Elsewhere, the others were still running and made it to the entrance hall foyer. Ren glanced back when he noticed that a certain newly awakened redhead was lagging behind up at the top of the second floor stairway. "Kairi. You need to stick with us." he called back to her.

Goofy looked back as everyone else stopped in the wake of Ren's call. Sure enough, Kairi was standing at the top of the stairs, looking back where they came from with a look of immense worry. "Kairi, hurry!" Goofy urged.

Kairi couldn't stop glancing back to the way they came all along the way. Her two dearest friends were still back there, and whatever became of them...No, she just couldn't believe they were gone. "I can't leave them behind!" she cried out.

"We can't stay here!" Donald said with desperation.

"He's right! If we stand around, the Heartless will overwhelm us!" Yang spoke up with a nod. She knew how worried Kairi was about Sora and Riku, but their sacrifices would be for nothing if the Heartless got to her again.

The next instant, Blake's ears twitched when looking to the open archway behind Kairi. Her yellow eyes widened with horror as she noticed something walking up behind her. "Oh no. Kairi! Get down here! Now!"

Glancing behind herself, Kairi fund herself finally finding the motivation to run down the stairs to join the others. For standing behind her was the Shadow Ozpin defended. It had wandered through the entire castle after the group, and was now looking down at them all with an odd, curious looking cock of its head. "A Heartless is after us!" Goofy said with worry as he raised his shield.

Ruby grimaced as she and the rest of her friends readied their weapons. "Just one? That's odd. Usually Heartless attack in groups."

"Anybody able to use their semblance?" Jaune asked, only to be met with shaking heads and "No"s from his team and Ruby's. And after the constant brawling with the Heartless, the Grimm and Maleficent, they'd run out of ammunition too.

Fortunately it was just one single Heartless, which prompted Donald to take the initiative. "I'll take care of it!"

Weiss looked to him skeptically. "You still have magic left, Donald?"

"No," Donald said, firmly clutching his staff with a show of confidence. "But I don't need it for something as simple as a Shadow."

"I really hope you're not just saying that." Neptune said, skeptically. Donald wasn't exactly the best fighter outside of his magic.

Shadow hobbled toward the group, though oddly not in the way that others of its kind normally would have. Its claws weren't barred, it wasn't hunched over quite as much as they were, and it wasn't even trying to phase into the ground. That didn't stop Donald from rapidly bonking it on the head with his staff though. "Confounded Heartless! Get lost, will ya!?" he yelled angrily.

"Yeah, shoo!" Nora exclaimed loudly as Donald whacked it again and again. Yet to everyone's surprise...it didn't do anything. The fact it didn't react to Donald's attack, apart from lurching from the impact, confused everyone else. Jaune exchanged a confused look with his teammates.

"Uhhh, why isn't it fighting back?" Sun asked, earning only a shrug from Neptune. Normally, Weiss would have said that a Heartless was a Heartless or something similar, but even she found it strange that this particular Heartless wasn't attacking anyone. Not even Donald who kept on bonking it on the head.

In that moment, Ruby and Kairi both noticed something peculiar. Despite being whacked on the head by Donald again...the Heartless's gaze shifted to Kairi. At first Ruby wondered if perhaps the Heartless was specifically going after her, but then...her silver eyes widened with realization. "Wait a minute...is that..."

It seemed Kairi had the same thoughts as her as her own deep blue eyes widened as well. Could it really be... "Sora? Is that you?"

"Huh?!" All of Ruby's friends blanched with surprise at Kairi's words. At first, they didn't believe their ears, but the fact Blake also said it given her faunus heritage, it was clear that they DIDN'T mishear. She thought that that Heartless was Sora!?

"Uh, oh!" Goofy's worried interjection drew them out of their surprise and soon they looked to find themselves...surrounded by Shadows! These ones looking MUCH more inclined to attack them!

"They caught up with us!" Weiss exclaimed. The young huntsmen and huntresses readied their weapons one by one as the Heartless closed in on them. Though exhausted, they couldn't give up now. They were almost out! They couldn't let Sora's sacrifice be in vain!

Kairi was afraid, she couldn't deny...But she stood in front of the Shadow, determined to protect it as it merely stood there, gazing up at her. As everyone else kept the Heartless at bay, she chose to stay behind and defend the entity that she was CERTAIN was Sora. "This time. I'll protect you."

No matter how many Heartless the others took down, it they were replaced almost immediately. The constant influx caused everyone to separate in the midst of the brawl, isolated by groups upon groups of Heartless. Because of this, Kairi was left unprotected as a ring of Shadows began stalking closer to her. As if they were a single entity, they all pounced upon her. In one last desperate burst of impulse, Kairi turned to crouch and embrace the Shadow protectively. "Sora!"

The moment the girl called out her friend's name, everyone turned to see what happened. Horror overcame them all as Goofy and Ruby cried out with utmost concern. "Kairi!" "NO!" Ruby rushed to them, desperate to save them. But before she took more than two steps, a bright light suddenly erupted from the center of shadows, bursting like a geyser as it destroyed them all. What everyone saw next in the place Kairi was attacked...they could hardly believe.

"Kairi," a familiar boyish voice catching everyone's attention. In the midst of the sea of light that burst out from where Kairi was attacked, there she was again, securely in the arms of the one she sought to protect. "Thank you."

Kairi's eyes had shut as she feared the worst for fate before...but the moment she heard that voice and felt those familiar arms embracing her, they slowly opened when realizing...she was right. There he was again. Back to normal. Alive. And here with her. "Sora..."

It was really him. Sora was right there where the Shadow had been. Kairi and Ruby were right. It really was Sora all along.

"Sora!" Everyone cried out with joy at the sight of the restored young Keyblade Master. They thought they had lost him forever, but...somehow, Kairi managed to bring him back! But they didn't have time to celebrate as they were still being attacked by Heartless. Sora immediately stepped in front of Kairi, summoning his Keyblade. Catching up could wait. They had to fight their way out.

Suddenly, a dark bright red blade sliced along the horde of Heartless, splitting them in two before they dissipated into a dark mist. Sora and his friends perked up with surprise as the figure responsible stepped forth from the dissipating sea of destroyed heartless. "So. You didn't kill yourself after all, Keyblade Master. And here I thought I was going to be disappointed not having been able to meet the one who'll supposedly bring back my world. Frankly, I'm disappointed anyway."

Blake's blood ran cold as her ears flattened fearfully with recognition of the voice alone. And as the owner of the voice stepped forward...she realized with cold, horrifying certainty who it was. She'd been hoping she had been seeing things when they were exploring the castle, but now she had the confirmation she dreaded. It really was him.

"Adam..." Her fearful uttering of his name drew a concerned look from her friends.

"Blake? Do you know this guy?" Goofy asked uncertainly.

Trying to mask her trembling, Blake barely managed to eke out a soft answer of, "I used to...or at least I thought I did."

The red haired, horned faunus smirked wickedly as his mask veiled eyes shifted in her direction. "Hello again...My love."

"Love?!" Everyone exclaimed with surprise.

"I'm heartbroken, Blake. You didn't think to mention me to your new friends?" Adam said sarcastically as he stepped toward her.

Sora stood in front of his friends, Keyblade leveled at Adam. "Are you with Cinder too?" Sora asked firmly, refusing to let this sinister man anywhere near his friends.

"Pfft. Don't insult me." Adam scoffed. He'd have been amused at such a misconception were it not so absurd. "I only engaged in a partnership with her to suit the objectives of the White Fang. Objectives that can only be achieved if you survive and restore remnant." The irony of the situation, at least ironic from his perspective, was one that grated him nonetheless. "To think I'd be putting my faith in a human of all things."

"Just let us through." Sora said, not concerned over Adam's mocking words and knowing they were all still in danger at the moment.

"You are free to leave. None of you are of any concern to me." Adam said dismissively, before his masked eyes turned to Blake again. "I only want her."

His words made Blake step back as she shivered. Sora noticed how afraid of him she was and stepped between them more firmly. "You're not coming anywhere near her." he said protectively, earning a horrified look from Blake. Sora had no idea what Adam was capable of, or the things he was willing to do for his goals.

Annoyance in Adam's frown was layered with the growing anger. "If you don't move out of the way right now, you'll regret it. I'm only warning you one time because you need to survive for my world to potentially return. My business is with Blake."

"Whatever you want with her, it's clearly nothing good. I can tell that much. So I'll say it again. You're not getting anywhere near Blake!" Sora said before running toward him with Keyblade held firmly.

"Sora, no!"

Blake's warning came too late as Adam nonchalantly sheathed his sword. With little effort, he blocked Sora's strike with his scabbard before using turning on his heels, sweeping a leg along the ground and into Sora's legs. The momentum of Sora's charge was used against him, causing him to tumble onto the floor. Kairi and Ruby ran to him out of concern as Donald Goofy, and everyone else stood ready to shield their prone friend.

Adam sighed with wearied annoyance. "Fine. It's obvious none of you are going to heed my warning. You leave me no choice," he said as he slowly reached for his blade again. Blake's blood ran cold, knowing precisely what Adam was doing. "I won't kill you, Keyblade wielder. But I will make it so you can't effectively fight me."

Just as he grabbed the hilt of his blade, the roar of the Beast filled the room. Everyone turned to the top of the stairs in time to see him leap off and catch Adam off guard. He landed in front of Adam and backhand him to a wall before grabbing the man by his throat and holding his sword arm back in a fierce struggle. "Go! Now!" Beast shouted when glancing back to the others.

"Beast!" Blake called out, sharing the surprise of her friends. He'd managed to survive all this. Worried as she was given everything she knew about how ruthless and brutal Adam was, Beast doing everything in his power to stop him. But between Cinder, the Heartless, the Grimm, and now Adam, there wasn't a lot NOT to worry about.

"Come with us!" Sora urged, not wanting to leave behind the new friend who inspired him to save Kairi even as things were at their most hopeless.

Beast however snarled and looked back at Sora with that same determined look in his eyes as when they met. "I told you before! I'm not leaving without Belle!" he said firmly, struggling against Adam's attempts to draw his blade. He'd come this far to save her. And now that she was free, assuming what Ozpin said was true, he wasn't going to leave her here. "Now GO! The Heartless are coming!" Beast urged them.

As much as Sora, and his friends didn't want to leave him here, Beast was right. They'd be overwhelmed if they stayed any longer. "Alright. Let's get out of here." Sora said, earning a firm nod from his friends, as he turned and led the way out of the castle.

Blake stopped short, looking back at the fighting pair with a worried expression. "Beast...Please be careful." she said softly before following after her friends.

Adam managed to free himself and kicked off of Beast's body. He grunted as he landed, blade drawn, glaring at Beast who glared right back at him. "You really don't know when to quit." Adam said, holding back his urge to strike.

Beast let out a growling exhale as his eyes practically burned into Adam's visor. As if he was looking dead into his eyes beyond the mask. "...Like looking in a mirror." he said with a tone of utter loathing. Adam shifted with confusion at Beast's words. Words that sounded

But before either could make a move, they both sensed something coming at them from behind. They sharply turned, swiping claw and sword at the Heartless that were now pouring into the foyer.

By the skin of their teeth, Sora, Ruby, Donald, Goofy, and their friends escaped from Hollow Bastion to fight another day.