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.

23. Broken Friendships

AN:

Hey guys, good to be back. Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. Anyone struggle through that Comic-Con registration on Saturday? My family got lucky this year and our whole group of five gets to go.

Anyways, a quick and shameless plug here. In case you didn't know, my Digimon story is up, under the name Digimon Zero Two, because I learned that '/' is not an acceptable character in a title. Should've double checked that.

Now, for responses!

To Gamelover41592: Thank you. Genie definitely had a wild day last chapter, so I think he deserves some time to cool down. Mercury, though... no, no he needs to work some more.

To G3r1k: Glad to clear it up, and thanks for pointing out that it wasn't clear.

To Chretner: Yes, the two that are there every time are great. Last time they played one of them had to use one of the limited 'revive' items he had because he straight up died after a series of bad choices. That was fun. I'm glad you figured out the card system, especially in only two months. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last.

To Remnant7: No problem about not reviewing last chapter. I mean, reviewing at all is already something I'm thankful for. I was excited to write Genie some more, and Sephiroth was a ton of fun, too. I think he's a pretty solid mixture of FFVIII and Kingdom Hearts. I can't wait for the next time he shows up for some carnage.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter, and – in case I miss it for my fellow Americans – Happy Thanksgiving!

Chapter 23: Broken Friendships

When the light cleared on Zootopia, Jaune and Yang were very ready for all the weirdness that took place on the world. Jaune opened and closed his mouth, quickly getting reacclimated to his too large dog tongue and the barrage of smells that cascaded through the air and almost overwhelmed his mind. Yang used those now familiar muscles to push her ears back down her head and stretched her long feet slowly to avoid randomly using her impressive strength to rocket into the air.

Mercury, on the other hand, was not ready for what happened to him. He was screaming in surprise the moment they landed in the city, screams that quickly turned into laughter as he realized the weird looking animal-people in front of him – a fuzzy golden retriever and fluffy bunny – were Jaune and Yang. The two glanced at each other, briefly remembering when they had first landed on this world and acted the same. "I'm going to tell him," Yang said after a few moments of laughter.

Jaune shrugged. "Shouldn't he have already figured it out?" Jaune wondered, looking around to see they were getting weird glares from the animals passing by.

Yang laughed at that. "We didn't," she pointed out while lifting her Scroll to take a picture of the former assassin. The flash went off and distracted him, immediately causing the laughter to end.

Merc looked down at them. "What?" he growled, the noise coming out mostly like an angry purr, Yang noted. So she simply turned the Scroll around so he could see the picture.

The effect was almost instantaneous, with Mercury shutting up and staring in surprise. Yang thought that Mercury almost looked like Jaune had when he'd first seen his own animal form. Mercury, unlike either of them, was a large animal. A snow leopard, it appeared, with silvery white fur and lack spots all over his lithe body. He raised one hand and flexed his fingers, causing black claws to extend out of his fingertips before he released them and they were hidden once more. He looked down and stretched his legs, drawing attention tot he biggest difference between his form and those of his new team mates: his prosthetics. Jaune had been wondering how they would be affected by the rules of this world, and the answer was apparently quite simple. The weapons had been integrated into the legs, which were silver and clearly visible, as the pants ended just below Mercury's knees now. They were shaped like the legs of a leopard would be, but were very clearly metal. His legs had changed shape despite not being biological.

Mercury reached up to his head, where his hair had disappeared to leave his scalp shaped like an ordinary snow leopard's. His ears swiveled in confusion atop his head when his paw pads ran across them, giving Mercury a pair of sensations he was unused to. He let his arms fall to his side, briefly trying to compute what was happening. "Uh..."

"Yeah, that was about our response, too," Yang explained, annoyed that he got to be a big, cool animal and she had to be a bunny. How was that fair?

The snow leopard ignored her, instead turning his head around as something popped into his head. The ears on top of his head fell backwards and he groaned. Jaune nodded. He'd just noticed his tail. "It's no cottontail, is it," Jaune suggested, earning a laugh from Yang and another groan from Mercury. "The long tails keep hitting your feet. It's kind of annoying." Jaune turned to his own drooping to dangle against the ground. "It's really annoying."

Mercury ignored him, purposefully looking away from Jaune and around the city instead. "So... everyone here is animals?"

Yang glanced around. They were in a part of Zootopia that was, compared to where they had landed last time, very normal. It was a plain city, aside from the animal people walking around and giving them strange looks. "Well, some of it's less normal," Yang supplied.

"And last time it was less cold," Jaune said. At that, even Mercury had to turn to him, gaze questioning just what that meant. Jaune sighed. "It smells like there's an undercurrent of Darkness. If you look close, you can see that the prey animals are only glaring at me and Mercury. Predators only at Yang. I think something happened after we left, Yang. It's like no one here trusts each other."

Mercury sighed, knowing that Jaune was on to something after giving his own glance around them, at the animals giving them space on the sidewalk. "It reminds me a little of Vale after we attacked Beacon. All your teachers glaring at each other, thinking they were the traitor," he admitted. He crossed his arms and looked over to Yang. "What happened here last time?"

"We helped this bunny cop, Judy, and her... criminal informant fox, Nick, find a bunch of kidnapped predatory animals," she responded. She glanced over at Jaune to finish the explanation, hoping it would in some way help the relationship between him and Mercury.

Jaune picked up on that a lot faster than she had been worried. "We found them all locked up by the city's mayor, a lion, with help from the assistant mayor, a sheep. They were all nuts, Darkness had taken over their Hearts and they acted like – well, I'm sure you know -"

"Like animals!" Yang finished when it became clear Jaune was unwilling. It drew even more looks from the surrounding crowd.

"Er... yeah," Jaune said. Mercury hadn't looked at him once the entire time. Jaune sighed, feeling defeated, but he was sure it sounded more like a dog's whimper than he wanted. "We think whatever it is that can awaken the Darkness in someone's Heart is on this – here. Somewhere."

Mercury felt his stomach plummet. "It can wake the Darkness up in someone," he repeated, voice barely more than a whisper. He grabbed his face, not even feeling the claws extend and dig into his Aura. "But... if OJ gets that, he'll be able to control Em in no time!"

Jaune and Yang traded a glance. "Well, that's actually one of the reasons we came here first," Jaune explained after a moment. "If we can get it first, there's a better chance we'll be able to keep him from finding a way to completely control her."

Mercury frowned and finally spoke to Jaune, asking, "But why wouldn't he just do what Salem did to you?"

"Well, it's not the same. People can fight if their Heart is locked away," he explained somberly, drawing on his own horrific experiences. "But it seems as if this thing, whatever it is, can make someone's own Darkness take control." Jaune frowned sadly. "And when that happens, you actually want to do it."

"Which is what happened to you and other you," Mercury said, causing a flash of pain to move across Jaune's face.

"Yeah..." the blonde Keyblade warrior muttered sadly.

Yang snarled. "It's what happened to OJ," she clarified threateningly. Mercury noted it really was not at all intimidating coming from a bunny, what with the buck teeth and twitchy nose. She crossed her arms and glanced between both boys. "Well, we better get moving." A small smile covered her features as she punched Jaune's leg and made him look directly at her. "We should really hop to it."

Jaune smiled back. "That was a ruff one."

Mercury groaned after a moment, finally grasping what Jaune had just done. "Is this what it's going to be the entire time? Bad puns from both of you?" he snapped, aggravated by all the puns flying at him.

Jaune was about to answer, when the cold feeling intensified. His dog ears perked up and his head swiveled. He sniffed the air, causing both of his partners to stare at him in confusion. "Jaune, what –?" Yang began, only for him to sprint past her, running through the crowds and shoving people out of his way without a word.

Mercury glanced down at Yang. "Well, what do we do?" he inquired simply.

Yang slammed her fists together and Ember Celica shot into place. "We find out what has the pupper spooked," she replied, and she took off after Jaune.

Mercury frowned and watched her go. Following Jaune... It worried him how difficult it was to separate OJ from Jaune, even with everything the Keyblade wielder had done with the obvious intention of visibly distancing himself. The shorter hair, the different clothes, the push to fight and move completely different from his doppelganger. But he still saw those yellow eyes burning as fingers tightened around his Aura-less throat, or the evil smirk as the Keyblade and its massive blade of Darkness prepared to cleave through Emerald's chest and begin the process of erasing who she was. Of erasing the woman that, somehow, Mercury cared about. "You coming?" He glanced up at the impatient Yang. He gave a short nod, and took off after her.

Jaune swerved around corners, forcing his Heart to keep the Keyblade from erupting into being while surrounded by the ordinary denizens of this world. It wasn't easy, given the fact that he was getting closer and closer to what he knew was Heartless. He finally got to let go of that will holding back his weapon, and a bright flash exploded in the alley. The Predator Heartless turned from their prey and turned their jaws, drooling with Dark magic, towards him. They growled low and one leaped forward, but Jaune's Keyblade rocketed up to catch its jaws. The Keyblade glowed with warm yellow energy, and the Predator rebounded off of the Keyblade, soaring away with poison magic burning its flesh. Jaune glanced down at the weapon in his hands. "What the –?"

Yang slammed into the ground in front of him, her fists colliding with the top of the head of a Predator that had leaped at Jaune while he'd been distracted. "Focus, Good Boy!" Yang shouted, tossing a glance over her shoulder. She returned her attention to the Predator at her feet and she lashed out to kick it into the air. Her golden furred foot slammed into its jaw and it soared upward, just as Mercury rebounded from wall to wall and delivered a two legged kick to its midsection. The shadowy flesh caved in before it flew off, leaving a trail of smoke behind it as it lost all ability to hold itself together. Mercury landed in between the other Predators, his new feline legs tensing as the claws on his hands came out coated with fire magic. He leaped out, a snarl coming out like the growl of a snow leopard, and crashed into a Predator, the two tumbling a few feet to claw at each other.

Jaune nodded at Yang and ran past her, forcing whatever had happened from his mind, just like when it had happened on Gaia. His Keyblade glowed with a soft Light, burning through the defensive Darkness the Heartless gave off and letting him cleave one of its legs clean off. He turned and attacked one coming at his back, letting loose a Fire spell into its mouth that ignited the Poison spell. The fire continued along to the source of the spell. The inside of the Heartless' skin glowed as it began to burn from the inside out, heat and pressure building in its body until eventually it ruptured completely and vanished, leaving behind only a glowing Heart. Jaune had already returned his attention to the first Heartless, which had regrown its leg and was bouncing from wall to wall of the alley to avoid being attacked, shooting poison at him from far away to whittle him down. He slashed at the projectiles as they came, the Keyblade's aura completely destroying the Dark magic before it could reach him. He turned to dodge as another volley came near him and he fired a Magnet spell. The Heartless scratched at the ground, trying to find purchase, but was soon torn towards the swirling vortex. Jaune raised the Keyblade in both hands over his right shoulder, and swung it like a baseball bat right at the incoming head of the Heartless. There was a flash of dull light, and the Heartless was replaced by a gleaming Heart.

Yang, meanwhile, had used a pair of Fira spells to send her flying towards three Predators digging their claws into the walls and growling at her. Her fist slammed into the wall where the center one had been, her blow narrowly missing as it leaped to the other wall of the alley. The two Heartless on either side of Yang jumped at her, their poison maws crashing into her bracers as she raised them. Without a point of contact dug into the wall, the Heartless were free to bit down harder and aim her back at the ground as they all fell, the third Heartless jumping above them and coating itself with Dark magic that caused it grow an aura of Dark Poison magic that took on a physical form of massive claws on its front paws. Yang snarled and brought her fists together above her, slamming the two Heartless into each other. The force caused a boom to echo in the alley and stunning the two. Yang turned around midair, putting the Heartless between her and the ground and placing her feet on them. She kicked off, rocketing up and towards a wall with another boom as the Heartless almost instantaneously crashed into the ground and vanished, leaving behind nothing but cracks in the cement and smoke floating into the sky. Yang hit the wall to the right of the Heartless coated in magic and immediately rebounded with her rabbit legs, spinning to point them at the Heartless before it could respond, and her entire body ignited with flames – hair glowing and eyes bloody red – and the golden streak passed straight through the Heartless, causing it to vanish.

Mercury was locked in combat with the Heartless he had singled out and the Heartless that Jaune had somehow forced the poison spell to rebound on. He was currently pinned beneath the Heartless, the creature snapping at his face while he narrowly avoided the attacks and slashed at its face with his fiery claws. The Heartless reared back in pain as one of its eyes was gouged out. Mercury snarled and attacked again with his other hand, catching the monster's jaw with his flaming claws. He brought his right hand around to grab the top of the Heartless' mouth and launched a Thunder spell down its throat. The creature roared and exploded above him, leaving Merc alone with the whimpering, poisoned Heartless trying to back away. Mercury put his hands beside his head and used them to jump to his feet. He knelt down into a runner's pose, aimed directly at the Heartless ahead, and grinned. Then the blur of black and silver shot past the Heartless, claws and legs lashing out as he passed. The Heartless shrieked in pain and stumbled away, only for Merc to bounce off the walls and return from behind it with another attack as he took his time in eradicating the final enemy, working out some of his aggression. Finally, on the fifth pass, he leaped towards the Heartless, claws out in front of him as he soared like a rocket. He began to spin midair and coated his claws with Thundaga that sparked and crackled even as he tunneled straight through the Heartless' side.

And once all three finished with their enemies, they turned towards the center of the alley where the Heartless' prey was still lying unconscious. A small, gray rabbit in an open, button up shirt with a white t-shirt beneath it. Blue jeans and a farmers hat that accompanied the smell of a carrot farm. Jaune and Yang glanced at each other and rushed towards this person, leaving a confused Mercury behind. "Judy! Judy, are you okay?" Yang shouted, sliding to a stop on her knees beside the unconscious rabbit. She grabbed Judy by the shoulders and shook lightly while Jaune raised the Keyblade above them and summoned a Cura that washed away the entire group's weariness.

The unconscious bunny's eyelids fluttered until she slowly woke up, groaning at the light hitting her eyes. "Judy, you okay?" Yang asked as she helped the rabbit cop prop up against an alley wall in a sitting position. The brawler took a half step back and put her hands on her hips. "What's going on?"

Judy mumbled and rubbed her eyes, then looked around. "Jaune? Yang?" she grumbled. She shook her head. "Where's your spaceship?"

Mercury looked over at Jaune. "You let her find out?" he asked, disappointed. "Not even Em and I were that dumb."

Jaune tossed him a glare, but stayed focused on Judy. He remained kneeling next to her. "Judy, what happened in Zootopia to make it so cold?" he inquired again. He frowned. "And where's Nick?"

At that, the rabbit's eyes opened wide, alertness returning to her features. "Nick! I've got to find Nick!" she said when it all hit her again. The gray rabbit tried to push herself to her feet, but swayed and fell tiredly to a sitting position again after just a couple seconds.

"Don't push yourself," Mercury cut in, drawing her attention for the first time. "Heartless attacks are draining, and you almost didn't make it at all."

Judy glanced over at Yang and Jaune. "Uh... who's this?"

Mercury growled in annoyance. "I'm Mercury."

"Oh, from... where you come from?" Judy asked, skepticism at what she was asking in her own voice. "He's a friend of yours?"

"Yeah," Jaune said.

"Kind of," Mercury replied at the same time, twisting his hand from side to side in front of him. "Let's go with... allies."

Yang grabbed Mercury by the wrist. "Jaune, you fill her in and make sure she's okay. I'm going to talk to our 'ally' for a second," she said, robotic hand digging into the former assassin's arm. "Come on, Silver." The tiny rabbit basically yanked the much larger snow leopard off of his feet and supplying Judy with an image she was wondering was even possible.

"Ow, let go, Goldilocks!" Mercury hissed, finally yanking his arm out of her hand as they approached the end of the alleyway. He rubbed his wrist and gave her a sidelong glare, his hackles raised like an angry cat's. "What, are you trying to give me an arm to match my legs or something?"

"No, but maybe I should," she hissed back, the angry look not leaving her eyes. Her hair and fur were beginning to spark with flames and her eyes had shifted somewhere between red and lilac. She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "I should beat some some sense into you if you want to act like an idiot."

Mercury put one hand to his chest and melodramatically replied, "I have no idea what you are talking about. Impeaching my character like this! You wound me." She turned away and held up his hand in Yang's face. "Good day."

In response, she wrapped her fist around one of his fingers and began to pull it back. A loud cat screech echoed from his mouth and he turned back to Yang. "Oh, so you do want to listen?" she asked, grinning cruelly. The assassin-cat was on his knees now, eyes begging as he glared up – okay, still down, really – at the rabbit. The finger jerked back and Mercury yelped again. "Well? Are you ready? I can't quite put my finger on it when you don't answer!"

"Finefinefine!" Mercury yelped until she finally let go of his hand.

"Good. Now, stop treating Jaune like this," she demanded. She shoved her index finger in the face of the whimpering leopard. "I'm having enough trouble getting Jaune around the fact OJ and him look the same, so I doesn't need you proving all the crazy stuff OJ is saying right!"

"Look, Blondie, I don't know what you're talking about," he retorted, standing up and stuffing his hands in his armpits so she couldn't get at them. He shrugged. "I'm not treating you two any different than I did when we first met."

"Which is pretty different from how you were treating us just a week or two ago," Yang pointed out angrily. "Especially Jaune. You two are friends, you idiot. That means a lot to Jaune."

Mercury remained silent for a few moments. "He's probably done helping the rabbit get patched up. Let's find out what happened," he said, voice even and quiet. Mercury turned and walked towards Jaune and Judy, leaving behind a greatly annoyed Yang to glare at his back. She eventually just huffed in frustration and stomped after him.

"And you're sure you're okay?" Jaune asked, rising to his feet and holding his hand out to help Judy up to her feet. The rabbit took it and was pulled up, no longer wobbling as she stood there.

"Yes, Mom," Judy said, a sideways grin on her face.

Jaune chuckled and scratched his cheek. "He's just doing what his seven older sisters did every time he scraped his knee," Yang explained, putting on a smile and bounding past Mercury. She poked Jaunes shoulder. "That may not mean much to a bunny with a couple hundred siblings, but his litter was pretty big for where we come from."

"So what happened?" Mercury said, charging in to disrupt the conversation.

Judy glanced up at him, then her eyes hit the ground. "I messed up," she admitted sulkily. She put her hands in her pockets and laughed dryly. "Pretty much the moment you two left, I messed up." She sighed. "There was a press conference, and Mayor Bellwether and Chief Bogo had me answer the questions. Nick tried to coach me through it, but they kept asking questions and getting scared so I – I went with the only answer we even had..."

"That it's their biology," Jaune said, placing one hand over his eyes.

Yang shook her head in disappointment. "Clearly you didn't think that one through," she sighed.

Judy frowned and crossed her arms, hugging herself tight. "No, I didn't, and it's cost everyone everything," she said sullenly. "Prey and Pred have been looking at each other like they're monsters, and the Heartless just keep creating even more chaos." Judy looked back up at them, crying. "Nick left after the conference. He... He hated me." She laughed sadly. "To be honest, I hated me. So I left, too. I went back home to Bunny Burrow to escape my mistake."

Her eyes hardened, filled with new vigor. "And now I figured out the truth!" she said simply. "Someone is behind all of this, and they're using some kind of... extra potent version of a plant. Night Howlers – they're a plant that can cause bouts of insanity. They've found something even stronger and they've been using it on predators all around Zootopia to sow chaos."

"Couldn't resist the farming metaphor-pun, could you?" Yang asked. She gave a thumbs up. "I approve."

"So where are we starting our search, then?" Mercury asked. He gestured around the alley. "Or was your bright idea just look for where there are Heartless and wing it from there?"

Judy glared at him before returning her attention to Jaune and Yang. "I don't like your friend."

"Feeling's mutual, Carrots," Mercury growled, though he immediately regretted it.

Judy's gaze fell to the ground again. "I... I'm sorry. I was being rude," she said after a while.

Mercury sighed. "No, I – I just need to find whatever this thing is. Someone I love is in danger unless we can find it."

Judy looked back up at him. "Then we need Nick. He's got a nose for tracking things down, and I've hit a wall."

"Would you say he's cunning?" Yang inquired, leaning forward.

Jaune leaned forward from the other side. "Like a fox, perhaps?"

"... I'm so sorry," Mercury sighed, covering his eyes with one hand to hide his shame.

"Let's just... get going," Yang muttered, ignoring Jaune and Yang to walk off with Mercury. "So... when did Jaune start with the jokes, too?"

"Ugh... it's been way too long," Mercury groaned in response.

Jaune and Yang traded a look. "I think they're embarrassed of us!" Yang shouted angrily.

Jaune grimaced, looking even more like a nervous dog. "I'm embarrassed of us," he pointed out. He scratched the side of his head, confusion growing. "Wait! How are we going to find Nick!?"

R W B Y

As it turns out, Judy was able to come up with a plan for finding nick that didn't involve running towards random Heartless attacks in an attempt to find the fox. That plan was looking for an entirely different person that they didn't know, a Fennec named... Finnick. To Jaune, Mercury, and Yang this plan sounded like it was half-baked and just as likely to result in hours upon hours of random searching. And yet, Jaune and Yang should have known better. When a Keyblade Wielder was involved in any way shape or form, blind luck was stronger than probability, and they ran into Finnick not long after.

Being Nick's friend and partner in literal crime, it came as little surprise to them that he was doing what he did best – scamming people. He was selling lemonade made of water, food coloring, and sugar while pickpocketing his clientelle. It made Mercury sad, because Emerald and him had done something along those lines before Emerald had decided to steal those stupid keys and get them involved in this whole adventure. Finnick glanced over as his last client left, and he leaned against the stand. "Ah, if it ain't Nicky's cop," Finnick said, his uncharacteristically deep voice tinged with anger. He pointed at her. "So, find any other ways to make things worse, Meter Maid?"

"Okay, I deserved that," Judy said, walking up to lean against the other side of the stand. She gestured at the rest of the group. "This is Jaune, Yang, and Mercury. Jaune and Yang were the -"

"I already know!" Finnick snapped. He looked over at Jaune and Yang, giving them a thumbs up. "Nicky says you two are something else. Lookin' for a job?"

"Er... no, we're kind of already on a job," Jaune explained, almost sure that Finnick wanted them to do something at least immoral if it wasn't outright illegal.

Mercury chimed in from behind, holding one hand up. "How well does it pay?"

"Look, we need to find Nick," Judy said, drawing the angry fennec fox's attention.

He shook his head. "Aw, no, Meter Maid. Nicky's my boy, and he does not want to see you. Therefore, I have no reason to let you see him," he snapped.

Judy glanced down, then up. "What if I paid you?" she asked, pulling out a hundred lien.

Finnick's eyes widened as temptation hit him, then narrowed as he overcame it. "I said Nicky's my boy, so not even money will get me to turn on him," Finnick explained coolly. He shook his head. "I'm insulted you think so little of me, Meter Maid. Let me guess, it's because I'm a fox, the same reason you carried that fox repellant around Nicky?"

Judy sighed and put the money back in her wallet. "You're right, I'm – I'm sorry," she said. She clenched her fist on the stand. "I was wrong, then and now."

"But we need to find Nick," Jaune explained, walking up, too.

Yang nodded and leaned her back on the stand so she and Jaune flanked Judy. "If money isn't enough of a reason to tell us where he is, how about -"

"Torture? No!" Finnick snapped. He leaped on top of the stand and started to brandish his tiny claws at everyone. "Not even under that pain will I rat out my partner! That was the deal we made!"

"Uh... she was just going to ask if you thought the fact that we found out what is actually causing this is a good enough reason," Jaune supplied after the entire street seemed to go silent at that thought.

Finnick stared at Jaune for a while, processing what he'd said. "Oh, uh... I..." He laughed and jumped back behind the stand. "Well, I mean... I knew that."

Mercury stared at the tiny fox. "Yeah. Sure."

Finnick glared back for a minute, then sighed and returned his attention to Judy. "Well, if that's the case, I guess I can take you to Nicky," he sighed. He stood up straight and ran a hand over his long ears. "But... I will take that hundred lien."

Judy sighed and pulled the cash out again, only for Finnick to snatch it away the moment it was in her hand. "Okay, now if you all will just follow me, we can go find Nicky." The tiny fox laughed as he pocketed the cash and then jumped over to the front of the stand, flipping a sign so it said 'Be Back Soon!' and began to walk confidently down the street.

"I like him," Mercury said before following close behind.

"I get the feeling I should say, 'You would,'" Judy muttered dryly before following with Jaune and Yang in tow.

"Not anymore," Jaune said.

At the same time, Yang laughed and stated, "You have no idea."

The foursome followed Finnick for a few minutes, turning once off of the street and out into a park. "He's been living here, uh, 'rent free' ever since his mouse landlord got spooked and kicked him out," Finnick explained, tossing another pointed look at Judy.

"Jeez, it's like looking at you two," Yang muttered in Mercury and Jaune's direction.

Mercury glared over his shoulder at her while Jaune chuckled sadly. "Well, it's true," Yang insisted angrily.

"To be fair, I am kind of responsible," Jaune supplied, glaring a hole in the ground. He pawed at the dirt. "What with OJ and everything..."

"And who is OJ?" Judy asked. The group glanced at her to see one of her massive ears had been pointed at them the entire time. And, so was Finnick's.

"Eavesdroppers," Yang grumbled.

Finnick laughed. "Can't keep secrets around ears this big!" he shouted. "Now, you gonna answer?"

"Let's just say he's like my evil brother," Jaune explained sullenly.

Judy raised an eyebrow. "Your evil brother? What, does he jaywalk and play stupid pranks on people?" she asked mockingly.

"Kidnapping," Mercury supplied.

Yang shook her head. "Murder."

"Attempted genocide," Jaune tacked on.

Judy and Finnick stopped walking and looked at each other, stunned into silence. Finnick laughed nervously and said, "Oh, so when you said evil, you meant..."

"Yeah, evil evil," Mercury finished for her. "Kidnapped my best friend."

"His girlfriend," Yang taunted in a singsong.

"Why are you mocking him for that?" Jaune inquired. "It makes it worse."

"Oh, uh... It kind of just slipped out," Yang muttered. "After doing it to Ruby or Nora so long, it's almost reflex."

"Uh... huh," Judy and Finnick said simultaneously.

Luckily for their conversation path – or, unluckily for Nick, Mercury supposed – they came across a group of Predators and Shadows attacking the closed up door of a run down barn, screams for help echoing out from within. "NICK!" Judy and Finnick cried out, voiced blending together once again before they rushed ahead.

"Wh- Guys! You don't have weapo -" Jaune froze as Finnick pulled out a gun. "Well... You're still not prepared to fight Heartless!" He summoned the Keyblade and sprinted towards the fight. He jumped between the two animals and a Predator as it turned and leaped towards them, poison flying from its jaws and burning through the ground.

"Time for some more fun!" Yang shouted, tensing her legs and leaping. Pound for pound, her legs had the most Yang for their buck, and she soared into the center of the fight in a few seconds. Yang sighed as her fire coated legs collided with a Shadow's head. Even she had to admit that joke was a bad one, if only because she'd used it a million times. Another Shadow pulled itself out of the ground and leaped at her back, only for her to turn and bring her arm up to block its claws from scratching across her back.

Merc zipped in, a streak of silver, and landed a shotgun kick to the monster's head. It exploded at the force, his foot driving straight through. "Going to say thanks, Blondie?" he asked the brawler as they moved back to back so they could face all the Heartless surrounding them.

"You took down a Shadow, that doesn't make you impressive," Yang snapped. She clenched her fists and readied for another jump. Her ears bobbed towards Jaune. "Talk to me when you can beat a Predator while scared of yourself." Then she leaped forward, fists glowing with fire and a cloud of dust billowing from where she had been standing, coating Merc's back in dirt.

Her fist collided with a Predator's face, the Firaga in her palm exploding and causing the monster's face to cave in completely. The fire burned away the Heartless' body and shot forward, soaring towards a pair of shadows just as they slunk back into the ground, avoiding the attack. Yang snarled and slammed her fists together before charging another Predator. She swiped at its head, only for its claws to come up and swipe her attack away. She spun away as her attack's momentum carried her tiny body and managed to dodge the claw that came down on the ground where she had been. She slammed her foot down and stopped spinning, then raised her hands defensively, catching a pair of poison tipped claws in her weapons before they could carve through her Aura. The Predator leaned forward, a cold snarl coming from the poison-filled maw closing in on her face. Yang pushed back, keeping them at a standstill until the pair of Shadows that had disappeared a few moments earlier decided to materialize behind her. With a grin, Yang stopped pushing against the Predator, then leaned back and kicked it over her and right into the Shadows. Poison magic carved through them and they vanished just before she leaped forward, a flaming rocket, and annihilated the last of the Predators attacking her.

Mercury turned as Shadows rushed at him, letting their wild slashes pass him by so he could claw one in half. The other passed him by before he could attack it as well, then melted into the ground. Mercury kept an eye trained on the shadow slinking across the battlefield while he continued to fight, blocking an incoming Predator with his shin. He kicked at the creature locked onto his leg and it flipped suddenly, just as he jumped with his left leg and brought it around and right into the path of the flipping Heartless. He laughed as his leg easily carved through its flesh, sending the bisected remains spinning away into nothingness. He turned back to the Shadow as it crawled out of the ground, and it froze, almost surprised to have been caught. "Nice try," Mercury said, grinning evilly before lashing out with his heel and making it disappear for real this time. He stood up straight and put his hands in his pockets. "Well, now. Isn't that -"

"Look out!" someone shouted. Mercury yelped as the owner of the voice shoved him out of the way, and a loud clang immediately erupted as Heartless claws slammed into a weapon. Mercury looked up to thank whoever had saved him, and saw Jaune locked in combat with a Neoshadow. The Keyblade wielder narrowed his eyes and broke the lock with a powerful shove that sent the Heartless straight up into the air. Jaune raised the Keyblade over his shoulder, then with a battle roar he sent it flying upward to carve through the Neoshadow as a brilliant circle of Light. The Keyblade flashed back to Jaune's hand a moment later as he placed his off hand on his hip. "There, all done."

Mercury scrambled to his feet, about to say he hadn't needed any help, when the door of the barn slowly opened. "Now, I may not recognize every noise out here, but I know that voice belongs to an overly excited puppy. Jaune, could that be you?" Nicholas Wilde inquired as he peeked out of the door. He grinned and tossed it open. "And Yang! Finnick, aren't they something else?"

"If that's what you want to call this," Finnick trembled as he hid his gun once more. He looked over at Judy. "I got a permit."

She glared at him, completely unsure if that was true, then turned back to Nick. "H-Hi... Nick."

The Fox just glared at her.

Judy sighed. "I guess that I deserve that," Judy muttered sadly. She looked up. "Nick, Night howlers aren't wolves! Someone is using modified versions of a toxic flower. I think someone is targeting predators on purpose and making them go savage."

Nick narrowed his eyes at her and turned around. "Wow. Isn't that interesting," he said in a monotone. "Yang, Jaune. I'll see ya later."

Judy jumped after him. "Wait!" he stopped. She sighed. "Listen, I – I know you'll never forgive me! And I don't blame you. I wouldn't forgive me either. I was ignorant, and... irresponsible... and small-minded. But predators shouldn't suffer because of my mistakes. I have to fix this." She fell to her knees, hands clasped as she begged. "I can't do this without you."

"She has us, why does she need him?" Mercury asked Yang and Jaune under his breath. They wrapped their hands over his mouth to shut him up.

"And... and after we're done, you can hate me, and that'll be fine, because I was a horrible friend. And I hurt you. And you... you can walk away knowing you were right all along," Judy said. Her ears dropped and her eyes glared at the dirt, full of self loathing. Tears and sobs escaped her, and Jaune knew he was going to get really angry if Nick didn't forgive her after all this, because that's jst what friends do. It's what his friends did... huh, it really was, wasn't it? "I really am just a dumb bunny."

The entire place was silent. Then, Judy said again, "I really am just a dumb bunny."

"Wha?" Judy asked, looking up.

Finnick laughed excitedly and slapped his knee. "He hustled you!" he shouted, pointing at Judy as Nick turned around to reveal a small carrot pen. He pressed a button on the pen and her statement echoed again.

"Don't worry, Carrots. I'll let you erase it," Nick began. He rinned evilly. "I'll let you erase it... in forty-eight hours."

Judy laughed, her tears turning to those of joy as she leaped forward and hugged the fox. Her arms tightened around his midsection. "Nick... Nick I'm so sorry!" she cried.

"I know, I know," Nick said, tapping her head.

Jaune took a step forward. "Uh... what's going on?"

Nick glanced over. "Oh, well... Carrots here used this," he began, shaking the carrot pen above Judy's head, "to blackmail yours truly into helping her. I guess you could say that it's the carrot and the stick that started our friendship." Yang and Jaune laughed at that bad joke, which only caused Nick to grimace. "Guys that was a test. And you like them now, too? Good Boy, come on!"

Finnick growled angrily. "You see, your laughter is even making Finnick angry!" Nick shouted. "I mean, everything makes Finnick angry, but you get my point."

"Uh, I don't think that's what happened," Mercury said, fear in his voice as he pointed towards the Fennec fox. Judy let go of Nick and everyone turned towards Finnick, freezing solid. Finnick was on all fours, his pupils tiny dots of savage rage. His clothes were in tatters, torn to shreds as he pulled at them with sharp teeth. And floating behind him, was a Heartless none of them had ever seen before.

It was a massive blue flower with a shadowy creature coming out from the center and each petal emblazoned with the symbol of the Heartless. Colorfully tipped stalks rose to surround this body, each charged with a different kind of magic. The Heartless' hands were guns, from which a stream of shadows connected it to Finnick, Its yellow eyes glowed brighter with every moment the connection continued. The creature bobbed in the air, moving from side to side and causing pollen of Darkness to drift from it. "I think," Nick said cautiously as he pointed at the Heartless, "that is a Night Howler."

Finnick growled again and the Darkness connecting him to the Heartless vanished, at which point the creature rose into the air and flew off. The Darkness around Finnick began to coagulate, hardening into a shell that made him seem so much larger than he was. "We need to catch that thing!" Judy shouted, finger pointing at the retreating creature. Until Nick tackled her out of the way of a black fireball that Finnick had launched their way.

"Carrots, I think we can do that later, when we aren't about to be killed by my buddy," Nick said as he and the rabbit made their way to their feet. Nick held his hands out in front of him and approached Finnick. "Hey... come on, Finnick! Come on, Buddy! You aren't going to bite the face off of ol' Nicky, are ya?"

Finnick took a half step forward and cocked his head to the side, as if unsure. Then the Darkness around him intensified and he leaped forward, teeth glinting as he, apparently, made quite an effort to bite Nick's face off. The fox yelped and raised his arms in front of his face, staying exactly where he was standing between Finnick and Judy. "Good job not moving. Probably would've hit Judy if you had," Jaune said. Nick opened his eyes, seeing that the Keyblade wielding dog had jumped between him and Finnick at the last moment, catching the claws of the fennec's massive Dark aura on the weapon. "This way -" And then the Dark aura around the fox grew denser, condesning into a thin layer of black surrounding Finnick as his eyes began to glow yellow, and Jaune was thrown backwards over Nick, crashing through the roof of the barn then out of the other side of the roof until he collided with the ground.

Yang immediately leaped into action, shoulder colliding with Finnick and shoving them both into a tree far from Judy and Nick. Finnick snapped at Yang's throat over and over, his teeth only blocked by the bracer she had jammed up next to her head. Finnick's back collided with the tree, shattering the trunk. The sudden jolt sent Finnick flying off of Yang, flipping midair until he landed feet first against a tree. He leaped towards Yang, and she raised her arms to block the attack, only for the fennec to vanish in front of her. She yelped as he reappeared beside her, crashing claws first into her side. Yang screamed out in pain as it carved through her Aura. She stumbled away, clutching at her side and raising her off hand up defensively. "Dammit, the Lion wasn't this strong last time," she mumbled as Finnick growled and slowly advanced towards her. Sparks of Thunder magic began to jump from his body, coiling and stretching as he stalked towards his prey.

When Mercury's foot collided with his head, Finnick didn't even budge. He simply turned towards the snow leopard and grabbed Merc's ankle with his teeth. The Thunder magic disappeared for a moment, and then Mercury was screaming as electricity filled his body, leaving him paralyzed from the inside out. Then Finnick turned and tossed the limp Mercury towards the barn before returning his attention to Yang, who was now healed enough by her Aura to hold both hands in front of her at the ready.

Mercury tumbled through the door of the barn and prepared to crash headfirst into some old, rusty farm equipment. Thankfully, Jaune appeared just in time to catch Mercury, bringing the both of them to a stop just before the pain would have arrived. When Jaune put him down, Mercury groaned and rubbed his neck. "That tiny fox packs a punch."

Jaune groaned. "Way too much of one," he agreed. He readied the Keyblade. "Yang and I are way stronger than the last time we were here, which means that the Savage Predators are even stronger now, too." He frowned as something came to him. "The panic, that... Night Howler Heartless is feeding off of it, making it stronger."

"Great theory, doesn't matter," Mercury said as he stretched his legs. "Now, we need to get fighting."

"Not without a plan," Jaune said, grabbing Mercury's arm.

Mercury shoved him off. "Don't tell me what to do," he growled. He jabbed Jaune in the chest.

"We need to have a plan, or we'll be too exhausted to go after the Heartless. We need to work together," Jaune begged, clenching his fist at his side.

"..." Mercury glared at him, then back to Yang barely holding her own defensively against Finnick. "If it were either of us, we'd be dead already."

Jaune followed his gaze. "Honestly? Yeah."

Mercury sighed. "Okay, what've you got?"

Jaune smiled softly and nodded. "Okay. Judy has fox repellent. You're the only one fast enough to get it and then get into whatever tiny opening Yang and I can get you. You supercharge it with Light magic, and..."

"Maybe it'll be enough. Not bad," Mercury finished. He nodded at Jaune. "I'll do it."

"Then let's go," Jaune said, and he sprinted towards Finnick, who now had Yang pinned and his mouth held off by her palms. Jaune brought the Keyblade around as hard as he could and the fennec was forced off Yang, rolling to the side and up to his feet to growl at them both.

Yang jumped to her feet. "You're late," she growled at Jaune. "What, did fetch take longer than you expected?"

"Ha ha," Jaune retorted, his eyes never leaving Finnick. "Merc and I have a plan. We just need to keep Finnick busy."

"But I've been doing that this entire time!" Yang protested. She groaned and glared at the fox. "Fine. But this plan better be pretty foxy!"

Jaune grinned at her. "You know it," he agreed, and the two sprinted at Finnick. Jaune got there first and slashed overhead, but Finnick jumped to the side. As the fox moved, he lashed out and snapped at Jaune's other arm. "Sol!" The shield extended, catching Finnicke's jaw on the metal and surprising the fennec enough that he shot past Jaune and into Yang's fist. Finnick was tossed back, but he flipped midair and avoided the Keyblade swinging at him. Black flame exploded from his claws, shooting forward and wrapping around Jaune's waist. "Crud."

And then Finnick rocketed towards Jaune, biting the dog tail Jaune kept forgetting about. "YOWCH!" Jaune snapped, running towards Yang. "YANG! GET HIM OFF!"

"I'm trying!" Yang snapped, trying to punch the fennec, but continuously missing because of Jaune's random movement. "I... Just – Agh!" Growing fed up, Yang tripped Yang with her foot and lashed out with her fist as he fell. Finnick yelped in animalistic surprise and let go of Jaune's tail before slamming into the ground. Finnick snarled and the Darkness around him vanished. Yang raised an eyebrow. "Uh..." Then a sphere of condensed Darkness shot towards Yang. "Crapbaskets!" She threw herself tot he side, cring out in pain as the sphere burned through some of the hairs on her cottontail. She rolled to her feet on one side of Finnick, while Jaune stood on the other. "You messed with my hair!? I'll kill you!"

Finnick just snarled in response before bounding in a zig zag towards Yang, the black Aura bursting to life again around him. Yang roared as he leaped towards her, her hair and fur completely aflame and her eyes glowing like rubies in the sunlight. She raised her fist and slammed it into his face... coming to a complete standstill. Yang blinked. "Well, that's new," she muttered before his claws swiped at her elbow, bending it and letting him scratch across her face.

Jaune ran up behind Finnick and pulled him off Yang, only for the tiny fox to turn in his hands and begin scratching at his face. Jaune screamed and fell on his back, struggling to keep the fox from carving him to shreds. Yang shouted and ran forward, trying to pry Finnick off of her partner.

And then Mercury walked up, flanked by Judy and Nick, and sprayed mace charged with Light magic on Finnick and he quickly fell unconscious. "You two are idiots," Mercury told the dog on his back and the rabbit bent over him.

"Hey! Don't be mean to Judy and Nick!" Yang shouted.

"I think he meant us," Jaune grumbled before Yang pulled him to his feet. The group looked down at Finnick, the Darkness gone and now snoozing on the grass. "If the Heartless can make animals this strong and Dark, it's going to be tough. Really tough." He raised his Keyblade and summoned magical chains, tying Finnick to the ground in case he woke up again.

"Not to mention if it does something like that to one of us," Yang pointed out, forcing Jaune to picture an image of a wild – wilder – er, wilder-er – Yang beating the crap out of him. He shivered in fear.

"Which brings up an important question. How the hell is it doing this?" Nick asked. He leaned down and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "And why Finnick instead of any of us?"

Jaune, Yang, and Mercury all glanced at one another. "Uh..."

"Questions even the aliens can't answer," Nick mumbled dryly. He sighed and pulled out his phone as he stood up. "Well, we can't leave Finnick here, out of control. We're going to have to call Chief Big Butt and tell them to pick him up."

"That's probably the best idea, Nick," Judy said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "That way he can get the help he needs."

"Just funny. We promised we'd never rat each other out, and now he needs it," Nick said with a dry laugh. He finished dialing the hotline for savage animals, then walked off to speak to the operator.

Judy watched him go for a few moments, then turned and frowned. "Wait a second – I know what this is!" She rushed off, leaving a confused Jaune, Mercury, and Yang to stare after her. They glanced at one another for a moment, then charged after her. "Midnicampum holicithias!"

"What? Midnight camping holy chanting!" Yang shouted, snapping her fingers. "Of course!"

"No, she said Midas carpal hole sith," Jaune interjected simply.

Judy glared at those two before turning to Mercury with an eyebrow raised, awaiting something stupid. He shook his head. "No, I'm not even going to try."

"Night howlers," Judy said.

Yang and Jaune blinked. "Ohhhhhhhh!" they both shouted.

Judy sighed and slapped her forehead before turning back to the flower. "But whe – oh! There's more!" She rushed to the next. Then pointed further. "It's an entire path!"

Judy frowned and glanced up, then over at the barn, then at the sky again. Then: "Wait, they're heading in the same direction as that Heartless! We can track it to whoever is in charge, to whoever orchestrated this entire plot!"

"My thoughts exactly, Carrots. And then I can... relieve them of whatever it is they're using to control this thing," Nick explained as he walked up, pocketing his phone. He straightened his tie. "Not that I've ever done that to anyone before. What kind of animal would steal from someone else, after all?"

"I mean, stealing only happens if you get caught," Mercury pointed out, earning a laugh and a high five from Nick.

"He likes Finnick and Nick too much," Yang pointed out, arms crossed.

Jaune rolled his eyes. "You're just jealous. Last time we were here, Nick was your best friend."

"... It can be both."

Jaune grinned at his partner and shook his head. "So, what's in that direction?" Jaune asked after a moment, pointing towards the next flower.

Judy put a hand on her chin. "I don't know. I've never really been out this far," she muttered.

Nick put up a finger. "And this is where the smart fox comes in..." Nick pressed the button on the carrot pen. "Dumb bunny!" He laughed and tapped his head with the pen. "If we follow these flowers, we'll eventually run into an old, abandoned subway station. One that I've heard... 'unsavory' individuals have used to hide... let's call it 'hot' merchandise."

"Popular stuff?" Jaune asked.

Mercury shook his head. "Stolen stuff," he said.

Jaune sighed. "I should've expected that," he muttered, tapping his snout.

"Oh, but then who would be a good boy?" Yang asked in her 'Zwei' voice as she reached up and began scratching behind Jaune's ear. The dog man began to pant heavily and appreciatively until he realized what he was doing and shoved her hand from his head. "Who? You!"

"Then let's get going. The sooner we get that Night Howler, the sooner we can save Emerald," Mercury growled, then he sprinted off down the path of flowers, leaving everyone else to eat his dust.

"Makes you bunnies look slow," Nick pointed out, chastising Judy. "And speed's all you've got going for you!"

"My sister is faster," Yang snapped before chasing Mercury, intent on beating him there.

Judy shook her head and said, "I'd rather be cautious anyways."

Nick shrugged. "Then... shall we?" he asked, motioning down the path of flowers with both hands.