Chapter 61: Push forward!

"Okay, so the plan is we need to find Emilia-chan, Elsa, and Shaula to give them some back up."

"Ram-sama and I could provide some assistance to Emilia-sama, The Bowel Hunter, and Shaula-san."

Subaru looked at Rem and was a bit uncertain with this since in the previous loop, both twin sisters were able to keep up with the Organization members yet the two could also assist Emilia, Elsa, and Shaula in pushing back the two Sin Archbishops of Gluttony. He looked at the group and tried to think who can help the three girls.

'For sure I can't have both Rem and Ram helping Emilia-chan and her group. Rem was able to hold her own against that prick looking boy. Ram was able to keep up against that tough guy looking man. Julius and Kishida could probably handle their own for a bit against maybe the Organization member Sora and me were facing in the previous loop, maybe...but I need someone that can do something.'

As Subaru was thinking carefully, he looked at Ram before saying,

"I say that you should go help Emilia-chan. Rem can protect Sora."

The two sisters look at each other for a moment before looking at Subaru.

"Barusu, you are an idiot."

"What? Why?"

"You are just an idiot but that is not a bad plan."

"Ram-sama, are you okay going on your own?"

"It will be fine, Rem. Just make sure to keep Barusu in check."

"I will, Ram-sama."

"The hell?"

"Shut it, Barusu."

Ram turns around and starts to walk outside of the trial room, summoning her two dream eaters to accompany her in facing off the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony. As she left, Rem turned towards Sora to approach him and stay by him. Sora looked at Rem for a moment before looking at the group, still unsure how to handle Rem's feelings since he is still too young for love. While he was thinking about it, he returned to focus when he heard Subaru speaking once again.

"Aside from hearing Ram insult me once again, we need to prepare for Sora's enemies. They will attack us soon."

"Hm...Riku..."

Sora looked down with a bit of sadness in his voice. Although he is aware that this isn't the real Riku, it is still tough to call him an enemy. Subaru noticed this yet he couldn't dwell on it for too long since he needed to prepare the right people to face the right opponent if they wanted to get out of the obstacles keeping them trapped.

'Sora and Kishida can take on that one that Sora and I faced in the previous vision. Rem can take on the one Ram was facing. As for the other one, I think dad and I can take him on. The only real issue is dealing with that witch...'

Subaru continued to think for a moment before concluding that completing the tower's challenges will be the key in defeating the witch. As he came to this conclusion, he looked at the group and started to say,

"We need to form a few groups to take on specific members."

"What do you suggest?" Julius asked as he was curious what the boy will say.

"Well, I would put you in charge of protecting my mom, Anastasia-sama, and Meili. As you do this, you can also try to beat the trial on your own."

"Ha! As if th's guy can."

The group turned towards Reid as they listened to him insulting Julius. Kishida and Subaru disliked this since they respected Julius while the finest knight felt discouraged. He was really disappointed in himself since he hasn't been doing well when doing the trial. This doubt caused to him to say with some doubt in his voice,

"Are you sure I should be the one facing Reid Astrea?"

Subaru turned towards Julius, noticing the self-doubt inside him. Since he noticed this, he approached the finest knight and began to say as he patted the knight's arm,

"Don't listen to this asshat, you can do this. After all, you are Anastasia-sama's knight."

'Anastasia-sama's knight...he is right!'

Julius had sworn to protect his lady no matter what and seeing that this situation is calling for him. He gives Subaru a nod and quickly turns towards Reid to challenge him once again, this time with confidence that he will beat the trial. Reid looked at Julius with a serious facial expression for a moment before smiling, curious to see how a confident Julius will do on his own. He got up and set himself ready for a fight.

"Aight, bring it on!"

"I, Julius Juukulius, will defeat you."

"Ha!"

Reid smiled with some interest before the two started their fight, with Julius taking on the offense. While the two were fighting, Subaru had continued speaking of the plan he came up with thanks to the information he got in the previous visions of events.

"The rest of us will fight off Sora's enemies with Sora and Kishida facing off the one who hasn't revealed their faces. Beatrice, my father, and I will face that boy that looks like Riku. And Rem takes on the tough opponent."

"I'm a little unsure on this...maybe I should face Riku."

Subaru turns towards Sora, having noticed what he said and the tone of voice he was speaking in.

"I understand that this Riku isn't the real one but I don't want him to use that against you."

"True...but Riku is still Riku, I can get through him. I will fight Riku."

"Sora..."

Subaru was completely caught off guard by Sora's comment and the determination he had in his voice. This caused him to quickly think on this, seeing that he is going to need to change the line up on who is facing who.

'I suppose that I can switch with Sora...though the problem with this is that I'm not a skilled warrior. That can make this tricky...unless—'

Subaru looked at Sora and nodded, showing that he understands and accepts this.

"Alright, then you and I will face Riku together. My father can help Kishida considering how skilled my father is."

"You know it, my amazing son."

"So this is the plan. Sora and you take on fake Riku. I face the tough looking one. And Kishida-sama and Kenichi-san take on the hooded figure."

"Yes."

"Does anybody object to this plan?"

Everyone looked at each other before just nodding at Rem, all agreeing that they are okay with Subaru's plan. As they nod, the group all get themselves ready for the fight ahead, Naoko approached her husband and her son to wish the two luck.

"Makes sure you two take care of each other and come back to me safely."

"Don't worry honey, Subaru and I will return back to you. I promise."

Naoko smiled at this before giving her husband a good luck kiss, embarrassing Subaru a bit before giving his mother a hug. The two were hugging for a moment before Subaru and Kenichi joined the group to head towards the library where the Organization members will appear. While heading towards the library, Subaru closed his eyes for a moment to check on Emilia's group and how they are holding up. As he does this for a few seconds, he was able to feel that Emilia, Shaula, and Elsa are somewhere close and haven't been injured at all with Ram just arriving at their location.

'Okay, so now that Ram as arrived there, I can think straight for now and not worry about Emilia-chan.'

Subaru managed to keep himself relaxed for a bit before the group arrived at the library. As they arrived there, Subaru started to recall the events that had transpired in previous visions. Subaru looks around the library for a moment before he recalls the exact spot the three Organization members appear.

"This is the spot."

"Alright then, what should we do for now?"

"We should wait but be ready, we don't know what other threats may be lingering."

Kishida nodded at this along with the others before they all looked around with their weapons ready for a fight. As the group waited for a couple of minutes before they noticed someone approaching them. Subaru, Rem, Sora, Beatrice, Kishida, and Kenichi prepared themselves for the fight against the three Organization members until they realize that it is a large heartless appeared in front of them. This heartless looked vaguely humanoid with an emaciated, legless, dark pink-skinned appearance with a large scythe.

'The hell? This thing never appeared here?!'

"Well...this is quite the problem." Kenichi says as Subaru looks with a surprised facial expression.

"Well...seems like we will need to take care of this."

"Then all of you stand back, allow Rem to handle this."

The group looked at Rem as she approached the heartless after having spoken, confident that she can beat the opponent in front of them. Rem walked towards the heartless and waited until the heartless swung it's scythe. As it swung it's weapon, Rem jumped high enough to avoid the hit while also jumping towards the direction of the Grim Reaper heartless.

As she closed in, she landed a strong punch towards the heartless' head, sending the heartless back a moment before it started swinging it's scythe at her. While she was facing the grim reaper heartless, a few shadow heartless surrounded the others which caused them to get themselves into fighting positions.

"Seems like the action came to us."

"The creatures from the island..."

"This is nothing to Betty, I suppose."

Sora, Kenichi, and Beatrice all spoke with Kishida and Subaru both being silent. Kishida slightly excited to test out some of his skills he learned from Reid on real opponents while Subaru was confused on why things were randomly changing.

'What in the hell is going on? This isn't right...I hope Emilia-chan and her group are alright.'

Ram walked down the stairs for a bit with her two dream eaters by her side, trying to use clairvoyance to find Emilia and her group. As she did this, she managed to latch onto Emilia's vision, seeing that she is close by. As Ram turns off her clairvoyance, she quickly ran towards Emilia's position. Once she arrived to where Emilia, Shaula, and Elsa were located, she could tell that they are ready for something.

"Emilia-sama."

"Oh, Ram. It's good to see you. Is Subaru okay?"

"Barusu is okay. Still an idiot but alive."

"Don't be mean, Ram."

"Pardon me, Emilia-sama but he is an idiot."

"Who are you all talking about?"

Shaula turned towards the two women with a curious facial expression before Elsa got everyone's attention.

"Girls, we should focus on the two gluttonies."

"R-Right."

"Shaula-san, how close are the targets?"

"There are two are very close to the tower."

"How close?"

"They are already near the entrance."

"Seems like we better prepare for the fight."

Emilia and Elsa both agree with what Ram said, seeing that they are the closest to taking on the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony. As they were getting themselves ready to fight with Shaula thinking to herself that this is what her master would want her to do, fight against the intruders, the group eventually hear a voice speak to them,

"Seems like we have arrived on schedule."

"Huh?"

Emilia, Ram, Shaula, and Elsa all four turned around to notice that a corridor of darkness had appeared with Terra-Xehanort in front of it. The four girls all got themselves ready to fight Terra-Xehanort only for Replica Riku and the other Organization member to appear out of the corridor of darkness just as it was about to disappear.

With the three Organization members with Emilia and her group, Ram realized that something as happened with Barusu's plan since he mentioned that they were suppose to appear in the library while they dealt with the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony. Ram grabbed her wand and pointed it directly at the direction of the three Organization members before she said,

"What brings you here? Why are you here?"

"Doesn't matter, now..." Replica Riku smiled with a slightly sadistic smile has he pointed his sword directly towards Ram. "...let's see how long before you fall."

"Hmph. As if any of us would lose to any of you three."

As Ram finishes her sentence, she sends a powerful wind attack towards the three Organization members. The Organization member pulled out Kingdom Key to block off the wind attack before charging towards the four girls. Elsa noticed this and was able to get her blades out fast enough to jump in between the Organization member and her allies to block off the attack. As Elsa's most strongest blade and the Organization member's Kingdom Key clashed, their fight began with Emilia and Ram both jumping into the fight with Shaula giving Emilia some assistance in fighting Terra-Xehanort while Ram took on Replica Riku.

Emilia fired a couple of icicles directly towards Terra-Xehanort to which he was able to block off with ease. As he does this, he left himself open to get hit by Shaula's Hell's Snipe. As he was sent back for a bit, he looked at Shaula with an angered facial expression before pointing No Name keyblade towards the two women. As he does this, a couple of fireballs are sent towards the two girls which forced the two to protect themselves with Shaula using her Hell's Snipe to counter the darkness while Emilia created an ice shield to cover herself from the attacks. Ram went on the offensive with her dream eaters providing some cover for her, allowing her to keep up against Replica Riku.

As Ram was able to keep up, Replica Riku looked annoyed since each time he tried to go on the offensive, one of the dream eaters was preventing him from attacking. This left him annoyed to the point he jumped back to gain some distance from Ram and her two dream eaters. Just as he does this, Replica Riku looked at his three with hate in his eyes before throwing a very powerful fireball directly at the three. Ram noticed this and quickly used Al Fura to counter the powerful fireball sent towards him. As she does this, her two dream eaters charged at the Organization member. Replica Riku quickly deflected each attack thrown at him before knocking the two dream eaters out of his way as he is charging directly towards Ram's direction.

The pink haired oni saw that Replica Riku was going right after her, causing her to think carefully on what she should do before going on the defense. After a few seconds, she had a small smile on her face before starting to dodge each of his quick and deadly attacks. After a bit she quickly found her opening which allowed her to land a powerful punch in Replica Riku's gut, sending him a couple feet back. As Replica Riku ended up being sent flying after receiving a blow to the stomach, he looked at Ram with some anger in his eyes before charging towards Ram once again.

"Don't think you will get away with that!"

"Hmph. Pathetic. Even Barusu is smarter than you."

"Oh really?!"

Replica Riku teleported behind Ram to try and get her yet the pink haired oni was able to sense this in time, allowing her to dodge the attack. She turns towards Replica Riku and with her oni power she tries to kick him only for the Organization member to block the attack with his sword. Ram noticed this and quickly commanded her dream eaters to attack, causing Replica Riku to look away for a moment. This was something the pink haired oni was expecting, allowing her to land a punch on her opponent's face.

As she landed the hit, Replica Riku got even angrier with Ram which caused him to start going all out. While Ram and her two dream eaters held off Replica Riku, Elsa and the Organization member both got their rematch with Elsa managing to hold her own better than their previous fight. She was able to deflect each attack with ease this time, having been able to analyze the way the Organization member fights with Kingdom Key. Despite showing that she is fighting with a calm gesture, Elsa was still furious to see one of Sora's enemies wielding his signature keyblade.

This bothered her a lot since she would rather be facing Sora with Kingdom Key than some Organization member with Kingdom Key. As she was deflecting a couple of attacks and throwing a couple of her own, the two eventually ended up in a blade lock. In this blade lock, the Organization member was slightly much stronger than Elsa.

'I can still do this...'

("What are you going to do now? You know I'm still a very bad person.")

Elsa had closed her eyes as she was recalling an important memory.

("I know that but there is some good in you, a light within the vastness of darkness inside, I just know there is.")

("...Why do you keep trying to reform me? I enjoy the person I am. I'm happy seeing everyone's bowels. So why keep fighting for someone like me?")

("Because I want a better path for someone I want to consider a friend.")

'...a better path for me...'

Elsa smiled as she recalled a fond memory, a choice she made that she doesn't regret. Although she had struggled for a while in cutting people's bowels since it does still bring comfort to her, being near the boy that she met in his first day in Lugnica. This somehow gave her the strength to be in equal terms to the Organization member, having found another person she wants to fight for with the first being her little sister in spirit, Meili.

With the two on equal strength, they eventually jumped away from each other for a moment before charging at each other once again. As their weapons clashed again, Elsa was able to take the offense and started to give the Organization member a bit of trouble.

"You are going down!"

"..."

The Organization member continued to stay silent while somehow keeping up with Elsa, starting to increase the difficulty for the Bowel hunter. Elsa realized that she is starting to deal with a more powerful opponent, forcing her to keep up use strategy rather than brute strength. While the two were in an intense fight, Emilia and Shaula were still in the defense against Terra-Xehanort's dark fireballs. Emilia created a few ice shields to keep herself from getting hit by Terra-Xehanort's dark fireballs while Shaula continued to use her Hell's Snipe to counter Terra-Xehanort's dark fireballs yet she was getting bored.

'What would Ma~ster do? He is sooo smart and strong...I deserve a hug from him if I kill this annoying man.'

Shaula's face started to turn red the moment she thought of hugging her master, causing a lustful side in her to want to take over. Due to wanting this hug from her master, she started to dodge all of Terra-Xehanort's attacks directed towards her and started to approach the Organization member. Terra-Xehanort noticed this and quickly changed up his strategy by charging at the guardian of the watchtower.

"Let us see what you are made of."

"I'll beat you for Master's sake!"

Once both Terra-Xehanort and Shaula were close to each other, Terra-Xehanort swung his keyblade directly at Shaula. Shaula noticed this and quickly dodged the attack, managing to avoid getting hit before attempting to land a deadly hit on the Organization member. Terra-Xehanort noticed this and managed to deflect off Shaula's punch.

The guardian of the watchtower noticed this and quickly attempted to land some hits on Terra-Xehanort only for the Organization member to be able to deflect off the attacks. Emilia peeked out of the ice barrier she created to see Shaula and Terra-Xehanort both fighting in close range. Emilia knew that she had to do something, seeing that Shaula is barely able to hold her own.

'I have to help Shaula-san! She can't hold her own forever...'

Emilia was focused on the fight between Shaula and Terra-Xehanort only to notice that there was another Organization member watching from a distance while holding a book. This caused her to start chasing the other Organization member. As she did this, the mysterious figure could tell that Emilia was following him, making him a bit excited since this was something not predicted in the book he held. He closed the book and put it away before sitting down on the wall, wanting to see what will happen should he try a peaceful approach. He waited for a minute before he felt the area around him starting to freeze.

"I was wondering when you were going to arrive, ice princess."

"I don't know what you are talking about but stop there, villain."

"That's rude! Calling me a villain when you haven't known me at all."

"Oh...sorry, I didn't mean to be rude...no wait, you are one of Sora's enemies."

"I know that I am wearing the same coat as the others, but I am not with them. This just helps me keep my identity a secret."

Emilia looked at the mysterious figure with a serious facial expression for a moment before looking confused. She is unsure now whether the person with the same coat as Sora's enemies is really just some random person that just happens to wear the coat of theirs or he is trying to lie to her. As she is confused, she pointed her right hand towards the mysterious figure and creates a couple of floating icicles to show that she is serious before finally saying,

"Tell me the truth, are you an enemy?"

"Now Now, no need to be intimidating. I'm just her for a little chat."

"Are you an enemy? Please answer the question."

"I'm not, I'm just an observer."

"Observer? Why?"

"Because, I have an interest in you all."

"Wh-What?" Emilia's face turned red with the mysterious figure quickly realizing that there might be a misunderstanding.

"H-Hold on you, I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that I wanted to see what you and your friends would do in very tough situations! Man, you really know how to embarrass a guy."

"S-Sorry...but why are you observing us then?"

"Did you not...ugh, okay okay. Let's just say I want to know what your capabilities are like. For example, how will you handle those three when the two others start showing up."

"Other two...oh, the gluttony twins!"

Emilia jumped up and realized that Subaru and the others could be in trouble since Shaula, Ram, Elsa, and her were suppose to be facing Lye Batenkaitos and Roy Alphard. Just as she was about to leave, she remembered that the mysterious figure was still there, not sure if he really wasn't a threat. She turned towards the mysterious figure only to see him close to her. This caused her to jump back while getting her icicles ready to attack.

"Hold on! I wasn't trying to spook you or anything, I just wanted to give you a little hand, to show that I'm not a threat."

"...okay, what were you going to do?"

"Just trust me."

"...okay...why do you sound like Roswaal?"

"Um...what do you mean?"

"I get this odd feeling you sound like him...nevermind."

"Um okay."

The mysterious figure approached Emilia and quickly tapped the crystal that Puck was sleeping in, confusing Emilia since she wasn't sure what this unknown person was trying to do. After he did this, he turned around and created a corridor of darkness. Before he left, she asked,

"What did you do?"

"I just gave you all a slightly fair fighting chance. You'll have an ally soon but only summon him when you and your allies are at the edge of failure."

Emilia stood silent as she listened to the mysterious figure's words before being left alone, trying to understand what ally he could be referring to until her mind connected the dots since the mysterious figure tapped on the crystal containing Puck.

'Does this mean that...Puck can help out?'

Emilia was unsure if this was what the mysterious figure meant but she knew that she couldn't dwell on this for long since she needed to help out the others and help out Subaru. She quickly returned to see Shaula still holding her own against Terra-Xehanort, Elsa and her opponent still clashing weapons only with more intensity each time, and Ram still outsmarting Replica Riku.

Seeing this made Emilia think that she should prioritize helping Subaru and his group, knowing that they are at a disadvantage due to the stronger fighters being with her while Rem can only do so much on her own and Sora is still young without his memories of this world. As Emilia is leaving the room they are at, Terra-Xehanort notices this and quickly tries to attack her only for Shaula to get in his way and land a punch to his face.

"How rude of you to leave me. I need to beat you to make Master happy!"

"Urgh! You pathetic lowlife!"

Terra-Xehanort looked at Shaula with both an annoyed and somewhat hatred look before he started swinging No Name Keyblade towards the woman, moving with impressive speed yet Shaula was barely able to keep up. This allowed Emilia to escape the room without having to deal with Terra-Xehanort.

'I have to get to...my boyfriend, Natsuki Subaru.'

Subaru and Sora were both able to keep up with the shadow heartless, being the weakest type of heartless for the two to keep up with. Kishida with his skills and Kenichi with the martial arts he knows from Japan were able to easily whip the floor with the shadow heartless, not even seeing it as a warm-up. As the four fighters were able to take down the shadow heartless, three fat bandit type heartless appeared in front of the group. Subaru charged at the one in the middle and tried to use all of his strength to do damage yet he realized that hitting the stomach wasn't going to do anything. As he was sent back, Sora jumped into action by dodging a couple of fire balls thrown towards him by the three fat bandit heartless.

Once he arrived behind one of the fat bandit heartless, he started to attack with everything he had, landing a couple of powerful hits. Kenichi and Kishida both noticed what Sora was doing and quickly followed his lead, dodging a couple of fire attacks before arriving behind the fat bandit heartless before attacking them, managing to do damage. Subaru quickly got up and went to assist the three by being the distraction.

As Subaru was being a distraction, Beatrice felt bad seeing her amnesia contractor being the distraction instead of the attacker, making her use the last of her mana to use El Minya to take down the three fat bandit heartless within seconds. Sora, Kishida, and Kenichi all three noticed the purple icicles heading towards their direction, forcing the three to go away from the three heartless, allowing Beatrice's attack to take down the heartless. Once the three Fat bandit heartless were taken down, Subaru turned towards Beatrice and gave a thumbs up.

"That was so cool, Beatrice!"

"Naturally, I suppose."

Subaru smiled at hearing the overconfidence in Beatrice's voice before turning towards Sora, Kishida, and Kenichi to see them approaching him. As the group reunites, they all turn towards Rem to see that in her fight, she was able to land a few punches to weaken the Grim Reaper heartless. As she takes a moment to gain some distance from the Grim Reaper heartless, she summons her extra oni strength by summoning her horn before jumping towards the heartless at full speed, ready to finish the heartless with one final and powerful punch.

The Grim Reaper heartless tried to land a punch on the blue haired oni yet it missed, allowing her to land the determining punch, ending the fight with Rem's finishing blow destroyed the heartless. As Rem pulls that off, she falls to the ground with her body completely exhausted. As they notice Rem fall to the ground, Subaru and the others all go to check on Rem.

"Rem, are you alright?"

"D-Don't worry Sora...I'll be okay, I just need a little rest."

As Rem finished speaking, she passed out due to exhaustion, causing Subaru to realize that he is in slight trouble now. Considering that things have been changing for no reason, he knows that Rem being out for the count leaves his group completely vulnerable to the three Organization members. He took a moment to think before turning towards his father to ask him,

"Think you can take her to the second-floor trial? I rather her be resting with mom and Anastasia-sama than being here and possibly getting hurt."

"Don't worry my amazing son, I got this. Just make sure to not get hurt."

"I won't dad, I promise...also Beatrice, can you go with father?"

"Wait, why?"

"I want you safe and I need you to keep an eye on those in the second floor just in case."

"Hmph. Well if it'll get Betty's Subaru to stop worrying for that girl and the others, I suppose."

"Thank you, Beatrice."

"Hmph."

Subaru nodded at Beatrice before she along Kenichi went to take an unconscious Rem to the second-floor trial. As Kenichi and Beatrice left, Subaru and his group gathered to see what they will do now with Kishida being the first to speak.

"Okay so things are not going as you planned, Subaru. Any backup plans?"

"At the moment, I have none but I think for now we just need to keep our eyes out for any threats nearby."

"Yes but what happens if Sora's three enemies arrive right now? We are outclassed even with my training from the legendary Reid Astrea."

Subaru put away his keyblade and crossed his arms to see if there is something they can do when the time comes to deal with the three Organization members. As he was doing this, he was interrupted when his group heard footsteps approaching him. Sora and Subaru got their keyblades with Kishida pulling out his sword, all three preparing themselves for battle. As they were ready, Kishida was the one to say,

"Who goes there? Show yourself!"

"Tsk. Tsk. We are interested in you three. You might be gourmet~tsu."

'No No No No...what are they doing here?!'

"We are ready to eat you all!"

Kishida and Sora both looked with determination, not afraid to face both Lye and Roy while Subaru looked at the two Sin Archbishops of Gluttony with fear since he knows they stand no chance. Before he can give up, he started to remind himself why he shouldn't give up.

He remembers the talk he had with Emilia in a previous vision, how he promised to fight for a better future. This allowed him prepare himself to fight despite the battle looking hopeless in his end. Before the fight started, Kishida looked at Lye and started to walk towards him while telling both Subaru and Sora,

"Allow me to fight him, I have to repay him for my hand."

"Alright...good luck Kishida."

"Thanks, Subaru."

Kishida smiled as he charged at Lye, confident that he will be able to beat the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. As he started his fight against Lye, Subaru turned towards Sora to say,

"Sora, I guess it is up to you and me to deal with Roy."

"Don't worry Subaru, together we will pull it off."

Subaru noticed this and could feel the confidence Sora had not only on himself but on him as well, causing him to get some confidence in a hopeless fight. He smiled and nodded at Sora before the two weak keyblade wielders charged at Roy to start their fight against the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. As the two keyblade wielders went on the offensive, Roy deflected each attack and was prepared to easily overpower the two and eat them until a few icicles out of nowhere hit his arm, causing damage to him.

He jumped back for a moment to look at his arm before looking up to see Emilia standing behind Sora and Subaru. The two keyblade wielders turned to see Emilia, surprising Subaru while Sora just smiled at having another ally. Emilia looked at the two and smiled before she tapped on her crystal, wanting to see if what the mysterious figure was saying is true that she can call upon an ally. As she does this, within a few seconds the crystal she has around her neck began to glow bright before everyone in the library could hear a voice say,

"Wow, I've been asleep for a very long time."

"Dad..."

Once the light cleared, it revealed Puck had returned once again. Emilia smiled as she gets to see her father once again, having a tear stream down her cheek while Sora and Subaru were both amazed to see Puck. Puck turned towards Sora and Subaru for a moment to smile at the two before looking at their opponent, not fully impressed by him.

"Who are you supposed to be?"

"We are with the Witch's cult, representing Gluttony, Roy Alphard!"

"Ah, I see then. My name is Puck, you will be facing me."

Puck said this with a cheerful voice before summoning a ton of icicles all around the area, catching the attention of Roy. Before the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony could do or say anything to this, Puck send all of his icicles towards Roy, forcing Roy to activate Lunar Eclipse to find a way to block off and dodge the barrage of attacks. While Puck took on Roy, Sora turned towards Emilia and Subaru.

"While the cute flying cat goes to face one of the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony, we should help Kishida."

"Agreed."

Both Subaru and Emilia say this in unison before the three go to help the knight take on Lye Batenkaitos. As they approached the fight between Lye and Kishida, Emilia jumped right in to land a punch on the Sin Archbishop, catching Lye off guard. As Lye jumps back to gain his distance, both Subaru and Sora were able to land a few hits on the Sin Archbishop just as he landed on the ground. Lye was annoyed of this and quickly used Solar Eclipse as well to gained some distance from his attackers before charging at them with everything he had.

"You all look very gourmet to us~tsu!"

"Then bring it on!"

As Subaru says this with confidence, Lye charged at him and Sora only for Emilia to intercept the attack and start using the skills she learned from Kenichi and Naoko against the Sin Archbishop. Subaru looked closely at Emilia's fighting style to see that she is using some stuff from the modern world.

'Wow...I'm falling in love all over again...'

Subaru was stunned by this yet he snapped out of it when he felt that something bad was going on. He used Cor Leonis to see how the others were doing. He saw that Ram and Elsa were both holding their own with only Ram starting to take some inner damage. Yet the moment he checked on Shaula, he could see that her light was blinking for some reason. This prompted the boy to try and leave the library to go check on her only for Sora to quickly ask,

"What's wrong?"

"It's Shaula, something is going on."

"Then let me join you."

"But—"

"And me as well, my amazing son."

"Dad?"

Subaru and Sora turned towards the voice to see that Kenichi had returned from dropping off Rem and Beatrice. Seeing that his father has returned, he nodded at both Kenichi and Sora before the three of them headed downstairs towards the location of where Elsa, Ram, and Shaula were located. While on the way down, the three would be attacked by a few dusk nobodies, forcing the three work together against the threat.

As they fight off an individual dusk nobody, both Sora and Subaru were in trouble due to how tough their opponents were while Kenichi used his superior martial arts skills to keep up against his opponent. Sora and Subaru were both pushed back and just as it seemed like it was all over for the two, Sora heard a familiar voice.

("Giving up already? Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that.")

'R-Riku!'

Sora looked up at the dusk nobody that was about to attack him and quickly with a slightly powerful keyblade, three wishes. Sora was surprised by this for only a few seconds before looking at the dusk nobody approaching him. The Keyblade Wielder waited for a couple of seconds before landing a hit on the dusk nobody, managing to cause some actual damage.

As he does this, he quickly runs towards Subaru's direction help him out. Once there, he manages to hit the dusk nobody away from his ally just in the nick of time, saving Subaru from being taken down. As he does this, Subaru looks up and sees Sora's hand.

"Come on, Subaru, I know you are better than this."

"...r-right!"

Subaru accepted Sora's assistance in getting up by grabbing the boy's hand to be pulled back up. Once he was back on his feet, the two turned towards the three dusk nobodies approaching them before charging at the threat ahead of them. Sora and Subaru both swung their keyblades with Subaru playing defense while Sora was on the offense. With their combined efforts, the two were able to take down the nobodies. As the two succeeded in this, Kenichi with his skills was able to take down two of the dusk nobodies that were attacking him.

"Ha! You two stood no chance against me! The Amazing Natsuki Kenichi!"

"Okay dad, no need to brag."

"Sorry son, just caught up in the moment."

Subaru just smiled when he heard this, somehow remembering a time before he was depressed due to wanting to be like his father. He recalled a little fond memory of when he was very young, how his father and him would do fun and crazy adventures. As he had a fond memory play in his mind, he eventually snapped back to reality when he felt his father pat him in the back. Subaru nodded at his father before he led him and Sora to the location where Shaula, Ram, and Elsa are located. Once they arrive to the room, they looked around to see Elsa facing off against both Terra-Xehanort and the other Organization member on her own, barely holding her own.

They also noticed Ram and Replica Riku both on equal ground with Ram's two dream eaters providing her cover. Seeing this caused Sora and Kenichi to quickly assist Elsa by attacking the Organization member. While Sora and Kenichi take on the Organization member and Elsa takes on Terra-Xehanort, Subaru looked around in hopes of finding Shaula. As he was looking around, he used his Cor Leonis ability to see that she is nearby yet her light was blinking badly.

'What is going on? Shaula...I have to get to you and fast!'

Subaru with a determined expression went towards the location Shaula was at, hoping that he can get to her before something bad happens. He ran for a bit before finally arriving outside of the tower, where Shaula was located yet she seemed very off. Subaru slowly approaching Shaula while beginning to say to her,

"Shaula-san...are you okay?"

"M-Ma~aster...p-please...stand back..."

"What's wrong? You know that you can trust me."

"...rules...the trials..."

"Rules? The trials? What's going on?"

"...I-I can't..."

"Why?"

"I...let's not talk about the rules or the trials right now."

"Why not Shaula? What are all the rules?"

"First, it is forbidden to leave without completing the Trials. Second, it is forbidden to violate the rules of the Trials. Third, it is forbidden to disrespect the libraries. Fourth, it is forbidden to do anything which causes destruction to the tower itself...Yeah."

"Is there a fifth?"

"...can I give Master a pillow? O-Or maybe a hug?"

"Shaula, please tell me what is the fifth rule? Maybe it can help save us all from the problems here."

"...I can't..."

"Shaula...please."

Subaru looked directly into Shaula's eyes, wanting her to tell him everything and to explain what is going on with her yet she kept being stubborn. She looked away with a sad expression while saying,

"Master-sama...could it be, you're toying with my heart? Not my will, but Master-sama getting closer on his will, if you want me to open my mouth, then, it's that. At the same pace and with the same energy, hug me and melt me..."

"Shaula, I shall ask again. What is, the fifth rule of the tower?"

"—NG."

"...NG?"

"NG. No, I don't wanna talk about it. The fifth rule? Does something like that, even matter. In my and Master-sama's honeymoon, it has nothing to..."

"As if it has nothing to do. I am, and everyone is challenging the Trials of this tower. I can't be as optimistic as to think it'll all be fine without even knowing the Trials' rules. That's why, Shaula."

"...I'd rather not."

"Shaula!"

Subaru was at the edge of kindness, knowing that everyone in the tower is doing their best to do their part. His father and Sora are helping Elsa take on two Organization members while Ram takes on the third one. Emilia and Kishida are both facing Lye while the little flying cat takes on Roy. Julius is taking the trials in hopes of being successful in winning against Reid on his own. This made him speak with great conviction.

"You must be having your own duties in this tower. The tower's Star-Keeper...? You must have been doing that all this time, right. I don't know if it's true or not, but for four hundred years! Then—"

"—It's been only a day and a half."

"...Ah?"

"It's been only a day and a half since Master-sama has come to the tower. Within that, as Master-sama was in bed for one night, that makes only one and a half day since Master-sama and I have met with each other, spoken to each other, have been side-by-side with each other...even though I've waited for even four hundred years! It's been only one and a half day..."

"Shaula..."

"I thought just a single moment, a single glimpse, would be fine."

Subaru stepped back as Shaula fell to the ground with tears forming in her eyes.

"Four hundred years, I waited for Master-sama in the tower. I thought, I would be satisfied with a single glimpse. –But, that wasn't the truth."

"..."

"I mean, Master-sama is my everything, after all. Master-sama's everything, and all of my feelings for Master-sama, are what make me. The four hundred years it took, I can't convey them to Master-sama. All of it, in just two days...I can't come to terms with that."

"...That's why, you won't tell me the fifth rule?"

"I don't wanna talk about the rules. NG. After all, if I talk about that..."

"..."

"If I talk about that, Master-sama will notice the way the clear the Trials. That's why, if I talk about that, if I end up talking about that...my time with Master-sama will end."

Subaru was silent when he heard this, seeing that the person who was her master that isn't him or the true Natsuki Subaru really made her suffer. She had been waiting for so long for someone only for them to never return.

'Whoever this Master is, they can go straight to hell...'

Subaru crossed his arms and stayed thinking on what he should say until something came to mind.

"Hey Shaula, why don't you come with us?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, why don't you join the group when this is all over. After all, it would be better to have you go out once in a while."

"Wait...but doesn't master-sama hate me for lying to him?"

"I don't hate you...I honestly just hate myself..."

As Subaru said this, he sat down to look at the desert, surprised by how beautiful the view looks. Just as he sat down, Shaula looked at her master with complete shock.

"Master-sama! Don't say such things!"

"Hehe...sorry but it is true. I have no strength and want it all. I want all the knowledge yet...I haven't done much with my life. All this time I spend it wasted in that room of mine, feeling disappointed in myself for not being like my dad, the great Natsuki Kenichi."

Shaula was able to keep herself in check as she heard this story, surprised and shocked at what she is learning since her master never told her about his life outside of the tower. She wasn't sure what to say but she knew that all she could do is listen.

"I know this is rough Shaula and that hope will die but that is not what will happen. We are going to beat the trials and then we will all leave this tower together...which includes you."

"...are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"M-M-Master-sama!"

Shaula started crying with tears of joy as she hugged Subaru very tightly, feeling so much happiness when she heard that she can leave the tower with her master. Although it is scary to leave the tower, she still is happy her master will allow her to leave with him and his group. Subaru wouldn't normally be okay with Shaula's quite sexual hugs yet this hug was different, being the one hug he will allow. The two hugged for a moment before they separated with Shaula having a smile.

'I know Emilia-chan as the most beautiful smile but I got to say, this comes a close second.'

Subaru smiled back at Shaula before suddenly Shaula fell to the ground with her body started to have a weird aura around her.

"Shaula?"

"Ah, ah...a~h, ah..."

Feeling abnormality in Shaula's condition in front of his eyes, Subaru called out her name however Shaula without responding to Subaru's call, concealed her face with her palms.

A painfully trembling voice, unbefitting her, could be heard from that throat.

"No, good...no good...Master-sama! Master-samaMaster-samaMaster-samaMaster-sama...!"

"Shaula!? Shaula, what happened!? So suddenly..."

"—Somebody, violated the rules."

"..."

Rushing over, as Subaru jolted her white shoulders, his arms got grasped instead. While painfully gripping to Subaru's arms with her slender ones, Shaula spoke while being in between a transformation,

"Master-sama...! Right now, I can still make it..."

"Make it?"

"Right now, if Master-sama commands me, then I can...I can, still kill myself."

"K-Kill yourself...?"

Shaula continued to transform with Subaru realizing that the scorpion mabeast from the first vision was Shaula herself.

"If I transform, I won't make it. I will become a KILLING MACHINE lacking any blood or tears, and kill Master-sama. I mean, I want Master-sama so much...I want Master-sama so badly, so badly that I can't bear it, that's why."

"Before that happens..."

"Please tell me, to die… If you do that, I will, for Master-sama"

Subaru was silent by this, not wanting anybody to die and not wishing Shaula to become this killing machine right after promising to take her out of the tower. This slightly broke his heart since he wanted everyone to be alive yet he needed to know something.

"Shaula, tell me the fifth rule."

"Master-sama, this is not the time for..."

"If you tell that to me! If you tell that to me, I'll command you. –Stay calm. Before you turn into a monster, I'll command you."

"..."

Hearing Subaru say this so straightforward cause Shaula to be taken aback for a bit.

"Master-sama, such a womanizer."

"I don't remember being one..."

"Then, Master-sama is a Shaula-izer. My favorite kind of -izer..."

Smiling weakly, Shaula softly overlapped the hands grasping her shoulders with her own hands.

"—Fifth, it is not forbidden to destroy the Trials."

"..."

"Look, the color of my eyes has changed...At my beloved, Master-sama."

After saying this, Shaula shoved Subaru back to have him be far away from her, seeing that she is starting to lose control. She continues to scream in pain as her entire body was starting to change. Her eyes had turned red, making her extremely worried that she will lose control before her master can make her kill herself.

"Master-sama...hurry. Before I lose myself..."

"..."

"Please tell me...to die ~hk! If Master-sama says that, I will..."

Subaru stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to process it all. After those few seconds, he took a deep breath before finally saying,

"Shaula."

"Master-sama..."

"—My bad. What I said just now was a lie."

"Eh?"

Shaula was caught off guard by what Subaru said but what truly got her attention was when Subaru had suddenly decided to jump off the tower. Subaru felt that this is necessary since he needs to die to make sure that Shaula can leave with them and not become the killing machine she is about to end up as. Shaula's eyes widen by this, fear completely taking her over.

"Master-sama!"

Shaula also jumped off the balcony in hopes of saving her master, wanting nothing more than to keep him safe. All Subaru did was look at Shaula, how desperately she is trying to save him despite how he wants to save her.

"—I just want to save you, Shaula."

"Master-sama~a~a~a~a~a~a~a~a~a~a~a~!"

Shaula's form, while she stretched out her hand and tried pursuing Subaru, changed mid-air.

Her hand stretching out enlarged and transformed into large pincers clad in a jet-black shell. Her white skin was covered with a rough shell, without leaving any trace behind, and her flesh body expanded, as if bursting open from the interior. For a single moment, the seemingly painful transformation as if bursting open her blood and flesh, reached conclusion as if a tape being reversed and finally, the immense ominous incongruity. The titanic scorpion had achieved completion. The scorpion pointed its tail towards Subaru and tried to kill him yet he was confident that he would die before then.

"—I won't let myself be killed by you, because Shaula would cry."

Although the tail finally fired, Subaru had managed to reach closer and closer to the ground, knowing that this is the end for him. He closed his eyes and just before he felt death come for him, he managed to say,

"I will definitely help you...no, better yet save you."

Subaru could feel the dark void he always ends up after having died, seeing that death is the trigger rather than visions from a dream. He spends a few seconds before finally he was able to tell where his new checkpoint is at. He was in the moment where the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony were about to arrive at the library after Kishida, Kenichi, Sora, and himself took down the heartless. Seeing that Rem was about to take down the heartless with her remaining strength, Subaru knew that he can't allow that since he knows that she would pass out.

'Count one. This will be my first attempt at figuring this out to save everyone. Now I need to get Rem from losing her strength...'

He thought for a brief moment before having an idea, causing him to run towards Rem just as she was going to go all out. He quickly gets her attention by shouting,

"Rem! Wait for a moment!"

"Huh? Subaru?"

"Here, use this!"

Subaru threw his Starlight keyblade towards Rem to which she was able to grab. As Rem grabs the keyblade, Subaru prompts her to use the keyblade against the heartless. Rem looks at Starlight keyblade in her hand for a brief moment before agreeing with Subaru to use the weapon given to her. She turned towards the heartless and with everything she had jumped towards the heartless. Once she closed in on the heartless, she swung the keyblade with everything she got.

Once the keyblade connected to the heartless, she was able to gain enough strength without her oni powers to destroy the heartless. Once the heartless was destroyed, a heart appeared in front of Rem for a moment before disappearing along with the keyblade she was holding. Subaru, Sora, Kishida, and Kenichi approached her with Subaru's keyblade returning to him.

'Damn, this weapon really is amazing. I better appreciate this thing more.'

As Subaru was thinking this, Kishida looks at Rem to ask her if she is alright to which she response with,

"Yeah, I'm alright. A little tired but nothing too worrying."

"Are you sure? You can go rest—"

"No, Rem can still help."

"Okay but just let us know if you are feeling weak."

"Understood Kenichi-sama."

Rem nodded at Kenichi while Subaru looked around for a brief moment to check on where the two Sin Archbishops of Gluttony are at before concluding that he should have the group go help Emilia and the others. He turned to the group while saying,

"We should regroup with Emilia-chan and the others. I want to make sure that they are alright."

"You shouldn't worry about them, I suppose."

"I know Beatrice but I want to check on them."

"Hmph. If it'll get Betty's Subaru to calm down, then let's go, I suppose."

Subaru nodded before leading the group down to the place where Emilia and the others are located. As they were heading towards Emilia's group's location, the nobodies attacked similar to the previous loop only this time with Rem backing them up. Subaru looked at Beatrice to ask her,

"How much power do you have left in you?"

"...None, I suppose..."

"Well then, I will protect you."

Subaru said this as he got his Starlight ready for battle, much more prepared for this fight now that he has something to fight for. As he got himself ready for a fight, Beatrice looked at Subaru with a surprised look.

'You may have forgotten everything, the promise you made, I suppose. But you are still that amazing contractor I trusted to leave the library, in fact.'

Beatrice smiled as she saw her contractor's bravery being displayed to her while both Rem and Sora stood side by side, ready to fight the dusk nobodies approaching them. Kishida and Kenichi both had their swords ready before charging towards the Dusk Nobodies, being the first two of the group to attack.

Sora and Rem were the next to attack with Subaru being the only one to stay behind and play defense as he not only protected himself but also Beatrice. As the group was fighting the dusk nobodies, Subaru looked back from where they came and noticed that both Lye and Roy were approaching them.

'Shit!'

Subaru turned towards his group and quickly he said,

"We need to get out of here, now!"

Subaru put away his keyblade and carried Beatrice while Sora and the others turned to see Subaru starting to run with Beatrice in his arms. Kenichi and Sora both trusted Subaru's judgement and prepared to run while Rem and Kishida were a bit off leaving a fight yet they trusted Subaru to follow him.

As the group left a bunch of dusk nobodies, Lye and Roy noticed them and were curious to see how they would taste like. The two sin archbishops of gluttony approach the dusk nobodies while they were following Subaru and his group only to suddenly go on the offensive against the pair.

"Brother, we should take these creatures out~tsu."

"Agreed, brother."

The two gluttony duo smiled before attacking the dusk nobodies, not scared of the threat while Subaru and his group managed to reach the place Emilia and her group were located. The group looked to see Ram and Replica Riku facing each other with everything they got, Shaula dodging each of Terra-Xehanort's attacks, and Elsa and the Organization member going all out. Seeing that Shaula is alright and still in her normal state, Subaru was smiling for a moment since he can still keep his promise before turning towards his group.

"We need to help them and fast."

"Agreed."

Kishida knew that they had to do something to help the girls with the Organization members. Sora and Kishida both went together to take on the Organization member Elsa was fighting, Rem was going to assist her sister until Kenichi stopped her.

"What is it, Kenichi-sama?"

"Allow me to fight that kid. I need another re-match with him."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I have some skills to beat him."

"Okay, will Subaru be joining you?"

"I want to but I have to protect Beatrice."

"That's my son, protecting the girls first."

Rem didn't understood this yet she trusted their judgement. Kenichi waited for the right moment before jumping in between both Ram and Replica Riku. As he did this, he was able to end up in a blade lock against Replica Riku.

"Wh-What the?!"

"Hey there kid, seems like we get another re-match."

"Ha! You are nowhere my level of strength!"

"Oh yeah?"

Replica Riku moved back for a moment to break the blade lock before attempting to attack Kenichi's head only for the man to dodge the attack and land a powerful gut punch to the stomach. As Kenichi landed a hit, he also kicked his opponent to the ground before turning towards Ram to say,

"Go help the others, I got him."

Ram looked at Kenichi and was impressed before telling her dream eaters to assist Kenichi in the fight, knowing how strong Replica Riku is. The dream eaters nodded at Ram before standing behind Kenichi, ready to help out. As Kenichi looked at Replica Riku with his sword ready for battle, Ram turned to see Rem charging to Terra-Xehanort to assist Shaula.

As Rem was closing in, she was about to land a punch only for Terra-Xehanort to dodge the attack. Ram smiled as she knew that the opponent her sister chose to fight is much tougher than the one she was fighting. Ram waited for the perfect moment before sending a powerful Al Fura towards Terra-Xehanort. The Organization member was on the defensive against both Shaula and Rem's attacks for a bit before the two moved out of the way. As they did this, Ram's powerful wind attack closed in on Terra-Xehanort.

"Hm. Enough!"

Terra-Xehanort moved his No Name keyblade with great speed, managing to easily block off Ram's attack. As he does this, he looks at Rem, Ram, and Shaula with a serious facial expression before saying,

"You have lost!"

Terra-Xehanort with all the power of darkness charged at the three girls, no longer restraining himself. Rem and Shaula both got their hands heard to block the attack with their physical strength while Ram got her wand ready for the fight ahead. Just as Terra-Xehanort swung his keyblade, the attack was suddenly blocked by Subaru after he jumped in between the two sides. After Subaru managed to block off the attack with him being send flying into a wall, Rem and her group took this opportunity to attack their opponent.

"You are going to pay for what you did to master-sama!"

Shaula got close to Terra-Xehanort before attempting to shoot his head off with her Hell's Snipe only for the Organization member to dodge the attack. Rem and Ram both attacked at the same time in different locations yet Terra-Xehanort was able to dodge both attacks effortlessly. Seeing this caused both Rem and Ram to come up with a strategy to land a powerful attack.

While Rem, Ram, and Shaula were doing their best against Terra-Xehanort, Elsa continued to go all out against her opponent until Sora and Kishida jumped in to help her. The two waited for a bit until they saw their opening to join in when the Organization member was about to overpower Elsa. Sora jumped in between the two and was able to block off the attack, leaving the Organization member opened for Kishida to go an attack.

"It's time to take you down!"

Kishida tried to land a hit only for his sword to be parried by the Organization member's Kingdom Key. As the Organization member left themselves open, Elsa used this opportunity to stab her opponent in the chest, hoping this could do something. As she landed the hit, the Organization member stepped back from the hit, the hood covering its identity was all of a sudden taken off to reveal a girl with short hair. Emilia had finished her conversation with the mysterious figure and was going to check on the group only to be surprised to see Subaru's group assisting her group. She looks around until she sees Subaru on the ground with Beatrice by his side.

"Subaru!"

Emilia ran to her boyfriend to check up on him, wanting to make sure that he is alright. As she goes towards Subaru and Beatrice, she kneels down as she can see that her boyfriend's back is hurting.

"Wh-What happened?"

"He is an idiot...a brave idiot, I suppose."

"Oh Subaru, you dunderhead."

"N-Nobody...says that anymore..."

She patted Subaru in the head as she had a smile on her face, always enjoying it when Subaru says that. As she patted him in the head, she quickly did her best to heal him a little to allow him to get up. As she was doing this, she looked up to see the Organization member without her hood.

'Why does she look so familiar...?'

Emilia was a bit puzzled yet she returned focus back to healing her boyfriend. Once his back was healed a bit, he got up and smiled at Emilia before the two along with Beatrice turn towards the girl in the Organization coat as they saw her suddenly starting to glow.

"What is going on?"

"I-I don't know...but it's not good."

The girl from the Organization jumped away from everyone before starting to run away, causing Subaru, Emilia, and Beatrice to go follow the girl with Sora, Elsa, and Kishida joining them. The six of them followed the Organization member all the way outside with the girl just looking at the group with her white short hair moving a bit due to the air and her yellow eyes looking directly at them.

"Who are you?" Said Sora, somehow feeling like he knows this girl.

"..."

Subaru and the others stood silent while they just watch the girl look at them with a blank expression.

"Okay, this is getting weird. Elsa, attack!"

"My pleasure."

Elsa listens to Subaru's orders and charges at the Organization member only for her to jump off the balcony of the watchtower. Subaru and the others were dumbfounded by this with Subaru being completely caught off guard.

'W-Why would she do this?'

As the group where going to check on the Organization member, they all of a sudden felt an earthquake.

"W-What is going on?!"

The shaking stopped after a few seconds of Emilia asking her question. This left everyone confused for a moment until they saw a giant appear in front of them wielding two keyblade-like weapons with colors of punk and silver with teeth in the shape of the nobody symbol. The large threat was almost as tall as the Watchtower with the giant threat wearing armor that is embroidered with spikes and ribbons.

"Th-That's the girl that jumped off..."

"Seems so, Subaru."

"My My, seems like we are in trouble."

"Yes, we know Elsa."

The group looked at the large threat and quickly started to move around when the boss form of the Organization member moved the keyblade-like weapon from its right hand towards the group. Subaru, Sora, and Beatrice went to the right side while Elsa, Kishida, and Emilia went to the left side of the weapon to dodge the attack. As the group split in half while managing to avoid the hit, Subaru and Sora both got up quickly and knew that they have to fight.

"Are you ready, Sora?"

"Yes! We got this, together!"

Subaru nodded at Sora's positivity before the two charged towards the boss version of the Organization member. As they do this, the threat looked at the two keyblade wielders and quickly focused on the two. Sora and Subaru dodge a few of the large giant's attack before closing in on the threat.

The two attempt to land a hit on the threat yet they realize that the Organization member was keeping its distance from the tower, forcing the two to try to figure out a plan in taking down the threat. As they were trying to figure this out, Emilia quickly creates icicles to attack the giant. As she sends powerful long distance attacks, she taps on the crystal to check if she can summon Puck. Subaru looked at Emilia while she did this, recalling that she did that in the previous vision.

'Wait, doesn't that...?'

Before he could finish his thought, a bright light surrounded Emilia for a moment similar to the previous loop. The light covered her for a moment until finally Puck was realized from the crystal, ready to join in on the fight.

'This might actually work!'

Subaru watched as Emilia and Puck are happy to see each other before the flying cat started to charge at the Organization member, firing a ton of icicles towards the boss figure before preparing to fire a powerful attack towards the large threat. While Puck was taking on the giant boss, Subaru looked around to make sure everyone was alright before looking up with excitement.

"We are going to succeed!"

"Of course. Bubby is extremely powerful, I suppose. It is natural that with his help we will succeed, in fact."

Subaru nodded at what Beatrice said before using Cor Leonis to check on the others. As he does this, he notices that the group is split with each one facing their own opponent. His father as some minimal injuries, Rem is at her final strength, Ram is barely able to keep up, and Shaula is the only one to not have any damage.

'What is going on? Could Lye and Roy be there already?'

Subaru turned towards Sora and Beatrice to tell them that they should check on Rem, Ram, Shaula, and Kenichi. Beatrice and Sora both nodded before following Subaru back inside while Puck took on the boss form of the Organization member. As Sora, Subaru, and Beatrice returned inside, they noticed that Rem and Ram were each taking on Roy and Lye while Shaula was shooting a ton of Hell's snipe to keep Terra-Xehanort away from her and Replica Riku was starting to overpower Kenichi.

"Sora, I think you should help out Rem. She isn't going to hold out for much longer."

"Okay."

"What will you be doing, I suppose?"

"I got to help my dad."

"Understood...just don't do anything foolish, I suppose!"

"I won't Beatrice."

Subaru pats Beatrice's head for a moment before going off to assist his father in pushing back Replica Riku. Sora jumped in the middle of Rem's fight once he saw how much she was struggling to keep up. He blocked off one of Lye's attacks which caused the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony to jump back. Lye looked at Sora and knew that he was the boy with the interesting memories of his other worldly experience.

"We are honored to be fighting the Keyblade's chosen one~tsu! You are definitely gourmet!"

"Um..."

Sora looked with a confused expression, yet he wasn't scared of Lye, he was ready to fight to protect Rem until he felt her grab his shoulder softly. He turned to see her, still hanging on to her oni powers with her horn glowing bright in her forehead.

"You should rest Rem, leave the rest to me."

"I can't...you are not at full strength..."

"That may be so...but my strength comes from my friends...from all of you. You are all my power!"

As Sora says this, his keyblade started to glow a bit with the young boy feeling his heart growing stronger. Rem was shocked by this while Lye was excited, hoping that this would make for a worthy battle.

"We are the Sin Archbishop of the Witch's cult, representing Gluttony, Lye Batenkaitos."

"...I'm Sora!"

The two looked at each other for a brief moment before charging at each other, Sora giving it his all while Lye was curious to see what the younger Sora can do. Rem looks at the fight and could tell that Lye was testing Sora, causing her to help Sora in fighting off the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, not wanting him to harm the younger version of her love. Rem waits until Lye attempts to attack Sora only to be caught off guard by the blue haired oni's punch to his face.

This forces the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony to be more guarded with the blue haired oni now joining in on the fight. While Rem and Sora worked together on the offensive against Lye, Subaru didn't hesitate to attack Replica Riku while the Organization member was on the offense, managing to land a powerful hit to the face. Replica Riku was caught off guard by this and jumped back to get back his balance only for Subaru to continue his offensive, managing to land a couple of hits before landing a punch to the face.

"That's for trying to beat my dad."

"Urgh! You little...!"

Replica Riku gave a death stare to Subaru before attempting to take the boy down with his dark fireball that he shot from his left hand only for Kenichi to shove Subaru out of the way.

"D-Dad...?"

Kenichi looked at Subaru and smiled before taking a massive hit, being send towards the wall with his entire right arm burned. Subaru saw this and the only thing that was in his mind was burning anger that his father was hurt protecting him. He turned towards Replica Riku who was smiling evilly to which Subaru didn't take well. He let the anger in him build up but unlike in the vision where his mother was killed right in front of him, he felt a different power inside of him activate with his body having a dark aura around him. Beatrice and Kenichi both recognized this aura around Subaru, being the one he used against Reid back before he lost his memories. Subaru looked at his arms to see the dark aura himself while also feeling that he is much powerful than before. He knew that this had to be similar to his Cor Leonis ability, having felt a wrath power awaken inside similar to the greed power he felt when speaking to the older Sora and maid version of Rem.

'This power, giving me a much stronger body...through my rage I will call you...'

"Canis Majoris!"

As Subaru shouts his new ability name, he charges directly towards Replica Riku and prepares to go all out. Replica Riku didn't view Subaru as an actual threat but wanted the boy to suffer, causing him to create another powerful dark fireball to throw at his opponent. Subaru noticed this yet he didn't hesitate to take the attack head on. As Replica Riku fired his powerful attack, Subaru put away his keyblade before using his own right fist to punch away the attack.

"What?"

"Don't underestimate me, Natsuki Subaru! Son of Natsuki Naoko and Natsuki Kenichi!"

Subaru closed the gap between him and his opponent before going off to punch Replica Riku's face. Replica Riku managed to dodge the attack and quickly swung his sword towards Subaru's chest. Subaru took the hit and was able to tank the hit before finally landing a deadly blow. Once that hit landed, Replica Riku fell to the ground due to the deadly attack he just received. Seeing that this was his chance to land the final blow, Subaru pulled Starlight keyblade and landed the final blow. As he did this, Replica Riku looked at the boy with anger before he disappeared.

"I-I guess I won...Ah!"

Subaru threw up blood due to his Canis Majoris power, causing him to collapse to the ground. Kenichi and Beatrice both noticed this and quickly run to Subaru's aid. As they did this, Beatrice looked to the entrance of the room and noticed shadows starting to appear. This made her have a bad feeling since she has seen these shadows before.

'I...I need to get Betty's Subaru out of here, I suppose.'

Beatrice quickly ran towards Subaru's position with Kenichi, both of them worried for Subaru's sake. As they were with him, his dark aura disappeared with Subaru saying,

"What a lame ability...a bad first impression..."

"What did I told you?! To be careful, in fact!"

As she says this, she slaps him on the back of the head for having been reckless yet she hugs him right after having slapped him. Kenichi waits for a moment before picking his son to carry him to safety. As he picks him up, both him and Beatrice noticed the shadows starting to increase in the room.

"This isn't good, in fact. We need to get out of here!"

Kenichi and Beatrice both started to run towards the balcony while alerting Rem, Ram, Sora, and Shaula of the shadows. The four along with Terra-Xehanort, Roy Alphard, and Lye Batenkaitos took note on what was said and saw that a woman in dark robes was entering the room and covering it with shadows. Seeing that this woman is the bigger threat, Terra-Xehanort created a corridor of darkness to leave while Lye and Roy both used solar eclipse to escape the woman's shadow wrath.

As they manage to escape, Sora and the others managed to head outside where they noticed Puck managing to still hold his own against the boss form of the Organization member. Kishida and Elsa were both ready to help out yet they noticed Kenichi carrying Subaru and the others following behind the two. This caused both warriors to approach the group to figure out what was going on. As they arrive to the group's location, Elsa looks at Rem and asks her,

"What is going on?"

"A woman in shadows is attacking us."

"What?"

Before getting anymore information, the shadows started to get closer to them which forced the group to prepare themselves for a fight. Emilia looked at Kenichi to see him carrying an injured Subaru, making her be worried for the boy.

"Kenichi-sama, please take Subaru away from here."

"You got it, daughter-in-law."

"...okay..."

Emilia was silent about this since she still feels weird hearing that which even Puck took notice on what Kenichi said but couldn't say anything about it. He continued on the fight against the boss form of the Organization member while the others began their fight against the woman in shadows. As the group worked together to push back the shadows with Shaula and Emilia using their abilities to try and land a hit on the woman.

While this was going on, Kenichi and Beatrice managed to find a safe spot in the balcony to set Subaru down. As he was set down, Subaru looked at the group and could tell that this was a dead end. Although he wishes to do something about it, he knows that he used Canis Majoris for too long and is dealing with the side effects. He looked at his father but before he could say anything, Kenichi looked at Beatrice to say,

"Take care of him. I'll be right back."

"Of course I will, I suppose. Just try not dying!"

"I'll be alright."

Kenichi patted Beatrice's head before going off to help the others. As he left, Subaru looked at Beatrice with a bit of sadness in his heart.

'I don't want anything bad happening to you, Beatrice...I probably need to give you a nickname...let's go with Beako.'

"Beako..."

"...yes, Subaru!"

"I-I'm sorry..."

"For what? You did nothing wrong, I suppose."

"I-I did...I wasn't careful at all..."

"Well, you have always been a foolish, careless, stupid, irresponsible, and hopeless contractor, I suppose."

"Okay...didn't expect a pep talk to make me feel bad."

"But in the end of the day, you are still a good person and Betty's Subaru, in fact."

Subaru smiled at Beatrice and with the strength he could muster he patted the little girl on the head before he started to lose most of his strength. He looked up and was unsure on what was going to happen to end this vision, yet he did want to do one thing. He turned towards Beatrice and gave her a hug.

"Wh-What is this, all of a sudden, I suppose?!"

"I-I just...want to hug you...please..."

"...okay..."

Beatrice allowed it and hugged Subaru back as he ended up passing out.

'Well, if I'm going to die, I might as well die here...hugging Beako...'

Subaru passed out but as he saw a dark void, there was a voice that started to say,

"I love you."

'Well...I guess I'm dead man...'

Subaru could feel his mind in a dark void once again, the same one where he ends up after he dies. As he was drifting there, he ended up in a weird yet familiar place. He looked around to see that he is in a place of darkness with some sort of glass he is standing on. He looks down to see himself there with his original tracksuit that he was wearing in the convenient store. He also noticed a few circles having the pictures of people he cares about such as Emilia, Ram, Beatrice, his two parents, Rem, and Sora.

"Wh-Where am I?"

"You are in the station of wakening."

"What the?!"

Subaru looked around when he heard this voice, unsure who it is. He looks everywhere yet he couldn't see anybody. At first he thought that the voice he was hearing was just his imagination until that same voice spoke again to Subaru.

"So much to do, so little time...Take your time. Don't be afraid. The door is still shut."

Subaru was confused by this since somehow it feels familiar until pillars were starting to rise. The boy was startled by this and started to see three pillars with three weapons on each individual pillar. While the pillars were getting set, the voice continued to speak to Subaru.

"Power sleeps within you. If you give it form...It will give you strength. Choose well."

Subaru was confused by what he is suppose to do yet all he can think of is to take a look at each weapon. The first one he goes to is the sword, curious to see how sharp the weapon is. As he is holding the sword, the voice speaks to him once again.

"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction."

Subaru looked closely at the sword as he heard what the voice had to say. He returns the sword back to the pillar before turning towards the other two pillars. He chose to go to the staff, wanting to see what the description is for the staff with a familiar head. As he grabbed it, he took a closer examination while hearing the voice speak a second time.

"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin."

Subaru set down the staff and turned his attention to shield, starting to understand what is going on.

'I see, so this is my chance to increase my strength or defense...or even magic, if I can even do it that is.'

Subaru walked towards the last pillar to check on the shield to see what the voice will say about this weapon power set. As he picks it up and looks at it, he can hear the voice again.

"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all."

'A power to aid friends...'

Subaru knew that he needs to make a choice, yet he wasn't sure. He is weak and knows that getting the sword would increase his strength, yet he would still be physically weak against his opponents. Getting the shield would help his defenses but his offense would be weak as usual. Getting the staff would be beneficial if he knew how to cast magic. Subaru closed his eyes and started to think deeply but has he was thinking, he felt that he made this choice before yet he isn't sure why he feels this. He takes a moment to think before finally deciding.

"I want to protect everyone but I also want to be strong to do something...I'll take the sword."

Subaru goes to grab the sword, wanting to be strong. As he holds the sword for a few seconds, the sword disappeared. As this happened, the voice spoke again to say,

"Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?"

"Hm. This should be easy."

Subaru ran towards the pillar where the staff was at and held it for a few seconds before it disappeared. As the staff disappeared like the sword, the voice spoke again to Natsuki Subaru,

"Is this the form you choose?"

"Yes."

As he says this, Subaru notices that his mind is becoming nauseous once again. Knowing that he is returning to his checkpoint, Subaru had a smile on his face since he knows that no matter what he will save everyone.

'I'll keep fighting to the very end!'

Subaru's mind returned to a place where he was familiar, seeing that it is right after Rem defeated the heartless with his keyblade.

'Okay good, that means that I won't have to constantly remember to stop Rem from using all of her strength. This means that this is count two.'

Subaru looks at the group and knows that they need to act fast but he also needs to check on Julius' status in his part. He looks at Rem and tells her,

"Can you go and check on your sister? I want to make sure she along with Emilia-chan, Elsa, and Shaula are okay. The rest of us can go check on Julius and his group."

"Yes, I can do that."

"Allow me to also accompany you."

Kishida said this which caught the group off guard. Subaru turned towards the knight and just nodded at him, showing that he understands. The knight nodded back at him before both Kishida and Rem went the direction Ram headed off to while Subaru lead Sora, Kenichi, and Beatrice up the stairs to see if Julius is doing alright. As they were making their way up, Sora looked at Subaru and could see that something was different about him for some reason.

"Hey Subaru, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why you ask?"

"You just seem a bit stressed out."

"W-Well maybe a little. I just everyone to be alright."

"We are going to be alright. We are in this together."

"Yeah..."

Subaru can tell that Sora was being honest on what he was saying and perhaps that is true yet Subaru knew that he needs to be the one to solve the issue. With the ability to return through dying, he knows that he alone must bear the burden until he finds the perfect way to save them all. Once the group arrive to the second trial room, Subaru's group notices Julius doing his best against Reid only to be overpowered within a few seconds. As Julius was knocked to the ground once again, Reid goes towards the door while saying,

"Once again, yer just a weak sword wielder."

"I'm not weak!"

"Well you're weak, get over it and drop the sword wielding." Reid said in an annoyed tone of voice. Those words from the Sword Saint were enough to break him.

"If bend my knew and lose my sword, what's left for me?"

"Don't treat yourself like that, Julius. You are more than just a knight."

Julius turned to see Sora approaching him, wanting to cheer the finest knight up. Julius got up with the help of the young boy while feeling shame that he isn't able to beat Reid no matter what he does. Subaru saw this and realized that Julius also has self-pity like him, causing him to say,

"Julius, can I speak to you for a moment in private?"

"Um...sure, Subaru."

Julius went away from the group with the help of Sora and Subaru. As the three walk away from the others, Kenichi went to check on his wife to make sure she is alright while Beatrice looked at Subaru, worried for the boy before joining Naoko and Kenichi. Once Sora, Subaru, and Julius were in a spot where they had privacy, Sora left the two to allow the pair to talk.

"What did you wanted to talk about, Subaru?"

"I just want to say that you shouldn't look down on yourself. You are doing your best here and I hate seeing a friend beating themselves up for it."

"I...appreciate that you view me as a friend, Subaru, but this is my job and I can't fail you all."

"Yes but stressing out won't help you out either. Trust me...I know."

Julius took a moment to process what Subaru was telling him, understanding his concern and the words he said to him. This slightly made him relieved a bit that Subaru would care for him, having wanted to be his friend as well as Sora's friend ever since he met the two. Although this Subaru still suffers from amnesia, he still acts like the one he met back before the royal selection began. Julius stood silent for a moment before finally saying to Subaru,

"I will not give up on this, Subaru. I will beat the Sword Saint but I will also keep a level head and not allow the stress to beat me."

"Good."

Subaru patted Julius' shoulder before helping the knight get to the others. While this was happening, the finest knight of Lugnica looked at his friend for a moment before looking forward while saying,

"Thank you, Natsuki Subaru."

"Anything for a friend."

As the two were arriving where the others are located, the group noticed Reid say,

"And who'th hell r'ya suppose t'be?"

"We are here to eat~TSU!"

"Yes, we are here to eat you all."

"Is that so? We'll then bring it on!"

Subaru and the group looked to see Reid face off the combined efforts of Lye Batenkaitos and Roy Alphard. Seeing the original Sword Saint taking on the two Sin Archbishops of Gluttony, Subaru knew that it was only a matter of time before they were killed yet he was determined to do something about it. He allowed Julius to sit down with his assistance before summoning his keyblade, preparing for a fight.

'I won't lose here no matter how many times I die. I will save everyone no matter what!'