Smaller, More Honest Souls: Arc of Redemption

by MasterCaedus

Jaune Arc would have done anything to get back the woman he loved. And he did do anything; he did everything and it still wasn't enough. He lost his way, and could only find it for the sake of his friends and family. Now he has a chance to fix everything: Sora & Oz send Jaune with Yang to find her mother's Nobody and protect the worlds. But even a past you confront can haunt you.

19. Tear in my Heart

AN:

Hey everyone! Glad to be back after a month and a week! Sorry it took a while, but a lot has happened. My computer is finally reaching that age where everything stops working. Battery won't charge, boot up takes six years, it'll scream at me and orange screen if it's on too long. On top of that, I got to go to SDCC with my family, so I couldn't write that week! On top of that, I just got the All-in-One bundle for Kingdom Hearts and I had to play through all the games again, right!? I've been writing whenever I could, though.

Now for some responses:

To Gamelover41592: I'm glad you liked the pun! KH3 might have an effect on this fic, I'll have to see once I play it. It wouldn't surprise me if it did, though.

To Remnant7: Yammy's... I don't know. He's stupidly strong in his big fight, but I never thought he was a centrally cool character. Still, it gives a good gauge of OJ's strength in comparison to Jaune's right then. Bleach is a pretty fun show. Lot's of filler. As for My Hero Academia, it is my favorite TV show right now, bar none. The characters are bananas awesome, to the point where it's actually also my first manga!

To cturner971/Chretner: I hope that my group loves my DnD. It's a semi-custom ruleset that we've been testing for a superhero type one. It's a lot of work to make all new enemies, but I love it. I hope that this chapter lives up to the promise last chapter made.

To DragoonSensei: Thank you. I want it to be a clever storyline almost as much as just a fun one.

To AquaTimez: Wow. Well, I really appreciate that you'd leave a review so much larger than what you're accustomed to and that you have such a high view of the story, from the first fic until here, even if you've never been a big RWBY fan. I've tried really hard to make the characterization consistent throughout every chapter, and I've often worried that the jumps that I've made throughout their character arcs have been too large too fast. To hear that you think that everyone, even the secondary characters, are written great and that their development seems pretty organic, is a real weight off of my mind. I was also worried at first about how I'd combined the worlds, like it would be too much of a big change, but I really like it too and was happy it became bigger than just 'saving this one world' without having to have Sora in his usual element. I also really am happy you like that Jaune isn't always winning. One of my favorite little things in Kingdom Hearts was that you could beat or lose to both Leon and Cloud and it was okay either way. Sora wasn't a beast then, and Jaune isn't here either. I changed the story and cast of each world out of necessity, like you guessed. This already seems like too much, and I think I'm not going to include the rest of Ichigo's group next time. Too many ingredients, I think. I'm glad that you like Jaune and Yang's relationship. It's honestly my favorite part of this story, too, because it's really fun to write, and it grows on its own as I write it. Being consistent is difficult. There've been times I've deleted like 4500 words because they didn't really fit right, and it needs to. I hope it stays consistent. That's the hardest part. As for the spoilers, sorry. I'll give out obvious things – I mean, like Sora getting a Keyblade back when it was that or die. But Yang and Jaune? That's a wait and see spoiler. Anyways, I'm glad you like the story. Here's to another... 60 chapters of loving it!

Chapter 19: Tear in My Heart

Jaune grunted as his back hit the wall, sending a jolt of surprise more than pain running down his back. The two Ronin pushing against his Keyblade chattered excitedly and raised their swords to attack again, barely giving Jaune enough time to dive out of the way and swing a glancing blow that turned one of the Heartless' legs into mist. The monster shrieked and toppled slowly over, though the other jumped over it and rushed Jaune again. He quickly raised the Keyblade to block the attack and spun to use its momentum to send it stumbling past him. He kicked it in the back and it lammed face first into the ground, giving him the time to spear it through the chest with his Keyblade. He turned to see the one he had maimed dragging itself slowly towards him, sword waving wildly. He set his jaw and brought the Keyblade down again, releasing another Heart from Darkness. He turned and surveyed the hallway, where Ichigo and Rukia were busy fighting against their own squadrons of Heartless. "This is getting insane," Jaune mumbled to himself. He took a deep breath, then readied the Keyblade again and sprinted towards the fray.

His Keyblade collided with a Ronin that jumped at Rukia's back, the Light of the blade exterminating it quickly. He turned and slashed at a Soldier Heartless next, though it erratically jumped out of the way and instead allowed a Shaman – a monkey like Heartless with a face composed of a bony mask – to shoot blue flames at the Keyblade wielder. Jaune jumped between the pillars of energy and swung the Keyblade like a bat, sending a Shadow careening into the Shaman and knocking it off balance until he dashed forward and speared both Heartless through using the Keyblade. "Ninety seven!" Ichigo shouted from behind.

"Oh, no, I'm not doing this. Not again!" Jaune snapped as he turned his gaze for a moment towards the Soul Reaper and saw a Getsuga Tenshou annihilate a column of Heartless.

"One hundred and three!" Rukia retorted as a blast of ice shot from her blade and froze a similarly sized group of Heartless solid.

"Guys, come on!" Jaune whined, knowing that taking these things out with just sword skills wasn't going to do much in the way of letting him catch up. "Just focus on fighting!"

"121!"

"148!"

"164!"

"180!"

"Guys!" Jaune hissed angrily. They were just shouting numbers for fun at this point! He raised the Keyblade and managed to block a Fire coated slash from a Ronin from his right side. Jaune pushed back against the attack, then steadied himself and kept the Keyblade up in a defensive posture. He glared around at the Heartless approaching him, their chattering and shivering forms forming a ring of Darkness as they pressed towards Jaune. Jaune kept an eye on each of them as best he could, making sure to keep all of them further than his Keyblade's length away. Jaune was able to keep his voice from cracking this time as he asked, "So... who wants some?"

The Heartless jumped forward, nearly all at once, and Jaune sighed. "Why can't it ever be easy?" he mumbled before beginning to block and counterattack the incoming blows, Keyblade flashing as it collided with the various attacks that came his way. He slid with his weapon beneath a pair of Ronin's swords that rushed down at him, then clumsily managed to sidestep a Soldier throwing itself at him in a wild tackle. The claws danced along the Keyblade wielder's armor, leaving sparks to dance from the point of contact. Jaune yelped and brought his Keyblade around, smacking the creature in the back of the head, shattering its metallic armor and turning it into a cloud of inky black. He regained his footing and shot a blizzard spell at an incoming, on fire bell of a Heartless, freezing it solid and causing it to slam onto the ground and shatter.

"So, what exactly have you guys been up to since Soul Society?" Ichigo shouted over the din of the battle. He swung his blade around his body, carving through the Heartless that had come too close.

"What?" Jaune asked, more in an effort to stall and come up with a semi-believable lie or half truth. A planet of animal people wasn't exactly what he wanted to say. He blocked a Ronin's blade and shoved it away. "Well, I met my evil twin from another timeline who wants to end the universe."

"Are you serious?" Rukia inquired with a raised eyebrow. She twirled like a dancer around a Heartless' attack, then quickly slashed through its neck with a precise attack that caused it to fall apart. She tossed a glance towards the Keyblade wielder. "Oh, you are?"

"And I thought I had evil twin problems," Ichigo scoffed before cutting a Ronin's sword in half and kicking it hard, sending the Heartless flying backwards.

"Really not a competition I'd like to win, you know," Jaune explained as he cut down the last of the Heartless attacking him – a Shaman. He stood up straight and lowered the Keyblade so its tip dangled just above the ground. He turned and walked towards Rukia and Ichigo as they reconvened after defeating their final enemies. Jaune looked around at them. "It's been a lot."

"And it explains the haircut and new clothes," Ichigo pointed out. He moved his cleaver of a sword onto his back again. "I guess you needed a change of pace."

"It's bad, but I think Yang might have it a little bit worse," Rukia explained. She shrugged. "I sometimes imagine my sister again, but if she wanted to kill me when I did? I can't imagine what she's going through."

"Yeah, but that's been going on for... let's see, for us it's been... maybe a total of six months. Maybe a year if you measure by... just, um... time. You know?" Jaune began, stumbling along as he realized he was accidentally revealing the existence of other worlds. "I mean -"

"We get it. Traveling the different worlds – Hueco Mundo, Earth, Soul Society. Time doesn't flow exactly the same," Ichigo said with a shrug. "When we left to save Rukia, we jumped back in time, if you can believe it."

Jaune raised an eyebrow and decided to take the kindness the World had given him. "Y-yeah. Like that."

"You must have been doing a lot of traveling to lose half a year," Rukia said with a frown. "So much that – wait a second, did Ichigo give you what Kisuke told him to give you?" She whirled on the orange haired warrior. "Ichigo, did you?!"

"Oh, uh – I was just about to do it!" Ichigo snapped at the shorter warrior, reaching behind his back and grabbing something. "There's no need to boss me around, Midget!"

Rukia scoffed and retorted with, "I won't boss you around once you finally just do what I want before I tell you!"

"And -"

Jaune raised his hand to cut them off and sighed, "Guys, can you stop this whole old married couple routine long enough to tell me what you're talking about?"

Ichigo and Rukia turned towards him. "Oh, uh... Sure," Ichigo said with a shrug. He tossed what he was holding over to the Keyblade wielder. Jaune tried to catch it with one hand, then yelped as it bounced out and he was barely able to latch on with both hands together.

"Er... I meant to do that?" Jaune supplied upon catching sight of Ichigo and Rukia's dry glares.

Rukia scoffed, "Course you did."

Jaune glared at her for a moment before slowly standing up straight and looking at what was in his hands. His eyes widened as he brought it up to look at it closer. "The Key of Destiny?" Jaune whispered upon examining the book. That was unbelievable, a book from his world!? A book that – that shouldn't even exist on this world! He tore open the latch and looked at the inside cover of the book. There was a message on the inside of the book's front cover, signed by a 'Kisuke Uruhara' that said, Hey, Alien kid. You like really old books?

Jaune slammed the book shut. "What's it say?" Ichigo asked upon seeing Jaune's face.

"Nothing, just – I – never mind!" he shouted before stuffing it in his pouch. He shook his head, completely unsure of what to do with what he'd just seen. This Kisuke guy was way too smart for Jaune's own good. What was Sora going to do with this information?

Ah, who was Jaune kidding? There was some sort of absurd thing about to happen. Races, beach days, a tournament? There were so many possibilities here, and Jaune knew none of them would leave him happy. Or keep that rule that worlds shouldn't know about each other unbroken.

"Can we just move on?"Jaune asked, gesturing down the hallway.

"I'm reading that book now," Rukia said simply. "Maybe not now now, but eventually."

"Why am I not surprised you'd steal a private message from Jaune?" Ichigo asked, exasperated. He smirked when Rukia glared angrily at him.

Jaune shook his head. They were worse than... Never mind. No one was worse than Weiss' sister and Ruby's uncle. He continued walking down the hallway once again, not even bothering to look back as Rukia and Ichigo noticed he was gone and plodded after him, quietly arguing as they went. Jaune stopped at the end of the hallway and looked up.

Rukia and Ichigo stopped arguing to follow his gaze, their eyes stopping on a large chain and lock that crossed over the doorway, binding it shut. "I got this," Ichigo said with a growl, pulling Zangetsu from his back and raising it in one hand. "Getsuga Tenshou!" The Substitute Soul Reaper swung his sword forward, the edge burning a bright blue-white before the energy was tossed off of the weapon. It soared towards the door, enough energy to shatter every wall in the place, then collided with the lock and exploded, sending a cloud of dust soaring all around to obscure the door.

Ichigo shouldered his Zanpakuto and grinned. "That should do it," he smirked, turning around to smirk at at his squad.

Only to meet the dry glares of Jaune and Rukia. "W-what?" Ichigo wondered as he met their eyes.

Rukia simply let her finger do the talking, rising to point at the door. Ichigo turned around and groaned. "What!? But I put enough power into that to level these walls!"

"Is that enough to overcome whatever power Aizen put into it?" Rukia asked, lowering her arm so she could cross it over the other one. "Because unless it is, I doubt you're breaking through that wall."

"I will if I put even more into -"

"Or I could just unlock it," Juane pointed out, causing both Rukia and Ichigo to turn and stare at him. He raised his Keyblade and waved it. "This isn't shaped like a key to make everyone think that it's a toy, you know?"

"It's not the key to that lock, though."

"Heh, oh, Rukia... It's the key to every lock," Jaune said, a cocksure grin on his face as he tossed the Keyblade in the air, letting it spin above his hand as he prepared to catch it one handed –

Until it hit the ground and he thrust his hands after it to catch it before it bounced a second time. One very loud clang was all they needed. Then he remembered he could just summon it back to his hand and it reappeared. "... Shut up," Jaune grumbled, ignoring the stifled laughter coming from the two Soul Reapers. He raised the Keyblade towards the lock, red filling his cheeks, and took a deep breath. He focused on the Keyblade and the lock, trying to connect them in his mind. Soon a swirling sphere of Light focused at the tip of the Keyblade before shooting a thin stream out of the weapon and into the lock. There was a loud noise as a pins began to move into place and the tumbler began to turn. After a moment, the energy disappeared and the stream vanished, dying out. Jaune lowered the Keyblade and glared at the lock and chain until, finally, it began to turn a bright white as parts of it began to turn into small beads of energy that floated away. There was a loud ting, and the lock, chains, and door vanished completely.

Rushing out of the empty doorway was a ball of green and black energy.

"MOVE!" Jaune screamed, diving to the right side. Ichigo jumped the other way, tackling Rukia out of the way. The green energy flew just over them, sending an electric charge down each person's spine and causing the hairs on the backs of their necks to stand up. Jaune rolled to his feet and held the Keyblade at the ready, ready to defend against the next attack that came from within the room.

Standing inside of the room was a single man and a young woman. Or, at least, Jaune thought it was a man. He was a lot shorter than Jaune, with a torso that was as white as the sand outside the castle. That white ended in black fur at his biceps and his waist, and was marred by a blood like stain leaking from the large hole in his chest, a stain that matched the trails leading from his eyes. He had huge, black demon wings spreading out from his back and horns spreading upward from his black hair. There were two tufts of hair forming from his lower back to form the shape of another two wings beside his hips, a black demonic tail coming from between them. There was a glowing, ethereal blade of green energy in his right hand. No, now Jaune was sure. This wasn't a man. It was a monster.

The young woman Jaune recognized, even if he had only met her for a short while. Her bright auburn hair, timid but bright face. She may have looked out of place in that bright white Arrancar outfit but Jaune knew that was Ichigo's friend, Orihime. And right now, she was chained to a massive lock pulsing with black energy; she was on the floor, a long thin chain connecting her to the lock by her wrists. Chains spread from the lock on the wall, then out into the air where they just... vanished. It was the one keeping this world locked away from the others.

And it was being guarded by someone that had every instinct in Jaune's head screaming, "Run away."

The Keyblade wielder gulped.

The demonic figure spoke, his words slow and deliberate, though definitely not stupid. There was a horrifying intelligence behind them, instead. "Ah, Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, and Jaune Arc. I was wondering when you would arrive."

Ichigo scrabbled to his feet and raised Zangetsu defensively in front of him and Rukia, who also stood up and raised her blade, whispering its name to cause it to turn into its bright white form. Ichigo growled. Seeing Orihime, though, he ignored the monster. "Orihime! Are you okay?"

"Ichigo, run!" Orihime screamed desperately. "He's going to kill -"

"All of you," the monster said as it appeared before Ichigo and slammed its fist straight through his chest. "I am Ulquiorra Cifer" He lifted Ichigo, who was clutching at his bleeding chest with his free hand, blood streaming down his chest and into Ulquiorra's fur. The Substitute Soul Reaper was gurgling, his brain not understanding there was a hole in his chest, somehow.

"ICHIGO!" Rukia and Orihime both screamed, frozen in place and eyes full of abject horror. Rukia raised her sword. "NO!" She jumped forward, filled with rage as tears streamed down her face and ice began to channel down the blade.

Ulquiorra turned his eyes towards the Soul Reaper. "Espada Four," he continued before tossing the body on his arm towards the short woman. Ichigo's body hit her and she caught him, throwing her off balance and sending the both of them to the ground in a heap, the young man unmoving with wide open, glossy eyes, and the woman shaking his shoulders desperately.

Ulquiorra's head turned towards Jaune. "And I am where your journeys will all end."

Jaune gulped again. "Oh... Dust," he whimpered. He still raised his Keyblade in front of him, knowing that there was no choice but to fight someone that he knew outclassed him. "Well... what else is new?" He rushed forward, slashing upward with the Keyblade in both hands. Ulquiorra raised his green blade down and deflected the attack, then raised his left hand, first two fingers pointed at Jaune's shoulder, and let loose a short burst of green and black energy. Jaune screamed as he was sent spinning across the hall he had just run down, rolling across the ground until he finally managed to come to a stop.

He groaned and pushed himself to his feet, rubbing his shoulder and very thankful that he'd been protected by his Keyblade Armor pauldron.

His eyes widened. Keyblade armor. "Hey, ugly!" Jaune shouted as he got to his feet. He dismissed the Keyblade for a moment. "That didn't even hurt!" Then he slammed his hand onto the button and a bright light enveloped him.

He wwore a mostly white armor made from the metal of a Keyblade. Black accented the area around the joints of his fingers. His arms were covered with white armor on the outsides, a black fabric on the inside of his limbs. His bracers flared out at the elbows, forming sharp blades extending just over an inch. The armor on his shoulders fit to his shoulders in a boxy shape, and his chest armor was golden at the top of his chest and white continuing down to the end of his torso. Segmented armor covered his legs, mostly a white silver that melted into black and gold armored boots. His head was covered by a black visor, one that was nearly Heart shaped. It was connected to the segmented armor that ran up his neck, forming a Darkness-proof seal around his body. A pair of golden ears flared up from the back of his head.

He lowered his hand and the Keyblade reappeared in it, gleaming as it shined beside the armor it had created from Jaune's Heart. Jaune took a deep breath, then sprinted towards the Arrancar again. Green streaks of energy glanced off of his armor, the result of the Espada aiming for heavily armored parts of his body in an attempt to bring him in alive. Jaune soon arrived back in the room and swung at the Arrancar again, though his attack was easily side stepped. Jaune used his momentum to turn into another attack, though it was easily dodged as well. "That armor seems quite strong," Ulquiorra noted. He flew above an attack and readied his sword. "Perhaps you could survive a blow with a fraction of my strength behind it."

Jaune just grimaced behind his helmet. Of course that's what the crazy monster man would say. He threw the Keyblade up to block and jumped to the side in an attempt to dodge, though it soon became clear it was unnecessary, as a pillar of ice appeared around Ulquiorra, straight up from the ground, and he was frozen with it. "That was for Ichigo!" Rukia screamed from where she stood above the dead Soul Reaper, her eyes streaming with tears. She raised her weapon in both hands then aimed it at where Ulquiorra was in the middle of the pillar. "And this is for being a monster!" She thrust her white Zanpakuto forward, and another pillar of ice appeared from its tip, rocketing through the air to collide with the location where the Arrancar was frozen in place. Ice crashed into ice, and both pillars exploded. Bright white snow began to drift lazily down, slowly filling up the room, and a cloud of mist obscured where the ice had exploded.

"I see how you killed the other Espada, now. He was unable to fight back while trying to release his power." Ulquiorra appeared, flying silently in the center of the dissipating mist. He raised his glowing green weapon. "Which is why I came to this fight already at full power." A thin stream of green energy slammed into Rukia's shoulder, the sword suddenly in her shoulder. The momentum of the blow sent her flying back, the blade pushing her towards the wall until she was impaled on it, hanging from the wall so her feet were just barely able to touch the ground. Ulquiorra turned from her, and began to speak to Jaune. "Now, where were we?"

R W B Y

"Now, remind me again who the hell this guy is!?" Yang shouted as she jumped out of the path of a sword that was growing ever longer from the hand of the man attacking her. He had white hair and a white Soul Reaper outfit, a few shades brighter than his silver hair. He had very thin, almost snake-like features, with eyes slammed shut and a cocky smirk on his face.

"Gin Ichimaru. He helped Aizen betray the Soul Reapers. You may remember seeing him for a moment when you were in Soul Society?" Ishida stated as he leaped over the silver haired man and fired off a series of white hot blasts at the former Captain. The traitor Soul Reaper looked up and his sword shrank back into itself, becoming barely longer than a dagger, and he quickly used the shortened blade to deflect the attacks. The man's smirk grew slightly wider and he jumped backwards, easily avoiding a massive blow from Chad that shattered the ground.

"Hey, now, that ain't nice!" he told the quiet giant, swirling without a hair out of place. He laughed. "I thought the heroes were supposed to fight all honorable!" He turned his head and shot his blade out, the weapon extending until his collided with Morrigan's extending weapon. "And they certainly ain't supposed to steal someone's style!"

Morrigan leaped forward, shrinking her weapon and diving above Gin's blade. He brought his weapon back as much as he could, and their blades slammed into one another. "I have fought like this since before the foundations of this world were laid," Morrigan hissed at her opponent, pushing against him as hard as she could.

One of his eyebrows raised despite his shut eyes. "That's a pretty weird thing to say, ain't it? After all, you definitely ain't older than Baldy," he pointed out. He pushed backwards and tried to slash out at her throat, though she dodged despite its lengthening abilities.

"Anyone ever tell you not to ask a woman's age?" The white haired man turned to find that, despite Yang's brutish fighting style and loud mouth, was not as incapable of stealth as she appeared. "It's rude." Then her fist collided with his face, electricity dancing along the outside of her fists and channeling into the man's face just as the shotgun shells in her gauntlets exploded, launching a blast into his face. The man was thrown backwards, smoke trailing form his body, until he slammed into the wall.

After a moment, the smoke cleared, and the only thing that had changed was that his smirk had turned into a scowl. "That one almost hurt," Gin said mockingly. He pushed himself up to his feet quickly and readied his Zanpakuto again. "It's also the last one any of you will get in. Sorry. Still, better me kill you than that the bat boy. He'd tear a hole in you and let you bleed out."

"Dying is dying. Courtesy is meaningless, and I will not allow myself to die either way," Morrigan retorted, slashing up at the Reaper as Ishida launched another barrage of energy arrows over her, forcing the snake-like man to deflect the beams of light that rushed towards him, then dash to the side, leaving behind nothing but a few streaks of black in his place. The Nobody thought she had still managed to land a blow, but the man reappeared without a scratch. Right behind Yang.

"O-oh! Close one," he said, smirking once again. He raised his blade to her and opened one eye. It was the iciest blue that Yang had ever seen, colder than either Weiss or her sister's had ever been. "But... not close enough!"

The fight froze. Ishida and Chad leveled their respective weapons at the former Soul Reaper, while Morrigan lowered hers. "Let her go," Ishida commanded, narrowing his eyes behind his glasses. "It shows a lack of honor and belief in your own skills to do this."

"I said that was a job for the heroes, right? Honor?" Gin shut his eye and his grin widened. "You know, heroes love the Light so much. But it ain't gonna solve every problem, will it? You need a little Darkness to trick guys stronger than you. Ya know, like me!"

"Then kill her and we can continue."

Gin froze and his eyes both opened in surprise. "Uh, w-what?" he asked, eyes locked on to Morrigan.

"Kill her and we can fight again," Morrigan said, readying her blade now.

"You can't be serious!" Ishida shouted, his own weapon dipping.

Chad was similarly horrified. "She's your daughter!"

"Your daughter?" Gin asked, also visibly confused. "You would let me... kill..." His smirk turned to a scowl. "Fine." He raised his sword, and brought it down hard.

Only for Morrigan, who had jumped through a Corridor of Darkness she had quickly made, to land feet first on his hand. His sword was thrown from his grasp and clattered away across the ground, bouncing and spinning until it came to a rest beside the wall.

Gin kept his open eyes on the Nobody who now held her blade at his throat. "Well... heroes with a bit of Darkness..." Ichimaru muttered quietly. His eyes slid shut and his smirk returned. "Okay, well that's worth seeing through." He vanished, appearing beside his sword and lifting it up. He hid the blade in his outfit and shrugged. "Well then, I look forward to seeing what you do. Maybe it'll be fun when we meet again." He turned and began to walk away, leaving his opponents completely stunned. "Oh, and you better hurry. Ulquiorra probably already killed one of them."

Yang felt her heart plummet into her stomach. "Jaune," she whispered. She turned and sprinted away from her mother's Nobody, away from this fight. She had to save her partner, no matter the danger that was coming.

As Ishida and Chad followed the brawler, Morrigan fell to one knee, clutching at her chest. Her calm eyes widened and she began to breathe heavily. "Wh-what..? What is this?" she asked as her facade cracked and fear appeared in her eyes. And, more than that, relief. No, no it had to be a memory of that feeling. Her weakness running through her veins once more, destroying her as it always had.

But if these were memories of feelings? Fakes created by her Soul to pretend to have a Heart? Imaginary? If that was the case, why the hell did it all hurt so much, like her heart – the physical heart – was drowning in water. Like it was grasped in a fist strong enough to destroy diamond. She was a Nobody, trying to purge herself of weakness so she could become whole in a way not even her Somebody had managed to be. She would chase that goal her Somebody had once chased, but she would reach it. So why did she feel so relieved that her Weakness had not only survived, but that it had been her that had saved her?

She pushed herself to her feet. This was bad. She knew now what was happening. Sora had once said that Nobodies would slowly begin to grow a Heart, one that was affected by the memories held by its Soul and Body. In short, she was becoming weaker every day.

Her eyes locked on to the hair slowly catching fire in the distance. Her weakness' destruction would need to come soon, lest she lose her nerve forever. She began to slowly follow her weakness, step by step. Yes, Yang Xiao Long would need to die very soon.

R W B Y

Yang sprinted up the stairway, hoping that her dumb partner hadn't done anything to threaten his own life while she wasn't there to bail him out. He was always running into fights without thinking, to the point that she looked downright responsible in comparison! She growled to herself and ignored the footsteps echoing her own behind her. Oh, who was she kidding? That silver haired guy basically told her that he was in immediate danger, not to mention everyone else. Ugh, she would never forgive herself for letting Jaune talk her into this stupid 'splitting up' plan! Splitting up in a castle of monsters was one of the three dictionary definitions of a bad idea, immediately after touching her hair and flirting like Jaune.

She stumbled as she climbed the stairs, her foot hitting the edge of the next stair and slipping so she nearly crashed face first into the edge of the next. The Huntress managed to throw her hand out and caught herself. "Dammit!" she hissed, slamming her palm into the ground before running up the stairs again.

As she approached the top, she jumped the last few stairs before sliding to a stop and looking around. "Jaune, where are –?"

She was cut off by a person dressed in gold and white armor with a rabbit ear helmet was tossed past her, screaming in a very familiar voice before slamming into the wall, quickly followed by a Keyblade that bounced off its head. "Oh, good, you aren't dead yet," Yang whispered in relief before running up to her partner and grabbing him by the upper arm. She yanked him up, momentarily surprised by how light his Keyblade armor was, and placed him on his feet. "What hit you?"

Jaune's head bobbed for a moment. Once it turned to his right – her left – his back went straight. "THAT!" Then he tackled her to the ground, armor vanishing. She blinked as a massive beam of green and black energy rocketed past them and blew a hole in the wall, continuing through it and slamming through more walls.

Yang turned her head towards the source of the attack her heart jumped into her throat, followed by relief, followed by guilt, then back to horror. Ichigo, not Jaune, had been the one to take a fatal blow in a fight with this... this... Yang pushed Jaune off of her and stood up. She fought off an urge to charge the monster in revenge for Ichigo, or Rukia who was impaled on the wall near him. "What the hell are you?!" she asked the pale, emotionless creature that had launched the bright green energy at them. "Besides a... I want to say emo clown bat?"

"Hilarious," the creature snarled.

"Please don't antagonize the scary monster," Jaune asked, voice worried. He summoned the Keyblade back to his hand. "Especially now that I don't have my armor to keep him from shredding my Aura and kidnapping me."

"I'm going batty trying not kill him, Jaune..."

Morrigan appeared beside them as Chad and Ishida sprinted towards Rukia and Ichigo, shouting for the both of them to wake up. The Nobody monotonously growled, "Could you avoid killing the creature until we have a better understanding of its abilities? Or more accurately, avoid getting killed until we have a better understanding?"

"Just don't get killed? Easy," she raised her fists and rushed the monster, getting ready to dodge. She wasn't rushing in thoughtlessly, not right now. No, she knew exactly what she was doing – he was just going to shoot one of those lasers at them if they kept talking, eliminating all three at once. Get closer than his sword's reach allowed, then Yang could manage to get a few good blows in. Her Heart gave out a pang as she passed the dead Ichigo and – if Ishida and Chad's reactions were any indicator – unconscious and injured Rukia. Her friends, hurt again. This seemed to happen a lot to her. And then that Orihime girl was bound to a large lock, eyes locked on Ichigo's body. She herself was barely breathing, her movements so slight she appeared to be a statue.

Yang ducked under another green energy blast, then weaved past a thrown sword. "Ha! I've got -" she stopped talking as another sword appeared in his grasp, too close and moving too fast for her to dodge. "Shit."

Until she was saved by a golden and white Keyblade thrown over her shoulder, gleaming with energy. The green sword rebounded off of the attack and swerved out of Yang's path just as the Keyblade returned to its owner's hand. "I've got your back, Yang!" Jaune shouted, jumping over Yang and bringing his Keyblade down in a two handed, overhead blow.

Ulquiorra said nothing, though his annoyed glare said everything words could and more. He simply raised his glowing blade to take the blow, effortlessly managing to defend himself while raising his knee and bringing his other elbow down to catch Yang's fist and keep it from colliding with his chest. "Your attempts at combat are not amusing, Humans," he stated in his monotone.

"Disagree," Yang said with a grin. "Because I also shoot things from my hands, in case you didn't know." And with that, she discharged a massive Sparkga from her fist. The explosion of light slammed into Ulquiorra's chest and he was sent rocketing backwards, leaving behind a cloud of dust that obscured him while his feet left a pair of inch deep tracks in the stone floor. Yang stood up straight. "That's just a spark of my brilliance, too!"

"As I said. Disappointing." Yang turned and saw that, once again, Ulquiorra was on top of her already, green blade halfway through its attack and ready to cleave her in two. Jaune had been caught flat footed and was scrambling to get close and get his Keyblade in the sword's way, eyes wide and full of rage as sparks of Darkness covered him at the idea of being to weak to save a friend yet again. Yang was throwing her arms up to take the blow on her bracers, but she instinctively knew it was a worthless endeavor. She was about to die to this... thing.

Only for the attack to freeze when a loud roar suddenly broke out, its madness shaking the very foundations of the room. Yang couldn't even appreciate it saving her life, because it chilled her to the bone.

Jaune, however, was worse off. He recognized that roar, to an extent. It was the scream of Ichigo's inner monster. His head turned towards the sound, and he was greeted with a horrifying sight. Ichigo was standing, sure. But the hole was still there in the middle of his chest, and something white was leaking out of his skin, rushing to form a dense armor. Horns began to grow from his head and the mask from when they had fought Byakuya had formed on his face, though it didn't stop there. Horns began to extend from the mask – which, rather than simply covering his face was becoming it – and his hair began to extend to his waist. Red fur extended from his shoulders and forearms, and black began to extend from the hole in his chest , curling around his shoulders and into the fur. The horns curved as they continued to grow, until they formed demonic, hooked horns that had their tips in line with his eyes. The mask changed as well, black lines coming up and down his eyes, over his jaw, and coming together to form a reverse widows peak of white. The white continued down his body, turning his hands and feet that same bony color. Red fur extended from his ankles and, slowly, his fingers turned into horrifying black claws matched by his toes. The creature, which held Ichigo's sword in its hand, hissed and took a horrifying step forward, then launched itself as quickly as possible towards Ulquiorra, its roar never ceasing.

The bat like Arrancar barely managed to bring his blade up to block the Hollow's attack, and Jaune and the others definitely didn't have the time to guard against the sudden shockwave that expanded out from the blades and sent them each stumbling away from the fight. The chains that held Orihime to the wall turned to ash and the girl herself was nearly thrown into the wall. Ishida and Chad were able to catch themselves in the air and grab the unconscious Rukia. Being the closest to the attack, however, Jaune and Yang were thrown the furthest, the blow tearing the air from their lungs. They eventually landed in a heap, stunned from their collision with each other and then the ground, at Morrigan's feet.

"I told you to wait," the Nobody said, glaring humorlessly down at the Huntsman and Huntress.

"Shaddap," Yang groaned before deciding the floor was too nice to get off of, and she kept laying there.

Meanwhile, the two monsters were busy trading blows and jumping rapidly around the room. The Monster slashed upward at Ulquiorra, who narrowly leaned out of the way before flapping his wings and rushing to the other side of the room. He raised his hand and charged up a sphere of green energy on the first two fingers of his left hand. The Monster shrieked again as it saw this and a similar sphere of black and red formed between its two horns. The two blasts were unleashed at the same moment, forming two beams of energy that slammed into one another, mixing and swirling until the black and red seemed to slightly overpower the green and it carved through. Ulquiorra yelped as the black and red energy carved a small hole in his shoulder. "It would appear you are quite powerful," Uluiorra said with a grimace. He lowered his blade, and the hole in his shoulder quickly stitched itself shut. Then he flapped his wings and left behind a jetstream as he neared the Monster in barely a fraction of a second. The Monster was able to respond in time, however, slashing with Zangetsu and launching a powerful blade of black energy at Ulquiorra. The bat hollow's eyes widened as the energy appeared in his path and twisted sideways in an attempt to avoid the attack. The energy danced along his chest, slicing away a thin layer of skin that healed from his hyper regenerative abilities almost as soon as the wound appeared. His blade came down at the Monster as soon as the energy passed, vaporizing a section of the roof and suddenly letting the moonlight shine in. The Monster was too far in on its attack to dodge or block, and so Ulquiorra's blade hit home. The green energy cleaved through a section of the Monster's body, carving through the flesh like it was butter until the blade was nearly at the hole in the Monster's chest. But it didn't seem to do anything.

At a rate that surprised even Ulquiorra, the wound sealed shut, and the Monster seemed completely fine. The Monster's arm shot up and grabbed onto Ulquiorra's wrist, holding him in place as a sphere of energy appeared between its horns once again. Ulquiorra struggled to escape as he realized he had been trapped and that this... creature was far more troublesome than he had first expected. It took tremendous effort, but he was finally able to wrench his arm free from the Monster's grasp and flap his wings to shift sideways, only though it was far too late to totally avoid the blast that came his way. The arm he had spent so much time on saving was vaporized, turned into white ash as quickly as Raven running away from her family. Ulquiorra stifled a scream of pain as the wound was instantly cauterized by his opponent's Cero blast and his healing factor went into overdrive just in an attempt to keep the burn from sending him into shock. "How did you –?" The blade in the Monster sputtered and died, at which point the hole in the creature's chest sewed itself immediately shut.

The Monster roared again, a halting noise that sounded like an attempt at manic laughter, and moved its hand onto Ulquiorra's face, grasping it so hard that the black nails dug into white flesh, and it slammed the Arrancar headfirst into the floor. Once, twice, getting faster and faster until each blow was in time with its laughter. "Ichigo!" The Monster kept laughing, slamming the head into the ground and leaving a bloody stain on the white stone. "Ichigo! Wake up! Ichigo! Ichigo stop!"

The creature turned towards the source of the voice, finding Orihime standing beside the lock, leaning against it. She had a shallow cut along her brow, trailing blood down her face. "Ichigo, please, he's dead!"

The Monster stood up, still clutching Ulquiorra's head in its hand... then squeezed as hard as it could. The Arrancar's head popped like a grape, sending blood and viscera spraying everywhere before the body itself began to slowly disintegrate. Orihime sighed, "Ichigo, I'm so glad you -"

The Monster roared and raised the blade in its right hand before turning on its heel, eyes locking on to Jaune. It took a half second of rest, then launched itself towards him. "OH, JEEZ!" the Keyblade wielder screamed, throwing himself to the side just a fraction of a second before the blade slammed into the ground where he had been standing, sending both him and Yang flying away from the force of the blow. Before he even landed, the Monster had turned and swung its blade upward. A black, fang shaped burst of energy flew from the weapon towards Jaune, who threw his weapon to the side and cast a Fire, the burst of energy causing the air to super heat and push Jaune out of the attack's way, if only barely. The Keyblade itself was still hit and the sheer force easily managed to tear the weapon from Jaune's grasp. He spun wildly and hit the ground, tumbling until he was able to get his feet beneath him and summon his blade back into his hand. "Yang, you okay?" Jaune shouted, weapon between him and the Monster wearing Ichigo again.

"Yeah! You?"

"Ehhh..." Jaune muttered. He shook his head and glared at Ichigo. "So, you're trying to kill me again? Ichigo didn't let you last time!"

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, as it enraged the creature and it rocketed towards him again. It slashed at his left side, forcing Jaune to summon his Keyblade to his off hand and swing around to block it. A sparking and fragile Reflect wall sprang into being at the point of contact, reflecting the brunt of the blow and letting Jaune angle his weapon so that the rest of the force would cause the attack to slide over him. This both saved Jaune from instant death, and opened up the Monster for a blow from the Keyblade wielder. The weapon slammed into the Monster's gut, forcing it to double over and giving Jaune time to run past it, while Yang leaped forward and slammed her fist – charged with Fire magic – into its face. One of the horns cracked under the pressure of the blow and it flew back, the horn falling off before quickly being replaced by the Monster's regeneration factor.

The creature snarled and caught itself mid air, the air solidifying to form glowing steps beneath its feet. It hissed angrily, and fiery smoke slowly rose from its throat. "I think we only made it more mad," Yang said, having regrouped with Jaune. The both of them raised their weapons, hearts pounding in their ears, and waited for something to happen.

The thing to happen was a giant sphere of energy charging up between the Monster's horns. "Oh... no..." Jaune and Yang glanced at one another, then turned and sprinted away from one another. The Monster hesitated for a moment, unsure of who to get a bead on, then its head swung towards Jaune. The sphere between its horns grew for another few seconds, ready to be unleashed. That is, if it weren't for the other combatant.

Morrigan's blade flew down, cleanly cleaving through the horns of the monster. The sphere of energy imploded without the stabilizing force, and the energy collapsed before force flew right back out. The Monster made a confused noise as the energy slammed into it, and another as Morrigan vanished through another in-world Corridor of Darkness, reappearing at here Weakness' side. "There, that seems to have -" Morrigan and Yang didn't have time to do anything else, as a black and red 'X' of energy flew through the air, crashing into the both of them. Both women screamed as a glow ran across their skin – red and black for Morrigan, and a bright yellow across Yang's. They slid across the ground, dazed and showing heavy injuries all across their bodies; blood and traveling down their faces and their eyes slammed shut, unconsciousness taking them.

"Yang!" Jaune roared. He turned on the clearing smoke and the laughing Monster. "Dammit!" He sprinted towards the monster, charging up his Keyblade with energy, bringing it around to cleave through the monster's throat. Black clashed against black, Darkness swirling along the edge of both weapons

"I'll kill you if she's dead!" Jaune snarled as he pushed against the Monster, their strength at a momentary standstill as Jaune dug as deep as he could, not even seeing the Darkness on his Keyblade, not remembering that this was Ichigo. He had to stop this thing from hurting the people he cared about, anything else be damned.

"Ugh... what...?" Rukia pushed herself up to a sitting position, then yelped as pain ran through her shoulder. "Agh!"

The Monster's head whipped towards her for a second, then turned back to Jaune. "Kill you!" Then it laughed maniacally and backhanded him across the face, just hard enough for him to hit his knees, Keyblade hitting the ground to his right and the field of Darkness disappearing completely. The Monster loomed over him. "Ha ha ha ha... Kill you!"

"Oh, Dust," Jaune muttered. He felt the energy, the rage pulsing through his veins get replaced with fear and he knew that, even if he wanted to, he couldn't summon another shroud of Darkness to his weapon. Already he could tell that the super strength he had shown in their clash was leaving his muscles, to get replaced with human weakness. Of a fit, strong, Huntsman human, but human nonetheless.

"I-Ichigo?" The creature turned towards Rukia again, hesitating just long enough for Jaune to slam his newly resummoned Keyblade into the Monster's knee, shattering it. The Monster shrieked and fell to its back, and Jaune sprinted away to check on his partner. Rukia stumbled forward. "Ichigo, is that you?"

The creature hissed and locked its eyes on Rukia and took a deep shaking breath, then turned its eyes on Ishida and Chad and Orihime, who were congregating with the shorter Soul Reaper. It breathed heavily, seeing the damage they had all taken. Cuts, bruises... the pool of blood at Rukia's feet. The Monster shivered, the rage returning to its shoulders. "Ichigo, no, it's not their fault! It's not Jaune or Yang's fault I got hurt!" The rage continued to congregate in the Monster's shoulders as Ichigo was continuously bombarded within his heart by a stream of thoughts, all of them blaming the Keyblade wielder for the current events. He had become so weak, he had brought so much danger down on their heads. He was getting his friends hurt, he was going to get Rukia killed. He had to die.

Ichigo tried to deny it, but the stream kept coming. And the rage kept building. He couldn't help but lash out, and his body – controlled by his inner Hollow – reacted. Black energy charged along the edge of Zangetsu, swirling and full of malice.

"Do I have anything that can help with that?" Jaune muttered worriedly, wracking his brain. "Uh..." Jaune frowned. Well, he had one idea. He hoped. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small chain that ended in a tan pentagon. "Fingers crossed."

The Keychain was slammed onto the Keyblade, and there was a flash of energy. Black energy traveled up the Keyblade from the chain, melting the Keyblade and altering its shape, its color, and its feel in Jaune's hands. The golden guard turned into a bright white, the outside covered in segments not unlike Morrigan's armor. The shape of the guard became a more ridged square, with the top corners curving up like the roofs in Soul Society. The grip had turned from a black into a white, looking like the wrappings around the cleaver shape of Zangetsu. The blade had shifted into a deep black and thin blade, more akin to an actual sword than the Kingdom Key was even if it was the same length. The blade even ended in a katana like tip that made it look like the sword Ichigo's inner demons were currently holding. About a quarter of the way from the top of the blade, black and red, shifting metal moved like a wave of power, swirling around the blade until it became a blackened sun shape resting against the flat of the blade. He decided in the split second he had before the fight began again that that would be its name – Black Sun.

And then he had to look up from his weapon's new form, because a beam of black and red energy was rushing at them. Jaune threw the Keyblade up, knowing that if he did try to dodge, the .attack would fly past him and Why did he think that this Keychain would solve anything?

And then energy began to travel up the Keyblade's length, white and black swirling together as Light and Darkness chased each other around the Keyblade's length. Jaune watched it with wide eyes until the energy flew from the weapon's edge, creating a fang shaped blade of energy that slammed into the black and red beam. The energy collided, burning and bubbling until the energy could no longer be contained and the destruction was suddenly focused outward. Explosively.

Dust clouded Jaune's sight, obscuring the Monster from his view, but also obscuring him form its sight. He wasn't paying that much mind, however, because he recognized the attack his Keyblade had just shot. White-Black Getsuga Tenshou, the attack he had done with Ichigo during their fight with Byakuya, and one composed of equal parts Light and Dark. He shook off his fear of using the Darkness again when the smoke was blown out of the way by a fast moving object, the Monster launching itself at Jaune once again.

Jaune snarled and jumped forward as well, bringing Black Sun in an uppercut slash that slammed into Zangetsu, Light and Dark sparking from the point of contact. He pulled away and spun, delivering a kick to the Monster's face, which didn't do much, but using the Keyblade as he continued let him carve a deep gash into its chest. "Light Dark Getsuga Tenshou!" Jaune snapped when the blade was still in the creature's flesh, and the energy burned a deeper gash in it. The Monster stumbled back and clutched at its chest, hissing in pain. Jaune smiled at his momentary advantage, suddenly feeling his old strength coming back to him.

That advantage vanished when the Monster capitalized on his lack of attention, landing a solid blow of its blade into his midsction. Jaune felt a chunk of his Aura vanish just to keep him from dying, not to mention healing the non-lethal damage. He was tossed across the room, feeling rather than hearing the air boom where had been standing, soaring until the Monster reappeared behind him. Jaune turned midair and slashed at it, their blades colliding again and causing the ground beneath them to shatter from the resultant explosion of pressure. Jaune bounced slightly, giving him time to spin midair and slash again, blades once more catching on one another. They continued slashing, trading blows. Jaune letting loose a Getsuga that nearly chopped off Ichigo's hand, the Monster using a beam of energy from its horns to try and burn off Jaune's left leg. The Keyblade crashed into Zangetsu and they pushed. "Ich... Ichigo! W-wake up! Now!" Jaune snapped as he pressed against his friend once more, though without the murderous intent in his Heart this time. The Monster hissed menacingly and ignored him, just pushing harder and harder.

"Ichigo!" Jaune grunted. He was losing this shoving match, that much was obvious. This Keyblade's interaction with this world's Heart and his own desperation had given him an adrenaline boost of strength and speed, but he could already feel it wearing off. It was only a matter of time until – He flinched as the black sword nicked his arm again. It was only a matter of time until he ended up skewered or burned to a crisp. He jumped out of the path of another beam, only for the blade and a Getsuga to crash into his chest. He gasped in pain and was sent flying, golden light tinged with black swirling over his skin until he slammed into the wall just beside the lock. His chin hit his chest and his eyes began to droop; he was too tired to move, much less fight. But he had to, he had to... He... the world was getting really dark all of a sudden, and he just felt like taking a nap.

What did he have to do again? He looked up at the Monster looming above him.

Oh right. Not die. Would Yang live, or... His eyes dropped despite his best attempts to keep them open. Yang... had to be okay, right? She...

The Monster raised its sword and grinned at his pain. Then it brought it down, right onto the white sword held out above Rukia. She struggled against the strength of the blow, but somehow managed to hold firm. The Monster hissed and took a step back before trying to go around her and attack Jaune. Again, the girl moved into the Zanpakuto's path and saved the Keyblade Wielder's life. "Ichigo... stop!" Rukia commanded. She glowered up at him from where she was blocking, one arm dangling uselessly at her side. Blood dripped from her fingers, and her already snow white skin was becoming deathly pale. "Snap out of it, you moron! With all that hair, people will never stop calling you Strawberry"

The Monster growled at her, unsure of what to make of this sudden change.

Ichigo, however, knew exactly what to make of it. Strawberry he wondered inside his deepest Heart, Light finally breaking through the visions so he could see. He blinked. Who does that midget think she is!?

The Monster flailed and retreated. No, I'm trying to get rid of a threat! He's drawing more in! Heartless, the other him! He's too dangerous, King! No him, no threats we can't deal with!

"He's your friend, Dolt!" Rukia snapped, advancing on the Monster.

He's dangerous!

"And you're acting like a monster ready to take someone's friend from them! You're executing someone's friend!"

He's my friend! Ichigo snapped back at the voice. The Monster flailed again and began to scream in pain as it began to fall apart. Cracks appeared along its flesh, white armor began to grow brittle and shatter, and entire chunks of its body began to fall off. The hole in its chest began to stitch itself up, becoming whole – Jaune, semi conscious at this point, knew Yang would have laughed at that wordplay. Whole holes are becoming whole. Or would she? He was tired. The creature shrieked and unleashed another blast of energy from its horns, though it went wide and demolished part of the roof instead.

"Yes, fight it, Kurosaki!" Ishida shouted, surging to his feet to stand beside Rukia. Chad wordlessly did the same.

"Ichigo, I know you can do it!" Orihime begged, taking her place beside her friends.

Then the monster stopped, falling forward... and off of Ichigo. "What'd I miss?" he asked before he, too, fell face first to the ground.

R W B Y

Jaune lowered the Keyblade, still in the shape of Black Sun, to his side as the lock began to fade away. He sighed and let the Keyblade fade, black and white lightning crackling around his hand for a moment as the weapon faded away. He sighed and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about all the things that had just happened. Darkness, death, madness. If it hadn't happened around Sora so much, Jaune might think it was following just him around. He shook his head and turned around, where the rest of the group was congregated, even Morrigan. He frowned at her. "So... what are you going to do now?"

The Nobody met his fiery glare. "I believe that it is in our best interest, for now, to call a truce. We are all injured. I know that our paths will cross again, and fate will take us where it may," she explained coolly. She cast a glance at Yang. "Perhaps we will be forced allies again, or perhaps one of us shall die."

Yang glared at her, jaw set with anger. "Fine. See you around then," she growled, arms crossing over her chest.

Morrigan frowned. Then, despite what she knew she should do, whispered so quiet that it barely registered in her own ears, "Goodbye... Firecracker." Morrigan turned and walked away, summoning and walking through a Corridor to where the winds of fate would take her.

"Anyways... thanks for helping us," Ichigo said, his shredded uniform still unrepaired and exposing his chest and feet. His sword was back in its cleaver form, acting like a crutch for the exhausted Soul Reaper.

"Do you have anything else to say!?" Rukia snapped, slamming her hand into the top of her friend's head.

"Ow! How did you even reach all the way up here!?" Ichigo snapped back at her, eyes full of fake rage. Finally, he sighed and turned back to Jaune, Yang, and Morrigan. "Uh... sorry. You know, for almost killing you."

"Is it a pattern, cause I'd really rather not come back here if it is," Jaune joked, earning an exasperated laugh from his friend.

Ichigo sighed. "So, you can transform your weapon, too, huh?" he asked Jaune.

"Kind of, it's..." He shrugged and raised his hand, using his Heart to force the weapon back into its Kingdom Key form. "It's that Keychain that Ukitake guy gave me. It makes the Keyblade closer to this world and gives it new powers."

"Sounds useful. I wonder if there's a way for that to be incorporated into our abilities," Ishida muttered to himself, pushing his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. "Though, what do you mean by 'this world?'"

"Uh... He meant the spirit world! The Keyblade is from the human world, after all," Yang interjected, always the more convincing liar than her partner. She shrugged. "It's an old weapon. Really old. REALLY old."

"Ha! That must explain why the Captain-Commander knew to give it to you," Rukia said, snapping her fingers. "He is the oldest being in Soul Society and knows things almost no one else does! He would know where it comes from. What do you know about it?"

"Er... not much," Jaune admitted with a shrug. He looked over at Ichigo. "What do you know about... what happened to you?"

Ichigo sighed and let his head fall. "It's happened before. That monster on the inside takes over and... I don't know. Everything gets so much stronger, but I can't control myself. I've almost killed so many people because of this." The young man suddenly looked very... old and tired, as if he was suddenly allowing the weight of the world that he carried on his back to show, and it was crushing him. Jaune understood that weight all too well, and had seen this weariness in multiple people, crushing them. Then Ichigo pushed himself up, shouldering the weight once again. "Which just means I have to get it under control so I can use it to take Aizen down!"

Chad nodded, and simply said, "Though given our injuries, perhaps we should wait for that. Go home and regroup."

"And we have to be off to our next adventure!" Yang shouted, looping her arm around Jaune's shoulder and tugging him towards her, throwing him off balance. "I think we did pretty good against Bat Boy this time around! We've gotten a lot stronger, haven't we, Jauney Boy?"

Speak for yourself, Jaune wanted to say. Still, he nodded to make her happy. Happy Yang didn't fly like a maniac. Well, less like a maniac. "Maybe we'll win a fight for once, right?"

Ichigo scoffed. "Just wait till we take the fight to Aizen! That's going to be -"

"Insanely difficult and awful?" Jaune suggested.

"Painful and life ending?" Rukia added.

"Foolish and life ending?" Ishida added.

"Inevitable and fun!" Yang shouted excitedly. She pumped her fist. "He'll be scared to death!"

"... Okay. Okay, that joke wasn't bad," Jaune admitted despite knowing that would just get Yang to make more bad ones.

"You're dead on, there," Yang said, already confirming his worst fears.

"Yang you're killing us!" Rukia snapped, only for everyone to blanche as they realized that was an accidental pun, and Yang was laughing even harder.

"With that, I'll get her out of your hair," Jaune said, earning a grateful smile from Ichigo's group. He grabbed Yang's yellow jacket and pulled her towards the hole Ichigo's monster had created in the roof, revealing the bright white moonlight. Jaune turned back to the group. "We'll see you guys soon, kay?"

"Definitely," Ichigo said with a tired wave.

Rukia snorted. "Just make sure to bring some of that Pumpkin Pete's for me... or else!"

Jaune laughed once, then shot a thumbs up. "You got it. It is the best cereal."

He sighed, and a green light erupted around them. "Just remember to control that... thing, okay, Ichigo? I told you I know about Darkness, so I know it gets easier to give in every time. Don't."

Ichigo's features grew grim, worry coating his face. "I won't," he promised.

Jaune nodded back, then let the energy of the Gummi Ship tear them away from this world and into its cockpit. The Keyblade wielder sighed wearily and plopped down in the co-pilot's seat, burying his face in his hands. After a second, he ran one through his hair and stared, exhausted, out of the window. His back hunched over, exhaustion evident.

Yang noticed, despite the belief that she was not very observant. She was – a Huntress had to be after all. The brawler took a deep breath, then prepared to deal with Jaune's problem. She jumped into the chair next to him, legs hanging over one arm of the chair and her back resting on the other. Then she grew silent, waiting for him to speak.

"Yang, you saw it."

"Well, I'm not blind," the woman admitted with a shrug. She laced her fingers behind her head and leaned back, letting her hair hit the ground while she looked out at the infinite Darkness. "I was conscious only half the time, but I saw."

"Darkness. Every single time that I try to get away from it I let it pull me back in. Hell, I pull it back," he groaned, pulling one hand up and resting his chin on it. His eyes darkened, losing some of their optimistic shine.

Yang wasn't sure how to respond. She had never had this kind of problem, after all. If she set her mind to something, she did it. Easy as that. Being a great fighter, being a Huntress, being a semi-finalist in the Vytal festival in her first year, coming back from losing her arm, meeting her mom. She made it happen.

Jaune did the same, but it never worked out for him in the way he wanted. He wanted to be a hero, but he almost ended up destroying everything. He wanted to find someone to love, but she died in his arms. But it did turn out all right in the end. He was a hero. And Pyrrha had loved him.

"And now it's saved our lives more times than I want to count." Jaune hadn't moved at all, Yang noticed when she sat back up and studied him. But there was a cloud hanging over him that kept growing. "When all I want is to be a hero, this... thing is like an addiction I can't shake!"

"But it saved us, and it's not like you've thought about killing people. You're not a bad guy," Yang pointed out, literally pointing at him.

"Yet." He looked over at her. "It saved us, I know... but no. I'm not doing it again."

Yang scoffed. "You're sounding like a broken record, Jaune." He turned, glaring at her for that, but she just shrugged and said, "I mean, you keep saying this but you keep using it. If you'd rather be strong without it, fine. That's all you. But – and I'm sorry if this sounds mean, Jaune. You're my friend. But you can't keep complaining when you make a decision. At the end of the day, do it or don't do it. As long as you aren't a bad guy, Jaune, I don't care. If you can live with what you do and I can live with what you do..." She shrugged.

Jaune glared at her for a moment, digesting everything she'd just said to him. Until, finally, he turned away. "Let's just get going, Yang."

She stared at him for a moment, concerned. If he kept acting like that, he would never move on. Not from Pyrrha or his past actions, both of which he had promised the late red head he would accept and move past. She stared at him for a moment, hoping he would say something else, then sighed and swept her legs off the chair so she could easily grab the controls. "We're still friends."

"Yeah, we are," Jaune sighed. He forced a smile. "I've got your back."

Yang smiled back. "Thanks," she activated the acceleration, and the ship flew off at a calm pace for once. Jaune appreciated that, and he showed it with a grin. "Gaia, here we come."