Hey people, here I am with the 19th chapter! I hope you like it!
The reviews' answers at the end of the chapter as always
Chapter XIX
Closer to the Unknown
1245hrs, August 12th, 2024
Team RWBY's room, Beacon Academy
The members of Team RWBY and JNPR went to the Emerald Forest with Sora and Ven to eliminate the Heartless the students couldn't defeat. They were attacked by a big group of Heartless, but they didn't have any problems and could deal with them with ease; however, when one of the Heartless the teams couldn't defeat appeared, Sora and Ventus had to take the reins in the battle because the Heartless was powered up with three Red Lacrima Spheres. At the end, the Heartless was destroyed, but another one appeared, but this time an unknown person defeated it, and this disconcerted the group, but they didn't give it much importance except for Sora, who couldn't stop thinking about that person as he returned to the academy with the others.
Ozpin saw everything that happened in the Emerald Forest, and he was really satisfied. Even Goodwitch had to admit that Sora and Ven were really skilled, so the Keyblade wielders got the two teachers' approval to be the guardians of Beacon Academy.
Also, much to Sora's misfortune, Ozpin thought it was a good idea that he and Ven slept with the teams they were going to work with. Ven at least had two boys in the room apart from him, but Sora was the only boy in a room with four girls, and that troubled him, even when three of them didn't seemed bothered by having him in their room. Weiss, on the other hand, reacted as Sora expected. The white-haired girl ended up giving in, but not without telling him that she would kill him if he tried to do something funny. He was in a sleeping bag on the floor of Team RWBY's room. Yang offered her bed, but she was included in the package, so Sora refused immediately.
"I didn't see anything, I swear!" said Sora, who woke up suddenly. The Keyblade wielder looked around and realized that he was the only one in his room. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Those days in Fairy Hills didn't do me good…but at least I had my own room there…"
Sora got up and got dressed. Then he looked at the room's clock and realized that it was kind of late, but he wasn't surprised since he spent half of the night thinking about the person who destroyed the Dustflier yesterday. No one said anything about it, not even Ventus, so Sora was starting to think that it was just his imagination.
"I'm getting paranoid," muttered Sora as he sat on one of the beds that were in the room. "Lucy was right, I need to take things easier or I'll go crazy from the stress…"
Then someone opened the room's door and walked in. Sora turned his head and saw that it was Blake, who saw him as soon as she entered the room.
"Oh, hello Sora," said Blake.
"Hey Blake," replied Sora with a tired smile, and the girl noticed it.
"Did you have a bad night?" asked Blake, and then she crossed her arms as a small smile appeared on her face. "I hope it's not because you did something to us while we were sleeping and you feel guilty about it."
"W-what!?" said Sora dumbfounded, looking wide-eyed at the black-haired girl.
"Oh, did I guess right?" asked Blake with a hint of amusement in her voice. "What did yo do?"
"Nothing!" replied Sora embarrassed, but he recognized a joke when he heard one. He had to admit he didn't expect Blake to be a mocker since she appeared to be reserved and serious, but it was good to know that trait of hers. "I thought you said I looked like a trustworthy person."
"You could be a closet pervert," said Blake teasingly as she walked to the bed where Sora was sat.
"Very funny," said Sora smiling and feeling more relaxed thanks to Blake.
"Now talking seriously, are you feeling all right?" asked the black-haired girl.
"Yeah, don't worry," answered Sora. "I was just thinking about something that was bothering me and I slept late because of it. When did you and the others leave?"
"Quarter to nine," replied Blake at the same time she thought about something. She had the feeling she knew the reason why Sora was worried. "If you don't want to talk about it, I'll understand but… are you worried because of what happened yesterday? When that Dustflier was destroyed suddenly?"
"That's right," replied Sora. "But there's something else…"
"The person who did it?" deduced Blake.
"You saw it!?" asked Sora, who stood up and put his hands on the girl's shoulders, startling her a bit. "Are you completely sure!?"
"Uh, yes," replied Blake. "He was wearing a strange coat…it was mostly white, but the part that covered the legs was light blue. It also had some gold linings."
"Then it wasn't my imagination," muttered Sora as he removed his hands from Blake's shoulders. Then he looked at the black-haired girl in the eyes. "You have pretty good eyesight if you could see those details of that person's clothes."
"Well, I couldn't see the face because of the hood, so I can't give you a facial description," said Blake.
"Knowing that I wasn't the only one who saw that person is enough to me," said Sora smiling. "Thank you, Blake."
"You're welcome," replied Blake returning the smile.
"Now the only thing left is finding out who was that guy," thought Sora as he sat again on the same bed as before. Then, the Keyblade wielder saw something on the bookshelf that was under the room's window that caught his interest. "Blake, is that the book you used to investigate about the Heartless?"
Blake nodded. "It had a lot of useful information, not only about the Heartless, but also about the Keyblades and the Keyblade War."
"The Keyblade War too?" asked Sora looking surprised at Blake. "Mind if I take a look?"
"Go ahead," replied Blake, and Sora took the book, which was very worn and used looking, and opened it very carefully. "Those Keyblade wielders from the past sure messed it up. Trying to control something that couldn't be controlled…"
"Yeah, I know…" said Sora without looking away from Blake's book. "I hope you don't think Ven and I are like them. One of the reasons I created a guild of Keyblade wielders was to make it up for what those Keyblade wielders did to the World."
"I'm not going to judge you because of something that other people did," said Blake. "Yes, they were Keyblade wielders like you, but that doesn't mean anything. You shouldn't feel guilty for what they did either."
"So you don't think I'm dangerous?" asked Sora. "I'm sure you've read that the Keyblade is depicted as a bringer of chaos and destruction."
"But also as a weapon to save the World," added Blake. "If you were an evil Keyblade wielder, you wouldn't have come here to help us, right? Besides, someone who gets as nervous as you when sleeping in a girls' room can't be very evil."
Sora sighed. "You never let an opportunity to make fun of me, do you?"
"Well, now that I know that you're the easy-to-tease type it would be a pity to not take advantage of it," replied Blake smiling.
Sora chuckled before continuing his reading. Blake's book had a lot of information about the Keyblades and the Keyblade War, much more than the ones Levy and Maka had, but still there wasn't anything in the book that Sora didn't already know. The Keyblade wielder then saw something that intrigued him.
"What's this?" said Sora, who was staring at a page of the book.
"What is it?" asked Blake, curious to know what Sora saw in her book. She approached Sora and sat next to him so she could take a look at what he was reading.
"'Lost masters'," read Sora, and then he read another thing that was in the same page. "'On that land shall darkness prevail and light expire…'"
"The rest of the page is empty…" remarked Blake. "Do you know who the lost masters are?"
"Never heard of them…" replied Sora, who flipped the page to see if there was more about those lost masters, but the rest of the pages were empty. He also looked for the name of the author of the book, but he couldn't find it. Sora started to think about the lost masters' identity and if Yen Sid or Eraqus knew about them. And if they knew, why was this the first time he heard about them?
"Aha!" exclaimed someone suddenly. Sora and Blake turned their heads to the room's door and saw Yang, with Ruby and Weiss behind her.
"Hey girls," said Sora smiling.
"Hello, Sora!" said Ruby cheerfully.
"It's good to see you're finally awake," said Weiss, and Sora chuckled sheepishly.
"So this is why you wanted to return here, huh?" said Yang putting her hands on her hips and looking at Blake. "I'm sorry, but I laid my eyes on Sora first!"
"What are you talking about, Yang?" asked Ruby puzzled.
"Come on, look at them! They're sitting so close together!" said Yang pointing at Sora and Blake, who didn't even bother to say something. "I'm sure they've been doing lovey-dovey stuff before we arrived!"
"You have too much imagination, Yang," said Blake as she stood up. The girl walked to where the other members of Team RWBY were.
"Yeah, we were just reading…" added Sora. "Is Ventus awake, by the way?"
"He got up early, unlike a certain someone," said Weiss, although if she knew the reason Sora slept late, probably she wouldn't have said that. "He has been walking around the academy while we were attending class."
"Now he's in the dining hall with Jaune and his team," said Ruby. "Do you want to come and eat with us, Sora?"
"Sure, let's go," replied Sora with a smile after closing Blake's book and putting it back on the bookshelf. He hadn't forgotten about what he read on the book, but now he decided to focus on protecting Beacon from the Heartless.
-TLG-
While Sora and Team RWBY talked in their room, Ven was in the dining hall with Team JNPR. When the blond Keyblade wielder woke up, he decided to take a look around Beacon. He would have asked Sora to go with him, but Team RWBY told him that the brown-haired Keybearer was still sleeping at that time.
"It can transform into a heavy javelin, a double-edged short sword and a rifle," said Pyrrha. Ven asked her about her weapon, Miló, and the redhead told him the three forms it had.
"Wow, your weapon is very versatile," said Ven impressed, and the girl smiled. "We can also transform our Keyblade, changing its size and shape, but we barely do it."
"Talking about Keyblades…I noticed you always wield your Keyblade with a reverse grip," said Ren. "Isn't it uncomfortable?"
"Not at all," replied Ven. "It's the style I've been using since I got my Keyblade. It allows me to attack faster. My single strikes aren't as powerful as Sora's two-handed strikes, but my ability to attack quickly makes up for my lower attack power."
"When did you start training as a Keyblade wielder?" asked Jaune curious. "How old were you?"
"I was ten years old," replied Ven. "I was apprenticed to two different Keyblade Masters. The first one…let's say he wasn't a very good instructor. The second, however, was really good. He was training two Keyblade wielders who I became very good friend with."
"So, you're not an apprentice anymore?" asked Ren.
"Well, I'm not a Keyblade Master, but I'm not an apprentice either," replied Ven. "I'm…an autonomous Keyblade wielder…more or less."
"Keyblade Master?" asked Jaune.
"Keyblade Master is the title given to exceptional Keyblade wielders who pass the Mark of Mastery exam," explained Ventus. "Aren't there some kind of elite Hunters here?"
"There are Hunters who are stronger than others, but I don't think they are given a title," answered Pyrrha. "We still have to become Hunters, so if there's something after that, then we still have a long way to go."
"Apart from attending class, what else do you do in Beacon?" asked Ven out of curiosity.
"There are also practical exercises," replied Pyrrha. "Some of them are held in the Emerald Forest. Other out-of-campus activities include field trips to locations such as Forever Fall, a mountainous area that has many cliffs and is covered by a forest of red-leafed trees."
"We also go on missions," added Ren. "Investigating, Grimm extermination, those kinds of things…"
"You have to come with us to those, Ven!" said Nora excitedly. "I want to see you doing awesome stuff again! Maybe we can perform a combined attack!"
"Well, that's why Ozpin assigned me to be your partner while the Heartless are here," said Ven smiling. "Have you seen Heartless outside the academy? Apart from the Emerald Forest, I mean."
"A few in the city," answered Ren.
"Surely more will appear if you come with us," said Jaune. "The Heartless you're looking for might be out there."
"You're right," said Ven. "We're going to be working together these days, so let's do a good work. Right, Jaune?"
"Yeah, although…I'm not as strong as the others…" replied Jaune. "But I'll try to do my best."
"Come on, Jaune, you've improved a lot," said Pyrrha reassuringly. "And don't blame yourself because of what happened in our first battle against that big Heartless. None of us could do anything against it."
"Pyrrha is right," said Ren looking at the blond student. "Your skills have improved a lot since you started training with her."
"Yeah, you rock, leader!" said Nora.
"They're right, Jaune," said Ven. "I saw you fighting against the Heartless in the Emerald Forest, and you were great. But…"
"What is it?" asked Jaune.
"Well, I was thinking that maybe, if you want, I could help you with your training," said Ven. "It's only a thought, though."
"You would do that?" asked Jaune surprised.
"Of course," replied Ven with a smile. "I'll help you out…as long as Pyrrha approves it."
"Why wouldn't I?" said Pyrrha, looking at Ven with a grateful smile. "With your help Jaune will get much stronger in no time. Thank you very much, Ven."
"Yeah, thanks, man," said Jaune, who started to feel admiration and respect for the Keyblade wielder who was sitting in front of him.
"No need to thank me," said Ven as he and the leader of Team JNPR fist-bumped. The Keyblade wielder was glad he could cheer Jaune up. He knew that the only thing Jaune needed was more confidence, and that's why he offered to help him training. Ven had never train other people in combat, but it couldn't be so difficult, right?
Ven continued eating with Team JNPR when he saw someone. It was girl with long, brown hair and brown eyes, but what caught Ven's attention was that she had a pair of long brown rabbit ears, and he wondered if they were real. Suddenly, the girl tripped with something and fell to the floor, and this worried the Keyblade wielder, but what happened after that angered him instead. A guy, who had burnt-orange hair and wore a silver-gray armor with gold trim, started to pull one of the girl's bunny ears while three other guys laughed. It was obvious that the girl was in pain.
"Ven, what's wrong?" asked Jaune, who noticed the blond Keybearer's expression.
"What are you looking at?" asked Pyrrha as she turned around. Then an expression of disgust appeared on the redhead's face. "Ugh, it's Cardin and his team. Why it doesn't surprise me?"
"He's picking on Velvet…again," said Ren frowning.
"Again?" asked Ven. "You mean it's not the first time he does that?"
"And sadly, he's not the only one who treats Faunus like that," said Pyrrha.
"I suppose Faunus are people who possess physical animal traits, right?" asked Ven, and the members of Team JNPR nodded.
"They tend to be treated like animals or second-class citizens by some Humans as you can see," said Ren.
"Let's teach him a lesson!" said Nora.
"Nora, we're inside the academy," said Jaune. "We'll get in trouble if we start a fight here."
Ven continued watching how Cardin tormented Velvet, and he couldn't take anymore. The Keyblade wielder stood up and started walking to where Cardin was. Jaune and his team looked at him and wondered what he was going to do. Students couldn't start a fight in the academy, unless it was an official duel, but Ven wasn't a student. The Keyblade wielder arrived at the table where Cardin, his teammates and Velvet were, and started talking to Cardin.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" asked Ventus, crossing his arms and looking at the leader of Team CRDL with a serious face.
"Huh? Who are you?" asked Cardin.
"Ventus," answered the blond Keyblade wielder, looking at the leader of Team CRDL with a serious face.
"Well, Ventus, we're just having fun with the little bunny here," said Cardin.
"It looks like you're picking on her from my point of view," said Ven. "Why don't you let go of her?"
"Oh, and who's going to make me? You?" asked Cardin as he let go of Velvet's bunny ear to stand up and walk towards Ventus. The Faunus girl took this opportunity to walk away and leave the dining hall while the other students who were in the hall watched what was happening between Ven and Cardin.
"You must be a pretty sad guy if you think it's funny to pick on other people," said Ven. "And the same goes for your teammates."
"What did you say!?" said one of Cardin's teammates. He had light-brown combed to the left and kept his eyes closed to tiny slits. He was wearing a tan-colored armor with a belt that bore a dove on its buckle.
"Easy there, Dove," said Cardin before turning to Ven again. "I've seen you before. You and another guy with brown hair arrived yesterday. I don't know why you're here, but this place isn't for weaklings. You and your friend should return where you came from before you get hurt."
Ven chuckled. "You're calling us weaklings? Please, he and I could beat you and your team blindfolded."
"You really think so?" said Cardin, trying to sound intimidating as he got closer to Ven. The Keyblade wielder didn't move and just looked at him unimpressed.
"That sounded like a challenge," said another member of Team CRDL whose head was shaved and had a light-green mohawk on the top of it.
"Yeah, someone needs to take the winds out of your sails, buddy," said Cardin. "If you really think you and your friend can beat the four of us, let's meet up at the amphitheater in half an hour and find out."
"We'll be there," said Ven, and then Cardin and his team left the dining hall. The blond Guardian returned to the table where Team JNPR was while the rest of the students who were looking at him and Cardin's team returned to do what they were doing.
"Ven, why…?" asked Jaune.
"I'm not a student, so I won't get in trouble," replied Ven with a small smile. "Sorry, but I can't stand people like him."
"Neither do I," said Pyrrha. "It'll be nice to see you putting Cardin and his team in their place."
"That's true," agreed Jaune. "What about Sora, though? You told them he will also be in the fight. Do you think he'll be okay with this?"
"I'm completely sure he'd have done the same, so that won't be a problem," replied Ven smiling.
Then Sora and Team RWBY arrived to the dining hall. They saw where Ven and Team JNPR were sitting and walked towards them. As he and Ruby's team walked, Sora noticed that some students were looking at him, and this made him wonder if something happened in the hall before he arrived.
"Hello again, guys!" said Ruby.
"Oh, you're here," said Jaune.
"Yeah, and we brought our lazy bum with us," said Yang as she gave Sora a pat on his back.
"Don't tell me you just woke up," said Ven as a smile appeared on his face. "What have you been doing during the night? Wait, I don't want to know, actually…"
"Why did you make it sound as if I was a pervert?!" asked Sora, and the others laughed. Even Weiss cracked a smile, but no one noticed.
"So, what were you talking about?" asked Yang as she, Sora and the rest of Team RWBY sat at the same table where Ven and Jaune's team were now.
"Ven picked up a fight with Cardin's team!" said Nora, surprising Sora and Team RWBY.
"That sums it up pretty well," said Ren.
"Not that I'm complaining, but why did you do that, Ven?" asked Yang.
"They were picking on a girl called Velvet," said Ven.
"Again?" asked Ruby, not liking what she heard. "Those idiots never learn."
"My plan wasn't to fight them, but as I talked with them I realized someone needed to teach them a lesson," said Ven. "We're going to fight at the amphitheater in half an hour."
"Sounds like an official duel," said Blake.
"Sora, I told them you were going to fight too," said Ven.
"Yeah, I guessed as much," said Sora smiling. "You can count me in. If they were picking on someone just for fun, then we should have some fun with them too."
"Try to go easy on them, tiger," said Yang smirking. "Save that energy for the Heartless."
"Now that you mentioned them…have you seen any Heartless around the academy today?" asked Ruby looking at Team JNPR.
"Nope," said Nora.
"Today has been pretty peaceful," said Jaune. "We were thinking of looking for the Heartless outside the academy. Ven will come with us, of course."
"That's a good idea," said Ruby. "We still have some classes today, so maybe we could do it tomorrow. What do you say, girls?"
"Sounds good to me!" replied Yang.
"It looks like a good plan," affirmed Blake.
"You'd better work hard while we're outside," said Weiss looking at Sora. "I don't want to see you slacking off."
"Yes, ma'am," replied Sora smiling and making a small salute.
"It's settled, then," said Ven as he stood up. "Now, Sora, let's go and play a bit with Cardin's team."
-TLG-
1320hrs, August 12th, 2024
Shibuya (Underground), Tokyo
Lea, Roxas and Xion decided to go on a mission together, for old times' sake. The three went to Shibuya after Lea took a request that was sent by Joshua, the boy who helped Sora and Riku when they were in Traverse Town during their Mark of Mastery Exam. When they met up with Joshua, he told them that the mission consisted of eliminating the fake Reapers who were around Shibuya's UG. There was a possibility that they were Heartless, but that was something the trio of Guardians had to find out, and there was also the person who Joshua mentioned, the one who was extremely powerful according to him.
Now Lea, Roxas and Xion were now in Cadoi City, one of Japan's department store chains. The three had their hoods on because they couldn't let the Reapers see their faces. This was an infiltration mission, after all.
"Cadoi City leads into three surrounding areas," said Lea. "To the left is Shibu Department Store, up is Molco, and if we go to the right we'll arrive to Towa Records."
"According to Joshua, Towa Records is the place where the fake Reapers started attacking the Players," said Xion. "Let's go there."
"It's strange that we still haven't seen any group of Players," said Roxas as he and the other two Guardians headed to Towa Records. "But at least we haven't been attacked by any Reaper. The ones we saw before didn't suspect anything."
"Maybe our coats are working after all," said Xion. "By the way, how are we going to tell the fake Reapers from the real ones?"
"Well, the Heartless can't talk," said Lea.
"So your plan is to talk with every Reaper?" asked Roxas, raising an eyebrow quizzically. "That sounds kind of risky."
"Do you have a better idea?" asked Lea. "Because we can also attack every Reaper we see until the UG is clear of Heartless."
"Okay, we have to come up with a better strategy…" said Roxas as he and the other two finally arrived at Towa Records. The district consisted of a large yellow and red music store overlooking a thin road. There was a large screen promoting what appeared to be CAT's tag mural, but none of the three Guardians knew what CAT was.
"And don't forget about the other guy Joshua mentioned," said Xion. "That person might be working with Maleficent. Surely he entered the UG using a Corridor of Darkness. Maybe it's the same guy you met in Earth Land, Roxas."
"I don't know…Joshua said the person who's in the UG is extremely powerful," said Roxas. "Giriko, the man I engaged in Earth Land, was strong, but I could have defeated him if he hadn't escaped."
The Guardians walked around Towa Records, and for the first time, they saw Players of the Reapers' Game, two pairs. The Keyblade wielders could tell they were Players because they looked at them. People who were in the RG couldn't see the ones who were in the UG, so they had to be Players. Roxas, Lea and Xion started to approach them, but the Players ran away as soon as they started walking towards them.
"I guess we can forget about asking Players for help," said Roxas. "They're not going to get near us if we have this coat on."
"This district looks clear too," said Xion as she looked around, trying to find Reapers or something out of place. "Where should we go now?"
"Well, what do we have here?" said someone suddenly.
The trio of Keyblade wielders turned around after hearing the voice of a girl addressing them from behind. The three saw two people, a man and the girl who surely was the one who called them. The man had orange hair and was wearing a pair of shades while the girl had short pink hair. The two of them had black wings on their backs, a trait only the Reapers possessed.
"Who are you?" asked Roxas looking at the two people. The blond was ready to summon his Keyblade if they tried to attack him, and Lea and Xion were also prepared to fight.
"My name is Koki Kariya," said the orange-haired man smiling. "And the chick with the pink hair here is Uzuki Yashiro. We're two Harrier Reapers. It's a pleasure."
"Reapers, huh?" said Lea.
"Yes, and I think you three aren't," said the pink-haired girl.
"How can you know that?" asked Xion.
"Can you show us your wings?" asked Kariya, but the three Guardians didn't respond. The male Reaper chuckled. "If you don't have wings, then you're not Reapers. It's very simple."
"But there are Reapers who don't have wings," said Lea. He and the two younger Guardians saw before Reapers who were guarding some areas of Shibuya, and as the redhead said, they didn't have any wings.
"True," said the man after taking out the lollypop he had in his mouth. "The only Reapers who don't have wings are Support Reapers, but the Game Master of this week has ordered all of them to retreat. We're having troubles with some people lately."
"The fake Reapers, right?" deduced the redhead Guardian.
"Oh, so you know about it," said the man, and it seemed that he didn't care much about it.
"Of course they know, idiot!" said the girl. "These three are with them!"
"Sorry, but you're wrong," said Xion. "We're here to take care of those fake Reapers."
"As if I would believe you!" said the girl as he assumed a battle stance. "I'm sure if I erase you, I'll finally be promoted."
"I'd like to see you trying," dared Roxas as he and the other two Guardians summoned their Keyblades. The moment their weapons appeared in their hands, an expression of surprise appeared on the two Reapers' faces. It was as if they had seen a Keyblade before.
"It looks like they were telling the truth," said Kariya. "They aren't with the fake Reapers, they are with that guy."
"Dammit…" said Yashiro as she walked backwards carefully, trying to get away from the three Guardians.
"What guy are you talking about?" asked Xion curious.
"Today someone appeared in the UG," said Kariya. "The fake Reapers usually attacked Players only, but when he appeared all of them focused on him. I think it has to do something with the weapon he was using. It looked like the ones you had in your hands right now."
"A Keyblade?" said Roxas stunned before looking at Xion and Lea, who had the same expression he had.
"And he appeared today?" asked Xion.
"Yup", replied Kariya.
"Could it be the person Joshua mentioned?" asked Lea. "He didn't say when that guy appeared here, so…"
"Yeah, it must be him," said Roxas, who was still disconcerted after learning that the other person who was in the UG was a Keyblade wielder. The two Reapers could be wrong, but he, Xion and Lea couldn't run the risk.
"By the look on your faces I can see you didn't know there was another one with that weapon here," said Kariya.
"We don't know who that guy is," said Xion, "but if he has a Keyblade, then we should look for him. Do you know where he is?"
"Wait a second, why do you think we're going to let you go!?" said Yashiro. "You three aren't supposed to be here! We have to take care of all the intruders, and you're not exception!"
"Relax and think, Yashiro," said Kariya. "Don't you remember what happened to the group of Reapers who tried to capture that guy? I think we should let these three take care of him."
"Tch," the girl looked away with an angry face.
"What happened to them?" asked Roxas.
"They were obliterated by that person in a flash," replied Kariya. "I don't know why he's here, but he hasn't interfered with the Reapers' Game, so the Game Master told us to not attack him. After all, he's also taking care of the fake Reapers."
"It can't be one of the Guardians, right?" asked Xion, looking with concern at Roxas and Lea.
"None of us would attack other people without a reason, even if they're Reapers," said Lea. "I wonder who that guy is. If he's a Keyblade wielder, then this mission is going to be more difficult than I expected."
"Have you seen that person's face?" asked Roxas to the male Reaper.
"Nope, sorry," replied Kariya with his usual relaxed attitude. "But I can tell you that he was wearing a yellow coat. It had black linings and the part that covered the legs was also black, but it was mostly yellow."
"May I know why you are helping them?" asked Yashiro looking at her partner.
"Because I prefer to let them do the hard work," said Kariya. "Besides, they would have attacked us if they were with that guy."
"I can't stand you, really," said Yashiro annoyed.
"Yellow coat…" said Lea pensively. "Could it be the same guy Sora told us about?"
"It's possible," said Xion. "We know he also wears a yellow coat, but Sora never said anything about a Keyblade. Hey…you don't think is one of…"
"No, it can't be," said Roxas before Xion could finish her line. "All of them died except for Terra and Isa. There's no way it's one of them…right?"
"Well, there's only way to find out," said Lea as he gave Roxas a pat on his shoulder. Then he looked at the Reapers. "Do you know where that cloaked fellow is?"
"The fake Reapers started heading to Miyashita Park two hours ago," said Yashiro with her arms crossed, looking at the Keyblade wielders with an irritated face. "They're now in a big apartment building."
"You heard the pink-haired chick," said Lea looking at his two friends. "Let's find out who that guy in the yellow coat is."
-TLG-
1345hrs, August 12th, 2024
Amphitheater, Beacon Academy
A lot of people were now at Beacon Academy's assembly area. It had the form of a glass-domed amphitheater with raised bleachers around in a circle around a circular stage that had a tall, ornate backdrop with blue lights. There was also a large open area in front of the stage where most of the students were standing at this moment. In the stage there were Sora, Ven and Team CRDL, waiting for Goodwitch's signal to start the duel. The teacher was in the area in front of the stage with Ozpin by her side.
"I still don't know why you approved this, Professor Ozpin," said Glynda. "The duels should be exclusive to students."
"You're right," said Ozpin as he looked at the teens that were on the stage. "But I heard from some students what happened in the dining hall. I think this is a good punishment for Mr. Winchester and his team. Not only for today, but also for what happened at Forever Fall."
"I guess you're right," said Glynda.
Meanwhile, Team RWBY and JNPR were in two benches that were in front of the stage. Watching the members of Team CRDL get their butts kicked wasn't something they could see every day, so they didn't want going to miss the duel for anything.
"Go easy on them!" said Pyrrha to the Keyblade wielders.
"Beat them up!" said Nora.
"How long?" asked Yang, and the others looked at her.
"What do you mean?" asked Ruby puzzled.
"How long do you think it will last?" asked Yang smirking.
"That depends on how much time those two spend messing with them," said Weiss. She wasn't very interested in the match, but she didn't like how Cardin and his team treated Velvet either, so she decided to watch it too, just to see them get what they deserved.
Then the members of Team CRDL started drawing their weapons while Sora and Ven summoned their Keyblades. Cardin had a large black mace. The boy with the green mohawk, Russel, wielded a pair of short curved swords. Dove, the boy with light brown hair, had a bronze short sword. Lastly, there was Sky Lark, a boy with blue eyes and dark blue hair who had a long halberd in his hands.
"I'll deal with him," said Cardin to his teammates. "You three take care of his friend."
"It looks like the big guy wants to have a one on one with you, Ven," said Sora smiling.
"Then I'll grant his wish," said Ven, returning the smile. "You don't mind, right?"
"Why would I? I'll take care of those three quickly and let you play with Cardin," said Sora. "After all, you're the one who started this, and that girl called Velvet might be watching, so now it's your opportunity to show off in front of her."
"Hey, where did that come from!?" asked Ven, taken aback by what Sora said.
"Come on, Ven, we know each other well enough," said Sora with a playful smile. "I know how you are when you see a damsel in distress."
"I don't want to hear that from you," countered Ven smirking.
Sora chuckled. "Okay, you got me there."
Goodwitch, then, gave the signal and the duel started. Russel, Sky and Dove charged at Sora while Ven walked towards Cardin.
Sky performed a jumping attack, slamming his halberd against the floor, but Sora stepped back and put his right foot on the halberd's blade. Sky tried to free his weapon, but the Sora didn't let go. Dove, then, tried to attack Sora from behind, but the Keybearer moved and the member of Team CRDL failed his attack. Dove was hit by Sky's halberd since Sora wasn't stepping on it anymore, and when he moved, Sky was using a lot of force to pull it out, so he hit his teammate accidentally and sent him out of the stage. This earned some laughs from the people who were watching the duel.
"He should have been more careful," said Sora, looking at Dove.
Russel, believing that Sora was distracted, ran towards the brown-haired boy, prepared to strike him with his dual swords. However, Sora was actually prepared for this and raised his Keyblade and pointed it at Russel. Sora cast an Aero spell and created a strong wind stream that stopped the green-haired boy in his tracks. The student tried to hold his balance, but the wind was too strong and he was sent flying away from the stage.
"Oooh, he flew," said Sora as he put his sword over his shoulder. Then he looked at Sky, who was looking at him with a scared face. "Boo!"
"I give up, I give up!" said Sky as he ran away from Sora. He jumped off the stage and left the amphitheater.
"And that's that," said Sora smiling as his Keyblade vanished.
"Yay, you rock, Sora!" cheered Ruby.
"That's my Keyblade wielder!" said Yang.
The students who were in the amphitheater started cheering while some of the laughed. Cardin and Ven hadn't started fighting yet because the leader of Team CRDL was watching with his mouth hanging open how his team was defeated in a humiliating way by just one person.
"You're still in time to give up," said Ven looking at Cardin, who came back to his senses and looked at the blond Keyblade wielder with an irritated face. "That's what someone with a bit of common sense would do."
"You'll be the one giving up!" said Cardin before charging at Ventus. He swung his maze at Ven, but the Keybearer whirled behind the student with a quick slide. "What the-"
"I don't think so," said Ven shaking his head, and the he pointed his Keyblade at Cardin
The leader of team CRDL didn't forget what Sora did to Russel, so he assumed a guard stance. He was expecting Ven to use powerful technique, but instead, he was covered by confetti that came out of the boy's Keyblade. The people in the assembly area started laughing at Cardin, who was growing angrier and angrier. Ven grinned at the team leader when he looked at him.
"You'll pay for that!" exclaimed Cardin before he started attacking Ven with continuous swings.
"Missed, missed, missed…" said Ven every time he dodged Cardin's mace. Then Ventus jumped and landed on Cardin's shoulders. "You have to try harder."
"Get off!" said Cardin, and Ven jumped off the student.
Then, the team leader turned around and attacked Ven, who stopped the mace with his Keyblade, and now the two weapons were stuck to each other. Cardin tried to overpower Ven, but he couldn't do it. Ventus had sparred with Terra a lot of times, and Cardin's strength wasn't even close to the Keyblade Master's.
"This is the part where you lose," said Ven. Then, the Keyblade wielder hit Cardin's mace and sent hit a few meters away, disarming the student of Beacon. After that, Ventus knocked Cardin down with an uppercut slash.
"All right, that's enough," said Goodwitch, putting an end to the duel.
"Yahoo, well done, Ven!" said Nora excitedly while Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren smiled at the blond Keyblade wielder.
The lights of the amphitheaters were turned on and Ven dismissed his Keyblade as he walked towards Cardin, who was still lying on the floor.
"Ugh…" Cardin rolled over and saw that Ventus was now crouched next to him.
"It doesn't feel good being humiliated by someone, right?" asked Ven with a serious face. "If you pick on Velvet or any other student and I find out…well, let's say that I won't go easy on you again."
Cardin didn't answer; he just looked at Ven with a blank expression on his face. The Keyblade wielder stood up and looked at the people who were in the amphitheater and that were now cheering and clapping. Ven showed them a wide smile before turning to Sora, who didn't move from where he was after defeating Cardin's teammates.
"I guess we're now popular in the academy," said Ven jokingly.
"It looks like it," said Sora. "Although I'd have preferred it hadn't been because of a fight against a group of students."
"Come on, you know they deserved it," said Ven.
"I'm not saying they didn't," clarified Sora. "But let's try to focus on the Heartless from now on, okay?"
"As you wish, Master," replied Ven grinning.
-TLG-
As I told you before, the "lost masters" who were mentioned in the KH3 Teaser will have a major role in this story. Well, there's a theory among some fans (which I support) that says that the characters I'm going to use in this story are the lost masters, but they could be not. They are also known by other name.
To Sunny Lighter: 1) Let's hope Kairi doesn't find out… 2) I'm glad you liked it. I wanted them to be good, especially the one with Aqua and Kagura.
To The Dark Dragon Emperor: Mostly characters. Noctis and Prompto from FFXV already appeared in Radiant Garden in chapter 11, and there will be more characters from different FF in the story later.
To animelover276: I'm not much into One Piece, but if I get hooked again to it, I'll add it.
To FrancisVamp0822: I'm glad you are enjoying my story! I can tell you that Sora will visit Fiore again after finishing his mission in the RWBY world with Ventus.
To ImSoAwesome: 1) Thanks, lots of readers liked that fight. 2) Yeah, I'm following your story and I liked that part XD You're doing a great job, by the way!
To Ventusblade: Sorry, but it's not White*Star. Like the guy in the yellow coat, he also is a character from Kingdom Hearts (and the two of them know each other).
To AnimeMasterDub: You don't expect me to tell you who the person with the white coat is, do you?
To Drag0n-0f-Shu: Yes, Auron will appear in the story.
To fallenstar2013: Humbert: You should check it out if you have time. Klaus:1. Sora was grabbing Ven's Keyblade with a reverse grip during all the fight against the Dark Thorn. At least that's how I wanted to portray it. 2. Unfortunately, I haven't played the originals DMC, I've only played the reboot and planned to add that one to the story.
To warrior mage 03: 1) Yes, the two people of the teaser are Xehanort and Eraqus when they were apprentices. The lost masters are Keyblade wielder who existed before them, so it's obvious they're not the lost masters. 2) I'm glad I could get you into RWBY! 3) I wanted the Light Guardians to fight against the Mages Guild of Fiore and other people in a competition, and a tournament is the best way to do that.
To MagatsuIza: It will take place in-between the main game story but without altering it. Don't pay much attention to the year this story takes place since normally it won't affect the animes or games I'll use.
To Guest: Yes, I'm going to use Bleach in this fanfic.
To ShadowWarriorOmega: The person in the white coat is a Kingdom Hearts character, but not from Birth by Sleep.
To Dracoboy259: The characters from FFXIII will appear in Radiant Garden. I don't think I'll use FF worlds for the moment, just characters.
To KH-Hardcorefan4483: Maybe you know him, although not a lot of people know about him…it's a Kingdom Hearts character and he and the guy in the yellow coat know each other.
To Guest: 1) Kim (Soul Eater) is part of Sora's 'Harem', and I think you can consider her a tsundere. I'll just write and see how the relationship between Blake, Weiss and Sora develop. 2) I'm sure Kairi will find out eventually lol
To FrancisVamp0822: Yes, Flare will appear in the story in a future.
To Guest1: No, sorry, it wasn't her.
To KeybearerSky13: When I started writing this fanfic, I had planned to use a group of characters from Kingdom Hearts. There's a theory that says they are the lost masters, so I guess you can say that I'm going to use them.
To Pup2001: What do you mean by "of characters"? Were you trying to say "OCs"? If that's the case, then I'll tell you that I won't use OCs unless it's totally necessary.