AN: Hey guys. Did you know Treasure Planet has Deep Lore. Story Bibles, $8 video games on Steam, etc. I didn't. Now I do. Doesn't matter here, but, well...

I really wish it got its sequel.

Anyways, sorry it took a while to put this out. I had a pair of big projects I needed to do, then was out of town a ton. I needed to figure out when I even could write this chapter, but I did it eventually. Had to change a few things around and realized I'd forgotten to do a check in with characters.

To AngelGodess4000: Yep, finally managed that new chapter. Hope you still enjoy the story!

To Gamelover41592: It's good to be back! Hope you like this one, too.

Chapter 11: I'm Still Here

"Oof... what hit me?" Dawn grumbled as the light began to filter through her eyelids, filling the black with an oddly bright scarlet. "... Oscar, get me a water. I'm thirsty..."

"So, the boy's name is 'Oscar,' then. At least we got a word out of one of you."

"Huh?" Dawn cracked an eye and blinked it in surprise, eyes adjusting to the light of the sizable and classically decorated captain's quarters of some kind of boat, a huge window taking up one wall that looked out into the Darkness of the Wider World. "I... wasn't expecting Faunus in space,. Almost feels a bit like home, huh Oscar?" She glanced between the lean, military dressed cat woman poised with a hand on a pistol and saber at her hips, then at the frazzled and confused dog man adjusting his glasses. There was another bear like guy nearby, with a metal arm, leg, and a cyborg eye that cycled through a few settings as he looked at them. Finally, there was a young man, probably just about her and Oscar's age, between the two men. He was lanky and clearly had a rebellious streak with how he held himself, arms stuffed in his pockets as he rolled his eyes at something the cat lady said. He ran a hand through his short hair.

Dawn looked over at Oscar, who was holding himself between her and these people. His Keyblade was held at the ready and a fierce glare on his face. He glanced at her and the worried look on his face softened. "You're okay..."

"Duh," Dawn grumbled. She sighed and stood up. "I see we're getting off to a great start. Wanna catch me up?"

"The Gummi ship is broken and the captain there," Oscar nodded at the cat woman, "wants to interrogate us."

"It can't be that bad," Dawn suggested with a laugh.

"Well, Captain Amelia's bedside manner is not exactly what I would consider soft," the dog man said, earning an annoyed snarl from the cat woman. "Interrogate was the word she said, but I have been trying to explain to – um, Oscar was it? - that it is likely not what she meant! I believe it is far more likely, given the context of was being said, she meant-"

"Why would you tell them my name, Dr. Delbert? We had them at a disadvantage!" Captain Amelia hissed from between clenched teeth.

"Oh, well I'm Dawn. Good to meet ya!" Dawn held her hand out to the captain and grinned. "If we're gonna talk, let's at least all introduce ourselves, right?"

The captain stared at her in disbelief, but the kid jumped in front after a second. "Why not. I'm Jim." He grabbed her hand and shook it once. "The -"

"Deck boy is what y'are, Jimbo," the bear man said. He walked up and ruffled the kid's head. "I've been keepin' an eye on the lad durin' our trip, which the Cap'n said is need t'know, if'n I remember, Jimbo. If'n I ain't allowed to know, these two ain't eit'er." He pushed the kid away playfully before grabbing Dawn's shoulder and pulling her in to shake her hand with his cyborg arm, which quickly turned into a buzzsaw. "Whoop! Finicky, ain't she?" He turned it back into a hand and shook hers; she let out a laugh at his actions. She bet her mom would love to see something like this! Aunt Yang would get a kick out of it, too! "M'name's Silver, I'm the galleyman 'round these parts."

A small creature flouted up from behind his head and began to babble excitedly, a small ball of plasma with a wide grin. It chuckled and spun around before turning into a miniature Dawn and holding her hand out. "Morph!" It babbled out.

Dawn stared at the small thing for a second. Then another second. Then another. "Uh, Dawn?" Oscar supplied, lowering his Keyblade as she was all spaced out.

"Huh?" Dawn asked, flinching back from the small creature. She took a step back, then forced a grin. "Oh, it's uh... nice to meet you, uh, Morph."

Oscar gave her a sidelong glance, but walked up and put his hand out. "I'm Oscar."

"Well, quite nice, now that we all know one another's names perhaps you could enlighten us as to why you were drifting in our path in barely charted space," the Captain said, pushing her crew behind her.

"Got attacked on our way home," Oscar offered after waiting for Dawn to reply, but she was staring off at the floor, unusually quiet and thoughtful. He sighed and felt the anxiety drain the courage from from his gut "Sorry about getting defensive, but someone we care about was just k-kidnapped. W-We can't be s-sure you don't work for them. D-Dawn seems to trust you, and she's a good judge of character usually." She didn't seem to take the compliment, or notice it as she stared at the floor and frowned.

Oscar bit his cheek and turned. He hated having to be the party face. "What... uh... w-what're you d-doing out here in, erm, 'barely charted space?'" He echoed to the captain.

"Ah, it's fascinating!" Delbert began to exclaim. He adjusted his glasses. "You see, we -"

"Doctor!" the captain hissed again. She shook her head. "I am unhappy with the prospect of stowaways on our journey, especially this close to our destination. It reeks of... oh, what is the word..."

"Coincidence?" the doctor suggested.

"Scheming," Amelia corrected angrily.

There was silence for a moment before Jim elbowed Silver in the gut. The man let out a grunt of surprise and glared at the boy, the two having a silent conversation. Finally, the older man seemed to give in. "Cap'n, I doubt that'd be possible. Ye won't even tell us crewmen exactly what we're after on this voyage," Silver offered. He shrugged. "I doubt these kids could be in the know if'n we ain't."

Amelia nodded begrudgingly. "Yes, you're correct. Therefore, we will give you everything you need to repair your ship then drop you off at the next habitable planet we pass." She paused. "Mr. Arrow – Hm..." She looked sad for a moment, then cleared her throat. "Ah, damn habits. Mr. Silver – since you seem inclined to vouch for them, you can ensure they have everything they need."

Silver's eyes widened, then he turned and glared down at Jim. The boy grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Fine, Cap'n."

"Very good. Mr. Hawkins, you and the Doctor can help me figure out where we will drop them off once you and Mr. Silver help these two get settled in," the Captain ordered. She gestured towards the door. "Now everyone... everyone out."

"Well then, I guess I've been stuck with more annoyances. Ye' better be thankful, Jimbo, it was yer idea," Silver growled as he grabbed Dawn and Oscar's arms to drag them out of the room. He yanked them through the ship, letting the two see the crew moving about in their duties on what looked like one of those super old timey sail boats... But when one looked up, they could see the sparkling stars and swirling darkness of the Wider World beyond the boat.

"Your ship's pretty interesting. Never seen anything like it before." Jim drew their attention across the deck, past dozens of angry looking aliens. Dawn's eyes widened with wonder as they walked around them, a small crowd pushing them from side to side in the bustle.

"Right back at you..." Dawn muttered excitedly as she burst towards the cannons lining the sides. "It's totally retro! Oscar! Get a pic for Donnie!"

Oscar nodded and pulled his Scroll out, taking a few pictures before Silver shoved it down. "And what do you think yer doin'?"

"My little brother is obsessed with ships. Wants to make them one day, so just getting pictures," Dawn said, stopping a pose where she was making a peace sign over her eye as she hung from the sails. "... Too much?"

"You're lucky Captain isn't out here. She's pretty serious about her ship," Jim offered. He walked up to the Gummi Ship, tied to and drifting beside the ship. "I'm a bit of a Shipwright myself, or at least the science of it. Yours is the crazy one. The engine's way faster than our Solar Sails, but the power system makes no sense for that."

"Yeah..." Oscar grimaced. Smile power. "I don't think we can explain it well enough for you to believe it."

"Come on, Oscar. You think 'Just keep smiling' is going to fly with everybody?" Dawn suggested with a snort. She grabbed one of the ropes and jumped from the sails, yipping excitedly as she swung around the mast and let go to land and roll beside the others. She shut one eye and raised her right hand like it was a hook."Yar, Matey! Always wanted t' do that!"

Silver snorted. "Yar?"

"It's like a pirate, y'know?" she supplied simply.

"So, what does your ship need?" Jim asked, ignoring Dawn and Silver's dueling over what pirates sound like.

"Time? Self repair should take care of enough for us to get h-home." Oscar sighed. "So I guess we'll get m-marooned pretty soon."

Jim shrugged. "Maybe. But a chance to check your ship out? Captain's crazy if she doesn't realize it's a chance of a lifetime." Jim climbed on the ship's railing and began checking the ropes holding the Gummi nearby. "'Sides, she doesn't really have a stick up her – eh, well, she's usually fine. Just grieving..." Jim suddenly looked guilty.

"Well, if yer stayin' for a while, you'll be earnin' yer keep," Silver said, marching up. "And if I'm in charge a' you, you'll be workin' hard. Just ask Jimbo here. Taught him every'tin he knows."

"Some of it, you old Spacer," Jim joked.

Silver smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Looks like yer ship's driftin' off a bit. She don't like the ropes, I tink." He sighed and moved over to another rope. "So, you two can do the others. Here's how ya -"

"Like this. You have to twist the ropes here and create loop like this," Jim cut in, showing the other kids, who watched excitedly.

"Just wait 'til Dad sees I know a bit about sailing. Instant bonding time!" Dawn said as he moved to another rope and began to tie it to the ship the way Jim had shown them. It took her a couple tries longer than Oscar, but she managed it.

Silver watched the trio begin climbing over to the Gummi ship and let out a small chuckle. "Well, I'll be..." He shook his head and sighed... then looked at his feet. Morph flew out and began nuzzling his cheek. "Hm... I'm fine, Morphy. Jus'... tired, is all. Jimbo's got 'tis, I tink."

R W B Y

Jaune Arc sprinted forward, fists clenched at his sides as he watched Yang get punched into the sky. She'd be fine, but it didn't make him any happier that it had happened. He summoned his Keyblade to his hand. "Astra!" He threw his left hand out and felt his buckler extend, the edge glowing bright with lightning dust. He threw his hand forward and the edge began to launch tiny blasts of electricity at their enemy to preserve his magical energy during his advance.

The monster roared and turned its nightmare inducing flesh-goop body towards him, letting out a stream of bile and blood . Jaune grumbled and jumped over the flood, twisting and bringing a stream of flames along the edge of his blade. The edge burned a tentacle off of the monster. "Yharnam sucks!" he shouted as he was forced to roll backwards to avoid another tentacle trying to crush him. "Remind me to never take one of Sora's hard jobs again! I already want another vacation!"

"Oh, you love it!" Yang retorted, slamming her fist down on the tentacle that he'd dodged. She was a stream of fire like a shooting star, and contact vaporized that small chunk of the beast. "I mean, gross sure, but awesome!"

Jaune hated that he agreed. Well, not really. He deflected a tentacle made of dozens of reaching arms upward and lunged forward, vaporizing another chunk of the beast with Light magic before it released an entire flood of blood from its body in response. He couldn't dodge this one, close as he was, and was forced to raise his Keyblade and channel his Aura. The attack split around him like a wedge was in front of him, but he still felt his aura drain getting low. They'd been fighting for days – or nights, time didn't exactly behave right here – with little rest. They'd need to retreat soon and come back with fresh eyes and more supplies. He refused to inject himself with any of this nasty 'blood' crap everyone kept chanting about in this place.

Yang roared as the wave washed over her, and Jaune realized that this would be their last fight here. She wanted this smoothie of corpses dead now. "You're making my blood boil, time I returned the favor!" Flames erupted from her hair, vaporizing the band keeping it in a braid down her back and turning her into a glowing yellow star. "FIRAZA!"

The resulting heat of the explosion warped the stone at the edge of the courtyard, and definitely did exactly what Yang had jokingly promised: blood boiled. The wave vanished instantly, coating the ground and air with the thick black of burnt carbon. The explosive flames spread through the monster, the drying blood and corpses acting as kindling. The creature shrieked and tried to slink away, but Jaune pressed their advantage. His Keyblade flashed, turning into a spear that he launched at the monster. It screamed as it was rooted suddenly to the ground, struggling against the encroaching flames. Jaune decided to put it out of his misery.

"Fire."

The spear of his Keyblade glowed red for a moment, then exploded with energy that vaporized it from the inside out. He closed his fist and the Keyblade flashed back into it, its shape the normal key again. Yang's flames slowly died out at the same time and she groaned, falling to her knee. "Okay... you're right though. I do want a vacation."

"Then I've got bad news." The two stood up, pushing through a month of exhaustion to prepare to attack the newcomer. Their weapons fell when they saw who it was. Sora stood across from them, looking serious. "Good news though, you get a short break from the field while we go over everything back at the academy."

Jaune frowned. "I'm glad you finally left Remnant... but that means it has to be bad. What happened? Did Salem attack again?"

"Yes and no." Sora shut his eyes. "It's a long story, but the important parts are that Salem has Dove and my daughter might have a way to find Salem."

Yang's hair began to burn again, so Jaune grabbed her hand. She glanced at him and took a deep breath, forcing her hair to drift back down.. "You're right, Sunshine. You and Sora plan, then I can save my niece and punch her stupid face in."

R W B Y

"Hey, you called for us, right?" Dawn shouted as she burst through the door to Amelia's quarters with Oscar right behind her.

"What the -!" Amelia exclaimed, moving quickly to shove a copper ball into a safe behind a painting. She growled at the two of them, then glanced at Jim and Delbert. "You should really knock."

"Oh, uh..." Dawn grabbed the open door and knocked. "We're here."

Amelia couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Well, based on Mr. Hawkins' estimates, it seems clear that you are not a threat. I suppose we can let some youthful exuberance go in this case." She tapped her fingers on the wall. "Now then, I am afraid I have some bad news. According to the... good doctor, there are no habitable worlds before we reach our destination."

"N-No worries," Oscar replied. "We need to p-pay you back for saving us."

"Not too much longer, thankfully," Delbert explained. "We should finally reach our destination tomorrow, isn't that right, Jim?"

"How you two survived when being so open with information... The Terran Navy was too bureaucratic for me, but for you..? Well, the structure might actually be good for you." Amelia nodded. "But yes. We shall arrive at our destination tomorrow morning. The two of you will stay on this ship and message us if anything should approach. Danger behind is just as important as danger ahead."

"Okay," Dawn supplied with a grin.

"Y-you know w-we don't want any of th-the treasure."

"Th-the wh- I mean, that is to say -" Delbert began to stammer.

Jim held his hands up when Amelia began glaring at him. "Hey, you know my mom needs the money. I'm not telling anybody."

"... Well, uh, you just said you, uh, don't work for the Navy anymore. If th-this isn't a military ship, th-there's only one way y-you could afford all these workers and m-materials." Oscar fidgeted under everyone's gazes. "I mean... i-it has to be a big treasure, too. Y-your ship is nice, the c-crew is big. And you're being, uh, well, uh..."

"Really, really secretive?" Dawn finished for him as she followed along.

"Y... yeah."

Everyone was silent. And then, the doctor snorted. "What is so funny, Doctor?"

"Oh, well, I wouldn't expect a cat to understand since sneaking about is their forte. Slightly telling the truth would have made it less suspicious!" he said before guffawing.

"Oh, because revealing the truth to our scallywag spacer crew would have been better?" That shut Delbert up fast. "Ah, so you understand that the unfortunate necessity of breaking protocol to hire an untrustworthy crew requires not trusting them."

"You -"

"Okay, let's let them get in their usual fight," Jim said, grabbing the pair. "You'll be watching the ship, so I want to learn more about where you guys are from. Must be pretty advanced if you don't need Solar Sails to get around."

"The ships are kind of a lucky break, really," Oscar admitted. He and Dawn let Jim drag them off and into one of the lifeboats. Dawn watched as it dropped from the ship and they blasted off, propelled by Light energy on golden sails. "But... how does this work? The Gummi Ship protects us from the Darkness, but the ship doesn't look like it has anything to keep it out. How?"

"The ship's got an atmospheric generator. As long as the gravity generator works, it can keep it rooted to the ship."

"And the lifeboat has a smaller one," Oscar realized, leaning in to the engine. "Donnie really will love all this."

"It's nothin' compared to your ship, though," Jim said as he maneuvered them ahead of the ship and across a cloud of energy that scattered in their wake. Animals began to appear in the gas, huge whales and manta ray things rising and falling together. "But I bet the cockpit in that thing doesn't get views like that."

"... I didn't even know things other than the Heartless could live out here," Oscar said, eyes wide with wonder. The creatures twirled through the darkness before diving beneath the cloud cover again. These things didn't look like the Grimm and Heartless that had killed his family all those years ago, yet took refuge in that same Darkness that birthed those creatures. It was...

"Beautiful," Dawn said, finishing his thoughts like they were her own.

Oscar glanced at her, hair swirling with the inertia of their movement and eyes shining with wonder. She caught his gaze and let out a big, toothy grin with her eyes shut. Oscar's cheeks turned bright red and he turned away. "Er... I... yeah. It's beautiful."

Jim gave Oscar a look, which only gave the younger boy a brighter blush. "Yeah, well all the beautiful stuff in the universe is dangerous, right?" he supplied, a joke hiding in his question. He snorted at Oscar's deepening red and began to pilot the ship again.

"... It's not just money."

Oscar and Dawn looked up at Jim. "Huh?"

"It's not just the money. I mean, I definitely need it, but it isn't for me," he explained. He kept staring out into the darkness, jaw set tight. "I've... hurt my mom a lot. She deserves a break, just once."

Dawn nodded, getting where he was coming from. It was terrible to hurt your family... and inevitable. "Yeah. I did the same with my dad," she offered. She chuckled. "We were on our way home before this. I kind of... stole our ship and Oscar and ran away from home. Heh... we really got off easy with him, didn't we, Oscar?" When he didn't respond she turned to see him looking away from her. "Oscar?"

"Y-Yeah," he squeaked out. "Easy." Oscar cleared his throat, whispering something under his breath, and turned around. He was less red... he hoped. "I mean, I – uh – m-my head s-still hurts, s-so not that easy."

"... Point," Dawn laughed. She looked back out over the darkness, smile slowly vanishing as she turned oddly pensive again. "If treasure'll help, you should at least go for it. Don't let anybody stop you from paying your mom back, got it? I know I won't..."

Jim smiled, then shrugged. "I don't know. You guys apparently can't drive home without crashin' your ship," he offered mockingly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to avoid your dad."

"... I'll take a page out of my Aunt Winter's book: No comment," she responded in a deadpan, then winked at Oscar and began snickering.

Jim raised his eyebrow at the response, then shrugged with the knowledge that it was some kind of inside joke. If anything, he was just jealous he didn't have friends like that... though, that was kind of his own fault he realized. Besides, he really only needed his... mom.

"My mom used to read me stories. Captain Bones and his ghost ship, appearing and disappearing without a trace," Jim said after a minute. "Pirates, spacers, heroes, villains. When I was a kid, I wanted to find a treasure and help her. Then I realized it wasn't going to happen. And then it did..."

"My dad just told me about his own life. And my mom's. I just wanted to be like them," Dawn offered in reply.

Jim grabbed the controls. "Just like your parents..." He turned the engine and began traveling back to the ship. He sounded morose as he stared at the stars when he said, "Yeah, I do that sometimes, too."

As they got closer, Dawn saw Silver waiting for them in the airlock. She looked at him with an uncomfortable look growing on her face. "Treasure can be dangerous, though," she finally remarked, drawing a confused look from Oscar and Jim. Silver helped tie the ship in and leaned closer, trying to hear what she was talking about. "There's this one story. This scholar was hunting this treasure a long time ago. A powerful weapon capable of granting any wish."

"Aye? Scholar ever find it 'r not?" Silver wondered simply.

"I'm getting to it!" Dawn protested hotly. She sighed and continued, "Spent years searching, researching, investigating, and experimenting. The scholar found it and realized everything it could do... but by then, the treasure was the only thing that mattered. Drove all their friends away in the search and when it came down to it... the scholar had to be put down by those friends."

Oscar put a hand on his chin and felt a familiar voice in his Heart whisper angrily, "Salem." He had to agree. Taking out all of the details about the X-Blade or how real it was, there was only one person that scholar could be.

"Well..." Silver muttered, glancing away from Jim and the group as he tied the life boat tot he ship. "Guess 's a good 'ting we ain't got a treasure t' split us up, eh Jimbo?" The others got out of the boat and began walking out onto the deck.

Morph giggled and spun out of Silver's jacket, shifting over and over. "Hey! Morphy, stop 'dat!" he exclaimed, swinging his hand at the plasma thing and scattering his transformation as his formless skin turned copper. "'Ey! Morphy!"

"What is he trying to turn into?" Oscar wondered. He leaned in closer.

Dawn pushed past him. "I don't know. I think - " She paused as Morph let out a shriek and flew backwards from everyone, shifting into a small black shape and jabbering in terror. Dawn's eyes widened. "Heartl..."

"Heartless!" Oscar jumped forward, tackling Dawn to the ground as a blast of Dark gunfire crashed into the deck where she'd been a moment earlier. He turned and slid to his feet, readying his Keyblade. A blast of Darkness exploded behind him and he was tossed forward. "DAWN!"

He hit the ground and rolled to his feet again, looking around. "D-" He snarled and realized he had to keep his head up. He deflected a bullet flying at his head and stared down one of the many Heartless hanging from the ship's rigging. Air Pirates were flying around the ship attacking the crew and tossing cannonballs of Darkness from beyond the ship's edge.

The one aiming down at Oscar was a bit different from those Old Heartless that Sora had seen in his first adventure so long ago, this one a pirate too but one that fit this much more spaceworthy region instead. It had a robotic arm and leg, the leg at this point aiming a gun barrel right at Oscar and the arm a tridactyl hand gripping the rigging. It was dressed in a long coat over a loose fitting white shirt and leathery brown pants and boots. It had an eyepatch looped over a flowing bandana, a Heartless emblem where the eye should have been, and a large and disturbing grin of yellow light beneath sharp teeth.

The Jolly Roger swung down from the rigging,leaping at Oscar and shifting its right arm into a sword that crashed into the Keyblade. "'Ey there, back off!" Silver charged up, swinging his cyborg arm with its cooking knife out. The weapon crashed into its head, not doing too much damage, but surprising it and making it turn away from Oscar. It was then rewarded with a bucket over its head as Jim rushed over, leapfrogging over it and hastily kicking another into the path of a dancing Amelia's blade.

Oscar took this moment to attack, rushing forward to carve the Heartless in two and looked around in confusion. Dawn should have been right there! "DAWN!" he shouted. Where'd she go?! He turned and deflected a bullet up as it was coming at him, deflecting it right back at the Jolly Roger that dodged it and shot forward, slashing with its sword arm and forcing him backwards. He blocked the attack and countered, missing wide as he was distracted by Dawn's continued absence. He cursed as it countered, blade crashing into his shoulder. He grimaced and jumped backwards. "Men, get on those cannons!" Amelia shouted to her crew. "Keep the rest of these things from landing so we can clear them all out!"

"AYE!" The crew shouted, rushing to do as commanded.

Oscar shoved the Heartless in front of him back and raised his palm to aim at its chest. Fire could damage the ship, and therefore the atmosphere. Not an option. Thunder could affect the machinery. Then... "FREEZE!" he snapped, a blast of silver energy exploding against the creature and shattering it all at once. "DAWN!"

"We've got it up here!" Jim shouted as he dodged a Heartless and shoved it overboard. "Find her before you get yourself killed!"

Oscar grimaced, but nodded. "Okay. I'll be back soon!" He turned and sprinted towards the cabin of the ship, cutting down the Shadows and other Heartless that were getting in his way. He burst through the door into the hallway and tossed open door after door, calling for his best friend. He dodged a Jolly Roger's sword arm and dagger leg before blasting a Light spell at its chest and hitting it outside with his Keyblade, then turned to cut a Shadow down and run to the next room.

He crashed into Amelia's office with enough speed to create a crack in the door's body, and cried out a name.

But not for his best friend. And not in his own voice. Hatred filled every fiber of Oscar's being, an energy pushed out from the deepest recesses of his Heart and amplified as his Semblance activated of its own accord to channel them to the forefront. "SALEM!"

The woman froze as she stood, holding a copper sphere in her right hand. She turned, eyes shut, towards him. "Oz -" She opened her eyes and they widened in surprise, the red over white sclera expanding. "-scar?"

Ozpin snarled in rage and summoned Oscar's Keyblade to his hand, weapon ablaze with gleaming Light energy. "I don't know how you escaped hell, Salem, but I'll be glad to send you back where you belong!" He shot forward, blade extending from his magic, and slashed at her head.

The woman ducked under the attack and jumped to the side, vaulting over the desk and tossing the chair at him with her foot. Ozpin cleaved the chair in two and jumped at her again, slashing at her but missing as she narrowly dodged. "You are Ozpin... but... You've taken him over? And you thought that made me a monster, you hypocrite!" she snapped back at him, lashing out with a back kick to send him flying into a wall. He burst through the wall and into the hallway, rolling to his feet and blasting back through the same hole in a single movement.

"Lectures from you? That is far more hypocritical, Salem," Ozpin growled. He launched a barrage of Sparkga at Salem, who growled and dodged the first volley only for the second to blast her backwards. She hit the ground and rolled to her feet, glaring at the last one coming her way.

"Dammit!" She snarled as she raised her left hand in front of her.

Ozpin shot forward, intent on making sure this attack would give him an opening to end it here and now. There was a brilliant flash of Light, and the Sparkga was sent flying right before Ozpin's Chronal crashed into -

Oscar's Heart froze and his eyes widened. "Where did you get that!?" he screamed at Salem, who was now pushing him back easily, the Kingdom Key D sparking against the edge of his weapon. "You have Dawn's Keyblade! What did you do with her!?"

Salem blinked once, her eyes glowing with power now. "Oscar again?" She took a breath and smiled grimly, flicking her wrist and sending his Keyblade up. "You'll never know."

Oscar jumped back, making sure to dodge her attack before coming to his feet with a glowing sphere of magic clutched tight. "FORCE!"

"You think that will -" She yelped, surprised as the Graviga did not pull her down but instead threw her into the window, which cracked under the pressure and sudden impact.

Oscar jumped after her, but she dismissed the Keyblade and caught him effortlessly in one hand by the wrist, wrenching it to the side to make sure he dropped his weapon. "Not bad," she remarked simply. Her eyes no longer glowed as she held his wrist tight enough to shatter the bones of a non-Keyblade wielder. "But not good enough, Oscar". She cocked her head to the side to look past him as explosions began to echo. "The Heartless shouldn't be doing – traitors. Tch. I don't have time for this." She turned and raised Oscar above her, quickly and violently throwing him through the other side of the window she still stood upon.

"Break the door down, ye scurvy dogs! Get the map, then 'em what ran away!" The door exploded inward, the door splintering and shattering the window completely. Salem was blasted after Oscar with a cry of surprise, smoke trailing as they were sent into the Darkness surrounding the green world below them.

Oscar recovered first without the force of the explosion burning him. He turned as they fell and swiped at Salem, who barely managed to summon the Keyblade in her stupor and block the weapon. She was sent tumbling to the side before she used magic to recover and blast back at Oscar, glowing eyes meeting his and promising she would not lose. The Kingdom Key D crashed into Chronal, but he used a Magnet spell along the edge to keep from getting blasted away by the force. "If you hurt her... I'll... I'll..."

Salem narrowed her eyes. "You won't do anything," she responded, pulling away from his weapon and channeling Darkness along the Keyblade's edge. "But I wouldn't worry. I made a promise." She slammed down with the weapon and it overwhelmed the magnet spell with the sudden force. Oscar was blasted backwards, as if he was a gnat confronted with a hand, shooting towards the planet far below.

But he had one trick left up his sleeve. He may not be the best at it, but he could still summon magical chains from his Keyblade just like Master Neptunia. "NO!" he snapped, throwing the glowing gray chains up and latching around Salem's ankle. She was surprised as they suddenly went taut and she was whipped downwards suddenly, Keyblade and sphere tumbling from her grasp with the whiplash. Oscar held on for as long as he could, trying to make sure he wouldn't lose her. But it was no good. He hit the atmosphere of the planet and the sudden jerk shattered his concentration. The chains exploded and he was sent tumbling away from Salem. "DAWN!" He was sent spinning, catching sight of Salem vanishing in the distance and a life boat falling from the sky.

He fell from the sky and threw up his hands, casting another Reflega spell around him. Sora had survived falling like this once, but he didn't feel like crashing half naked in a forest right then. He watched the ground flying up at him as the shield around him began to blur and shine with heat from his fall. On reflex, he shut his eyes and crashed into the ground hard.

The explosion of his protective spell shattered trees and the ground all around him, shredding them to bits and translating the damage that should have hit him into the world. Trees vanished, stones turned to dust. And Oscar lay at the center, clutching at his aching side with a dim glow of his shattered Aura around him. "Ow..." He groaned, then he opened his eyes and gasped. He scrambled to his feet and sprinted towards the edge of the crater. Every step hurt, but he could deal with that if he managed to avoid the falling star dropping towards him. He stumbled and fell out of the crater, rolling down the hill to a stop just as the star crashed into his crater with a thunderous boom.

Oscar laid on his back for a few minutes, panting heavily as he struggled to recover his magic from keeping him alive from the crash. "Dammit... Got to find Dawn," he groaned. He slowly pushed himself to his feet and limped up the crater to look in, hoping it was Salem so he could make sure to find Dawn... and terrified it was because she was way stronger than him.

But, it was not. Instead, still glowing with the heat of its descent, was a copper sphere. He blinked once, then made his way down to lean beside it. He realized with a start this was what Salem had been stealing when he'd caught her in the act. Oscar crouched beside it, wondering what it could be. He cast a Cure spell on himself and sat down beside the sphere, waiting for it to cool down before finally grabbing it and holding it in front of him. "What is this?" he wondered, running his fingers along the still comfortably warm sphere. There were lines and circular buttons all over its surface, mathematically placed. He was sure there was some kind of meaning to it, but... he couldn't focus on trying to figure it out until he found Dawn. He pocketed the device and pushed up to his feet.

"I need to find someone. Anyone," he grumbled. He made his way out of the kcrater and summoned his Keyblade, knowing he had to be ready if Salem showed up again. "... Dawn..." He glared down at the Keyblade. He could find her, somehow... but he had hated the feeling of being trapped in his own body while someone else wore him like a glove. He suddenly felt an even stronger compulsion to never let his Semblance accidentally activate ever again.

Thankfully, he didn't have to make that decision. "Oscar! Oscar, where are – OSCAR!"

A missile of violet crashed into Oscar, and he was sent crashing onto his back. He groaned and opened his eyes after a moment, only for them to widen as a streak of joy ran through his Heart. "Dawn! Where were you!?" He shouted exuberantly, surging up and grabbing her in a tight hug. "I was so worried that you – How did you escape?! Where were you even?"

"I dunno," she replied, hugging him tight back. The two slowly separated and stared at each other. Then both realized that Dawn's face was inches from his. Dawn jumped up and scrambled backwards, scratching her bright red face nervously and looking away from Oscar. "Uh... I uh mean, I woke up here a little bit ago. When I saw that falling star, I hoped it'd lead me to you. What, did you fall like my dad did?"

"Er, s-s-something l-like that," Oscar admitted, looking away from Dawn with just as bright red a face. He fumbled with his pocket for a bit then pulled out the sphere. "Th-this, I um... this th-thing fell after me. Salem was trying to steal it." He surged to his feet and began looking her over all around for injuries. "But she did something with you! You're okay, right?"

"Did you say 'Sale -' Ach! Jeez, stop that!" Dawn shrieked, waving her arms around violently to slap him away. "Jeez, w-what was that for!?"

"What? I – Uh... Crap, I didn't mean -!" Oscar slapped his face. "Ugh..."

Dawn couldn't help but laugh at that, though the embarrassed flush remained. "It's okay, Puppy. Now, let me see this weird thing that crashed with you." She pulled his arm up and stared at the sphere. "Oooh... what do you think it does?" She took it from his hand and began playing with it, tapping the buttons randomly. She stopped suddenly and held it straight out. "It isn't a bomb, right?"

"Ha! No way," Oscar replied before taking it from her. "It was in Amelia's office. I bet it's got to do with their treasure hunt... maybe some kind of key or map. Remember, they put it away after talking with Jim about planets they could drop us off on!"

Dawn grinned, then felt her smile sag. "Hey, where are they do you think? Jim, Amelia, Delbert, and Silver, I mean."

"I don't know. But we should find them fast. You heard me right, Dawn: Salem is here," Oscar said, voice dripping with venom. He looked over at Dawn, features hard. His fist trembled at his side. "I'm sorry that I couldn't find out about your mom. When she stole your Keyblade. I thought – I was so scared."

Dawn flinched at the intensity and backed away a step. "Y-yeah, well... I'm fine," she offered, turning away. She took a deep breath and stared off into the distance, a worried look on her face. After a moment she turned back and forced a smile. "For now, let's just go find the others. Once we figure all this out, we can try to summon back our Gummi Ship. You know that Dad'll freak if we aren't at the Academy when he gets back."