Nexus: Heroes Will Rise

by tmb1112

Universal borders have been erased and beings from thousands of universes now live on the same world: Nexus. In the first Saga of Nexus, Awul was saved, but the mysteries of Nexus remain. Now our heroes sail across the sea to Aebrith to search for lost loved ones and save the world. MCs from DBZ, KH, Soul Eater, FT, Blue Exorcist, Bleach, 7DS, OP, Ben 10, SAO, HxH, and many more!

146. Nexus HWR 22-5 Magic Warriors

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original media that the characters and other proper nouns from my story come from.

Nexus HWR 22.5 Magic Warriors:

"What did you do to them?!" Timmy screamed. Aura radiated off his body and slammed into the wizard whose long white hair blew back behind him. Saruman held his staff in front of his body and parted the wind that pushed to either side of him so strongly that it was visible. "Release your hold on them, warlock! NOW!" Timmy's voice boomed so loudly that Izumo had to grab both of her ears to try not to get her eardrums blown out.

"I refuse," Saruman declared back. "And I am the only one who can awaken them from their slumber. So calm yourself, child. Or perhaps I shall show you how serious I am by disposing of one of them. Which of them should I choose? Hmm?" Saruman shifted his glare from the flaring young man in front of him who got a much more scared look on his face. The wizard narrowed his gaze at the blue-haired woman who had steam coming off of her and was watching his every movement carefully. She looks like she's staring at my jugular, Saruman noticed. The right corner of his lips curled up. Good.

Timmy's aura stopped flaring so wildly as the boy took a moment to calm down and think. He did not have time to plan though as Saruman continued once he saw Timmy listening. "I need something of you. A request," he started.

Izumo lowered her hands from her ears and glared at the sorcerer herself. "Doesn't sound like much of a 'request' when you have hostages."

"Then a demand," Saruman corrected himself. The teenage girl eased her head back as the old wizard cast a dark look at her for her to be quiet and allow him to continue. Izumo gulped then glanced around the dark, barely lit room of the tall tower they found themselves in. She shivered as she brought her gaze up to rafters above and spotted two creepy cloaked figures in all black who rode on the back of dragon-like monsters staring down at them. Those black-winged Fellbeasts had long necks and muscular bodies shaded lighter on their bellies. Izumo was ready to reach back up to her ears if she had to listen to the screeches of the Nazgul again which were much worse than Timmy's overly loud shouts.

"In the eastern part of the Magic Kingdom's capital of Valyria, there exists a museum," Saruman began to the trio before him. "Lying in the borough of Storybrook, the Vault 'museum' doubles as a sort-of bank, per-se. Many magical items on display in the bank are powerful beyond compare. Dungeon relics sold to the museum's curators. Or weapons taken from defiant sorcerers who the MTF defeated. The Magic Knights store some of their most dangerous finds in plain sight."

"If you wanted us to steal something, you shouldn't have knocked Nami and Robin out," Juvia started in a condescending tone to the wizard. "Nami's literally the best thief in the world. They're pirates, you dolt," Juvia insulted the wizard who ground his teeth for a second at her insolence before chortling under his breath.

"I am well aware of the 'Cat Burglar's' reputation. The three of you have quite the bounties on your heads," Saruman remarked. Juvia furrowed her brow at the wizard who wondered at her, "Did you believe that no one would hunt you for your roles in the collapse of the Fire Nation? Children, all of you. Coming into Cooperative territory under the protection of an infant boy." Saruman shifted his glare over to Timmy. If Juvia, Nami, and Robin were "children" to him, then Timmy was even less than that. Timmy wanted to scream at him or fight the sorcerer over the insult but could do nothing.

Timmy's own gaze just lingered back onto the still form of Nami whose mind he was failing at reading. "If you know how she can help," Timmy started.

"This is not a job for a simple thief. The magical barriers and traps would be far too much for her," Saruman scoffed at the idea. Then his gaze lost the dismissive look in it as he stared at the kid. "Brute force will be your best option."

Saruman tapped the butt of his staff on the ground between his feet. The top of his white staff glowed, and then holographic images projected out of it and into the air above them but below the rafters. "The layout of the Vault. Each room itself has traps that will set off on their own or when activated, should you alert the guards of your presence."

"And, how many guards are there?" Izumo questioned, already dreading what the answer might be.

"Should you attempt right away during the day, slightly fewer than if you attempt at night. The night shift when the museum is closed is more heavily guarded as it is staffed by a squad of Magic Knights. The Blue Rose knights protect the Vault from intruders. However, the various traps set by the Magic King and by hired specialists who work exclusively with traps will be more of an issue than those pesky witches." Saruman's tone dismissed the guards they would be facing as no real threat to them.

Timmy grimaced at the sound of the tone Saruman used while describing the traps and guards. He knows about my power. It makes sense that he knows about Nami, Robin, and Juvia. He found out about me somehow though. Maybe he knows Cartman. The "Wizard King" and this evil magician have a lot in common, after all. "You think those traps are enough to even stop me?" Timmy questioned the sorcerer who was about to move on to discussing their target.

Saruman paused and examined the child. "Do not test me, boy." Timmy's eyes widened while the two girls just glanced back and forth between them in confusion. Timmy looked past the wizard in white to the pirates he held hostage, and Timmy bowed his head but nodded apologetically for his insolence. He had been trying to get Saruman to give away how much the wizard knew about his strength. The older man's stern scolding made Timmy decide that the information did not matter enough to risk Nami and Robin's lives over.

"You accept your role then? Good. Wormtongue!" Saruman slammed the butt of his staff on the floor at his feet. A loud thud echoed around the room, and a set of double doors opened behind Saruman that a hunched-over wiry man ran through. He had long greasy black hair and shifty eyes that darted in every direction as he made his way towards the group of three who all glared at him. Grima Wormtongue hesitated for a second at their glares, but he hurried faster when he caught a glimpse of Saruman's threatening look in the corners of his eyes. "He will go with you. To ensure you do not try anything fishy. Wormtongue, keep a close eye on them."

"Y-Yesss, master," Wormtongue stuttered and replied fearfully and loyally. He bowed his whole body to the wizard and backed away to stand just next to Izumo who gave him an uncertain look. The teenage girl was undecided on if she was disgusted by this figure or felt bad for him, but she crossed her arms and looked away when he shifted a glance in her direction.

"Now off with you. Wormtongue will be able to show you what I am looking for when you arrive at your destination," Saruman finished. He turned back to the doors that Wormtongue had hurried through, and he pointed his staff towards them. "Are you still here?" Saruman wondered after a moment while they were just staring at him. The walls behind the group of four opened outwards to create an open-air window in the tower they found themselves in.

The group looked back at the window that led to a several hundred foot drop. Saruman knew of Timmy's abilities though, and it was clear the direction he wanted them to exit from. Izumo glanced over her shoulder again towards Saruman, but the wizard appeared to be busy with something else already. As if they were merely one of many operations the man was in the middle of. We're on a stupid fetch quest for this guy. This stinks!

"Alright. We'll go," Timmy said. He spoke in a serious tone and lifted his gaze after looking down off the edge of the tower. Timmy stared out into the distance in the Magic Kingdom, but he spoke to the man behind him. "But when we return with what you asked for, you will wake up Nami and Robin and return them to us. This is the one task we will carry out for you."

"You are in no place to be making any demands… But yes, I will free them after you complete your task." Timmy turned around to face the wizard who just said that to him. Saruman's staff was glowing purple, as was the unconscious figure who floated into the room thanks to Saruman's magic. The wizard could tell Timmy was staring at him, and he snapped, "I give you my word. Does that satisfy you-"

"Sora?!" Timmy exclaimed.

Saruman froze with his mouth open. He spun around and saw Timmy gawking at the figure who Saruman just floated in there with them. He looked back to the unconscious teenage boy then to the others again. Izumo looked confused, but Juvia had lost the furious expression to instead just look as shocked as Timmy did. "You know the Keybearer?" Saruman wondered amusedly. The left corner of his lips lifted up slightly as he shifted his gaze back towards Nami and Robin for a moment, then to Sora himself again. "Hmm," the wizard hummed, realizing his luck and just what he could do now that he knew of their connection.

"Why do you have Sora?" Juvia growled angrily. "What are you doing with him?!" She yelled.

"None of your concern."

"Who is that?" Izumo whispered towards Timmy. How do they know that guy? "Keybearer" is what Cassie called Riku. Is this another one?

"You have to free Sora too when we-"

"We will discuss those new terms on your return. Go, now. As I have three hostages you care for now, which makes it much easier to dispose of one to show you how serious I am," Saruman warned. He did not look back to the group this time, but he stood up straight and gripped his staff tighter in a way warning them not to push him here.

The threat was real. Each of them could tell from his tone that this was no longer an argument. Timmy grit his teeth but did not continue with his demand. I might need to do something else to get Sora back too. Sora, how the heck did you get captured? What are you doing here?

If he attempts to double-cross us, I'll kill him. This is his only chance. I should just kill him if he gives me an opening, Juvia corrected herself. No need to give him any chances. One clear shot at his throat. He may let his guard down at some point when we return. Juvia glared outside and then looked to Timmy who checked with a glance to the girls to see if they were ready.

Timmy saw Juvia's look and one from Izumo, then he turned to Wormtongue and read his mind, and the boy glared darkly at the sketchy figure who pulled his face back at Timmy's angry expression. "Let's go," Timmy said. His feet lifted off the ground, and the other three all floated off the floor too as he lifted them telekinetically so they could all fly together. "Don't worry, Nami, Robin, Sora. We'll come back to save you."

---

"Should we really be letting him do this on his own?" Izumo whispered to her right side. The girl with dark purple hair lay prone out on the roof of an apartment building in central Storybrook not far from the Vault. The taller buildings in downtown Valyria behind them were starting to cast shadows over this district of the city as the suns set in the west. Izumo could see the suns partially blocked by those buildings, though her eyes shifted up and she reminded herself of the floating islands that had cast shade earlier that afternoon too. Darkness was not what they were waiting for though.

"The Vault should have closed five minutes ago," Wormtongue whispered much too close to the back of Izumo's head while she was facing the other way in her prone position. She shivered and did not want to turn her head as she felt she would come face-to-face with the creep behind her whose breath she felt in her hair. "If the boy is right, the change in guard shifts before the Blue Rose Magic Knights arrive could be a perfect opportunity for him-"

"Juvia, are you sure about this?" Izumo specified her question, as it apparently was not obvious who she was speaking to just from her looking in Juvia's direction. Juvia shifted her eyes to her left at the girl who lay flatter than the Fairy Tail mage did. Juvia had her elbows down at a right angle with her head lifted higher than the other two, so she had a better angle down the block to the south wall of the Vault. "I mean, I know that Timmy's strong. He's still a kid though."

"Remember what he said in the Black Market about his powers?" Juvia reminded Kamiki.

Juvia did not explain what she was telling Izumo. Izumo understood without Juvia giving her a look that the man on Izumo's other side might have been able to read. They did not want to give away more information than necessary. Izumo did recall what Nami had bragged about though in regards to Timmy's abilities when it came to the potential assassins who boarded their ship off Aebrith's coast. She had seen his strength first hand too. Juvia added while looking back ahead again, "Timmy has stealth abilities that are better than ours. He will do better on his own than with us in there."

I know Timmy's right about that. I want to go in though. To fight. Juvia curled her fists and pushed down on them to lift off her elbows more and glare harder at that building down the road.

Izumo nodded slowly and refaced the building herself. We're just here as backup. She took in a deep breath and released it, then she crossed her arms under her chest for a moment and rubbed her hands together. Even in her hoodie, she felt chilly as the brisk breeze flew across the top of the building. What would I even do if I was in there with him?

Izumo Kamiki looked down at the roof below her chin. Her eyes half-closed and she released a slow and heavy breath. What could I do? I can't do anything. She closed her eyes and pictured the hordes of Nobodies that attacked Amazonia. She clenched her teeth behind pursed lips. I was so weak. Everyone around me was taking down more of them than I could. Uke and Mike fought for me, I just summoned them. I thought I might be stronger than Nami, Izumo squinted her eyes open and frowned deeper. But I saw how she fought off the Kobolds Saruman sent at us first. Those rat monsters weren't very strong either. Weak enough that Timmy went after Saruman while we "handled" them, and Nami was holding her own out there. That Clima-Baton weapon she has isn't even fair- but she knows how to use it! That's amazing.

I was too weak to stop the Women's Kingdom from falling. I could only handle a few Nobodies, and just the blank ones at that. I'm an exorcist. When it doesn't come to demons, I'm weak. And even then… Izumo bowed her head even more. I was safe in Amazonia. I, just haven't been training very much. Not enough. Nami and Robin were so quick to let me come with them, and I just stood there while they got captured. Her eyes stared down at her nice new sweatshirt that Nico Robin had purchased for her with no mention of debt or ever paying her back. Just a gift from a stranger who had been kind to her, and who she had let down, like she had let down so many others as of late.

As hard as it is for me though, Izumo curled her fists. She looked back up and towards the museum their youngest member had snuck into. It must be much harder on Timmy. He is so close to Nami and is clearly blaming himself for falling for Saruman's illusion. Izumo remembered how the wizard Timmy attacked had vanished, and how one of the Kobolds between Nami and Robin in their fight suddenly transformed into the man Timmy thought he was attacking. He caught us off guard. It's not your fault, Timmy.

It's all my fault, Timmy snuck through the Vault in a state of self-pity. He had made it through the front doors right behind the last visitors to come in before they were locked. None of the guards had noticed the invisible kid whose footsteps made no sounds or vibrations as he walked through the building. I explicitly promised Nami not to leave her anymore. How could I say that and then let her get captured so quickly?! Am I that dumb that I didn't think to read his mind from a distance first before rushing away from her? I would have known he was just an illusion and the real one was behind- gah! Stupid stupid stupid!

Timmy took another step and froze. His eyes darted to the floor where his foot just touched down. He made no noise. The ground did not vibrate. The magic seemed to know he was there anyway though, considering a red circle full of rune symbols appeared underneath him and spread five feet in diameter so he was in the center of the trap.

Stupid, he thought again but for a different reason this time. The distracted kid worrying about his guardian jumped up in the air and flew forward. He crossed his arms as a shimmer of red aura appeared in front of him. The circle of magic was apparently a cylinder of it, but that cylinder strained and shattered like glass when Timmy smashed into it with a sudden acceleration.

"BwwoooooOOOP! BwwoooooOOOP! BwwoooooOOOP! Bwwoo…"

Juvia popped up off her fists and leapt from the roof of the building. Izumo's eyes were still growing wide in surprise that alarms were going off after how she just reminded herself of how good Timmy's stealth supposedly was. "Juvia!" Izumo called out. She grit her teeth and leaned forward after standing up at the edge of that building too which Timmy had brought them to in the first place. Izumo stared down five stories and then glanced to the man next to her who shook his head back and forth to show he was not okay with making the jump either. Izumo leaned back forward and yelled out, "Can you catch us?!"

Juvia's lower body transformed before she hit the ground. Her body below the waist turned into a wave only five feet wide at the base. It shot forward down the middle of the street that people moved to the sides of and yelled out in surprise. Juvia suppressed the smirk that appeared on her drop from the building. Save Nami and Robin. That's the goal here. We have to get the artifact even with the alarms going off. "Brute strength," the wizard said.

Juvia lifted her arms and turned them into blades of rapidly vibrating water. She slashed ahead of her, and her arms whipped ahead into the outer wall of the Vault. The thin water jets continued to vibrate upon hitting the wall. The mage slashed an 'X' shape through it and then grew even larger on top of her wave, colliding with the wall and busting it inwards.

Guards inside about to finish their shifts spun around as they rounded a corner to head to the source of the sensors that were going off. They gawked at the sight of the twenty foot tall woman of water whose human form sank into the middle of its torso, creating a blue woman who curled her right hand into a fist after smashing through the wall and spotting her enemies. Juvia punched down at the guards who yelled out in shock and panic, only to be swept away by the mage's attack. "Ocean Fist!" Juvia's arm of water did not stop at the length it looked like it would based on the size of her giant body. Rather, water poured out of her shoulder and extended her arm across the floor, knocking over display cases and smashing apart several base structures that held up different artifacts.

"It's an attack!"

"They're trying to steal the ARMs!"

"Stop them!"

That's not what I'm after. Though there are some really powerful weapons in here, Timmy thought as he sped down a hallway and looked into different rooms for his target. He could hear everything going on in the building, including the yells and grunts from his comrade who he felt an uneasy sensation about at the tone of one of her screams. Juvia won't go too far. She won't! Timmy clenched his eyes shut for a moment. He tried to focus on finding the artifact that Wormtongue had given him the description of but not an exact location. His mind wandered though at the sound of a roar back behind him. She's only like this because I left.

I left to find a Fairy Godparent who wanted nothing more than to hurt me. I left my friends, and they all got so hurt. Ben, Killua, Juvia! Now Nami and Robin too! I keep letting everyone down. Timmy's eyes snapped open and his head spun back the direction he came from so fast it looked a blur to the guards who found him and just started shouting out about his position. "Juvia," Timmy whispered.

You died because I wasn't there to protect you. What's happening to you now is my fault. So I won't let you! Timmy appeared back in a grand hall of ARMs that were displayed across each wall and on pedestals. Those objects were strewn about the floor and some even looked broken, as did the limbs of a few of the guards who were supposed to be protecting this place. "Juvia!" Timmy yelled, and Juvia flinched at the tone of his scolding voice.

He did not sound surprised or angry with her. Timmy yelled at the mage and forced Juvia to glance his way for a second. A few wands and broken staffs lay on the floor near her. The guards were nothing in comparison to the Fairy Tail mage whose body had reformed in a humanoid appearance with all the color to it again. It had looked like that anyway though when the guards' attacks were going straight through her as if she was made entirely of water. They had failed to hurt her, but she was not failing to hurt them back.

Water swirled around the heads of several of her enemies. They swiped their hands around in front of their faces or grabbed onto their necks as they drowned in water that moved around with them. There was no escape. Juvia's arms shook as she held them out in front of her body though. "Don't, Juvia. You can control this," Timmy said at the back of his friend's head. "I know you can. They're beaten! Let them go."

Juvia's teeth bared and her teeth made a grinding noise as her jaw twitched. "I am not going to let that happen." Juvia was so scared, the girl thought. She thought it not in her usual way of regarding to herself in the third-person though. She thought of it in the past tense, and as if about someone else. The voice she heard was from a friend whose words had sounded so comforting at that time. "I promise. I will stop you if you start to go too far, Juvia." Robin. You promised. You promised me! "What else are nakama for?"

Juvia swung her arms down. She looked pissed as she broke off her magic control over the water, but she did drop the hovering wave and free the guards who were about to drown in it. She snapped her head to the right side and ground her teeth even harder. Robin isn't even here and I'm almost killing people. I trusted that? Juvia trusted it. I don't. I can't trust my friends. You lied. You weren't here, and you promised. Liars. Pirates. Children.

I can't trust anyone but myself.

Timmy felt there was more he needed to say to Juvia right now to help her. The way she looked did not give him any sense of ease at all. He had bigger things to worry about though. "Juvia, look," he warned his friend. She turned and then leapt backwards and skid on the floor closer to Timmy, right before bolts of lightning slammed down where she was just standing.

"Blue Rose," Juvia muttered as she spotted the patches on the shoulders of the witches in blue cloaks.

A dozen of those witches of various ages flew into the room on broomsticks. A couple had floating grimoires next to them, while others held wands, and a couple held heavy staffs instead. They all had on Power Blockers just like the infiltrators of the Vault did, but everyone took each other seriously at this point. Timmy and Juvia could tell from one look that this professional force of guards was a lot more composed and likely more powerful too. Saruman had already warned them about this group.

The Magic Knights of the Blue Rose squad took their opponents seriously as well after seeing the way the room looked. "Get the day shift out of here," a dark-skinned young witch yelled out. She had short black hair and wore skimpy white undergarments below the blue cape that signified her squad. Sol Marron jumped off her broom while pointing her right hand forward at the intruders, "Thieves! You'll not get away with a single ARM!"

As she pointed, her grimoire above her glowed bright and made the floor below where she was coming down glow as well. The flooring of the room cracked apart. Two giant stone hands reached up out of the ground and pulled out the rest of a body of a forming forty-foot-tall golem. Sol landed on its right shoulder and pointed straight at Timmy and Juvia as she demanded, "Surrender now. You are under arrest!"

Juvia and Timmy each looked at some of the ARMs on the floor their opponents were yelling about. Each mystical object had a plaque on its base or below a frame that described them. Most of the descriptions claimed they were found in "dungeons" or taken by criminals who had claimed to find them there as well. One of the plaques had fallen in such a way that it was between Timmy and Juvia, and they each noticed what it said. They avoided even casting a look at each other to show what they had seen as it could let on about the new plan made in their heads.

"Wait until Izumo gets here to grab it." "But you didn't get the artifact. We still need it-" "I'll grab it before we get out of here. But we have to keep these witches busy, without badly hurting them, until I can get my hands on it." Timmy did not wait for a response from his friend who he communicated with telepathically. "These are 'ARMs,' are they?" Timmy wondered back at the squad captain who had called out that they would not be taking any.

Nine ARMs floated up in the air around the small boy without him touching them. "What happens if I do this?" Timmy wondered, and then he activated them.

Flashes of light surrounded the magical objects that just needed a little magical energy put into them to turn on. Sol's jaw dropped. Nine at once?! She could not do that. She knew no one who could suddenly do such a thing, especially without even touching the items. They already knew that this was serious, but her squad members currently trying to drag the unconscious or beaten guards out of there had to speed up their evac despite the discomfort to their own allies. They needed to get back in and join the fight.

I don't trust this. Will Timmy really get the ring? He's too worried about hurting our enemies. I should… Juvia's curled fists flinched again. This time her pause was not from something Timmy said to her. She just stared back through the room for a moment to the corner that one of the witches dragged a guard to and was leaning down over him.

Raven Baxter begged her friend Serena who ran up to her, "Please. Help him, girl. It's alright, Cory. Hey! Look at me. Oh no, does he have a concussion?" She wondered back to the thinner pale-skinned blonde woman on her side who had her eyes closed and hands held out in front of Raven's younger brother. The unconscious and soaking wet younger man was a guard at the museum on suggestion from his older sister who got him the job, and so Raven felt a crushing wave of guilt for putting Cory in danger like this. As green light shimmered over Cory and made his wounds fade, Raven shifted her attention with a harsh glare back into the room behind her and straight towards Juvia.

Juvia's heartless and angry glare had shifted though from the way it looked last time Raven saw her. The Blue Rose knights were only here so fast because of Raven's premonition, but the psychic just wished that she had seen it earlier so that they could have gotten here in time. I only foresaw that woman strangling Cory, but when we showed up he wasn't being drowned anymore. She stopped without killing him. Raven tried to grasp what was going on with the water woman's expression as Juvia stared down at her own palms.

Gray-sama. Juvia took in a deep breath and curled her hands into fists. I don't have to trust pirates. Or children. I still have Fairy Tail. I still have Gray. My true nakama. I can't forget about them! Juvia curled his fists tighter and dug her fingernails into her palms. I can't! She screamed in her own head to ensure that she would not forget. A second earlier, she had felt that she had no one left around at all who she could trust. I'm here for Gray. Something is wrong with me. It really is. I'm so close, and now the very people I'm supposed to ask for help… are the ones I'm currently fighting?! Juvia's face twisted in frustration and rage at how she had self-sabotaged her own chances of being saved. All for what? For pirates! Who… She had no more time to contemplate, as Timmy found himself rushed by a group attack of ten mages using combinations against the kid who clearly had no idea how to use the ARMs he had bluffed with.

"Sorry!" Timmy shouted while swinging his left hand up fast, tearing up the floor between one of the ARMs and a witch he accidentally fired a huge blast of flaming magic at.

He tried to protect his enemy from the attack he set off himself, but it would not have been necessary anyway. A witch in a red cloak who looked a lot like Serena, but with longer blonde hair that fell in braids compared to Serena's short blonde hair, had spun her staff around like a windmill in her arms. Two giant funnels of wind slammed into the debris Timmy rose in the way of the fiery attack, and it redirected the flames back towards the kid himself. "Kaswoosh!" Veronica yelled out. She leapt up in the air after casting the spell, and she pointed her staff down and yelled, "Kazapple!" The ceiling above Timmy cracked while he was raising his arms to block the tornadoes of fire coming at him. His eyes darted up, and then the boy moved in a blur that stunned his enemies as he dodged the magical bolts of lightning that slammed down and destroyed the floor where he was just standing.

Dorothy pulled up on her broom and spun away from spheres of water shooting up at her and the other flying witches in their squad. Juvia and Timmy were not fighting with each other, but the two were each very powerful. Some like Dorothy who thought to target the woman first after seeing the boy's strength found themselves regretting it, and Dorothy eased her face back and whispered, "oof" as she watched a comrade get punched by a watery fist across the room. The witch with long pink pigtails falling in braids kept her distance herself from the blue-haired woman, and Dorothy glanced towards the kid again to see if maybe she could get the drop on him now that he saw she was going after his comrade. He's not looking at me- Dorothy's jaw dropped as the kid's head snapped her direction for a moment and his eyes locked on hers. Did he hear that?!

"Puli!" Sol yelled out and spun to watch as her heavyset comrade and one of her oldest friends got rebounded by an invisible barrier when she was flying down as fast as she could using feathery white wings. Timmy even winced and looked nervously after the large woman who had far too much momentum behind her when she collided with his barrier, though he felt relieved to see only a busted up nose and some missing teeth on the face of the woman who went rolling back away from him. "Damn you," Sol growled while glaring back towards the child whose eyes continued to dart around the room, including in areas where her witches were not. He's still looking for something. We can't let him get it, whatever it is! He doesn't know where it is, and we won't tell-

"I'm looking for the Ring of Power!" Timmy yelled out.

His eyes darted around his enemies. "Don't think about it!" Dorothy shouted in warning to her comrades.

The kid realized that his opponents were the night shift at this museum. They were not thinking of the location that they had to guard, because they did not know what their enemies were searching for. Timmy turned and looked at one of his opponents who tried not to look the direction but who was unable to restrain her own thoughts.

"No," Sol whispered. Her eyes grew wider and shook in fear. I can't let him get it! I won't let you down, Lady Charlotte. Sol's fists trembled in fury at her sides, and her grimoire flashed bright yellow. "Sabrina! Enhance me!" Sol shouted out to her comrade back near the hole in the wall who responded immediately to her Captain's orders. Sol's body covered in a bright red glow that flared wildly, and her muscles bulged as the air around her started to vibrate. You left me the squad. You believed I could handle it. That I was responsible. And I will not LET YOU DOWN!

Sabrina Spellman dropped her hands after enchanting her superior. If Sol is going in like this, I need to help too. Sabrina took in a deep breath and then levitated off the ground. Her right fist burst into flames, and she drew a wand from her belt that had grooves on the shaft for her fingers to curl into perfectly. The witch shot forward, and a portal opened in the air in front of her, as well as behind Timmy Turner.

"Oomphle!"

"MultiHeal!"

"Accelerate!"

"Running low on Mana."

"Here. Elixer!"

Timmy grit his teeth. They're fighting so hard to stop us. But they all think we're going to do terrible things if we get it… aren't we? Giving it to someone like Saruman, do I really think that's okay? It will save Nami, Robin, and Sora, but then what if he hurts other people with it? "I-" Timmy shouted, while his enemies got pushed back by an invisible force, but not as far this time. The boy's body surrounded in a white veil as he had to use more strength to keep off the witches as they enhanced each other's speed and strength and magical powers. His veil was trembling though, and he called out in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry! We have to do this! I can't… I can't explain why, but we need that ring!"

Sol stomped forward through the huge force of wind pressing against her body. Behind her, Veronica stumbled backwards but pointed her wand forward and squinted her eyes to lock onto the Captain again. Serena glanced hesitantly ahead at her twin, but then nodded when she saw the determined look on the side of Veronica's face. Serena pointed her wand forward at the same time that Veronica's staff glowed, and the two of them said simultaneously. "Oomphle." Sol's attack grew significantly several times, and she was more easily able to stomp towards the kid who took a step back himself as Sol's leg surrounded in stone and then stomped through the floor to plant her there. She stomped forward again, and again, glowing red and baring her teeth as she marched towards the child whose power grew as well but did not stop the witch's approach.

"I don't want to hurt you!" Timmy yelled out as he leaned farther away from Sol. He darted a look to his left and back into the hallway he needed to head towards to get the ring, but his eyes darted the other way and at Juvia who stumbled backwards as she was almost hit by bolts of lightning that the witches had figured out worked against her. The magical affinities were opposites, and lightning was strong against the blunette mage who was panting now and darting her own looks to Timmy to see what he wanted to do. "Please, just- just let us take it," Timmy gasped back towards Sol, even though he knew that what he was asking could not be accepted.

She was right in front of him now and balling her right hand into a fist. The ground underneath that fist rose up and curled around her hand, creating a stone glove that grew bigger than the size of Timmy's head. "Little brat, clench your teeth," Sol snarled at the kid who was talking nonsense here and sounded too immature to have done this much damage already.

If I don't stop this, Juvia will start fighting recklessly. I need to hurt them. I can't just rush to the ring, or they'll attack her. I… I don't have the time-

"HEY!" A voice yelled from back at the hole in the wall, where Sabrina was no longer guarding the escape as she had come to join in the fight. A teenage girl in that hole screamed it so loudly that most everyone in the room turned towards her. "Listen up!" Izumo yelled.

The wiry man hiding behind Izumo crouched even lower and shimmied away to her side to get out of the witches' eye-lines. Izumo herself gulped as the witches glared her way and considered that she might be part of the intruders and a threat like them. "We have no choice in the matter. This bastard, Saruman, he has our friends! Got it? Hostages, and if we don't give him what he wants…" Izumo grimaced and gulped again, and then all of the witches looking towards her spun back towards the younger kid when gusts of wind slammed into all of them.

Timmy was gone. Juvia was missing too. "Why did you all look away from him?" Dorothy wondered down from her broom, the only one still floating up in the air and the only one who kept watching Timmy after that girl in the wall distracted the others. Even the Captain had turned sideways after hearing the name 'Saruman' that had made her eyes bulge. Sol spun back in shock as her comrades all looked in her direction, and she swung her fist but punched through open air as Timmy was gone.

Sol Marron spun the other way towards Juvia, only to see that she was missing as well. "It was a trick- grab her!" Sol yelled and spun towards the purple-haired teenager who dropped her jaw and backed up anxiously.

"Uhh, can we talk about this?" Izumo Kamiki asked nervously.

Her enemies had seen how fast Timmy could move though. None of them were going to let Izumo stall until Timmy could reappear in this room, grab her, and flee.

"Immobile Warding!" Sabrina yelled out before her comrades could all rush the girl and attack her.

Veronica pulled back on her heels. She reached her staff forward and tapped on the shimmering forcefield that Izumo was curling back behind and wincing as she prepared to get hit. Izumo had stumbled backwards too, and she bumped into something that surprised her and made her spin to see. Nothing was there though. She put her palms out and found herself in a closed barrier, one that Veronica was also prevented from getting inside of, and one that blocked spells about to hit Izumo.

It looked to Izumo like she was caught by the trap. Others glanced towards Sabrina though and noticed that her Warding spell had protected Izumo from attacks. "I don't know if it really was a trick, Captain," Sabrina countered what Sol had yelled out. Sabrina looked over towards Sol who was still flaring with red energy, and their leader ground her teeth in frustration.

The Blue Rose Captain just turned her head and glared back at the hallway. Timmy and Juvia reemerged from it a second later and stopped in the middle of the room. Timmy's left hand was held in his pocket, and he focused on keeping a telekinetic barrier around the object in his palm that he was scared to let touch his skin after quickly reading the plaque that described it. I can't let both of us be corrupted, he thought with an anxious look back to Juvia who narrowed her eyes past the witches and at Izumo.

Izumo felt hopeful as she looked back towards those two, only for her eyes to shake in worry at the expression of disdain Juvia had on her face. Is she upset I got captured? I was letting you escape! Damn it, Izumo looked at Timmy and prayed that the kid would not leave her behind, as Juvia gave Timmy a look herself wondering if they should just make a break for it.

Timmy ignored Juvia's heartless look and just focused on finding a way out of here. "Are you really doing this for Saruman?" Sabrina called towards the pair who were both again looking at Izumo and trying to think up a way to get her out of what appeared to be a mostly transparent barrier. Timmy thought about just smashing through it, but he reminded himself of his own barrier he had used against Puli. If they have Reflect magic like Sora knows, I could hurt myself. If I don't put enough force in though that I risk hurting myself, I might just not break whatever normal barrier they have around her. The floor under her feet is my best shot here. But then we have to flee, and I'll be carrying both of them, and they'll be on us the whole time. Can I… incapacitate them? If I try, more witches will appear. More Magic Knights. More should already be on their way, and we can't stop this whole kingdom.

"So what if we are?" Juvia growled back. "You won't let us leave just because of that, and we won't stop trying. What is there to talk about?" Juvia darted a frustrated look at Izumo again for the younger girl's naivety to think that her words mattered at all.

Way out. Way out. Way out? Oh… that's a way out, Timmy's eyes did not shift to his right and at the object on the floor. He did remember a plaque he had seen somewhere else in this room though, a plaque describing a certain "orb of sapphire" that he could see in his peripheral vision. It had rolled quite far from the stand it had been resting on. He recalled what else that plaque said about it though, and he took in a deep breath as he prepared himself.

Timmy released his breath but then snapped his eyes to his right around the corner and near where the witches had dragged their injured guards farther from the fight. The Blue Rose Knights had all focused on the kid who was obviously about to try something and who they all needed to put their full attention on if they were to stand a chance against him… so again, they ignored the weaker and seemingly insignificant member of the party who had slunk away when no one was paying attention to him. Grima reached down and picked up a silver chain with a pitch black upside-down cross dangling off the bottom of it.

"Wait…" Timmy began. He recalled a different plaque that described that particular ARM. "Wait- don't!" Timmy yelled out, right as Wormtongue lifted the chain and put it over his head to rest around his neck.

"Uh oh," Dorothy whispered with a nervous giggle. "That would be a Darkness ARM."

"This is our chance, Timmy."

Timmy's eyes widened and darted back to Juvia whose thoughts he had started reading in fear that she might be considering going too far. She sounded doubly disdainful over the fact that he was reading her mind, but she used that fact anyway to their benefit. Timmy grit his teeth but opened his free hand not wrapped around the Ring of Power. The blue orb on the floor not far from him shot into his hand, while Grima Wormtongue's body was distorting and growing larger and more muscular. The air around them darkened and felt more evil as the mystical artifact interacted with the greasy henchman of Saruman.

"Izumo, don't react. I have a Dimensional ARM in my possession. We're getting out of here," Timmy informed their friend of the plan, surprising Izumo who had backed up to the far wall of the inside of her Immobile Warding prison as the side that Wormtongue was on.

Please do it soon, Izumo thought uneasily. The anxious, soft-spoken, and creepy figure who had come here with them had gotten his hands on something that made him feel very powerful. Grima was cackling as black smoke rose around his disfiguring body, turning the man into some hideous monstrosity.

Timmy wanted to do it right away, but he also felt hesitant as he looked towards the man who they had brought in here. I destroyed their defenses. We used up a lot of their mana. Now this guy, who is Saruman's ally… he won't hold back like we were. He won't care if he hurts them. Timmy felt conflicted, but his eyes darted up through the hole in the wall beyond the Blue Rose witches who were trying to organize and figure out which direction they needed to protect from more pertinently. Most of the witches were turning to Wormtongue though due to the fact that their injured friends were laying in his direction, and a few of them had already shot off away from Izumo's prison to get those guards out of there.

More are coming. Timmy rushed forward. He grit his teeth in regret but did not look towards Wormtongue who cackled like a madman as he gained real power for once in his meek little life. Timmy curled his hands tighter but flinched as the fingers of his left brushed against the ring he was being careful not to touch with his bare skin. He also loosened his right hand to avoid breaking the ARM, as he had no idea how durable the orb really was in his powerful grasp.

He pulled his head back instead of punching with one of his barely-clenched fists. "Oh no you don't," a voice said above Timmy. This voice was a male's, and it surprised Sol Marron who had darted her focus towards Wormtongue then back only for Timmy to be right in front of her already. Juvia looked stunned too as she was suddenly dragged forward with such speed that it knocked the wind out of her, and so she was in no position to react to the mage above them with wavy blond hair and intense blue eyes who was already swinging a glowing purple hand down at them.

"Captain Langris!" Serena exclaimed in surprise at the sight of his appearance in their midst.

DANGER! Timmy's body barrel-rolled in midair. During the spin, he watched a hole two feet in diameter rip through the floor below where he was just flying. The hole made matter completely vanish, not even turn it to ash or dust or anything. It just ripped a hole straight through the floor and deeper than Timmy could see. Such precision. Can he expand that magic too, and he's only using it so condensed because of these small quarters and his comrades? Timmy's mind raced at a hundred miles per hour as he spun like a drill and maneuvered Juvia's flying body around the surprised mage who did not expect his young enemy to be that quick to react.

Timmy slammed his forehead into Sabrina's Immobile Warding. The girl inside of it fell to her butt and yelled out in fear as the whole building shook around them. Parts of the wall behind her that was already unstable after Juvia sliced through it came crashing down. Yet the barrier around Izumo itself did not even crack, and Timmy reeled backwards and then had to spin away as three Blue Rose witches attacked along with the mage from a different squad who had a tan cape on rather than blue. Two Squad Captains struck at Timmy, but the boy dodged and then pushed them backwards with his mind again, only for both to bounce right back towards him.

"RaaaAAA-aghh, kah-" The giant form of Wormtongue hunched forward and puked up black ooze after receiving a huge blow to his gut by the witches undeterred by his disgusting yet powerful body.

"Stronger this time then," Timmy whispered. His fear over leaving the witches here to deal with Wormtongue dissipated. A white aura surrounded the kid and slammed into people around him who were trying to rush back at him a second time. Sabrina had smirked for a moment in a confident way after seeing his failure to smash through her protection spell that she had used to capture one of their enemies. The teenage girl's smile dropped and then dropped farther so her jaw was wide open as Timmy was suddenly floating next to Izumo whose hair was all blowing back behind her head.

Shards of magical barrier fell around the boy bathed in glowing white light. Izumo pulled her face away from him. Hot, she thought, as the aura itself had heat coming off of it.

Now, I just need to- Timmy started moving his right hand. Before he could fill the orb with magic though and activate the Dimensional ARM, he spotted something out the corner of his eyes that filled him with panic. "No!" Timmy yelled. He vanished from between Izumo and Juvia who finally dropped to the floor next to the other girl. Juvia blinked a few times in confusion, then she turned and held her steaming fists up while glaring at Langris who shifted a menacing look at them like he prepared to take them now that Timmy was gone.

Sol had been thrown by his earlier expulsion of force in the direction Timmy rushed to now. She slashed at him a hand covered in stone talons, but he ducked it while rushing past in a blur. Sol's body was still coated in a red aura, and she bent her knees and launched herself after the kid who swung his hands up as he reached Raven Baxter who was focused on the kid's other ally. That ally had a giant darkened hand swinging down already, palm opened, and Raven was only just staggering back to her feet after the force from Timmy's attack on Sabrina's barrier knocked her to her butt. Raven falling had given Wormtongue an opportunity, and his hand was about to smush her when the kid flew over her head and caught the giant hand slamming down. Sol flew as fast as she could after Timmy, put both of her claws wrapped in red aura together, and slammed down into the head of the kid who had dropped his own veil of ki after seeing Izumo pull away from him due to the heat of it.

Langris only shifted his focus to lock eyes with Juvia for a second. His attention snapped back where all the other witches around him were looking to, and his fingers twitched at his sides with his eyes growing wide and a painful memory flashing through his head. He saw a group of mages zipping between him and his brother, and he could imagine Finral laying there on the ground just like Raven looked right now- so helpless.

Timmy winced and yelped, "Ah!" The kid bit down on his bottom lip and then pushed both hands up and sent Wormtongue stumbling backwards and falling to his own butt, coughing up more black ooze as he did.

"What are you doing?!" Wormtongue yell-hissed towards the kid who bowed his head so his brown hair and the rim of his pink hat shadowed over his eyes. A trail of blood spilled down from under his the rim of his hat and below his bangs into his left eyebrow.

Timmy bit down on his bottom lip harder. I don't know. The evil feeling in his left hand felt torturous already. Another trickle of blood came out of his lip and spilled down to his chin where a drop fell just in front of Raven's face. Sol Marron was looking down at Raven's face in that moment in confusion and a growing realization that had her own eyes shaking. She pulled her combined stone fist back from the kid who had only flinched from her swing that she made as powerful as possible, showing her that he was even harder than she thought. Enough power amplification had allowed her to break through skin though, and only now did Sol realize why the kid did not dodge her. Why he stopped that last attack even if it meant he could not defend himself.

The girl rushing too fast at him to second guess herself felt her heart drop in her chest. Sol looked down at Raven to see if she was alright, only to finally put it together why it was that Timmy had not defended himself. Why it was that the kid had rushed over here in the first place. "You-" Sol began quietly, and in growing frustration. I almost let my own comrades get killed, while my enemy had to save them? What is that?! She rose her hands to run them through her hair in anger, and she grunted, "Oof-" as she accidentally bonked herself on the head with her giant stone fists. "Why did you do that?!" Sol snapped at him.

Serena and Veronica glanced at each other and then back towards the kid who they stopped pointing their wand and staff at. Raven pushed her hands down on the floor at her sides. "Kid," Raven began to him. Her brother's unconscious body was in the corner of her vision, and yet she only hesitated for a second. The look on his face right now was too much, and she continued, "Thanks-"

Timmy vanished and reappeared back next to Juvia and Izumo. Even Langris hesitated though, and that hesitation was all that was needed for a kid holding a teleportation device. Timmy activated the Dimensional ARM, and the three of them vanished in a flash of blue light. Wormtongue stared over at the spot for a few seconds and blinked with a blank expression on his twisted face. Then sweat covered that face as Langris turned his direction with absolutely no hesitation on his expression this time, same with everyone else around him.

Grima gulped.

---

"There it is. Saruman's tower. How long do you think he has to wait until he can move it again?"

"Keep your voice down. He can't sense or see us, but idiocy will still get us caught."

"Let's move in."

Inside of Saruman's tower, the warlock stood over his three prisoners who were all cast in a dark purple glow that looked to cloud around them. "Sire," another sorcerer who approached Saruman began. Saruman opened his closed eyes and then narrowed them at his subordinate who bowed his head slightly but lifted it to look him in the eyes. "What if the Keybearer refuses to hand over his, key? Or if he is unable to do so?"

Saruman's eyes had a dim purple glow to them as he continued to watch the unfolding scene of horror inside his prisoners' minds. He responded to the man in a green cape in front of him, "Your skepticism is misplaced, Xandu. His weapon is much more than just a key." Saruman looked back at the one prisoner he was most interested in. "A weapon of many abilities, yes. But beyond that, it has something that far exceeds that of the Ring of Power. Sauron's death to the Kryptonians in the First War of the Gods left the ring up for grabs, but I was too slow. Two years I have tracked it and toiled to acquire it… and yet," Saruman lifted the left corner of his lips up and smirked down at Sora's twitching frown on his sleeping face.

"I know better than most what power the Keyblade holds. The true power," he specified with a glare back at Xandu who frowned deeper while staring at the unconscious boy himself. Xandu darted his gaze up to meet his master's again as Saruman went on, "Not its ability to use magic, including time magic mind you. Not that I would ever risk using such a power should I get my hands on it." Saruman lifted a hand and rubbed it over a necklace that had an intricate ovular gold fixture at the bottom in the shape of an eye. "The Ant King's battle with the Sorcerer Supreme and the Doctor led to the destruction of the time stone." Though the Eye of Agamotto still allows me to see more than meets the eye.

Saruman hummed and rubbed his hand over the Eye for another second. He considered using it, as he often did, but his focus returned to the unconscious party at his feet who were seeing something truly monstrous. His vision clouded as he focused in on them as well, occupying most of his senses at the moment. That was especially dangerous considering only he at his most alert would have been able to notice the presences approaching his tower.

All know of Meruem's wrath against those who would alter time, Xandu thought. He stepped back from the wizard who went back to his digging in the minds of their prisoners. Xandu walked over towards the hole in the wall of the tower, while up above his head the Fellbeasts lifted their long necks from the wooden beams above that they were perched and sleeping on. The two surviving Nazgul looked down at their monsters from behind the pitch black cloaks they wore.

Xandu was oblivious to what was about to happen though. His mind elsewhere entirely. The Ant King believes time powers worthless. His ideology is strong. I wish I had been the wizard he called on to teach- no matter. I would have become redundant due to the beast's power of learning. Is he right then? The warlock had time to ponder. He crossed his arms in the green sleeves of his cloak and hummed to himself. The King does not regret. So why travel back in time? Every experience whether a victory or defeat is leading to something else, and to turn back time is to imply that one wishes to do it over. Which would mean that the King was not in control of the current situation. His averseness for time travel is because he has no need for it. What future could he see that is not the one he already envisions? If he has no regrets, then he makes no mistakes, and so the future that will come is the one that he already sees.

Even his losses, few as they are, must be learning experiences for his next attack. Bardock was a fool. Xandu cracked a grin. A dead fool now. Meruem did not need to reverse time to make it so that his loss never happened. It would be suggesting that he feels shame or defeat or insecurity over that "loss." No, he simply planned and waited and grew stronger, and then struck. Meruem built the future he saw without needing time travel to do it. Yet he does not do whatever he likes just yet. Powerful- perhaps the most in the world. But it is magic that threatens him above all else. No amount of training could teach him every spell. Despite his laws against time alteration, magical beings like myself are still one of his greatest threats. Just like to Kryptonians. Raw power is not unbeatable when it comes to magic-

Xandu felt a hand around his ankle. The confused warlock snapped his head down to the edge of the tower where he saw no one. "Wha-" The hand gripping him by that ankle yanked backwards and threw the man from the tower, fifty stories off the ground.

"EEeeeEeeee!" The screeches of the Nazgul made the MTF members flinch. Some of them grabbed at their ears, and the one masking them with invisibility and sensory-blocking magic accidentally dropped the veils when she winced too hard. The Fellbeasts dove from the rafters at the edge of the tower, but their heads snapped to the sides as they realized the one at the edge who had thrown Xandu out was not actually the first one to reach the floor, and three others had already started circling around Saruman before the invisibility dropped.

"Ahhh- FAc-" Xandu was spinning out as he dropped out of the air. He swung both arms out at his sides though and slammed them down, and gusts of wind shot out powerfully enough to bounce him back and stop his downwards momentum. The warlock shook his head around and got over his surprise and panic quickly, and he stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled. A broom flew out of a window on a lower floor of the tower and shot up towards his feet. It touched down under his soles and then flew him back towards the edge of the tower he had been launched from…

The front of his broomstick pulled up and he skid through the air to a short stop. "Oh no," he shook his head at the sight. "Never mind."

Their invisibility had worn off, which allowed Xandu to see the sparkly golden capes that shimmered down the backs of the various enemy mages and witches already inside of the tower. He could see others who were still climbing up, and two who hovered just at the edge of the hole with their hands on their temples clenching their ears shut… while still glaring through squinted eyes straight at Xandu. "The Magic Task Force," Xandu said in a low voice, and he grimaced deeper but pulled his broom back away. "I think, this is where we part, my Master-"

"Anti-Magic," one of the mages ahead of him declared. Without taking his hands off his ears, he deactivated the magic that Xandu was using to keep himself afloat. "Gravira." Not only did Xandu start falling again, but a black ball of gravity surrounded him and dropped him five times as fast.

"FLAME-ELBOW!" A mage climbing up the tower kicked off of it and elbowed into the gravity ball, slamming Xandu in the chin and preventing the wizard from recovering at all. A barrage of magical attacks incapacitated the wizard of the criminal Saruman's ranks before he had a chance to flee.

"You dare?!" The tower shook. Saruman slammed the butt of his staff on the floor, and the building around him vibrated. The top of his staff glowed bright white when two of the mages shot in at his sides. A forcefield of white light slammed into them and sent them flying twice as fast back at the walls they smashed into.

A third figure on his floor lifted one arm in front of her eyes to block the shine. The soles of her lifted boots pressed down as the force pushed into her. She skid backwards but not to the edge of the tower. The woman stopped short and then moved her arm from in front of her eyes to bring her hand to her nose and push her glasses back up the bridge of it. Light glared off her lenses, and Saruman narrowed his own eyes at the look of the blonde-haired woman before him who lifted a wand with her left hand.

She swung her wand up, and a burst of red light shot at the wizard who turned side-face and let the blast fly just past him. He pointed his staff at her and blasted green magic at the witch who leapt up in the air and then did a cartwheel, dodging the jaws of a Nazgul's Fellbeast that lunged at her. She opened her mouth and blew out a cold wind that froze the blade of the cloaked figure who screeched while slashing at her. She was not incapacitated by the sound like the others. A muted hum was all the woman heard, and her breath was so cold that it caused the blade being swung too fast to shatter. Ice shards flew around her sides. Those shards stopped falling though and started spinning around her instead, blocking different scatter shots of magic that Saruman fired up at her.

The second Fellbeast shot at the open window of the tower and knocked back a mage who just climbed up to the same floor. He stumbled out the window trying to dodge the slash of the Nazgul's sword, but the claw of the long-necked beast still slammed into him. Blood splashed out, and the next wizard closest jumped off the wall and dove for his friend. "Alecdora!" David Swallow called out, diving after his comrade from the Golden Dawn. Their cloaks did not shimmer the same way the shinier golden ones did, as they each wore a lighter tan shawl of one of the Magic Knight Squads, not the MTF.

"I've got him, Sir!" David yelled back up before their leader could redirect focus down to him. David slowed his descent for a brief moment in surprise, only to refocus as Alecdora was still plummeting below him.

Most everyone else out there though was also staring at the captain of their group, who adorned himself in one of the shimmering golden cloaks rather than the red shawl of his former Magic Knights squad. The second of the Fellbeasts with the Nazgul still holding a sword, had just lost the entire left side of its body. The Nazgul on top of it had lost its left side as well, while the sword was in the middle of melting. Ash blew away in the wind where the former Magic Knight Captain had fired a condensed white jet of flames that incinerated straight through his enemy. Fuegoleon lowered his glowing white palm that he had just held in front of his body at the Nazgul when it slashed at him. The glow faded to show the metal hand underneath that the man curled into a tight fist. His focus shifted back to the tower ahead of him and the one inside whose powerful presence he felt surge even stronger. "I shall take him on myself," Fuegoleon determined, and he started flying forward.

He froze though. Fuegoleon stopped short and snapped his attention to the base of the tower. Other mages felt the presences appear as well. David was flying Alecdora to their white mage after catching him, but Yuna yelled out, "Stop!" She leapt backwards thirty feet and swung a glowing hand which illuminated her and her friends in purple light, creating barriers around them to block magic which she thought might be coming as she sensed the large power emerging in front of her. Green light also shone around Alecdora and healed his wounds in an instant.

Just like the men of the Golden Dawn who leapt away from the emerging people at the base of the tower, Yuna also only had on the shawl of their Magic Knight Squad that had joined in the raid. The MTF members above wanted to focus on Saruman more than who appeared below, but they also worried about what was happening down there too. Fuegoleon had to make a decision, and though he rose one last look back towards Saruman who he thought to stop himself, he focused back on the tower's base and at the child responsible for all that power. Though the blue-haired one is powerful as well, he thought after spotting them.

"This… seems bad," Izumo remarked as she looked to her left, right, and above at the various magician-like figures who all glared back at her.

"Is that you, Turner? Take care of these nuisances, or I will take care of your friends-" Saruman's voice boomed from the tower. It cut off at the last second, seemingly like something had interrupted him. What he had already bellowed made Timmy bite down in frustration and regret though that he was at this monster's mercy.

First Cartman, now Saruman. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore! Timmy looked painfully towards the teenage girl ahead of him whose expression softened too when she stared back at the powerful child.

Yuna had heard what Saruman said. She knew what it meant, and yet, this "Turner" also looked very serious all of a sudden. "Hold on, let us help you!" Yuna called out to the boy before he could react. She had a long braid of brown hair that fell just to the top of her black boots. Her heterochromatic eyes, her left blue and right green, locked onto the child's.

Her comrades were not going to wait for him to make the first move. Timmy read their minds though. I know you want to help, Timmy thought, but he broke eye contact with Yuna after both stared frustratedly at one another for another second. He snapped his hands up, both of them curled around magical artifacts stolen from the Vault, which Fuegoleon recognized as he shot out of the air at the new biggest threat to his subordinates.

"What did you do to the Blue Rose knights?" Fuegoleon demanded to know in a booming shout. He knew there was no chance that the enemy had managed to steal such powerful artifacts without facing the Blue Rose squad.

The descending Magic Task Force member hit a huge translucent barrier bubble that he bounced back from in surprise. Timmy had not moved, but the pressure he exuded above him in a dispersed area created a wall that the mage smashed into out of nowhere. Timmy's lifted hands pulsed, and the five magicians soaring at him at his level all flew backwards. His attacks were just wind, or force, moving his enemies back away from him without hurting them much at all. Timmy lifted his gaze up the tower to where a bolt of lightning shot out of the gaping hole in the wall and showed there was a fight going on up there. Can I move in while he's fighting? If I do, he may never wake up Nami and the others. I have to stop them all!

"We have to fight," Juvia said in a low voice, stepping up on Timmy's right side. "It's the only way at this point." She grimaced after saying it, but she added, "I'll take the fire mage." Her attention rose to the powerful wizard above her who carved a hole through Timmy's force shield and dropped into range. Fighting more of the people supposed to help us, Juvia thought in frustration. Stupid. We might have to go to this Library and just nab the wizard. Force him to help me. It doesn't seem like we're going to be able to get a volunteer after this.

"Uke, Mike!" Izumo summoned her fox spirit guardians that dropped out of thin air on either side of her. "Go Timmy, I'll be fine-" Izumo started to tell the boy who had yet to go on the attack. She thought he might be hesitating because he was worried to leave her alone after what happened back in the Vault, but Izumo's eyes darted down to Timmy's sides. After the boy had lowered his arms from his last attack, his hands started trembling as he watched the enemies whose minds he was reading. He only saw concern in their expressions for their comrades who Fuegoleon had yelled out about. He could only hear their desire to stop Saruman themselves because of the evil wizard's deeds that Timmy was only learning the true extent of now via their memories.

And I'm fighting for him?! Timmy ground his teeth and felt his conflicted heart ache worse than ever now. His left hand filled him with pain too, even as he kept space between his skin and the ring in his grasp. His eyes clenched shut and his body shrouded in a white aura that flared around him and blew the hair back of the girls at his sides who had to cross their arms to protect themselves from the wind. Timmy's eyes snapped back open though and he bit down even harder, as a circle of golden light shimmered into existence directly in front of them.

Serena continued to twirl around one hand over her other that had a sling ring on it. The Blue Rose Knights, Langris, and several others from Valyria who had reached the Vault after the thieves' departure, suddenly flew out of the portal that Serena opened up for them. "Uh oh," Izumo stepped back behind Timmy on his left side.

Juvia shook her head in similar frustration. She was not that surprised though. Of course they have teleportation magic. Or other magic tools to allow it.

Up in Saruman's tower, the blonde-haired witch fighting the staff-wielding warlock leapt up in the air and swung her right hand across the front of her body. Banners around the walls of the room ripped off. Chairs lifted and a table too, as well as candlesticks and the carpet. Sconces ripped from the walls. The glass fixtures shattered and the glass flew around into the wave of matter being lifted and blown around the wizard who glared at the witch destroying his room.

Saruman rose his staff that started to vibrate and glow bright white. All of the debris flying in a circle around him shot in at once. Saruman slammed the butt of his staff down on the ground. An explosion of white light sent everything coming straight towards him redirected back out at the walls. The woman who some of that debris flew towards waved a wand in her left hand at the matter about to hit her. It all stopped short, then it pulled together and morphed into a thin line that she flicked back at Saruman so much faster that it was like a spear fired out of a cannon at him.

He barely reacted in time, swinging his staff to the side and knocking the spear aside. Glynda Goodwitch was soaring right behind her spear though after firing it at him, and now Saruman had his staff swung out of the way. He started pulling it back, but she rose a knee into his chin and lifted the wizard off his feet and into the air. Glynda reached her right hand up and curled all her fingers into a fist. She yanked down, and the wooden rafters that were already creaking snapped. The beams ripped down at the wizard who had to stop swinging his staff back at her to instead focus on the new falling rubble.

He opened his mouth and sucked in a deep breath. Glynda pulled back and crossed her arms for protection, still wincing though as the wizard blew out a huge fireball from his throat that burned up the wooden rubble. The witch landed and swung her wand at the man who dropped to a knee and tried pointing his staff back at her, sparks of electricity coming off the top of it. "Expelliarmus!" She shouted first. The red beam of light that shot from Glynda's wand sent the staff flying out of Saruman's hand before he could fire another blast of lightning from it.

Saruman stumbled backwards. "Foolish witch!" Saruman roared. He darted his eyes towards his staff then back at the woman who paced closer to him but in a circular movement, aiming her wand towards where she predicted he would move to rather than the spot he was currently at. He did not make a move for his staff yet though. "You interrupt at a bad time, Goodwitch."

"You know me?" The MTF member in a sparkling golden cape chided back. "I'm not amused."

"I know all… or, almost all," Saruman told her. "But the Keyblade and its powers remain somewhat of a mystery to me. To you as well, I presume. Wouldn't you like to know?" Saruman made a quick flick of his hand, and Sora hovered off the ground back at the edge of the room. Glynda had been careful not to let any of the flying rubble she commanded get close to the trio in order to protect what seemed to be prisoners of the evil wizard.

That boy is a Keybearer? Glynda wondered. How does Saruman know that I was researching them? She pretended not to be impressed by the knowledge Saruman had on her, but she felt frustrated at the fact that he did. Has he been watching me?

Purple fog suddenly poured out of Saruman's hands, and Glynda pursed her lips shut and stopped breathing at all as she had seen some of that fog swirling around the heads of the unconscious people in that room. I need to take him down before my next breath! She thought, and the witch ended her pause in the action immediately. Caution to the wind, Glynda Goodwitch rushed at Saruman.

Her wand flared bright blue three times in rapid succession. Saruman ducked into the purple fog though. The blue blasts cut holes in the smoke, and then Glynda waved her free hand towards the wizard's staff that got covered in the fog. She wanted to prevent him from reaching it while it was out of her sight, but her Telekinesis Semblance did not latch onto anything. The staff was already gone, and she could see where it was now as sparks flashed inside the fog just ahead of her.

Glynda leapt backwards and landed on her hands. She kicked one leg up and dodged bolts of lightning. The room shook though and she slipped backwards, just as a huge ball of fire flew out from Saruman's hidden position straight at her. The fireball approached Glynda fast, only for her grimoire to lift up in front of her and shine bright golden like her left hand. The fireball hit a shimmering golden wall that appeared between the witch and her enemy. It fizzled out as it passed through, losing all of its speed and might in an instant.

Accelerate, Glynda thought without opening her mouth in a room increasingly full of purple fog. Magic shimmered over the woman who swept her right hand in an arc around her side. Loose rubble lifted up and tugged in the telekinetic powers of the woman who had already trashed the room and made herself so much ammunition. She did not have to break any rafters or rip things from the wall this time. The debris started spinning in a circle, and there was so much of it already that there was no room for Saruman to dodge unless he fled towards the exit of the room.

Golden light shimmered near the hostages though and the exit of the room when Saruman made his way in the fog towards it. He was surprised that the woman he was fighting had managed to focus any of her effort at all on protecting them, and it infuriated the warlock that she could distract herself with such a thing. "You dare treat me like a weakling? I will show you, MY POWER!" Saruman rose up his staff and slammed it down with the entire weapon glowing bright white but with a dark purple swirl at the top of it.

Glynda flew up in the air and used her grimoire to create another barrier. She crossed her arms behind the golden veil too and blocked partially with her wand. She still winced though and darted her eyes to her forearms where the sleeves of her uniform were on fire, and she patted them down quickly without wincing again from the burns underneath. Saruman was panting in the meantime down on the floor level and staring up in disbelief at the woman who floated there with minor burns and a ticked expression at the damage she had received. The wall just behind her was not burnt, but the rest of the walls were scorched all around the room.

Glynda glanced towards those walls herself and noticed something that made her eyes focus in and her fists to curl tightly. Before he can slip away again. Isengard itself is part of his power. I will take away your ability to flee. Glynda punched her fists out to either side and opened them up. Then she started curling her fingers in while her muscles strained and veins bulged all along both of her burnt arms. Crrreeaaa- crack! CRK!

CREA-eeaeakkAK!

Cracks on the walls spread. The roof no longer with any of its old support beams was not as sturdy as it once was. Saruman stumbled back and forth and had to throw his own arms out to the sides for balance. "Wait- what are you…" He pointed his staff that glowed bright red, but the wall behind her started cracking. His weapon's glow faded a little as he saw the risk of firing an attack of the power he just charged. "Stop it!" Saruman yelled. "You will bring down-"

"That's the point," Glynda sneered back at her enemy, right before clenching her struggling hands into fists and swinging both arms inward. Saruman spun his staff around and slammed it down so hard it imbedded in the floor, then he pointed both of his hands up diagonally over his head while his weapon pulsed green. The falling debris flying his way stopped short, but Glynda was racing towards him which forced him to lower one of those arms.

She passed under her own debris and then made it fly faster at Saruman when he stopped pointing both hands at it. She swerved in her flight away from the wizard's crackling fingers reaching for her throat. Blue sparks passed just over her neck and singed some of her blonde hairs. Glynda rolled on her landing and winced from the burns on her palms, but she got right back to her feet and sprinted for the doorway and the prisoners who Saruman darted his eyes back at. He moved his hand that missed Glynda's throat towards them, reaching for Sora especially… only for Glynda to slash a hand behind her, tearing the rest of the stalling debris out of the meager hold Saruman still had on it using his one shaking arm held over his head.

"Wait- NO!" Saruman slammed both fists back up- too late. CRASH!

---

Nami opened her eyes and sat up with a jolt. She frowned to her side at Sora instantly for cheating in his bet against her and Robin for how much longer he thought they were going to be out for. Her eyebrows rose up in surprise though as it was not Timmy apparently who woke them up like Sora thought it would be.

Instead, a five foot two, blonde teenager knelt in front of her. Sabrina Spellman lowered the glowing hand she had held in front of Nami's face just like she had the two she had woken up before her. Then she stood up and stepped aside, allowing the boy in a pink hat next to her to dive into the woman who sat up and caught him in surprise. "Timmy?" Nami wondered in surprise at how tightly he started hugging her. "It's okay, hey- hey, I'm alright." Nami put her arms behind his back and started rubbing her hands up and down to comfort the boy. "Were you that worried about me?" She wondered, feeling bad for him and yet at the same time feeling her heart race warmly that he seemed this upset.

Nami moved him back from her and her eyes bulged then filled with anger at the sight of dried blood on his face. "Did Saruman do that to you?" Nami demanded to know, standing up quickly and glaring around for the wizard she was about to murder.

Nami blinked a few times confusedly and then turned in a full three-sixty. Three dozen strange figures in different colored cloaks were standing or floating around them. Isengard was only half-standing behind her, while the top of the tower looked destroyed and there was rubble all around the base of it. She also spotted Saruman's limp and unconscious form in glowing red chains surrounded by ten mages who had him taken prisoner. Other mages were rounding up some of his beaten accomplices and chaining them in magic as well.

Nami noticed something else when she looked around. Uh oh, Nami thought and darted a look at Robin who had already figured out the situation quicker than her younger friend. "Wait a second," Nami started, her voice angry rather than nervous after she figured out why the mages looked the way they did. "Did they do this to you?" Nami asked in a darker voice.

"I…" Timmy began. "I was doing what Saruman commanded-"

"Doesn't matter," Nami declared, grabbing for her weapons in anger as she realized that it was not Saruman but the enemies in front of her right now who were responsible for hurting him.

"Nami wait!" Izumo exclaimed, reaching over and grabbing at Nami's arms to calm down the furious pirate woman.

Sol Marron had an uncomfortable expression on her face as she glanced between the group encircled by their mages, then over at Saruman, then to Fuegoleon and Langris on opposite sides of the group. Sol had told Sabrina to wake them up, and now those people she woke up were seeming like they might join the fight against them. "Uhh," Sol began, holding her hands up in front of her defensively. "I'm, the one who bloodied him," she told Nami who narrowed her furious glare at the witch and captain of the Blue Rose Magic Knight squad.

"But, he also saved our comrade," she continued. Sol glanced towards Fuegoleon when she said it. She turned to Langris afterwards and motioned with her head at Fuegoleon a few times.

Langris hesitated for another second and then admitted to Fuegoleon, "He did."

Timmy turned away from Nami and looked to the blonde teenager closest to him who smiled gratefully at Timmy for what he had done. She was the one who just woke up Nami and the others, and she gave Timmy an appreciative look then back to Sol and the other captains with an expectant expression that a few of the other witches had as well.

Robin relaxed slightly as she noticed the mood around them shifting. "Nami, calm yourself," Robin told her nakama who glared back at the older woman. Robin gave Nami an understanding look though for the rage that Nami had over Timmy's injury. But then she darted a look towards Juvia, and Nami's eyes widened as she saw the steam coming off of Juvia's hands while the blue-haired woman continued to glare straight into Fuegoleon's eyes, causing that Magic Knight captain to glare back harshly as well.

"While you were unconscious, your comrades have been fighting the Magic Knights of Valyria on Saruman's orders," Langris reported to the confused trio who had been woken up.

"Well they're very sorry about that, right guys?" Sora wondered to his friends. "Cure!" He summoned his Keyblade and swung it towards Timmy, and Timmy's head glowed before the blood faded off of his face.

Timmy smiled towards Sora and opened his mouth to thank him, but Nami snapped first, "You should have done that a minute ago!"

Sora leaned back then scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. Didn't want to draw too quickly and spook the magicians." Sora did not let his Keyblade go after he drew it, and instead he just swung it up and rested it over his shoulders while looking around at everyone in a very confident way while some of them eyed the weapon he had summoned.

"Your young friend here," Sabrina began to the boy with a Keyblade. "He led an attack on the Vault of Valyria and stole some very powerful and dangerous artifacts for Saruman." Sabrina looked back at Timmy who glanced down at the floor then guiltily back at his surprised friends. "He convinced me to wake you up, but you need to understand the situation you find yourselves in."

"Ah," Robin said, fully comprehending their circumstances now. We need to make them our friends. I do not have that kind of charisma. Saving Juvia is our reason for being here, and she seems to have been fighting one of their strongest right before we woke up. Considering her attitude lately, I am certain she has already rubbed them the wrong way.

Fuegoleon continued to watch the Rain Woman cautiously. Robin was right, and Juvia had not been holding back when she fought against Fuegoleon- however short that fight was before Timmy and Sabrina yelled at their sides to stop fighting. The pause in hostilities had lasted while Glynda brought down the tower and the one in charge of it.

"You don't have to trust Saruman! There are others with magic that can help your friends. Trust me, not him." Timmy recalled how Sabrina had convinced him to stop fighting for a minute, which was all Glynda had needed to take down Saruman. He spotted the older woman powerful enough to do that who was carrying over the last of Saruman's minions. All of them were unconscious and just floating to the pile to seemingly no effort by the woman doing so, who narrowed a glare towards him when she saw Timmy watching her.

Timmy glanced down in a guilty way again and then back at Sabrina and the other Blue Rose Knights apologetically. "Do you really trust Saruman's word that he'll release them just because you helped him? He'll never let them go!"

"Timmy, they're probably right. We should listen to them." Timmy looked to his left and at Izumo who had eased away from Nami after Nami stopped pulling at her Clima Baton to draw on these witches. Izumo was right. I got Juvia to stop for a second, even though she really wanted to keep fighting that guy.

Such a powerful fighter. I was not expecting her magical power to be so immense, Fuegoleon thought, ever cautious of the blue-haired woman he had been astonished by. She had a different feel to her than the others who he could accept might have been forced into these circumstances.

I need to fix this, Timmy thought. "I'm fine now, Nami," Timmy said to the woman who he frowned at in a serious way and made Nami ease up her harsh look some. Now that both Robin and Timmy were both giving her this same look, Nami grumbled to herself but turned away and accepted that she had to let go of her anger towards these people. Timmy refaced the Blue Rose Knights and Sol Marron specifically who had been leading them. To the woman who had injured him while he was saving her own comrade, Timmy bowed his head and then his whole upper body.

The small child called out, "I beg your forgiveness!" He shouted it and grit his teeth afterwards as guilt and regret flooded through him stronger now because he did not have the fear for Nami's safety overshadowing those feelings. "I shouldn't have attacked you! I was just… I was, scared, that Saruman would-"

"Are you going to make the kid cry?" Raven snapped towards Langris who rose an eyebrow back at the woman for accusing him for some reason of it.

"It's okay, Timmy," Serena began to the boy whose shaking voice was too much for her to listen to anymore. "We understand."

Fuegoleon leaned back and calmed his own expression. He nodded at Juvia, testing how she would respond if he eased up first. It took her another few seconds, but Juvia gasped out and then started panting while shaking her head around.

The blue-haired woman turned to her side and at Robin who had walked up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Juvia's eyes narrowed back at Robin though and she shrugged Robin's hand off. Letting yourselves get captured. You've ruined my chances at normalcy. They may accept we are not their enemies, but they won't help us now.

Timmy lifted his head and stared in surprise at the mages ahead of him though who stopped him from continuing his apology. Glynda herself humphed and then marched over from the prisoners all chained up together. "Young man, you must save that apology for now."

Langris glanced at Glynda but then nodded his head in agreement. "The Magic Task Force will take it from here," Glynda declared. "And we will take you to the Magic King, so that you may apologize directly to the highest power in the land. If you truly seek to be absolved of your crimes, it can only be through his forgiveness." Glynda tilted her head back and stared down her nose at the group. "Would you be willing to do that?"

It's risky. Nico Robin hummed and turned towards Timmy who faced her and realized by one look at her face that Robin meant for him to read her mind. "If we go there and the Magic King turns out to be far more powerful than any of us, we may be imprisoned. This could be a trap. For Juvia though, I believe we should walk into it."

"I agree." Timmy replied telepathically to his smartest friend. The two nodded at each other as if coming to the same silent agreement without needing to say a word to each other. They probably could have done that too based on how quickly they came to the decision. "We will do that then. I need to do that," Timmy added with a look to Nami who opened her mouth. She was thinking of arguing as she knew that Timmy might not be forgiven with just an apology, and she was not willing to risk whatever punishment might come if they do it.

"Don't worry," Raven started. "I will come with you and the MTF. Captain?" Raven glanced to Sol to make sure that was okay, and then she added after Sol nodded, "Could you check on Cory too? Tell him I'll come see him once I've talked to the King."

Timmy was grateful to Raven Baxter who he had saved from Grima back at the Vault. But he also felt even more guilty that they had caused injury to the brother of this woman who was now offering to come vouch for him to their Magic King. Sol nodded back at Raven and replied to her subordinate that she would, then Raven glanced to the MTF mages who she had not asked first if she could tag along with.

Glynda and Fuegoleon both nodded back at Raven though. The others in shiny golden cloaks moved towards the prisoners instead, and one called over to their 'Captain' that they were going to transport them to prison. Fuegoleon turned and responded to his subordinates while Glynda marched towards the group that they planned to take before the Magic King. She gave them suspicious glares and watched each of their reactions.

Timmy looked back towards Sol Marron though who still appeared frustrated, even more-so after Timmy's apology that her subordinates had accepted quicker than she was able to respond to. "Here," Timmy began. He opened up his right hand that he had kept curled this entire time, and most people there dropped their jaws that they had somehow forgotten about what the kid was holding, or because they never knew in the first place what he had his hands on.

Glynda stared in shock at the boy who was grasping onto that artifact with his bare hand. "I wasn't touching it," Timmy began. "I mean, I did touch it. But I kept space mostly between my hand and it… But here." Timmy lifted up his other hand and tossed the Dimensional Arm towards Veronica who had lifted a hand and motioned at him to toss that one back to her too. "I really don't want it," Timmy added, speaking about the ring that he was more cautiously floating back towards the mages who eased away from it themselves.

"You let him take the Ring of Power?" Glynda scolded Sol and Langris who she glared at more harshly for his failure.

Langris in response to that scolding glared back towards Timmy who just lowered his gaze for a moment apologetically. Glynda sighed and then pinched the bridge of her nose at this whole fiasco. "Get it back where it needs to be," Glynda started. She reached down and into her item pouch, and she pulled out a metal cube that she pressed a button on the side of. "And be very, very careful with it," she reminded while tossing the cube towards Langris.

"Thought you'd want me to come to take them to the King-"

"Serena can take us," Glynda countered Langris who glared harsher at her for not letting him finish. She glared back at him though, and after a moment Langris frowned but shrugged his shoulders and turned to the Blue Rose Knights instead. "Fine. You all, and my squad," he added with a look towards the Golden Dawn members who had traveled with the MTF, "with me."

"Yes, Captain!"

"Don't worry, I'll vouch for you to the King," Raven assured the kid she walked towards who lifted his head back up again. Langris sealed the Ring of Power inside of the magical cube Glynda tossed him. The rest of the mages behind Raven in her squad turned to the man who swung a hand in front of him and created a giant portal that surprised the group from far away.

Robin recognized the type of spatial magic that seemed very familiar to her. "My brother would probably find me, and cancel out my spatial magic with this technique he created." Finral-san's brother is very dangerous it appears. I should refrain from making a comment. Robin almost wanted to test her theory by hinting to the departing mage something about his brother, but she could tell from his appearance and magic alone that her theory was already correct. Considering how Finral spoke of his brother, she believed it might not be the best move to bring him up now while their fate was in the balance.

"Hard to hold it against the kid," Dorothy remarked as she flew down on her broom right next to her Squad Captain on Langris' left side.

Langris was distracted by the cube he held in his right hand that somehow still did not manage to keep the full evil power of the Ring inside from affecting him. He shivered but then glanced to his left at the female witches. The pink-haired woman added softly to Sol, "He looked so cute back there. That was sweet, hehe," Dorothy chuckled and then flew out the other side of Langris' portal and away as fast as she could. "I have something to do. See you later!"

"Is she…" Sabrina started in frustration.

"Ditching fixing up this place? Seems like it," Puli said and then started laughing at the younger woman's flight.

"Serena's lucky," Veronica muttered in annoyance, glancing back through the portal for a second at her sister who just smiled back and waved with no thought of how she was escaping clean-up duty. The portal closed, and then Veronica glanced around the ruined Vault that they were going to spend the rest of their night cleaning up.

Serena meanwhile walked away after the portal closed and approached Raven and the MTF who had dared to get closer to the group of six now. "Are you ready to see the King?" Fuegoleon questioned them.

"Right now?" Izumo asked anxiously.

"You're really willing to bring people you were just fighting straight to your King?" Nami asked skeptically of the magicians for doing something seemingly so foolish.

Glynda scoffed though at Nami's question that implied they should be concerned that this group of strangers might pose a threat to their King and that the mages should be worried about them. That kind of reaction was exactly what Nami did not want to hear though, as it made her very worried that if worst came to worst, they might not actually be able to escape a bad encounter with this Magic King.

"I have to apologize, Nami. For Juvia," Timmy reminded Nami. He looked past and to Juvia too who he needed to hear him say it this time, instead of just talking to Robin.

Sora rose an eyebrow and then confusedly turned towards Juvia himself. She saw Sora looking at her like that and quickly looked away after first staring frustratedly at Timmy for bringing it up around all these people. What Timmy said actually made Fuegoleon and others of the MTF who had seen Juvia fighting lose some of their trepidation towards her. The idea that something was wrong with this woman that was making her desperate and caused these people to travel here, suddenly made them much more sympathetic towards the way she had been acting.

"I'll stick around for just a little," Sora said. "I want to meet the Magic King too. Then I have to get going though," Sora told his friends before they could head off together. He considered just leaving right then and there, but Sora smiled and added with a hand cupped to his mouth, "It might be good to have me along for this."

"How so?" Nami wondered back at him confusedly.

Sora winked at her though and then let his Keyblade vanish and just put both hands behind his head in a casual way. I think we're still in 17's territory. I want to meet more of the leaders in charge too. Get on everyone's good side.

Sora doesn't know exactly why we're up here and what's wrong with Juvia, Timmy thought. But why did he leave Resistance HQ in the first place? What is he doing here, and where does he need to go? Sora… I trust you, but you always have so many secrets. Too many.

"Are you ready?" Glynda wondered to the group before her. She just glanced back towards the others in the MTF who vanished a second later in a bright flash of light that took all of them and all their prisoners away.

Nami was surprised to see that, but she slowly nodded her head with the rest of her comrades. Serena put her hands together in a prayer position and started to glow bright herself. There was no need to use a sling ring this time. "Zoom," Serena whispered. A pillar of golden light dropped down from the sky and engulfed all of them.

Although Serena could use this Zoom magic, she could only do it to set locations. She did not have one at Saruman's moving tower which was why they used the sling ring in the first place that was still on Serena's finger. Serena was a very powerful mage though who knew multiple different types of teleportation magic herself.

"Wow, your MP is enormous," Sora complimented while the beam of light surrounding them faded and they found themselves in a huge hall.

Most everyone else was focused on the enormous room they were in. They stood on a long blue carpet that split the grand hall down the middle. The others paid attention to the man on a throne at the top of three steps at the end of the hall who looked down towards them from his position of power, flanked on either side by three members of the MTF in their shiny golden cloaks. Sora just continued to Serena though, "Is that all natural?"

Serena smiled back at Sora for his interest but shook her head in understanding of his question. She rose her arms and let her blue sleeves slide up a bit to reveal the bracers on her wrists. "These bands increase my mana," Serena replied.

"Ah, I feel that," Sora said back and chuckled. He lifted his own left arm and slid back the sleeve, and his own friends stared at him in surprise as Sora revealed similar looking accessories on his upper left arm tightly wrapped around his bicep. "Two Resistance Bangles, they raise my resistance to attacks and my defense. I like Magic Armlets too-"

"Oh? They never raise mana that much. There are much more powerful accessories that you can buy here," Serena assured the boy who sounded like he only knew of very weak mana-increasing accessories if his go-to was only a 'Magic Armlet.' Sora's eyes brightened in surprise and interest, and he nodded back enthusiastically at the woman.

"A-hem," Glynda cleared her throat and glared at the pair of them who each jumped when they realized that everyone else was staring at them.

"Haha, ha, sorry," Sora apologized. He put his palms together and bowed apologetically around at everyone. Then he cupped a hand to his mouth and added in a whisper to his friends, "Even my clothes are magical. Elemental resistance and stuff," Sora had seen how his friends reacted to seeing his armbands, and he tugged at his shirt to show off to his group. They were in their own interesting witch outfits that he was surprised to see them in.

Glynda shook her head in disbelief at the boy's nonchalantness while they stood in the throne room of the Magic Kingdom. The Magic King himself though found himself amused and put at ease by the childish antics of the boy who he noticed made the whole attitude in the room feel much less serious. A smile tugged at the lips of William Vangeance that he suppressed considering the current situation.

Robin tried not to stare in amazement at Sora as they finally started being led up the throne room towards the waiting King. Did he mean to do that? Or is it subconsciously that Sora can take all the hostility in the room and turn it into, fun?

In a neutral tone, the King of the country greeted the approaching group, "Welcome. I was looking forward to meeting you all."

The group was brought before the King and then halted a good ten meters before the start of his steps. Some of the gold-cloaked figures moved to the sides, but Fuegoleon and Glynda kept moving and then turned just in front of the stairs and on either side of the group who saw that those two were preventing them from going any further.

Raven Baxter stepped a little farther than the newcomers, while Serena just stepped to the side of the group. The Blue Rose Knight who approached her King felt a bit uneasy from the look that Glynda Goodwitch was giving her, but she took in a deep breath and then asked if she could testify about how Timmy had helped her.

Timmy looked at her back gratefully but still anxiously as he darted his gaze around at the other mages wondering what they thought about his actions. Hates me. Scared. Wants me arrested. Forgives me. Accepts it. Scared. Worried for their King. Forgiveness. Okay, okay that's not bad. Do I try it on the King? If he can feel me in his head, will he get mad?

Timmy was cautious and decided not to risk it but to try and figure out the King's intentions just based on his expressions. Timmy also did a better job than his guardian at not staring at the strange scarring or birthmark that covered the top half of the Magic King's face. Nami averted her stare to the young man's eyes instead while Raven recollected what occurred in the Vault and how Timmy had saved her from another of Saruman's subordinates.

Pretty young for a King, Izumo thought.

Older than Tetsuo, Robin thought on the contrary to her younger comrade. Though younger than me. Most likely. Then again, it is hard to decipher exact ages. Some very small people turn out to be nigh immortals. Timmy's Godparents for one. Robin glanced back to the boy who she smiled at after hearing how Raven felt that the kid was in a helpless situation himself but still tried to help her. It had less to do with her experience at the Vault and more just her opinion, and the Magic King finally lifted a palm to get Raven to stop defending the kid.

Raven closed her mouth and then took in a deep breath through her nose. Is that all I can do for him? I don't want anything bad to happen to the kid- Raven's eyes bulged and she leaned back. A premonition hit her and made her shake in place for a second. The deep breath she took in through her nose released, and a smile broke out over the psychic's face that made Serena smile brightly as well at the sight of. Even the Magic King chuckled after realizing what Raven's smile was for, and he nodded away at the woman who felt no reason to stay any longer after already seeing how this was going to play out.

"Good luck," Raven said as she walked back past the group when she was dismissed.

"You may approach now!" Glynda called out. The new arrivals to the kingdom stepped up closer to the steps before the witch announced, "That's far enough."

The Magic King looked back and forth down the line of six people. "I recognize you from your wanted posters," he began.

Nami's jaw dropped. She was expecting a scolding or the man to demand to know why they were there, but a bead of sweat dripped down her face and she just glanced around at all the strong mages watching them closely. She looked back at the young King and asked while stifling a groan, "We have wanted posters?"

"You and Nico Robin do," William responded. "As does Sora," he added and nodded his head at the spiky-haired teen who got a much bigger smile on his face after hearing that.

"Oh wait until Luffy hears this," Sora whispered excitedly. "I wonder if mine's higher than his?"

"Sora, please," Robin suggested to the boy who pursed his lips and nodded apologetically.

They all have bounties? Of course they do! Izumo felt dumb for even doubting the idea for a second. They took down a High Lord! They were talking about taking out the King of the Cooperative in Amazonia. The fact that they're even still alive is crazy. Why did I decide to travel with people with such big targets on them?!

"And Juvia Lockser as well," the Magic King added with a look to the blue-haired woman. His eyes lingered on her while she frowned back at him. She had a look of anger barely hidden at all on her face that she kept a flat expression on. Her eyes were angrier than her straight face showed though.

Juvia already thought that they screwed up any chance of her getting help here. In the small chance that they could get some help though, she had to at least play nice for the moment and not glare back at all the mages watching her cautiously. The fact that her eyes did not even dart around at the witches and warlocks who were carefully examining her did unnerve some of the MTF though who put even more discerning gazes on her.

"You six find yourselves in Valyria, the capital of the Magic Kingdom. A kingdom which is a principality of the Androids," William went on. "A Cooperative nation," he finished. He watched their expressions to see how they would react, but then when Nami opened her mouth he started before she could say a word, "So please, I ask that you stay under the radar."

Nami's opening mouth opened wider. She stared in shock at the young King whose forces did not seem all that surprised by his statement. Timmy also rose his eyes up in awe to the King who seemingly forgave them for working with Saruman and breaking into the Vault just like that. They expected this to suddenly get hostile, but the Magic King explained even further, "Bounty hunting is illegal in the Magic Kingdom, so you may feel safe inside of Valyria. The Magic Knights squads, and the Magic Task Force, keep the peace in our kingdom and protect it from conflict. In that same vein, I would ask that you do not start any conflicts yourself that would require them to become involved with you again."

"Oh we won't!" Nami called back.

"Yeah, we'll stay out of the way," Izumo added, then she zipped her lips again after attention got put on her for even a second. She nervously looked away and down at the floor to dodge their stares, thinking, I bet any one of those mages is stronger than me. Just ignore us, please!

"All bounty hunting is illegal here though?" Sora wondered again for clarification from the Magic King. "How does that…"

"The Rogue Ravagers themselves are banned from our borders," Vangeance assured Sora who he could see doubted the Magic King could mean what he said. Sora was stunned to hear that, and even more-so as the King added, "They have disregarded that law on multiple occasions, which is why they are now considered outlaws in the Magic Kingdom. Do not worry about running into them."

Sora sighed a breath of relief and then chuckled with a shake of his head. "That's great. Though I would like to give Turles a piece of my mind," he added in mock disappointment, knowing that he would not actually be able to carry through with that threat if the Rogue were to appear. "In that case though, it sounds like you're going to be safe here without me," Sora said and stepped forward before turning to face the group behind him.

"Sora?" Timmy wondered.

"I have to get going. It was good seeing you guys," Sora said. "I never thought I'd bump into you like this! Haha," he laughed again then looked at Nami and Robin with a softer look. "Thank you. For, Saruman's trap," Sora hinted at it and did not need to elaborate further to Nami or Robin who just smiled back and shook their heads at him not to worry about it at all. They got softer and sadder expressions for a second too when they thought on the horrific scene they witnessed that they could not imagine weighing on Sora's mind all this time, but the bright-faced teen just laughed it off again in a way that relieved them to see from him. "Well, I'm heading-"

"Excuse me!" Glynda snapped.

Sora looked back at her in confusion as to what she was upset about. They were still standing in audience of the amused King though who smiled this time with a bead of sweat sliding down the left side of his face at how this was going. Sora put his hands together in front of his chest and bowed a few times quickly in apology to him and to Glynda. "Sorry sorry. Just, one sec," he promised, putting up one finger then spinning back to his friends again who sweatdropped just like all the mages at Sora's antics. "I'm heading to the Tower of Babel now. I have something I need to check out there."

"I should have left a note or something back at HQ before leaving, but I figure I should tell you guys this time. Tell someone at least," Sora admitted and laughed it off while scratching the back of his head.

"We must have left right after you," Nami promised Sora with a shake of her own head. She honestly thought he would be the one upset with them for running off after he had suggested they spend a month at Resistance HQ anyway.

"And we didn't leave a note either," Timmy admitted.

"Well I'm glad to know you're here and you're safe," Sora replied. "Remember, it's the fifth day of the month. Twenty-five more days and we meet back at HQ. I'll see you then." Sora turned back to the mages and bowed once more to their King. "Thanks for your help freeing me from Saruman. It was nice to meet you, Magic King!"

"You as well, Sora," William Vangeance replied. Has he fought against Turles himself? I was informed that he has a Keyblade. For what reason does he now head to the Tower of Babel?

The Magic King was not the only one thinking about that. Izumo stared at Sora herself and wondered about her new comrades' friend, Why is he going to the Tower? His friends don't seem surprised, but, do they even know what the Tower of Babel is? I feel like they're just nodding along with him. Who is this guy?! I don't-

"And it was nice meeting you too, Izumo," Sora said to the purple-haired girl he looked to last. She stared back in surprise that he was addressing her last even after the Magic King. Sora flashed her a smile and added, "If I see Rin first, I'll let him know that you're here with the girls and Timmy. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that. Okay! Bye everyone!" Sora waved around at them all.

Cass! Sora waited a few seconds with his eyes closed. Really would have been cool of you to come back right now. Okay, I'm coming to get you myself. You better be at the Tower! Sora opened his eyes and walked forward, and a portal of darkness lifted up in front of him that he stepped into before it closed behind him.

The portal dropped, and his friends stared through the space it vanished from to see a line of dropped jaws across the magicians. They were all staring at where the bright smiley kid just used the evil power of darkness to vanish without a trace. Nami and co. got a bit anxious themselves as those shocked and even upset looks started shifting from the missing dark portal to the group behind it. "Well then! I suppose we should get going," Nami suggested in a quick voice, spinning around herself and putting a hand on Timmy's upper back to usher him around with her.

"We need to get going to this Library after all. Ah, Serena!" Nami started shifting over to the blonde woman who had seemed pretty friendly and whose name she had caught earlier. "Want to help us out? Get us out of here?" Nami bounced her orange eyebrows up a few times suggestively.

"You seek, the 'Library?'" Fuegoleon questioned.

"For what reason?" Glynda demanded to know.

"Oh uh," Nami turned but then froze at the looks she received from the MTF who suddenly appeared much more serious.

"What?" Juvia asked. Her voice was harsh and she glared at the Magic King directly whose lips had flattened after hearing their desired location as well. Serena also looked hesitant herself when Nami darted a look back to that woman, but she quickly looked Juvia's way as the blue-haired woman stepped forward angrily at all their looks. "Are we not allowed to go there? You have a problem with that?"

"Juvia," Timmy started.

"No- that's not-" Juvia snapped at Timmy, caught herself, then started snapping back at the King before catching herself again. She balled her tightening fists even harder and bared her teeth to hold back from spouting off in a fit of anger at them. We're so close! Damn it. I knew there was no hope. This was all a pipe dream, and it progressed too fast. I don't even need help anymore. I'm gone- Juvia, is gone. I'm me now. It was too late.

"You are not barred from seeking out the Library," the Magic King assured the young blunette who frowned back at him suspiciously after their initial reactions. "Though, you seem to have a misunderstanding. The Library isn't a place-"

"What?" Nami snapped. Mages glared her way, but Nami felt the need to interrupt quicker this time herself before Juvia could flip out again which they all imagined would go a lot worse. "We were told the best magician you had was there! With more spells than anyone else!"

"We apologize," Robin started, holding up a hand on either side to quiet down her comrades. "We have just traveled very far, and have just been through quite the ordeal." Robin apologized for their outburst, and she gave both of the younger women somewhat harsh looks for a moment each that quieted them down. "Please, Your Highness?"

"Your Majesty," Fuegoleon corrected.

Robin bowed her head to the MTF member then corrected herself and awaited the King's response. William appreciated her frankness and ability to defuse the tenseness in the situation rather quickly. This had been going for a long time though and he noticed some of his advisors and guards getting darker looks for this group treating him like a tour guide. He did finish to her though, "To find the Library, look for the training school of Hogwarts. On one of the floating islands above Valyria, to the east of here," Vangeance pointed at the side of the throne room out of which they would need to go.

There were windows on the throne room, and when the group looked out them they could actually see a few islands that they had not noticed or looked at yet out in the sky lit dimly orange by the fading sunset. They followed the King's point straight towards one that appeared to have a giant castle on top of it that was apparently a school grounds. "She will be there," the Magic King finished.

"The greatest sorcerer, is a sorceress?" Nami wondered back, before pursing her lips again as she received an especially angry look from the blonde woman straight ahead who had apparently taken down Saruman. "Not that I'm surprised!"

"Glynda will accompany you in the morning to Hogwarts," the Magic King added. The woman glaring harshly at Nami sweatdropped but kept up the glare while the pirate woman just laughed a few times awkwardly before looking away and dreading the trip ahead already. "I wish you luck in, whatever it is you hope to find," William's eyes did shift back to Juvia as he said it. The woman's eyes widened for a moment, and they actually shook in worry and with a slight glimmer of hope… for a moment. They went dark again though and nearly lifeless, in such a way that the Magic King could see their reasoning for rushing here.

"You five. Follow me. And do not dawdle," Glynda demanded. She started back through the throne room after giving a curt bow to her boss who nodded back gratefully for her help. Izumo started to thank the woman for going out of her way, but Glynda snapped and cut her off, "I am a professor at Hogwarts. I will take you there at first light. Though it is simply because I have class there tomorrow morning already that you are permitted to follow me."

"…Oh," Izumo fell back and decided not to say anything else to the woman who did not sound to like them at all. Somehow this journey still doesn't feel over yet.

---

Sora did not travel far in his dark portal. He imagined he was still deep in the Magic Kingdom when he got out of it. Had to show Nami and Robin that I completely control it now. Even, if that's a lie, he added to himself while taking in deep breaths of fresh air to stop panting after that use of the darkness.

Castiel? Would be really nice if you could just join me. Or, even if you could just respond to me again? "Cass?!" Sora yelled out. He cupped his hands to his mouth and bellowed it a few more times, then he dropped his arms down and looked to either side in surprise. "Oh wow. It's like Awul around here. Guess the magicians do a better job at clearing monsters out," he commented at the sight of pristine grassy fields with chaparral around of thick underbrush that would make it hard to walk through these parts.

Sora reached for his bag and pulled out a couple of pokeballs to choose from. "I'm not going to the Tower because you said the Dungeon is near there," Sora continued. "Or because Thor told me to come there if I wanted answers. You know, Cass. I'm going there because you won't answer my prayers. Because you won't tell me you're alright. It's going to distract me from my mission if you don't," he hinted in a sing-song voice, tilting his head and cupping a hand to one ear to listen closely for a response.

"Eh," he dropped his hand back down. "Worth a shot."

"Charizard!" Sora tossed a pokeball and let it bounce back to him. I use Lugia a lot. He needs a break, and I haven't caught up with Charizard in a while. "How's it going, bud? I need you to fly me somewhere, alright? Great!"

Sora smiled and climbed up onto his friend's back to get ready for the trip. He lowered his smile once they were up in the air and getting closer to the clouds above. Sora thought of Heaven and the cloudy, angelic appearance of it that this nice day actually reminded him of. It wasn't your fault, Castiel. Kaguya tricked you! I'm not sure you're listening. I need you to know that though. And, I have to make sure the real Gods don't punish you either. I'm not going to accept that!

---

A/N Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Been quite a while... I've had a lot on my plate though. I am doing a one year Master's program and I'm just about halfway through it. Have a lot of research and statistics work to do this semester, so don't expect that many updates. Though after that, I'll be getting into a career and life and... well, let's see how much more of Nexus I manage to get out. Hope to keep it going! Anyway, just wanted to update everyone on why I'm updating slower nowadays. I'll put a character list below since I added a ton of new characters this chapter as we get our first look at the Magic Kingdom! Wonder who else we'll meet next time as our characters visit Hogwarts in search of the Library, who is apparently a person? Hmm... Let me know if you think you know who it is in a review below!

Character List:

Final Fantasy X: Yuna

Dragon Quest 11: Serena, Veronica

RWBY: Glynda Goodwitch

That's So Raven: Raven Baxter

Cory in the House: Cory Baxter

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Sabrina Spellman

Lord of the Rings: Saruman, Ring of Power, Isengard, Wormtongue, Nazgul, Fellbeasts, Sauron

MAR (Marchen Awakens Romance): ARMs, Dorothy

Black Clover: William Vangeance, Sol Marron, Fuegoleon, David, Alecdora, Puli, Charlotte, Langris, Finral, Magic Knights

Marvel: Sorcerer Supreme, Xandu

Doctor Who: The Doctor

Hunter x Hunter: Meruem

DC: Kryptonians, Cassie (Queen Cassandra Sandsmark)

DBZ: Saiyans, Turles, Bardock

Kingdom Hearts: Keyblade, Sora, Riku, Nobodies

Supernatural: Castiel

One Piece: Nami, Luffy, Robin

Fairy Tail: Gray, Juvia

Fairly Oddparents: Timmy Turner

Blue Exorcist: Rin, Izumo, Uke, Mike

Harry Potter: Hogwarts...

-And there are a ton of spells and magical items that were used that came from various worlds. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Harry Potter, Fairy Tail, and Black Clover are just a few of the many different worlds that had magic abilities displayed in this chapter. If you noticed any other proper nouns I didn't explain, ask away in the comments below! I'll respond in a review response section, like so:

Smlluffy67 chapter 145 . Aug 31, 2022

alright here is my question/theory whenever sora sealed a keyhole in kh he always got a Keychain for the kingdom key is it possible that when sora seals the nexas keyhole he will get a new Keychain that represents nexas and that the Keychain he gets may be even more powerful than his Ultama weapon Keyblade because the one month is also about getting stronger so that would be a nice upgrade to help him.

Very cool theory! And actually it's something I didn't even think about, but now I want to incorporate it into the story after whenever he reaches the Keyhole. That would be an awesome upgrade! Thanks for the idea... I mean, uh, no spoilers. We'll see! XD Thanks for the review!

Limit-Breaking chapter 145 . Sep 2, 2022

Well, that was certainly something.
Jeez I was not expecting that, I didn't recall that but than again it's been a while so maybe I forgot. Hell I assumed he was creating false memories hence to why he wasn't bother by it, but no it actually happened.
But boy it is strange after all of that he still hasn't decided to go after her.
Granted that is what the enemy want him to do, so maybe it's better to go with backup before anything. But I guess he'll decide whenever he's ready or maybe she'll escape in her own way.
Who knows what kairi will try to do, she may be able to get out of this mess by herself or get some form of help.
Either way hopefully we get her perspective soon.
And I guess your right awul sucks as well lol, we should just call nexus the great depression instead XD.
Fun stuff either way can't wait to read more.

Yeah this flashback first occurred back in the original Nexus story in the chapters before the Battle of Metropolis. As everyone was getting ready, Sora and Kairi told Riku about the story in their preparation section. Sora's still struggling with a lot on his plate, and he heads back off at the end of this chapter to try and find Castiel again. We'll see about Kairi... someday! :P Anyway, thanks for your reviews! Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

Espada-001 chapter 145 . Sep 4, 2022

I'm glad that you took an interest in MAR. It's actually one of my favorite series from when I was younger. And since Goku seems to have an issue with his lack of time to catch up with the ant king, MAR actually has a character really early on that would be able to help Goku out a lot and it's something that's very familiar for any Dragon Ball fan. Well I hope you have a good day and I look forward to reading the next chapter!

I'll admit I haven't made it very far in the story before getting sidetracked and watching other things and getting caught up in school. Hope you enjoyed the aspects of it I brought into this story though, and potentially more that will be added in upcoming chapters... haha, but no spoilers! I did get to the part where it looks like they're in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, so that would be a really useful thing to bring into this story. We'll see if it gets incorporated though. Hope you enjoyed, and thanks as always for reviewing!

hikolb6 chapter 145 . Dec 28, 2022

Hope you update soon and eventually complete this story.

And a few weeks later, I come through. XD Hope you enjoyed! Thanks again for reviewing, and to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited, or just read this story. Millions of words in the making. I'm glad you're still reading it. :)