The trio warped to the gummi ship. Ruby sat down in her seat, when a monitor popped on with Dee's face on it.
"AH!" Ruby screamed in shock, "Who are you?"
Ruby blushed in embarrassment.
"Jump scares," Yang chuckled, "Who knew?"
"Hey!" Ruby protested.
"Name's Dee," he said as he pointed to himself, "And that's Dudley." Dudley waved to Ruby. "We're the gummi ships engineers."
"Oh," Ruby stated in realization as she calmed down.
"Just wanted to let you three know," Dee continued, "There's a tournament being held at the Coliseum."
"Nice!" Nora cheered, "We get to see some tournament action!"
"I wonder if Ruby will have to face anyone we know this time?" Pyrrha wondered.
"Yeah," Dudley pitched in, "I hear there's a great reward for the winner."
"Sweet!" Ruby cheered, "I'm surprised they fixed it up so fast!
"Phil did seem like a hard worker," Winter pointed out.
"Let's go!" Ruby smiled.
The trio warped to the Coliseum and teleported down.
"Hey kid," Phil smiled, "I figured you'd be back once you heard about the games."
"Of course," Ruby nodded, "Have to prove I'm a true hero, right?"
"Except that's not what he meant," Qrow shook his head.
"Yeah," Tai agreed, "I don't think Herc found out by winning tournaments."
Phil rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right. Anyway, I'm handling sign-ups for the Phil cup. Let me know if you want to participate."
Winter rolled her eyes, "He named the cup after himself?"
"Seems like something Father would do," Weiss noted.
They signed up for the Phil Cup and blew through the competitors, all of which were Heartless. They did, however, have a rematch with the Guard Armor's gauntlets and legs.
"Hey, you were right, Renny!" Nora noted.
Ren raised an eyebrow before nodding in realization, "I did say they were separated entities, didn't I?"
"And you were right," Oscar pointed out, "Nice job!"
"Nice going, kid," Phil congratulated, "Here's your prize."
He handed them a small black orb, "It's a Gravity spell, use it to pull flying enemies down to you," Phil explained.
"That should certainly come in handy," Penny pointed out.
"Especially for those Yellow Operas," Ozpin agreed, "They seemed to hop around a lot, and pulling them down to you would give both Miss Rose and Qrow a good way to attack them."
The trio nodded and left. "Well," Winter suggested, "Let's try out that new navigation gummi."
She steered the ship through a newly opened warp hole and right to the next world.
Suddenly, the screen paused.
"What's going on?" Robyn asked, "Does this happen often?"
"Not usually," Roman shook his head, "Unless someone absolutely needs a break or a conversation."
"You're right, Roman," Gordeau agreed, "But this time, I need to do something."
He cleared his throat before calling out, "Oh, Jinn."
Jinn appeared before the group with a scowl. Her appearance startled Penny, Neptune, Harriet, Clover, and Robyn.
"What do you want?" Jinn glared, "I won't tolerated being summoned without answering my last question."
"Actually," Gordeau smirked, "You don't have any questions left."
Jinn raised an eyebrow at him, before Ruby gasped and face palmed herself, "He's right! I asked Ozpin a question, but said Jinn's name and she answered it instead! I'm so stupid!"
Cinder paled. Salem needed those questions. Add in the fact that she had failed to get the lamp twice now and… Well, she shivered in her seat at the thought.
Jinn's eyebrows shot up in shock, "Then why am I here?"
"Because," Gordeau noted, "The next part of this world pertains to you, and I thought you should see it."
"Fine," she grumbled, "It was getting stuffy in that lamp anyway." She began floating above the group in a seated position and prepared herself for what was about to come.
A street lined with yellow buildings was shown. At the end was a large, white palace with gold spires. On the screen, an oil lamp appeared, let out blue smoke, and the word 'Agrabah' appeared.
"I can already see the similarities," Lionheart noted.
Yuma and Maleficent were walking down the street. "And the Keyhole?" Maleficent asked.
"So this must be this version of Yuma's home world," Ilia noted.
"If he's the villain in this world," Blake wondered, "I wonder who the hero is?"
"The Heartless are searching for it now," Yuma explained, "I'm certain we'll find it soon enough."
"So that just leaves," Yuma thought.
Suddenly, a squawk broke through the silence and a red parrot landed on Yuma's shoulder. It panted before speaking, "Yuma! I've looked everywhere for May. She's disappeared like magic!"
"A talking parrot!" Nora smiled, "I want one!"
"Nora…" Ren sighed.
"That's Iago; Yuma's bird," Gordeau noted, "I thought you would want to know, Nora."
"May?" Robyn thought, "You mean…"
"Well," Clover hummed, "We did already see Fiona, so it's not out of the realm of possibility."
"Hmph!" Yuma scoffed, "The girl is more trouble than she's worth."
"You said you had things under control," Maleficent scolded.
Cinder winced, "She is not happy."
"Yeah," Emerald agreed, "I'd hate to see her angry."
"She does seem like she could rival Salem," Ozpin agreed.
"Agrabah is full of holes for rats to hide in," Yuma explained, "But why worry about Princess May?"
"With her or without her," Yuma reasoned, "Surely this world will be ours when we find the Keyhole."
"Oh, I'm glad she isn't here to hear that," Robyn winced.
"Why?" Neo asked, "Doesn't every girl want to be a princess?"
"At some point, sure," Robyn nodded, "But May's story is pretty similar to Weiss's. She's from the Marigold family; a rich, Atlesian family that cares more about their status than the common people."
Weiss sighed in remembrance as Robyn continued, "So, May joined up with me to help the people of Mantle."
Maleficent sighed, "We need all seven princesses of heart to open the final door. Any fewer is useless."
"Seven princesses?" Jaune wondered, "And they're the key to the final door?"
"Okay, putting aside the final door thing for a moment," Raven noted, "She said she needed ALL seven princesses of heart."
"So not just normal princesses then?" Summer wondered.
"I wonder how many she already has?" Harriet thought.
"Well," Sun thought, "There's Blake, Saphron, the girl with the blue and yellow dress, and Cinderella, right?"
Cinder scoffed, but Neptune nodded, "So far, and we can add May to that list, so we know of five."
"But how many of those also count as princesses of heart?" Clover wondered.
"I think it's safe to say that Saphron and the other girl are," Ozpin noted, "Or Maleficent wouldn't have tried to collect them. And she just confirmed that May is one."
"So three confirmed, two possible," Lionheart agreed.
"Whatever this final door is, if she wants it, it can't be good," Yang pointed out.
"Well," Yuma smirked, "If the princess is that important, we'll find her."
Yuma snapped his fingers and summoned a Heartless in a turban with a scimitar, "Find May and bring her to me at once."
"He controls the Heartless pretty well," Mercury shuddered, "I'd hate to be in that world."
"But remember what happened to Shay," Emerald noted.
The Bandit ran off and Yuma followed, but Maleficent cautioned him, "Don't steep yourself in darkness too long. The Heartless consume the careless."
"See?" Emerald nodded.
"The Heartless are powerful," Velvet observed, "But the power they provide eventually consumes the users Heart."
Adam nodded, "This is another non-solution to any problem, not only because of the risk to the world, but to yourself."
Yuma laughed arrogantly, "Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary."
Roman laughed, "That's a response I could see Matchstick giving."
Cinder scoffed at the man, but didn't say anything.
Unknown to the two, watching them from behind a fruit stand was a fair-skinned woman with medium blue hair, a long ponytail, and yellow eyes. She wore a tan jacket over a grey shirt and brown pants. She also wore an orange scarf and a brooch with the Happy Huntresses' emblem on the right of her coat. She wore brown gloves and silver gauntlets over her arms.
"That's May," Robyn noted.
"Um, she's a little overdressed for the desert," Sun noted.
"I keep telling Coco that too," Velvet sighed, "But she can't give up her image."
"Also," Summer noted, "If she's a princess, shouldn't she be dressed a little nicer?"
Robyn looked down at her outfit in contemplation as Gordeau chuckled, "She's using it as a disguise to hide from Yuma. Her normal outfit is a bit more…" he paused, "revealing."
Robyn raised an eyebrow, "How does that work with the…"
"She hides it well," Gordeau noted.
Everyone else looked at the two with confusion, but they didn't explain themselves so they shrugged it off.
May silently wondered what Yuma had planned.
Ruby and company entered the city and were immediately ambushed by Heartless. Ruby readied herself and swung at the Bandits.
"Great," Qrow grumbled, "Now they have weapons."
"C'mon," Ruby shrugged, "Shouldn't be any different than the other Heartless we've fought."
Ruby groaned in annoyance, "Of course it's different! This other me got very arrogant very fast."
Weiss deadpanned at her, "Says the girl who tried to solo a Nevermore AND Deathstalker her on her first mission."
Ruby chuckled in embarrassment.
"I mean, what would you have done if I hadn't saved you?" Weiss continued.
Ruby shrugged, "I knew you would!"
Weiss blushed as Ruby turned away.
"Yeah," Winter agreed and the two charged.
Winter rolled her eyes at herself, "I agree with Ruby here, though this me has been arrogant the whole time already."
"THIS you?" Clover asked, teasingly.
Unfortunately, they were different. The Bandits had sword skills that neither were expecting and sent them flying back in a few seconds.
"Told ya!" Qrow smirked.
Qrow rolled his eyes, "Told ya."
He walked forward with his shield at the ready. As the Bandits swung, he blocked the swing and then attacked when it recoiled.
"That's one way to do it," Raven noted, "But I prefer just striking faster than the opponent."
Adam groaned, "That's one of the reasons we tied. We both tried the same thing."
After Qrow took the group out by himself, he turned and deadpanned at the agape faces of his party.
"That's how it works," he stated.
"How did you…" Winter started.
"You don't become Captain of the Princess's Knights without training in weapons defense," Qrow rolled his eyes, "Come on, let's go."
Winter smirked at Qrow, "So you finally joined the military. It's just a shame they didn't teach you any discipline."
Qrow shrugged, "Position or not, I just saved your ass. I'd say that speaks for itself over the title."
Ruby continued down the main street of the city. After fighting off some more bandits, the trio looked around. All the exits but one were either blocked by debris, or were too high off the ground to get to.
"And she can't get to them because?" Neo asked, "I've seen Red make bigger jumps than that."
"But not here," Ilia noted, "We've never seen Ruby jump higher than a person without Aura."
"We all have was to get around that," Blake agreed, "But I don't think this version of the three can."
"Well," Qrow shrugged as he took a drink, "Guess were headed down that alley, huh?"
Ruby nodded and entered. She looked around the small alcove and gasped. She saw someone kneeling behind some boxes.
The figure stood up revealing May, "Who's there? Hello?" she asked.
"And now we've met May," Ruby noted.
"Let's hope it goes better than the last Princess you guys met," Jaune hoped.
"May's done a good job so far of avoiding capture," Robyn pointed out, "I think she'll handle it better than Saphron did."
"Hi," Ruby greeted, "Who are you?"
"I'm May," she explained as she walked out, "My father is the sultan of Agrabah."
"Huh," Qrow noted, "So that makes you a princess."
"Thank you Captain Obvious," Mercury noted, "We've already figured that out!"
"But," May continued, "He has been deposed by Yuma, who now controls the city."
"Yuma?" Qrow asked.
"You haven't heard of him?" May asked, confused, "He's the royal vizier. He's gained evil powers and seized Agrabah."
"So he's a man trying to grab as much power as he can," Jinn rolled her eyes, "What does this have to do with me?"
"Just keep watching," Gordeau smirked.
She sighed, "He's desperately looking for something—something he calls the 'Keyhole.'"
The trio exchanged glances as May continued, "Yuma caught me trying to escape, but he helped me."
"Who helped you?" Ruby asked, curiously.
"We were hiding nearby," May explained, "But he left a while ago to take care of something…"
She sighed, "Oh, I hope Aladdin's all right."
"Anyone recognize the name?" Sun asked.
Everyone shook their heads and continued watching.
"Aladdin?" Yuma's voice asked. The four in the street gasped and looked up. Yuma was standing on one of the buildings talking down to them, "Where might I find this street rat?"
Emerald snarled at the screen, "Well, this guy just made his way to my shit list. Sometimes we can't help that we're out on the streets."
"Yeah," Nora agreed with a grumble, "I always hated that insult."
Emerald raised an eyebrow at the bomber, "Wait, you too?"
"I never knew my parents," Nora nodded, "I was on the streets by myself for a while, then Ren and I together, but we made it work."
"That makes three of us at least," Neo smiled.
Emerald just looked at both of the pink girls and how happy they looked. She'd been alone until Cinder, so why wasn't she as happy as them?
"May," he said smugly, "Allow me to find you more suitable company, my dear princess. These little rats won't do you see."
He smiled evilly. Ruby leaned over and whispered, "May, run!"
May nodded and took off down the Main Street, while Ruby summoned the Keyblade.
"Ah," Yuma said in recognition, "The girl who holds the key."
"Haven't they been watching Ruby?" Blake wondered, "He should have recognized her."
"With how he's been so far," Qrow observed, "I'd say he's too arrogant to even consider her a threat."
He shot a smirk at Raven, who just rolled her eyes.
Yuma summoned Heartless wordlessly and left the alley. Winter cast Thunder on the Heartless and Qrow mopped them up with his shield.
With the Heartless defeated, Ruby looked around. Stacked in the corner of the alley was a pile of boxes.
"Hey," Ruby suggested, "I bet we could get on the roof of this small building using these boxes."
Neo rolled her eyes, but stayed silent.
Winter nodded, so Ruby climbed up. As they did, a nearby pot sprouted legs and began to charge them.
"Woah," Ruby noted, "Didn't expect that."
"Is that a Heartless?" Lionheart asked.
"Yes," Gordeau nodded, "That is a Pot Spider."
"And now they can disguise themselves as objects," Harriet sighed, "I know we've said it before, but I'm really glad they don't exist in our universe."
The Pot Spiders weren't anything difficult, but they did startle the party. After making their way across some awnings and dealing with the spiders, they found an open entrance to a building. A pole stuck down, so she climbed up.
The building was a small room. There was a hole in the wall that looked out onto the palace. Off to the side, a carpet was flopping around. It was stuck under a box.
"Oh no!" Ruby gasped, "It's trapped!"
"We just saw that the Heartless can be objects," Weiss warned, "What if this carpet is too?"
"I don't think a Heartless would be trapped like that," Winter observed, "While they haven't been the most intelligent things, I think they'd have disappeared before getting trapped."
Ruby moved the box off the carpet. It stood up, bowed to Ruby and took off out the window.
Winter watched it fly off, "The carpet flew off toward the desert."
"Well, she was right," Ilia sighed in relief, "But I was with Weiss on this one."
"I wonder where it went off to in such a hurry?" Neptune wondered.
"Well then," Qrow noted, "What are we waiting for? We should follow it."
"Huh?" Ruby asked, "Why?"
"I'd like to know the same thing," Summer wondered.
"Do they have any other leads to follow?" Clover proposed, "That may be their only option at the moment."
"They could go after May," Robyn grumbled.
"Well," Qrow shrugged, "May said Aladdin left the city a while ago, maybe the carpet knows where he is?"
"That seems like a bit of a stretch," Raven pointed out, "How would you know that the carpet belongs to this Aladdin?"
"I don't," Qrow shrugged, "But I agree with Clover. It may be our only lead."
"Works for me," Winter nodded.
Winter rolled her eyes at her other self's willingness to go along with a very impulsive plan.
"Alright," Ruby agreed, "Let's go!"
The trio exited the city and entered the desert. The carpet flew back, and stood in front of them.
Ruby approached cautiously. The carpet laid down.
"See?" Ruby smiled, victoriously, "It's trying to help us!"
"Yeah," Yang rolled her eyes, "And I'm the sore winner."
"You are!" Ruby protested.
"I think it wants us to come along," Winter noted.
"Alright then," Ruby shrugged as she got on, "All aboard."
The carpet flew through the desert with the trio on its back.
Elsewhere, a small monkey in a vest and a fez and a tan skinned man wearing baggy white pants, a purple vest with no shirt and a small red fez were sinking into the sand.
"I take it that's Aladdin?" Ozpin asked.
Gordeau nodded.
Nora, Emerald, and Neo looked at the patches on Aladdin's pants and sighed. Nora remembered having to do similar things, while the two illusionists both were grateful for their Semblances.
The two struggled before being surrounded by Heartless. Right at that moment Ruby's group showed up on the carpet.
"C'mon," Ruby ordered, "We have to save them!"
"I don't think that's in question at this point, pip-squeak," Qrow smirked, "We'd have done it anyway."
The crew leapt into action. Qrow did this literally by leaping off the carpet and slamming into three enemies; taking them out with his momentum.
Jaune sighed. He suddenly had a great idea for a new team attack with himself and Pyrrha that he'd never get to implement. Maybe Nora or Yang could throw him at the enemy instead.
Winter cast Fire and Thunder from the carpet wounding the group, while Ruby moved into her combo's. After a brief fight, the Heartless were defeated and Ruby helped Aladdin from the sand.
Before words could be said, another wave of Heartless showed up. "Not again!" Qrow grumbled.
"But you have help this time," Roman pointed out, "I don't think you'll have a problem."
"They have more than you know," Gordeau smirked again.
Aladdin stood up and raised a familiar looking lamp, "Jinn, get rid of these guys."
Jinn rolled her eyes, "Okay, I get why I'm here. But I don't work like that. They're not wishes."
Nora suddenly got a manic look in her eye, "But maybe you do in this universe."
He rubbed the lamp and with a battle cry, Jinn emerged from the lamp in a puff of smoke.
Jinn would have paled if she could have, "This is a joke, right? You're getting back at me for the spat earlier."
"No, I'm not," Gordeau noted.
"Wish Number One, coming right up!" she said enthusiastically. She snapped and the Heartless disappeared.
"They are wishes!" Nora cheered.
"Why?" Jinn sighed, "Seriously, what did I do to you to deserve this?"
Gordeau deadpanned at her, "Do you really need to ask that? You know I don't choose who's who in these."
Jinn huffed as Gordeau sighed, "And just pay attention. You may actually thank me for this later."
"Whew," Aladdin sighed, "So, who are you and what's going on?"
The group explained to Aladdin what had happened and who there were. While they did that, they all flew back towards the city on the carpet. Jinn flew nearby.
"I see…" Aladdin nodded, "Thanks, Ruby."
"Aladdin," Ruby asked, "What're you doing out here?"
"Same old stuff," Aladdin shrugged, "Hunting legendary treasure."
"Is it just me, or does Aladdin remind anyone else of Sun from the first universe?" Yang asked.
"He does," Velvet noted, "If it wasn't for the Heartless, I could've mistaken this for the next part of it."
"The zombies were kind-of like Heartless," Sun pointed out.
"Dude, you got to fight zombies?" Neptune asked in wonder.
"Not as cool as you think it was," Pyrrha pointed out.
He got very smug, "Just paid a visit to the Cave of Wonders."
"I found this magic carpet," Aladdin explained and the carpet waved.
"And," he pulled out the lamp, "This lamp."
"Given the history, I'm surprised it isn't you," Jinn glared at Gordeau.
Gordeau rolled his eyes, "Again, I don't choose."
"Wait, why would it be Gordeau?" Blake asked, "Didn't Ozpin find the lamp?"
"No, Miss Belladonna. Vert did, he just gave it to me," Ozpin pointed out.
"I thought you were transported here after Ozpin and Salem's fight?" Penny looked up at Gordeau.
"I didn't tell you Penny," Gordeau noted, "But if everyone else remembers, that fight happened when I was fifteen. How old do I look to you?"
"Mid-twenties," Raven noted.
Gordeau nodded, "While my mind is older, my body is twenty-five. I went back to Remnant for ten years, found the lamp, and started my relationship with Jinn."
"Why did you leave then?" Roman wondered, "I'll admit, Remnant ain't the greatest place, but you had family there."
"I was told I had to come back," Gordeau noted, "We had a scare with a different universe and I had to return here."
Ozpin nodded, already knowing this story. Jinn was surprised to hear a hint of sadness in Gordeau's voice. She'd have to ask him about it later.
"Legend has it," he explained the way a story teller would, "That whoever holds the lamp can summon the…"
"Please," Jinn interrupted dramatically, "Kid, leave the intros to a professional. The one and only JINN OF THE LAMP!"
Jinn produced the lamp and rubbed it, "Rub-a-dub-dub the lamp," she dropped the lamp and posed triumphantly, "and have your dearest wishes granted."
"That seems too easy to screw up," Mercury noted, "I mean, what if the lamp just brushes up against your leg?"
"The other way's pretty easy to screw up too," Ruby grumbled, frustrated that she'd accidentally used Jinn's last question.
"Today's winner is…" she went on. She got right next to Aladdin and summoned a small burst of confetti, "Aladdin! Congratulations!" She shook his hand enthusiastically.
Winter smirked, "Any wish?"
Weiss shuddered, "You looked like Father for a moment, sister."
Winter nodded, "Greed has never been a good color on us."
"Patience, my fine, icy friend!" Jinn answered with a wave of her finger.
"Hey!" both Schnees said at the same time, causing both Qrow and Ruby to start laughing.
"Any three wishes!" She held up three fingers and produces two copies of herself.
She counted down. As she did, the copies disappeared, "A one wish, a two wish, a three wish. Then I make like a banana and split!"
Suddenly, Neo stood up and ran out of the theater.
"Where's she going?" Ilia wondered as Roman laughed.
"Wishes mentioned ice-cream," Roman laughed out, "She'll be back in a second."
True enough, Neo returned with a large banana split with two spoons.
"Care to share this with me?" Neo asked Ilia as she sat back down.
"Sure," Ilia turned pink and took the second spoon.
She reappeared behind Aladdin, "Our lucky winner made his first wish…"
She appeared right next to Ruby and whispered in her ear, "And let me tell you, what a doozy that wish was…"
"So," she continued explaining, she produced another copy of herself and the two leaned back to back and danced briefly, "He has two left."
"That's how counting works," Mercury rolled his eyes.
"Maybe she thought you could use a reminder?" Emerald teased.
Mercury grumbled in frustration, but secretly smiled at her joke.
"So, master," she asked as she reappeared as just herself, "What'll you have for Wish Number Two?"
"Hmm," Aladdin hummed, "How about making me a fabulously wealthy prince?"
"That's a great wish," Cinder noted, "Money, royalty, fame, and power all in one."
"I thought you only cared about one of those things," Adam pointed out.
"WHOA!" Jinn exclaimed, "Money! Royalty! Fame! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Okay," Roman shook his head, "I know it's happened before, but Matchstick is the last person I expected to say the same thing as Wishes."
"Okay, you asked for it!" she wound up, "A hundred servants and a hundred camels loaded with gold!"
"Just say the word," she acted like she was holding a scroll, "And I'll deliver it in thirty minutes or less, or your meal's free."
"This world doesn't look like it's that advanced," Penny wondered, curiously, "I could see Traverse Town knowing about scrolls and food delivery, but Agrabah looks a little more primitive."
"This Jinn is quite the traveler," Gordeau pointed out, "While Agrabah is her home world, she's seen the other worlds as well."
"Hey," she floated over to Aladdin and put her arm around him, "I'll even throw in a cappuccino!"
"No, thanks," Aladdin waved her off.
"Okay," she shrugged.
Oscar laughed lightly, "I like this version of you, Jinn. She's much more energetic."
Jinn rolled her eyes at Ozpin's new host.
"I think," Aladdin thought out loud, "I'll put that on hold until we reach Agrabah."
"Why a prince?" Qrow asked.
"You see," Aladdin explained, "There's this girl in Agrabah named May."
"Oh, he's got it bad," Neo chuckled.
"From the way she talked, I think May might too," Velvet pointed out.
"Wonder if it was that obvious with us?" Yang whispered to Blake.
Velvet, who hears everything, whispered back, "Oh yeah, it was," causing the pair to blush in embarrassment.
He sighed, "But she's a princess, and I'm…"
He scowled, "Aw, she could never fall for a guy like me."
"Hey, just because she's a princess doesn't mean she can't fall for you," Weiss huffed, "Maybe she doesn't want another royal and just wants someone to love her for who she is."
The younger viewers, except for Ruby, looked at Weiss with sympathy.
"Uh? Princess," Winter nudged Ruby.
"May?" Qrow nudged her on the other side.
"Oh," Ruby realized, "That's right! She's in trouble, Aladdin!"
Roman chuckled, "Probably should've led with that, Red."
"Agreed," Winter scoffed, "We can learn what he was doing later. Saving May and the Keyhole should be our priority."
"What?" he exclaimed, "We gotta hurry!" He spurned Carpet on faster.
"Ah," Jinn sighed in pleasure, "Fresh air! The great outdoors!"
Jinn smiled at the thought.
Ruby chuckled, "I guess you don't get out much, huh?"
"Comes with the job," Jinn sighed, "Phenomenal cosmic powers. Itty-bitty living space."
"I was curious," Penny noted, "How does it feel inside the lamp?"
"I can't answer that," Jinn shook her head.
Gordeau rolled his eyes, "Try."
"Fine," Jinn snarled back, "But I won't be able too."
Jinn turned back to Penny and was stunned when her voice came out, "It's cramped all the time. Most of the time I just want to be let out."
She turned and glared at Gordeau, "How? How did you do it?"
Gordeau looked down in shame, "I think that's something you and I need to discuss later. In private."
Jinn narrowed her eyes, but upon seeing how broken up Gordeau actually looked about it decide to let it drop for now.
"It's always three wishes," she sighed again, "Then back to my portable prison."
"I'm lucky to see the light of day every century or two…" she finished with disappointment in her voice.
Ozpin also looked down in shame, "I didn't realize it was like a prison to you."
"There's no way you could've," Jinn simmered, "It's not like I could have told you, since you didn't ask."
"Well," Ozpin sighed, "I hope Miss Rose let's you out more often than I did."
Ruby shook her head and stood up, "No. You do it."
She walked over and handed the lamp to Oscar while she looked at Ozpin, "I'm not here to fix all your mistakes. This is one you can fix, so do it."
Ozpin smiled at her, "Thank you for the opportunity, Miss Rose."
"I'll look after her too," Oscar nodded as Ruby sat back down.
"Say, Jinn," Aladdin wondered, "What if I use my last wish to free you from the lamp? What do you think?"
Jinn looked at Aladdin with shock in her eyes, "You'd do that?"
"Unfortunately, they're not wishes," Jinn sighed, "That would be wonderful."
"Jinn, it's a promise," Aladdin said with determination, "After we help May."
The group arrived at the city and was swarmed by Heartless. Carpet grabbed the monkey and flew to Aladdin's house.
Jinn disappeared back into the lamp, "Sorry, Al, but you're on your own for this one."
"You could've stayed and helped," Jaune shook his head.
"No, she couldn't have," Emerald corrected, "As long as she's bound to the lamp, she has to follow its rules, so in order to help, Aladdin would have to use his second wish."
"Is that why I can answer questions here?" Jinn asked in shock, "I'm not bound to the lamp?"
"Later," Gordeau cautioned, "I'll explain. I promise."
Aladdin drew a scimitar out, "That's okay, Jinn. We've got this."
Aladdin lunged into the crowd with his sword. He slashed his way through the Heartless like they were nothing. Ruby, Winter, and Qrow did their usual things.
"He's definitely got skills," Yang noted.
"When you grow up on the streets, you learn how to protect yourself," Neo shrugged, "What, did you think Dum Dum taught me how to use my weapon?"
"Probably not," Ruby giggled.
Roman rolled his eyes, "Just remember who got you Hush in the first place."
After eliminating the Heartless in the entry way, Ruby noticed that the street was now blocked by debris.
"Great," Winter sighed, "Now how do we get through?"
"Aladdin knows a way," Robyn predicted, "Always trust the people who live on the streets to know their way around."
"Agreed," Raven nodded, "They're always who I go to first for information."
"Follow me," Aladdin waved as he climbed up a building, "I know this city like the back of my hand."
The trio followed Aladdin through an archway. They found themselves back in the alley, but where Yuma had stood when he confronted them.
Aladdin led them back to his house, which was the room Ruby found Carpet. While there, Ruby explained what she knew Yuma wanted.
"So," Aladdin thought, "Yuma is after May and this 'Keyhole.'"
"Keyhole, eh?" Jinn mused, "I could swear I've heard about that somewhere before…"
"That's unsurprising," Lionheart noted, "If that Jinn has been around as long as ours, she's bound to have heard about the Keyhole before."
"But can she remember where it is?" Ozpin asked, "One of the perils of living so long is you forget important things."
Gordeau glared at his old man.
"Really?" Winter asked enthusiastically, "Where?"
"Now where was it?" Jinn thought, "It's only been two-hundred years…"
"Well, anyway," Ruby interrupted, impatiently, "We've gotta stop Yuma before it's too late."
"While I agree with you, Ruby," Ren noted, "Finding the Keyhole would stop Yuma's plan as far as you know."
"Right," Qrow realized, "We don't know about the Princesses of Heart yet."
"Follow me," Aladdin gestured, "He'll probably be at the palace."
Aladdin led them across the rooftops to the palace gates. There, Yuma had May trapped.
Ruby and Aladdin jumped off the roof and landed with a thud. Yuma turned around and smirked, "Setting your sights a little high, aren't you, boy?"
Winter sighed, "The excuse every Atlas parent will give if someone they don't approve of tries to date you."
"Thankfully, Father never tried to arrange a marriage," Weiss said with relief.
"I wouldn't put it past him," Clover growled, "I think it was only because you both left before he legally could."
"Back to your hole, street rat," Yuma ordered, "I will not allow you to trouble the princess anymore."
"He's not troubling her; he's trying to rescue her!" Sun protested.
"I think Yuma's under the same assumption Aladdin is," Pyrrha pointed out, "That May couldn't have feelings for Aladdin because of his status."
"May!" Aladdin yelled.
"I'm so sorry, Aladdin," May apologized. Yuma threw his arm in front of her to silence her.
Behind his back, Aladdin rubbed the lamp, "Jinn, help May. Please!"
"A good use of the second wish," Jinn noted.
"Yeah," Tai nodded, "Not only does he save May, but if her father hears about it, he may forgive the fact that Aladdin's not royalty."
Jinn appeared behind May in a puff and picked her up. Yuma's jaw dropped in shock. "One wish left!" Jinn observed, "You're making this really easy; you know."
Yuma chuckled, "So sorry, boy. I'm afraid your second wish has been denied." As he finished, Iago flew to him holding the lamp.
"Where did Iago come from?" Nora asked.
Raven groaned, "I can't believe I didn't think of that! It would have been perfect!"
"Not that you'd do it now," Summer frowned.
"Huh!" Aladdin exclaimed as he looked at his now empty hand.
Iago dropped the lamp into Yuma's hand.
Jinn sunk down, "I'm sorry, Al." She disappeared in a puff of smoke and dropped May. She fell into a nearby pot.
"Well, at least she's kind of safe," Harriet noted.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Adam shook his head, "What if that's a Pot Spider?"
The pot grew legs as Yuma smiled, "And now, I bid you all farewell. Attack!"
Yuma faded from the street. Around the group, more pots grew legs and they quickly formed a centipede. A head with a large jaw and a tail with antennae appeared and surrounded the train of pots.
"Not quite a spider, but he did call it," Mercury agreed.
"That's the Pot Centipede," Gordeau noted, "The more advanced form of the Pot Spiders."
"May!" Aladdin called out again and charged the pot she was in. His attack bounced right off.
Ruby and Qrow tried a similar attack, but nothing happened.
"Well, that's annoying," Qrow rolled his eyes.
"Guess it's my turn again," Winter smirked with confidence.
Winter hit the pot with Blizzard and still nothing happened.
"So much for that, Ice Queen," Roman lightly chuckled.
"So how do you deal with it then?" Lionheart asked.
"It has to have a weakness," Jaune pointed out.
"The problem is finding it," Ruby agreed.
"Nothing's working," Qrow complained.
"We have to save May!" Aladdin exclaimed, "Something has to work."
Winter shot a fire spell that connected with the head. At the same time, Ruby landed a combo on the tail.
"You found its weakness," Penny shook her head, "But this Heartless has the best defenses we've seen so far."
"Right," Blake agreed, "You can only hurt it by hitting its head or tail, right where its weapons are."
"I wouldn't want to be on the business end of those jaws," Adam shuddered as he remembered the guard dogs.
"Or the whip-like antennae on its tail," Sun agreed as he rubbed his shoulder.
"You have to hit the head!" Winter observed.
"Or the tail!" Ruby added.
"All right," Aladdin nodded, "I'll help Ruby."
"And I've got the Ice Queen," Qrow agreed.
They ran off and were soon tag-teaming the head and tail. Suddenly, the Pot Centipede smashed through the debris on the street, taking the fight away from the palace.
"It's trying to escape with May," Oscar realized.
"If it gets to the desert…" Sun started.
"They'd lose it forever," Velvet shuddered, "It's very hard to track things in the desert."
"Who needs to track when you can get a bird's eye view?" Qrow asked.
"I don't think you can do that in this universe, Brother," Raven rolled her eyes.
Qrow deadpanned at her, "I was talking about the flying carpet, Rae."
"Don't let it get away," Ruby charged after it. Aladdin whipped his sword around in a fury and sliced the back end to pieces.
Ruby decided to try out Raven's Sonic Blade move again. She charged forward and pierced the tail three times doing massive damage to it. The centipede fell and the pots crumbled.
"Using my move to finish it off?" Raven smirked, "Glad that time during our fight wasn't a one-time thing."
"May!" Aladdin cried out.
Yuma's disembodied laughter was heard all around the group.
"To the desert!" Aladdin ordered, "Come on, let's move!"
"I take it Yuma used magic to transport May to the desert?" Cinder asked.
"The bigger question is why?" Neptune wondered, "Where could he take her in the desert?"
He took off, but Ruby called after him, "Wait, why the desert?"
"Jinn's been locked in that lamp for centuries," Aladdin reasoned, "If she knows about the Keyhole, chances are it's in the Cave of Wonders."
"Ah," Jinn smiled, "Glad someone listened to me."
"That's good reasoning from Aladdin," Lionheart smiled, "If he does exist in our universe, we should try to recruit him."
"Good reasoning," Winter nodded as they made their way to the desert.
They reached the area Aladdin said the Cave of Wonders was in. When they arrived, the ground started to shake.
"Why do I feel another boss fight coming on?" Mercury asked.
"Seems a little close to the last one, but I see it," Yang agreed.
Pyrrha rolled her eyes, but didn't protest this time.
Out of the sand, a giant tiger head emerged from the ground. It's eyes glowed purple and it glared at them. It also had earrings in its ears.
"Huh," Adam tilted his head, "Is it just me or does that remind anyone else of Sienna?"
"I see it," Ilia nodded, "Earrings and all."
"Why is the tiger head wearing an earring?" Weiss asked, incredulously, "It's made of sand!"
"I hate sand," Tai grumbled to himself.
"It's eyes!" Aladdin said in shock, "They're supposed to be orange!"
"It's been corrupted by darkness!" Qrow exclaimed.
"Then we'll have to clense it!" Ruby shouted as she readied herself.
"Great plan, but there's one problem with it," Ren noted.
"Huh?" Ruby wondered.
"How are you going to get up there?" Nora asked, finishing Ren's thought.
The head reared back and shot lasers out of its eyes. Ruby smirked, that technique was old hat to her. She deflected them back with no problem.
"We can't do anything from down here!" Winter complained.
Suddenly, the head dug itself into the ground. As it did, it summoned Heartless to help it.
"That'll work," Clover noted.
"It's like the solutions to the problems just keep dropping into their laps," Emerald rolled her eyes.
Ruby jumped up on the head's nose before calling out, "I'll deal with the head, you guys work on the Heartless."
After receiving nods of agreement, Ruby got to work. While on the nose, the eyes were nothing. She attacked them relentlessly until they turned back to orange.
"That," Jaune narrowed his gaze, "Felt too easy."
"I don't think it ever wanted to hurt them," Pyrrha noted.
"Huh," Neo raised an eyebrow, "Does that mean the tiger had a heart?"
The group pondered this, but couldn't come up with a definitive answer.
With the head's corruption gone, it roared and killed the remaining Heartless.
Ruby jumped off the head, "Alright then, let's find May!"
The group headed into the Cave of Wonders. Inside was a large hall with a drop off on the right side. Periodically, a large boulder dropped and rolled down the hall. Suddenly, a new Heartless appeared. It looked like a Large Body, except it had a turban on and an orange vest.
"Ah," Nora pouted, "That's just a Large Body in a different outfit."
"That is a Fat Bandit," Gordeau noted.
Raven glared at him as he groaned, "And the name is a bit misleading. This is one of the most frustrating Heartless ever."
"Huh? Why?" Oscar asked.
"Just watch," Gordeau sighed.
Ruby smirked. She leapt over it to try and attack it like a Large Body.
The Fat Bandit wasn't having it though. He quickly turned around and shot a stream of fire out of its mouth, singeing Ruby.
"Ouch," Ruby winced.
"While I like it's attack, I can't get behind its name," Cinder shook her head, "Plus it's still a Heartless."
Thankfully for the party, that left its back open to the other three and they dealt with it quickly.
"Thanks," Ruby smiled sheepishly, "I won't make that mistake again."
"I see what you mean," Pyrrha noted, "It has size, speed, and magic. It's an all-around dangerous foe."
The group ran down the hall and dodged the boulders. The next room was much the same, but it had water jets shooting out of the walls.
Ruby ran down the hall, dodged the boulder, but was hit by the jet and was sent plummeting into the drop off.
"RUBY!" a cry came out from the room.
"RUBY!" the party yelled as she fell.
Thankfully, she landed in a pool of water. She climbed out and noticed a small treasure chest sitting next to her. She opened it a pulled out one of the missing pages of Pooh's book.
A sigh of relief permeated the room.
"We should've expected that," Velvet shook her head, "Ruby already fell like that in Deep Jungle."
"Yeah," Sun agreed, "And we survived a much larger fall in the first universe."
"I'm just happy we'll get to see Pooh again," Nora smiled.
"Nice," Ruby said to herself, "Four more to go."
Ruby swam around for a little while exploring the underground section of the cave. She eventually came to a hidden room where a large pillar rose from the water.
She tapped on it and the pillar collapsed, causing her to scream in fright.
Yang laughed at her sister again, causing Ruby to blush.
Elsewhere in the cave, Yuma raised the lamp, "My first wish, Jinn! Show me the Keyhole!"
Jinn sighed and dejectedly flicked her wrist. A section of the wall blew open, revealing the Keyhole.
Jinn glared at the lamp in Oscar's hand, "I've never liked that thing, but forcing me to hand over the fate of that world to someone makes me hate it even more."
Yuma laughed triumphantly.
Ruby recovered from the pillar incident. "Okay," she sighed, "I'd better find my way back up."
"Yeah, you should," Qrow noted, "I'm probably worried sick about you."
"We're probably worried," Winter corrected.
She quickly found a staircase up and met the others waiting in the hall. "Hey, guys," she chuckled.
"Ruby!" Qrow exclaimed, "We thought you fell to your death!"
"Nah," Ruby shrugged him off, "There's a pool of water down there, let's go!"
Winter scowled at her, "Thanks for the heart attack."
"You know, I really expected Summer to do that," Tai smiled sadly.
Raven laughed, "She did do that quite often didn't she?"
"What do you mean?" Yang asked.
"Summer used to always get separated from the team," Qrow chuckled, "It was kind of her thing to be attacking something that flew off with her."
"We'd look for a few day's but not find her," Tai shook his head, "Right when we assumed she was gone, she'd show up out of the blue with a smile and shake off our concerns like they were nothing."
"Which is why we expected it this last time," Raven finished.
"Only it didn't happen," Summer sighed sadly.
Ruby smirked and took off, leaving the party to follow.
They ran off into the next room, which was another hallway. The next room, however, was the treasure room.
The more money minded of the group grinned at the room.
"Hey, Greeny," Roman turned, "Before I start seeing Lien signs, does this treasure have a curse too?"
"Yes and no," Gordeau answered, "The Cave of Wonders is supposed to be a gauntlet for Jinn's lamp. The treasure along the way is just a trap that causes you to be buried in the cave forever."
"So someone with a teleportation ability or portals could get out," Neo smirked.
"Possibly," Gordeau smirked.
Ruby looked around. She had never seen so much gold before. "Whoa," was all she could say.
Something caught her eye. Up on a ledge, three more puppies were staring down at them.
"Oh, poor puppies," Ruby whimpered.
"Now, how are we going to get them?" Winter contemplated out loud.
The group thought for a moment before Aladdin snapped his fingers, "Abu," he said and the monkey hopped onto his shoulder, "Can you get them down?"
"Abu, huh?" Sun noted, "So Aladdin keeps a pet monkey."
"Eh," Gordeau shrugged, "Not really. Abu has a very distinct personality and could leave if he wanted to. He and Aladdin are just really good friends too."
Abu nodded and leapt up onto the ledge. One by one he brought the puppies down, and Winter teleported them to the ship.
"Thanks for the help, Abu," Ruby smiled.
"I like him!" Nora smiled, "Forget the talking bird; I want a pet Monkey!"
Ruby and company ran into the next room.
Meanwhile, Yuma, having both May and the Keyhole, summoned Maleficent and explained the situation to her.
"That girl again?" Maleficent questioned.
"Of course, it's me," Ruby glared, "We're gonna stop you no matter what it takes!"
"Which means you're going to stop me," Weiss sighed, sadly.
"She is more persistent than I expected," Yuma admitted.
He smirked, "Why not explain the situation to that girl Weiss? Doing so may actually prove useful to our…"
"There is hope yet, sister," Winter smiled, "It looks like you're not completely filled in as to the details of their plan."
"Boy, does that sound familiar," Qrow scowled.
He was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. Ruby looked up at the duo in realization, "Wait a second. Are you Maleficent?"
Maleficent said nothing and simply faded out of the world.
"Bitch," Roman scoffed, "Don't be such a sore loser about it."
Aladdin didn't care about her though, "Yuma, let May go!"
"Not a chance," Yuma scoffed, "You see, she's a princess…"
"One of seven," he continued, "Who somehow hold the key to opening the door."
"Now I have to agree with the thief," Adam noted, "He's monologuing their plan, just like a certain someone we both know."
Cinder scoffed, "I'm not that bad."
"Open?" Qrow asked.
"The door?" Winter questioned.
Yuma smirked, "But you fools won't live to see what lies beyond it."
"Jinn! My second wish. Crush them!" he ordered.
"Again with the villains forcing us to attack Ruby," Raven scowled.
"If they can get the lamp away from Yuma, I can stop," Jinn advised quickly.
"Jinn, no!" Aladdin pleaded.
"Sorry, Al," Jinn sighed, "The one with the lamp calls the shots. I don't have a choice."
Yuma smirked and shot a fireball at Ruby. She dodged and got into her battle stance.
Jinn approached and would up a punch. "I'm really sorry about this," she apologized as she swung at Ruby. Ruby easily dodged the slow blow, but Jinn whispered to her, "Get the lamp back and I can stop."
"Is that Jinn or Pyrrha?" Nora laughed, "She's apologizing before she attacks!"
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized for nothing.
Jaune just shook his head and smiled.
Ruby nodded, "Guys, focus on Yuma."
Yuma laughed from his perch, "Easier said than done, my girl!" He chanted something and suddenly the center of the room erupted in an icy tornado.
"We already knew he had magic," Ozpin noted, "But he seems to have more control than anyone else we've seen so far, except Leonardo."
"I'm sure with training both Miss Rose and Miss Schnee could get there," Lionheart noted.
Winter and Aladdin dodged out of the way, but Qrow and Ruby took the full force of the wind. They were knocked backward away from Yuma.
As Yuma shot a laser at Winter, Aladdin jumped up behind him and slashed at him with his sword.
"Okay," Ruby noted, "So when he's casting he has to focus on that, so attack him while he's trying to use his spells."
Yuma took a few hits before turning into a ball of energy and warping across the room.
"If you can catch up to him," Yang rolled her eyes, "Fighting him looks more annoying than fighting Neo."
Neo smirked. "You want a rematch, Blondie? I'm sure you could land a hit this time," she teased.
"Well, she is smarter," Adam grumbled to himself.
Ruby cast Cure on herself and Qrow before noticing Yuma was on the ledge right above her. Qrow noticed at the same time and the pair nodded at each other.
In one motion, both Qrow and Ruby jumped up onto the platform and attacked Yuma on both sides.
"Nice fluid teamwork you two," Clover praised, "And wordlessly too."
"It normally takes a lot longer to get on that level," Weiss agreed.
"Didn't we do that on day one as a team?" Blake asked.
"Nah," Yang shook her head, "I'm the only one who didn't hear the plan. And it was Ruby's plan so I recognized what was going on fairly quickly."
Yuma staggered a bit before he swung his staff at Qrow, forcing him off the ledge.
The tornado died down, and Winter cast Fire from across the room and connected with Yuma. Aladdin dodged another punch from Jinn.
Yuma looked like he was wearing down. Ruby looked at Winter and they nodded at each other. Both cast Thunder at the same time and forced Yuma to the ground, defeated.
"Okay, I've got a plan," Robyn noted, "Grab the lamp and May, seal the Keyhole, then trap Yuma down here and escape on the carpet."
"I don't like leaving him down here," Ruby shook her head, "That just seems cruel."
He dropped a small blue orb. "Huh," Winter noted, "Another Blizzard orb."
Ruby surged with power, "Maybe our Blizzard spell is upgraded," she thought.
"The spells have upgrades?" Winter asked.
"Yes," Gordeau noted, "Using Blizzard as the example, you have Blizzard, Blizzara, Blizzaga, and its most powerful Blizzaza. However, I wouldn't suggest trying those until you get the hang of magic in the first place."
Winter nodded, "I had already planned on practicing."
"May!" Aladdin ran towards her.
Right as the party reached May, Yuma's voice called out, "Jinn! My final wish!"
Robyn's hand reached her head, "Why didn't you grab the lamp!"
"We were discussing magic?" Ruby said sheepishly.
"We should've prioritized better," Winter agreed.
The group turned around to see Yuma fully recovered, "I want you to make me an all-powerful genie!"
"You know," Adam turned to Cinder, "That's a wish I could see you making. Being all-powerful is what you want, isn't it?"
Cinder scowled, "And be bound to whoever has my lamp? Be trapped in it when no one does?"
She rolled her eyes, "As if… That's a prison not power."
"Well, we know how to defeat him then," Ren pointed out, "Thank you, Cinder."
Cinder raised an eyebrow before hesitantly speaking out, "You're… welcome? Is that how that works?"
Jinn closed her eyes and zapped Yuma with her finger. He surged with power and collapsed the floor sending all the occupants of the room except May down into the hole.
The room they were in was a small room with a square platform in the middle. Surrounding the platform on all sides was a pool of lava.
"That looks hot," Ilia noted.
"I don't think you can physically stand that close to lava without protection," Neptune noted, "You'd burn up."
Ruby and Aladdin looked around. Suddenly, Yuma burst out of the lava in his new form. He looked like Jinn except male and bright red.
He laughed and lowered himself down to Ruby's level. Iago flew by carrying a black version of Jinn's lamp.
"So we just need to get the lamp away from Iago," Qrow noted.
"Should be fairly easy," Jinn noted, "He doesn't look like he's that difficult to deal with."
"But they also have to deal with all-powerful Yuma," Summer noted.
"I wouldn't worry about him," Velvet noted, "He's been so arrogant this whole time that he'll probably just admire his power and assume no one can beat him."
"The lamp!" Aladdin shouted, "Get Yuma's lamp!"
Ruby nodded, "Qrow, Winter, keep Yuma's attention on you. We'll handle the lamp."
Qrow rolled his eyes but nodded. Yuma really didn't do much though. He occasionally threw a giant molten boulder at the platform, but the duo easily dodged it.
"You were right, Velvet," Penny nodded, "He's almost ignoring them completely."
Cinder rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't have made that wish, but I certainly would've crushed them if I was all powerful."
Meanwhile, Ruby and Aladdin had no problems wailing on Iago. He eventually dropped the lamp.
Ruby picked it up and turned to Yuma, "Okay, Yuma! Back to your lamp!"
"Another solid victory," Harriet noted, "You're not doing too bad, kid."
"And that's the first member of the villain's council down," Blake pointed out.
"The first?" Yang questioned, "No, this is the second behind Shay right?"
"No," Nora shook her head, "Shay wasn't a member of the council. The council was Maleficent, the lady with the big hat, the octopus-lady, Hades, the bag-man, and Yuma. Yuma's trapped in the lamp now, but Weiss is almost a member now, so no big changes there."
"How did you remember all that?" Oscar asked.
Nora just tapped the notebook she had been taking notes in, "I'm like the theater's Jiminy. I'm keeping notes, cause I want to remember everything from this place."
In a red tornado, Yuma was sucked into the lamp with a scream of defeat. He dropped a red orb as he did it. "A Fire upgrade as well?" Winter wondered.
He also dropped a paper. Qrow picked it up and read a few lines to himself, "Hey, this is part of Ansem's report!"
Winter snatched it from him, "We'll read it later, let's go seal the Keyhole."
"I agree," Ozpin nodded, "As much as I would like to hear what this Ansem has to say, doing it in front of Aladdin would be a mistake."
"And the Cave of Wonder's ain't exactly the safest place to try and read something," Qrow noted.
Up at the Keyhole, May had recovered and watched as Yuma was sucked into the lamp. A noise behind her caught her attention and she gasped.
The group used the carpet to return to the Keyhole. They landed, but May was nowhere to be found.
"So someone grabbed May," Robyn sighed, "Just like they did Saphron."
"The Heartless got Saphron, right?" Emerald noted, "Why did we assume they couldn't do it again."
Aladdin looked around in a panic, "May? May!" he called out.
Ruby sealed the Keyhole the same way she did the others.
"Job well half-done," Roman noted, "But they still got the princess."
"I'm sure Red will find all of them," Neo shrugged, "She's very persistent."
"Don't I know it," Roman chuckled.
Nothing fell out of this one though. Instead the entire cave began to shake.
"We better get out of here," Qrow stated as he used his shield to cover both his and Winter's head.
"Okay, I have to ask," Winter turned to Qrow, "Why do you keep saving me like that? You've done it more than once."
"Maybe because we're partners?" Qrow pointed out, "And even though we bicker a lot, I like to think we're friends, even in this universe. And like we said in the last one, friends will help each other over trying to be true to a cause."
"Friends," Winter noted, "I don't have a lot of those. I think I like that idea, Qrow."
Qrow smiled, "Then, Ice Queen, you've got one in me."
Ruby nodded and got on the carpet. She pulled Aladdin on as he continued to call out for May.
They began to fly out as the cave collapsed around them.
"We've got to hurry!" Qrow grumbled as a boulder hit his shield. The force was so great he fell off the carpet.
"And there's my luck kicking in again," Qrow sighed.
"It really does screw you over at the worst time's, doesn't it?" Clover asked.
"Qrow!" Winter called out as he fell.
"Jinn!" Aladdin called out, "Save Qrow!"
Jinn smirked, "Alright Al! Wish number two coming right up!"
"Wait, wouldn't that be wish number three?" Penny questioned.
"I don't know," Jinn wondered, "It should be, but I obviously work differently there so something must be up."
Jinn flew down and grabbed Qrow. Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Wish number two? Shouldn't that be three?"
"Well, his second wish was denied. It wasn't completed, so it doesn't count," she winked playfully at Ruby and continued to fly next to the carpet, carrying Qrow.
"A loophole," Roman chuckled, "Way to outsmart the lamp, Wishes."
Ruby smirked back as she understood what Jinn was doing.
They flew out of the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin sighed and no one said anything until they reached his house.
"Yeah, I kind of agree with that mood," Jaune noted, "They could be celebrating, but with May still missing…"
"It would be in poor taste," Tai nodded.
When they did, Winter explained, to the best of her abilities, where May was.
"So," Aladdin sighed, "May's no longer in Agrabah."
"Wait, we told him?" Winter gasped.
"Doesn't that break the more important of the two rules?" Neptune asked.
"It does," Gordeau noted, "But between Jinn and May disappearing, Aladdin was going to find out anyway. If they didn't tell him, he would just spend the rest of his time searching Agrabah fruitlessly."
He looked at Ruby with determination, "Ruby, let's go find her."
Ruby stared a hole in the ground, "Sorry. I can't take you with me."
"I see they're still keeping to that part of the rule, though," Ozpin noted.
"Eh, rules are overrated," Mercury shrugged, "Take him with you. You could use all the help you can get."
"Wh…" Aladdin started in shock, "Why not?"
"I sure wish we could…" Qrow mumbled.
"But we can't," Winter sighed, "If we take him to another world, we would be…"
"Muddling," Qrow grumbled as he took a drink.
"Meddling," Winter hissed.
"Must you do that," Winter complained, but with less irritation in her voice than usual.
Qrow chuckled, "You know I do."
Ruby looked directly into Aladdin's eyes, "Aladdin, we'll find May. I promise."
"Uh," Jinn interrupted, "Agrabah to Al. Hello? You still have one with left."
"Look," she explained, "Just say the word. Ask me to find May for you."
"That's a good point," Jinn agreed, "And he did save me from Yuma, so I understand."
"But he made a promise…" Ruby noted.
"I…" Aladdin started, "I wish…"
Jinn wound up in preparation, but Aladdin's words stunned them all, "For your freedom, Jinn!"
"AL!" Jinn yelled.
"I told you," Ruby smiled, "He made a promise, and Aladdin doesn't seem like the type to break it."
Jinn smiled at the man onscreen, "I wish it was that easy to be free of my lamp."
"AL!" Jinn yelled in shock. A surge of magic surrounded her and the cuffs binding her wrists fell off.
"A deal's a deal, Jinn," Aladdin said, assured of his decision.
"Now you can go anywhere you want," he continued, "You're your own master."
"But," Aladdin said somberly, "if you can, it'd be great if you could go along with them and help Ruby find May."
"Seems reasonable," Lionheart noted, "He did free you after all."
"Agreed," Jinn nodded.
"Hmm," Jinn hummed. She turned around and folded her arms, "Sorry, Al. I'm done taking orders form others."
A shocked silence filled the theater, from everyone except Neo and Roman who both chuckled, "Wait for it."
The four looked at her stunned.
"But…" she said playfully before looking over her shoulder, "A favor? Now that's entirely different." She winked playfully, "I guess I could give that a try."
Everyone started laughing.
"I guess we should've seen it coming," Nora laughed, "She's been like that the whole time."
Aladdin smiled and Jinn put her arm around him, "After all, we're pals, right, Al?"
"Jinn…" Aladdin said sadly.
"Just leave it to me!" Jinn reassured him.
The two smiled at each other and the screen faded.
"Back to the villains then," Cinder noted.
"I wonder how they'll take the loss of Yuma?" Emerald wondered.
Meanwhile, around the villain's table, Hades and Weiss stood facing Maleficent, who was facing the wall.
Hades sighed, "That smarmy vizier could've had 'em," he glared at Weiss, "If someone had stuck around to give him a hand."
"Wait, I was there?" Weiss wondered.
"It seems these people tolerate each other about as much as we do," Cinder laughed.
"Hey," Weiss protested, "I did my part. I brought the princess, didn't I?"
"I kidnapped May?" Weiss blanked, "Why? Why am I doing this?"
"I have a feeling we're about to find out," Raven noted.
"Yuma was beyond help," Maleficent explained, "Consumed by his own hatred. One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely."
"Sounds like Hazel," Ozpin noted, "Though I still have hope it's not too late for him."
"Please," Cinder rolled her eyes, "He hates you so much; he'd be the first to be consumed if the Heartless existed."
Meanwhile, Adam thought about what Maleficent said. He suddenly realized why he lost against Blake and Yang. He had been so consumed with his hatred he wasn't paying attention to other things.
Hades took that as a jab at him, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Lighten up. I'm as cool as they come, okay?"
"As evil as he is, I still have to like this guy," Roman chuckled, "He still has con-artist written all over him."
He turned back to Weiss, "By the way, kid, have we got something special for you."
"Huh?" Weiss turned to Maleficent.
"We had a deal, yes?" She stated, "You help us, and we grant you your wish…"
"Oh no," Weiss shook her head, "We saw what happens when you make deals with the bad guys in the first universe."
Sun nodded, "Yeah, but I don't think you're in any danger of getting shot."
The table sprung to life and an image of Pyrrha lying unconscious appeared.
"Pyrrha!" Weiss exclaimed in anticipation.
"Go to her," Maleficent ordered, "Your vessel is waiting."
"That was the deal?" Blake wondered, "Weiss kidnaps may and Maleficent finds Pyrrha?"
"It can't be that simple," Yang shook her head, "And look at Pyrrha! She's unconscious."
The woman with the large hat from earlier was revealed. She was a crocodile Faunus with yellow eyes. She wore a dark green collared shirt with a dark brown corset, black and gray striped trousers and black shoes. In addition, she wore dark brown fingerless gloves and carried a large stopwatch with her. Her Faunus trait was patchy green scales all over her body and face. She had an x-shaped scar on the left side of her head, black polish on her nails and sharp metal teeth with two screws in them. She also wore a large green hat with a feather in it. One of her hands had been replaced with a hook.
"Anyone recognize her?" Ilia asked, "I don't think she's a part of the Fang."
"She's not," Cinder shook her head, "She's a long dead member of Salem's inner circle."
"And you know this how?" Ozpin asked.
"You and I both know Salem's sentimental," Cinder scolded, "She actually hand paints portraits of everyone who's ever worked for her. That is Tock, and Salem prefaces that portrait with the words 'Don't play with your food.' She was killed because she took too long to kill her target."
"Do you know who her target was?" Velvet asked.
"No, she doesn't say," Cinder shook her head.
"Just remember," Tock cautioned, "This is no pleasure cruise. It won't be a pleasant voyage."
"Why are you doing all of this for me?" Weiss asked, cautiously, "What's the catch?"
"Glad to see you learned from Roman's mistake," Neo noted.
"At least I'm asking," Weiss agreed, "It means I don't trust them either."
"Catch?" Maleficent asked as she turned around, "What's the catch?"
"Silly girl," she sighed, "You're like a daughter to me. I only want you to be happy."
Cinder and Emerald actually shivered. Maleficent reminded them of their respective superiors, but hearing it come from Maleficent made the phrase very creepy and manipulative.
She caressed Wiess's face.
Weiss slapped her hand away and recoiled, "I seriously doubt that."
"It doesn't surprise me at all that you can spot the manipulation, Sister," Winter noted.
"With all the practice we have with Father, it's pretty easy to spot," Weiss agreed.
"Believe what you wish," Maleficent stated smugly, "But lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain."
The two stared at each other for a moment before Weiss walked off to join Tock.
AN: Hopefully this actually posts.
Hey everyone again!
Here's the next update.
Some story development happened this chapter, going a bit deeper into Gordeau's past. Not everything will be revealed but a good portion of it will be fully revealed during the next break chapter.
Casting:
Jasmine- May Marigold: This is a What if? Scenario. Basically, May and Jasmine have similar backgrounds but aren't quite the same. Basically what if May hadn't joined the Happy Huntresses and stayed with her parents? We could see it ending up a lot like Jasmine did.
Aladdin – Cannon: We did have someone cast as Aladdin for a while, but after thinking it over, they didn't fit well. There are definitely other characters who fit this role, but we already have them cast, so Aladdin went back to being Aladdin.
Iago and Abu – Cannon: Not a lot to say here except that, at least for Kingdom Hearts, the only people who fit these roles fit better places.
Genie – Jinn: The similarities were just too apparent to not have Jinn as Genie. I know Jinn doesn't act like Genie does, but these are alternate versions. They can and do have slightly different personalities.
Captain Hook – Tock: Between the accent, the swordsmanship, and the fact that she is already based on the crocodile, Tock was a pretty logical choice for Hook.
Seating Chart:
Laps:-Ruby: XXXXXX;-Weiss: Zwei;-Sun: XXXXXXXX-;Roman: XXXX;-;Pyrrha: XXXXXX; Oscar: Jinn-
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
And the poll:
10th: Coco Adel with 6
Tied for 9th: Emerald Sustrai and Winter Schnee with 8
Tied for 8th: Salem (Grimm) and Salem (Blonde) with 9
Tied for 7th: Velvet Scarlatina and Weiss Schnee with 10
6th: Blake Belladonna with 12
Tied for 5th: Glynda Goodwitch and Raven Branwen with 14
Tied for 4th: Cinder Fall, Kali Belladonna, and Sienna Kahn with 16
Tied for 3rd: Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao-Long with 21
2nd: Neo Politan with 22
1st Pyrrha Nikos with 23
Don't forget, after next chapter the poll will be closed to viewing. You can still vote, but next chapter will be the last one I update you on until the special chapter where I reveal the final list.
See you next time!
