AN: Hey everyone. Sorry it has been so long. I got really busy with school starting up, then getting sick for a while. Combine that with me deleting and rewriting important chapters like this one probably too much, and it can take a long time to get through it. I've been slowly trucking along on this, though, and it's finally here!
Responses!
To Gamelover41592: They're gonna get crazier. You'll see with the end of this chapter.
To AngelGodess4000: I hope that you like this one, too!
After this, we'll pop over to Remnant, Visit Redgrave, another Story Event, and then the journey to 20's Big Twist.
I'm excited for it!
Chapter 12: Marionette and Puppeteer
Oscar was starting to get worried. Dawn hadn't piped up since they met, just quietly walking along with her arms crossed a few steps in front of him. He chalked it up to the worry; she'd been knocked out by Salem, after all. He wouldn't feel normal if it happened to him either and he knew it was probably even worse for her. She'd already stolen Dawn's mom, and the idea of Dawn being taken too made his blood freeze.
He looked down at his hand, his own issue slowly drifting to mind. Ozpin had somehow managed to jump right into his body, piggybacking on his Semblance to turn Oscar into a suit of armor the ancient Keyblade Master could use to fight for himself. He would gladly have handed control over if he knew that was an option; he wasn't exactly up to the task of going toe to toe with Salem after all. But having it forced on him like that? The lack of control terrified him, and the feeling of Ozpin's rage was still running under everything else. He wasn't sure if he could overcome it again – not unless something terrible was happening. He had to activate his Semblance when they had free time; a conversation needed to happen with the dead man.
Oscar returned his attention to Dawn. Ozpin could wait. "Do you hear that?" Dawn asked suddenly, stopping and holding her hand up. She shut her eyes and leaned forward, grimacing as she tried to somehow force herself to have better hearing.
"That's not how that works," Oscar tried to point out, only to get violently 'shushed' by his best friend.
He sighed and shut his eyes to listen too. And, to his surprise, he could faintly hear plasma fire in the distance. "Huh!?" He opened his eyes. "We aren't the only survivors!"
Dawn nodded, looking a little happier before motioning for him to follow and bolted towards the distant noise. The swampy forest flew by as the two of them began to utilize Flowmotion to bounce from tree to tree at increasing speed. Oscar was barely keeping up with her, amazed at how fast she had gotten better than him at the concept. She summoned her Keyblade and held it out, grabbing hold of a branch and swinging to a stop on top of it. Oscar stumbled on his stop, stabilized by the girl to keep from falling.
He offered her a thankful smile, then turned to look at what was going on. "It's the crew," he realized after a moment, watching them firing off plasma bolts from their pistols at the house and taunting whoever was inside.
Dawn frowned, staring down at them for a while, then nodded for the building. He agreed – they should find out who hadn't mutinied on the ship and figure out a way to help them. The Gummi Ship hadn't shown up yet, so the more heads together to survive the better.
They kept to the trees, only making sure to keep an eye out on everything that was happening. It was just a long period of plasma bolts flying from the house and towards it. "Cap'n!"
Dan froze in the tree and looked at Oscar, who raised an eyebrow. She motioned him on and he shook his head. She motioned him on again and silently urged him to just listen. He shook his head again. She grit her teeth and nodded aggressively, motioning him on and giving him the look of 'I can take care of myself!'
He put his hands up behind his head, like a pair of large circles on either side of his head. "Salem?" he mouthed dryly.
She rolled her eyes and slapped a hand over her left eye, while making her right hand look like a hook. "Yar?" she mouthed dryly back.
Well, he couldn't totally argue with that. And besides, they were running out of time. He didn't like it, but if they wanted to know everything they would have to split up. And, a voice in the back of his head pointed out, he couldn't just keep her under watch all the time. He sighed and nodded, wishing her good luck. She blinked in surprise, then smiled and nodded the same back at him. With that, the pair split, her heading over to watch the pirates and him to the back of the building. Hopefully this wouldn't bite him in the back...
Oscar planted himself on the side of the house opposite the pirates, seeing that he would have to make his way up a pretty big hill just to get to the building. He checked for anyone to watch him, then jumped down from the tree and rolled, carefully making his way up to the hill in silence.
"... and I don' care if'n he shot, ye shot first! Which a' you scallywags wouldn' do ta same in 'is shoes, huh?"
Oscar stopped in his tracks halfway up the hill as he heard that voice cut off all the firing of plasma pistols. It was familiar, and given he only knew like four people on this boat trip that meant it had to be Silver. The cook was leader of this pirate mutiny? Why would he let himself be the lowly cook if he was a captain?
Oscar quickly realized there was only one answer; just what kind of treasure were they going after that people would hide their identities like this? The weight of the map in his pocket suddenly felt much heavier and he decided he'd wasted enough time. He sprinted up the house and vaulted through a broken window, sliding to a stop. "Guys, it's Oscar don't shoot!"
A plasma bolt flew past his head from the ground, Dr. Delbert's shaking hands holding the smoking weapon up as he stood in front of an injured Captain Amelia with a hard glare. "Oh, do calm down, Doctor. It seems unlikely he or the girl are working with our – ach – friends outside," Amelia said, panting heavily as she struggled to sit up. Blood seeped from between her fingers clenching her side.
"You're hurt," Oscar said, voice tinged with worry. "I can help with that -"
"Ooh, another new person!" A skinny, rusted robot with wires coming out of the back of his head burst over, grabbing empty plates and cups and holding them out. "I, ha, would have cleaned up more if I knew I'd have all these guests."
"B.E.N., not now!" Jim shouted over his shoulder, Morph babbling beside him and turning into Oscar with wide confused eyes. Jim looked at Oscar. "Where's Dawn?"
"She's taking a look at the pirates outside." He fell quiet. "Silver -"
"Yeah," Jim's eyes hardened and he glared out at the pirates, who'd stopped firing a while ago. "We know. He stole the map and swapped it with Morph here."
Morph grinned sheepishly, still in Oscar's shape, and kicked the 'dirt' of the air with a babbling chuckle. He didn't seem all that sorry despite it, though. "He stole the map..?" Oscar wondered. That wasn't right, which meant – which meant nobody knew where the map was but him and Dawn. The pirates were trying to get it from Jim, and Jim was probably trying to get it from the pirates eventually. It would be their only bargaining chip to get off the planet and get home... or at least, get back to the boat and leave the pirates behind.
"Unfortunately, they don't have it," Oscar said quietly. "When the ship was attacked, someone named Salem was stealing it. She kidnapped -"
"Jimbo!" Oscar shut up and turned to the door. "I ain't gonna hurt'cha. Jus' me 'n you need ta have a talk, huh?
"Silver..." Jim growled, turning to the door and raising his gun.
Oscar grabbed his arm and pulled the gun down. "Not like this," he said. Jim stared at him for a moment, but nodded. "You talk with him, I'll go help the Captain."
Oscar walked over to Amelia and Delbert. "What are you planning on doing?" the doctor asked.
"I'll work my magic," Oscar told him simply as he summoned the Keyblade and knelt beside the Captain. "How much pain is she in?"
"Doctor – you have wonderful eyes."
Delbert looked at Oscar. "She's lost her mind!"
"Hm... no, I think this is just pain and a deathbed confession. Luckily, this isn't too bad," He held his Keyblade out over the wound and channeled the magic out of the blade. "Cure." The green flashed from the Keyblade and its energy settled into Amelia, stitching the wound shut.
"Wh-what was that?!"
"Magic," Oscar replied calmly.
"Well, 'tat was an interestin' little moment, Jimbo," Silver said as he was let into the building. He laughed as Morph rushed over, babbling and snuggling into his owner's face. "Ah, Morphy! I was wonderin' where ye got off to!" B.E.N. got excited and rushed around to get more oil sludge for the newcomer.
Jim glared at Silver, not a word needed to communicate his anger with the man.
Silver sighed and tapped his fingers together. "Look, Lad, I'm sorry about firin' at ye and threatenin' all of ye, but ye have to understand!" He tapped his chest with both hands. "Come on now. If'n that bloodthirsty lot thought I'd gone soft on ye, then those louts woulda gutted us bot'. 'Sides, Jimbo, ye really tellin' me ye didn't know ye could get out of it alive, ha-heh?"
Jim glared back at him.
Silver sighed. "Look. If we play our cards right, 'den maybe the two of us could get walk out o' 'tis rich... as... kings."
Jim raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
Oscar wondered what was going through his head, but stayed quiet as Silver continued, grinning at his bait being snatched up. "If'n ye jus' give me de map, and an even portion of the treasure is yours!" He leaned back cockily and held out his robotic hand for a handshake. A trick, Oscar assumed.
Jim nearly flinched, but made it look like he was stuffing his hands in his pockets instead. "My map? You should've known that having Morph pretend wasn't enough for you to steal it."
"Can't pull the wool over yer eyes, Jimbo," he offered with a chuckle. "Though, I didn' 'xpect ye to hide it 'fore we could get it."
Jim shook his head. "Boy... you are really... something. All that talk of greatness? Light coming off my sails?" Jim began circling the pirate. "Ha! What a joke!"
"Now see -"
"But at least you taught me one thing. Stick to it, right?" He stopped in front of Silver and turned to him, hand clenched on his pistol again. "I'm going to make sure that you never see one Droubloon of my treasure!"
Silver surged to his feet, robotic arm shifting into a sword. "THAT TREASURE IS OWED ME, BY 'TUNDER!"
"Then try getting it without my map, by 'tunder!" Jim snapped. The two raised their weapons at each other, and Oscar knew something terrible was about to happen.
He was right, though it wasn't Silver and Jim killing each other. Instead, it was Dawn bursting through the door panting heavily. "Pirates... gasp... Dead... gasp... oh jeez... HEARTLESS!"
"WHAT!?" Oscar snapped.
And then everything went to hell.
"CAP'N, WE – ACCGH!"
Oscar rushed to the window of the building and his eyes widened. Heartless was right – Dozens of those Jolly Rogers appeared from the shredded Darkness torn from the bodies of the pirates. "We need to get out of here," he muttered as the creatures began to turn their attention to the Keyblade Wielders and the others in the house. He looked over his shoulder and shouted it this time. "We have to get out of here as fast as possible!"
"You want to leave already?" B.E.N. asked, sounding almost disappointed. He clearly had no idea what was happening. "I lose my mind and now I lose all my new friends, that's so sad. Well, I guess you can take this lifeboat, but it's broken -"
"Perfect! Help me fix it!" Jim said, grabbing the robot and dragging him over with Amelia and Delbert.
Dawn summoned her Keyblade. "I was worried we'd get bored," she remarked dryly.
"Ye two seem to have quite the bad run o' luck," Silver said. He sauntered up beside them, shifting his hand into a gun from its sword form.
"That's your crew. You don't feel sad about this?"
"We're pirates, Lass. They'd 'ave kilt me soon as helped me." He chuckled, his large gut rolling with the movement. He calmed into a feral grin. "'Sides, jus' means more gold fer me."
"Charming," Oscar remarked dryly before leaping out of the building and climbing to the top, magic traveling up the length of Chronal. "Dawn, Silver – can you hold them off?"
"If'n ye need us to, Boyo," Silver replied, hobbling out of the door and turning his eye into a laser sight. His plasma pistol shot, blasting through the shoulder of a Knight and shattering its armor. "Ha! I can actually hit 'em now!"
Dawn shot past him, Keyblade glowing bright as she speared through the same Heartless, causing an explosion of light that sent the others around her flinching back. She continued her assault without stopping, cutting down a pair of shadows and turning to tank an attack a Jolly Roger that was getting ready to unleash at her back. She was gifted with a plasma bolt hitting the side of its head, causing it to reel back. "Thanks, Silver!" she shouted, slamming her Keyblade into that Heartless' gut and sending it flying back into a group of shadows. The shadows exploded and the Jolly Roger rolled away. "Ha! Strike!"
"Focus, Lass!" Another plasma bolt shot by her, but the Jolly Roger dodged and shot her with a blunderbuss of energy at close range. Dawn was thrown from her feet, losing track of herself for a moment before righting and throwing her Keyblade at the Heartless that had hit her. It dinged off its face and she summoned the weapon back to her hand. More blasts peppered the Heartless as she landed and she charged forward again. The Heartless decided they had enough of this and some rushed past her towards Silver.
"No you don't!" she snapped, turning and throwing her Keyblade in their path, then continuing to run without watching it go. She waited for the weapon's power to crash into the ground and shatter the – she blinked as the Keyblade uselessly clanged off of metal. "Huh?" She turned and looked towards where the Keyblade was spinning in the air. "The ground is made of – OSCAR! THE GROUND IS MADE OF METAL!"
Oscar, channeling a spell up his Keyblade, blinked once. "Then jump!" He shouted, stopping the gathering of energy early and leaping forward. "THUNDER!" He swung the gathered energy forward, in a bolt of electricity that crashed into the ground. The Shadows were vaporized instantly as the electricity was channeled through the metal ground, and the Jolly Rogers were stunned by the discharge.
The flying ones were a different story, having avoided the majority of the electricity arcing through the metal ground. They continued their quick advance, shooting towards the source of Darkness attacking them. Silvers stumbled backwards and was thrown through the rotting wall of the building and into the house by one, while Oscar landed feet first on the other and jammed his Keyblade into its back to kill it. He jumped from its back and threw his Keyblade into the midst of the other recovering Heartless, then threw his fist forward as it got close. "Explode!" Flames burst from the weapon and vaporized the stunned monsters, shattering them and giving him and Dawn breathing room to rush into the building.
"Silver!" Jim rushed over from the lifeboat and grabbed the old pirate's arm, dragging him up to his feet. He turned and raised his gun, firing bolts at the Heartless that effortlessly dodged them. It shot forward at that moment, fists raised and aimed at Jim. The kid backpedaled in surprise, losing his footing.
"JIMBO!" He was shoved to the side by a large mass, which cried out in pain and surprise as the Heartless hit him instead. His robotic leg hissed and screamed as the knee servos were sliced in two. Still, Silver was an old pirate and he wouldn't let a little pain stop turned his robotic arm on the Heartless and shifted it. "Oh, yer gonna pay fer tha'." The flamethrower ignited and shot out a blast of bright blue, vaporizing the creature as it ran towards him again. He kept firing the flames for a solid two minutes, only letting it die when the fuel was gone and the Heartless' body was ash.
He sighed and leaned back, half crushing Jim. "Well, tha' was a tad worse than I t'ought it would be, Jimbo."
Jim stared at the pirate, eyes wide as he moved to help him with his leg. He froze as his hands were above the damaged cybernetic leg. He wavered for a moment. "Ah, 'tinkin' it migh' be better t' leave me behin', then." The pirate rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Aye, prolly the smart move, Jimbo."
"He saved your life."
The two turned to see Dawn standing with her fists clenched at her side. "He saved your life," she repeated resolutely. "That Light he used to save you is the only reason he could kill the Heartless."
"Meaning he cares about you." Oscar agreed from behind her.
"He betrayed us." Amelia was standing now, held up by the Doctor. She glared down at Silver. "We should leave him here to rot."
"That's just one more Heartless trying to kill us," Jim pointed out. He shook his head. "It doesn't matter without the map. What's he going to betray us for? Nothing?"
"Without the – Ye ain't got the map?!" Silver shouted angrily.
"No. And now no one -"
"We've got the map," Dawn offered, shaking Oscar by the shoulder. "Come on! Show them!"
Oscar gave her an annoyed look, knowing this had been their chance to get everyone out of here safe. But maybe there was more to this adventure... He pulled the map out. "It fell to the planet after us," he explained as Jim took the sphere and tapped some buttons on its surface. Soon, the device whirred and shot out a hologram that filled the room.
"Well, I'll be..." Silver whispered as he watched stars and planets swirl around them, filling the room with the void of space and the brilliant Light therein. A path glowed in the Darkness, spiraling past planets, black holes, and nebulae older than the world upon which they stood and younger than the one from which the Keyblade Wielders hailed. Eventually, the path ended on a planet. This planet. The hologram zoomed in, and -
"W-wh-wh-wha!?" BEN stole the sphere and ran over to the barely repaired lifeboat.
"BEN, what are you doing!?" Jim asked, more exasperated than angry. He followed the droid, who was busy touching up the lifeboat.
"Larry, I wish that I could tell you!" His eyes were glowing with the sphere map at the center. It vanished and was replaced with a green and black triangle. "Door, opening and closing, opening and closing, opening and closing!"
"Is this normal for him?" Amelia asked from the Doctor's shoulder, though she looked much better since Oscar had healed her.
"I've known him for thirty minutes!" Jim supplied, unsure himself. He shook it off and rushed over to the boat, jumping in and helping BEN finish it up. "Okay... where are you taking us, BEN?"
"The door, Danny! It opens and shuts and opens and shuts and we'll see it all! Do you understand, you silly Carbon Based Lifeform?"
"... Aye. I do," Silver interjected, a grin spreading across his features. "Yer takin' us to the treasure."
"Oooh. Treasure!" Dawn exclaimed, grinning. She turned to Amelia. "Hey, since the rest of your crew turned out to be evil pirates then got killed and, you know, don't need their cut anymore, do you think I could just get one ruby?"
R W B Y
After fighting their way through multiple squads of Heartless, and the incredibly rare and worrying Grimm that reminded Oscar that Salem was still somewhere on this world and likely to attack soon, they arrived at their destination, cliff. Just a simple cliff. BEN landed their lifeboat and led Jim, now holding the map again, and their crew to the edge. "There ain't nothin' here..." Silver muttered while Jim and BEN went to the edge. Jim looked around, then down and let out a surprised chuckle.
Dawn's eyes widened and she looked at Oscar, who had felt the same call from deep within. He had forced the call away consciously, preventing the Keyblade from appearing in his hand, but it was as the weapon could sense they stood at the threshold of some incredible door locked through unknown means. The kind that only the Keyblade – or a very specific key – could open. Jim must have at least had the same idea, because he began to examine the ground closely. "Doc, what do you think?"
Delbert let go of Amelia, silently asking if she was okay. Sure she was, he moved to help the boy. "Hm... it certainly looks as if it may work. These circuits – do they match up with a pattern on the map?"
Jim turned the sphere around for a few moments. "... Here." He turned the map and carefully slotted it into the ground.
Immediately, a huge triangular door exploded into being in front of them with a huge map of the known universe floating directly above the map. Beyond the doorway was... space. Empty Darkness, unable to invade the World through this miracle of a door. Jim staggered back, accidentally hitting one of the floating planets with his hand.
The door slammed shut and flew open again, now revealing... "That's U.A..." Dawn whispered as she saw the glistening world, something in her Heart letting her recognize the planet for its Heart. Jim stared for a moment, then turned and hit another planet on purpose. Shut and Open: space above a world of endless desert. Shut and Open: an artificial crescent moon with a city built into the half ring of its body. Shut and Open: a world surrounded by similar wooden boats to the one that had brought them here. Shut and Open, Shut and Open, Shut and Open. A thousand worlds, available at the touch of a button. "Flint used this portal to roam the Universe. Stealing treasure, and - "
"But where is it!?" Silver snapped, hobbling up and slamming his finger into various planets, to no avail. "WHERE!?"
BEN began to malfunction slightly, eyes glowing and empty slot in the back of his head sparking. "Tr-treasure!? B=bbbbburied in the -"
"Ha! Buried treasure, and..." Jim's eyes widened and he turned his gaze to a specific planet. This one had a pair of rings around them, arranged in a 90 degree angle from one another. "X marks the spot," Jim muttered with a wide grin. He reached out and touched the planet.
Shut and Open.
An endless expanse of gold, glistening gemstones, and more. Huge engines blasted plasma into vents that dotted the asteroid of gold that made up the core of the planet. "Ha... HAHA!" Silver exclaimed, hobbling towards the door. He made his way through, still laughing, and the others glanced cautiously at one another. Eventually, they followed.
Dawn stopped just inside the door and looked around. "There's no controls on the inside," she muttered. She looked over at Oscar. "I'll keep an eye on the map. Don't want to get snuck up on, right?"
Oscar didn't like splitting up, especially with Salem around... but she wasn't wrong. Someone had to cover the inside of the room with the others, after all Salem had gone for the map which likely meant she wanted to be in here for some reason. And they couldn't risk Salem walking up without any warning either. "You don't like it." She could read it on his face.
"It's not safe. I'll stay up here -"
She quickly responded, "And what if she just portals in over there? I'll be having to keep all of them safe, too." She got up close to him, face right in his. "And you're the one who's got more experience, right?"
"...P-point..." Oscar grumbled, cheeks red as he turned away from her closeness. "B-but I still d-don't have to like it."
Dawn blinked and leaned away. "Thanks, Oscar."
And with that, they split. He went with the rest of the crew as she summoned her Keyblade and watched him go. She shook off the same feelings that he had always brought to her Heart and looked back at the map.
Oscar caught up with the group as they reached the huge boat resting among the ocean of gold. They climbed onto the deck, with Oscar feeling a growing sense of dread tightening his chest. "Look at all t'is 'ere treasure, Jimbo!" Silver exclaimed as he hobbled up the stairs towards an alien skeleton sitting at the helm, the thing clutching something tight in one hand. Jim and BEN stopped at the skeleton while Amelia and Delbert tried to figure out if the ship was still working.
Oscar felt a chill run through his Heart. He turned to the others. "What is... SILVER! STOP!"
But it was too late. He had begun to grab the gold and jewels covering the ship's surface and exclaimed in joy as he threw it about himself. The gold of the planet's center pulsed suddenly and the ship shook. The feeling appeared again, a thousand times stronger. The plasma engines firing into the sphere stopped, and the slow spin of the center ground to a halt. Another pulse.
A black shadow erupted from the gold, sending gemstones and treasure soaring in every direction. The coiling... thing, the Grimm, it soared over the ship and cleaved through a section of the wood, devouring the gold in the air as it coiled up and stood at its full height. A Snake like Grimm, made up of Bones plated in melting gold and gemstone glared down at them with feverish yellow eyes. "Whaat is thaaaaat!?" Delbert screamed as the creature looked up and let out a bestial roar.
"Fafnir. It's a... GRIMM!" Oscar's eyes widened and he turned to glance back at the door.
She was gone. Dawn was gone. And standing beyond the gate, staring at the map, was Salem herself with Dawn's Keyblade buried in the ground beside her.
We need to stop her.
"Then do it!" Oscar snapped back.
Ozpin abandoned the crew without a second thought. "Fire the cannons at it! Mr. Hawkins you distract it and find the Pirate!" he snapped as he soared through the air, Keyblade glowing bright. He threw it forward as Salem glanced back and green-gray chains exploded into being. They soared through the door and wrapped around her neck, snapping tight and pulling her through the doorway and towards him.
Jim jumped into action immediately, looking around before sprinting over to a piece of wood with an engine connected to one end. This might work. He picked it up and balanced it on the edge of the ship, leaping atop it and slamming his foot into the engine's manual start. Once, twice. Nothing worked. The Fafnir's rage began to cool and become directed... right at the boy trying to activate the board. It reared back, purple plasma running up the bone plate of gold running up its body and to its face. As the energy reached a crescendo, there was a loud, girlish scream followed by an explosion as a cannon blast crashed into its face. Gold exploded off of its body.
Delbert, who had just fired the cannon, shrieked and joy and disbelief as he threw his hands up. "I did it! I hurt it!"
"Quite nice, Doctor," Amelia began as she readied another cannon. "BUT IT'S HEALING!"
And so it was. Gold flowed up its body, flying from... Silver. Every piece of treasure he grabbed flowed up from his body, absorbed by the Grimm and forming an armor from his greed. Jim watched in horror, but shook his head. They had to kill it, and he had to get moving. He raised his leg and slammed it into the engine again, finally starting the engine and causing his board to rocket off and soar into the air. He angled up and shot right past the dragon's face, drawing its attention and the resulting blast of pure plasma that shot from its gaping maw.
Ozpin, meanwhile, was busy dealing with a somehow even more dangerous threat. Salem had quickly summoned the Kingdom Key D to her open hand, swinging it up to shatter the chains then using her free right hand to yank on them and pull Ozpin right towards her under her control. The two collided with explosive force, pressure forming lighting that melted down and destroyed gold beneath their feet. Their own force disturbed the core of the planet, and was only exacerbated by the plasma bolts fired by the Fafnir in an attempt to kill Jim. The ground began to crack, filled with molten gold like lava filling the small canyons.
Ozpin backflipped over one of these canyons, firing a blast of pure light at Salem before using Magnet magic to send streams of dense gold at his opponent. Salem easily battered his distracting blow to the side then jumped to the side to avoid the stream, which quickly turned to follow. She glanced at the attack and snarled as she began to run. "Stealing the boy's body again, Oz!?" She dodged a branch of the wall that slammed into where she had been standing, shattering the ground again.
"We reached an agreement, Salem. Where's the girl!?" he yelled. He tensed his legs and shot forward, controlling the golden wave of metal to fence Salem in and force her into a corner, slamming it down to make sure she was forced to dodge into his next blow. But she had just as much experience as he did, and barely managed to keep it at a standstill as she fought back and waited for the gold to slowly melt in the growing pools of molten metal. "And how did you summon a Grimm of this size so quickly?"
"I assume this Flint pirate brought it here ages ago," she retorted. "This place is nearly suffused with his greed. Enough that the Fafnir could feed on the emotion for decades. And with Silver's greed to replenish it now -"
"His greed..? Ah, then it is named well. The Invincible Dragon of Greed, now feeding and fed in turn by the greed of another." Ozpin magnetized her Keyblade to his then threw his hand up, summoning a stream of metallic lava to erupt beneath her. But she managed to throw them both out of the way, tumbling through the increasingly warm dunes of metal.
"Are you trying to get the boy killed!?" Salem asked, reaching her feet first and bringing her Keyblade down in both hands.
Ozpin raised his hands and blocked, feeling his shoulders shudder with the blow. "Ach – Only you, Salem!"
Jim swerved around the Fafnir's head, narrowly barreling aroundits plasma blasts as he ran from it. The Grimm followed close, occasionally lunging forward in an attempt to swallow him whole. "You know, I thought it'd be harder to get this thing's attention with you guys shooting cannons at it!" he shouted. It missed another bite and slammed into the gold, sending coins and gems up and into Jim's path. He grunted in annoyance and threw his arm up, hissing in pain as the metal crashed into him at high speeds and left bruises all over his body. Below, Silver continued to shovel gold into his pockets that melted to form more armor for the Fafnir.
The Fafnir hissed and flicked its tail up, pelting Jim from the back now and sending him tumbling off of the board. "GAAH!"
"Gold – I... J... Jimbo?" The gold fell from Silver's arms and he turned. "JIMBO!"
The gold no longer flowing into the Grimm surprised it, causing it to fall suddenly beneath the falling young man, shattering the rest of the planet's core's stability and forming a slide that slowed his descent so his crash was not fatal. Still, he tumbled onto the deck and slammed into the main mast, crying out as his bones broke from the collision.
Silver cried out in fear and hobbled over to the boy, grabbing his arm. "Jimbo, Jimbo, ye better not be dead after all 'dis! It better take more'n t'at!"
Jim groaned and hissed, struggling to breathe but still alive. "Oh, Tom!" BEN shouted.
Silver looked at the robot, then over at the bones. The thing in the hand... wires. It had wires. "Robot, stuff t'at doodad in yer head!"
"Wha?! Who are you and what did you do to Stu!?"
"Fer Pete's sake!" Silver snapped and he began to slowly hobble over, wrestling the Robot to the ground and ordering Morph to go get what he wanted. The babbling creature saluted in the shape of his captain and shot off, dodging between falling gold as it melted from the Fafnir's bones like half-molten blades raining from the sky. A blade slammed down just in front of Morph and he let out a screech, eyes extending cartoonishly from his face before he simply split in half and continued forward, reforming again on the other side of the blade.
It didn't take him long, all things considered, to get the device and return to Silver to babble a question about what it was. "It'll all make sense, Morphy," he said as he took the device and slammed it into the back of BEN's head.
The robot surged out of Silver's grasp, eyes glowing as information was shot back into his mind. "W-whoa whoa whoa! JIM! Jim, I – I got it!" BEN turned and bounded towards the ship's controls. The Fafnir rose to its full height, rage growing, and began to channel its plasma up its bony armor. "I GOT IT!" The ship began to whir to life, rising into the air.
"Take this you serpentine freak!" Delbert snapped, blasting its chest with a glancing blow. It turned its glowing face plate towards the man and he palled. It opened its mouth, the plasma bolt growing as it prepared to fire and the captain knew he was dead. "Oh, dear..."
Another blast crashed into its chin, slamming it shut on the bolt just as it released the attack. The plasma shot upward, blasting through its mouth and vaporizing its face entirely. The body of the Grimm let out a surprised gurgle as the blast tore through it, soaring into the body of the planet and destabilizing it further. Then its decaying body crashed into the core, plasma still streaming, and cleaved it in two. Things were getting worse and worse as more lava like gold exploded upward, disturbed by the changing and broken gravity.
"We have to get – to the others!" Jim tried to say, voice tight from pain. "Oscar... Dawn..!"
Ozpin and Salem crashed into each other over and over, collisions shattering the ground beneath them from the force. Chronal was deflected by the Kingdom Key D, while her spells were quickly dodged by the man. "You seem to be moving slow, Salem. Why is that, I wonder? Getting old and weak in whichever body you've stolen!?"
"You are one to talk, Oz," she hissed back. She threw a wall of electrically charged gold at him then threw her Keyblade through the wall a moment later, but he dodged the weapon and froze the metal before it could touch him. "But if you must know, it's a promise. You can't get someone to betray their friends without some assurances!"
"So you did get one of them! Which of Sora's apprentices is it, then? Who have you tricked!?" he snapped. He sliced the new wall in half and kicked the resulting piece at her, firing blades of energy to accompany it in its path to cleave her in two. Salem simply jumped and spun, twirling between one energy blade and the metal wall, then catching the second energy blade on the tip of her Keyblade and whipping it right back at him.
Ozpin was forced to raise his Keyblade to block the attack, crashing into him while he was still midair and sending him flying backwards. He hit the ground and tumbled through the gold, already regaining his footing and yanking back. A pillar of gold shot up behind Salem and crashed into her back, slamming her right down into the ground, though she was already recovering and ready to fight back. They were at a stalemate, and it all came down to bad luck.
The ground beneath Ozpin shattered and he fell, forcing him to throw his Keyblade out in front of him to bury it into the wall. "Dammit!" He was forced to throw his hand down, summoning a Hexagon of Reflective energy to keep the molten gold from killing him.
Salem watched him tumble and glanced back at the map. It was right there... but the feeling in her Heart. It was too strong, too much. The map would make things faster...
But then she had her hand around Ozpin's wrist, body shifting and changing. "SALEM!" He screamed, readying a spell in his palm to throw at her face.
But when she spoke, her voice no longer the witch's. Her eyes were silver and not red. A violet cloak and black-red hair dangled past a familiar, terrified face. "OSCAR! What happened? Are you okay!?"
He snapped out of Ozpin's control immediately. "Dawn?" he whispered, horrified. But he shook it off. They were going to die. He grabbed her arms with his other hand and put his foot on his Keyblade's guard. "On three! One -"
Her eyes widened. "THREE!" She yanked and he was forced to jump with her, narrowly avoiding a surge of molten gold that erupted on his heels a half second later. He scrambled to get above her and threw up a Reflect spell, causing the metal to bounce away from them and let them survive.
"Th-thanks..." he muttered, then he looked at her and slid away, scared by what he'd seen just moments earlier. "Dawn..."
"Guys! Come on!" They looked up, seeing a dangling rope ladder awaiting them with Jim standing at the top, supported by Silver. "We gotta hurry!"
It could wait. Oscar grabbed Dawn and they rushed for the ladder, climbing as the ship began to slowly move towards the portal. Oscar glanced outside of the doorway as he reached the top and his eyes widened. The planet beyond – it was exploding, too. "We won't make it..." he muttered.
Unless you change it.
Oscar glared down at his hand. Ozpin... he was right. "Jim, I want you to focus on your mom. Where is she, right now." He held his hand out to the boy and summoned his Keyblade into his other.
"Why -"
"Do it!" Dawn snapped, grabbing Jim's wrist and making him grab Oscar's hand. Jim acquiesced, even if he didn't understand it at all.
Oscar held the Keyblade out towards the portal. The explosions were getting closer now, heat rising and making the air thick and unbearable. This had to work. The ship creaked and shuddered as gravity began to give way. It had to work... Oscar focused on Jim's Heart with his Semblance, feeling the beating wish that it expressed. He pulled it into the Keyblade, then simply twisted it in the lock.
Shut and Open.
They flew through the gateway as the explosions worsened, burning the tail of the ship and shattering the mast. The solar sail tumbled into space, splinters of wood destined to burn in the atmosphere of the planet below. Oscar was thrown forward, Keyblade stabbing into the deck as he nearly slammed face first into the wood and was saved only by Dawn grabbed him by his shoulders. She pulled him up into a hug, but he quickly pushed out of it.
She stared at him, hurt filling her eyes. "I... I'm sorry," Oscar muttered. He looked away. "We'll talk when we get to the – THE SHIP! It's all the way back at the planet!"
"We can just summon it to us, right?" Dawn supplied, voice barely creaking with the pain of his rejection. She cleared her throat. "I'll message Dad where we are and that we got hung up. Or maybe you should, I don't... remember anything."
"Ah, then what is a few more days with guests!" Delbert supplied. "You saved us, it's certainly the least that I can do!"
"Sounds good," Dawn agreed quietly. Oscar nodded and walked over to Jim, healing him enough that he could stand on his own.
"I'm sorry about the gold, Jim," Amelia finally said. She looked around at their broken ship – the remaining treasure had been blasted away in the flight. "But, well, I am more than willing after your many moments of valor and ingenuity, to offer you a recommendation to the Terran Military Academy. If you wish, you could be enrolled as early as next year!"
Jim's eyes widened. "Me? In the academy?" He fell quiet. That was... He looked over to Silver on instinct, only to find the man had run off.
Amelia followed Jim's gaze. "Well... think on it. We have some time before applications are due." And then she let him follow the man. Oscar and Dawn both looked at each other, expecting the other to follow, but knew they had their own problems to deal with. Jim would have to figure this out on his own.
R W B Y
It had taken some time for their Gummi to reach them, and Oscar had spent all of that time away from Dawn. He had to figure out what to say, what to tell her and how. Jim had come back, a small pouch of priceless gems in hand and Morph floating on his shoulder. Silver was gone, though Jim seemed much... happier.
Jim's mother had quickly arrived, joyfully greeting her son and his friends, learning about their reward, and Jim's future. They had all said goodbye to him, promising to meet again somehow, someday. And then they were alone with Delbert and Amelia, who were growing increasingly close. It was deeply uncomfortable... almost worse than what was going on between Oscar and Dawn.
So, it was almost a relief when the freshly repaired ship arrived over a week after their arrival. They could leave the lovebirds alone and finally, finally head home. And then Oscar realized he still had no idea what to tell her, and the relief was gone.
But he had to tell her something. The silence was already straining their friendship, and with what he had seen that would only cause problems. More importantly... he didn't want to lose her.
Oscar turned his chair to her. Realizing he was about to explain himself, Dawn hesitated... but finally turned to him. It was silent for a while, and he realized he was chickening out. So did she. So she spoke first. "How long has someone else been able to wear you like a t shirt?"
Oscar's eyes widened. "Wh-what? How did you -"
"Your eyes, they were a different color." She looked at her feet. "Just like when Mom..."
Right... when he'd discovered his Semblance, he had accidentally used it on Dawn's mother. He'd held hands with Dawn to activate his Semblance - His eyes widened. Ice flooded his veins. "Dawn... were you holding my hand when that happened, when your mom...?" he asked, voice barely a whisper. It couldn't be his fault... IT COULDN'T BE... Could it..?
"... Why?" Dawn asked, genuinely confused.
Oscar stared at her. "Dawn, I..." He screwed his eyes shut and buried his face in his hands. It was his fault. He'd done this to Dawn, to her mother and father. To everyone... "You really don't remember anything about what happened in the planet?"
"No." He looked up and saw her turn back to look at him. She put on a grin. "I got attacked and blacked out. Then woke up and saved you. Can't go five minutes without me, huh?"
Oscar took a deep, tired breath. He couldn't avoid it, then. "Dawn. Salem showed up. Ozpin - your parents' old professor – he took me over to kill her." He held up his hand and pulled the glove on tighter before grabbing her hand, the idea of doing this to someone again scaring him all over. Still, he held her hand tight; she needed him more than he needed to be scared right now. "Dawn, she did the same thing to you."
She stared blankly at him, grin slowly vanishing. "What are you..." She shut her mouth and shut her eyes. "I..." She pulled away. "I need to have a minute." She stood up and rushed to her room, leaving Oscar alone.
Or, he realized as the words came to his Heart, not quite alone.
What is it you plan to do, Mr. Pine?
"What kind of question is that?" Oscar asked. He grabbed the ship's controls. He didn't want to do it, but there was no choice. If he wanted to have a chance to save Dawn from this... Master Nomura had to know. It was the only way they could fix Oscar's... the thing he'd done to her, destroying her future by accident. Even if it meant she was kept under lock and key for years.
Keeping Salem under watch and guard is also your best chance to find Ms. Branwen.
Dove..! Oscar mentally slapped himself. He hadn't even thought about that! "Well, if we want to save her, we have to save Dawn first," he muttered simply.
Ozpin was quiet for a moment. I truly hope you can save her. But...
Silence. "But what?" Oscar wondered, confused.
Ozpin's sigh seemed to shake Oscar's entire Heart. But there is a chance that saving her is beyond anyone's abilities. If the time comes, do you have the will to do what is necessary? Not just to save her, but to save everyone?
Oscar let the ship drift. He couldn't be... No... "That won't happen," he said simply, refusing to believe it. He began to push the ship onward again. It wouldn't happen that way, he swore it... Even though it had happened to Headmaster Nomura's mother. And who knows how many before that... "I won't let it." He paused. "And neither will you. You don't get to just... wear me like a costume. Especially not to hurt her!"
Ozpin bristled at the accusation, but did not deny it. How could he, when the boy could almost feel that he had been waiting for the opportunity. Still, it was not an unreasonable request. Very well... He began begrudgingly. Unless the time comes where there is only Salem, I will refrain from taking over without your permission. And when I have your permission, I shall endeavor to do Ms. Nomura as little harm as possible.
Oscar thought it over. "Fine. But I'd rather not need to rely on that – this is my body."
Ozpin quietly hummed as he considered that request and how best to make it work. Finally, he came to an idea: Then training as you sleep, in order to make the most of the time. Watching your blunders has been... an interesting experience, to say the least. I would much rather watch your successes firsthand.
