"My heart is darkness."

Ruby ripped her hand away, returning to reality with nearly headache-inducing speed. She backed up along the railway, still in shock at what she saw. There wasn't a single ray of light where this being's heart should be… only pure, pervasive darkness. "What are you…?"

The figure's only response was to attack again, sending Ruby down once more. The wielder wasn't sure she could make it to her feet this time. She pushed herself onto her back, casting a fearful eye at her slowly advancing opponent. I really am going to die here… I can't fight this…

Ruby knew in her head that she might die. But a true understanding of what that meant evaded her until now. Memories started to play behind Ruby's eyes. Her family. Her friends both on Remnant and beyond. All her battles and days off. Laughing, singing, fighting, eating ice cream. Things she would no longer experience. People she would never see again…

"Ruby!"

The cry of her name brought Ruby back. She tilted her head back enough to see, upside down, her sister running her way. "Yang?"

"Ruby!" Yang had reached her, throwing herself to her knees next to the fallen wielder. "Holy crap, Rubes…"

"Yang," Ruby's voice strained as she tried to scold her sister, "you shouldn't be here."

"Screw that," Yang shook her head. "They haven't beaten you yet, have they?"

"They have…" Ruby confessed. "Get out of here, Yang."

Yang looked deep into silver eyes. "Y'know, this isn't like you, sis."

The comment confused Ruby. "What?"

Yang continued unimpeded, "how are you supposed to be an almighty space-cop if you can't stay on your feet? You can't win if you don't try, right?" Yang stood up, casting her gaze toward the cloaked figure. They had stopped their advance when Yang showed up, appearing uncomfortable at bearing witness to the moment between the sisters. The blonde stood between them and Ruby. "If you want her, you'll have to get through me."

"Yang!" Ruby called out, "they'll kill you!"

"Then I'll die," Yang replied casually. "But if I die protecting our friends, it'll be worth it."

Ruby's eyes widened.

Yang raised her fists and ran at the figure. The figure lazily raised their hand, charging dark energy. The two met, Yang swinging with all her might, and the figure releasing a dark blast that immediately obscured their vision. The smoke cleared to reveal not a lifeless blonde collapsing to the ground but a magic barrier that stopped both parties' attacks. Yang could see the tip of Crescent Rose ahead of her, casting the barrier. Ruby tackled her sister and carried her through the air away from the cloaked figure.

The sisters hit the ground across the tunnel. Yang jumped up to her knees to look over her sister. Ruby pushed herself up to her knees slowly, coming level with Yang's eyes. Ruby's hand came up to Yang's shoulder. "I was so scared, I almost forgot…" the wielder told her, "I almost forgot that my job is to protect people. That's where I draw my strength." She pulled her sister into a deep hug, "thank you for reminding me."

Yang smiled, tears threatening to fall as she returned the hug. "Go kick their butt."

Ruby chuckled. "We're probably still dying here, y'know…"

"If anyone can figure this out it's you," Yang proclaimed with all the confidence in the world.

Ruby flashed one last smile to her sister before her face turned serious. She stood, somewhat shakily, and pointed her Keyblade toward the dark figure. What can I do?

The figure across the tunnel started gathering their dark energy in their fist.

Ruby raised her free hand to her chest. "May my heart be guiding key… please, guide me."

There was no plan of action, no belief she would survive. She was on her last leg, barely standing, but knowing she had to try. She had to fight. A deeper power awoke from the depths her heart, answering her call.

Her muscles began to tense on their own, tugged by her inner light. Ruby let herself succumb to her light's guiding influence. Fire magic traveled up Crescent Rose's length, accompanied by this other power. The words of the spell left Ruby's mouth without her awareness of just what the words truly meant.

"Lux Firaga!"

A golden fireball sprung from her Keyblade and struck the enemy in the face. They screamed like nothing Ruby had heard yet and their hands shot to their head. Scan told the Keyblade wielder she didn't deal massive damage, but she had made a noticeable amount. And it seemed the mere nature of her spell affected the figure beyond simple damage. They continued to scream, even writhing on the ground as black smoke escaped from between their fingers.

Ruby stared at her Keyblade. A golden fire spell? What the heck was that? She heard her enemy stop writhing and looked back to them. At some point in their thrashing their hood had fallen off, and Ruby could finally make out their face. An unsurprisingly thin face with drooping eyes framed by messy, uneven light-pink hair. Their eyes were darkness yellow, of course, but what Ruby noted was that they were filled with fear.

Ruby wasn't sure she could cast that spell twice. But they don't need to know that. She pointed Crescent Rose at them, putting on the toughest face she could manage. The dark enemy yelped and covered their face again, promptly disappearing into a Dark Corridor. Ruby let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"You did it," Yang celebrated, "you beat them!"

"Not really…" Ruby corrected. "At least… it doesn't feel like a victory."

"Hey, you're here and they're not," Yang rationalized. "So what if you got lucky at the last second, pulled something out of your butt, and scared them off more than you actually damaged them?"

Yang's simple view of things set her sister off. Ruby's stress exploded into a giggle fit that nearly had her falling back onto the rails, Yang catching her. "So, I actually did that, right?" Ruby managed between bouts of giggling. "We survived? This isn't some near-death dream thing?"

"We made it, Rubes," Yang assured her sister while holding her up. "You saved us."

"Hah… hah…" Ruby smiled, though her eyes betrayed how painfully tired she was. "Please tell me this day is over…" the young wielder hoped, leaning on her sister while the two walked down the tracks.

Shortly after Yang jumped, Weiss realized she was about the assault the train interior completely alone. She pulled out her scroll and thumbed for Blake's contact and called.

"Something wrong?" Blake answered.

"Ruby got knocked off the train," Weiss told her, "and Yang followed to back her up."

"So you're alone inside the train right now!?" Blake voice grew frustrated. "Hold a second… Qrow!"

Weiss waited on the line while Blake had a conversation with their chaperone.

"Alright," Qrow's voice came on, "start making your way through the train carefully. It's pretty calm up here, so we'll drop inside and work backwards to you, then head for the engine together."

"Yes, sir," Weiss confirmed and hung up. She opened the door to face three average White Fang grunts, who pulled up their pistols quickly to aim at her. Weiss rolled her eyes and launched herself forward, her rapier flickering in the dim light. In moments, the three of them had been dispatched and Weiss was moving on to the next car.

She breezed through several cars before opening a carriage door to reveal Qrow's grizzled face. "Any problems?" the expericed huntsmen asked.

"None," Weiss confirmed. "I don't think they were ready for unexpected trouble."

"I'm surprised the girl from the docks isn't here," Blake mentioned.

"Let's just be happy she isn't," Weiss insisted. "She gave Ruby trouble, remember? Qrow might take her, but us two?"

"Speaking of Ruby, what happened?" Qrow asked.

Weiss took a moment to process what she had seen. "Someone appeared… I mean appeared, like out of thin air, and summoned some kind of wind to blow her out the back door. Then they vanished just the same. Yang decided Ruby might need help and jumped out after her."

"What did they look like?" Qrow continued to ask.

Weiss was confused by the line of questioning. Does he know something? "I couldn't tell. They had this heavy black coat with a low hood."

"Were they female?" Qrow pressed further.

"I… honestly couldn't tell," Weiss admitted. "If they were, they're flatter than I am, but nothing about them struck me as 'masculine' either."

Qrow's brow furrowed. The Maiden Thief in the recordings was pretty clearly female and made no effort to hide their 'assets'. This clearly wasn't her. But who else could they be? There's not another layer to all this, is there?

"Do we have time for this?" Blake interrupted. "How much longer before we run out of rail?"

"Blake's right," Weiss pointed out.

Qrow sighed and refocused. "Let's get to the engine room."

Said engine room was only a few more cars ahead. Qrow led them through the door where the finally found Torchwick standing in front of the controls.

"Fancy seeing you here," Torchwick smirked as though he expected them. "Where has Red gotten to?"

Qrow raised his blade to the exuberant criminal. "Stop the train, Roman."

Torchwick chuckled, twirling his cane. "There's no stopping this wild ride."

"You think you can take on all three of us?" Weiss goaded, raising her own weapon.

Torchwick held out his arms. "Come and get me."

Blake didn't hesitate to rush Torchwick, striking him several times. It wasn't until he fell to the ground and that she, Weiss, and Qrow realized something. The ninja faunus stopped mid-swing as she stared at the crook's exposed back on the floor. "You're not fighting back?"

Qrow's eyes widened. He ran past to look over the train's controls. The train's broken controls. "It's been sabatoged!"

"There must be some way to stop this thing!?" Blake desperately theorized.

"I told you…" Torchwick teased while lifting himself onto a nearby seat.

"Why!?" Weiss demanded.

"Why else? Someone paid me," Torchwick pointed out the obvious.

"And what are their goals?" Blake pressed.

Torchwick laughed again. "She's not stupid enough to tell me what I don't need to know."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Are you not smart enough to take an educated guess?"

Torckwick frowned at the insult to his intelligence. "As far as I can tell, this is all to simply spread fear. Show the people that kingdoms can't protect them forever."

"The woman you're working for," Qrow asked next, "what is her name?"

Torchwick smirked again, shaking his head. "Now, now… that would be telling."

Torchwick's eyes darted to the window and back to the group. Silently, he buckled a seatbelt that attached him to his chair. The group turned to look out the front of the train, already knowing what they would see. They were close enough to almost make out the words of caution on the barrier between the railway and the greater Vale. There was no time left.

Thinking quickly, Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster into the floor and used her ice Dust to encase the three of them in a protective barrier of blue crystal. Barely enough time for a breath passed before the defense was tested. The train tore through the barrier, bounced off the rails, and tore through the roof of the abandoned station. It breached a storefront built above it, depositing its occupants, along with all the rubble and debris it created, onto the event square.

"I'm guessing they didn't stop the train…" Yang noted at the sound of the crash.

Ruby pushed off her sister and started jogging down the rails. Her injuries from the fight caught up with her quickly. She cried out and fell to one knee with one hand catching the ground.

"You are in no condition to go running off like that!" Yang scolded, rushing back to her sister's side.

Ruby knew Yang right. But she refused to let her team fight this threat off without her. Her hand on the ground slowly found its way to the train rail. "Maybe so… but I don't have to run."

Before Yang could stop her, Ruby jumped onto the rail. The wielder grinded down the rail at speed, propelled by nothing but the magic of Flowmotion. "Well, at least use your Glider so I can come with!" Yang called out after her sister fruitlessly. Ruby was already too far away to hear her.

After about a minute of grinding, Ruby was coming up on the end of the line. She leapt off just before the rail ended. Her momentum carried her up and through the hole the train had made, and she landed on the rubble between the ruined storefront and the event square. What she saw could only be described as war.

Qrow, Weiss, and Blake were joined by a few other teachers and even another student team. Beyond them, Atlas's military androids were also assisting. But there was only so much that could be done against the sheer tide of opposition. If it were only the Grimm the situation might be controllable, but the darkness and chaos had also summoned heartless. The square was clear of civilians that hopefully had all escaped, and the fighters left were surrounded on the event stage and struggling to fight back.

Ruby had to do something. She had power, perhaps she could turn the tide… but she only so much energy left. With her injuries weakening her, she wasn't even sure how much magic power she could push. But I have to try. She summoned Crescent Rose and jumped into the middle of the fray.

"Ruby!" Weiss's voice was a mixture of relief and concern. "Are you okay!?"

Ruby didn't answer, instead focusing on her task. My magic has been getting more powerful… maybe I can do this. One massive spell to turn the tide. She held her Keyblade in both hands in front of her. She pushed lightning magic down the blade, pooling more and more until the static could be felt outside her weapon. She thrust her Keylade straight up in the air.

"THUNDAZA!"

Multiple bolts as thick as Ruby's arm crashed into the earth. The lightning pushed itself away from the group, tearing through Grimm and heartless and leaving large black scoring on the concrete. Other flashes turned multiple foes at a time to dust. One last massive bolt struck the tip of Ruby's Keyblade, exploding into a massive flash that blinded everyone. All of this within a second of the wielder's cast.

Once Weiss could see, she couldn't help but gasp. Every single enemy had been destroyed. The ground was burnt and charred by the strength of the lightning, and some static still hung in the air ruining everyone's hair. And even stranger was that everyone else was unaffected by the blast, like the attack had known they weren't to be harmed.

Ruby smiled. The young wielder had pushed herself hard, well beyond her normal limits. But it was finally all over. She was content that her friends were safe even as the exhaustion caught up with her and she collapsed into unconsciousness.

There is an illustration to accompany this chapter that will be on my Tumblr in the near future.