AN: Hey everyone, it's been a while. I've gotten a chance to head back home to my family because of remote work, so I've been catching up with them a lot. Writing kind of suffers first when that happens.

Anyways, I finished this chapter up as quickly as I could. I hope you guys all like it!

Responses:

To Gamelover41592: I hope this chapter is as good as the last one!

To Chretner: I'm glad the chapters inspire that much in you! Making even one person feel like that is my favorite feeling with this stuff and the reason I keep going even after way too long hiatuses like this last one. I didn't want to include Dove too much for a few reasons, one main reason being I don't want to spread the focus too much, and the other that I don't want to overshadow the main characters. When Keyblade Masters show up, expect HUGE, awesome fights. In universe, they all have bigger issues than two kids who ran away to have an adventure, even Sora. I hope the rest of the story is as good as the first 4 chapters!

Chapter 5: Inequivalent Exchange

Oscar sighed as he piloted the Gummi Fighter towards Amestris and tossed a glance at the chair next to him. "Dawn..." he grumbled at the chair. "I think the most surprising thing about all this is that you woke up before noon to break into the ship... Or... did you just not sleep at all?" He shut his eyes and shook his head.

"Oh, I got plenty of sleep." He flinched and turned around to see her grinning as she leaned against the headrest of his seat. "I broke into the ship and slept in the pilot's chair. You and Dove were pretty late, Oscar. I got bored of waiting on you. What, did you feel bad for leaving me behind so you stalled for a while?"

He turned pink and looked out the viewport again. "N-no!" he growled. "Dove told me to head over alone while she met with Master Sora. That's all."

"Aw, and I was hoping it would be more interesting..." she sighed. She swung around to the side of the seat. "So, come on! Let me pilot! Pleeease?"

"What? No!"

"I've piloted a ton of these! I've even got a passing score on the combat simulator!" she exclaimed. She rested her chin on her arms and glared at him. "Please, Oscar, come on!"

"Passing? How!?"

"I sneak around the Academy at night and sometimes I practice. Sometimes I even snuck out to Vale in a Dragonfly!" Oscar glared at her, slack-jawed. Dawn scoffed, "Come on, there's not much else to do locked up with my dad and a dozen Keyblade wielders keeping an eye on me all day!"

"How have you never been caught?" he whispered, awestruck and unsure if he should believe her.

"Huh? Oh! Qrow helps me sneak back in," Dawn explained with a bored hand wave. "He's even more of a fun Grandparent than Tai or Raven are!"

"Professor Qrow!? He wouldn't let me go to bed five minutes late, much less sneak out!"

"Perks of being his favorite niece," Dawn guessed with a shrug. "Now -"

Oscar's eyes widened and he shoved her out of the way. "No, not here, not now!" Dawn turned her gaze to follow his and her eyes widened. Heartless Gummi ships were flying towards them out of the inky blackness as they approached Amestris, dozens of monsters dedicated to ending their lives. Oscar swallowed and grabbed hold of the fighter's steering with shaking hands. "W-we... we need..."

"Oscar!" He snapped out of it and turned to Dawn, whose silver eyes were fixed on his. "Do you want to fly or shoot?"

Oscar swallowed in fear. "I..."

"Oz!"

"I'll shoot," he finally agreed. He jumped from the seat and let Dawn slide in. The two strapped in to their seats, and his slid to the back and into the rear turret.

Dawn's fingers bounced nervously on the joystick. "Let's fly, Oscar," she muttered, then she slammed the throttle forward and the ship shot towards the Heartless. "Deploying Tiny Ships now. Guns are all yours." She grinned at the streams of energy the Heartless had begun to fire at their fighter, quickly shoving the joystick to the side and spinning between one volley. The Tiny Ships began to fire back. She placed her finger on the forward turrets' trigger and blasted along with them. The Heartless scattered and swirled in the Darkness, some haphazardly crashing into one another and slowing down from the damage.

Oscar swallowed his fear again as the Heartless began to travel around their fighter and fire from behind. The ship whirled and then dove towards a floating asteroid. Dawn turned sharply and missiles crashed into the asteroid. Oscar took a breath and turned the Gummi Fighter's main turret up to aim at the Heartless. "He carefully lined up a shot and began to let loose. One Heartless exploded in a brilliant display of Light, while another was clipped and eventually vanished when it slammed into one of the floating rocks. The target lock for the energy missiles began to enter its final moments, circles appearing on the display around the remaining ten Heartless. He fired again and one Heartless vanished. He took a steady breath and prepared to hit the missile button.

When the fighter suddenly made a very sharp turn. His thumb hit the button and streams of energy slammed into the asteroid they'd just been skirting, accompanied by missiles launched by the Heartless. "Gah! Dawn, you messed up my target lock!"

"Wha – How would I know that? You didn't announce it or anything!"

Oscar grumbled. Right. He had forgotten to announce that. "I'll announce it next time, but tell me when you're going to turn like that, too! Our energy missiles almost exploded close enough to clip us!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Dawn grumbled. Right. She had forgotten to announce that.

She glanced down at the radar when it began beeping. "Missile lock... Hard turn to my right incoming, Oscar!"

"Okay!" he shouted, compensating and aiming to his left when the ship pitched sharply and spun to fly between asteroids. He focused and fired, taking down another Heartless as target lock got closer. "Three seconds until lock!"

"I'll try to keep them behind us!"

Oscar nodded and fired to make the Heartless group up. "Firing!" He thumbed the button, and nine energy beams exploded from the turrets, pure Light magic spiraling through the Darkness and rocketing into the Heartless. Each of the monsters exploded in a brilliant firework, sending whites, reds, greens, and blues flying in every direction. "YEAH!"

"Got them?"

"They're gone, Dawn!"

"Heh... rhyming," Dawn muttered while his seat slowly came back up into the cockpit. "Funny." She ignored him rolling his eyes and slowed the ship down, then turned back towards Amestris.

"Okay... time to officially start our adventure! Dawn and Oscar! Oscar and Dawn! No, I get top billing… Dawnscar – no, that's not it..."

"Just take us in, Dawn..." Oscar groaned.

"Dawn and Oscar: Keyblade Outlaws – Oh! I like that one!"

χ χ χ

"Wow, this place is beautiful!" Dawn exclaimed as she rushed ahead of Oscar and twirled around, staring up at the bright, blue sky above them. People in the street looked at her with confusion, and one old lady laughed and agreed. She grinned at Oscar and laced her hands behind her head. "No wonder Dove sent us here!"

"I don't know. Something just feels... wrong, Dawn," Oscar countered. He stared at the ground and shivered. "U-underground."

"Heartless?"

He shook his head. "N-no, this is different. Almost worse," Oscar noted quietly. He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "I-it almost reminds me of Archer, Saber, and Berserker. Like a Heart that isn't where it should be."

"Hm... I guess we'll have to figure that out," Dawn said. She jogged over and threw her arm over his shoulder. "See? That Semblance of yours is already coming in handy, Oscar. You can sense Heartless before they attack, and now we've got a hint for figuring out who the bad guy here is that we have to fight. And we've only been here five minutes!"

"W-what? No! Can we try to fight some weak H-Heartless before you try to fight a monster that makes the ground evil?"

"You're right... Let's make them come to us!"

"Dawn..." He glanced up and saw blue electricity soaring into the air on the other side of town, and moments later a massive stone spike shot up.

Dawn and Oscar glanced at each other as screaming began and people began to run away. "Let's go!" Dawn shouted, grinning. She summoned the Kingdom Key D to her left hand and charged forward, Oscar at her heels. "Keyblade Outlaws to the rescue!"

It didn't take too long to get to the source of the destruction. "Already?" Oscar shouted in horror. Shadows and Soldiers were attacking a huge man in massive armor that he was somehow managing to flip around in. And nearby, a much smaller blonde kid in a red coat was dodging and weaving to avoid a massive Grimm that Dawn recognized with wide eyes. An Arma Gigas, just like the one that Specialist Weiss Schnee could use!

"We need to help them," Dawn stated. She turned to her partner. "I'll help the small fry – he looks like he needs more help. Can you back up the armor guy?"

Oscar swallowed in fear, then shook his head. "Y-yeah. I can do it!" he agreed anxiously. "... I can do it..."

"You got that right," Dawn agreed. She punched his shoulder. "Let's do this." She turned and sprinted towards the massive armor-like Grimm, Keyblade and eyes glowing together as she approached.

Oscar watched her go, then nodded and began to channel magic into his palms. "Armor guy!" he shouted. "Jump back... now!"

The man in armor glanced towards Oscar, confused, but nodded and flipped backwards. "THUNDER!" Yellow electricity exploded above the Heartless, raining down and killing a few injured ones while the healthier ones shrieked and spasmed for a moment.

"Thanks!" Came a high pitched, boyish voice from within the armor. Oscar blinked in surprise, then watched as the man – boy – leaped into the fray to attack the stunned Heartless.

Oscar shook his head. "Slow" he snapped, sending a wave of magic into the Heartless when one leaped at the boy's back. The creature's movement in the air slowed to a crawl, and the armored boy spun around and kicked its head off.

Oscar glanced down at his fists. Okay, he can do this.

Dawn grimaced and charged ahead, swinging her Keyblade up and into the side of the Grimm's massive sword, sending it off of its path and into the ground beside the kid in red. "You okay, Kid?" she asked as she settled in beside him and settled into a ready stance.

The blonde suddenly snarled. "Hey, who are you calling a tiny defenseless baby who can't take care of himself!?"

Dawn stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. "Uh, not you? We need to deal with this thing fast. They're pretty strong and they can take a beating, but if you don't trip again he's so slow he's easy to dodge!"

The kid scoffed. "Fine. Then let's do this," he said, then he clapped his hands and motioned over his arm. Dawn 'Ooh'ed and 'Aah'ed when electricity sparked along his hands and a metal blade exploded from his right forearm and the white glove he'd been wearing exploded, revealing a robotic hand beneath it. She shook off how cool a transforming arm weapon like that was, and prepared herself to go head to head with a powerful Grimm. "Teacher would kill me if I didn't accept help from someone who knows more than I do... for now."

"Then let's go!" Dawn charged forward. She dropped to her back and slid beneath the Arma Gigas' blade, then used the Keyblade to vault back up to her feet. The kid in red flipped over the sword and landed in step with her, rushing ahead with a cocky grin on his face. He clapped his hands and brought them low beside him, trailing bright blue electricity on his fingertips. The ground he touched exploded upward and slammed into the Arma Gigas' chest, forcing it to stumble back and leaving a large dent in its white armor. Dawn flipped up onto the pillars of stone and then leaped towards the Grimm's head. Her Keyblade flashed and came down, shattering the helmet as she flipped over it and landed behind the Grimm. The red, glowing eyes of the creature turned to her and it grabbed its sword in both hands before quickly bringing it down at her.

Dawn dove to the side and rolled to her feet, then rolled again to avoid another incoming attack. The kid in red watched her for a moment, then grinned. "Not bad!" He charged forward and clapped again, and a moment later he had launched himself towards the Arma Gigas' wrist. The kid's arm blade was extended forward and he shot through, cleanly chopping off the hands. The sword slammed into the ground beside the Grimm and it roared, reeling back in pain.

Dawn glanced at the sword and dismissed the Keyblade. "Now, to finish it!" She snapped, rushing towards the weapon that was larger than her. She leaped up and, with her Keyblade enhanced strength, tore it from the ground. She swirled midair and the massive weapon followed, carving a crescent moon of Light into the air as she infused it with the strength of her Heart. It came down on the Grimm's head, and a moment later the monster was cut clean in half. The Light channeled through the weapon overcharged it, and when Dawn landed she was empty handed. Panting hard, she turned to the kid in red. "Good job, Kid!"

"I'm not a kid!" he screamed at her.

"Brother!" The two turned to Oscar and the man in the armor rushing over. "You're okay!"

The kid in red clapped his hands and the blade on his arm shrank back into his prosthetic. "Come on, Al, look who you're talking to. Teacher's training was harder than fighting those things."

The guy in the armor turned to Oscar and Dawn and exclaimed, "Oh, right! Thank you for all the help. I'm Alphonse, and this is my brother, Edward."

"That's right, the Elric brothers!" Ed said with a grin.

"Wow! The Elric brothers!" Dawn shouted. She stared in amazement for a moment, then blinked. "Who's that?"

"Th-the Elric brothers? The Fullmetal Alchemist! The youngest state alchemist in history!?" Ed shouted indignantly.

Oscar looked up at Alphonse. "Oh – I-It's nice to meet you, Fullmetal Alchemist," he said, extending his hand to Alphonse.

"Where did you and your younger brother get those cool armor and robot arm?" Dawn asked him.

"Y-younger!?" Edward growled, flames glowing in his eyes. "How dare -"

"Brother, they didn't mean anything by it! I – uh, I'm the younger brother. Edward is the Fullmetal Alchemist!" Alphonse explained as he held back Edward from assaulting Oscar and Dawn. "Ed, come on!"

Edward glared up at his brother, but finally huffed and dropped his arms. "Sorry about that," Dawn supplied sheepishly. "I didn't mean to make you angry, you know?"

"It's nothing..." Ed growled. He sighed and let his anger flow away. "But who are you two?"

"I'm Dawn," she offered. She jabbed Oscar in the shoulder. "The nervous one over here is Oscar, my best friend. We're on a mission to find and save my mom!"

"You offered that way too quickly, Dawn..." Oscar sighed under his breath. Like parents like daughter, he guessed.

"You're trying to save your mom?" Alphonse asked, basically shoving his brother out of the way. "That's terrible, what happened?"

Ed pushed himself up and glared at his brother for a moment, then sighed. "Losing your mom, huh? Al and I can understand that pain," he admitted. He brushed his jacket off. "Well... we should probably let you guys get going. I bet you guys want to get going and look for her, and we've got our own problems, so -"

"Brother!" Alphonse shouted indignantly. "Come on, they've obviously traveled far and they just risked their lives to help us, so we should help them out, too!"

"Al –!"

"You big jerk, we're at least going to get them some food. Mom would want us to help them, right?"

Edward grumbled for a moment. "Fine!" he growled. He shook his head and crossed his arms, turning away from them. His long, golden blonde braid flew over his shoulder as his similarly colored eyes narrowed. He pouted, "I'm not a jerk..." He turned back to Oscar. "But if I'm paying for lunch, you're telling me about that crazy alchemy you used."

"No problem!" Dawn supplied for Oscar.

Oscar yelped and pulled her close. "But Dawn, I don't know what Alchemy is!"

Dawn blinked at him, then turned back. "One problem... What's Alchemy?"

Ed and Al fell flat on their faces.

"Oh, right... Also, is this Fullmetal Alchemist thing a big deal? Should I know who you are? And how'd a little kid like you get famous like that?"

Al knew Ed's ego couldn't take many more hits like that.

χ χ χ

After struggling to get Ed to stop trying to kill Dawn for calling him a kid again – full on combat had almost broken out when she'd pointed out that Alphonse could only be Ed's younger brother if Al was maybe eight, but he was too tall for that. Ed wasn't a fan of being called 'a tiny twelve year old.' "I'm sorry, really," Dawn supplied sheepishly. She rubbed the back of her head while they all sat at the table in the Elric Brothers' hotel room. "I'll stop calling you a kid, Ed. We're basically the same age!"

"You're a kid! I'm a professional!"

"That's fair," Oscar noted. He patted Dawn's back. "W-we, uh, ran away. One of us without any training."

"Hey!" Dawn exclaimed. "It's not none!"

"Well you two are very skilled for not having training," Alphonse pointed out over his plate, which he had yet to touch.

"Are you going to eat that?" Dawn asked after stuffing the last bite of her food in her mouth.

Alphonse panicked. "Uh, I -"

Ed laughed nervously. "He – that is, Al – he, uh... He's on a diet! He barely fits in that armor any more!"

"Hey!" Alphonse snapped indignantly. "I, I mean – Yep! You can have it!"

"Awesome!" Dawn swiped that plate from in front of Al and began shoveling the food into her mouth.

"Now, how about you tell me about that weird alchemy that you were able to do, Oscar," Ed said with a hungry grin. He leaned forward on the table and grabbed Oscar's hand, looking all over his gloves. "Wh – wait, where are your transmutation circles? Did you open the door?"

"Open the what?" Oscar asked, confused.

Ed shook his head. "Doesn't matter. You don't clap, so I should have known that wasn't it," he muttered under his breath. He turned Oscar's hand over and let go of it. "How did you do that?"

"It's magic," Dawn supplied through a full mouth.

"Magic?" Alphonse asked. He and Ed glanced at one another, then slammed their hands on the table and began to laugh derisively at Oscar and Dawn.

"Magic?! What's next, ghosts?" Ed exclaimed before howling again and rolling on the ground.

"Or- Or aliens!?" Alphonse supplied.

"Great, we go to one world where Magic is normal, and now we're on a world where it doesn't exist," Dawn whispered to Oscar. "They're not even being nice about it!"

"Okay, so you're just a lucky novice," Ed said as he finally wound down from his hysterical laughter. "You don't even know what you're doing."

Oscar blushed and glanced down. "That's not true," he mumbled incoherently, his anxiety keeping him low.

Thankfully, he had Dawn to help him out. "That's not true! My dad trained Oscar in magic for years!" he exclaimed. She slammed her palms on the table and surged to her feet. "He's way better at it than any of the other students ever will be!" She jumped on the table and jabbed her finger into Ed's face. "He can make fire and stop time, so don't make fun of my best friend or you'll regret it!"

"Alright, alright, jeez!" Ed supplied, putting his hands up, surrendering the point in an effort to pacify her. "I'm not trying to insult you guys, but magic? Come on, that's impossible. At least try to come up with a concept that has rules like Alchemy."

"Magic has tons of rules!" Oscar finally spoke up, though he quickly clammed up again when both Ed and Al snapped their heads to him. "Uhm... there's a limit to what you can do before it hurts you. I can't freeze time everywhere, but... I... What's Alchemy?"

Ed raised his eyebrow. "Well... it'll go over your heads -"

"Brother!" Alphonse sighed and turned to Oscar and Dawn, bowing slightly. "I – I'm sorry. We shouldn't have laughed like that."

"Ah, it's okay." Dawn shrugged and jumped back off the table. "We're from pretty far away, so we get it."

Ed groaned at his brother's annoyed glare. "Fine. I'll tell them," he grumbled. He stood up and raised his prosthetic's index finger. "Alchemy is the science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter of any kind. One has to comprehend the exact makeup of what they're trying to alter, then pull it apart and put it back together however they want."

"I see..." Oscar said.

"Huh?" Dawn wondered.

Ed sighed. "Okay, how about a demonstration!" Alphonse exclaimed. He rummaged through his bag and yanked out a piece of chalk. "Aha!" He turned back to the table and began drawing an intricate circle, geometric circles within. Ed sighed and fished around in the bag while he did that, then placed a chunk of metal on the table. Alphonse stopped drawing and pumped his fist. "There we go, now watch this!" He placed his hands on the circle, and blue electricity exploded from the circle. The metal block within began to reform and soon a small statue of Dawn herself was standing at the center of the table, cloak billowing in the wind.

"AWESOME!" Dawn shrieked. She grabbed the statue and jumped up. "So it can make anything? That's so cool!"

"Well, just like anything else it's got to follow the rules of equivalent exchange." Ed paused, then scoffed. "To put that into small words, you have to give up something to get something. Same with anything – food, metal, friends, or love. All of it. You only get back up to what you put in."

Oscar and Dawn glanced at one another. Then they fell on their backs and began to laugh loudly. "E-equivalent exchange!" Dawn shouted in disbelief. Their laughter echoed through the room for a while longer, drawing ever more annoyed glares from Ed and even Alphonse. "That's – Oh, that's hilarious!"

"There's nothing hilarious about a fundamental law of the universe!" Alphonse exclaimed at the idea of his deepest held beliefs being laughed at.

Ed was even angrier. "What, your stupid little magic is better!?"

"Yes!" Dawn exclaimed. Oscar's laughter had stopped in its tracks upon being yelled at and he was hiding. "You really think equivalent exchange is real? In every aspect of life?"

"Always is, always has been!" Ed retorted. He crossed his arms and turned away from her. "It's obvious. Some people call it Karma. I call it science."

"And I call it dumb. Just take friendship! You don't have to put much work in, but you get a whole friend out of it! Doesn't sound super equivalent to me! Or love, huh? You don't just give half of yourself!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, Kid," Ed said mockingly. He smirked over at Dawn. "You can totally override the laws of the universe with snuggles, rainbows, and puppies. You try that. Me and Al – we know how that turns out."

Oscar finally piped up. "Is that why your brother feels... different?" Ed's and Al's heads snapped towards him and he fought the urge to shrink away. "I-It's like his Heart is connected to his armor through you, E-Ed."

Ed glared down at the ground. "Great job letting your temper get the better of you, idiot," he hissed at himself.

"Brother..." Al said sadly.

Edward looked up Oscar and Dawn with a serious, glowering face. "Al and me, we broke the greatest taboo of alchemy," Ed said quietly. He held up his right arm and then slammed it against his left leg, causing a loud 'clang' as metal hit metal. Then he leaned over to his brother and rapped his knuckles against the armor. Oscar and Dawn gasped; it was hollow. Just as hollow as Ed's voice. "We tried to bypass equivalent exchange, and we paid the price. I paid an arm and a leg, and my brother lost everything. So trust me, I know that equivalent exchange is real. My brother and I the price for our mistake every day. We only got through it because of the people close to us."

Oscar frowned at the table. "Exactly. The people close to you kept you going..." He looked up at them and froze, the attention making his anxiety flare up.

Dawn knew where he was going with this. "Yeah! All those people who love you no matter what! You say you broke the biggest rule ever, but they didn't leave you, huh?" Ed just kept glaring at her for a moment. "I mean, what about Al? Does he have to do anything to make you love him?"

"Hell no!" Ed snapped. He grimaced and slapped his forehead. "B-but that's different!"

"It sounds like they got us, Brother," Alphonse said, laughing at Ed's rage induced stammering.

Oscar smiled for a moment, but it quickly soured. "What's up?" Dawn whispered to him.

"It's like the feeling in the ground," he said after a moment. He clutched at his Heart. "But it's getting closer -"

It was around that time that someone burst through the window, hairless skin the color of coal and the teeth of a crocodile. Glass and wood rained down all around them. Dawn shoved Oscar behind her and summoned the Kingdom Key D defensively. The new figure landed in front of Dawn, shattering the table in every direction, and his hand was on her throat a moment later. "Finally! I've been looking all over for you!"

χ χ χ

The Corridor of Darkness swirled into existence within the Sanctuary, connecting the hidden location to another world. When the old, blonde man with pale golden hair and eyes moved though the doorway, it slid shut behind him, replaced with the dimly glowing tubes containing the captured Princesses of Heart. The Darkness filling the room seemed to push in around him. "So, you're not even here," he said, deep voice echoing. "And what of your claim to repay our aid?"

The lights in the room flickered, and his head snapped to the side. Standing at the meeting table was a lone figure. Salem's shadow, standing with features hidden by a long, black coat. "Salem has her own problems to attend to," she explained simply. The Shadow crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. "Why are you here, Father?"

Father glared at her, fighting down his disgust. A human treating a superior being like him in such a manner was unforgivable. But he would hold in his rage. Father put on a calm smile before saying, "Things are beginning to progress on my home world. I require aid, Shadow."

"What aid would that be?" she replied. She uncrossed her arms and moved slowly around the table, stopping and clasping her hands behind her. "What could the perfect being need help with?"

Father glared at her for a moment, then put on a very fake grin. "We should not forget to engage in pleasantries, should we?" He inquired cheerily. He looked innocently at the Shadow. "We are allies, after all."

The Shadow did not make a noise for a moment, opting to just stare silently. Judging him. "Of course," she growled out from within her hood. She walked a few steps forward to stand closer to Father and the Princesses behind him. "How are you? Enjoying the weather?"

"And did you enjoy your vacation? Pray tell, what were you doing when not following your master?" Father countered, still grinning. He crossed his arms and placed his hands in the opposite sleeves. "Does she know what you were up to?"

"I was on an important mission, Homunculus. Her plans exist beyond what a narrow minded creature like you can see," she replied simply.

"I am no small creature," he muttered calmly, but red lightning sparking from the ground around him despite his apparent calm.

Her Keyblade flashed into her hand, a weapon a deep black and red, formed from a simple, straight body covered in dense, crisscrossing chains of black taut against the blade. The chains and body became white near the end, sharply turning back at a diagonal to form the teeth, an angle outlining almost perfectly overlapping white and black circles that looped through the chains. The guard of the weapon only existed over the front half of the weapon, a sharp semi circle with the jagged cuts of a weapon made from Obsidian. Connected to the hilt by what appeared to be a braid of white hair was a blue, cat like eye overlapping another venn diagram made from a black and white pair of circles. The weapon glowed and the sound of a lock echoed through Father's mind. The lightning around him vanished in a moment. "I am not be able to defeat you when you use your abilities. So I see no reason to fight you with those abilities."

Father growled under his breath, then straightened up. "Apologies. I did not mean to threaten you," he explained. He shut his eyes and smiled softly. "As I said, we are allies. Events that threaten not only my plan but Salem's as well cause me... stress."

The Keyblade lowered to the Shadow's side, but she did not return his abilities from behind the door she had locked. "The pleasantries are over?"

"..."

"What happened?" the Shadow inquired, tired and bored.

"My wayward son is causing problems in my home," he explained. He turned from the Shadow and moved to stare up at one of the Princesses – the one who had been there the longest. It seemed personal with this one, on Salem's part. "Ever since one of your kind visited my home just over a hundred years ago, his behavior has been an issue. It's gotten to be too much."

"Then send another child after him. Salem says the angry one with the swords is your most dangerous one," the Shadow replied dismissively. "I fail to see how this affects us."

"My most dangerous? Ha! I won't tell Pride you said that," he said, chuckling. His chuckles disappeared. "But it does affect you. You see, the girl landed in the same town as my erstwhile child. And as I said, he has been... fixated on your kind for some time."

The Shadow's Keyblade jingled in her grasp. "... What?"

"Yes, that girl Salem is so interested in. She looks rather like this one," Father explained with a sneer up at the first Princess. "What is it Salem wishes from that girl, I wonder."

"... What is it you want me to do?" the Shadow finally supplied, voice emotionless.

Father's sneer turned into a genuine smile. "Finally. We're getting somewhere." He turned from the Princess. "Greed has become a problem. Capture him and bring him to me. I doubt you want him engaging too much with that girl... Dawn, I believe?"

"I'll deal with this problem," the Shadow replied. A Corridor swirled into being. "He'll be in your hands soon enough."

"What does Salem want with that girl? Surely it is not just more vengeance on this Princess? What value does she have?" Father asked before the Shadow could leave.

"It's simple. Powerful, easily manipulated people can be useful," she retorted. Then, without a glance at the man, she moved through the Corridor.

Father continued staring up at the Princess of Heart in front of him. "No... there's more to it than that, isn't there?" he asked. His eyes flashed blood red. "I wonder if she can be useful to my plan as well..."

χ χ χ

"Let her go!" Oscar snapped. He surged to his feet and threw his hands forward, magical energy channeling down his fingers. The figure's grin turned and he swung his hostage around, placing Dawn in Oscar's sights. He gasped and the energy growing in his hands vanished.

"That's better, Kid," the figure said, voice sounding almost modulated. He chuckled and glanced around, eyes eventually resting on Alphonse. "Aren't you lucky this little lady showed up? I was hoping we could have a talk, but you're old news when a Keyblade Master shows up."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm no master!" Dawn explained through the hand holding her throat tight.

"Yeah, she isn't even a novice!" Oscar shouted, hoping that would get this guy to let her go.

"Hey!"

"Oh? That's even better!" the guy said, even more excited now. Great, he'd insulted her and it hadn't even helped. He straightened up. "Then I'll just be taking this girl and -"

"I don't know who you are, but I'm not going to let you kidnap someone right in front of me!" There was a loud clap, and the table scraps beneath the figure sparked together with Transmutation Lightning, creating a fist that slammed into his jaw. He stumbled to the side from the force, but looked no worse for wear. This did give Dawn the time she needed to escape, though. Her Keyblade slammed into man's wrist and he yelped, letting her go. She hit the floor and rolled backwards in a heap. She managed to stumble to her feet and raised her Keyblade defensively.

The figure sighed and threw his hands up. "And here I was hoping we could do this the easy way! I want a lot of things, but pounding a bunch of little brats into the ground isn't my idea of a good time. That's more Lust's deal."

"Who are you calling a tiny bacteria who's beneath your notice!?" Ed screamed, leaping up and slamming his fist into the figure's face. The man just growled, his head snapping to the side. But he just turned it back, struggling against Ed's fist.

"Bad move, Kid. Nothing gets through my Ultimate Shield." He snapped his leg out and slammed it into Ed's chest, sending him flying through the wall and into the empty room next door.

"Brother!" Alphonse shouted. He turned on the man and roared, charging in and attacking with martial arts moves.

"We've gotta help him, Oscar!" Dawn exclaimed. She turned and nodded at him. "Just back me up, okay? And summon your Keyblade!" She turned and charged in, Keyblade dragging along the ground before sweeping up at the figure's head. He turned just in time after ignoring another of Alphonse's blows to receive a Keyblade to the face. He yelped as the pain from this attack went through and he stumbled backwards, holding his chin.

"I gotta get my hands on this!" He shouted. He lowered his hand and stretched his fingers out, revealing diamond sharp claws. He charged forward and cleaved a trail through Alphonse's chest, then turned and back kicked him out of the room.

"Strike!" A bolt of lightning crashed into his chest and he stumbled back, smoke rising from his body.

"Sorry Kid, that one didn't hurt," the man said. His horrible grin turned on Oscar, who took a stumbling step backwards. "Looks like you're going to have to kick it up a notch if you're going to match your girlfriend."

"I'm only his best friend!" Dawn snapped, rushing up while he was distracted and slamming the Keyblade into his face. The man yelped and hit the ground, one of his teeth falling from his face. It clattered against the ground and turned to ash. "He's got a puppy crush on my cousin!"

"Dove, come on, don't tell the horrifying monster!" Oscar exclaimed indignantly.

"Dammit, I forgot what pain felt like!" The man pushed himself up, red electricity sparking from his face as another huge tooth grew back into his jawline. His grin grew. "Nothing more attractive than a girl who can hold her own. You're missing out, Kiddo"

"Stop it!" Dawn snapped, charging him again. She swung wildly, trying to beat him into submission with powerful, overcommitted swings he easily dodged.

"Ah, that's your problem!"

Dawn's glowing silver eyes narrowed and her face turned beet red. "Sh-shut up! Oscar! Do something!"

"I can't do anything! My magic doesn't work on him!" he shouted impotently.

"Then get out of the way!" Ed and Al jumped in, the older brother swirling a stone spear and slamming it against the man's back. The spear immediately shattered into dust and the man glanced over his back. "Why are you indestructible!?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Shrimp? I – Agh!"

Alphonse had grabbed the figure's arm and flipped him over his shoulder, throwing him out of the destroyed window. "And stay out!" Alphonse snapped over his brother's angry exclamations at being insulted for being short again.

"Wow..." Dawn said. She lowered her Keyblade and turned to Alphonse. "You're pretty awesome, Al!" She turned to Oscar, who was still shaking. "Hey, it's all right. We got out of it, right?"

"Uh... sure..." Oscar muttered. He clenched his fists and sighed. At least he didn't have to summon his Keyblade. It would summon the Heartless and Grimm to him. An army to kill everyone he cared about. Again. He felt his Heart sink into his stomach and his blood turn to ice. But he didn't have to, so... it was okay...

Dawn rushed over to the window. "Wow, you really threw him. I can't even see -" she was cut off when a black claw erupted from the ground below her, wrapping around her ankle and then pulling him through the ground.

"You'll get your turn, No Body!" The figure said, pointing at Alphonse.

"Ha! Nobody! Oscar, he said -" Dawn was cut off when the man holding her slammed her face into the wall. Her eyes drifted shut and she fainted, the Keyblade falling into his empty hand.

He grinned and looked at the weapon in his hand. "Finally, I... wait... No!" The Keyblade vanished in a flash of Light and he raised Dawn by her cape. "Damn, guess I am kidnapping you. Well, better get going!"

"You aren't getting away!" Oscar snapped, charging forward with Al and Ed. He launched a Fira at the man that he shrugged off. Ed and Al jumped in, trying to create a wall in front of the man before he could jump out of the window.

"There, you're stuck here!" Ed grinned as he and Al landed in combat stances. "Scared, ugly?"

The guy turned and chuckled. "Kid, I've just taken the three of you apart. You, your empty headed brother, and the crappy wizard upstairs can't touch me. At best you'll kill the girl before I get out of here," he replied, raising Dawn's unconscious form in front of him. The three boys grimaced and tensed uncomfortably. "Or you can let me go and I'll give her back when I'm done with her."

"I won't let you hurt her!" Oscar snapped, magic flaring in his hands.

"Then do something about I, Kid!" Oscar swallowed and glanced away nervously. The magic vanished. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You three can't touch me, so I'll be taking my leave." He kicked down the newly formed wall and laughed. "See you, Kids. Maybe you'll give me a good fight if you manage to get smart." He turned and leaped from the hotel room, leaving an impotent Ed, Al, and Oscar behind.

"Damn," Ed snarled. He crossed his arms and turned to Al. "How was he making himself indestructible? There's got to be a scientific reason!"

"Unless he's like me," Alphonse muttered. He glanced down at the streaks torn in his armor body.

"I've got that," Oscar said quietly. He jumped down and green light flashed around them, and the metal of Alphonse's body seemed to regrow.

"What the hell!?" Ed shrieked. He charged Oscar. "H-how did you do that!? That wasn't equivalent exchange, so do you have a Philosopher's stone!? I -"

"Brother..." Alphonse interjected. Oscar ignored them both and walked up to the hole in the wall.

"I'm useless..." Oscar hissed at himself. He slammed his fists into the wall and screamed. "USELESS! I can't do anything! I lose everyone! I'm – I'm..." He screamed and punched again, drawing blood from his knuckles before falling to his knees. He sobbed and his head fell into his hands. "I'm so damn useless..."

Ed and Al glanced at one another. "Uh... I'm... Are you okay?"

"I'm a coward..." he sobbed into his hands. He wouldn't summon his Keyblade. He wouldn't do it to save his best friend! He let her get stolen when he had a weapon that could hurt that guy who they were fighting. He...

"Hey!" Ed snapped. He grabbed Oscar's shirt and wrenched him up to glare eye to eye. Ed's rage filled glare burned into Oscar. "What the hell is wrong with you? He just kidnapped your best friend and you're crying?"

"Brother -"

"No, Al! I want to know what kind of idiot does that? It's not your fault she got kidnapped, he outmaneuvered all of us! But if you keep crying like this instead of trying to save her -"

"It is my fault!" Oscar snapped. He shoved Ed back and glared down at his hands in disgust. "I... I could have saved her. I could have done it but I'm a coward! I could have saved her if..." He shut his eyes and shook his head. "I could have done it. If I'd summoned my Keyblade I could have saved her! She could hurt him with hers, and maybe I could have too if I'd... I'd just..." He shut his eyes and grabbed his hair. "Dammit!"

"Then fix it!" Ed snapped. He slammed his fist into Oscar's face stunning him into silence. "We can't change the past, but we can move forward if we try! So try!"

Oscar stared in surprise at Ed, then raised his hand and massaged the bruise his Aura was slowly alleviating. "... You're right." He clenched his fists and turned back tot he window. "I... I have to do this." He shut his eyes and held his hand out. Please. I... I have to!

He reached out to his Semblance. If he couldn't do it, then maybe someone left over could do it. He'd never been able to activate his Semblance on himself, but he had no other option. He'd never summoned his Keyblade without Sora or Dove there to keep him safe and calm. He still couldn't summon it even when Dawn was kidnapped. He yanked off his left glove and placed it over his face, trying to make his Semblance activate on himself. It didn't matter he'd never done it before, he had to do it now. Please... Please, help me!

"..."

"What?" he asked, but there was a loud 'clang' and a flash of emerald light. A gray weapon forged from the pieces of a clock appeared in his outstretched hand. Green stain glass formed a scaffold around the moving gears and formed a clock face for the teeth set at midnight. A large, green, stain glass gear spun around the handle to form the basket, with four smaller gears – red, blue, yellow, and orange – leading down to a small pair of concentric green gears surrounding a thin black plate.

"I think magic might be a little real, Brother," Alphonse said, awestruck by the sudden appearance of the Keyblade in Oscar's hand.

"But that's... impossible! What the hell is going on here!?"

Oscar himself glared at the weapon. "Chronal..." he said quietly. He turned it and pointed it out of the hole. "Lead me to Dawn. Please!" You owe me that much!

The weapon's tip glowed with green Light, and he suddenly knew. He could feel exactly where she was in this town and he was going to save her. He stepped up to the edge and glared out into the town, pulling on his left glove before clenching his fists. "Dawn... we're coming."

χ χ χ

"..."

"Sora."

"..." Sora continued to glare at his Scroll, face growing increasingly dour.

"Sora?"

Sora began to tap his foot on the ground anxiously as he stared at the screen.

"Sora!"

"What!?" he snapped, turning to glare at Qrow.

Qrow sighed and shook his head, placing his large Scroll down on the war room's main table. "I'm worried about them, too."

Sora turned his gaze back to his Scroll. "Why hasn't she called yet, Qrow?" he asked quietly. "Does she have my daughter? Is my baby girl coming home?"

Qrow grew quiet. "... I've been trying to stay calm and trust that Dove has this," he finally said. He felt so old and useless now, unable to chase after his daughter himself anymore. He ached as he lowered himself into a chair beside Sora. "I don't want to give her special treatment – she'd kill me for it. But I'm worried." He nodded at Sora's Scroll. "We should call her. Maybe she's made progress. Or... Something." Qrow didn't want to suggest the alternatives, for Sora's sake and his own.

Sora swallowed his fear. "Yeah." He opened a call to Dove and placed the Scroll on the arm of his chair on speaker so both men could hear. It rang. And rang. And rang. Six times the call rang, each time causing Sora and Qrow to die a little inside. And then, Dove's voicemail began and Sora immediately picked up the Scroll and ended the call.

The two men sat in horrified silence for a few moments, struggling to take in what just happened. Dove answered calls. She always answered calls. Qrow eventually turned to Sora, and when he spoke his voice was hoarse and hollow as his Heart in that moment. "So this is how you feel all the time."

Sora didn't respond at first. His blue eyes glazed over and he stared despondently at the map of the known worlds, hopelessly trying to guess where she could be. The fear that had taken root when Salem returned and stole Ruby... it froze his blood and destroyed his instincts. He couldn't reach out and find her. He wanted to find his daughter, but he couldn't. He surged to his feet. "I'm going to go find them," he said resolutely. He moved up to the table and began typing up a list. "I'll need a Keyblade armor and supplies for the journey. You're going to have to take over the training and the missions while I'm gone."

Qrow remained in his seat. "Sora..."

"I'll need whatever elixirs we can spare -"

"Daddy?"

Sora froze. He slowly turned around and saw Chalcedon standing nearby, rubbing his eyes tiredly and looking up at him innocently. "Daddy, can we play?"

Sora opened his mouth to say no, that he had to go out and save Donny's sister. That he didn't have any time to play because he had to deal with big problems. The kind of problems that mean Donnie grew up without a mother and the boy had to deal with that, but... "Are you going, too..?" Chalcedon asked quietly, gaze falling to the ground. He sniffled and began to tear up.

But Sora wasn't that kind of person. Even after losing his wife and his daughter running away, Sora couldn't. He wouldn't leave his son when he needed him, he wouldn't yell and snap at this boy. His boy. Instead, Sora moved towards his son and crouched before him with a smile. "Of course we can play, Donny," he said quietly. He reached out and wrapped his arms around his son, holding him tight. "And I'm... not going anywhere."

Qrow watched Sora interact with Chalcedon and smiled sadly. "Just let me and your dad talk for another minute, Kiddo," he said. He groaned and pushed himself up before walking over. "We've got something important to deal with. Tell you what, I'll even play with you, too."

Chalcedon's face spit into a beaming grin. "Really?"

"Sure, sure, Kiddo," Qrow supplied, trying to pretend he was dismissive. "Whatever you want."

"Awesome! Then let's play -"

"Gotta talk to your dad, first," Qrow interjected, ruffling the kid's hair then tapping Sora's shoulder to get him to stand up. "We've just got a couple more things and then we're going with you."

Donnie nodded and rushed off, saying he was excited to have someone to play with now that his sister was gone. Sora watched him go, smile finally vanishing when Donnie turned a corner. "I already know, Qrow. I can't go."

"No, you can't. And I hate it, but we don't have anyone else that can go, either." He crossed his arms and his fingers began to dig into the opposite arm, tearing cloth. "I'm old now. You have a family. We have a half dozen Keyblade Masters fighting fights that we can't just pull them out of. My daughter, your daughter..."

"They have to take care of themselves," Sora agreed hollowly. He put his hands on his knees and pushed himself up. "Dammit, Qrow. Salem finds a way to make me useless no matter what!"

Qrow didn't even believe himself when he said, "We don't know Salem is involved, Sora."

Sora ignored Qrow's statement and turned back to the map. "We need to do something, Qrow." Sora leaned with his hands against the war table and let his gaze slowly fall, eyes shut tight. "What would Oz do?"

"Ozpin would cut his losses completely. He always did." Sora turned to Qrow. The old man sighed, "We both know it's true." Qrow shook his head. "Don't do what Ozpin'd do. Do what you do."

Sora nodded slowly and turned back to the map of the worlds.

And that's when an idea came to him. It wasn't exactly going to bring everyone back, and it would still feel like he was doing nothing, but... But it was what he would do. "Qrow, we need to send a message out to all of our friends throughout the worlds," he began. He stood up straight and brushed his hands off on his jacket. Turning to Qrow he steeled his gaze. "If Dawn, Dove, or Oscar run into any of our friends then they'll let us know."

Qrow smirked, the idea lifting his spirits slightly. "Your friends are your power? You get a lot of power from something so small, don't you?"

Sora smiled sadly. "I just wish we could do more now, Qrow..."

"Me too." Qrow finally let go of his destroyed sleeves and put on a confident look. "As soon as anyone gets back here, I'll send them out to look. Between your friends and our students, we'll find them. I promise."

Sora didn't respond. He was too busy counting all the things he had lost.. A thousand friends, a universe, his Keyblade, his wife, his daughter. Yet another thing Sora had to suffer losing. He had a strong Heart – he was a Keyblade Master, after all. But it hurt so damn much. "Yeah. I know," he said instead. "They'll be back soon."