AN: Hey guys! Happy belated Halloween and Happy Veterans'/Armistice Day. Hope you're all doing well. Have fun with this chapter! It's far more action oriented than last chapter, and I had a lot of fun writing the battle.

Responses:

To Gamelover41592: I'm glad you liked last chapter. I hope this chapter is another great one!

Chapter 8: BANG, BANG, BANG!

Oscar scrambled backwards as his training was overwhelmed by instinct. The massive broadsword that Dante held was huge but held in one hand like it was nothing, and had split apart along the teeth like markings at the center of the blade, leaving a large fork at the tip of the blade. He stumbled back again and yelped, expecting his failure to keep upright would mean his death, but was pleasantly surprised when a air of strained growls came from in front of him. Dawn and Nero, struggling against Dante's flying force together as best they could, keeping him close to a standstill.

"Get – gr – moving, Oscar!" Dawn snapped while straining against Dante's force.

Oscar swallowed his fear and nodded. "Right!" He turned and sprinted around the rubble strewn room, past ancient, decaying chairs and beneath a faded painting of a family.

"Head up!" V ordered, running up alongside him. He gestured at a second floor landing, the stairs shattered leading up to it. "I'll be doing the same." He turned and sprinted towards the other side of the room, summoning a squawking Griffon to pull him into the air and towards the landing.

Oscar bit his cheek but did as V had commanded, sprinting towards the other side of the second floor. He scrambled and leaped clumsily between stones, slowly but surely making his way up until he eventually tumbled over the railing and rolled into the wall, panting slightly. When he looked up, V was already unleashing his familiars upon Dante below, blasts of lightning and blades of shadow spinning towards the devilish creature. Oscar set his jaw and stood up to begin channeling his own spells. He had to help Dawn.

Meanwhile, Dawn and Nero were just managing to keep up with the monster they were facing. Dawn jumped and flipped over a horizontal swing, landing on one leg and launching herself at the creature while Nero jumped away and pulled out his gun to pepper Dante with bullets. Dawn swiped at Dante's gut, but his claw came down and smacked her attack down. His sword swung around at her and she abandoned her Keyblade, rolling beneath him and summoning it back to her hands when she came back up behind him. Glowing eyes filled with surprise when her weapon vanished and reappeared in flashes of Light, and Dante turned towards her frantically. His sword came up to block her next attack, but this just left him open for Nero as he swapped back to his sword and charged from behind. Red Queen crashed into Dante's back and he let loose an echoing roar, spinning and swinging at them both again.

Dawn and Nero dodged and were blown further back by the buffeting winds that Dante's wings were creating. But by this point, V and Oscar were finally joining the fight. Bolts of lightning began to rain down as Griffon passed like a plane dropping bombs, striking against Dante and causing his muscles to have microseizures that slowed him just enough for Shadow to attack with his drill like tails. Dante shrieked in pain and rage as he was sent sliding backwards with dripping wounds.

"We got him!" Dawn exclaimed. Then Dante growled at her and Darkness began to seal the wounds shut,. "Why do I open my mouth?"

Dante reared up and let out an angry roar, swinging the sword around wildly and shattering stone with his flailing. He turned his glowing eyes on V, then immediately raised his hands and fired a torrent of explosive flames at him from where he hovered. "Shit," V grumbled. He swung his arm up and Shadow shot into Dante's path, saw-like body carving through the explosions and escaping before the flames could leave any kind of injury.

"Don't forget about us!" Nero charged in, revving his sword's engine and cloaking it in a sheath of flames. He carved off one of Dante's wings and turned, slamming his robotic fist into Dante's back and letting loose an explosion of electricity. The monster roared and had more microseizures, right u until Dawn appeared in front of him. Her first strike hit his sword, but one of Oscar's Firaga's blew Dante's guard open. Dante blocked the incoming Blizzaga and snarled as his arm and weapon were frozen solid. Nero's foot came in and slammed into Dante's face, followed by Dawn's Keyblade hitting his gut. Dante was thrown backwards, where a waiting Griffon was floating with raised wings. A massive lightning bolt flew down from the sky and crashed into Dante. The resulting explosion sent him straight down, crashing through the floor and the rock below in a smoking, Dante shaped hole.

Dawn rushed ahead first, knowing he'd fly out, and slammed her Keyblade into the sudden attack that rocketed out. Nero jumped over her and slammed his heel into Dante's forehead, then jumped back and let Dawn rush in low with a Frost Edge attack to Dante's legs. The floating monster tried to fly back, but the ice exploded and left him rooted to the ground. Dawn grinned up at him and raised her Keyblade above her to block his incoming sword. The force still blasted her back and she crashed into Nero as he charged in, sending the two of them tumbling across the ruined marble floors and through a broken pillar.

Dante snarled and thrashed against the ice at its feet, leaving a growing web of fractures along its surface. "Wear him down!" Oscar shouted to V before raising his Keyblade and launching another Blizzaga.

V glanced over at Oscar and raised his hand. "Gotta wait on that, V," Griffon said as he rounded back around from his most recent assault. "We're running ragged already!"

V growled to himself, but lowered his hand and aimed his hand at Dante. "Eviscerate him, then!" he shouted, sending Griffon and Shadow out again.

Griffon laughed and flapped in place for a moment. "You got it, Boss!" he shouted, then closed his wings and dive bombed directly at Dante with electricity cloaking his feathers.

Dante snarled and swung his sword around to block Shadow's buzzsaw body, the blades slicing against one another before sending the cat straight up towards the ceiling. This did manage to break Dante's guard, giving a lightning cloaked bird enough time to fly down and rake his claws across Dante's chest. Dante snarled and fought off the microseizures again, sending out a pulse of energy from his body that slammed into Griffon before he could fly away.

Dante turned his attention from Griffon's stunned form and u at Oscar, eyes narrowing. He snarled and raised his palms, sending out waves of Darkness enshrouded flames up at Oscar. Oscar immediately abandoned his powerful spell and shattered the Blizzaza magic he'd been creating, sending out dozens of shards of Blizzard magic to intercept Dante's assault. The ice and fire exploded in the air, raining shards below and creating a thick fog through which Oscar and V couldn't see. Oscar waited for a continued assault, then realized what was happening. "Dawn!"

Dante flew backwards and towards the ceiling, easily dodging Dawn and Nero's sword attacks. Steam rose from his face as he disapearred into the cloud of fog and began to zoom around as a barely visible silhouette within. Dawn and Nero struggled to follow the flimsy shadow's movements, tracking left and right and up and down in the cloud. "Got him!" They both shouted before turning opposite directions and looking at each other. "What, no! He's that way! No! That way!"

A dark chuckle came from almost right above them, then Dante threw his hands up and Dark Flames began to rain down at the two from the fog. The flames fell like comets, and the two warriors could do little more than cry out in pain as the flames crashed into them and pulverized the marble tiles below them. Dante laughed darkly and clenched his clawed fists, and the flames doubled in number. The cries echoed louder and louder before a loud crack thundered below Nero and Dawn. The stone beneath them shattered and melted, and the two tumbled into the floors below.

"Dawn! Dawn are you -" Oscar stopped when the grinning, Demonic skull appeared, leering up at him from the fog. Oscar gasped and began to panic, thrusting his Keyblade forward and launching a powerful Blizzaga at him. Dante spun out of the way, letting the spell pierce the fog and slam into the hole in the floor he had created and freezing it shut. Another Lightning spell flew at him from Oscar's Keyblade and Dante dropped beneath it, spinning mid-air and aiming the talons on his feet directly at Oscar.

Dante crashed into Oscar just as he began to cast another spell, claws tearing into Oscar's Aura and drawing a terrified, frozen scream from the boy. Dante continued to fly forward, grip tight on Oscar's shoulders, until he slammed into a stone pillar. The stone held fast, and the grinning Dante began to slam fists into Oscar's face, raining down blows one after another. The stone began to fracture behind Oscar and he could feel his Aura draining as the force broke through the Reflect spells he was using in his efforts to protect himself.

"Pine!" Dante's head whipped around to V and an animalistic, angry growl escaped his serrated jaws. He let out an angry roar and rocketed towards V, dragging Oscar through the second floor then throwing him ahead at V. V gasped and threw his hands up, sending Griffon to grab hold of Oscar and slow him down. He dodged to the left, and Griffon pushed Oscar in the other direction. V managed to avoid Oscar, who – slowed slightly – crashed into the wall with Griffon. The bird squawked and exploded into a burst of Dark Mist, leaving behind a swirling sphere. "Damn!" V tried to summon Shadow back to him, but Dante was already on top of him, sword raised to cut him in half.

Dante's gaze flicked to the side, and the blade was replaced by a claw wrapped around V's throat. V was swept around, just in time for his face to meet the golden edge of a Keyblade. He was torn from Dante's loosened grasp and sent tumbling away, stunned as he tumbled towards the ground. Dawn watched him fall, then glanced up as Dante flapped his wings and rocketed backwards. Flaming rockets appeared in his wake and spiraled towards her. Dawn grit her teeth and swiped upwards with her Keyblade, deflecting as many as she could. She began to dodge and spin around the incoming flames then deflecting those that would hit no matter how she tried to spin. Dawn hit the ground barely singed and glared up at her opponent still hucking fireballs at her. She glanced over at Nero, who was still trying to recover from their collision.

Dawn took a deep breath and charged forward, dodging between the incoming fire. One slammed into her shoulder and she cried out, spinning before her Aura assuaged her burn and she was able to continue her approach. She jumped up onto the face of a pillar and sprinted upwards, deflecting fireballs while trying to get close to Dante. She reached the top and leaped out, swinging he Keyblade at his head and – hitting empty air.

Dante had flapped his wings and shot away, spinning and screeching to a stop on the other side of the room. He raised his off hand upward and clenched his fist, wrenching his fist down. Dawn, stuck in the middle of the room in open, empty air, could only look up at a miniature sun of fire magic that appeared above her. Dawn summoned a Blizzard to her Keyblade's edge and slashed upward, crashing into the sun. The ice struggled valiantly against the fire, pushing back and keeping the spell frozen in the air for a moment. Right up until the Blizzard Edge melted entirely and left Dawn unprotected. "Aw, come on! Why right n-" The sun shot down, crashing into her and drawing out a scream of pain and rage. The flames burned into the ground, vaporizing stone and devouring Dawn's Aura.

"V, wake up!" V's eyes cracked open to see the newly reformed Griffon. "We gotta buy the kids some time!"

V groaned and pushed himself to his side, hissing in pain and clutching at his arm. Spiderweb cracks lined his skin, and a sudden deep ache appeared in his Soul. He seized up and began to violently cough, bringing his hand up to hide it. It came away stained with blood. "Shit. We gotta buy you some time, too."

"I... ugh... know," he groaned. He looked up at Dante laughing in the air and launching more fireballs at Dawn. "But I doubt we have such time."

"Yeah. Damn..."

V clenched his fists and groaned as he pushed himself up to his feet, struggling until Griffon swooped in and yanked him up to his feet. "We need a plan, V."

"... I have one, but it requires those children," he replied hoarsely. "The Boy."

"Oh... That's what you're thinkin'?"

"Nero! We need to buy the children time!" V shouted instead of responding.

Nero pushed himself up and drew his sword. "What are we doing?"

"Not dying," V responded quietly. He looked over at Griffon again. "Get the boy awake, tell him the plan, get him to heal the girl. They have to change what they're doing." He summoned Shadow. "Go!"

"On it! And... good luck, V." Griffon turned and flapped away.

"This is only going to get harder, Nero. Are you sure you're up to it?" V wondered. He placed a hand on Shadow's head and clenched it tight for a moment.

"Let's just get this done," Nero growled. He swung his sword onto his back again and quickly pulled out his gun. "Goddammit, I hate how strong Dante is..."

"..." V clenched his fist around his cane. He threw the cane up. "Carve him to pieces!"

"Hell, yeah!" Nero agreed. Shadow shot past him as he raised his large revolver to aim at Dante's head. Energy began to channel down his arm and into the gun, swirling in a blue storm around the barrel. "Special delivery, asshole!" He pulled the trigger, and six blasts of pure energy flew out. One after another, they crashed into Dante. Two to the shoulder, two to the wings, and two to the head. The first pair caused Dante's assault of fireballs to stop, the second caused his wings to stop flapping as he began to tumble to the ground, and the final pair sent him flipping before slamming hard into the ground. Nero grinned and swapped his gun for his sword, sprinting ahead to catch up to Shadow.

Dante's gaze turned upward, ignoring the girl trying to push herself up in the pit, and focused on Nero, Shadow, and V. "Grr..." he let out, smoke rising from within his glowing jaws. He summoned his massive sword back to his grip and, with a single flap of his wings, shot back into the air. With another flap, he was on top of V.

V fought off the urge to flinch and swung his magical cane around at a perpendicular angle to the incoming sword. Unsurprisingly, a massive demonic monster with a massive demonic sword had significantly more strength than a skinny emo pretty boy. The sword hit the cane and the hero was thrown right into the wall, stone exploding at his contact. Dante snarled at V and turned towards Nero and Shadow. He flaped his wings and shot upward, summoning up a stream of fireballs at them.

Nero growled and jumped ahead, slicing through one fireball then letting Shadow leap ahead to carved through another. The two did this for a while, getting closer and closer to Dante.

The large Demon finally huffed and threw his hand up instead. Flame curdled under the stone, then shot upward beneath the two. Nero screamed in pain, but Shadow was immediately vaporized. The onslaught continued until, finally, Dante turned back to V and slowly glided towards him. "'Tyger Tyger, burning bright... What immortal hand or eye, Could frame they fearful symmetry?' Is all you measure to, Dante? Ha, a Dante Angelo," V grumbled. He pushed up to his feet and glared up at Dante. The figure stopped at the questions and the glowing eyes narrowed dangerously. "Oh, then this isn't an outside force, is it? You're just the only part awake."

Oscar's eyes drifted open as something began pecking at his head. "Kid, ya gotta wake up! V ain't gonna last much longer and he needs you for the plan!"

"What?" he asked before a beak slammed into his forehead again. "Ow!"

"Ah, finally! Look, kid, you need to heal the girl, then use your freaky weird power to wake Dante up, got it? And Dante may be dumb, be he ain't an idiot. He's figured out you're easier to fight up close and she's useless further than ten feet away."

"What?" Oscar just let out lamely.

Griffon growled. "Kid, you gotta fight up close and your friend has to learn how to kill something from a distance when she'd fighting. Get up and get going!" Griffon snapped. He flapped his wings. "Now help, dammit!"

"B-but I -"

"Use your Semblance thing or get out and let us die!" Griffon snapped, flapping his wings again and dive bombing Dante before he could murder V.

Oscar watched him go, but quickly realized what had been said. "Dawn!" he cried out. He turned wildly and eventually found her, injured and unconscious in a melted, half-glowing fiery crater in the center of the room. He was on his feet in a second and leaped towards her without a second thought. He summoned Chronal and healed her before stabbing his Keyblade into the ground and stopping suddenly beside her.

Dawn groaned and slowly pushed herself up. "Ow... what smells like bacon?"

"You," Oscar explained. He slammed into her, hugging her tight. "Dawn... I..."

"Emo Boy has a plan, doesn't he?" she groaned. She pushed Oscar off. "What is it?"

"..."

"Oz!"

His gaze snapped to hers. "... He wants me to use my Semblance on Dante to wake him up. I'd have f-fight up close, but my Semb-Semblance..."

"I know, Oscar. But you can do it."

"... Can you fight from a distance? He's f-figured us out, and we need to be able to counter him," Oscar supplied.

Dawn's face soured. "Crud..."

"Dawn!"

She grinned. "Aw, don't worry. I'll figure it out!" The grin soured a little. "I mean, I hope."

"Dawn..."

"We only need you to get close. I'll figure it out," she promised, suddenly serious. She reached into her pocket and grabbed a blue tablet of Dust. "I mean, I have a bad idea."

"Those are your only ideas," Oscar grumbled.

"Eh, you don't know the half of it," she chuckled. She glanced over at Griffon struggling to keep an angry Dante from murdering V. "Now, go, Oscar! We've got to hurry!"

Oscar glanced at the ground. "I... I'll do my best."

"Do better," she told him, then he turned and ran with Chronal drawn. She glanced down at the tablet. "Ah, dammit."

Oscar swallowed a clump of fear in his throat as he charged Dante. "Ah, d-dammit." He glanced down at his gloves and dismissed his Keyblade. "Dammit..." He hesitated for a moment, then sighed and tore them off and pocketed them. His hand scraped against something and he pulled it out – a metallic skull shape. The Keychain! "Dammit, dammit..." He summoned his Keyblade back and leaped at Dante's back. "C-come on!"

Dante seemed to flinch, turning around and staying still in surprise at the idea this cowardly little kid would fly at him with such reckless abandon. Unfortunately for Oscar, who had closed his eyes, he over shot and slashed through empty air beyond Dante.

"Sonuva..." Nero grumbled.

Dante roared and slashed down at Oscar with his broadsword.

"Uh – Oh!" Oscar yelped, hesitating before finally managing to remember his training and swinging his Keyblade around to deflect the attack. Dante's sword came around from the other side and, after another moment of hesitation, Oscar ducked and rolled to the side, then turned and slammed his Keyblade right into Dante's side and sending him through the wall.

Nero gaped and pushed himself up. "Sonuva..."

And then Dante shot out of the hole with his sword swinging wildly at Oscar's head. Oscar yelped and raised his Keyblade to block. The attack hit him and he was thrown backwards, sliding across the ground until coming to a stop at the lip of the crater. With a breath, he was able to finally see his Keyblade. Spardan's guard was the same dull, gunmetal gray as its Keychain, and was one of the very rare Keyblades that had no guard running all the way around the hilt. The hilt, however, was a bright white with a cloth, katana's grip. The brilliantly silver blade was also slightly curved, with an actual edge on the offensive half, and a blue, glowing claw arcing out of the back to form the weapon's teeth. He placed both hands on the Keyblade's hilt and turned back u to Dante. "You almost ready?" he shouted to Dawn.

"... Uh... No."

Oscar sighed. "W-well f-figure it out!"

"I'm trying!"

Oscar rushed off, confidence growing. "I'll b-buy you time!"

Dawn watched him go and sighed, finally looking down at the pellet in her hand. She thought back to her dream. "What are you so afraid of?" she asked herself. She shook her head and clenched her fist, channeling her Aura into it. She didn't have a choice.

There was an explosion of blue energy, then Dawn leaped out of the pit, a sphere of blue Darkness swirling in her right hand. Her clothes had become a deep, cold blue. Red traced up her gloves to black up from blue-violet boots into black pants. Her cloak had become a bone white, with a tattered edge and a blue inside face. On her chest was the same hollowed heart symbol that made up the Keychain that Nico had gifted her, a black line around a snow white center. Her Keyblade in her left hand had changed, that same shape on her chest dangling as a Keychain from the weapon. The guard was incomplete, a spiral where the back half ended a centimeter within the same curve from where it had started. The handle was very long, extending out of the guard and into a staff like body, with the Keychain dangling from halfway down. The head of the Keyblade was a scythe head without a blade made from half of a Heart and glittering with magical energy. She slammed the base of her scythe on the ground and the half Heart bent backwards, then unfolded to make the entire weapon look like a spade on a card. An upside down Heart with a pure white outline, about the size of her Head.

"Cool it, Ugly!" Dawn shouted at the top of her lungs, then she lifted her staff and began to spin it with both hands, the Dark energy in her right hand traveled up and along the weapon, swirling to fill the empty, upside down Heart with a deep black and violet Darkness, at which point she stopped and stabbed the weapon forward. A large crystal of Black Ice shot from the staff's head, swirling towards Dante as he tried to slam Nero into Oscar. Dante turned and snarled, dropping Nero and flying away. He began to launch fireballs at Dawn, only for the girl to begin spinning her staff. She sent out a black-tinged tornado that suffocated the magical flames, at which point she turned it and began to spin it vertically. Shards of Dark energy flew out like bullets, a barrage of small attacks that forced Dante to slow and dodge, though he eventually roared in impatience and charged through the attacks. He let out an angry shriek and raised his sword in front of him to block more of the attacks, eventually getting in close to Dawn.

She snarled and the heart shaped head snapped shut, turned back down to become a scythe head – now with a blade of pure Darkness burning from the top. Energy gathered in her feet and she shot towards him, an explosion of wind behind her that made her too fast to dodge. The blade held at her side slammed into Dante and his wings were clipped, forcing him to the ground accompanied by a scream of incredible pain. The scythe became a staff again as Dawn tumbled midair and swept it towards him. Sickly water shot out of nowhere, slamming into his back and crushing him flat against the ground for a moment. Dawn grinned and hit the ground beside Oscar, hitting him on the shoulder with her elbow and winking at him. His cheeks flushed a bright red and he turned towards V instead.

"Wh-" V began to violently cough into his hand, groaning then looking up at Oscar. "What do you need?"

Oscar looked worriedly at him, then glanced around at all of his allies. "If you can keep him still for a while, I... I m-might be able t-to wake him u-up."

"Might?" Nero asked.

"Will," Dawn interjected. She looked over at the soaked Demon. "We'll get it for you, Oscar."

He stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "And I will. You're right."

She grinned back. "Always am!" Then she turned and held her staff across her back. "Let's get him!"

"On it!" Nero agreed, charging to one side.

"Don't disappoint me," V told Oscar, drifting the other direction. He shot Griffon towards Dante to electrically charge the water, followed by Shadow to keep him pinned. Finally, V snapped his fingers and glared at the sky. Dante's gaze turned immediately towards V, whose tattoos vanished and hair turned brilliant white. Dante let out a blood curdling scream and carved through Shadow and Griffon in a single blow in his sprint towards V. V kept an uninterested gaze as Dante approached, then smirked when a comet slammed on top of Dante just feet from him, creating a shockwave at impact that bustled his hair and coat. "If only you could defeat Urizen... if only... no..." V glared as Nightmare began to form, lifting Dante above his head. "If only you never existed, then I... Raah!"

Nightmare turned and slammed Dante down into the puddle he had left behind, drawing out an angry scream from Dante. Dante snarled and raised his sword, slamming it into Nightmare's wrist and carving it off. A burst of flame exploded from his jaws and the force sent even the giant Nightmare stumbling backwards, giving him time to get to his feet. He raised his sword and glared at V, only for Nero to charge in front behind. Dante turned and blocked his attack, then growled as a drill shaped hand slammed into his gut and began to drill through his armor. Blood shot from his mouth, but he fought through the pain and reached down to tear that hand off of Nero's arm. Nero cried out in pain, focus faltering and guard dipping enough for Dante's now bloody hand to wrap around Nero's throat and crush the life out of him.

"Any – grk – time!" Nero grumbled.

Nightmare's arm slammed into Dante and he dropped Nero, turning to see Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare slam into him again and begin to struggle to hold him still. He raised his sword and readied to attack, only for another figure to grab hold of his other wrist with a huge, clawed hand and rooting himself with his sword. Nero struggled, his prosthetic whining against Dante's impressive strength.

"Oh, calm down! This is going great!" Dawn shouted, sprinting ahead and dragging her staff behind her. She leaped and flipped, bringing the glowing tip down in the puddle. "Freeze, Big Guy!" Black Ice exploded and Nero, V's Demons, and Dante slowly began to freeze over. "Oscar, now!"

Oscar roared and charged forward, hand outstretched. Dante's jaws opened wide, flames melting away the ice creeping up his neck, and he roared at Oscar.

χ χ χ

Dawn and Oscar laid face up on the ground, exhausted and powerless from their intense fight with Dante, who himself was sleeping off the fight and recovery nearby looking human once again. "Why... does everything hurt?" Dawn asked.

"Oh, sh-shut u-up," Nero growled from nearby, sitting as close to a fire as possible and shivering. "Y-y-you w-weren't froz-z-en sol-id."

"Hey, at least you're not dead," Dawn supplied dryly.

"She's not wrong," V suggested, still glaring down at Dante's sleeping form. His hands were clenching his biceps tightly, turning them white from pressure.

"You, uh, wanna talk about what you said back there?" Dawn wondered. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and cocked her head to the side. "V? You don't really like Dante, do you?"

"I hate being weak," he whispered. He sighed and flicked his foot, kicking up the cane that had been resting on it, and caught the cane with his right hand. "Dante seems unwilling to wake up."

"I'm with h-him," Oscar grumbled. He rolled over and buried his face in his elbow. "... Ugh..."

"Unfortunately, we cannot wait much longer," V explained. He walked over to Nero and stole his sword, drawing an enraged cry from him. V ignored him, letting Shadow jump between them and growl at Nero.

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked quietly.

V stopped and looked at her, eyes narrowing. Dawn met his gaze for a moment, then he turned away and raised Nero's sword above his head. Dawn cocked her head to the side.

"What's going on?" Oscar wondered. He looked up and immediately got to his feet, charging towards V to keep him from impaling Dante. "What the hell, what are you –?"

"I hate you!" V screamed, slamming Red Queen down swiftly.

Dante's eyes shot open and he rolled to the side, sliding up to his feet and summoning his huge sword to his hand. He glanced around at everyone, settling as his gaze hit V and Nero... then hardening once he saw Oscar and Dawn. He turned back to V, and his scruffly scowl turned into a calm smirk. He straightened up and the sword vanished as he went about brushing off his coat. "Damn, V, for a second there I really thought you were gonna shish-kebab me."

V glared back, panting as he came down from his rage fueled scream. He let go of Red Queen, impaled in the ground, and fell to a sitting position. He let out an exhausted groan and leaned back against the flat of the blade. "I know how stubborn you can be. I knew it would be the only way to wake you."

"Gotta be smarter than everyone else, huh?" Dante grumbled. He brushed off his arm and glanced over at Nero. "Oh, Nero. So, who are your friends?"

"Why did you just try to kill him!?" Oscar shouted at V.

Nero glared over at V, then up at Dante. "What the hell was that?"

"History," Dante responded cryptically. He sighed and shook his head. "You know, that was pretty damn ironic, wasn't it, V?"

V's face tightened into a scowl. "Me, 100% Demon fighting little ol' 100% human you."

"Devil Hunter a Devil himself," V hissed, drawing a caustic chuckle from the hobo in the red jacket.

"How much history do you guys have?" Dawn wondered.

Dante put a hand on his chin and let his eyes drift up. "Hm... Hey, how old are you?" Dante asked, turning to Nero.

"What? I –"

"Doesn't matter," Dante interjected. He turned and tore off one cowboy boot, turning it upside down and shaking rubble out of it.

"Then what does matter, Dante?" Nero asked. He pushed past Shadow, now placid, and grabbed Red Queen. He shot V an angry glare for stealing his sword, and returned it to its place on his back. "Because I'm tired of cryptic bullshit."

Dawn and Oscar traded a glance. "This feels a little too domestic. Should we be here?" Dawn whispered.

"What matters is you have two Keyblade Wielders, right here." He turned and pointed at Dawn and Oscar. His smirk turned into a scowl. "Get them the hell off our world."

Dawn opened her mouth to retort, but Oscar grabbed her arm. "You kn-know?" he asked Dante quietly.

V scoffed. "Dante knows very little."

"... But he knows about you."

V flinched. "He knows?" Dante asked dryly. He held his hands up. "Nope, don't care. Just get the hell away from here before you two idiots cause bigger problems than we can fix. This is our problem, so screw off. Them's the – well, guidelines, if what that blue haired fox said still stands."

"Master Neptunia?" Oscar asked, shocked.

"Oh, I'm so telling Gaius!" Dawn shouted excitedly instead.

"Yeah, Neptunia. That's her. Damn... Damn," Dante said, scratching his cheek and sliding into memory. "Hoo, boy."

"Okay, calm down," Nero cut in. "You're weirding out the kids."

"You're one of the kids, Nero," Dante said. He shook his head. "Look, Keyblade Wielders are problems. They make more problems."

"Especially these two," V admitted.

"Hey! Whose side are you on, Emo Boy?" Dawn exclaimed.

Griffon snorted, so V made him vanish. "You need to move on. You are searching for someone, yes? They aren't here."

"Wait, you guys don't want their help?!" Nero shouted. He gestured at Dawn and Oscar. "They're the only reason we beat you, Dante!"

"Beat me? I was barely awake."

"Tell that to my damaged trachea," V grumbled.

"Whose side are you on!?" Dante shouted, throwing his hands up and turning on V.

V tapped his cane on the ground. "It's time for our paths to diverge. Perhaps we shall adjoin again later," he said. He walked past Dante and held his hand out to Oscar. Oscar glanced at it for a moment, then reached out. V clutched his hand tight and his eyes flicked over at Dawn, who stiffened slightly. His gaze turned up next. "Goodbye, you two. We shall certainly meet again." He let go of Oscar's hand and nodded at Dawn. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a moment of privacy."

Dawn watched him walk by, eyes fixing on his back. "..." She was forced out of her concentration when Nero came over and grabbed them both.

"Well, I guess it's goodbye for now. You two should go say bye to Nico and tell her to catch up with us. And, hey, you two were pretty damn good."

"Right back at you," Dawn agreed. She elbowed his gut and laughed. "We make a damn good team, huh?"

"Great," Nero agreed. He stood up straight and ruffled both of their hair. "Good job, guys. And make it back safe, got it?"

Dawn grabbed hold of Oscar's arm. "I've got it covered," she agreed with a wink. "You just make sure to keep everyone else safe. Apparently Dante can't even wake himself up – sheesh, dead weight, huh?"

Nero laughed loudly. "Yeah, you're right." He took a step back and brushed off his jacket. "Okay. See ya."

Dante glared at the two of them from behind Nero. "This... is a problem," he said, gaze locked on Oscar's hands. He remembered, for a moment, the feeling of his Heart being rebuilt. Of he, himself, being rebuilt from fragments that had been destroyed by the Darkness Urizen had unleashed on him. And if this kid could rebuild him from the pits of Demonic, Darkness infused sleep... "A big damn problem."

χ χ χ

Salem's Shadow stood atop the cliff, one foot atop a twisted stone – a shattered remnant of a statue of a regal looking man. Far below, she watched Oscar and Dawn approach the Princess' van to speak with her. Thank her for the weapons she had gifted them, weapons that had given them the confidence and ability to fight against an actual Demon. Perhaps one of the two strongest beings on this world.

"Out from behind this bending, rough-cut mask, this common curtain of the face, contain'd in me for me, in you for you, in each for each."

She turned and summoned her Keyblade, the weapon's tip quivering just beyond the tip of V's nose and he stood lazily behind her. He smirked and raised his cane's handle, using it to pull her weapon down and out of his face. "It has been some time, Shade."

She stared back at him, then down at the stone at her feet. "Ah."

"Yes," V revealed. He hobbled over on his cane and stared down. "Nico..."

"Yes," the Shadow revealed. She let her Keyblade vanish and moved to stand beside V.

"And how does your master plan to steal her away from here? Now that Dante is awake, he will know if the Princess of Heart is in danger."

"Children of Princesses have such a connection to the Power that once was their mother's. He could find a way to track her across the World," the Shadow said quietly. She glared down at the van. "I could take her now. He is weak from your fight. I could even kill him. All your work, for nothing."

"Perhaps," V remarked, unworried by what she had said.

"... I have no need for her now," the Shadow finally said. She pushed off of the stone head and crossed her arms. "You haven't told either of them anything... have you?"

"Not I, surely?" V wondered dramatically. He gestured at himself with his cane. "What secrets would I possibly reveal?"

"Good. She doesn't want anyone knowing the truth just yet. And you were stupid enough to do... this to yourself," she growled, motioning with one hand at V's entire body.

"I'm not a fool, Shadow. I may regret my decision, but the games of your master have little place in what I do here and now. Urizen is the only issue that demands my attention," V retorted coolly.

"It's always about family with you, isn't it?" the Shadow noted dryly.

V looked over at her. "You are one to talk, Shadow."

The Keyblade was in his face again, Light crackling from the tip. "Don't test me, Fragment."

Shadow erupted from the ground and growled at the Shadow and leaped with its claws out, only for her to sidestep it and carve through its neck with her blade. "Perhaps you would like to try with the large one? I've fought stronger than the creatures a Fragment like you can create."

"A force of habit," V noted without looking at her. "It will not happen again, if you do not threaten me."

The Shadow growled and did not dismiss her weapon, but she did not raise it towards him either. "You do know that I would reveal your secrets should you reveal ours."

V laughed quietly and shook his head. "I understand the concept of... mutually assured destruction. I'm not quite mad enough to violate the principle, Shade."

"I have to make sure. You did shred your own Heart," she remarked pointedly.

V scoffed and turned a dry glare on her. "So did your master, and yet you follow her."

The Keyblade in her hand shook slightly, clattering quietly before she forced it to vanish. "Things have changed. You know that much from your rescue, don't you?"

"I know enough. But the river of our past... it influences where it will flow in the future. We are products of our pasts, and we make the same mistakes our entire lives." He frowned at the Shadow. "You know that well. As do I. As does she."

The Shadow glared at V. "Whose side are you on?"

"A question too many ask of me these days," he remarked dryly. He shrugged. "My own, Shade. I am on my own side. If our interests align, I will be on yours. If they do not, I will not. But for now I have no reason to risk my life with your secrets."

"But you will when you do."

"Make sure that I do not. Or complete your plans before I do," he explained. He turned away from her and pulled Shadow's remains back into him. "Goodbye, Shade."

Salem's Shadow watched him leave for a while, then turned and stared at the kids talking with the Princess. She stood there, silently watching, then turned and summoned a Corridor of Darkness. It was time to leave. There was nothing she needed to do yet in that godforsaken world.

χ χ χ

"Ugh..." the man grunted. He pushed his exhausted, broken body up off his bed and let out a yawn that stretched his old surgery scars and made his nerves painfully aware of the missing organs in his body. He bent over and coughed, sending a stream of blood onto the plastic sheet he kept by his bed. "Every damn morning..." He sighed and used one lanky hand to push his long hair out of his face. "Damn."

He pushed himself up on his aching feet and began to collect the plastic sheet, tying it up and tossing it into a disposal, then replacing it with another, clean sheet beside his bed. He stood up straight, slower this time so as not to aggravate his wounds, and made his bed. After that was done, he decided it was time to take his meds and a nice, steaming shower to calm his lungs. With the probiotics taken, he got into the shower and let out a sigh as the steam calmed his throat and burning lungs. He had to hurry. It was an important day.

He got out of the shower and began scrubbing at his hair, pushing it into his trademark ears, then letting the bangs fall across his face. He glared at his hollowed out features behind the thing bangs and sighed. Mornings always made him miss being healthy the most. A brand new day that started with him less healthy than the last one ended. He grumbled and moved to his closet, picking out his favorite suit – yellow with pinstripes and visibly about fifteen sizes too large for him. All the right length, of course, but baggy and custom made for a guy that was three hundred pounds of muscle and charisma instead of brittle skin and bone. He looked over at a bunch of ties, some adorned with tiny images of his own, healthier face. He chuckled and wondered if he should give one to his student, then remembered how poorly the boy actually tied a tie and decided he would wait. It would just get ruined now, he thought with a chuckle. He was even able to keep the blood down this time.

He instead grabbed a green tie and began the careful, but well learned process of tying it in his too large collar for a neck much larger than his own. He grimaced and began to slowly loop the tie, only to yelp when his phone began to loudly ring. "What the hell?" he groaned, hurrying towards his bedside table. He picked up his phone and glared at it. The ringing was continuing, but the phone's screen was blank. How –

He tossed his phone on the table and hurried to his desk. Of course! How could he be this stupid? He put his thumb on a scanner and entered a code, pulling out a phone made of odd, brightly colored blocks. He answered it without checking the name and pulled it up to his ear. "Well, Sora, it's been a long time. Haven't heard from you in a few years, now." He grinned. "How's Young Dawn doing?"

Sora was quiet on the other side of the line. "Hey, don't get so quiet, okay? You haven't been like this since –" The man's heart thumped hard. "She didn't get -"

"No!" Sora finally exclaimed. He sighed on the other side. "No, Toshi. Salem hasn't taken her, as far as I know."

"Oh, good. I was worried," he said, chuckling nervously and hoping Sora would do the same.

"Unfortunately, she is missing," Sora explained, voice thick with worry. "I can't leave, not with -"

"Yeah, you can't leave your son all alone," Toshi agreed. He placed a hand on his hip. "Well, what are you calling me for? I'd love to help, but after a few years ago I don't have the strength to go on a World wide trip. And – I'm sorry, but I have people who need me here, too."

"I know. We can't just drop things anymore, can we?" Sora asked, chuckling mirthlessly. Toshi joined in for a second before they both got silent. "Wish we could."

"At least we're leaving behind legacies. But... how can I help?" Toshi offered. "I can't leave, but you knew that. So what do you need from me?"

"Just – let me know if you see her. Please," Sora begged.

Toshi frowned. Sora hadn't sounded this hopeless in years. It wasn't like him. But, as Toshi had learned from Ruby, Sora wasn't very good at coping with losing the people he cares about. It almost killed him once, before Toshi had ever met him. And when Ruby had been kidnapped, Sora had only been able to pull himself out of it to keep his kids safe. With one of them gone, he was probably holding on by a thread. "Hey, don't worry. If I see her, you'll be the first one to know," he told his old friend. "And I won't let her leave no matter what! Oh! And maybe when you stop by, you could give me some pointers."

"Oh? You finally picked out a successor?" Sora asked, a hint of his old self creeping in. "And I thought you'd try to be Number 1 Hero forever, you old man."

"We're the same age, you spiky headed alien," Toshi retorted. He chuckled. "But, yeah. Young Midoriya is... a special kid. Has the Heart of a Hero."

"If you chose him, I bet he'll be the best hero ever. Even better than you, All-Might."

"You know, I think so, too," Toshinori Yagi said. Steam began to rise off of him and his tired voice became boisterous and lively. "Ha ha ha! That's all we can give those kids, isn't it? A starting line that lets them go even further than we did!"

"... Thanks, Toshi. You're a real hero," Sora said solemnly.

"It's no problem! And I'll be happy to see Young Dawn again! It has been far too long," All-Might said as his body finally finished filling out his suit. He yelped as his airway was cut off by his strengthened tie, and began to pull at his collar. "Too tight! Too tight!"

χ χ χ

Oscar had been quiet for a while, and it was starting to bring Dawn a little... down. She turned from piloting the ship and pressed auto-pilot so they could drift for a while, then swiveled her chair around. "Hey, Oscar, are you okay?

He glanced over at her and his brow furrowed, hand on his chin. "Why did you not react?"

Dawn cocked an eyebrow. "Uh..."

He slammed his fist into the armrests of his seat. "Dawn! Why didn't you react when V tried to kill Dante!?"

She blinked and took a breath. "Uh – I don't know."

"Dawn, don't give me that," he said, confidence rising up.

Dawn shook her head. "You're way too confident around me," she grumbled.

Oscar leaned forward. "Dawn, what the hell?"

"Oscar!" She snapped. "I don't know! I guess, I didn't think he'd actually kill Dante. Why would he? After everything we did to save him?!"

Oscar glared at her. "He hates him, Dawn. He hates Dante. He wanted to kill him." He shook his head and turned slightly away from her, staring out the viewport. His voice grew soft and quiet. "Dawn, I'm just worried about you. I was going to wait, but – Dawn, you're using Darkness."

"So? Jaune and Dad's old friend Riku did it!"

"They're level headed! And, let's be honest here, you're not exactly the most level headed person." He shook his head. "Dawn, you're not – we're not in a good place!"

Her eyes glowed angrily. "Oscar!"

"Dawn, the next world we're going to is one with one of Master Sora's friends. We're letting your dad know where we are. We need his help to figure all of this out, because – Because I don't want Salem to steal you."

"Oz!" She snapped. She surged to her feet and glared down at him, but he refused to flinch back. She took a few angry breaths before finally shutting her eyes and slumping down into her chair. "Fine. You're right. We... I'll set a course for the closest world." She turned her seat back to the pilot's controls and began pressing buttons.

"Hey – Look, I'm just want us to be safe. When it was just us fighting, okay. But we at least need to check in with your dad to see if this is okay. You know that, right?"

It was pretty unconvincing when she said, "Yeah. Sure." She finally settled on a world. "Here. Uncle Toshi's a big guy who can keep us safe. It'll be good to see him again..."

"Dawn -"

"Let's go."