AN: Hey guys! Good to see you!

Wow, Kingdom Hearts 3, huh? Kind of can't believe it's out. All in all, I think it's a pretty fun game. I personally liked the Drive Forms more than Keyblade Transformations, just from a sheer fun factor, but all the Keyblade Transformations were still fun. I really liked the attraction summons and -Za magic; those were my favorite mechanic additions. Oh, and Donald manages to heal me sometimes. It's like a miracle. Philoctetes and Mickey are kind of horrifying in Unreal Engine, though.

I'm really excited about the Epilogue, though. It sets up a lot of cool directions KH4 could go. And when I first saw it, I actually thought that it suddenly tied up a bunch of weird logical inconsistencies that had been bugging me with the series.

Anyways, just want to say thanks to everyone! Last chapter, this story passed 100 reviews. I'm glad you guys have so much to say about it!

Now, for responses:

To Gamelover41592: I don't currently have any plans to bring Jaune's nephew into this, nor (obviously) other characters like Oscar. For the most part, since this is heavy AU since the 3rd season, characters not introduced in those first 3 seasons won't be added for now. If the third story materializes after this one, that's a different story. Ha! Literally a different story!

To G3r1k: It's only a matter of time now. I hope it feels... organic, I suppose.

Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 26: So Close, Yet So Far

When Mercury, Ruby, and Genie opened their eyes, they found themselves standing at the center of a large, white circle surrounded by four stony pillars at the center of a large city spanning miles in any direction. Above Merc and Ruby's heads were green, glowing diamonds that marked them as 'players' under this world's rules. Genie, meanwhile, had no such diamond. As he had suggested before, his lumpy dog form was that of a companion creature connected with Mercury. The blue animal looked around and bit his cheek. "So this is Aincrad? I was hoping for something a little more like home."

"An underground bunker?" Mercury wondered dryly.

"A desert," Genie replied simply. "Ah, those Arabian Nights. They're like Arabian Days. Hotter than hot, in a lot of good ways."

"Stop that," Mercury grumbled, reaching down to forcefully pet the dog's head before shoving him lightly to the side.

"Hey," Genie grumbled. He sat down on his haunches. "It's not like I was singing the whole song!"

Ruby wasn't paying either of them any attention whatsoever. In fact, Mercury was nearly torn off his feet when she turned into a tornado of red and shot towards the crowds at a speed that could kill most people if she ran past them. She slid to a sudden stop behind someone, grabbing his weapon and tearing it from his back. "Oooh! A kanabo! That's so cool!" she shouted, drawing the attention of the angry man, who was loudly demanding his weapon be returned to him. She ignored him. "These can destroy almost any shield that someone tries to put in its path!" The weapon soared into the air as she turned into a tornado again. The guy yelped and dove forward, barely keeping the club from hitting the ground. Ruby reappeared on the other side of the circle, holding a pair of very wicked looking knives. "Wow, these are so cool! Did you make them yourself?" Before the woman she'd taken them from could answer, Ruby was already bothering another person.

"When they said she liked weapons, I don't think I really understood how much," Mercury muttered as he helplessly watched the red streak bounce around the crowd, stealing and dropping weapons as she went. She dove around a woman, stealing her bow and glowing arrows. "She's weapon crazy."

Genie watched her bounce between more people like a pinball. "She's almost cartoonish," he noted. Mercury turned and glared dryly at the Genie. "What? What!?"

Then, out of the crowd walked a disappointingly familiar face. "Well, well, well. And here I was hoping that I'd never see you again," Kirito said, hands up near his shoulders, eyes shut, and shaking his head. "I mean, I never thought I'd miss Dumb and Dumber."

"Kirito," Asuna admonished from beside him. "Mercury isn't nearly the worst person that could have shown up. Remember that... old man?"

Kirito's face contorted into a grimace. "Ugh, I'll never eat fish again," he groaned, placing one hand over his eyes. "So... So..." He shuddered.

"Exactly," Asuna said, taking no small amount of pleasure out of Kirito's suffering. She turned to Mercury. "It's good to see you. We were wondering what happened when you and the blondes dropped off the face of the earth, so it's... nice to see you guys aren't dead."

Mercury glared at her. She'd sounded a little strained forcing out that last bit. "And it's just as nice to see no one who's tried to murder you so far has succeeded. How many assassinations are you up to now?"

"Twelve for me, fifteen for him," Asuna muttered non-chalantly. "My numbers would be higher, but his voice is so annoying."

"Uh... huh," Mercury mumbled, unsure exactly how to respond to her pride at being utterly unlikable.

Kirito glanced up. "So, who's the kleptomaniac, red personification of ADHD over here?" he asked, gesturing with his thumb at Ruby who was still jumping between people and stealing their weapons.

Genie was the one who answered, resulting in a pair of flabbergasted faces turning towards the blue dog. "Oh, that's Yang's younger sister, Ruby."

"I thought I'd seen everything this broken game had to offer," Kirito muttered once Genie finished before reaching out and poking at the dog. Genie's protests fell on deaf ears as Asuna also began to poke at him.

Mercury grinned and let the dog continue to get poked for a while, just to mess with him. Eventually, he decided enough was enough. "Given how much you act like a grumpy cat, I never would have pegged you as a dog person."

Kirito looked up and glared at Merc. "Okay, screw you," he muttered before he and Asuna, who was laughing at him, stood up. "So... Yang's sister? What, she and Dumber couldn't make it themselves?"

"She's stronger than either of them," Genie explained simply. "Maybe both together."

"And you of all people should know people with girly voices can be more dangerous than they appear, Kiki," Mercury said, drawing a manic glare from the swordsman. Asuna was barely stifling her laughter at Kirito now. Mercury turned away from them. "Ruby! Come meet Kirito and Asuna!"

The red torpedo turned abruptly and rushed towards them. Kirito yelped, worried that the missile was about to hit them. Mercury knew that, given her speed, that certainly seemed like a normal response. Kirito even yelped as she came close and suddenly stopped, sending a gust of wind past them. "Ooh! Two swords, that's pretty cool! My boyfriend Sora can use two Keyblades, but this is still fun. Most people can't even use one sword very well, but two?"

"She's very... personab – wait did she say that this Sora guy could use two Keyblades!?" Kirito asked, rage growing again.

"You angry you aren't special anymore?" Asuna asked in a baby voice, pinching Kirito's cheek.

"YES!" he screamed, drawing the attention of everyone in the town's square. He coughed. "I mean, no. Of course not."

"Mhm," Asuna muttered, letting go of his cheek and patting his back. "That almost sounded like you meant it." She looked over at Ruby. "But you did say 'two?' He has an extra he could, I don't know, trade?"

Ruby frowned. "I don't think that's how Keyblades work," she explained, unsure. "No, definitely not. You have to be worthy to have them!"

That struck a discordant note with Asuna. Her eyes began to glow red as she suddenly pulled out her rapier faster than anyone else in this game could draw their weapons. "Are you saying I'm unworthy!?"

Ruby, from behind her, replied. "I guess."

Asuna yelped and turned around, finding herself face to face with the tip of Ruby's Keyblade. The Huntress grabbed the rapier and tore it from Asuna's hand. "My friend is better with these than you. Oh, maybe Weiss would teach you some stuff if you ever met her!"

Mercury and Kirito looked over at Asuna, watching her eye twitch as she was suddenly stuck between her unyielding rage and the knowledge she probably couldn't beat the red hooded girl in front of her. "Ah, what's wrong?" Kirito asked, walking up and pinching Asuna's cheek. "You angry you aren't special anymore?"

She backhanded him into the ground. "Don't patronize me, Kirito," she growled before pulling her weapon back from Ruby's hand and sheathing it again.

Mercury chuckled and shook his head. "I see you two haven't changed," he noted simply. He crossed his arms. "So what exactly have you been up to since the, uh, 'ghost' problem."

Kirito rubbed the bright red patch on his cheek. "Oh, you know. Being the only two people here that aren't total idiots in this entire game," Kirito replied, not an ounce of humility in his voice. He glanced around, as if expecting someone to appear out of thin air. "Which reminds me, where are Dumb and Dumber?"

"Who?" Ruby asked.

Mercury sighed. "Yang and Jaune had something they had to do," he explained, jabbing Kirito in the ribs for using his nicknames for the duo in front of Ruby.

"What could be more important in this game than preparing to fight the next Floor Boss?" Asuna wondered. She wasn't dense enough to miss Mercury and Ruby exchanging a glance. "Hey, now, what was that about?"

"What?" Kirito asked, still rubbing at his cheek.

"They looked at each other when I asked the question," Asuna explained without looking away from Merc and Ruby. "Where are they?"

Mercury couldn't come up with a lie, so the truth it was. "Space. Fighting aliens that want to be god while trying to also fight his evil twin from a parallel reality." Ruby watched him, dumbfounded that he would just answer honestly.

"... Sure," Kirito said, rolling his eyes. "If you're going to lie to us, come up with something believable at least."

"You got me. Sorry," Mercury supplied with a shrug.

"Jerks never tell us anything," Asuna pouted from beside Kirito.

Ruby laughed nervously. "Well, uh, what – what fun is life without, er, secrets?" she asked brightly. Mercury groaned inwardly and rubbed his forehead. Was everyone in Keyboy's keychain this bad at lying?

"It is always nice knowing more than the idiots around you," Kirito agreed as he patted Asuna's back to comfort her. "You know, Silver, you seem kind of down."

Mercury glanced over at Kirito, confused.

"What? Are you and Greenie going through a dry spell?" Kirito asked mockingly. He shook his head and laughed. "An ol' argument? Are you, uh, 'too fast?'"

Mercury glared at him, fists shaking at his side. "Or, uh, wait! I got it! Did she leave you?"

Mercury growled, a noise unnoticed by Kirito. But Asuna didn't miss it. "Maybe she – Oof!"

Asuna's elbow collided with his ribs. "Shut up, Kirito!" she snapped. She cleared her throat and chuckled nervously. "Kirito still hasn't learned how to stop when he's less behind."

"Don't you mean ahead?" Kirito coughed.

Asuna glared at him. "I meant what I said."

Genie cut in again, clearing his throat. "We're here to help you guys with the Boss Fight. Jaune and Yang trusted us with it while they're busy."

"You know, I still can't get over the talking dog," Kirito muttered, just staring at the blue creature. "You look a little soft around the edges. Are you going to be any help in the fight?"

"I'll have you know my bite is worse than my bark," Genie replied jokingly.

"Well, then it's good to have you guys around, then," Asuna stated. "Almost every enemy for the past twenty floors was replaced entirely with those 'Heartless' things that you talked about. We've had massive losses the entire way up here." She began to walk, motioning for the group to follow her through the city towards a very large circular building not far off.

Kirito didn't glance up as he added, "No one important, obviously."

"I can see why Jaune and Yang think he's a jerk," Ruby whispered to Mercury. "But why are they friends with him?"

Asuna, meanwhile, had shoved Kirito backwards. "If that's it, we'll take you to where the raid party is gathering. The head of our guild -"

"Ugh, stop reminding me," Kirito grumbled angrily. "I can't believe I lost to that blowhard."

"The head of our guild," Asuna repeated despite Kirito's repeated groan, "is always on the lookout for more help."

"And for some reason, everyone that Dumb and Dumber know is a halfway decent fighter," Kirito picked up. "So, less chance of me or Asuna dying!"

"Don't worry! I can handle anything anyone throws at me!" Ruby explained cheerily. "Me and Crescent Rose here don't lose to anyone!" She twirled her Keyblade in front of her, then let it rest across her shoulders.

"Besides Sora," Mercury pointed out.

"Hey! I'll have you know the score is currently 35-5, Mercury!" Ruby exclaimed proudly. "It's comeback time!"

Genie shook his head at the others from behind Ruby. "Sure," Mercury agreed half-heartedly. "Sure it is."

"Ah, Kirito. Asuna." a man in crimson heavy armor said as they approached the building. He stood with a clear weight of command upon his shoulders, his long gray hair tightly in place in its warrior's ponytail, save for a long strand hanging just outside of his field of vision. He looked weary, and more than a little annoyed.

"Huh, seeing you earlier than expected, Cliff" Kirito muttered as he and the group stopped in front of the man.

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to," Heathcliff stated, slamming the end of his massive shield into the ground. He was smirking, though that smug smile quickly disappeared when his gaze locked onto the trio of newcomers. His gaze became inscrutable and his eyes studied the three as best as he could. "And who is your little fellowship here?"

"You've met Mercury before. Fast, annoying, likes getting handsy with girls with green hair," Kirito said, gesturing at the former assassin. Mercury cast him an annoyed glare.

"I'm Ruby!" the huntress stated, jumping forward and throwing her empty right hand towards Heathcliff. The hooded woman's sudden movement had surprised him, and he'd taken a step back. "Your sword and shield are so cool! They remind me of my friend Jaune's old weapons, but way bigger! How do you move around with that thing?" She grabbed hold of his right hand and began to shake it violently. "If you're their guild leader, you must be able to move pretty quickly with it, right? Did you build them yourself?"

The man's eyes glanced to her left hand, where the Keyblade dangled in her grip. "Nothing so interesting as what you have. I don't remember those being coded into the game," he said cautiously before letting go of her hand. "Of course, neither were these glitches – these Heartless, as they're called." He turned his attention next to Genie. "And I don't think I've ever heard of that before."

"That," Genie began, looking rather offended, "has feelings. Don't make me chase you like a mail man."

Heathcliff looked incredibly confused now before smiling wide. "This game has even greater programming than anyone could believe!"

Kirito snorted derisively. "Or Kayaba put all his effort into a weird dog while letting glitches that kill people for drinking water stick in the game."

Heathcliff's eye twitched before he shook his head. "Well, I am very glad that we have some new members for the raid party. Between us, the numbers were starting to dip quite low."

"Anyone stupid enough to fight is stupid enough to die," Kirito pointed out.

"Doesn't that include you?" Mercury wondered dryly.

"Shut up, Edgelord," Kirito snapped.

Ruby snorted. "That sounds like the pot calling the kettle black," she pointed out, dismissing the Keyblade and pointing at Kirito.

"She's known you for ten minutes and she already has you down pat," Asuna muttered from behind Kirito.

"Is this make fun of Kirito day?" he grumbled. He glanced around at everyone's nodding. "Surely you can't be serious."

Heathcliff piped up, "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley." He looked around at the confused stares. "Wh – Oh, come on! No one? No one!"

"Too angry for Airplane," Kirito continued to grumble.

"Wow," Asuna muttered. "You're like my five year old cousin if airplanes make you happy."

Kirito's mood darkened further. "You're killing me, Asuna. Killing me."

R W B Y

The field was quiet save for the chittering of a few Shadows and Neoshadows waiting for Hearts in the night when the Corridor of Darkness opened. The creatures turned towards it, confused and intrigued by the sudden burst of Darkness signaling the arrival of a powerful, tainted Heart. One of the Neoshadows exploded when large blade and chain created from pure Darkness exploded out of the portal, cleaving it in two. The weapon whipped around, cleaving through a few Shadows before the rest of the Heartless melted into the ground and waited for their enemy to appear. The blade and chain whirled around for another moment before snapping taut and retracting into the portal. Not long after, a young woman walked out; the Corridor slowly vanished, closing behind her.

She was dressed in all black, with a lightly armored padding running down her arms and legs. Her chest was protected by a form fitting jacket, and her feet were clad in combat boots with steel toes. The chains formed from Darkness swirled up her arms, seeming to come out of her body to connect with the large weapons hovering near her hands. Her eyes, a burning yellow that with her dark skin seemed to hollow out her face, swept across the field, seeing all of the Heartless in the ground despite the Dark of night. Her green hair, pulled back in a tight combat ponytail, bounced slightly when she spun around, cleaving a leaping Shadow in two. It was then that the Heartless truly began to assault this newcomer.

The woman was soon dancing between attacks as Shadows solidified out of the ground to claw at her and Neoshadows spun through the air like saws to cleave her in two. Their glowing, blue claws sliced through the air, almost cutting through her hair if not for the wall of chains that erupted from the ground around her, creating a wall that the attacks harmlessly bounced off of. The chains responded to the attacks immediately, looping themselves around the attacking Heartless. The woman walked away from the captive creatures struggling against her ethereal chains, instead paying attention to the creatures now slowly appearing out of the Darkness. The woman cocked her head to the side, and the chains behind her tightened their grip. The Heartless within shrieked and were immediately split in two, their halves floating upward into smoke.

Out of the night stalked more Shadows and Neoshadows, but more importantly was the large creature that moved within their mob. That creature was a massive goat monster, with gleaming yellow eyes. It stood on two goat legs with a long, lizard like tail swishing at its back. In its right hand it held a massive sword, almost its own height, with a semi-circular divot near the top of the back edge. Its skin was a deep black, save for the glowing red accents and horns coming from its head, as well as the large Heartless emblem burning both at the center of its chest and on the flat of the massive blade. The creature roared and charged at her, swiping a small group of its own Heartless with its claw as it charged ahead, causing them to explode into a puff of smoke.

The woman calmly raised her golden eyes at the Heartless and raised her weapons of Darkness in front of her just as its sword came around, catching the blade between them. The force of the blow immediately threw her off of her feet, sending her flying towards the edge of the forest on the field. She twirled in the air, a sense of urgency growing in her gut as she realized this creature's strength was greater than she had expected. Chains exploded out of her arms, wrapping around one of the trees. Her movement stopped, and another chain shot out from her other arm to wrap around another tree. Her momentum continued, and she made the chains increase in elasticity. Eventually, the chains snapped back and she dismissed them, flying towards the large goat. Neoshadows and Shadows leaped into her path, but she spun her blades in front of her, easily mulching the creatures dumb enough to attack her head on. The Goat Heartless snarled and raised its sword, swinging the flat at the woman flying at it like a spinning arrow. The woman threw her arms up, chains shooting out to wrap around the sword. She then used the chains to force herself over the weapon, changing her trajectory from the monster's chest to its head. Its horned head. Its horned head that jolted forward, slamming its forehead right into hers.

The woman went flying again, this time not clearheaded enough to keep herself from flyring through tree branches until she finally slammed into a trunk and fell, breaking more branches until she landed, heavily, on one large enough to support her weight. The woman groaned and slowly pushed herself to her feet, just in time to leap out of the way to avoid the sword that destroyed the tree she was in. She jumped to another and glared at the Goat, readying her weapons again. The creature spun around, a single swipe of its massive weapon destroying the trees that blocked its path to her. Neoshadows melted out of the Darkness and spun at her just as the monster's blade stabbed towards her, no direction open to dodge. The woman threw her left hand up, summoning another wall of chains that entangled around the smaller Heartless. The blade of the large one, however, passed between two lengths. She threw herself to the side and tumbled off the branch, barely avoiding the blade. The wall of chains tightened and destroyed the Heartless they held just as she hit the ground.

The goat like Heartless snarled and brought its foot up, then down on top of her. Her eyes widened and she rolled to the side, narrowly managing to avoid the attack. She used her momentum to spring up to her feet, spinning as she flew into the air and slashed at the Heartless' legs. It shrieked in pain and stumbled forward, falling to its knees as it grabbed hold of a large tree to support itself. The woman pressed her advantage, leaping over its swiping claw and landing on its arm. She jumped onto its shoulder, this time expecting the powerful headbutt and grabbing hold of its horn so she could land atop its head instead. Chains formed a spring beneath her feet and she launched herself high into the sky, the force of the blow also stunning the creature at the same time. She turned in the air and directed herself down, summoning another wall of chains as she began to tumble downwards. The chains of Darkness began to spin in front of her, buzzing like a massive drill as they cut through the air. The monster roared and raised its sword in an effort to defend against her attack, even managing to put it directly in her path. But it was a useless effort, as the spinning chains easily burrowed through the blade and then further through its body. The woman's feet hit the ground with a quiet thud.

She stood up and sheathed her weapons, the massive blades of Darkness vanishing from around the blades of her kama. The woman walked through the cloud of Darkness the dying Heartless left behind, the command still echoing in her sealed off Heart: 'Find the World Seed.' Paying little thought to the creatures she had just destroyed, she continued on, following the connection that the Kingdom Key D had crafted in her Heart that led her to the artifact. It felt faint. Far off. But it was heading for a pillar leading into the sky. That was, therefore, where the woman would go.

Deep within her Heart, hidden away by solid walls crafted from OJ's hatred, Emerald could only watch her body march on without her. It was a puppet of OJ's, with not even her own Darkness being used to fuel its attacks. Thankfully, she thought. If Mercury and the Blondes hadn't managed to keep the Core out of OJ's hands, it would be her own Darkness. He wouldn't have to section her off like this because she'd want to help him kill and maim everything from Remnant to the furthest reaches of the World. Hopefully she could get out of this before she got her hands on the Seed, then she could give Merc a knock on the head for lying to her all that time. If he hadn't, they wouldn't be in this position. But she could picture his response now: "You know you love me."

R W B Y

Mercury frowned as he marched along behind Asuna and Kirito. Something about those two was different. A little off. Those two constantly made fun of people for any kind of touchy feely kind of emotion, and yet here they were constantly brushing against one another. Whispering. Giggling. Almost like they – His eyes widened. "Oh, you see it now, huh?" Genie-Dog asked, smirking up at Mercury.

"See what?" Ruby asked innocently.

"You already knew?" Mercury asked the dog. "How?"

"You and Al have been acting like that for months now. Just comparing and contrasting," Genie supplied jokingly.

Mercury sighed angrily and sped up slightly, followed closely by Ruby and Genie. "You know, for someone that made fun of me and Emerald so much, you sure are close with Asuna here," Mercury hissed at Kirito.

The swordsman laughed dryly. "Well, we aren't disgusting."

"Disagree!" someone shouted from within the crowd.

"Shut up, Caynz, no one asked you!" Asuna shouted back.

"Go back to Kinkos, you idiot!" Kirito continued.

Mercury sighed. "Well, at least with you two off the table no one will be forced into dating one of you psychotic monsters," he supplied. He motioned at the two of them and tossed them a wary glance. "You two really are meant for each other."

Asuna and Kirito looked at one another, then back at him. "... Thanks?" Asuna responded, unsure if that was the right thing to say.

"It's a rare form of... positive codependence?" Genie supplied. His dog body shrugged, a very odd movement for the four legged creature. "If that's a thing."

"Kayaba coded you mean," Kirito muttered, tossing an angry glare at the Genie.

Genie stopped walking for half a moment. "Mean. Huh. Never been called that before."

"So, when did that happen?" Mercury asked, pocketing his hands. Kirito looked over at him, obviously confused as to why he was interested. "What? Got to pass the time somehow."

Asuna sighed. "I suppose. And Kirito's favorite past time is talking about himself."

"You're one to talk," Kirito said defensively. She glared at him. "Ach! Not that I don't love hearing it!"

"Better," Asuna said with a cruel smile. She didn't say anything for a moment, then: "Well? Going to start flapping those lips again or are you going to stand there like an idiot?"

"Yes ma'am!" Kirito muttered as her hand approached her rapier. She nodded, satisfied with his terror, and let him speak. "Well, we uh, kind of started... had some fun one night a little while after –"

"'Had some fun?'" Asuna asked dryly. She shook her head. "You're a child. We boned!"

Kirito's face turned bright red, and his high pitched voice whined, "Asuna!" She just shrugged and motioned for him to tell the story, under the knowledge that she could interrupt him at any moment. He snarled under his breath before continuing speaking, face still bright pink. "We did... what she said. And then -"

"He immediately asked me to marry him!" Asuna whispered mockingly.

Kirito glared at her. "And she immediately said yes!" Her laughter vanished.

Mercury's, however, did not. "You... really? Both of you?" he asked between laughter.

Ruby was bright red, having covered her face with her hood the moment Asuna said 'Boned.' "Oh, don't talk about this!"

"As if you and Keyboy haven't had your share of fun running around by yourselves for a few months," Mercury said, waving his hand at Ruby dismissively.

She grew more red and basically blended in perfectly with her hood now.

Genie shook his head. "I think Sora's too scared of Yang, Qrow, and Tai to try that," he pointed out.

"Can I continue my story?" Kirito growled, finally getting Merc to be quiet. "Well, we... got married and took our honeymoon in a cabin in the middle of the woods. We woke up the next day to find a little girl in our bed. And not in a weird way! Well, not in the weird way that... never mind. She called us her mom and dad. So, naturally, we decided to... to... love and cherish her and try to find her real parents while slowly coming to love her as our own!"

Mercury raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Ruby still had her hood all the way down over her head, muttering to herself. Genie, however, did speak. "Okay, Pinocchio."

Asuna decided to ignore the remark. "And then we got too attached. She became our daughter." This time, she actually sounded... sincere. "Right before she..." Asuna teared up and clenched her fists as she walked.

Kirito laced his fingers with hers and opened his menu as they walked. A small, teardrop shaped object appeared in his palm a moment later. "Turned out that she wasn't human. She was an A.I. That was designed to help people deal with trauma. She got locked up by Kayaba not long after the game started and, well, she saw that we cared about each other and she wanted to understand why."

"I still don't understand why," Mercury muttered under his breath.

"Right before the system could delete her, I saved her by turning her data into this item," Kirito continued, not catching Mercury's remark. "She's locked in there, now. Waiting for us to save her."

Ruby peeked out from under her hood. "I can save her, you know."

Kirito's and Asuna's faces immediately shot in her direction. "The Keyblade gives me pow – Admin privileges, kind of. I can unlock her. Bring her back, once this whole fight is over," Ruby explained earnestly.

Asuna and Kirito glanced at one another, then shot towards Ruby to hug her. Both were ugly crying, now. "I can't believe that we have a chance to save her now!" Asuna cried on Ruby's right shoulder.

"It's everything I ever wanted!" Kirito shouted from her left.

Ruby smiled kindly. "It's no problem. Once we finish this fight, I'll help you save her," she explained, patting the backs of the two crying players. "I don't think that a Boss Room is any place for a little girl."

"She's invulnerable," Asuna tearfully explained, barely understandable.

Ruby laughed anxiously. "Still. I wouldn't be able to concentrate. I'd be too freaked out." She peeled the pair off of her and reached into her pocket. "By the way, Sora and I heard a lot about you guys from Yang and Jaune, and we thought it would be a good idea to give you guys this." She pulled out a plain letter, the envelope sealed with a wax circle with a trio of circles at the center, one large one with the other two forming almost ears at the top.

Kirito grabbed hold of the envelope and turned it around in his hand. "What is this?"

Ruby smiled and tapped her chin. "Let's call it a... mission invite. Hold onto it, and you'll see what it's all about."

Kirito cocked his head to the side, obviously wanting more information but willing to accept what he was going to get from the confusing girl. He shrugged and opened his menu, depositing the item, as well as his daughter's crystal. "Um... thanks," he muttered. He glanced over at Mercury. "You too, Edgelord. It'll be nice to have you guys around for this, and, well, it'll be nice to see Yui again."

Asuna smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. "For once, this big whiny baby is right. Thanks."

Mercury felt his chest tighten and he smiled. "What are friends for?"

It was at that moment that Heartless decided to attack, popping out of the ground all around the raid party. Heathcliff's sword and shield were ready in half a moment and he raised his weapon above his head. "Circle up! Don't let them behind us! Kirito, Asuna, Mercury, Ruby – strike team, now!"

Mercury grinned as he heard that, and he summoned red flames to his heels. He shot forward, swinging his leg up and landing a Firaga fueled kick to one Heartless – this one a mummy with an onion shaped head called a Wight Knight – that immediately turned it into ash. He ran to the next spinning through the air in a kick that this Wight managed to block with its claws, the magic of the colliding blows creating a clear ting and altering his momentum. He backflipped through the air, landing not far from the Heartless as more appeared around it, including flying Gargoyles and dancing large, Ronin-esque Heartless with demonic red masks wielding two blades – one coated with ice, the other with flames. Oni. He rushed forward again, leaping over an attack from the sword made of ice and delivering a quick kick to the Wight's head, using it as a springboard to get higher into the air. He brought his left foot around, this time coating it in bright yellow bolts of electricity, and slammed it into the Gargoyle just before it could lash out with its massive claws. The creature shrieked as the Thundaga flew into its body, causing sparks to fly out and collide with the other Heartless. He used the Heartless as a pivot and spun around it using his knee to block a blade of flame coming at him. The blow still sent him flipping backwards, unharmed as he landed on his feet.

Just as that happened, a trio of colors flashed past him, weapons glowing as they carved through different Heartless. A pair of swords quickly attacked twice each, effortlessly carving through the Wight at the center of the Heartless. It shrieked and died almost immediately, Kirito grinning as he turned his attention to another Heartless approaching from outside this group. He met blades with the Oni, trading lightning fast attacks that left a thousand tiny cuts all over the creature. Its attacks became slower and weaker with every passing moment, Kirito's attacks clearly wearing it down. He jumped backwards, smirking at the fire sword that had slammed into the dirt in front of him, melting it into a warped and broken glass. He immediately caught himself as he landed, digging in with his heels and sprinting ahead, slashing with the blue sword in his left hand at the Heartless' wrist before it could raise its sword again. His weapon glowed for a moment, then quickly carved the hand from the Heartless' body. He moved again, bringing both swords up and crossing them to take the incoming attack he couldn't dodge. The ice sword crashed into his weapons and a burst of cold air exploded all around him, swirling against the warm fire blade. He grunted, exerting himself, and shoved upward. The Heartless' sword reeled upward slightly, giving him space to dash to the side, spinning and tossing his black sword straight ahead and into the Oni's mask, right in the holes where its yellow eyes glowed at him. The Heartless roared in pain but couldn't stop the quick decay of its body as the attack completely destroyed its ability to hold itself together. Deciding that his allies had the rest, he dashed towards a group of Heartless the Tanks in the shield wall were having trouble with, confident he could make a dent.

Asuna had been doing just as well, her rapier quickly piercing the Gargoyle three times – once through the chest and once through each eye. It shrieked as she flipped through the cloud of smoke where it had once been, landing atop the back of one of the Oni. She jabbed her weapon into its neck then jumped off, twirling midair to avoid the pair of swords that had been coming her way. She surgically stabbed again, this time cutting through one of the Heartless' eyes. It roared in pain as one of the yellow lights went dark, blinding it on its left. Important to remember. She landed softly and dashed to her right, smack into the middle of the Heartless' blind spot. It snarled and swung its flame sword blindly, managing to get close through sheer luck. Asuna simply ducked under it and silently dashed further into its blind spot, charging up a sword skill as she did. The rapier shot forward, piercing the side of the Oni's knee. It roared and its knee buckled, the sword blindly attacking again. Asuna jumped over this low attack, flipping and landing on her feet behind the Heartless. She rushed forward, blade stabbing quickly and repeatedly into the unprotected back of its neck. The monster gave one last roar of pain before succumbing to its wounds and dematerializing. She turned and used the basket of the rapier to redirect a Wight Knights claws before jabbing with her sword and skewering its onion head like it was a kebab. She turned and readied her stance again, glaring at the Heartless that were advancing on her. "Who's next?" she asked, grinning before she ran forward to kill them.

Ruby meanwhile was taking on odds that even they couldn't handle alone, her Keyblade still in its sword form as she faced off against a trio of Oni and a pair of Gargoyles closing in on her. She raised her weapon in front of her in both hands, glaring at the Heartless with her glowing, silver eyes. She dodged a flame sword at the last second, a blur of red disappearing and reappearing beside the weapon. Then she disappeared again, avoiding the divebomb by one of the Gargoyles, reappearing in front of the Oni that had yet to attack her. It took a surprised step back and brought its sword around clumsily, the attack not even coming close as she reappeared behind it, blade held high above her left shoulder. The Heartless twitched for a moment, then exploded from the burn of the Light magic that naturally coated Ruby's Keyblade. It left nothing but a crystalline Heart drifting towards the sky. She turned around immediately, slapping a Gargoyle's claws to the side and bringing her right hand up, a sphere of black in her fists that caused a localized burst of gravity magic to act on the flying Heartless. It slammed into the ground, flat as a pancake, and Ruby stepped over it, easily blocking one of the other Oni's attacks with her Keyblade. She jumped to the side as the last Oni charged, letting the two Heartless' swords clash. The magic in the weapons collided and both monsters were thrown back and stunned, leaving Ruby alone with one uninjured Gargoyle. She feinted to its left, and the creature shot immediately to the right. Grinning, Ruby just brought herself around with her momentum and aimed the tip of the Keyblade where the Gargoyle was going to go. A single bolt of Lightning slammed into the Heartless and turned it to ash, its Heart freed.

The Oni and other Gargoyle had recovered by this point and swarmed Ruby, attacking from all sides. Ruby was faster than any of them could hope to match, however, and the Keybade swirled around her, deflecting and blocking the attacks that she didn't bother to dodge. After a moment, she grew bored of doing that. The air around her turned a blazing gold, twelve numerals surrounding her. The Heartless froze midattack, but Ruby continued to spin. Her Keyblade flashed in a brilliant white and red Light, elongating in her hands as it unfolded and her new scythe carved effortlessly through all three of her enemies. She came to a stop, the long handle of Crescent Rose resting across her back just as the spell ended; a bright white flash appeared on all three Heartless, the attacks finally being felt with the disappearance of the spell, and vanished all at once. Ruby jumped up, tossing her right hand in the air and dismissing the scythe. "Yes!" She shouted before landing.

Mercury assaulted the Heartless that had remained behind, a pair of large Oni. He kicked out, a bolt of Thunder on his heel as he closed in. The Heartless took the kick, an explosion of electricity passing to the other Heartless. He grinned and lowered his leg as only smoke remained. He'd killed them. Then he noticed the yellow masks glaring down at him from the smoke. "Oh, great." One of the swords slammed into him before he could respond, sending him tumbling across the ground.

"Graceful, Silver," Genie said, bounding up.

"Oh, stick a bone in it." Mercury huffed and stood up, brushing dirt off before readying to attack again. "Guess I just have to kick them harder!"

Genie sighed and jumped in front of his partner. "Just watch them, Amateur," he grumbled before opening his mouth and screaming "Watch out!" A blue, spiraling crystal of magic flew towards the two Heartless and exploded between them. Ice coated their bodies, and Merc could tell that that attack – while not quite powerful – had hurt them more than his Lightning based kick. When he looked at their masks, he suddenly knew why.

"They're blue!" he shouted, suddenly realizing what was happening. "They become immune to whatever spell I used last!"

"And he's done it! The kid can learn!" Genie shouted, almost changing his shape for dramatic effect before stopping himself.

Merc glared at his partner. "Just pepper them with more attacks while I get in close. Set me up for a good combo," he commanded before rushing the Oni again. He leaped when he wasn't far from them, avoiding horizontal blade attacks, and lashed out with flame coated heels. The Oni he hit screamed in pain as the flames coated its body, destroying chunks of armor and sending it flying back. Its mask turned red just before it slammed into a dying tree, one of the massive branches impaling it all the way through.

Meanwhile, Genie was peppering the other Heartless with tiny spells, never the same twice in a row. The attacks were weak, but managed to distract the Heartless during Mercury's attack. It abandoned attacking him and sprinted towards the blue dog, slamming both of its massive swords down where the dog stood. Genie vanished in a puff of blue smoke before appearing behind it. "Who would attack a dog?" he asked, giving the creature puppy dog eyes. It turned and stared at him for a moment... then raised its weapons again. "Uh-oh." Genie vanished again, appearing just outside of the Oni's attack range, peppering the Heartless with more weak spells. A burst of wind slammed into it last, giving it a clear mask that revealed the emptiness within.

"Just what I wanted!" Mercury shouted, sprinting past Genie and not bothering to use a spell this time. "A glass jaw!" He jumped, backflipping as he performed a bicycle kick that landed directly on the Heartless' chin. The mask and head snapped back, the loud sound of cracking glass echoing through the forest as the Heartless was thrown upwards, its mask now a dull and chipped gray. Genie came up beside the assassin and they nodded, turning their attention to the quickly falling heartless. Merc fell to the ground and began to spin on his shoulders, creating a massive gust of wind just as Genie began to chase his tail beside him. After a moment, an Aeroza exploded from where the two stood, shredding the Heartless completely before it could come close to the ground. The gale force winds also caught other, weaker Heartless and sent them flying in every direction. Shadows, Soldiers, and more all crashed into trees, either vanishing or giving players easy opportunities to gut them before they could recover.

When the winds finally died down, Mercury was scratching Genie's head. "Good boy," he said as he surveyed the battlefield, now free of Heartless.

"This is patronizing," Genie grumbled before adding, "Oh, a little to the left! There!" His back left leg began to scratch at a non existent itch and he sighed happily. "Oh, that's the spot."

Mercury immediately recoiled. "Don't do that," he commanded the Genie. "It's weird."

R W B Y

OJ walked out of the Corridor of Darkness, glancing around cautiously. He was sure that there were sensors in this Keyblade Academy that would alert everyone in the building that a Corridor had opened and an intruder was present, which meant it was only a matter of time before this place was swarming with enemies. Qrow and Ozpin especially would present a problem, and even he couldn't stand against too many fighters of that caliber. He sighed and continued forward, as silent as he could manage, following the burning scent of Darkness that drifted through the halls. It was easy for him to follow, attuned with the Darkness as he was. It wasn't long before he stood beside a wall where the scent burned the most.

It was a completely plain wall, with no features whatsoever. Nothing but a white wall. OJ frowned and placed his hand on the wall, moving side to side and noticing that the scent grew weaker even when he turned the corner, and that there were no doors on any of the walls. He returned to where the scent was strongest. There had to be an entrance on this wall for the scent to come across so clearly here. He tried to open a Corridor beyond the wall, but frowned as any attempts to forge the doorway needed suddenly failed when his connection to the space beyond the wall became fuzzy and confused. He felt magic pushing his attention in different directions, distracting him from creating the gate. He lowered his hands and crossed his arms; Genie must have removed the door completely. Not a bad idea since his Keyblade was capable of opening any door it came across. No door meant no lock, and no lock meant having a skeleton key wasn't helpful for once. And he couldn't break the wall down just to see what was inside; this was supposed to be a covert operation, after all. But how to get through the wall, then? Given enough time, he might be able to find a way to return the door and enter that way, but he didn't have that kind of time right then. He was sure that people were already on their way to check on the Core.

So, instead, he summoned his Keyblade and let his Aura flow into the Kingdom Key D before amplifying that energy over his entire body. He took a step forward and pushed his head through the wall. Within, a single light glowed over a lone pedestal, illuminating the entire room. The pedestal had a box on top of it, again with no visible creases. They must have had Genie remove that as well. He looked around this new room some more, frowning at the spiraling, concentric square boundaries made from Light. Sora was smarter than OJ gave him credit for if he had noticed that OJ's Aura had been depleted completely by going through a single wall. With more than twenty within this room, he knew he couldn't get in to the Core, and even if he could then there was no way he'd be able to get out. He growled, more than a little annoyed that Sora and Ruby weren't as stupid as he'd assumed, and pulled away from the wall. He stopped charging his Aura and dismissed his Keyblade as he exited the wall, thinking his options over. The walls were essentially locks placed by Keyblade Masters, so the trick with them would just be to attune the Keyblade to the wall and turn the lock. Which would take time, a lot of it, during which he couldn't break concentration at all. And with so many walls, he definitely didn't have the time to get through.

He placed a hand on his chin, knowing he had to get out of there and head to Gaia soon. If he didn't hurry and get in place, Jaune would get the Black Materia and give it over to Sora. Not an insurmountable obstacle, but it would be a setback. He also thought he heard footsteps, but he wasn't sure. He couldn't risk becoming a hostage – He grinned. A hostage. All he had to do was capture someone that one of them would betray everyone else to save. Then they would hand over whatever they captured without any trouble. And given what he had heard about while scouting this place before, he knew exactly when to do it. They had a trap for him, one that would result in his capture if he tried to get the Core, but he had still had to see it with his own eyes. So he'd spring that trap, but he'd go for something else entirely, and then they'd be one blonde down.

He opened another Corridor and walked through it, the doorway behind him vanishing completely just before a man with a cane turned the corner. He glanced around from behind his green glasses before bringing a cup of coffee up to his lips. "Another breach," Ozpin muttered before glancing down at his Scroll. "But the Core is undisturbed." He turned around. He would increase guard patrols, but the only people who could even hold off OJ were himself and Qrow, so there was no point. He would just have to hope their trap worked; it was their best chance.