Hey guys! Back again, with again, a slightly shorter chapter this time.
So, before we begin, I just want to get it out there that I have not yet had an opportunity to watch the premier of Volume 8. I don't have a First subscription yet, and my fiancee and I were planning to binge the whole series first, but then we decided to rewatch all of Community instead. Fantastic show, by the way. Really god damn funny. So, no talking about V8 yet. I'll let you know when it's safe.
I also earlier today finally got around to playing the KH Melody of Memory demo, and it's actually really fun.
So, without further ado, enjoy!
Chapter 24
Aqua charged towards the large ball of darkness, but stumbled and fell, since she was still being affected by the chloroform a little.
"Mom!" Ruby called out. "Are you okay?"
"Cardin drugged me, so no," she said. She looked up at the black ball, and heard a massive roar sound off from the inside. With a burst, the ball broke open, and Cardin Winchester was no more.
The creature that replaced him had a black body, like always, but it was shaped almost like a Beowolf, with short hind legs supported on longer arms. Both hands and feet ended in long sharp claws. Chains surrounded its body, and its face carried the grin of an animal's maw. Long, red, hair-like tendrils extended out from the back of its head, and there was a heart-shaped hole in its chest.
The creature roared and slammed a hand into the ground, sending three small purple clouds with yellow eyes flying towards Aqua, but Ruby jumped in front of her, and slashed them with her Keyblade. She heard screams behind her, and saw that the other three boys from CRDL were fleeing as fast as they could.
"Mister Arc!" Glynda called out. "Take Miss Xiao Long to the infirmary! She is in no condition to fight!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Jaune said, picking Yang up and carrying her towards the exit. Yang was kicking and screaming the whole time, not wanting to abandon the fight. Aqua stood up, standing firm next to Ruby, their Keyblades held at the ready. The remaining members of Teams RWBY and JNPR drew their weapons and joined them.
"So, this is a Heartless?" Coco asked, strutting past the others with her handbag slung over her shoulder. Yatsuhashi and Fox were next to her, with their weapons drawn. Velvet reached for the box strapped to her waist. "Bun Bun, just stick to mine for now. You can refill them faster."
"Got it," Velvet said, pulling the box off her waist.
"Don't let it leave this room," Aqua said sternly.
"It won't," Glynda said.
Jaune could hear the gunfire and explosions as soon as he left the room carrying Yang. She had initially resisted, but the adrenaline had worn off by the time he made it to the infirmary, and she had finally passed out, exhaustion and her injuries finally getting the best of her.
Now it was just a matter of waiting for her to wake up, and reflect on what had just happened.
Cardin had done it. He had revealed his secret to the entire class, and they all knew he was a fraud.
But they didn't care. They all defended and supported him.
And then, you know, Cardin turned into this giant rage monster, so it was still a little up in the air where he stood.
He heard Yang stir and inched his chair closer to her bed.
"Yang?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
"Vomit Boy?" she asked, her eyes fluttering open. "Where am I?"
"The infirmary," he said. "Remember, Cardin beat you up?"
"Is that why I feel like I got hit by a bus?" she asked.
"Well, a mace, and repeatedly, but same thing," he said, causing her to chuckle.
"How long was I out?"
"Only a few minutes. The doctors said you were exhausted, and you took a couple nasty blows, but you should be good to leave tomorrow after your Aura recharges and finishes healing you."
"Ugh, I hate hospital stays," she said, slumping back onto her pillow.
"At least the food's okay here." They laughed softly, before an uncomfortable silence fell over them.
"So, Cardin knew about your fake transcripts?" Yang finally broke the silence, asking the question he knew was coming.
"Yeah," Jaune said with a sigh. "He overheard me telling Pyrrha about them, and threatened to spill the beans unless I became his-" he said.
"His bitch?" Yang interrupted.
"I was gonna say 'errand boy', but I guess that works too," he said. "Being a Huntsman was all I ever dreamed of, but my parents were dead set against it, and I don't even know why. We come from a long line of Huntsmen, so it never made sense to me why I couldn't. So the only option I had was to cheat. Pretty pathetic, right?"
"Come here," Yang said suddenly.
"Huh?" he said. "Why?"
"Just come here," she said, a little more forcefully.
"Um, okay?" he said, and leaned closer to her. She grabbed the collar of his hoodie, pulled him closer, and pressed her lips against his cheek. After a second, she let him go, and he spluttered, his face as red as a tomato.
"Don't read into that," she said, pointing her finger aggressively at him. "I was just saying 'thank you'."
"For what?"
"What do you think?" she asked. "For stepping up! Thanks to you, we were able to save Ruby, and I was able to knock Cardin into next week! You might not think it, but that was pretty brave of you to do that, to stand up to Cardin to save a friend despite the dirt he had on you. You may have cheated, but that doesn't make you pathetic. Know why?"
"Why?" he asked.
"Because you used the opportunity and became a hero. At least in my book."
"Thanks, Yang," he said.
"You saved my sister," she said. "The least I can do is help you feel better about yourself. Besides, what better reward than a smooch from a hot girl like me?"
"I mean, it was nice," Jaune said quietly.
"Oh, careful, Jaune," Yang said teasingly. "Wouldn't want to make Weiss Schnee -nvious!"
"Ugh," Jaune groaned. "That wasn't even a real pun!"
"Okay, you know what? I take it back, you're the worst," Yang said, crossing her arms and pouting.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Jaune and Yang looked to the voice and saw Professor Ozpin standing in front of the closed door to the room.
"Professor Ozpin!" Jaune said in surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Yang asked.
"I heard what happened in class today," the Headmaster said. "Both what Team CRDL did and what you did, Mister Arc. I'm glad to see you are recovering, Miss Xiao Long."
"Thanks," she said.
"What happened after we left?" Jaune asked him.
"Mister Lark, Mister Thrush, and Mister Bronzewing all fled the scene as soon as Mister Winchester transformed. A manhunt is currently underway to find and apprehend them for their part in today's incident. As for Mister Winchester, Glynda has informed me that the creature he transformed into, this 'Heartless', was destroyed. I can only assume that means that Mister Winchester is dead."
"Basically," Yang said. "There's no coming back from that."
"Oh," Jaune said sadly. Sure, Cardin was a huge jerk, but that didn't mean he deserved to die. It was a little depressing that he ended up needing to be killed by his own classmates.
"But, that's not why I'm here," the professor continued. "I'm here to talk about you, Mister Arc."
"Uh, me?" Jaune asked nervously.
"Yes. Some…information was brought to my attention regarding your academic history. Or should I say, lack thereof."
"I get it," Jaune said, looking down. "I'll go pack my bags."
"What for?" Professor Ozpin asked.
"To leave?" Jaune answered uncertainly. "I'm expelled, right?"
"Why would you be?"
"Because I used forged documents," Jaune said.
"Mister Arc, did you really think that you were the first student to enter this school through less-than-legal means?"
"Well, no…" Jaune said nervously.
"You may have gained admission here through dishonesty, but you earned your place when you successfully passed initiation. That is what that test is for, after all. Besides, it was rather obvious that your transcripts weren't telling the whole truth."
"So, you knew from the start that I cheated?" Jaune asked.
"Correct."
"So, if Cardin had told on me, nothing would have happened?"
"Correct."
"So I did Cardin's homework for him for nothing?"
"Essentially."
"Man, you have the worst luck, Vomit Boy," Yang chimed in.
"Yes. Yes, I do," Jaune said, slumping in his chair. "Wait, so if I'm not in trouble, then why did you want to talk to me?"
"I wanted to commend you for a job well done," the professor said with a smile. "Your actions in class to stop Cardin and save your friends, despite thinking that moving against him could jeopardize your own standing in this school, was inspiring. That kind of selflessness is a trait that is becoming all too rare these days, and it fills me with joy to see it exemplified in you. Well done, Mister Arc."
"Th-thank you, sir," Jaune said, not quite believing yet that the Headmaster had said something that flattering about him.
"Plus, I wanted to make sure that Miss Xiao Long was okay before doing this…" he said, reaching for the door handle, and turning it.
He hadn't even finished opening the door yet when it was thrown open and a flood of people came barreling into the room, a red blur at the front. When the dust settled, Jaune could see the remaining members of his team, plus Team RWBY, Team CVFY, and Professor Branwen, lying on the floor in a heap, while Ruby had her arms around Yang in a tight hug.
"Ah, okay, sis, still bruised," Yang wheezed.
"Oh, sorry," Ruby said, backing off sheepishly. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"Me, too," Yang said. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"No," she said. "They just took me by surprise and wrapped me up before I could react."
"Oh, good," Yang sighed in relief. "And you took down Cardin's Heartless?"
"Well, I mean, there was like 12 of us, so it was pretty easy."
Professor Branwen had untangled herself from the pile of bodies and held the girls for a second.
"I never would have thought Cardin was capable of something like that," the professor said.
"None of us did," Weiss responded, having also stood up. "But don't you ever let something like that happen again, you dolts!"
"Aw, Weiss, you do care," Yang said.
"Quiet you!"
Jaune felt a hand touch his shoulder, and he turned around to see Pyrrha smiling brightly at him.
He returned it.
Jaune was standing on the roof where his troubles began, right over the now-empty dorm room of Team CRDL, taking in the night air, and just waiting.
"You wanted to talk?" Pyrrha asked as she stepped out onto the roof. He turned around to look at her.
"Pyrrha, I'm sorry," he said. "I was a jerk when we were up here the other day. You were only trying to be nice, and I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head—"
"Jaune, it's okay," Pyrrha interrupted him, smiling. "I think you more than made up for it today. You don't need to apologize for anything. We're just happen to have our leader back." She turned around to head back towards the exit. "Let's go back to the dorm. Ren made pancakes! No syrup, though. You can thank Nora for that."
"Wait!" he called, holding out his hand. "You know how you offered to help me get better?" She nodded. "Is that still on the table?" he asked sheepishly. Pyrrha smirked and suddenly pushed him to the ground. "Hey! What was that for?!"
"You're stance is all wrong," she said, standing over him with her hands on her hips. "You need to be wider and lower to the ground." She offered her hand to him, and he took it with a smile. "Let's try that again."
"I'm just saying, you could have at least given me a Cure," Yang argued with her sister and Aqua as they were walking to their dorm.
"Then we would have had to explain why you recovered so quickly," Aqua said. "You weren't injured that badly, it wasn't worth the suspicion."
"Ugh, fine," Yang conceded before opening the door. The three of them stepped in to see Weiss and Blake standing in the middle of the room, watching them intently.
"Uh, what's up, guys?" Ruby asked nervously.
"Yeah, why do you look like we drowned your goldfish?" Yang asked.
"I have something important I need to talk to you about," Weiss said. "As my partner, Blake agreed to back me up."
"Okay, I'll just leave you to it, then," Aqua said, trying to back out of the room.
"Actually, it's mostly you I need to talk to, Professor."
"Oh? What about?"
Weiss took a deep breathe.
"I'm just going to come out and ask: Are you a Schnee?" There was silence.
"What?" Aqua asked. "Of course not. Why would you think that?"
"Because your Semblance is almost identical to my family's."
"So?" Yang asked. "There are plenty of similar Semblances out there."
"That's the conclusion I would have reached, too, but then I discovered that 'Aqua Branwen', or 'Aqua Eraqus' as she used to be called, apparently didn't exist until 10 years ago." Aqua's eyes widened. "Now, obviously, you didn't just appear out of thin air, so what was your name before that? It was Schnee, wasn't it?"
"I-I don't…" Aqua was speechless. She never thought anyone would notice that little discrepancy in her history, let alone that they would come to this conclusion! How could she possibly explain that she literally did just appear out of thin air?
"You were born as the illegitimate daughter of my mother, and disowned when my father took over the company weren't you?" Weiss kept going.
"Weiss, just—" Ruby tried to get her to stop, but she refused.
"And now you have the same last name as a bandit leader! The Branwen Tribe, led by Raven Branwen!"
Yang's eyes flashed red.
"Don't say that name in front of me!" she yelled angrily.
"No, I'm not going to be diplomatic about this!" Weiss yelled back.
"Weiss, I really do think you should take it easy," Blake urged. She went ignored.
"You were taken in by the tribe weren't you? And now you're here to do what? Kill me? Get back into the family? Answer me!"
"Weiss, we can explain—" Ruby tried to help.
"No! I want to hear it from her!" she yelled, pointing at Aqua. "Aqua Branwen, who are you?!"
"I…" she tried to come up with some kind of answer to give the girl, but she just couldn't. Then she heard a noise underneath her. She looked down.
There was a pool of darkness building on the floor.
"How?!" she asked.
"What the-?!" Weiss yelled in alarm, as the pool expanded to cover all their feet, slowly pulling them downwards.
"Mom, what's happening?!" Ruby yelled, trying to fight the pull of the darkness.
"I don't know!" Aqua yelled back.
"Help!" Yang called out, hoping someone heard them and could pull them back out before it was too late.
Before long, all five women were engulfed by the darkness, leaving Team RWBY's dorm completely empty.
AN: So I had initially planned to actually write out a fight between them and Cardin's Heartless, which was a Dark Thorn, by the way, but then I remembered that there were 12 people in that room, which would have been way too many to keep track of, plus it would have been over really quickly. So, it just happened offscreen. Sorry if you were expecting more.
We also finally have Weiss confront Aqua about her Semblance, but then something goes horribly wrong. Now, I realized that this story hasn't had much Kingdom Hearts in it yet, so next time, we're going to be covering the events of 0.2, but with Team RWBY joining Aqua. But where did that portal that sucked them in come from?
As always, thanks very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!