AN: Hey guys! Sorry it's been a little while. I've been studying for this job application test, and before that I was on vacation with my family and too busy to write the last bit of this chapter. It's also been busy working on other things and helping out with things at home.

Anyways, responses:

To jacalman: Certainly no one else would be willing to taunt Sephiroth in this story. Or really at all, probably.

To Gamelover41592: I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Hope the OJ and Morrigan team up lives up to expectations.

To Crazzytony: I'm happy you couldn't wait to read more! Sorry it was over two months...

To G3r1k: I feel like Sora might have used Z-Taunt instead, if I'm being honest.

To Remnant7: That works way too well with that song. It's both funny and... unnerving.

Okay. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and everything that comes next!

Chapter 29: Felled Angel

Sora leaped forward, spinning through the air with the Master Keeper outstretched and turning him into a human saw. His blade slammed into the long katana in Sephiroth's hands, jarring the flying warrior's shoulders and sending him sliding back through the air until his wings caught him. Sora fell to the roof again and held the Keyblade out in front of him, launching a bolt of lightning at Sephiroth. The spell lanced off of Sephiroth's shoulder, leaving little more than a burn mark across the fabric.

Sora frowned and jumped back, avoiding the massive slash that came back at him, the roof creaking when Sephiroth landed. Cloud and Tifa rushed forward as he frowned and examined the minimal damage his magic had dealt to Sephiroth. It hadn't done anything! Ugh, he was having flashbacks to the last time he'd fought Sephiroth one on one. Back then he hadn't been able to hurt him because of a skill gap, but now it was because of something else entirely.

Sora jumped forward, catching a sword strike that had been aimed at Cloud's head. Cloud had overextended in an attack on the swordsman, leaving him wide open to a retributive strike. "Thanks," Cloud said as he regained his footing. Tifa jumped in and threw a fist at Sephiroth as he struggled against Sora's blade, but he quickly jumped back to avoid it. "We'd be doomed without you here."

Sephiroth hadn't been paying attention, however, and he slammed into a floating Balloon spell. The swordsman snarled in pained surprise as he was flung forward, right into the path of Cloud's blade. Sephiroth was fast, though, and flared his wings while bringing up his sword. The weapons crashed and slid across each other, allowing Sephiroth to fly over Cloud and soar above the minefield Sora had created. "Cloud's right," Sephiroth told the warriors guarding the Black Materia from him. "Though even that won't save you. For all his strength, he can only distract me."

Sora's response was simple: "Gravity."

Sephiroth's feet hit the roof a moment later, steel and concrete creaking below his feet from the force. He felt his knees creak under the weight, but steeled himself and pushed against the force, bringing his sword around at the Keyblade Master. Sora moved to defend, but was saved when Tifa grabbed hold of Sephiroth's wrists. Cloud shot up behind her and slashed at Sephiroth's shoulder. The former SOLDIER snarled and jumped forward, slamming into Tifa with his body and forcing her hands off of his sword. Cloud's attack still landed, if only barely, and left a shallow cut along his arm.

Sora's eyes narrowed as he spun around the falling Tifa, bringing the Keyblade around in a stab at Sephiroth's chest, a blinding light extending the blade. It slammed into his side, the energy sizzling on his clothes and simply sending him tumbling backwards, rolling until he came to a stop at the base of the stairs. So I was right, Sora thought to himself. Cloud is the only one that can do anything to Sephiroth. That wasn't good; Cloud barely believed they could win with all three of them fighting, and it showed in his apprehension to duel his dark side face to face.

Sora stood above Tifa and deflected Sephiroth's next attack, keeping her safe. Cloud had jumped in to do the same, but was able to change his movement as he saw Sora defend in order to stab at Sephiroth's chest. Sephiroth snarled and jumped into the air, landing his foot on the back of the massive sword. As he landed, the blade in his hand began to glow with powerful black flames, and he swung it in a wide arc that shot the flames out at the trio fighting him. Sora threw his Keyblade up in front of them, summoning a Reflega that creaked under the weight of the Darkness that consumed their vision. When the shield exploded and reflected the energy that had been poured into it, clearing the remaining flames away, Sephiroth was nearly at the Materia.

Sora snarled and shot forward, the cement where he had been standing shattering barely a half second before he appeared between Sephiroth and the Black Materia, other hand raised in front of him. "Wind!" A blast of Aeroga hit Sephiroth head on and he went flying, tumbling through the floating Balloon spells Sora had set up, leaving light burns and bruises all over his body, but otherwise doing nothing to him.

"You keep getting in the way, you ant!" Sephiroth shouted as he righted himself and stabbed his blade into the roof to support him and push him to his feet. His eyes glowed yellow and he pulled his sword from the cement, his rage already coating the blade with flames once more. Glowing flames appeared in the air around him, spheres growing until they were the size of his head. "So now, I'll squash you! Meteor!" The flames shot forward, dozens of fiery rocks launched towards each of the three fighting him.

Tifa got low and began to jump between the explosive stones as best she could. Her fists and legs flashed up to crush those that she couldn't dodge. She was able to keep herself mostly safe, but the same couldn't be said for Cloud. His massive sword wasn't nearly fast enough to deflect every missile that came his way, though its size did keep enough from hitting him that he didn't outright die. Still, dozens slammed into him, leaving massive burns all over his body and shredding his skin. Blood poured out over the ground and he found he could barely stand.

Sora swiped his Keyblade to the side, summoning a series of Blizzaga spells that neutralized the incoming Meteors, then rushed towards Sephiroth again. "Tifa, take care of Cloud!" he shouted as he got close to his enemy, his first blow breaking Sephiroth's concentration on the ongoing Meteor spell. "I'll distract him!"

The Keyblade stabbed forward, crashing into the flat of Sephiroth's Muramasa. Blizzard and Fire magic sparked along the edges of the weapons, clashing and dying in their hands. Sephiroth pushed back and Sora hopped backwards, avoiding the slash that came at his neck, then he rolled forward and slashed at Sephiroth's legs, a bolt of Thunder magic channeling down his weapon's edge and exploding beneath the jumping Sephiroth. The winged villain snarled as his body went stiff and he flew backwards, narrowly avoiding a blast of Light magic that Sora had thrown at his chest. Not that it would have done anything; without Cloud, Sora could only hope to fight a war of attrition that even he couldn't really win. Not lose, but not win. The spear flew over Sephiroth, towards the horizon where – Sora grinned. "Looks like your Heartless couldn't stand up to Jaune and Yang. When he's here, you'll be the one who's 'doomed.'"

Sephiroth growled and shot forward, his entire body cloaked in Darkness. The energy exploded off of his body as he hit Sora, something that he had not been ready for, and he was tossed backwards, forcing him to right himself and land in a crouch, skidding to a stop right in front of the stairs leading to the Materia. Cloud and Tifa rushed forward at that moment, restored to form as they attacked Sephiroth, their assault being caught and deflected by lightning fast movements. Sora stood up and raised the Keyblade over his shoulder before rushing towards the fight.

Only for a figure to hit the ground in front of him, a Keyblade slamming into Sora's gut to send him flying back into the stairs. "Can't let you do that, Sora."

Sora stood up and grinned. "I was waiting for you to show up," he told the black clad Keyblade Wielder in front of him. OJ's hair was long now, dangling over the hood of his coat. It had been a long time since they'd last fought, but now he looked real different from Jaune who'd cut his hair. Sora supposed that the haircut had done its job, then. "I hated having to keep an eye on that and fight Sephiroth at the same time."

"But you didn't think your 'friends' could do anything without you." OJ raised the Kingdom Key D in front of him.

"I know they can do it without me." Sora charged forward, summoning No Name to his left hand as he slashed up at OJ's neck. The rusted over golden Keyblade appeared between the two attacking weapons, easily taking the brunt of the assault. "And that belongs in the hands of someone way better than you. It belonged to a friend."

"Oh, Sora... But you always said we were friends," OJ said with a falsely innocent expression.

Sora felt anger rush through his Heart when he heard that. "Don't you dare pretend to even be like Jaune. My friend could never be like you." He shoved his twin Keyblades forward and spun them around, summoning a powerful glow around them. When the glow vanished, the Keyblades had changed form completely, melding together. The back of the weapon was all curves and edges, a deep black with white tubes swirling almost like veins up to the large blue eye that connected to the middle of what appeared to be a massive cannon. From the eye onward, the cannon was gunmetal with a rusty stabilizing handle in Sora's right hand. The weapon was smooth as it led up to a large barrel, one already glowing with a huge sphere of light. He settled his feet. "But I'll give you this one chance: you could be like him. Surrender and I'll go easy on you."

"No. I'll never be as weak as your Jaune." Sora snarled and let the attack go. The rusted Keyblade in OJ's hands shifted in a flash of Darkness, filling the air in front of him and causing the massive wave of light to separate, flying past him and around the other fight going on behind him. When the light wave disappated, Sora leaped forward, yanking the gunmetal half off and reforming his Keyblade as he slashed down, the attack slamming into the massive shield that OJ had turned the Kingdom Key D into. It looked just like Pyrrha's, only much larger... and with a large insignia bearing a resemblance to King Mickey at the center.

Sora's attack bounced off and he spun around, aiming his blaster over the lip of the shield. "Get that off of there!" he snapped as a small beam of light shot towards OJ.

The evil Keyblade Wielder grinned and rolled to the side, the massive shield vanishing and reappearing as he came to his feet. He replied, "What? Does it make the ever so perfect Sora angry?"

Sora knew that OJ was trying to make him angry, sloppy. "You don't deserve to use that symbol, and you deserve to use Pyrrha's shield even less!" Sora responded, forcing his anger down. Two could play at that game, after all.

And it was a game Sora was better at, apparently. The shield vanished, replaced by the Keyblade once more. "You don't get to say her name!" OJ screamed, rushing forward coated entirely in Darkness. His Keyblade, in its blade form once more, made a noise like thunder as it crashed into Sora's Master Keeper, lightning sparking all around them. The air rushed away, wind buffeting the other three stuck in their own fight on the other end of the roof.

Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth threw their arms up as the wave reached them, threatening to throw them off of the roof and towards the streets below. Sephiroth wasn't even sure he could fly to survive the fall with how strong the winds were blowing. But when all three of them survived the massive explosion, he didn't waste any time. He was on top of Cloud before a heartbeat could pass, sword dragging through the roof as he slashed up at his counterpart. The Buster Sword barely came around in time to take the blow, and Cloud gasped as the bones in his arms shuddered and the edge of the massive sword gained a hairline fracture. The force continued to grow and Cloud's feet were torn out from under him, sending him high into the air.

Tifa leaped as he moved and grabbed hold of him. "Cloud!" Tifa shouted as she turned and threw him back at Sephiroth, shooting off an explosion behind her as she had seen Yang do before. She rocketed after her partner, fists raised. "We have to be careful now that we don't have Sora's help!"

"We just need to wait him out," Cloud agreed as he slashed at Sephiroth, a very guarded attack that left no openings for Sephiroth to exploit. So he dodged the falling Cloud and flew towards Tifa, whose brawling style left much more to be desired in the realm of defense. His sword flashed around, the weapon stabbing towards her head. Tifa's eyes widened as the sword neared, and she flailed to the side. The sword scraped along her cheek, leaving a shallow and bleeding cut. She hit the roof of the building hard, slamming through an air conditioning unit and dragging through the ground.

"I missed," Sephiroth noted, slightly surprised. He shook his head and angled his blade down at her back as she began to push out of the rubble. "Well, that won't happen again." He shot forward, wings beating, right at Tifa. She was barely able to turn in time to see him coming. His blade glinted in the light of the roof and Tifa saw her life flash before her eyes, right until Cloud came out and slashed upward, blade redirecting Sephiroth and leaving more fractures along the blade.

"You won't touch her!" Cloud snapped as he twirled his blade and leaped forward, blade leaving another shallow scratch along Sephiroth's right arm when the white haired villain barely managed to dodge the attack. "I'll never let you hurt another person dear to me!"

"You're stealing my lines, Cloud," Tifa said as she came around him, fist going wide as Sephiroth dodged her. His fist came back around and slammed into her face, sending her flying backwards.

Sephiroth continued moving and wrapped his hand around Cloud's throat, stopping the fight in its tracks. "You are making us weak, Cloud. Gods have no need for an ant!"

Cloud struggled against the iron grip, but couldn't manage to get out of it. Instead, the fingers around his neck tightened ever more. Cloud's vision began to tunnel. I knew this... was a long shot, he groaned inwardly as his vision became a pinprick of light.

"Looks like everything's falling apart," OJ mocked Sora as they pushed their Keyblades against one another.. "Your blonde look alike is about to die."

Sora turned his eyes and gasped. "Cloud!" For dividing his attention, he was gifted with the Kingdom Key D phasing through his weapons and slamming into his face. "GAH!" He tumbled across the roof and dismissed No Name. He rolled to his feet, clutching with his off hand at his cheek. "Cheap move, Jerk!"

OJ sneered. "Of course that wouldn't keep you down."

Sora raised his Keyblades, returning them to their massive cannon form. "Nothing will!" And then he fired. OJ dodged the attack easily, rolling away and back to his feet.

"You won't hit me like that, Idiot. What a stupid move! To think I used to look up to you!" OJ mocked when he turned and launched a ball of Thunder magic at Sora.

Sora slapped the magic away when his Keyblades shifted into their normal forms again. "I was aiming at you?" he asked with a grin. OJ turned, worried by what that meant. The beam flew through the air, slamming directly into Sephiroth. He flew away from Cloud, who hit the ground gasping. OJ turned back to Sora and got a Keyblade to the face, as well. "Hey, I get why you'd do a cheap shot like that, now!"

OJ pushed himself to his feet, groaning in pain as a massive bruise blossomed on his cheek. "And it will take more than that to keep me down!" He rushed forward, constantly phasing his attacks through Sora's defense with attacks that could maybe even kill him. Sora grimaced and jumped back, trying to keep an eye on Cloud and Tifa. They were recovering, but the streak of Darkness in the sky showed that Sephiroth was, too. Where are Jaune and Yang?

Almost as if in answer to Sora's question, a pair of blonde figures slammed into OJ's back. He screamed in rage as he stumbled forward, barely dodging Sora's attack before he hit the ground and rolled to his back. Jaune was on top of him a moment later, Keyblade swinging down at his head. OJ rolled to the side and scrambled to get to his feet. He caught Yang's fist on his Keyblade while he was still off balance. He was thrown backwards, crashing into the ground. He snarled and looked up at the three arrayed against him, then looked behind them and grinned. "Well, I don't need to be involved in this fight anymore. Three on one isn't my kind of odds, even if two of those three are Yang and my weaker twin." He summoned a portal below himself before Sora, Jaune, or Yang could respond. As he drifted through he pointed at Jaune and said, "See you soon, Jaune. I won't let you go next time."

Jaune glared at his counterpart and clenched his fists. "I won't let you go next time, either."

"Not that any of you will live to see him again." Jaune and the others turned on their heels, seeing Sephiroth standing atop the stairs with the Black Materia in hand. Cloud and Tifa were barely recovered at the bottom of the stairway, panting and in pain. Sephiroth grinned and held the Materia next to his Heart. "For now, I shall begin my ascension to my true form!"

Jaune's and Sora's eyes widened and they leaped forward, throwing their Keyblades up and shouting, as one, "Reflect!" A wall of blinding Light filled the space in front and around them, a defensive wedge protecting everyone on the roof from what was coming. And it did. The Materia in Sephiroth's hand pulsed with Darkness, and then so did his Heart. And then, finally, the pulses coincided and Darkness exploded out from where they stood. Jaune and Sora grunted in pain as the wave hit their Reflect walls, forcing the walls creaking inward. Cracks began to appear along the light, but it was doing its job with Darkness flying away from them. The roof outside of their wedge was beginning to fall apart, torn away by the wave, electrical units, stairs, cement, all reduced to atoms. The cracks grew along the wedge on Sora's side, leaking. Jaune could feel his own wall ready to shatter and he nearly despaired, until he felt Yang's hand on his shoulder. He glanced over at her, catching sight of her calm smile. She knew he could do this. Something within him agreed, welling up; his reflect wall pushed back against the Darkness once more, even repairing in the face of the onslaught.

Finally, the encroaching wave vanished, the Darkness solidifying around the roof. The only Light in the pitch black came from the glowing walls, though the swirling violet energy in the walls did provide some level of illumination, even if it wasn't Light in the strictest sense. Jaune and Sora let the walls fall and readied their weapons, Yang, Cloud, and Tifa doing the same between them.

They stared into the emptiness where Sephiroth had been standing before. For a moment, they couldn't see anything, but then energy pulsed outward, calmer and more controlled. Four glowing, white wings appeared out of the Darkness, wrapped around something. They unfurled, coming out of a cloud and revealing just what it was they were obscuring. Sephiroth.

At least, in a way. He was shirtless, with an ethereal glow coming off of him. A black and red, demonic wing had replaced his right arm, a cruel angelic wing extending from the same shoulder. His hair was blowing upward behind him, moving in a nonexistent wind to est between twin glowing halos that grew from either side of the cloud that had replaced his waist and legs. His eyes were a bright, dangerous white with black sclera. "And now, I am in a form of a true god. Our true form, Cloud." His left arm, still human, extended towards him. "Join with me, my other self. Become perfect."

"Ew... I had a thing for that?" Yang asked, breaking the tension suddenly. "Well, guess I have to literally beat this memory to death." She clenched her fists tight and glanced at Jaune. "Whats the plaune, Jaune?"

Jaune looked over. "Can you get a charge from him so we – wait, did you just pronounce the word plan like it was my name?" he asked. He turned away from her and smiled. "I guess my sense of humor isn't so far gone I'd laugh at that. There's still hope for me!"

"Honestly, I was worried for a moment there," Sora said. He looked over. "Is there -"

"Do you really think I would just let you plan in front of me?" Sephiroth interrupted, drawing the group's attention. The sky around him began to glow bright red, fire congealing out of nothing. Seven points of flame energy grew into raging meteors all around him. His eyes narrowed after a moment of studying the terrified group, then the meteors disappeared. "No, not yet. I should learn more about my true form before I force you all into despair."

Yang snarled and jumped towards him. "Just shut up with the god complex!" She roared, fist rushing towards the flying monster's jaw. She snarled and slammed it into him, triggering a massive explosion as she summoned a Firaga to her fist. Smoke obscured Sephiroth's glowing form for a moment, then the massive, demonic wing curved and cut through the smoke. Yang, still in the air, grimaced and threw her arms to the side, slamming Ember Celica's bracers into the side of the blade. She shouted out in pain and rage as the attack carved into her aura, charging her Semblance up to its maximum level. She tumbled in the air and flew away, hitting the ground and rolling to a stop next to Jaune. She looked up and gave him a thumbs up, wincing from the pain. "Got the charge."

Sora looked over, confused. It? He wondered for a moment. He shook his head and looked back over at Sephiroth; Jaune had a plan of some kind. "I couldn't hurt him before. I don't know if I can leave a scratch on him now."

Cloud's eyes widened. "What? Then how are we -"

"We'll figure it out, like we have so far," Tifa said, readying her fists.

Sora grabbed Jaune and leaned in. "Cloud can, but like this I doubt he'll be able to. He has to believe he can do it first."

"Then we do our best!" Jaune shouted. He glanced over at Yang. "How long can you keep that charged up?"

"... Until you need it," she grunted, already a little red in the face from holding so much energy in her body. She grinned at him and pushed herself to her feet. "Tell me when, Vomit Boy."

Jaune glared at her for a moment then smiled back. "Break his face when you do," he suggested before turning his attention back to the floating monster. Sephiroth was examining his sword arm, wondering why it hadn't just cleaved Yang in half. She was made of tougher stuff than that. "Let's go." He rushed forward as fast as he could. Sora grinned and followed, catching up and overtaking him quickly.

"So the plan is..? What!?" Tifa snapped at their backs.

"Talk later, I can't do this all day!" Yang snapped back at her, face beet red by this point and the tinge spreading across her body. Tifa yelped, more afraid of how she looked than anything else, and rushed off. She grabbed hold of Cloud and forced him to follow her, which he didn't exactly want to do.

Sora jumped up to attack first, dual Keyblades reforming into a pair of blasters again. He fired blasts of light at Sephiroth, the burning energy leaving a smoking path up and down Sephiroth's left side. White eyes turned towards Sora and narrowed in annoyance. His sword arm came around and cut through the stream of energy, gleaming with its own violet energy. The Darkness and Light collided and swirled, exploding as they negated one another and the blade continued its path towards Sora. His eyes widened as the blade approached, its aura too large for him to block now. "Reflect!" A swirling light flew through the air and collided with Sora, exploding outward to form a Reflega sphere around him. The blade crashed into the wall and sent it flying and Sora with it.

"Impressive," Sephiroth said as he turned his attention to the source of the wall. Jaune glared up at Sephiroth, jumping between reflect walls he had summoned to try and get up to Sephiroth and attack him. "That wall could hold up to my attack." His sword, so massive it appeared to be moving slowly despite its true speed, slashed down at Jaune as he was midair. Jaune brought the Keyblade around and roared, catching the attack on the weapon's edge. The Keyblade reacted instantly, summoning a huge Reflect hexagon in front of Jaune. The spell creaked and groaned, ready to break, but Jaune felt something familiar in him react once more. The hexagon glowed and Sephiroth's sword arm rebounded off of Jaune just as quickly as Jaune was thrown back by his shield. He tumbled across the ground for a moment until he buried the Keyblade in it, the weapon dragging through Darkness and cement until he came to a stop a moment later.

Cloud and Tifa stopped beside him, lifting him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

Jaune shrugged. "Well, I'm not dead," he said, slightly unsure. He picked the Keyblade up and ran forward again. "Come on!"

"They're crazy," Cloud muttered before he noticed that Tifa had rushed after him already. He shook his head and followed, dashing towards Sephiroth.

"This is foolish," Sephiroth said, bored. Stones appeared out of thin air and began to fly around the arena. Jaune shouted in pain as one swirled around to hit him in the side, sending him to the ground. Tifa and Cloud ran past as he pushed back up to his feet, leaping and landing on the momentarily stable stone that had just hit Jaune. They jumped to the next, Cloud casting a green blade of energy at the stone that stopped it as well. They landed and bounded up to the next one, a bolt of flame cast by Tifa stopping that one. And then they were able to leap at Sephiroth. The massive figure snarled and brought his left hand up, a crackling bolt of Thunder magic exploding out of his hand. Tifa shoved Cloud out of the way, her foot slamming into his chest and pushing him just out of the bolt's path. She, however, was square in it, and she was blasted backwards, smoking as she plummeted towards the ground.

Seeing this, Cloud roared in rage and slashed blindly at Sephiroth's head, so close that Sephiroth could barely flap his massive wings to get away. The blade still stabbed into his cheek, dragging through and leaving a jagged scar across his features. Sephiroth snarled, annoyed more than injured by the glancing but ugly blow. Red dripped from his cheek just before he began to spin quickly, the massive form and his speed generating a shockwave of wind outward. Everything on the roof was destroyed by the wind, sanding the building's top down to a smooth, even surface. Sora jumped in front of the downed Tifa and summoned a Reflega to keep them safe, while Jaune guarded Yang and made sure her Semblance's charge wouldn't dissapate. Cloud was blown off course, tumbling into the clean roof and rolling to a stop beside the sphere containing Tifa and Sora, stabbing the Buster Sword in to keep himself in place, more cracks forming along the edge of the blade as it struggled against the storm.

"Tifa!" he gasped as the wind died down. He scrambled to his feet and crouched beside her, pulling her across his knees. "Tifa, wake up!"

"Surely now you see it is hopeless," Sephiroth sighed at the group. The wound on his face wasn't stitching shut, but he didn't seem to notice or care that it had been created. He raised his sword. "None of you have the strength to fight me."

"He's right..." Cloud muttered, gritting his teeth. He looked up at the monster and felt despair begin to fill his Heart. "We... we're doomed. You can't hurt him and me and Tifa are useless. I..."

"You're an idiot, Cloud." Tifa lifted her hand and grabbed his face, turning it towards her. She was looking past him, however, with her eyes locked on Sephiroth's face. "You hurt him."

Cloud's eyes focused on her, confused. "I... a scratch. That's nothing!"

"You're the only one that's hurt him," Tifa said as Sora and Jaune rushed off to keep the monster busy. "At all." She let go of his face and pushed out of his arms, forcing herself to her feet. She winced in pain as new bruises, broken bones, and burns screamed at her. She took a deep breath, and stood up straight. "Cloud, we've come too far. We've lost too much to give up."

"He hurt you, and a scratch isn't -"

"None of us can even give him a bruise, and you cut him. He's not a god, Cloud, because gods don't bleed." Thunder flashed in the air as Sora and Jaune clashed with Sephiroth.

"And to top it all off," Yang muttered as she walked up, almost glowing red at this point as the energy within her continued to push at her limits, "he keeps telling us it's useless. In my experience, that almost always means they're so scared of losing that they know it'd be better to scare you off instead. You can do it."

"Well I don't believe I can win!" Cloud snapped, surging to his feet and glaring at Yang. "He destroyed my home. He killed Aerith. He mind controlled me. He's better than me when he's just a man, but now he's a monster! I. Can't. Win. We need to run!"

"Well, I believe," Tifa said resolutely. She held her closed hand beside her Heart. "You stopped him after he destroyed our home. You fought him off when he attacked that island. You broke out of his mind control. And you were able to get us this far, tracking Sephiroth all over the world and fighting any monster he could throw at us." She moved her hand from her Heart and put it on his. "I believe in you."

"We all do," Yang agreed through a grimace. "Sorry, it's just... it kind of hurts, now."

Cloud looked back at Tifa and placed his hand over hers. "I... I don't know if I can do this."

Tifa smiled and turned her hand to grip his tight. "If you don't believe even after all of that, I guess that just means I have to believe for you. I'll give you my belief, from my Heart to yours."

Cloud just stared at her, mouth dry. "... Okay. If you think I can do it, then I can do it."

Yang grinned and shouted up at Sora and Jaune. "We're good to go, Jaune!"

Jaune glanced over and flipped, slashing at Sephiroth before summoning a Reflect barrier to jump back to them. Sora glanced over and did the same, setting down. "What now?" Sora asked.

"Yang'll stun him, Cloud'll kill him," Jaune said. He took a breath and summoned a Cura, the green energy stitching shut all of their wounds. "Ready?"

Sora grinned. "Knew there was a plan," he said, raising the Keyblades on either side of him.

"I'll be ready to give him a taste of his own medicine," Yang grinned, clenching her right fist tight. Her hair was smoking; they didn't have much time before the energy she stored up began to leak out.

"Then let's go." Tifa gave Cloud a peck on the cheek and winked. "For luck." Then she sprinted past him.

"Any plans you have are worthless!" Sephiroth snarled, floating down and slashing at her with his sword arm.

"Not when we work together!" Jaune shouted, running up and swinging his Keyblade upwards. The sound of thunder boomed where the Keyblade hit Sephiroth's weapon, and the sword's path changed ever so slightly to travel harmlessly over Tifa.

"Even a dozen ants are no match for a god!" Sephiroth retorted, summoning a small rain of Meteor magic that began to fly at Jaune.

Sora jumped in, appearing suddenly with his Keyblades in cannon form and shining bright with a blast of Light. "Well we aren't ants, and you aren't a god!" he snapped before letting the explosion loose, vaporizing the meteors while Jaune charged ahead. Sora pulled the Keyblade guns apart and began to pepper Sephiroth with blasts while advancing.

Sephiroth snarled, unable to come up with a response, and shoved his open left hand at Sora. A stream of Blizzard magic that could freeze a lake shot towards Sora. Sora exhaled, breath foggy, but was surprised when Tifa jumped in front of him, fists blazing with flames. Sora blinked and laughed; she looked a bit like Yang when she slammed her fist into the ice and shattered the spell for the briefest moment, letting the both of them rush forward before the spell froze where they had been standing.

Sora and Tifa quickly caught up with Jaune, the trio leaping over the swipe of Sephiroth's sword arm. Jaune flipped and slammed his Keyblade down on top of the sword, chains of magic appearing from the weapon as he did. "Yang, now!" he shouted as Sora and Tifa moved forward. Sora shot towards Sephiroth's left hand, Keyblades melting together to form a massive cuff that closed around Sephiroth's arm. Sora wrenched it back, forcing Sephiroth into a very painful and very open stance that let Tifa easily bounce up his body, leg charged with magic that exploded against his face.

"Follow her, Cloud!" Tifa commanded, glancing his way as her momentum in the air vanished and she began to fall.

Yang rushed up next, hair slowly igniting until a raging fire almost twenty feet tall exploded from the top of her head. "This is for killing Zack and tricking me with that angel face!" Yang shouted, jumping as the flames consumed her completely. "METEOR!" Her body turned bright red within the flames and she shot forward, a meteor herself, to collide with Sephiroth's face. He screamed out in pain, flames consuming his head to leave burns and a massive cloud of smoke. Yang hit the ground behind him, drained but sure she had given him as good as she'd ever gotten.

Cloud glared up at the stunned Sephiroth, any doubts he had held at bay by one simple truth: all of these people, all of his friends, were trusting him to do this. He took a deep breath and held the Buster Sword to his right with its tip aimed at the ground and the edge pointed at Sephiroth. A white glow began to spread across the blade, seeping through the growing cracks until the entire blade was coated with Light. Cloud roared and rushed forward, leaping towards Sephiroth as a massive, black bat wing exploded from his back, shredding his clothes. "You're no god, and you're no match for me!" he screamed as he brought the Buster Sword up and around, the massive white blade of Light carving through Sephiroth as he passed. The metal of the sword finally gave out with a loud ring, and it shattered from halfway up the blade, just as a massive, bright Light consumed the entire enclosure of Darkness.

When Cloud hit the ground, his wing was gone, and the sky was clear again. He breathed heavily, staring at the ground for a moment before he stood up and turned around. "I... I did it?"

"CLOUD!" He turned and was nearly tackled by Tifa, her arms wrapping around his neck and her chin resting over his left shoulder. "We did it! You did it!" She pulled away slightly and looked into his eyes. They both blushed and chuckled nervously as they noticed how close they were but... they didn't let go. She smiled and held him a bit tighter. "Hey..."

"Cloud, nice!" Yang shouted, running up and distracting the two from the tension. Sora and Jaune were with her, smiling too. "You really winged it there, huh? Huh!?"

Jaune snickered and clapped her back. "Nice."

"Ew," Sora groaned, rubbing his eyes.

Cloud laughed, happy. He could barely believe it. He and his allies were all fine. They'd defeated – Sephiroth! Where was Sephiroth? Cloud began to look around, searching anxiously.

"Looking for me, Cloud?" The group turned to glare at Sephiroth, who was standing, exhausted and injured, behind them. He clutched the Black Materia in his left hand, but his grip was loose and barely holding on to the sphere. In his right, his long katana was broken. Sephiroth grinned. "You can't kill me that easily. We're one. If you live, so will I. Eventually."

Tifa snarled and took a step forward. "Then I'll show you how -"

Cloud grabbed her shoulder. "He's mine," he said confidently. He smiled at her. "After all, if he was no match for us as a god, then like this I believe I can take him."

Tifa smiled at him and clutched his arm. "I believe that, too."

"This is real lovey dovey. I can't tell whether to 'Awww' or throw up," Yang muttered under her breath to Jaune. He glared at her and elbowed her in the ribs to get her to shut up.

Cloud walked over to Sephiroth. "It doesn't matter if you kill me. You can't kill that you have a Darkness. That you hate me and that hatred is the only reason you hurt me this much! I will always be here for you, Cloud." He shook his head and raised the remains of Masamune towards Cloud. "That's if you could even hope to fight me alone. Without them you are nothing."

Cloud nodded. "Maybe that's true." He raised the shreds of the Buster Sword. "But I'm not alone. Zack's with me. Aerith. And Tifa, too. You're the one who's alone." Now that he was closer, he could see what was happening. Sephiroth was falling apart, Darkness smoking off of his body. He was decaying. Cloud sighed; Sephiroth was already dead. "So even if I do hate you enough that there's Darkness in me, even if I was entirely Darkness, I would be fine. I have enough light right next to me that it'll snuff out that Darkness. Just like I will snuff you out right here." Cloud narrowed his eyes and set his feet: time to make this end faster. He raised the Buster Sword and charged forward.

"Cute." Sephiroth coughed, blood flying from his mouth. Cloud slid to a stop, suprirsed by the sudden appearance of a Keyblade's rust-gold tip beside Sephiroth's head, a black blade of Darkness trailing. Sephiroth coughed again, then a long cut appeared from his left hip to his right shoulder, and his body began to slide apart. Blood and body hit the ground, then began to turn to dust that drifted in the wind. The Materia drifted to the ground, only to be caught in a black gloved fist. OJ laughed, then asked everyone, "But I think we've had enough of this dance, don't you?"

"You!" Jaune shouted. He glared at his mirror image, who grinned back. "I... You can't fight us all. Give the Materia to us."

OJ raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yep. I can't fight all of you. Sora alone, maybe. The rest of you without him? Definitely. Together? Well, there's the issue." He raised his Keyblade and held it out to his side at shoulder level. "So I guess I'll have to run." He swiped with the Kingdom Key D, coating it in black flames that shot off and spread across the roof. "But like I said: I won't let you go next time." The Darkness shot towards Cloud and Tifa, about to burn them away. Sora and Jaune jumped in front of them, deflecting the wall and losing sight of OJ. When the flames cleared, OJ was gone.

Jaune glared at where his counterpart had been a moment earlier. He escaped again, the only time they could have stopped him. They had Sora, they had allies, they had everything they needed. Jaune snarled at the ground. "Damn it... Damn it... Da -"

Yang wrapped her left arm around his shoulders. "Help me, would you? I'm tired." She slumped against him and his anger froze where it was. "Good thing he ran away, I have nothing in the tank to fight with."

Jaune looked over at her and smiled. She was right. "Yeah. You don't look so good."

She glared at him and punched him in the shoulder. "Jerk!"

"And Cloud and Tifa were too lovey dovey?" Sora asked under his breath. He chuckled and shook his head. "The Heartless should have cleared out, guys! Who wants to go get some food?"

R W B Y

Jaune and Yang stood together, watching Sora with raised eyebrows. He was talking quietly with Cloud, Tifa, and their friends. Given their weird looks, he was probably making references to a life that they didn't remember, but they weren't freaking out or anything. An improvement over earlier, certainly. But the two of them were confused as to why he would hide whatever it was from them. At least Jaune isn't spiralling and thinking it's cause he doesn't trust us, Yang thought as she took a bite of her burger. She glanced over at the Keyblade Master, who was quiet as he stared at the ground. Maybe. "Whatcha thinking about, Jauney?"

Jaune glanced up and blew his bangs out of his eyes. "If they were widely recognized terrorists, how come nobody has tried to kill them yet?"

Yang raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to come up with a response. "I... Well, maybe they just have more pressing things to deal with?" She shrugged. "I mean, we weren't exactly focused for a few days after... uh..." Yang coughed as she realized she had just brought up the day Pyrrha had died.

Juane glanced back at the ground and smiled sadly. "Yeah, you're right. I guess it makes sense." He crossed his arms and sighed. "It feels... wrong, you know? Leaving this world with all this destruction and no help."

"We did our part. They can handle it, for now," Yang pointed out. She nudged him with her shoulder and grinned. "Besides, we have to go beat up your uglier twin."

"We're identical, Yang," Jaune supplied dryly.

Yang took another bite and glanced at the sky, frowning. "Hmm... No. No, the evil makes him ugly. And that haircut is doing wonders for you, Jauney."

He turned bright red. "You, uh, you think so?"

Yang grinned. "Would I lie to you?"

"Yes."

Yang looked over at him, ready to protest but stopped when he was grinning at her. She grinned back. "Fine. Then I guess I don't like you."

"See, lying again," Jaune pointed out, shoving her with his shoulder. He looked over at Cloud before letting out a sigh. "You know, we got to kill his evil twin. Why couldn't we get a real shot at mine before he ran away? We were hurt, but... Agh!" Yang frowned and tried to come up with something to say, but found she, too, was annoyed. If she hadn't been so hurt, maybe they coud have charged him before he could escape.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Sora said, snapping them both out of it. He put his hands on their shoulders. "You guys were great! If you keep getting stronger like this, you'll be able to take him out yourself next time he shows up!" He let go of them. "Yang, you stunned someone as strong enough to flat out end a world! And Jaune, you took his attacks head on! Way I see it, you're crazy strong already."

"Well, that's nothing new on my front, but Jaune is getting pretty strong," Yang said with a gesture at herself, then at him. "Which is good. He's key to our fight against OJ..."

Jaune laughed, while Sora shook his head. "You two have spent way too much time together," Sora muttered. He glanced up at the sky and the gummi ship approached, its transport beam forming a swirling green circle around the three of them. "Let's head home and regroup. We should see how Ruby, Merc, and Genie did before we do anything crazy."

"Okay, but I get to pilot the ship!" Yang shouted. She pointed at both of her friends. "I got dibs, got it? It's mine!"

Sora and Jaune grimaced. "I'm even feeling sick, now," Sora muttered, turning a bit green.

Jaune nodded. "Oh, it's worse than you think..."

R W B Y

"Sora!" Ruby shouted, rocketing away from her sister as Sora exited the ship. She slammed into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his shoulder.

He blinked once. "Is, uh... Is everything okay?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her as well. "What happened?"

Genie and Mercury glanced at each other. "A lot," Mercury finally explained. "We lost somebody, and Ruby had to kill her Heartless before it could form."

Sora's eyes widened. "Oh..." he shook his head and pulled her tighter. "Ruby, I'm sorry. I didn't know that would happen, but -"

"It's going to be okay." She pushed off of him slightly. "The people who love her will bring her back, just like Yang will bring her mom back."

Yang smiled at Sora and her sister. "What, not going to threaten him this time?" Jaune asked from beside her.

"... Maybe later," Yang said with a shrug. "They're being sweet."

Jaune rolled his eyes and turned to Mercury. "I'm not going to hug you, but... how are you holding up?"

Mercury laughed dryly. "Uh... Well, Asuna died, Kirito was nice, and we lost an entire world, but I'm getting the feeling it wasn't entirely real." He shrugged. "I couldn't quite get through to Em." He raised his hands and glared at them. "Maybe I'm, I don't know, not enough?"

Jaune glanced at the ground, unsure of what to say. He thought Merc was enough, but what if he was wrong? "I'm sure you are, Legs," Yang cut in. She leaned against the wall of the Keyblade Academy. "I bet you're running through her mind all day."

"And on that note," a grizzled voice interjected, Qrow and Ozpin walking out of the academy, "I think it's time we begin a real debrief." He waved at Yang and Ruby, then crossed his arms. "I take it you handed out your 'invitations,' Ruby? Sora?"

"Yep," Ruby said as she let go of Sora's neck and took a step back. She shrugged. "But, uh... well, maybe we should all have a talk before we figure this all out."

"What happened with you all, Miss Rose?" Ozpin wondered, taking a step forward.

"Umm... we lost a world."

Ozpin and Qrow stared at her in surprise. "You... what, Kiddo?" Qrow asked, stunned.

Mercury chuckled and nudged Jaune in the ribs. "Like I said. We lost a whole world." Qrow turned his head to Mercury and he yelped. "Oh, uh... I meant, it wasn't even a real world! Some guy made a fake world somehow. With the, uh, thing. That thing we were chasing down."

"He's right," Ruby explained. She laughed nervously and rushed out, "We didn't really lose it, then! So Kirito will still have the invitation. I, uh, I think."

"We think," Genie added for clarification. He pushed up glasses that were suddenly there and mumbled. "Uh, you see, the data supports the hypothesis, at least."

"You guys did good," Sora said, rubbing Ruby's shoulder. "You shouldn't have had to deal with all of that, but you did good." Ruby smiled and leaned into his shoulder and everything was quiet for a moment.

Mercury laughed nervously. "Now, uh, how about we move on to what happened with you guys?"

Sora nodded. "We were a bit luckier than you guys. Cloud managed to kill Sephiroth, but only after Heartless killed thousands in the city."

Jaune sighed. "And we couldn't stop OJ from getting the Materia."

"On the plus side, me and Jaune easily took down a building sized Heartless, just us," Yang cut in, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and pulling him forward. "And then we were basically the only reason that Cloud got to attack Sephiroth. We're pretty great, huh?"

"Nice, Kid," Qrow said, nodding. "Even with how Yang overhypes herself that sounds impressive."

"Yeah, I – Hey!" Yang shouted, shooting a glare at her uncle. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Jerk."

"Wait, so what were these 'invitations,' Sora?" Jaune wondered as he thought about it. "You gave Cloud one, so it has to be important."

Sora grinned. "Well, it's just what it sounds like. Ruby?"

Ruby bounced up and pumped her fist. "We're holding the first Inter-World Tournament! Our Keyblade Academy and the Huntsmen Academies versus people from the worlds you've been to!" She pointed at Jaune. "You guys are going to be on TV!"

Jaune, Yang, and Mercury blinked once, then glanced at each other. "But what about the rules!?" Jaune shouted, shaking Sora aggressively. "We'll be on Scrolls all over Remnant!?"

"We have that covered, Mister Arc," Ozpin said, cutting in and pulling Jaune off of Sora. "Your allies will not be coming from 'other worlds,' but will be 'huntsmen.' We will be placing this as a recruitment drive for teachers at the Keyblade Academy."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "That's a weird cover."

"Not entirely a cover, Spitfire," Qrow explained. He shrugged at her confused look. "What? You thought Keyboy, Oz, and me could teach an entire school by ourselves?"

Mercury shook his head. "Wait, wait... how is this a trap?" he wondered in confusion. "He's not going to attack with everyone here."

"That's the thing. We won't be here," Sora explained. "At least, it won't look like it."

"Sora will be meeting with leaders from these worlds in order to have a conversation about what to do with the items and how to create a unified front against future threats," Ozpin explained. He tapped his cane on the ground. "But in reality, they will be waiting for OJ here behind an army of droids, Qrow, and myself. Once he arrives and finds his way past us, he will have to deal with being exhausted in that fight."

"And we can capture him," Jaune muttered with a growing smile. "This... this might work."

"And you get to beat up Kirito," Yang pointed out.

Jaune's grin grew wider. "Okay, this definitely will work."

"But it would be better if the trap had more bait," Qrow pointed out. He gestured at Jaune, Yang, and Mercury. "Which means you three need to head off to Ghost Land again and get the Hogyoku."

"And give this to the individual in charge," Ozpin said, taking a step forward and pulling out another envelope. "We all have to work on setting up the tournament and figuring out some last details for our trap." Jaune tentatively took the envelope and looked up at the former headmaster, who was smiling at them. "You will do excellently, all of you. It was not long ago that you were children or criminals. But now, I am proud to call each and every one of you Huntsmen."

"I'm sorry, but you don't have much time to rest," Sora said after a moment of letting Jaune, Yang, and even Mercury bask in being called heroes by Ozpin. "We need to try to get the Hogyoku now before OJ can. Will you guys be okay?"

"I'm going, so of course we'll be fine," Yang responded before Sora or Mercury could get a word in edgewise. "Oh, Jaune, how about you get a prosthetic so we can be, like, a robo-club?"

"I'm not cutting off my hand, Yang!" Jaune shouted back.

"But it would be so cool, Jaune," Yang whined back. "Come on!"

"Yeah, they'll be fine," Ruby said as she watched Yang begin wrestling with Jaune and calling for his hand to be cut off. Jokingly. "For them. Fine for them."