Just up the ramp, Sora and his companions saw the lights of a nearby house lit up with none other than Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, and Ozpin standing within. As the the group entered, they were greeted with varying waves. A chipper one from Yuffie, a warm and gentle one from Aerith, a stoic one from Leon, a broad one from Cid, and a small nod from Ozpin.

"Ah, there you are. We've been waiting for you." Ozpin greeted, both hands on the head of his cane.

"Professor Ozpin. You...really are here." Jaune said, surprise lacing his voice, though also...uncertainty. While he and Pyrrha knew he was here thanks to Ruby, given what happened on Remnant before it was destroyed, he was still shaken by what Ozpin revealed to them. And by...No. Now wasn't the time to think about that.

"Yes I am, Mr. Arc. It does my heart good to see that some of my students managed to survive." Ozpin replied with that ever unreadable expression of his. His gaze shifted over to Pyrrha, who looked away along with Jaune. He could tell memory of what happened in the vault was still fresh in their minds.

Nobody else seemed to catch it as Cid cleared his throat. "You guys ever hear of Maleficent?" he asked, cutting right to the chase. Sora's group exchanged confused looks with one another before unanimously shaking their heads. The name didn't ring a bell with any of them. Cid shrugged it off and said, "I hear she's in town."

Confused as to why Cid didn't elaborate, Sora decided to ask, "Who is she?"

"A witch, man! She's a witch!" Cid answered, almost as if he were surprised Sora hadn't met Maleficent already. Weiss crossed her arms at Cid's less than helpful answer. "That just explains WHAT she is, and even then it's not very clear or helpful. What exactly is she so notorious for that you make such a big deal about her?" she asked.

Leon chose to answer in place of the slightly irritated Cid. "She's the reason the town is full of Heartless."

That right there caused everyone to pay considerably more attention. Goofy hummed with a rub of his chin. "Somebody is controlling the Heartless, after all." The worry was evident in his voice. He and Donald suspected there was something or someONE bigger than just the Heartless here, but this certainly confirmed it. "Then that means she's the one who had Alice kidnapped." Ruby whispered to Sora and her friends. It would certainly explain the girl's disappearance...though not quite how nobody noticed.

"She's been using the Heartless for years." Aerith chimed in, her voice filling with tension as her mind drifted to the witch in question. Leon's behavior also seemed to shift at the mere mention of this Maleficent. An almost pained frown mixed with a hint of resentment. "We lost our world thanks to her."

Cid and him took turns to give their own explanation on the state of things.

"One day a swarm o' Heartless took over our world!"

"That was nine years ago."

"I got outta that mess and came here with these guys."

"That's awful!" Donald said, shock filling his voice as well. So the swarm of Heartless that consumed Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid's world was because of this Maleficent? Ruby and all her friends recalled the same thing happening to theirs. How many other worlds had shared such a terrible fate? More still, how could anyone do such a horrific thing on PURPOSE?

"Our leader was a wise man named Ansem," Leon continued, his voice far more relaxed. "He dedicated his life to studying the Heartless." Cid nodded and followed up, saying, "His report should tell us how to get rid of the Heartless."

Ansem...Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ruby remember Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid telling them about Ansem when they first arrived in Traverse Town. And how he had been studying the Heartless. "Where's this report?" Sora asked. "Yeah. Maybe we can use that?" Yang suggested with a shrug.

Unfortunately, that seemed to not be an option as Leon's head drooped forward with a sigh. "We don't know. It got scattered when our world was destroyed."

"I'm sure Maleficent's got most of the pages." Cid said, his teeth gritting with quiet rage. She certainly seemed like the sort to keep some perverse trophy of conquest.

Ozpin finally spoke up to give his own input. "It would explain why she is able to control the Heartless without fear of them turning against her. What I've yet to understand is what her end goal is. It can't be simply making worlds fall one by one. And why kidnap one specific person? What does this 'Alice' have that makes her so special that Maleficent would spare her?" It was clear that there was more behind the scenes than they thought. What it was, they could only find out.

They didn't realize that Maleficent was in fact closer than they thought. For just outside of the house was the witch herself, and beside her...was Riku.

"You see? It's just as I told you." Maleficent spoke, her voice oozing with derisiveness as they looked in on Sora with the rest of his new companions. "While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions. Evidently, now he values them far more than he does you." Riku's eyes were fixed upon Sora as he watched him interact so casually and cheerfully with his new friends. That weird duck and dog thing, that blonde dork, and those girls. So many new friends going to so many other worlds claiming to have been looking for him, all while Riku had been scouring this town trying to find Sora and Kairi.

"You're better off without that wretched boy. Now think no more of him and come with me." Maleficent continued, smiling wickedly as she leaned down to his level. She knew precisely which buttons to push to get Riku to see things her way. "I'll help you find what you're searching for."

Riku said nothing. He simply stared at Sora with a leer of disappointment and betrayal. If these new friends of his were more important to him than the friends he'd known since childhood, then so be it. He'd find Kairi himself.

The entire time, Cinder had been listening intently around the corner. She had been curious about Sora and that Keyblade of his, especially with how he adapted surprisingly well to his first encounter with the Grimm, even if he did have help. Now, however, she was just as curious about Riku. Particularly why Maleficent seemed to think him worth such attention. As a mere pawn? An asset? Or was there more to him? Whatever the case, she made a mental note to watch these boys closely in the days to come.

What none of them realized was that Maleficent and Riku were being watched by another figure as well. Perched upon the roof of a nearby building was a crow who seemed to be watching the pair with far more interest than any regular bird normally would. With its eyes firmly fixed upon the witch and the boy, the bird took wing and flew away.

Back within the house where discussions were aplenty, Cid remembered the request he gave Sora and his friends. "So you delivered that book?" A question Jaune answered with a smile and thumbs up. "We sure did!"

Cid nodded gratefully with a small grin. "Thanks. That navigation gummi's installed and ready to go. You find another one, bring it to me. I threw in a warp gummi for the heck of it. Now you can jump to worlds you've been before."

"Really? That's pretty generous of you." Blake said in mild surprise.

"Well, you guys and gals are doing what you can to bring peace to the worlds and you're looking for your friends. I may be gruff but I ain't a bad guy." Cid said with a shrug. "Oh, right. About the other gummi pieces you found? I installed those too. Now you've got a bigger cockpit with extra seats so y'all can fit and sit inside without takin' too much space."

"We can? Oh thank goodness. Because I am NOT going to stay standing every single time we travel." Weiss said with a sigh of relief relief.

With that, Cid gave a roll of his shoulder and made his way to the door. "Guess I'd better get back to my real job then." His words drew looks of confusion from the youthful bunch. "You don't acutally work at the accessory shop? Then what is your real job?" Pyrrha inquired, causing Cid to grin with amusement. "You'll see. See me at the first district." With that, he opened the door and walked back outside.

Aerith seemed to be looking toward the window contemplatively. "I've been thinking about the bell in the Second District." That was all she needed to do to catch Sora's attention and curiosity. "The one that rang a bit ago?" Sora asked.

"The one above the gizmo shop," Yuffie interjected, ever grinning like she hadn't a care in the world. "There's a legend about it, you know." The mere mention of the word 'legend' seemed to spark something in Ruby as her silver eyes widened with cheer. "A legend? Really!? We should go see then!" Ruby said, sounding excited for the unknown.

"But it's all boarded up. Nobody can get in there." Aerith informed them, causing the excitement in Ruby's eyes to shift into more of a kicked puppy expression, complete with a whine. Yang however clasped her sister's shoulder shoulder and smiled when pointing a thumb to herself. "Hey, come on, sis. Don't look so down. So what if it's boarded up? We can just tear it down. We've got plenty of strength for that, right here." A sentiment she emphasized by flexing her toned bicep.

Weiss let out an audible sigh at Yang's...less-than eloquent solution. "Typical Yang. All the subtlety of an Ursa." she said, shaking her head. A sentiment that Yang's teammates agreed with silently in their own ways. Ruby with embarrassment and Blake with a tiny smile and shake of her head.

"A what?" Sora asked with a tilt of his head before looking to Donald and Goofy for clarification. Naturally, they didn't know either.

The huntsmen and huntresses looked at Sora, Donald, and Goofy, remembering that they weren't exactly privy to Grimm. "Another creature of Grimm, like those Beowolves that you encountered when you left Merlin's house." Ozpin spoke up.

Donald's eyes widened at the implication of Ozpin's words. "Wait, did you know those things were here!?" he asked with an accusing glare.

"Not until tonight." Ozpin clarified calmly with a shake of his head. "However, if their presence is any indication, then the state of things may be even worse than I thought."

The young huntsman and huntresses all suddenly had very pensive expressions on their faces. The memories of what happened to their world were still fresh in their minds. And with the appearance of the Grimm alongside the Heartless, the implications of what this meant were indeed dire.

Before Sora, Donald, or Goofy could ask about these Grimm, the bell above the gizmo shop rang yet again. With how much it was ringing, it was almost as if something was beckoning them. Or perhaps...beckoning Sora specifically. Now curious as could be about the bell, Sora began walking toward the door. "Eh, you guys can tell us later. Let's go check out that bell! I wanna see what this legend is about!" he said excitedly as he led the way.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Ruby cheered as she joined Sora. Both of whom were flanked by Donald, Goofy, and the rest of Team RWBY who scrambled to follow the two youths. "Whoa, guys! Wait up!" Jaune exclaimed, practically bumbling after Team RWBY with Pyrrha bringing up the rear. All the while, Yang couldn't help but smile as she looked between the two. It seemed Ruby had found herself quite a friend in this strange new world. Call it sisterly instincts, but based on first impressions, she couldn't help but find Sora almost as adorable as her little sister.

They came to the Second District and the main walkway path to the fountain square. Right as they came out, the Large Bodies and yellow mage Heartless emerged. "It never ends." Goofy said with a small sigh as he and the others drew their weapons.

"Wait. There seems to be a new one, this time." Pyrrha noted when taking a look at two more emerging with the yellow Heartless. This time they had a green color scheme to them.

"Oh great. What's this one gonna do?" Jaune said, really not looking forward to finding out what these things did. It seemed like every Heartless they encountered had the potential to be a funhouse of cruel tricks and gimmicks.

The Large Body slowly but steadily attacked when it wasn't moving about, while the Yellow Opera's danced or weaved around with occasional zaps of electricity. For some reason though, the green ones remained far back and didn't seem to do anything. Ruby maneuvered to appear behind the Large Body and swiped the back of it. Even though it caused enough damage for it to go 'berserk' like the others, she wasn't afraid because she knew Blake was right behind the Heartless as it turned and cut it... but instead of the Large Body vanishing, it was still going. "What?! But that always worked befo-AGH!"

Ruby was knocked aside onto the ground and tumbled. Groaning in pain as she pushed herself up, she gasped when she suddenly saw the rotund Heartless attempting to belly flop her. She barely reacted fast enough to roll out of the way in the nick of time.

At the same time, right when Weiss struck one of the Yellow Opera's with ice, she charged in to impale it. Right before her weapon would have pierced into it though, she saw a green light surround the enemy. "Hey! What was that?" she said when looking to Donald. "Donald, are you healing them?!" "What!? Are you crazy!? Why would I heal the Heartless?!" Donald angrily said back as he shot a fire ball at the Large Body's back, causing it to lurch forward from the searing heat.

Jaune stayed back, looking around and noticing how they weren't destroying any of the Heartless as quickly as they normally did until seeing the newest ones emanating a familiar green light. "It's not Donald! It's those green ones! They're using healing magic!"

"What!? These things can heal other Heatless!?" Sora exclaimed. Sure enough, the green one was utilizing Cure spells on its fellow Heartless as Jaune said. Just when these magic using Heartless weren't problematic enough.

"Then let's stop em! FIRE!" Donald exclaimed, twirling his staff around and unleashing a fire spell. But the instant it struck...the Heartless didn't seem to be affected. "Wak!?"

"Gawrsh, Donald. Did ya miss?" Goofy asked before letting out a yell of surprise as he raised his shield just in time to defend himself from a Large Body.

"Of course not! I hit it right on!" Donald protested, growing more angry by the second. "Alright, let's try this! THUNDER!" Small streams of electricity rained down from above, striking the large body close to the green floating Heartless he targeted, but...again it didn't even flinch. And whatever damage he did to the Large Body was patched up by the curative magic. "What's going on here!?" Donald yelled with boiling irritation. "BLIZZARD!" While it was fitting he'd try a cooler spell in the midst of his heated temper, even now, it didn't work, making Donald let out a flurry of furious quacks which were cut off as the Large Body knocked him away with a belly strike.

In the midst of the fight, Blake managed to get one of the Heartless off of Ruby. And her eyes shifted toward the Large Body and its helper. She noticed the court wizard duck's magic issues and immediately, it clicked in her head. "Donald!" She quickly dashed to him, flinging Gambol Shroud into the back of the Large Body's head before delivering a flying kick to the healing Heartless, knocking it away before pulling her weapon out of the Large Body. "I think that Heartless is absorbing your spells! Don't use any magic on it!" she yelled, using her Semblance to phase out of harms way from the raging Large Body.

Donald looked between his staff and the floating green nuisance and glared, rolling up his sleeves. "Why you little...WAAAAK!"

Mustering his anger and annoyance, Donald leaped up, holding his staff with both hands like a baseball bat, and swung with another squawk of fury. The green Heartless was knocked for a spin, eventually dissolved away as it hit a nearby wall. Everyone who saw blinked in surprise, but Goofy smiled. "Nice going, Donald! Didn't know ya had that kinda streng-YEEOOW!" Goofy's praise was cut off as he was zapped from behind by one of the Yellow Opera's.

Pyrrha ran to the steps near the fountain beside Jaune. One of the Yellow Opera's tried to rush and zap Pyrrha, but Jaune stepped in front with a sweep of his blade, cutting it down while Pyrrha got into a better position. Once on a higher level, Pyrrha got on one knee at the edge of the walkway and switched her javelin to rifle mode. "Watch my back." Pyrrha politely requested as she took aim. "Sure thing." Jaune replied, stepping up to protect Pyrrha's blind spot in case the Yellow Opera suddenly got smart.

After scanning the area and watching through one eye down the barrel, Pyrrha found their still dealing with their own batch of Heartless. Taking aim at the healer giving them grief, she lined up the rifle and took the shot. Dead on, Heartless destroyed. As she turned, she saw Jaune pushing the Yellow Opera back with his shield, then cleaved it in two it, freeing them up. "Okay. Let's go back and help the others." he said, sharing a nod with Pyrrha as they ran back to everyone else.

Yang was back to back with Blake as they respectively came face to face with the remaining Large Body and Yellow Opera. The two Heartless charged at them, one with the force of a wrecking ball and the other with their pointed hat charged with electricity. At the last second, Yang and Blake moved opposite of each other which caused the Heartless to collide and stun each other. Taking advantage, Yang rushed in with a mighty punch to the Large Body's face while Blake ran to impale the Yellow Opera. Both enemies were destroyed at the same time. And with all done and dealt with, Yang gave an elated exhale. "I think that's all of them."

With all their foes defeated, everyone took a breath of relief...Or half a dozen in Donald's case. After thoroughly smacking that Green Rhapsody to kingdom come, he was left winded and weary. While the adrenaline certainly gave him the strength to pack enough of a wallop to take care of that heartless, endurance and stamina were another matter. Thankfully a bit of support from Goofy helped him right himself.

"I hope so. We're almost there and I really wanna see what this is legend is all about!" Ruby said with childish glee.

Something which, as expected, irritated Weiss. "This isn't a field trip, Ruby. If there were this many Heartless around, then whatever this bell is has to be important."

"Well, all the more reason to check it out! Let's keep going!" Sora said enthusiastically, leading the way again with Ruby following behind.

"Wait a minute!" Donald called out with irritation as he dashed after the two youths.

"Wait for me!" Goofy called out, more enthusiastically as he ran after them as well.

The remaining huntresses of Team RWBY reacted with a shake of the head, a rapid blink, and a cheeky grin respectively. And the cheekily grinning Yang clapped Weiss and Blake on the shoulder before yelling, "Last one there's a rotten egg!" as she dashed after Sora and her sister.

"Wha-" Weiss couldn't even finish her thought as Yang took off. Blake on the other hand gave a tiny smile before rushing off after them, turning to Weiss and saying, "Do you prefer hard boiled, sunny-side up, or scrambled?"

Did Blake just make a joke? Weiss could not remember much, if any, instances in which Blake made a joke. Then again...it was at Weiss's expense so the Schnee heiress shouldn't have been surprised, given their history. Seething with annoyance, Weiss indignantly yelled, "I am not a rotten egg!" before finally running after her team.

The whole time, Jaune and Pyrrha both smiled at the sight, happy to see their friends reunited with each other. As they ran after everyone else, their thoughts drifted to their own teammates. Wherever Ren and Nora were, they WOULD see them again, no matter what. But there would be time for that later. For now, they would push forward until that day came.