Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

"... what do you mean, Weiss? I, Jaune Arc, am of course, Jaune Arc. Who else would I, Jaune Arc, be, but Jaune Arc?" the blond boy attempted to insist, gesturing to himself. "Are you sure that that last attack did not hit you too hard… Snow Angel?"

Weiss glared at the person who, despite all appearances and recent choice in insipid nicknames, was most definitely not Jaune Arc.

"The next time you try to act like tall, blond, and scraggly, try not to let it show just how overqualified you are," the heiress growled. She pointed accusingly at Number C39: Utopia Ray, the behemoth warrior's attack points returning to normal as its master's turn ended. "Arc is struggling to manifest Gagaga Cowboy, a card designed to be as easy as possible to Xyz Summon. Rank-Up Xyz Evolution is a technique so difficult that only a handful of duelists in the world can do it. My sister is a prodigy among prodigies because she was able to master it while she was still a student at Atlas Academy. And you expect us to believe that 'Jaune Arc' suddenly figured out how to pull off this special 'Chaos' variant?"

"When all impossible scenarios have been eliminated, it is only logical that whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," the boy countered, once more gesturing to his body. "Do I look like someone who is not Jaune Arc?"

"I had my dragon possess me a few weeks ago," Weiss snarled. "We know that magic exists. You're going to have to come up with a better excuse than just using Vomit Boy's body."

"Plus, you're not really doing a great job acting like him," Ruby chimed in. "Like, even if you weren't a lot better at dueling than him, you two talk in completely different ways. What are you? The spirit of Number 39 or something?"

The blond held the Team RWBY members' gazes for a few more moments before finally letting out a resigned sigh of defeat. "I do not believe so. Utopia is a dear friend and one of my only links to my past, but we are separate beings. Just as I am from the body I am currently using."

"Aha!" Weiss exclaimed. "So you admit that you're not Arc!"

"It is true. I am not Jaune," the blond confirmed. "My name, or at least as much of it as I can remember, is Astral."

"As much as you can remember?" Ruby queried. "You have amnesia?"

"Isn't that convenient," Weiss snarked.

"I assure you, it is highly inconvenient," Astral replied, apparently not picking up on the Schnee's accusatory tone. He reached under Jaune's shirt and pulled out a mishmash of a pendant, a small golden pyramid with a blue gem fused with three navy blue spikes by a sizable red jewel. "All I know is that when Jaune received this key from his sister before he came to Beacon, I awakened inside of it. Since then, I have advised him on dueling strategy and even at times taken over his body to conduct tasks directly."

"You were the one who challenged Cardin the night I forged Starving Venom," Ruby realized, her silver eyes widening as the intelligent girl connected the dots in her mind. "You're the one who told Jaune about Fusion Summoning!"

Astral nodded. "Though my memories of my identity are unclear at best, I seem to have maintained whatever dueling knowledge I had prior to my amnesia."

"Then you can teach me–"

"Ruby!" Weiss screeched, cutting off her partner's overexcited planning. "We know nothing about this ghost except what he's told us! For all we know, he could have been controlling Jaune's body since we all met and the real Arc is a prisoner in his own head."

"Oh, come on, Weiss," Ruby waved. "Why would he suddenly have trouble acting like the person he's always pretending to be then?"

"Unless it was an attempt to throw you off the trail. It is a notable logical possibility," Astral declared, nodding to Weiss in respect. "Your caution does you credit, Ms. Schnee."

"Don't think flattery will get you out of this!" Weiss shot back.

"I did not believe it would. Though perhaps a third party can," Astral replied. "Pyrrha has been aware of my presence for some time now. Number 101, for some reason, possesses some connection to me and enables her to see me even when I am not possessing Jaune. She has witnessed that we are separate beings with a mutually agreed-upon partnership. You may ask her at your leisure to confirm that I have no malicious intent."

"Oh, believe me, I will," Weiss warned. "If Pyrrha knows about you, why have she and Arc not told the rest of us?"

"Yeah! Why didn't you tell me about you after you kicked Cardin's butt?" Ruby demanded. "We could have been having awesome duels like this for weeks!"

"Ruby, that is not the point!"

Astral smiled warmly at the partners' interaction. After only a few moments though, his cheer dimmed a tad. "Their reticence was at my request. Well, that and Jaune's concern that you'd all think him 'madder than a kerosine barrel that rolled into a bar full of Fire Fists', but mostly my request, especially after the events of Ms. Schnee and Ms. Belladonna's duel."

Ruby cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Why would you want that?"

Astral pursed his lips, looking like he was considering saying something. Only to glance up at his Chaos Number and gain a confident grin. "How about a wager? If you win this duel, I will explain my reasoning for my hesitance."

Weiss snorted. "Do you really think we'd agree to something like that to get basic information about whether or not to trust you–she's already drawn for her turn, hasn't she?"

"I activate Book of Moon!" Ruby yelled with a massive smile, a thick tome with an image of an impossibly full moon on the cover manifesting before her. "And when I win, you have to let everyone know that you exist. That way, we can all have awesome duels and adventures together!"

Astral frowned at that added stipulation but nodded in agreement all the same. "Then when I win, you will both keep your silence."

"Sure," Ruby concurred. "But that's not gonna happen because my Book of Moon switches your Utopia Ray into facedown defense mode."

The thick tome opened and beams of moonlight flared out of its pages. Utopia Ray was blasted by its shine, the towering warrior's body morphing into a flipped-over card.

"Fitting that a warrior of the sun is beaten by a spell of the moon," Ruby commented. "Queen of Thorns! Attac–"

"Kuri!"

Ruby blinked, a flash of colorful light blinding her for a moment. When the hunting duelist could see again though, an instantly identifiable rainbow puffball was bouncing atop her Synchro Monster. "Rainbow Kuriboh?"

"I suppose it would have been more fitting to play him while wearing Jaune's pajamas," Astral noted, his version of the iconic puffball's card flipped around in his fingers and glowing as he manifested it. "Nonetheless, when your monster declares an attack, I can equip this card from my hand to it and render it unable to attack."

Weiss scowled, begrudgingly admitting to herself that the spirit had made an excellent play. She'd wondered about the wisdom of utilizing all his Chaos Number's overlay units just to take out her and reducing his life points to a mere one thousand when Ruby was right there waiting to strike, but it seemed he'd kept a simple but effective defense waiting to take action. If the spirit of the key hadn't already proven himself a superior duelist to Arc just by taking her out so swiftly, his foresight and caution in this scenario certainly solidified it.

"I switch Twilight Rose Knight to defense mode and end my turn," Ruby announced, her short armored warrior taking a knee as a sideways card appeared beneath it.

"My turn. Draw!" Astral stoically stated, glancing at his card before stowing it in his hand and flip-summoning Utopia Ray, his towering gold and black warrior reappearing before him. "I banish Breakthrough Skill from my graveyard to activate its effect. Your Twilight Rose Knight's effect preventing me from attacking your Plant-Type monsters is now negated."

"Oh snap," Ruby muttered, the color of her knight dimming.

"Utopia Ray! Attack Queen of Thorns!" Astral commanded. "Rising Sun Chaos Slash!"

Once more the Chaos Number drew its three gigantic swords. Then, three lights flashed, one for each swipe of the blades, and Queen of Thorns was cut to pieces.

Ruby Rose: 3100 Life Points

"With your Queen of Thorns gone, I will be able to summon monsters from my hand without paying the rest of my life points next round," Astral declared, Utopia Ray sheathing its weapons as it returned to standing by. "I end my turn."

Weiss ground her teeth in concern. Ruby may have had many more life points than Astral, but so far the spirit had systematically stymied them both at every turn. His Utopia Ray had taken the SDC heiress out of the duel in a single move and even without Xyz Material to power its effect, it had taken out Ruby's strongest monster. If the red-hooded girl didn't pull out something big soon, Astral would tear her apart.

Of course, the more she thought about it, the more Weiss's irritated face shifted to an expression of confidence. After all, if there was one thing she'd learned since coming to Beacon, it was to never bet against Ruby Rose figuring out a way to turn a duel around.

"I draw!" Ruby announced, though she stowed the drawn card away in her hand and placed the other spell she already had into Crescent Rose's slots. "I activate Pot of Avarice! I shuffle five monsters from my graveyard into my deck and draw two cards."

"Your three Baobaboons, your Copy Plant, and your Queen of Thorns are the only monsters in your graveyard," Astral noted. "It seems I was not the only one who planned for an attack on my Extra Deck monster."

Ruby smirked, pulling two cards from the top of her deck after it was shuffled, her smile growing even wider when she saw the both of them. "No. No, you were not. I summon Lonefire Blossom!"

"Yes!" Weiss cheered, the heiress clenching her fist as an orange blossom sprouted onto the field with a small flame flickering at its tip (ATK 500/DEF 1400).

"I take it by your exclamation that this monster's effect is noteworthy?" Astral said.

"You could say that," Weiss grinned. "Lonefire Blossom is one of the most sought-after monsters among plant duelists. Once per turn, it can tribute any Plant-Type monster on a duelist field to summon any Plant-Type monster from their deck."

"And I've got three of them. So first I'll tribute this one on my field to summon another from my deck," Ruby called out, her Lonefire Blossom's flame burning it down to ash, only for an exact copy to rise from the new mulch. "Then I'll tribute my new Lonefire Blossom to summon Baobaboon from my deck!"

Weiss cocked an eyebrow as her partner's go-to tree with a baboon face flashed onto the field (ATK 1200/DEF 1000). Why had Ruby only summoned one of the two other Lonefire Blossoms in her deck? Clearing one's deck was a matter of course in most strategies, but for Ruby, whose deck relied on having Plant monsters in the graveyard for cards such as Black Rose Dragon's second effect, getting all three Lonefire Blossoms in the graveyard would be an incredible boon.

"Now I tune my Twilight Rose Knight with my Baobaboon!" Ruby yelled, Twilight Rose Knight breaking into three emerald tuner rings and vibrating in time with the three shining stars that Baobaboon broke into, a pillar of starlight flaring through them all. "Hunter of thorns stained red like roses, emerge from the sacred forest with your faithful whip in hand! Synchro Summon! Splendid Rose!"

The Synchro Monster descended down from the starlight, the blonde woman twirling in her verdant suit as her thorny vines preened around her (ATK 2200/DEF 2000).

"So, you've been hanging around Jaune, right?" Ruby smirked. "Then you saw what this monster can do when I dueled Weiss after initiation."

"Actually, I was not present for that duel," Astral admitted. "Jaune was having confidence issues at the time and so was keeping the key I am bound to in his suitcase."

"Oh. That sounds… not fun," Ruby stuttered, suddenly looking at her opponent with worry and compassion as a Lonefire Blossom was removed from her graveyard and the duel. "Well, I can banish a Plant-Type monster from my graveyard to cut one of your monsters' attack points in half."

"Ah, I see," Astral remarked, Splendid Rose's vines shooting out from its body and wrapping around Utopia Ray, forcing the towering warrior to its knees (ATK 1250). "A useful ability. Though, to be clear, I was not trapped in Jaune's suitcase. I am intangible when not possessing a body, so I could float through nearby walls. It was a bit annoying due to Jaune's lack of progress in our agreement, but it was not a horrific experience."

"Oh, cool!" Ruby sighed in relief. "That's good to know. Though floating through the walls? Ooo, did you join in on the Onomatopoeia Gang without us knowing? Did you have any favorite characters? Any favorite episodes or songs–"

"What agreement did you have with Jaune?" Weiss cut in, glaring at Ruby with a bit of jealousy. Seriously, the girl's genuine compassion and passion for dueling had gotten the spirit's guard to drop and slip a bit of extra information, and she'd nearly failed to exploit it because she'd been asking about his favorite Onomatopoeia Gang character (like the Schnee heiress didn't already know the only correct response was, whatever wrong answers Ruby and Nora might provide, Gagaga Magician). But then again, if that wasn't the essence of Ruby, she didn't know what was.

"It is a simple exchange. My assistance in improving his dueling skills in return for his assistance reclaiming my memories," Astral bluntly disclosed. "Now then, Ruby, I assume that you are going to attack?"

"You bet!" Ruby grinned. "Splendid Rose! Attack! Crescent Thorn Carver!"

Splendid Rose leapt into action, razor-sharp rose petals streaming down onto her vines to form a mighty scythe. Utopia Ray attempted to draw its swords to fight the attack off, but the vines already binding the warrior prevented it from bringing out its blades to defend itself. In one swift slice, the glorious Chaos Number was cut in two.

Jaune Arc: 50 Life Points

"Now I activate Splendid Rose's second effect," Ruby declared, her Baobaboon ejecting from her graveyard. "I banish another Plant-Type after it attacks, and it can halve its attack points and attack again!"

"Once more, I activate the effect of Rainbow Kuriboh! This time from my graveyard!" Astral shouted, passion filling his normally level voice, smiling wide with Jaune's mouth as his rainbow puffball poofed onto his field in defense mode (ATK 100/DEF 100). "When a direct attack is declared against me when it is in my graveyard, it can be summoned to defend me but is banished when it leaves the field."

"Nice!" Ruby exclaimed, not the least bit dismayed to have her winning strike blocked. "Take it out, Splendid Rose!"

The green-robed huntress sprang into action, Rainbow Kuriboh valiantly rising to die in a battle it could not win.

"I lay one card facedown and end my turn," Ruby said, gleefully thrusting a fist toward her opponent. "Now, come on! Show me what else you've got!"

Weiss watched as Astral's smile only grew at her emphatic joy. A flash of empathy flared through her at the spirit's rapid change in attitude. She'd been in his position not… wow, had it really only been a scant few months since she'd met her partner? Since she was the stoic, withdrawn duelist facing off with the bright-eyed girl in a red hood who just refused to not enjoy the match to the fullest? Even without all the magic and mystery, it was almost ethereal to think about how much her life had changed for the better in the single short semester since she'd met Ruby Rose.

But while she had been holding herself back in her duel with Ruby, Astral actively wanted to test his abilities. With her spirit and passion boosting his will even further, what in the world would he bring out next?

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"Draw!" Astral announced, a strange feeling of excitement bubbling through his belly (and not Jaune's physical stomach, but his own spiritual gut) as he maintained Ruby's gaze and pulled his card. He didn't recall such an eager sensation filling him during his duels with Jaune's father or Cardin, but he couldn't say it was an unpleasant experience, whatever it was. He had requested this duel as a logical method of testing his abilities to ensure he could protect his friends from the danger to come, but now…

… if Ruby was so willing to press on against him even after Weiss's defeat, then it was only polite that he return her efforts in kind.

He glanced down at the card he'd drawn, Sakuretsu Armor. A potent trap, but not immediately helpful for dealing with Splendid Rose. Though, the card he'd drawn last turn, on the other hand, could be of more tangible use.

"I activate Glorious Numbers!" Astral proclaimed, jamming his spell card into Crocea Mors. "Since I control no monsters, I can summon one 'Number' Xyz Monster from my graveyard, then draw one card. I resurrect Number 39: Utopia!"

A glowing number thirty-nine sigil shined in the sky, the ground below it blossoming with a blinding white portal. And from that portal, Utopia flew up from the great beyond, striking a pose as its wings flared (ATK 2500/DEF 2000).

"He brought it back?" Weiss gasped, staring up at the gleaming Number in awe, though Ruby just maintained a calm, spirited smile at the sight of the sun warrior.

The duelist with the red hood's monster was weaker than Utopia, but Astral couldn't shake the instinct that he needed more to defeat her. Even moreso, the feeling of excitement within him screamed at him to meet her challenge more even if it wasn't necessary. It made no logical sense, but the spirit could not help but let the sensation flood over him as he placed his hand over his deck to draw for Glorious Numbers' effect.

Chaos creates and renews life.

Crimson light began to glow softly atop Astral's deck, energy not unlike dust coalescing against Jaune's palm.

Order shapes it and binds it with the strength to survive.

Golden essence flared over the energy, shaping it into a recognizable, solid form.

"You must be truly desperate to come to me for help with such an outrageous proposal."

"Neither of us can survive this crisis of imbalance alone. Whether light or darkness prevails, it makes no difference, we will both be swallowed. And you would have already attacked me if you didn't know it."

"I refuse!"

"No, you do not. Only balance has any hope to survive this imbalance. We need this power! When two distant souls become one, the power of $*& / is revealed!"

"What in the world?!" Weiss exclaimed.

Ruby's eyes narrowed at the brilliant glow. "Is that… a card?"

"Shining Draw!" Astral roared, the luminescent card he forged from pure Chaos and Order Magic wrenched out from his deck and slammed into his duel disk. "I activate Rank-Up-Magic Limited Barian's Force! Chaos Xyz Evolution!"

"Rank-Up-Magic?!" Weiss squawked. "You can cause Rank-Up Xyz Evolution with a spell card!?"

"Awesome!" Ruby squeed, sparkles in her silver eyes. She glanced back at her mother's gravestone and leapt up and down in excitement. "You see that mom?! Look at how cool my friends are!"

She considered him one of her friends? Even though this duel was their first true interaction? Somehow, even as Utopia folded back into itself and descended into the spiraling galaxy of the Overlay Network, and the smallest fraction of his clouded memories came back into focus, Astral found that to be the most miraculous thing on the cliffside.

"Crimson conqueror who unifies chaos and order, release the code's eternal seal and in one flash blow away light and darkness! Descend and arise! Rank Five! Number C39: Utopia Ray V!"

The new warrior erupted from the Overlay Network's blazing supernova in the crimson blood of a dying star. Where Utopia Ray had been bulky and imposing, Utopia Ray V was streamlined and sleek, its armor a piercing, lethal scarlet mixed with black wings of the purest night. The original Utopia took orbit around it not as a passive node of golden light, but as a manufactured battery containing a bright maroon glow: a Chaos Overlay Unit. This was a warrior meant not for battling an opponent, but for the efficient slaughtering of an enemy (ATK 2600/DEF 2000).

"Eeeeeeee!" Ruby cheered. "That was magic, right? That was totally magic!"

"I… I believe it was, yes," Astral confirmed, panting for breath as Jaune's arm clenched in the aftermath, his muscles throbbing with strain as if he'd just finished a hard session at the gym. However, while his partner's borrowed physical body felt put upon after the Shining Draw, the spirit found that his own ethereal form was not even winded. He may not be able to access all of his former power yet without his memories, but it was clear his essence was fully prepared to handle the strain when he reclaimed them. "I used Chaos and Order Magic in tandem to create and stabilize a new card."

"You created a card? Just now? In the middle of a duel?" Weiss stammered. "That's impossible!"

"Weiss, it's magic," Ruby pointed out, not subtly pulling out her scroll and snapping pictures of Utopia Ray V. "I don't think he'd need a forge for it."

"It's not just that! The ancient laws of Remnant, they don't allow a card to be added to a deck and manifest in the middle of a duel anymore than they allow other deck-stacking to bear fruit in live aura duels," Weiss insisted, her head whipping towards Astral to stare at him in awe and terror. "You could control every card you draw with power like that."

"Not likely. At least not with Jaune's current body," Astral repiled, clutching his partner's twitching fingers. "I thought it was imbalance that made magic a danger to one's self."

"It is, but it's still something a body's got to get used to," Ruby said, tapping her silver eyes. "Why do you think I got knocked out the first time these went off?"

"I assumed that in combination with your Signer Mark's Light Magic, it unbalanced the Destruction Magic already flowing through you at the time," Astral admitted. "Though I suppose if you were not actively invoking the Light Magic, Black Rose Dragon could have just stopped emitting its power as easily as it started."

"Pretty much. A body's gotta get used to magic just like it has to get used to aura, even when you're training with it properly," Ruby shrugged. "Now, enough talking. Show me what your new wicked cool monster can do!"

Astral matched her grin. "As you wish. Utopia Ray V! Activate your special ability!"

Utopia Ray V ripped out its wavy but sharp swords from their scabbard and slammed them together at their hilts. Its Chaos Overlay Unit morphed into bright pink light and flowed through the warrior's flaring wings.

"By using one Chaos Overlay Unit, Utopia Ray V can destroy one monster on your field," Astral revealed. "And you take equal to that monster's attack on the field. Spinning Blades of Destruction!"

The pink energy from Utopia Ray V's wings surged into its sword-staff and the star-born warrior chucked it across the field. The blades blurred into a single spinning scythe that cut through the air with a high-pitched whirr, right before it sliced through Splendid Rose with even greater ease. The Plant-Type Synchro Monster wailed as her body exploded into ash, Ruby forced to her knees from the shockwave, her aura flickering.

Ruby Rose: 900 Life Points

"Ruby!" Weiss called out in worry, her partner defenseless as the Chaos Number's weapons returned to its grasp.

"Battle! Utopia Ray V, attack her directly! Rising Sun Star Slash!" Astral yelled. "You lo–"

A flash of a smirk beneath Ruby's dark bangs, brought the spirit's declaration up short. In the midst of the passion she'd stoked in him, he'd forgotten that she still had one facedown card.

"Trap card, open! No Entry!" the red-hooded girl announced, her back-row card flipping up to reveal an image of two security guards standing in front of a barred door. "All monsters are switched into defense mode!"

Astral watched as Utopia Ray V took a knee, a sideways card forming underneath the deadly monster, its victorious attack diverted. "I lay one card facedown and end my turn."

As Sakretsu Armor manifested in his back row, the spirit felt he'd covered his bases as well as he could. Cards like No Entry and Book of Moon that altered monsters' battle positions were common in Ruby's deck, used for diffusing enemy attacks and setting up effects like her Black Rose Dragon's second ability. It was unsurprising that he happened upon one of them, but if she attempted to take advantage of Utopia Ray V's lower defense points as she had with Utopia Ray, she'd be in for a nasty surprise when her attacking monster was destroyed.

Yet, despite the substantial force amassed against her, the red-hooded girl's gleeful smile did not abate. In fact, when Astral's turn ended, it almost took on an air of wistful sorrow.

"You know, it's duels like this that make me wish they could last forever," Ruby said, drawing for her turn, but not even looking at her new card as she placed the one that was already in her hand onto her duel disk.

Astral's eyes widened in shock as a Lonefire Blossom (ATK 500/DEF 1400) sprouted onto the field, its bulbous flame ready to burn.

Of course! That was why Ruby had only summoned two Lonefire Blossoms on her last turn when she'd claimed to have three in her deck! She couldn't, because the monster's effect only allowed it to tribute a Plant-Type to summon a monster from the deck, not the hand! She'd drawn two Lonefire Blossoms when she'd used Pot of Avarice!

Which meant that she could once again summon any Plant-Type in her deck. Including…

"I tribute Lonefire Blossom to activate its effect and special summon Evil Thorn from my deck."

Lonefire Blossom's flame expanded and burnt the bulbous plant into ash, the thorny dark purple flower rising from the fertilizer with all its drooping glory (ATK 100/DEF 300).

For a few moments, Astral didn't know how to react to the summoning. But in the end, he could not help but close his eyes, smile, and give a small nod of respect to his opponent. "Well played."

Ruby matched his nod with one of her own in return and vigorously pointed at her Level One monster that rendered his mighty Chaos Number irrelevant. "I activate Evil Thorn's effect. By tributing it, I deal you three hundred points of damage."

The drooping plant's spiky dark bulb bloated up and exploded, its black spines shooting out and bombarding Astral's floundering aura down its last sparks.

Jaune Arc: 0 Life Points

Winner: Ruby Rose

Astral nodded thankfully at Utopia Ray V, his monster fading without aura to fuel its body. It was ironic really. He'd wielded the incredible power of a Chaos Number, a behemoth that Ruby and Weiss had never even dreamed of before, and the red-hooded girl had achieved victory with a far weaker creature, taking away his power to utilize his mighty warrior without having to overpower him at all.

He turned to the Team RWBY girls as they approached him, Ruby giddily skipping from her mother's gravestone while Weiss walked with a determined gait.

"Great duel!" Ruby earnestly complimented. "Your Chaos Numbers are incredible!"

"Thank you. Your tactics were equally impressive," Astral replied in turn, a smile still on his borrowed face. "Strange. I challenged you both to test my abilities, to ensure that I would be able to assist Jaune, Pyrrha, and the rest of you against any threats brought down upon you by my or Number 101's presence. Now I have failed that test… and yet, I do not find myself disappointed."

"That's the power of a good duel," Ruby declared. She turned back to her mother's gravestone and grinned. "If we're gonna be hunting duelists, there's gonna be duels with higher stakes when we're stopping the bad guys. But even when I was dueling Torchwick, when I knew I could get hurt if I didn't pull out a win… I don't know. Giving it everything I've got with my monsters is just fun. You know?"

"I believe I have observed such a phenomenon now," Astral said. "I pray the day never comes where you encounter a duel you cannot enjoy."

"A lovely sentiment," Weiss snarked. "But I believe you owe us an explanation for why you had Jaune and Pyrrha hide your existence until now."

Astral's mood dimmed a tad at that. He pulled Utopia Ray V's card from where it rested on Crocea Mors, his morose gaze locked on the mysterious card he'd conjured. "Shame."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "Shame?"

"For what?" Ruby asked. "You're awesome! You took on both of us at once and we barely beat you. Heck, you were handing Cardin his butt the night we met back at Beacon even without Chaos Numbers."

"And you and Jaune were only in danger from Team CRDL that night because I made use of Jaune's body and led them to the forge," Astral said. "My efforts to advance my own cause, to regain the memories I do not have and make sense of the jumbled ones I still do, inadvertently endangered you. And with your father's reaction to the news of Number 101… I worry that the truth I will find will not be good. I worry that who I really am–"

"-isn't a good person," Weiss glumly finished, the SDC heiress' crystal blue eyes shifting away in uncomfortable understanding.

"Ugh. Great, there's two of you now," Ruby groaned. "Look, Astral, what I said about you having to tell everyone else about you if I won? Forget it."

Astral blinked in surprise. "Are you sure? Your victory entitles you to such an action."

"As someone has reminded me recently, I have a habit of trying to force other people to brute force their way through their issues," Ruby said, shooting Weiss a friendly smile. "Whenever you're comfortable letting everyone else know about you, we'll be ready to back you up."

"Why?" Astral asked. "I may have watched you for some time now, but this is your first encounter with me."

"Dueling is about expressing your feelings to each other and bonding through them," Ruby grinned. "I'd say we're solid friends now. Wouldn't you?"

"I… I would like that," Astral replied with a smile. "But, I do believe I wish to wait a bit before revealing myself to the others, just until I understand more about myself. It seems that every time I unlock an evolution of Utopia, I regain more memories, but they are… jumbled. Fragmented. My access to my magic grows, but I only acquire scraps of who I am."

"Then how can you unjumble them?" Ruby inquired.

"The Over-One Hundred Numbers," Weiss interceded, her partner and Astral turning to her. "You said that Pyrrha's had some sort of connection to you, right?"

Astral nodded. "Indeed. Touching Silent Honor ARK allowed me to bring some of my memories into alignment, recalling a bit of my name among other things."

"Great!" Ruby exclaimed. "Then we just need to help you track down more Over-One Hundred Numbers. Easy!"

Weiss frowned. "Ruby, we didn't know that Over-One Hundred Numbers existed until today, and based on your dad's reaction, we aren't going to get any more information from him about them. We have no idea if there are any more of them aside from Pyrrha's, or how many there are, or even how to start looking for them."

"Okay, so not 'easy', but we've gotta try," Ruby said. "And in the meantime, Astral can teach me Fusion Summoning! Starving Venom was chomping at the bits to join the fun when those Chaos Numbers were on the field."

"I cannot teach you how to Fusion Summon." Astral declared.

Ruby's head twitched. "Huh?"

"While my instinctive dueling knowledge does include the fact that Fusion Summoning exists and some basics about its nature, it does not contain any information or skill on how to perform it, in contrast to my strange natural proficiency with Xyz Summoning," Astral explained. "My apologies if I 'got your hopes up'."

Ruby keeled over with a depressed whine. "... I don't suppose you at least know Polymerization's dust formula."

"I do not," Astral reluctantly informed her. "Tonight was my first experience forging cards with dust that I can recall."

"Aw well," Ruby sighed. "Trial and error forging marathon it is–"

"RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Astral, Ruby, and Weiss all whirled toward the forest, a deafening roar splitting the night sky like thunder. Above the treetops, a gigantic dragon rose into the heavens, a hellish nova of raw fire searing its place among the stars, daring any of them to challenge its claim to rule them all.

"Hot Red Dragon Archfiend?" Weiss murmured, only to narrow her eyes to brave the glaring light for a better look. "No, wait, the horns and wings are different. And it's bigger. Ruby, do you know what that–Ruby!"

A burst of rose petals was all the response Weiss got, Ruby racing off into the forest without confirming a thing to her friends.

"I am getting very tired of her doing that," Weiss complained.

"It is vexing," Astral noted. "Though I also find it admirable. The surety to know what she needs to do and the will to act on it in an instant. Truthfully, I am envious."

Weiss sighed, a small smile teasing her lips. "Join the club."

The heiress glanced back at Summer Rose's gravestone, its poetic description seeming to glow with warmth in the light of the demonic dragon shining above the forest. "Do you think she was like that as well? Or do you think she doubted herself like we do?"

"We may never know. She is dead, after all," Astral pointed out. "Though, I wonder, she was both a Signer and a Silver-Eyed Warrior like Ruby, was she not? How did she manage her innate imbalance?"

Weiss shrugged. "I imagine having extra Light and Creation Magic in you isn't as much of a problem compared to Darkness, Destruction, or Chaos."

"Imbalance is imbalance, no matter which way the scale tips," Astral countered.

Though, that raised another mystery in the spirit's mind. The Signer Dragons wield pure Light Magic, but Ruby's Silver Eyes were from Remnant. Therefore in theory, they should subscribe to the same 'creatures of balance' philosophy that the rest of the Brother Gods' creations did.

And of course, Ruby had referred to her eyes as being able to 'channel' Creation Magic out of them. Channel Creation Magic from where?

Or rather what?

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

A Bit Earlier.

"I left before you," Blake remarked, her amber eyes narrowed at her partner. "How did you get in front of me?"

Yang cockily leaned back against a tree trunk and smirked at her teammate in the moonlit forest clearing. "You spend a week here and you think you know more about these woods than me? Please. I grew up in this forest. I know its shortcuts like the back of my hand. Really, if you wanted to take a late-night stroll, you should have asked me to come with you for the best route."

Blake glanced at the knapsack slung over her shoulder, the cat faunus's face falling in shame, her ears drooping under her black bow. "You know I'm not out for a stroll."

Yang sighed. "Yeah, I know. But I don't get why. We've all had the time of our lives this week. Why are you trying to abandon us now?"

"I don't want to… I'm not…" Blake stammered. "I'm not trying to abandon you."

"But it's what you're doing," Yang shot back. "And again, why? You can't be that scared of Zwei."

Blake took a deep breath, fixing Yang with a determined stare. "I'm going after the White Fang."

"Yeah, that was already on the agenda," her partner brushed off, rolling her eyes. "We head back to Beacon, take our Promotion Exams, then go out and smack some bad guys' heads together."

"I'm going after them alone," Blake declared.

"Because that went so well last time."

"Last time, Weiss got hurt and Sun ended up in the infirmary," Blake shouted.

Yang continued to lean against the tree and blinked impassively at the Odd-Eyed Bandit. Clearly, she was unconvinced.

Blake groaned, rubbing her hands over her face. "Look, this past week… has been the best week I've had in years. You guys… you mean the world to me."

"And you mean the world to us," Yang assured her. "So why are you running away when we've got your back?"

"Because you mean the world to me. And the White Fang is my mistake," Blake said. "If any of you got hurt because people I left behind are targeting me now, trying to hurt me through you… I can't let that happen."

"You mean the chameleon girl?" Yang asked. "Look, Amazonesses are no joke, especially with Fusion Monsters, but we can handle her."

"Ilia can do a lot more than just Fusion," Blake replied. "And I left behind more dangerous people than her."

"You have shouldn't have run if you knew that, my darling."

What?!

Yang whipped around towards the trees bordering the clearing the Team RWBY girls were in, Ember Celica deploying into its ready mode on her right arm. Her eyes scanned the darkness of the forest, feverishly searching for the voice that had somehow snuck up on her in practically her own backyard.

Meanwhile, Blake didn't deploy Gambol Shroud, the feisty cat faunus' entire body suddenly pale and trembling.

"Blake, get your duel disk out," Yang advised her, putting a pair of fingers on her deck to draw a monster into action. "Blake! Blak–Ah!"

Too late, she caught sight of two glimpses of steel flashing through the darkness, the young blonde sent flying across the clearing as two swords smashed into her aura and sliced her duel disk off her arm.

"Yang!" Blake wailed, finally skittering into action.

The instant she tried to deploy Gambol Shroud though, the two swordsmen who'd attacked Yang, men dressed as Mistralian samurai, whirled on her. Blake tried to use her shadow clones to escape them, but the moment she used her semblance to escape one of them, the other was already striking at her escape route in perfect coordination. The warrior monsters were insanely skilled, but more than they knew Blake, her tactics and her training.

Before Yang could even fully process what was happening, her partner had used so much aura for her clones that one of the samurai's strikes cut through her aura and drew blood, the cat faunus thrown to her knees on the ground.

"Blake!" Yang called dashing for Ember Celica and her deck stowed within.

Only to have a red-haired bull faunus emerge from the dark forest and plant a foot atop it.

Yang's eyes widened at the sight of him, his loyal samurai instantly dashing to his side and taking a knee in reverence. Their helmets barely met the height of his waist, their antiquated attire even with the long, sword-shaped duel disk on his hip. His long black jacket flapped in the brisk night wind, the darkness surrounding him only allowing the starlight to accentuate his burning scarlet hair and the bone-white Grimm mask covering his eyes.

"The Blood-Soaked Bull," Yang whispered, recognizing the figure from news reports.

"Adam," Blake whimpered in terror, clearly recognizing their assailant from far more intimate circumstances.

"Hello, my darling," the bull faunus greeted, his voice carrying an edge as sharp as an Axe of Despair. "We have a great deal to discuss regarding your desertion. But before we speak, I believe you were trying to remove yourself from the company of this human that 'means the world to you'? Allow me to assist. Kizan!"

One of Adam's samurai shot back its feet, its sword drawn and swinging for Yang before the blonde girl could blink. She threw herself back on instinct, desperate to escape…

… but even then, she couldn't quite get her right arm out of the path of the blade.

So, a lot of you have already guessed the duel that's starting next chapter. Suffice to say, it will be a lot of fun.

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Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!

Go Forth and Conquer!