King: 21 chapters and 80,000+ words of content (not including these notes at the beginning). I call that a win. Let's get to what you're all here for, shall we~?

Inspiration: Soul Eater

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Nora was giggling as she shouted "Objection!" She even got Ruby to join in.

King was still nowhere to be seen, so the screen started to play the next world. Before it could, he popped back to form. "I'm back~ Who missed me?"

Ruby waved, smiling. "So, how did it go?"

"Oh, I'm no where close to being done… Unfortunately… This stuff is… ridiculously complicated. I just want to pop in and see how you guys were doing. Do you need anything while I'm working?" After a few people got a snack or drink, he disappeared again and the screen formed the next world. As he faded, he spoke to himself, "This ought to be good~"

The screen opened to show a massive castle-like building. It looked like a variation of Beacon, just with floating fires above several smaller towers. The scene flew around the castle as a voice over began.

"The Beacon Academy. A haven for the best and brightest of the DWMA students."

"DWMA?" Ruby's head tilted, "What's that?"

Ozpin readjusted his glasses, "I can't say I'm aware."

Qrow took another swig, "I've never heard about anything like that. This is probably a reality with different rules."

"It is here that the next generation of Meisters are trained to defend the innocent civilians and to create new Death Scythes. All in the hopes to prevent the Grimm from regaining a foothold over the world."

Ruby went wide eyed, "Death Scythe?! That sounds so cool! Maybe it's like an improvement to normal weapons! Maybe it can do more stuff than even Crescent Rose!"

Yang chuckled at Ruby's antics.

The screen stopped to show Ozpin standing in the main court yard of the Academy. His usual green suit was exchanged for a robe. He had a cartoonish skull mask resting on the upper side of his head. He chuckled and took a large gulp from his coffee mug. He sighed in satisfaction with eyes closed. Then he started to address the audience, "That's the idea anyway."

Nora laughed a little. "That mask is so adorable!"

Ozpin swung his cane around one handed. He walked on as he continued the voice over's point from before, "The Academy was founded to fight against evil souls, humans who try to stray into the world of the Grimm. We give them the title Kishin. These Kishin souls are dangerous beasts out to destroy everything in their path. And so, I founded this school to fight back."

Qrow chuckled. "Guess this Oz is more of the playful type than ours."

Glynda sighed. "So, it seems…"

"Granted, making it a school to train young students rather than more experienced types was a personal decision. Victory will be found in a simple soul, after all." His cane slammed into the ground and he turned back to the viewers. He grinned and continued, "But I've rambled enough. You're not here to see me. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!"

The screen snapped to black.

When it returned, it showed an area of Vale at night. It wasn't very distinct, but it was clearly Vale at the same time. They saw a man walking down the streets. He grinned with a sharp toothed smile as he dragged a massive set of iron claws across the ground.

A lot of the group felt a chill run up their spines. The sound of metal scraping across cobblestone was a very distinct sound that just got to a person. It wasn't a kind sound. It made even the strongest man shake in fear, at least a little bit.

The man lifted his claws and moved in silence. He jumped forward, the camera lagging in place. After a moment, the screen was showing his first-person view as he ran along the streets and alleys. He jumped along until a young woman appeared in his view. He rushed toward her. She didn't notice. She didn't turn. The screen went red. She didn't even have the chance to scream.

"Oh my gods…" Velvet recoiled went that happened. It was terrible to see and the fact that they didn't see how it happened made them all have to imagine. That only made things worse.

The man walked on as another woman screamed. She spun around to run when he noticed her. He ran after her and caught up to her by a large set of stairs. He rose his claws to kill again as he roared out.

A scoff from the stair cases made him pause. He turned his head away from the woman, giving her the chance to escape.

Velvet exhaled in relief for the woman. At least she got away alive.

The man looked up to see two late teens standing at the top of the stairs.

The first was a young woman with brown hair and eyes. She wore a long brown trench coat over something resembling the Beacon uniform. A cartoon bunny pin was placed on her lapel.

"Velvet?" Coco smirked. "That's certainly a good look for you."

Velvet blinked in surprise. Not in seeing herself on the screen, that's happened already. But seeing her seemingly so confident… that was a shock. There was also the fact that she wasn't a faunas in this world. That was interesting to say the least.

The young man next to her was an all too familiar blonde boy. His deep blue eyes seemed to shine in the darkness of the night. He dressed in a black jacket, gold shirt, dark jeans, and boots. He had a white beret with a golden symbol of crossed lances.

Nora pointed toward the screen in excitement, "There's Jaune!"

Yang whistled, "It's kind of weird to see Vomit Boy so confident."

Coco raised an eyebrow. "His style is alright. He could do better, but its still good for moving around."

Velvet blushed a little seeing this version of Jaune. Seeing them both side by side, both confident… it was almost dream-like.

Jaune smirked when the man noticed them. "I'm going to guess that's the guy we're after."

Velvet nodded. "He's not exactly subtle…"

The man finally turned his whole body toward them. He reached his hand up and licked one of the claws.

Cinder couldn't place it, but he seemed familiar. She'd seen him before.

Velvet cracked her neck before looking down at the man, "A twisted soul, straying to the path of the Grimm… Mad Serial Killer, Tyrian…"

Cinder had a moment. Now she could see it! It was Tyrian!

"… Your soul is mine!"

Weiss had taken a sip from some tea she got at the beginning of this round. When Velvet said that line, she coughed as she tried to gasp with tea in her mouth. "His what is what now?!"

Tyrian laughed as he started to charge toward them. As he slammed a claw into the ground, Velvet jumped back to avoid the attack. Jaune flipped in the air and toward Velvet. She caught his hand and swung around with him in hand. Jaune seemed to glow for a moment in the blur. When Velvet landed, she was holding a white and golden spear. The majority of the metal was primarily white while several accents being gold, the spearhead was white, but the sharpened section of the weapon was gold.

Ruby was seriously amazed. One, Jaune just became an actual weapon! That was so cool! Next, he became, in her personal opinion, an amazingly beautiful weapon. It was the kind of weapon a person would beam with pride to have in hand. No wonder this Velvet is so confident.

Her surprise about Jaune becoming a weapon was shared by the rest of the group. But they didn't have her zeal for the idea.

Tyrian roared and charged toward Velvet. Velvet dropped her stance and spun the non-bladed end of the spear into Tyrian's gut. With a rather acrobatic spin, she slashed at Tyrian, earning a few good hits. Tyrian tried to back up, but Velvet vaulted using her spear and kicked him clean in the jaw. She slid down slightly, wrapping her arm around the spear. She slammed her feet onto the ground and swung her weapon with enough power to send Tyrian flying upward.

Velvet was amazed, seeing herself move so effectively. Sure, her semblance being able to copy other people's actions helped her in a fight, but it was always someone else's movements. Someone else's powers. But this was her. This was her power.

Tyrian shook himself back midair and got ready to slash at her on the way down. A brown blur got him to look upward. Velvet had jumped into the sky and slammed her blade into Tyrian's gut on the way down. They fell to the Earth with a powerful shockwave. Tyrian's eyes went white as his body twisted with a massive pop, revealing a red, spherical item. It was Tyrian's twisted soul.

It was odd for any of them to see a physical soul. They've seen aura and semblances that were an extension of the soul, but never the soul itself.

Velvet held her spear toward the soul. It began to glow, so she let go, allowing Jaune to reform into his human state. Jaune reached out and took the soul in hand, spinning around by an extension on the top of the soul. He tossed the soul into the air with a smile. As it fell back down, he caught the soul with his teeth and it flowed down his throat.

This got a rather shocked reaction. Jaune had just eaten a soul. A SOUL! He just ate the inner spirit of a human being! Granted he was a seriously bad dude, but the thought was jarring.

Velvet smiled. "I've been meaning to ask, what does a soul taste like?"

Jaune shrugged, "They don't really have a taste. It's more the sensation of them going down."

"Huh…" Velvet stated to walk with Jaune down the streets. "Well, on more important news, that was soul 99!"

Jaune smiled. His partner was always the enthusiastic one. "Just one more thing to do. The witch's soul."

Ozpin took a sip from his coffee. "A witch's soul?"

Qrow chuckled, "5 Lien says it's Glynda."

Yang smirked toward her uncle. "20 Lien says it's not~"

Nora jumped up in her seat. "Place your bets! Who's the witch?!"

When they were done, the run down was as follows:

5 votes Glynda Goodwitch

1 vote Weiss Schnee

2 votes Winter Schnee

4 votes Cinder Fall

Remaining abstain

With the betting closed, the group looked back up to the screen.

Velvet walked up to a window and breathed on the glass, causing it to fog. She used her finger to write out a number as she spoke, "42-42-564 to knock on Death's door."

"Death?" Qrow paused before he could take another sip from his flask. "As in… the Grim Reaper?"

"Well that's unnerving." Ironwood replied.

The window started to glow, becoming like a screen that connected them to Death. Velvet waved into the glowing surface, "Hello again, sir!"

On the other side of the screen, Ozpin waved back, "Hello~! It's great to hear from you both again!"

If Ironwood had been drinking, he'd have done a spit take. "Oz is the physical embodiment of Death?!"

Ozpin blinked, but just took another sip from his mug, a small smirk on his face hidden behind the ceramic cup.

Jaune smirked, "Just reporting in to say we got the 99th soul."

Ozpin nodded. "Good to hear~!" His tone dropped to give them a warning, "However, you must remember that your next goal is the witch's soul. Both of you need to be careful. Many great Meister's have lost their lives before the magical powers of a witch."

Velvet and Jaune nodded. A look of determination painting both of their faces.

"And, because of this, if anything goes wrong, I will have to confiscate all the souls you've collected so far. Am I understood?"

They both answered in unison, "Yes sir!"

"Excellent! Good luck you two~!" The window ceased to glow and returned to its natural state.

Jaune was the first to speak after this, "Now, we just need to find a witch."

Velvet held up a piece of paper. "I might have a lead or two~"

Jaune smirked, "Then what are we waiting for?"

Coco smiled. "I have to admit, Vel, you and Arc have a good thing going there."

Velvet blushed but nodded. "Yeah…"

The two made their way off down the streets as the screen moved upward. The night sky seemed to shift slightly before it came down again. The screen revealed a two-tier house made of pumpkins. Jack-o-lanterns, really.

Jaune sweat dropped, "She lives… in a pumpkin?"

Velvet had a similar reaction. "Witches are weird…"

Roman smirked, "Alright people! Moment of truth! Who's the witch?!"

Those that made their bets leaned in with bated breath.

Jaune turned toward his partner, "Alright, so what's the plan?"

Velvet took on a thinking stance, "I'm not sure. We don't know what we're up against. Not to mention that it's a witch. We need to be careful. Let's go in for some recon. We can figure out a strategy from there."

The two nodded and made their way toward a window on one side. They both looked around to make sure they were unseen, snapped off the pane, and vaulted into the room. They landed in a rather large library of some kind. After a moment, Jaune made for the nearby door. He cracked open the wooden barrier to look beyond and into the next room without being seen. This was a mistake. Jaune face turned beat red and he instantly closed the door, their cover was easily blown with that.

"The heck did he see?" Ruby asked.

Pyrrha had only seen a reaction like that once. She looked toward her team. They all had the same realization. "I think I might know…"

Velvet turned toward her partner, a slight glare on her face, "What the heck was that?!"

The door opened to reveal their witch. In a bath towel…

This got everyone to simultaneously say "Oh…" in realization.

The woman before them had long black hair reaching to her shoulders. She had adorned a pointed witch's hat as she left the bathroom. Her amber eyes fixed in a glare.

Yang started to laugh, "Holy crap! Blake's the witch!"

"So…" Emerald leaned back, "Nobody wins?"

Nora grinned, "In the event of all losing, the house takes the winnings!"

Ren tapped Nora's shoulders, "You made a bet too. There is no house."

Nora blinked for a moment in silence, "Damn it…"

Blake growled a little toward the two, "I appreciate that you realized your mistake by peeping at me in the bath. But I don't appreciate you trespassing in my home."

Velvet met Blake's glare with her own, "Witch Blake! We're here to collect your soul!"

Blake raised an eyebrow.

Jaune smacked his cheeks to calm himself back down. "Right! Let's do this!" He started to glow and became a spear again, falling into Velvet's hands.

Blake was surprised to see that. "He actually turned into a spear?"

Ruby still thought it was kind of cool. Turning into a weapon?! That's so cool! But what if it could work the other way around? What would Crescent Rose look like?!

Blake's surprise fell into a grin. "Tell you what…" Using magic, she was now wearing a long-sleeve black dress, white leggings, and thigh-high boots.

Velvet paused a moment.

Blake held out a hand, palm upward in expectation to receive, "Give me the spear, and I'll ignore your trespassing."

Velvet glared back, readying Jaune to attack, "Not happening!"

Blake's hand flipped around with palm facing Velvet. A small jack-o-lantern appeared and grew in her hand. "Halloween Cannon!" The jack-o-lantern flew forward and turned into a beam of power. The beam fired through the house walls with a powerful burst.

Off in the distance, Velvet slammed into a tree. Jaune, still in spear form, flew up next to her, pinning her to the tree by her coat. Velvet groaned. "We're not done here…"

Jaune returned to human form and held Velvet up in the tree. "Not even close."

Yang crossed her arms and smirked in her seat, "I have to admit, I don't know who to root for."

Nora jumped up on her chair, "Well I'm rooting for Jaune!"

Pyrrha and Velvet had similar enthusiasm to Nora's. Granted, Velvet had a slight ulterior motive. To see her and Jaune succeed together…

[The next day]

Jaune and Velvet were hiding behind a tree near Blake's house. Today's plan, ambush. It might not be a glamorous option, but it was the best they have. Velvet was leaning out from behind the trunk, Jaune leaning out above her. Unfortunately, they've been waiting for a long time.

Jaune groaned. "Where they hell is she?"

Velvet was just as annoyed, "No idea. She needs to leave eventually, right?"

"Well… I guess we'll have time to make up another plan. Any ideas?"

"Yeah." Blake had snuck up behind them was now directly in front of Velvet's face. "Any ideas?"

Velvet recoiled straight into Jaune. The screen pulled back to show Velvet freaking out over her unconscious partner while Blake held up a V for victory.

Yang, Ruby, and Nora went into a laughing fit. Blake chuckled a little seeing that as well. It was interesting to see this version of herself.

[The next, next day].

Velvet and Jaune were making their way toward Blake's home. Velvet looked over a small paper, "We need to try something different if we're going to get to her."

"She said she wanted me in my spear form. Why not play that up and use it as a sneak attack?"

"That might work…"

"Good luck with that." The two spun around to find Blake standing behind them. "Halloween Cannon!" A large purple cloud from the explosion formed into a pumpkin shape, showing its origin.

This got a few laughs on top of the main group. The cloud alone was rather ridiculous.

[Round Three!]

Velvet had Jaune's spear form in hand as she dodged a flying, burning pumpkin. Blake was sitting on a flying jack-o-lantern, using her magic to create more pumpkin bombs that would fly toward Velvet.

Blake rested her chin in her hand, "Give it up. You can't beat me."

Velvet growled. She and Jaune had been through too much to give up now or ever! There had to be an option!

Jaune spoke through his weapon form, "Velvet… I think I have an idea."

Blake's look of surprise returned. "I didn't know he could talk as a spear."

Ruby was starry eyed. Weapons that can talk?! What would Crescent Rose sound like?! So many possibilities!

Velvet looked toward the blade of her spear for a moment, "I'm listening."

They could almost see Jaune reflected in the blade of the spear. His grin spoke volumes. "Let's kick things up a notch or two."

Velvet smirked. "Let's do this."

The screen faded to a black screen. Two wavelengths, one brown and one gold, seemed to flow across the screen. They heard Jaune and Velvet screen out, "Soul Resonance!" The wavelengths flowed together and amplified each other.

"What's going on?" Ruby was a little confused.

Yang shrugged. "Guess we're about to find out."

The screen returned to the fight, showing Velvet and her spear/Jaune glowing. A pair of souls seemed to flow together and became a single power. It pulled away to show that Ozpin was watching the fight on a screen shaped like a gravestone.

Ozpin took a sip from a coffee mug, thinking to himself. Velvet and Jaune always were a talented pair. To be able to resonate their souls at such a young age is impressive alone, but the effect was also different.

Ozpin nodded. "Okay. I think I get it. Their souls seem to have a wavelength of some kind, like we have aura. Like any wave, if they flow together, the effect amplifies to a more powerful wave."

The group of viewers all nodded in understanding.

Ozpin smirked. Most pairs have the power flow into the weapon. But Jaune and Velvet were always a little different there.

Velvet started to glow. A pair of wings seemed to sprout from her back, an extension of her soul made manifest. She jumped up with a shock wave, instantly above Blake. She slashed with Jaune and sliced the pumpkin in two.

Blake had jumped off and held both hands outward, "Smashing Pumpkin!" A massive magic pumpkin created a powerful shockwave, sending Velvet flying.

Velvet swung around and landed on a nearby building. She jumped off the surface and slashed at Blake. This continued for a few jumps. When Resonating, Velvet gains tremendous amounts of strength and stamina. She can jump to a location in a blink, all in a single action. It's often confused with super speed; but, in reality, it's more like a literal jump.

"Woah…" Velvet was taken aback seeing her move like that. It was like she was flying. Granted, she was really just jumping forward really fast. But it still looked cool.

Blake was having difficulties keeping up. Velvet would jump by her and slash, only to impact the area behind Blake and spin around for another jump and another slash. She tried to fight back as best she could, but it was no use. Velvet swung through, not with a slash, but with a piercing run. She, along with an impaled Blake flew off toward the ground. When they landed, Blake's body popped like Tyrian's had, revealing a purple soul.

"No! Blake!" Ruby was sad to see a friend and teammate be killed like that. She knew it was another world, but it still hurt.

Blake recoiled seeing the way she went. It had to have hurt like nobody's business.

Jaune reformed and took Blake's soul in hand with a grin. "And there it is. Mission accomplished." He ate the soul and took in breath.

Blake groaned. The idea that someone just ate her soul was more than a little jarring.

Velvet watched her partner. "Well?"

Jaune was shaking slightly. "This one's definitely different. I can feel a lot of magical power… It's a little overwhelming. But it's… fading? It's not supposed to do that!"

"What?" Velvet paused when she felt a weight land on her head. She looked up to see a black cat staring down at her, resting on her skull. "Um…"

Jaune looked up toward the cat. "Don't tell me…"

The cat looked between the two, getting comfortable on Velvet's head. Then she spoke, "I never once said I was a witch…"

Jaune and Velvet had all the color drain from their bodies in shock.

Nora went into a laughing fit powerful enough to knock her off her seat. "Blake's an actual cat!"

Blake was just wide eyed in shear shock. As was a large chunk of the audience.

Blake jumped off of Velvet's head and reformed into her humanoid form, revealing a pair of cat ears adorning her head. "I'm just a cat with an insane amount of magical power."

Jaune felt a chill run up his spine. "But… that means…"

Velvet's eye twitched. "99 evil souls… and a cat…"

"We messed up the witch's soul…"

They both fell over in disappointed shock, speaking in unison. "We have to start over…"

A few among the group laughed at their reactions. Some felt sorry for them.

Jaune shouted, "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" He started to rev a motorcycle and drove off down the street with Velvet sitting behind him. "We were so close!"

Yang whistled, "Got to say, this version of Jaune has good taste in cycles." Sure, it didn't look like hers or anything, but still.

The motorcycle was a shining gold and white. A brown, running rabbit was detailed onto one side. He wasn't sure about it at first, but he's gotten used to their theme after a while.

Velvet had her arms wrapped around Jaune's waist to keep herself stable. She was still getting used to Jaune's method of transportation.

Velvet blushed a little seeing that.

Blake was back in cat form and resting on top of Velvet's head again. "Come on, it doesn't seem that bad."

Jaune growled, but kept eyes forward, "Shut up!"

Velvet was just as annoyed by the magical cat on her head, "Why are you here, anyway? Didn't we take your soul?!"

Blake could see the joke coming a mile away.

The Blake on screen just deadpanned, "Didn't you know cats have nine souls? One less is no skin off my nose."

Blake groaned at the nine lives joke. A few of the viewers laughed a little, and she could see the joke at hand. But it was just… too easy.

The screen pulled away as Jaune and Velvet groaned. As it did, the voice over returned, "Not all journeys are ever really straightforward. Sometimes, there's a bump in the road."