "Her Majesty, Caroline Cordovin, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!"
Cordovin looked Saphron over briefly, "This girl is the culprit. There's no doubt about it." She slammed her hands on her throne.
"And the reason is," she said smugly, before turning angry, "Because I say so, that's why!"
"Yep, that's her all right," Yang nodded, "I know we said we should've tried to explain better, but I have a feeling something like this would've happened anyway."
"Especially with Maria with us," Blake pointed out.
"They really don't like each other," Ruby agreed.
"That is so unfair!" Saphron complained.
"Well," Cordovin rolled her eyes, "Have you anything to say in your defense?"
"Of course!" Saphron declared with a point, "I've done absolutely nothing wrong!"
"General rule of thumb," Roman noted, "If the defendant has no clue what you're charging them for, it's really hard to prove them guilty or innocent either way."
"And you know that how?" Robyn asked.
"You'd be surprised how much I was accused of that wasn't actually me," Roman explained, "I actually got blamed for the Malachite's crimes a lot, but I'm not professionally affiliated with them."
"It happened a lot," Neo agreed.
Klein gasped as Saphron continued, "You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so…so mean!" she finished in a huff.
Jaune winced, "Ooh, she's not going to like that…"
Cordovin growled and began yelling, "Silence! You dare defy me?"
"Told ya," Jaune sighed.
"Was she really like this to you?" Winter asked.
"Yes and no," Weiss agreed, "While we did steal a Manta from her, she overreacted and tried to attack us with the Colossus."
"She's also discriminatory," Blake noted.
"And she yelled at the Argus population for our mistake," Ruby noted.
"I may need to have a word with the General when we get back then," Winter noted before looking at Blake in apology, "Though on the matter of Special Operative Cordovin being discriminatory, I´m afraid it can´t be helped much. Operative Cordovin served in the Faunus Rights Revolution and seeing many fellow soldiers being killed by an army made up solely of Faunus was something which she never quite got over, even if she acknowledges that the Faunus were in the Right during that war. Combined with the White Fang's involvement at the Fall of Beacon and you would sadly be hard pressed to find an Atlas Officer who would not look at you in suspicion if you were on your way to Atlas. It's not exactly a Faunus Vacation Hotspot after all, so most would think you would be a troublemaker, sadly."
Blake sighed, "I guess I can understand that."
"Hey," Ruby whispered, "we should help her out."
"Yeah, but…" Winter started.
"We're outsiders," Qrow rolled his eyes at her, "so we'd be muddling?"
"Meddling!" Winter hissed in correction.
"Again," Neptune sighed, "Just by being there you've meddled. That point is thrown out the window already."
"Right," Qrow scoffed, "And that's against the rules."
Ruby shook her head and refocused on the trial. Cordovin was issuing her verdict, "The court finds the defendant," she paused before yelling out, "Guilty as charged!"
Saphron gasped as Cordovin finished, "For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart."
"Really…" Emerald deadpanned, "She thinks that girl tried to steal her heart?"
"How could you confuse her and a Heartless?" Mercury scoffed.
The trio looked at each other and nodded, it wasn't meddling if the Heartless were involved.
"Off with her head!" Cordovin ordered.
The soldiers approached Saphron as she protested, "No! No! Oh, please!"
"Well, this is a sham trial if I've ever seen one," Neo noted.
"It happens all the time," Ilia grumbled, "Faunus are treated this way in Mistral all the time."
Lionheart sighed, "Now there's something I could've devoted my time too."
"Sorry Rainbow," Neo apologized, "I never realized how badly the Faunus were treated."
"Hold it right there!" Ruby commanded as she charged through the guards.
"Who are you?" Cordovin questioned, "How dare you interfere with my court?"
"Excuse me," Ruby started sheepishly, "But we know who the real culprit is!"
"Yeah, it's the Heartless!" Ruby nodded, "Jaune's sister is innocent."
"Yeah it's the…" Qrow started but Winter shut him up with a glare.
"Anyway," Ruby continued, "She's not the one you're looking for."
"That's nonsense," Cordovin denied, "Have you any proof?"
"Uhh," Ruby rubbed the back of her neck.
The soldiers grabbed Saphron and shoved her into a cage. "Bring me evidence of Saphron's innocence!" Cordovin ordered.
"Fail," she smiled sweetly before turning angry, "And it's off with all of your heads!"
Ruby gulped.
"She likes that punishment a lot," Cinder pointed out.
"Why don't we go see if Saphron's okay first?" Qrow suggested.
"Good idea," Ruby nodded and the trio walked over to her cage.
"You okay?" Ruby asked.
"Who are you?" Saphron asked back.
"I'm Ruby," Ruby nodded.
"I'm Qrow," Qrow waved, "And that there's Winter."
"Pleased to meet you," Saphron smiled lightly, "Though I do wish it were under better circumstances."
"Yeah, I like the way we met the first time better," Ruby nodded.
"Sorry I passed out on her stairs," Qrow apologized.
"She understands," Jaune shrugged.
She sighed, "I'm sorry you got mixed up in this nonsense."
"Why are you on trial in the first place?" Ruby asked.
"I should like to know the very same thing!" Saphron huffed, "Apparently, I was guilty from the moment I took the stand!"
"That's crazy!" Ruby agreed.
"Yeah, Cordovin can't really believe Saphron did it, can she?" Yang asked.
"She is stubborn," Blake pointed out, "I mean, she put Maria on the additional screening list for life just because of some nuts."
"Good point," Yang admitted.
She shook her head before changing the subject, "So, where are you from?"
"Hmm," Saphron thought, "Curious. I can't quite remember."
"You see," she explained, "I found this mysterious rabbit hole. When I tried to peek inside, I tumbled in head over heels, and I found myself here."
"So she's from another world too!" Velvet pointed out.
"But she can't remember where she was from," Neptune pointed out, "So she might as well be from Wonderland."
"So you're from another world!" Ruby said excitedly.
"That's funny," Qrow raised an eyebrow, "Maybe you don't need a ship then."
Winter folded her arms, "I don't get it."
"What do you mean 'another world'?" Saphron asked.
"ENOUGH!" a nearby guard shouted, "The defendant will be silent!"
"Interesting information," Summer noted, "But it doesn't help prove her innocent."
Ruby and company left the Queens court and headed into a large forest.
Suddenly, a purple cat head with a permanent grin materialized in front of them, before disappearing again.
"What is that?" Weiss asked.
"A purple cat," Blake pointed out.
It disappeared and reappeared several times, before appearing on a nearby stump. Its body was bouncing on the head. The cat had pink stripes up and down its body.
"Well, that's just disturbing," Winter noted.
"How can it do that with its head?" Penny asked.
"I think I'll take your advice now," Weiss sighed, "I'm going to stop trying to figure it out."
The cat reattached its head and posed innocently.
"Why is it smiling like that?" Harriet asked, "It's kinda creepy."
"It is rather disturbing," Clover agreed.
"That's what disturbs you about that!?" Nora asked in confusion.
"Who are you?" Winter asked.
"Who, indeed?" the cat countered.
"Poor Saphron," the cat sighed, "Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"
"Oh, good," Raven sighed, "And it has Oz's knack for roundabout statements."
Oscar looked at Ozpin before he could counter, "You do give very cryptic advice."
"Hey," Ruby ordered, "If you know who the culprit is, tell us."
"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers," he answered, "But doesn't always tell."
"The Cheshire Cat?" Ren noted, "That's an interesting name."
"The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness," he stated cryptically before fading away.
"Wait!" Ruby exclaimed.
"So he lives in darkness?" Summer asked, "Shouldn't Ruby be trying to fight him then?"
"I don't think he is darkness, or even evil," Tai pointed out, "I think he just dwells in darkness."
The disembodied voice of the Cheshire Cat rang out, "They've already left the forest. I won't tell which exit."
"There are four pieces of evidence in all," the voice continued, "Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all."
The voice stopped. The trio waited for a minute before Winter asked, "Should we trust him?"
The Cheshire Cat faded back in, "To trust, or not to trust? I trust you'll decide!" He faded away again leaving the three alone in the forest.
"Okay, the cat's a little tricky, even for me," Roman pointed out.
"But he is helping," Blake countered.
"Is he?" Cinder smirked, "We pretended to help to gain your trust. He could be doing the same thing."
"Well," Ruby huffed, "Let's go find that evidence!"
They walked through the forest for a moment before coming across a set of Heartless footprints.
"Well, there's some evidence for you," Qrow mused.
"Yes," Winter noted, "But we still have three more pieces to find."
"If they're all this easy to find, we'll be done in no time," Qrow nodded.
"But there is the one difficult one," Sun pointed out, "I bet that will take a while."
They continued down the path, but a large boulder blocked the way.
Ruby looked around and saw some large mushrooms. She jumped on them and leapt her way to the tree tops. On top of the first tree she tried, she found a Heartless antenna.
After climbing some more, they came across a hole in a tree. Curious to see where it led, Ruby stepped inside.
They group fell from the ceiling of the room with the table. They landed on top of an unlit stove. There, they found a cloth that smelled of Heartless.
"This truly is a strange room," Penny noted.
"Well, it is called the Bizarre Room," Gordeau shrugged.
"One left," Winter commented.
"Yeah," Qrow mused, "But isn't it supposed to be tricky to find?"
"Don't sweat it, Qrow," Ruby reassured, "We'll find it in no time."
They jumped down and made their way back to the forest, fighting off random Heartless as they went.
As they entered, Ruby noticed a strange flower growning nearby. She touched it, and grew back to her normal size. "Whoa!" she yelled as she stumbled backward.
"Careful Ruby!" Weiss advised, "You could crush someone!"
"Why would a flower make you larger?" Winter protested, "Gah! Nothing makes sense!"
"That's part of Wonderland," Gordeau explained, "It's a place of impossible things and imagination. So, nothing really makes sense."
"Watch it!" Winter shouted from below, as Ruby almost stepped on her.
Ruby's flailing caused her to step on the nearby stump. It sunk into the ground, and a tree grew nearby. Ruby looked up and saw another exit by that tree.
"There!" Ruby pointed in excitement.
"And how are you gonna fit in there, Rubes?" Yang chuckled.
"Well, I'll just go get that bottle," Ruby reasoned, "It can make me small again."
"But you can't get back to the room," Blake countered, "You'd have to fit into Cordovin's court again, and you're too big for that now."
"Oh… right," Ruby shrugged sheepishly.
"Great," Qrow sighed and folded his arms, "but how do you get back to our size?"
Ruby shrugged and grabbed a nearby acorn. She took a bite and was shrunk back down.
"I guess that works," Weiss noted.
"Never look a gift horse in the mouth," Tai shrugged.
She giggled as both Qrow and Winter gave her narrowed glares. The duo sighed and they headed for the exit.
They landed on a water spicket high in the Bizarre Room. On a cabinet nearby, were Heartless claw marks.
"And there it is," Winter noted.
"It wasn't all that difficult to find," Pyrrha countered, "The cat may have lied."
The Cheshire Cat appeared, "Well, look what you've found. Nice going."
Ruby nodded, "Now we can save Saphron!"
"Don't be so sure!" the Cheshire Cat warned, "She may be innocent, but what about you?"
"What?" Ruby asked.
Gordeau chuckled, "It doesn't actually happen, but Cordovin was creating fake evidence claiming the three of you did it."
"WHAT!" Qrow yelled.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"I won't tell," the cat teased, "But I'll give you something."
He handed over a blue orb and Ruby surges with power, "You can now use the 'Blizzard' spell," the cat faded away.
"Cool! New magic!" Ruby cheered.
Yang laughed, "Ruby punned!"
Ruby's cheers turned to groans at the thought.
Ruby turned to Winter, "So, how does Blizzard work?"
"Sort of like Fire," Winter explained, "But it has more of a scatter effect and doesn't lock on. Practice with it, and you'll see what I mean."
"Well, let's get back to the Queen," Qrow suggested as the trio headed back to the Queen's Castle.
"With all that evidence she has to release Saphron," Jaune pointed out.
"Not likely," Adam countered, "People like her don't change their minds for anything."
Ruby approached the podium, while Qrow and Winter got in the previously empty juror's box.
"Now," Cordovin ordered, "Show me what you have found."
Ruby placed her four evidence boxes in front of her. "Well, that's certainly a lot of evidence," Cordovin noted before glaring, "But I'm still not impressed."
"Guards!" she ordered, "Bring forth my evidence!" A guard brought out a lonely box and set it next to Ruby's.
"So that's the evidence against us?" Ruby asked, "Not really a lot there…"
"Yeah," Nora agreed, "Your evidence trumps whatever she has."
Like magic, the boxes formed into one, before splitting back out into five separate boxes.
"Checking all five would only be a waste of time," Cordovin decided, "Choose the one you wish to present. I'll decide who's guilty based on that evidence."
"That's… That's not how you decide things!" Velvet protested.
"This is worse than anything I've ever seen before," Roman sighed.
"What?" Ruby questioned in shock, "After all the trouble of collecting it?"
"You dare object?" Cordovin yelled, "Then you will lose your head! Now choose! One box!"
Ruby sighed and walked forward. She opened the box on the far left. It was the footprints and a soldier Heartless appeared briefly before disappearing.
"Well, at least I picked the right one," Ruby noted.
"Yes, it would've been bad if you picked Cordovin's," Penny agreed.
"What in the world was that?" Cordovin demanded.
"There's your evidence," Ruby stated, triumphantly, "Saphron is innocent."
Cordovin growled, "Silence! I'm the law here!"
"Article 29:" she quoted, "Anyone who defies the Queen is guilty!"
"And she's a sore loser," Raven noted.
"Just prideful," Sun pointed out, "And that pride prevents her from knowing when she's beaten."
Remembering their conversation from earlier, Adam raised an eyebrow. Had he just snuck a jab at him in there?
"That's crazy!" Winter objected.
"Seize them at once!" Cordovin ordered.
The guards sprung into action, as the court disappeared save the Queen's throne and Saphron's cage. A tower sprung out of the yard and a guard approached it. He pulled some gears on it and Saphron was lifted into the air. The guards began to attack.
"And now they have to fight," Blake sighed.
"Well, it went about as well as it did in real life," Yang pointed out.
Qrow smashed one to the ground, Winter froze two, and Ruby set one on fire.
Cordovin wasn't having it though, "Get them, you fools! Or it's off with your heads!"
The guards the party had knocked down got back up in a panic and renewed their assault.
"That's just cruel motivation," Robyn noted.
Cinder, Lionheart, Mercury, Emerald, Roman, and Blake all nodded, having seen that type of motivation used first hand.
Ruby groaned in annoyance.
"Let's just grab Saphron and get out of here!" Winter suggested.
"Yeah, let's hit that tower with everything we've got!" Qrow shouted.
The trio pummeled the tower to oblivion and the cage dropped. Ruby ran over to it and Cordovin watched in horror.
"Run away and live," Jaune remembered.
"A plan you could get behind," Pyrrha lightly laughed.
"I'm glad that part of you changed," Nora agreed.
The curtain around the cage was drawn back and Saphron was gone.
"What?" Ruby asked.
"Where'd she go?" Summer asked.
"She must've gotten kidnapped while we were fighting," Winter theorized.
"You fools!" Cordovin yelled, "Find the one who's behind this! I don't care how!"
The guards scrambled to follow her orders.
"That's a possibility," Raven agreed, "Especially with how the Heartless move about. They could've easily gotten to her."
"At least we know Ruby's gonna look for her," Neptune pointed out.
"C'mon," Ruby directed away, "Let's see if they escaped to the forest."
As they entered the forest, the boulder from the path was flung towards them. It landed and the Cheshire Cat appeared on top of it.
"He almost killed them with that!" Weiss protested, "I don't think he's on your side, Ruby."
"He may be," Ruby argued, "He may just have a weird way of looking at it."
"Have you seen Saphron?" Ruby questioned.
"Saphron, no," the cat rejected, "Shadows, yes!"
"That's not good," Ren noted.
"Where did they go?" Qrow asked.
"Oh, this way? That way? Does it matter?" the cat asked dismissively.
"Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows!" he said cryptically.
"I'm really starting to hate both this world and the cat," Winter growled, "Say what you mean, you cryptic fool!"
"Yeah," Robyn agreed, "He's getting on my nerves too."
"Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden," the cat suggested, "You might find shadow's in the upside-down room!"
The cat faded away. "Upside-down room?" Ruby wondered.
Winter scoffed, "That cat is crazy! Let's just keep searching for Saphron."
"Thank you!" Winter agreed, "The cat is nothing but trouble."
As they made their way through the forest, they encountered two new types of Heartless, one was red and bell shaped, the other had a large, round belly.
"So, question," Nora interrupted, "Do the different Heartless types have names?"
Everyone shot her a strange glance.
"She likes names," Ren shrugged, "It's one of her little quirks."
"They do," Gordeau nodded, "The black ones are Shadows, the ones in armor are Soldiers, the large black one Ruby fought on the islands is a Darkside, and the disembodied armor from Traverse Town was the Guard Armor. The red flying one is a Red Nocturne, and the fat one is a Large Body."
"Thank you!" Nora smiled as she finished writing them down.
The Nocturnes were nothing special except they shot fire at the party. The group handled them easily.
"They can use magic too?" Ozpin asked with wide-eyes, "These truly are dangerous enemies."
"Let's just be glad the Grimm can't use magic," Raven shivered.
"That would be a nightmare," Ozpin agreed.
The Large Bodies were slightly difficult. Attacking their front proved useless, as their bodies blocked every physical attack the group through at it. Winter discovered that they had no magic defenses though, and shot spell after spell at it. They went down fairly easily after that.
Mercury laughed, "The one is so fat, its stomach blocks attacks!"
"That's ridiculous," Emerald rolled her eyes.
Ruby grew large again and pushed the boulder into a small pond. This raised some trees that allowed her to explore the forest more. They encountered another exit.
When they left, they were on top of the hedges in the Queens castle. Suddenly, the trio heard soft barking nearby.
"What's that?" Ruby asked.
"Sounds like a dog," Winter suggested.
"It's coming from over there!" Qrow pointed. Sitting beneath some trees that were growing on the hedge, were three dalmatian puppies.
"The Puppies!" Ruby cheered.
Winter sighed, "Finding all of them is going to take some time."
"Hopefully we won't have to watch that," Qrow grumbled.
"Look," Ruby ran forward, "three of the missing puppies!"
"Missing puppies?" Qrow asked.
"Yeah," Ruby nodded, "I found a pair of dogs in Traverse Town and a note that said they were missing 99 puppies."
"That's a lot of puppies," Winter mumbled.
"We have to help them!" Ruby explained as she tried to pick up the puppies.
"We can't carry them with us," Winter reasoned as Ruby moaned in sadness, "But, I can teleport them to the ship."
"Okay," Ruby sighed as the puppies disappeared, "At least we rescued them."
"Yup," Qrow nodded, "Three down, ninety-six to go."
"Why do you care so much about the puppies?" Harriet asked, "Aren't the worlds more important?"
"Yeah," Ruby nodded, "But every dog should have a home! And those that are lost should be returned."
The trio made their way through the forest to where the boulder previously blocked off. Continuing down the path, they reached a small garden where a tea party had been set up.
No one was around though, and there was no tea either. The trio continued to the next exit and found themselves on the ceiling of the Bizarre Room.
"So this is what he meant by 'upside-down room.'" Ruby said in awe.
"A strange development," Ozpin noted, "This world truly is fascinating."
"Annoying is a better word for it," Qrow rolled his eyes.
Suddenly the Cheshire Cat reappeared, "They're hiding somewhere. And the momeraths outgrabe."
"The what?" Blake blinked.
"Nonsense, that's what," Weiss shrugged.
"What?" Ruby asked.
"Want to find the shadows?" the cat asked, "Try turning on the light."
He disappeared again.
"That makes sense," Raven noted, "You can't have shadows without light."
Hang on to that theme. Gordeau thought to himself.
Ruby looked around and noticed the lights were on raised platforms. She jumped up to one and lit it.
The Cheshire Cat appeared on the other light, "It's too dim. Make it brighter."
"What next?" Winter rolled her eyes at the cat.
"One more lamp that you need to light," the cat sing-songed as it disappeared.
Ruby jumped over to the other lamp and lit it.
The cat appeared again, "All the lights are on. You'll see the shadows soon. They'll arise in this room, but somewhere else. The shadows might go after that doorknob, too."
"Why?" Nora asked.
"Well, is sentient," Ren pointed out, "So it probably has a heart."
"And it can't defend itself!" Velvet gasped.
"We have to protect that doorknob!" Ruby declared.
He faded away again.
"Well," Ruby mused, "I guess it's back to the normal room."
"Right," Qrow agreed, "We have to protect the doorknob."
The group headed back to the main room. The Cheshire Cat was already waiting for them on the table, "You'll have a better view from higher up!"
Ruby sighed and jumped up on the table.
"Why?" Pyrrha asked, "You can't protect the doorknob from up there."
"The shadows should be here soon," the cat mused, "Are you prepared for the worst? If not, too bad!"
Suddenly, a red and black Heartless fell from the sky. It had long pronged legs and arms like ribbons. Its head was a tack of five different faces. It carried a pair of juggler's bowling pins that it swung like weapons.
Nora looked up to Gordeau.
"The Trickmaster," he stated.
"That's a fitting name," Jaune noted.
The trio charged. Ruby leapt off the table and landed a combo right on its body. Winter fired spells from the table. Qrow rammed it with his shield.
Once on the ground, Ruby and Qrow attempted to attack the Trickmaster's legs, but found it did no damage to the Heartless.
"Okay, so you have to attack the body or head," Summer noted.
"Which is why they needed to be on the table," Raven agreed.
They were still recovering when the Trickmaster swung down and struck both of them, sending the pair into the wall.
"That's gotta hurt," Neo winced.
"You've never gotten hit like that?" Nora asked.
"No," Yang groaned, "I'm not sure she's been hit, ever. She has a very evasive fighting style."
Neo smirked at the reluctant compliment.
Ruby grunted as she picked herself back up. She began to analyze the situation as Qrow charged back into battle.
She and Qrow were getting nowhere on the ground, but she noticed that Winter was still having success pelting it from the table.
"Looks like magic may be the way to go here," Lionheart nodded.
"It looks like a good choice," Roman agreed.
She turned back to Qrow to explain, only to see him flying right at her. The two collided and Ruby was left gasping for air.
The pair winced.
Qrow picked himself back up and used a Potion to heal himself. He turned to Ruby, "Don't forget about your Potions!"
"Wow," Robyn went wide eyed, "It healed him instantly!"
"Where can we get our hands on those?" Ozpin asked.
Gordeau shrugged, "You have to know a moogle."
Ruby nodded and healed herself. As she did, she explained her plan, "Qrow, keep it distracted. I'll get back on the table and help Winter out."
Qrow nodded and kept the Heartless's attention on him. Ruby jumped up onto the table and cast fire at the Heartless.
"Seems like a good strategy," Adam nodded, "I can't come up with anything better."
Winter shook her head, "That's okay, but Blizzard works better!"
Ruby nodded and began to cast Blizzard. Her first attempt missed as she severely misinterpreted the range of the spell.
"…Oops." Ruby said sheepishly.
"That's okay," Winter shrugged, "I'll probably get it wrong my first time too."
She eventually got it right though, and the two began to chip away at its defenses.
Eventually, it made its way to the stove.
It lit its pins on fire and began shooting fire balls at Winter.
"Look out!" Ruby cried and shoved Winter off the table right as the spot she was standing was engulfed in flames.
"Thanks," Winter nodded, "But could you have done that in a way that didn't involve me falling off the table?"
"Hey, at least I saved you!" Ruby countered.
Winter landed hard on the ground. As she did she turned around and yelled, "Ruby! Look out!"
Ruby turned and gasped.
The Trickmaster was right next to the table. It raised its arms and slammed the table.
"And now I've returned the favor," Winter nodded.
Ruby rolled off right as the shockwave hit. As she did, the table disappeared into the ground.
"Thanks," Ruby nodded to Winter.
"Yeah, but there went your only means of attacking the thing," Roman pointed out, "How to beat it now?"
"I've got an idea," Ruby smiled, "Inspired by team JNPR!"
Said team collectively raised their eyebrows at her.
"How do we kill this thing now?" Winter asked.
Ruby thought for a minute before coming up with a plan, "Qrow! Give me a boost."
Ruby jumped onto Qrow's shield, and he pushed her into the air. She swung hard and the Trickmaster went down.
"Oh," Nora smiled, "You pulled a me!"
"Man, we haven't used that since the Deathstalker on initiation day," Jaune remembered.
It collapsed to the ground as its heart flew out.
Ruby sighed and the doorknob yawned, "What a racket."
"How's a doorknob to get any sleep?" he wondered.
"Oh, sure, it wakes up now!?" Mercury protested.
"How could anything sleep through that?!" Yang agreed.
He yawned again and Ruby saw something gleam inside its mouth.
Leaning closer, she noticed it was a keyhole.
Suddenly, the Keyblade lurched forward; a small glow coming off of it. It dragged Ruby's arm forward and shot a small beam out into the Keyhole.
"What's happening?" Blake asked.
A locking noise was heard as the doorknob closed its mouth.
"What was that?" Winter asked.
"Ruby locked something," Velvet noted.
"The door?" Neo asked, "Seems like an unimportant thing to lock."
Velvet shook her head, "I think it was bigger than that, but I don't have any real theories yet."
"You heard that, right? Sounded like something closed," Ruby theorized.
A small gummi part fell out of the Keyhole.
"That's a part of the Highwind!" Jaune pointed out.
"Why was it there?" Lionheart asked.
"This gummi ain't like the others," Qrow noted as he picked it up.
"Okay," Winter stated as she snatched it from him, "I'll hold on to it."
Qrow shrugged her off. Suddenly, the table rose up from the ground and the Cheshire Cat appeared again, "Splendid. You're quite the hero."
"So he was on your side," Tai nodded.
"He has a weird way of showing it," Raven grumbled.
The trio turned around to face him as he continued, "If you're looking for Saphron, she's not here."
"She's gone! Off with the shadows, into darkness," he observed before disappearing.
"No…" Ruby said dejectedly.
"So they're done in this world then," Cinder observed.
"Thank goodness," Winter sighed, "It was giving me a headache."
Suddenly, he appeared right in front of Ruby, "But you will need help to fight the darkness."
He reached out and handed her a keychain with a playing card on it, "It is a small pittance, but the least I could do."
He disappeared, and the chain attached itself to Ruby's Keyblade. It transformed. It was now red, pink, and gold key. Instead of the teeth, it had a red spade and the tip was a gold heart. Ruby felt power surge as it equipped itself.
"They can transform?!" Ruby squealed, "They are so cool!"
Nora turned to Gordeau, "So, Luxu's is called No Name… what are Ruby's called?"
"Well," Gordeau started, "Ruby's base Keyblade is the Kingdom Key. Each Keychain she collects can change its form, but it's still the Kingdom Key underneath. This one is called Lady Luck."
"Fitting," Clover smirked.
"Wow," she observed, "This feels great!"
"Let's head back to the ship," Winter suggested, "We might find Saphron in another world."
They warped back to the ship and took off. Ruby sighed, "I hope they're okay."
"Hmm?" Qrow asked with a hum.
"Well, all of them," Ruby continued, "Weiss, Pyrrha, the Princess, and now Saphron! I just hope we find them soon."
"That's Ruby," Weiss smiled, "Always caring about everyone."
A hologram of the trio was shown on a table. The hook handed woman, the winged man and one other figure stood around it.
"Oh!" Blake leaned forward, "We're back with the villains."
"Why are you excited about that?" Yang asked.
"I'm trying to figure out their plans," Blake explained.
"That wretched cat," the hook-handed woman observed, "He's got a loose tongue, he has…"
She pounded the table with her good hand, "He should have been disposed of the minute he refused our goodwill!"
"They approached the Cheshire Cat?" Penny asked.
"It makes sense," Raven noted, "He dwells in darkness, so he could be the perfect ally."
"But he refused because he's actually a nice guy, if a little cryptic," Summer nodded.
"'Bit too late for that now, sugar," the third figure, who was the woman with the southern accent noted.
"We need not concern ourselves upon these trivial matters," the winged man noted, "Of greater importance is the progress of this infidel child."
"She has come across this Keyhole far earlier than we previously predicted," he noted, "Time is of the essence."
"Looks like you're onto something there, Velvet," Pyrrha noted, "The Keyhole must have been important."
"And the bad guys are after them too," Neo agreed, "Meaning they have an important role."
"Worry not friends," the green skinned woman entered the room, "The Keyholes are obscured enough that she shan't discover them with any ease…"
"In the meantime," she glanced over her shoulder, "The pieces we seek have begun to assemble upon the board…"
As she said this, a girl with short black hair tripped out of the shadows behind her. The girl was wearing a blue top and a yellow dress. She looked around worriedly before the screen faded to black.
"Who is that?" Weiss asked.
"I don't want to reveal that yet," Gordeau smirked, "But know that she has an important to play later.
AN: Sorry everyone! Between work and other things in my life, I didn't have a lot of time to work on this the past weeks. Again, I'm sorry!
Quick point: I know that Lady Luck doesn't show up until after you get the white trinity, but having the Cheshire Cat give it to Ruby gives it a little more weight.
Responses:
Cybresamurai: Yeah, Cinder isn't playing Cinderella (Just like Weiss isn't Snow White), but I will have a comment on that in Birth By Sleep.
StrongGuy159: Glad you continue to like it.
Remzal Von Enili: Ansem's speech at the end of KH1? It will be a little while, but I hope you'll be happy with it.
Greer123: Yep.
MrFoxHoundSir: Any%. A 100% run would take too long to show and get very boring to watch. That being said, some of the secret things will be shown.
Eliphas-Chaos: Glad you like them.
Mirai-Phoenix: See above comment. But, yeah, current Cinder on Ruby's side is weird. That's why I'm working on teaching her some important lessons.
Carre: 1. No Problem.
2. Glad you like those choices. Jacques was going to be Scrooge, but after some points we found, Nicholas made more sense.
3. Goof Troop is the show I believe.
4. Will do! (Washed Thumbs Up right back!)
Casting:
The White Rabbit – Klein Sieban: Both are overworked and work for a crummy, abusive boss.
Alice-Saphron Arc: To me, it's the hair, but Saphron being one of only two Arc kids not living at home means she's kind of curious and adventurous too. She's also a genuinely nice person.
Card Guards – Nubuck Guards: Drones who follow Cordovin to the letter. Made sense to change the cards to them.
Queen of Hearts – Caroline Cordovin: I think I explained the reasonings pretty well in the story itself, but if you need a reminder: both are stubborn, prideful, and prone to using violence to solve everything. It really made too much sense.
Cheshire Cat – Canon: I mean, could anyone other than the Cheshire Cat be the Cheshire Cat?
Seating chart:
Laps:-Ruby: Jinn;-Weiss: Zwei;-Sun: XXXXXXXX-;Roman: XXXX;-;Pyrrha: XXXXXX;-
Row one: Penny; Ruby; Weiss; Winter; Blake; Yang; Velvet; XXXX; Jaune; Pyrrha; Nora; Ren
Row two: XXX; XXXXXXXXXX; Neptune; Sun; Ilia; Neo; XXXXXX; XXXXX; XXXXXX; XXXXXX; XXXXXXX; XXXXX
Row three: Taiyang; Summer; Raven; Qrow; Roman; Robyn; Leonardo; XXXXXX; Ozpin; Oscar; XXXXX; Gordeau
Row four: XXXXXX; XXXXXXX; XXXXX; XXXXXXX; XXXX; XXXX; XX; XX; XXXXX; XXXXXXX; XXXXXX; XXX
Row Five: Clover; Harriet; XXXXXX; XXX; XXXX; XXXXXXXX; XXXXX; XXXXXX; XXXXX; XXXXX; XXXX; XXXX
Row Six: XXXX; XXXXXX; Adam; XXXXX; XXXXX; XXXXXX; XXXXXX; XXXXX; XXXXX; Cinder; Emerald; Mercury
Poll:
10th: Salem (Blonde) with 6
Tied for 9th: Salem (Grimm) and Weiss Schnee with 7
8th: Velvet Scarlatina with 8
Tied for 7th: Blake Belladonna and Glynda Goodwitch with 11
Tied for 6th: Cinder Fall and Raven Branwen with 12
5th: Kali Belladonna with 14
4th: Sienna Kahn with 15
3rd: Neo Politan with 16
2nd: Ruby Rose with 19
Tied for 1st: Pyrrha Nikos and Yang Xiao-Long with 20
