Kingdom Hearts: Friendship is The Key

by Xero Key

Remnant

A girl in a red cloak and hood stands before a stone marker at the edge of a snow covered cliff. The cloak flaps in a gentle wind, giving it the appearance of rose petals. A crunch of snow echoes behind her, and the howl of a wolf forces her to turn her head.

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The gummi ships drops out of the corridor into intra-space with a flash of light. Aboard, two of the passengers were regretting their decision to not wear seatbelts, completely certain that their teammate couldn't fly. Twilight could fly incredibly well infact, but suffers from what many worlds would call ‘road rage’ and ‘gamer-ness’. In other words she drives like a certain Spectre in a ground vehicle.

“Oh common you guys, it wasn’t that bad.” Twilight said ignoring the fact that the spiky-haired hedgehog Shadow and the pinkette human Sakura had somehow switched hair styles.

“Not bad, Twilight, is not getting shot at for five hours. Constantly circling back, again and again, just because you wanted to Blow up The SHINY ONE!!!" Sakura yelled, the whites of her eyes the only thing visible, and veins pulsing on her temples.

“If you had tried that flying back in my home, you’d have been shot out of the sky.” Shadow’s hair had fixed itself, but he still had not gotten up from his position on the floor.

Noticing her friends shaken expressions, Twilight relented. “All right, I’m sorry. I just…got caught up in the moment.” Looking out the cockpit window, twilight notices a world outside. It looked like a forest with a castle coming out of it on top of a broken sphere. “Ooh! This must be another world! Activating landing gear!” The other two went white immediately and tackled the purple pony princess to the cockpit floor. The ensuing tussle caused the ship to rock through the world’s barrier, but it didn't crash, unlike other Keyblade wielders on their first journey.

After teleporting down to the world, Twilight looked around to take in her surroundings, noticing the broken moon-like object hanging in the sky. The first word that came to her mind to describe this world was Remnant. Twilight and the others had landed in a snow filled forest with dying trees, and a wolf pack howled nearby. Twilight’s eyes narrowed “Let’s check it out.”

The three ran into a clearing where a girl in a red cloak was surrounded by black werewolf like creatures with white masks and bones sticking out of them. The pack of creatures attacked the girl, and before the team could react, the girl vanished in a swirl of rose petals. Sakura’s eyes widened in recognition of the technique. A gunshot rang out from above, splitting the lead wolf’s head in two.

Landing in front of them was the girl, her hood having fallen off revealing her red-black hair. In her hands was a large gun which she used to quickly dispatch more creatures. Then she flipped her gun in her hands, transforming it into a scythe. The carnage that followed Twilight had tried to recount in multiple books, but the exact words were lost to her. Shadow merely looked at his own weapons and contemplated his proficiency, and Sakura just let her jaw stay on the ground.

The girl’s dance of death went on for minutes, and instead of getting tired the girl seemed to become deadlier as time went on. After all the creatures had been bisected, decapitated, riddled with bullets, and generally destroyed in various sharp and exploding ways, she turned and saw the three travelers, who were still slack-jawed and unmoving.

“Um, hello? Who are you guys?” The girl asked. No response. The girl waved her hand in front of them, and still they did not react. “Well, Ruby, you've apparently scared some people silly. Wonderful, really good thing Weiss isn't here.”

A gurgling sound behind Ruby caught her attention and turning around found herself face to face with little, bouncing, dog like creatures with yellow eyes. Her scythe as out and ready in an instant. “We’ll handle this!” The three travelers raced out in front of Ruby. “We have a lot of practice with Heartless.” Twilight said. And so the three heroes fought through waves of Heartless, with relative ease.

When they were finished, Ruby spoke up. “I’ve never seen Grimm like those before.”

“Grimm?” The trio asked.

“You know creatures of Grimm, beings of Darkness and Destruction, enemy of all Human life?” The trio looked at her strangely and the girl sighed. “Is this how Blake usually feels?”

“Sorry, those aren’t Grimm, they're called Heartless. They are beings that are born when someone let’s there heart be consumed by Darkness, and seek to cause chaos and strife so more of them are made.” Twilight explained.

Ruby crossed her arms and looked at them speculatively, “Sure sounds like a Grimm to me, but alright ‘Heartless’ it is. I’m Ruby by the way, Ruby Rose.” She extended her hand for the others to shake.

“I’m Twilight,” she said shaking Ruby’s hand in her hoof, “and this is Sakura” The pink haired girl waved, “And Shadow.” The hedgehog only nodded in Ruby’s direction. A wolf howl echoed in the distance, quickly followed by more. Ruby scowled at the sound of the nearing packs.

“We need to get moving, those Beowolves will be here soon. Follow me, I’ll get us back to town.” Ruby and Twilight took point, Sakura staying close to them, and Shadow falling behind to guard the rear.

The group was attacked multiple times by both Heartless and Grimm, but with Ruby in the team they were made short work of.
They eventually reached a city with a tall plateaued mountain and castle in the distance. “Welcome to Vale, home of Beacon Academy, the premiere school for Huntsmen and Women training in all the world.” Ruby exclaimed, gesturing over the city. “We need to get up to the school, I have to report to Professor Ozpin about my mission.” As the group walked towards the castle, the travelers looked around to see that no one seemed to notice the anthromorphic hedgehog and purple equine with wings and a horn.

Sakura whispered to her teammates “Shouldn’t people be, I don’t know, staring and pointing at you two. They are human” they walk by a group with animal features sitting at a café, “mostly.” The others shrugged.

“Ruby, what do me and Shadow look like to you?” Twilight asked. Ruby turned and looked over them appraisingly. She nodded to herself when she had found an answer.

“Like a bipedal hedgehog with black fur and red highlights, and purple horse with wings and a horn.” Closing her eyes and crossing her arms, Ruby said this with utmost confidence.

Sakura was confused. “And that isn't strange to you in any way?”

“Nope.”

“Not even the fact that it doesn't match up with everything your world apparently says about the laws of nature?” Shadow asked.

“Nope.”

“Not even the fact that the only people with features like Shadow and mine still look mostly human?” Twilight asked.

“Nope. Now can we get going? I can’t be late.” Ruby ran ahead towards the castle, leaving the three travelers incredibly confused.

Twilight shook her head. “Okay we’re going to follow the Pinkie Pie rule in this scenario.” The others looked at her expectantly. Twilight lifted her head up and trotted after Ruby. “Don’t question it.”

The group reached the castle and headed towards the top floor. Once there, they entered a large office with a gear and mechanical theme. Sitting at the desk in the center of the room, was a white haired man in green. “Everyone, this is Professor Ozpin. Headmaster of Beacon Academy and my mentor. Professor, these are Twilight, Sakura, and Shadow.” Ruby introduced.

“I see.” Ozpin said, looking over the traveling trio. “You are quite impressive in combat.” He pressed a button on his desk and a holographic screen depicting the three and Ruby fighting Heartless in the city. “I usually don’t see this level of teamwork and cooperation outside of senior students and teachers. Most impressive.”

Ruby spoke up shyly “Has there been any news?” Ozpin merely shook his head. “Oh.”

“Don’t worry Ruby, we will find the rest of your team.” Ozpin looked over at Twilight and the others. “These three are quite skilled, they may be able to help. I’m making them your temporary team until Weiss, Yang, and Blake are found.” Ruby nodded determinedly. “Go to the assembly hall and check the mission boards that should help them acclimate, I need to finalize their…enrollment.” Ruby nodded again and left. Ozpin turned towards the remaining group ad looked over them appraisingly. “It’s not often a keybarer comes to this world.”

“You know about the Keyblade?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. I once met a boy who told me all about them, in the event the Heartless ever appeared. It is my shame they did.” Ozpin had looked down sadly, but returned his eyes to Twilight’s in a glare. “Do you know the dangers that weapon possesses?” Twilight simply shook her head. “The Keyblade can bring creation or ruin to any world it comes to. It is a force of great change, and only appears in times of great need. You must be mindful of your actions, as they can upset the delicate balance of the world.” Ozpin got up out of his chair and walked towards the door. “For now, Ruby needs your help finding her team. With their track record, they will be at the center of this Heartless problem.”

Ozpin led them to the main auditorium of the school, where they found Ruby in front of a holographic screen, trying to decide something. She saw them and waved them over, Ozpin having returned to his office. “This is the Beacon Academy mission board, it holds all the missions students can take here in Vale. Normally we’d have to prove ourselves before we take higher missions*, but Professor Ozpin gave me a code to unlock the important ones. I’ve selected three that are the most likely to have my team show up at. Got it?” Twilight and Shadow nodded, but Sakura opened he mouth to ask a question, unfortunately she would not find out how missions are organized compared to her world because Ruby went on as if no one had any questions. “Alright! Let’s go Team…Uh…Twilight...Shadow…Sakura…Ruby…I got it! Let’s Go Team Tzar!”

The team landed at the abandoned city of Forest Glenn, which Ruby explained was an attempted expansion of the city, but was overrun by Grimm. “Which of your team do you think is here?” Shadow asked.

“There’s a nightclub nearby that was supposed to have been popular. If my sister Yang was anywhere around Heartless, It would be there.” Ruby answered.

After fighting through Heartless and Grimm inside the club, a voice spoke out from nowhere. “Aww, how cute! The little thief has a new pet.” From the ceiling, a yellow figure dropped down. “You always had a thing for cute didn’t you Ruby?” The figure said rising up from their crouch.

“Are you…Yang?” Twilight asked.

“Yang, what are you doing here? You’re in danger!” Ruby exclaimed.

Yang merely glared at Ruby with red eyes. “Danger? The only ones in danger are you.” The bracelets on Yang’s wrists expanded to form shotgun-gauntlets. “Your Mom stole my dad.” She said, flames of darkness coming off her hair. “I don’t have a sister, just a thief.” With that Yang jumped into the air and brought her fist down to the ground in an explosion. Yang fired off explosive tracer rounds that struck everyone, then jumped again but Twilight was able to use the keyblade to flip her around onto her back, where Sakura curb stomped her. Yang’s punches exploded at close contact, but Ruby was able to knock her backwards with a tornado like move of her scythe.

Yang eventually fell to her knees, but looked up at the team with anger in her eyes. She scoffed before leaping backwards and vanishing into nothingness. “Family issues?” Shadow asked. Ruby didn’t respond, merely folded up her scythe and left the building. The others stayed behind. “What do you think?” Shadow asked Twilight and Sakura.

“If Yang was supposed to be close to Ruby like she says, this definitely matches what happened on my world.” Twilight said.

Sakura closed her eyes and crossed her arms, thinking about what could be happening. “Twilight you said that your friends’ changes though out of character had happened before right?” Twilight nodded. “Then whatever is doing this is taking their negative feelings, thoughts they don’t admit to having, and are bringing them to the forefront.” She opened her eyes and looked out to where Ruby was. “We need to keep an eye on her just in case.”

The next location the group checked was an abandoned theater in Vale. On the stage they found a figure in with with a rapier in hand. The girl turned to face them, a scowl on her scarred face. “Well, if it isn’t the Prodigy Sneak.”

“Weiss, something’s happened to Yang, she hates me.” Ruby cried out. Weiss only smirked.

“Of course she does. Your mom takes her’s place. You sneak your way into where you don’t belong and take my rightful place as leader.” Weiss’ smirk evolved into a cruel smile, her eyes shining with loathing. “Everyone hates you, get used to it.” With that Weiss, took out her blade and performed a gliding stab at the group, Sakura’s reflexes saving them by deflecting it sideways. Weiss fired off elemental magic but every spell was reflected by Shadow, whose own magic bolts where just as strong. Eventually Weiss fell to her knees and vanished the same way as Yang.

Ruby looked dismayed, pulling her hood up to hide her face and tears. “What is happening? Everything is wrong.” From Twilight’s view, she could see Ruby’s eyes become shadowed and brief flash of black went through them right before Ruby closed them. Ruby walked out of the building before she fell to her knees crying.

Twilight waved the other two off to the side. “Look at the sky.” She said pointing up. The shattered moon was completely broken, with pieces looking like they were about to fall, in a pattern reminiscent of a heart. “Ruby is connected to this world with her friends, like I was to mine with my friends. With these soul-breaking facts, Ruby may end up destroying this world in her despair.”

The final location was a blood red forest, a figure waiting on a abandoned train tracks. Ruby never removed her hood and opened her scythe in a sign of aggression. “Just like every human, ready to kill a Faunus at first sight.” The figure said turning around. Her usual bow was gone, showing her cat ears, white mask was on her face, giving the image of an animal.

‘Anbu?’ Sakura though to herself.

“Let’s not waste time talking.” Blake said grabbing the hilt of her sword. Her opening slice cut through the team, then pulling her hidden blade out she cut through Twilight multiple times. Shadow was able to interrupt her when she tried again, knocking Blake to her knees, and removing her mask from her face. “Just like a human.” Blake said before vanishing like the others.

“Let’s get back to Beacon.” Ruby said walking away, before being stopped by a tug on her cape. Looking back she saw her cape was in Twilight’s mouth.

“No, you don’t leave until you talk.”

“About what? My so called friends hate me.”

“No they don’t. The darkness is just bringing thoughts they had out, thoughts they themselves don’t like.”

“Then they don’t like me, just tried to be civil.” Twilight glared and pulled back her hoof, wings open, and upper-cutted Ruby hard enough to send her flying backwards.

“Just shut up! Even when things look bad and friends are angry, you have to remember the good times! No matter what you have to remember!” Twilight’s horn began to glow as she placed it on Ruby’s forehead. Ruby then recalled every happy time she and her team had. Tears of joy poured form her eyes at the thoughts: the cold nights Yang comforted her, Weiss tutoring her, sharing a book with Blake, stopping evil as a team; every good thought filled her with warmth.

“T-Thank you.” Ruby said wiping the tears from her eyes, before she shot her head up. “I know where they are!”

The group returned to Beacon Academy, now under siege by Heartless. In the main courtyard, a giant Heartless stood. It had the face of a marionette and three hands, two used like normal and a third where the leg should have been. On its back was a sealed basket. When the team came to a stop in front of it, it began to float up into the air and used its three hands to remove Weiss, Yang, and Blake from the basket.

“Ok, that is just not fair, we had trouble with just one!” Sakura said. Her trained eyes then noticed something about their enemies. “Twilight, Ruby, look! They’re connected to its hands by strings. Aim for those!”

And so the battle began, the four of them stunning the Darkened members of team RWBY, then Twilight used her keyblade to tie the stings together and pull the Puppeteer to the ground. Once there, it locked its prisoners back into its basket and began to bounce around, attacking with all three of its hands. Eventually it floated back up into the sky and released its prisoners again, but the heroes used the same strategy as before and was able to defeat the monster. As its heart disappeared into the aether, the lost members of team RWBY raised themselves from the ground.

“R-Ruby…I’m so sorry!” Yang cried, enveloping her sister in a hug.

“It’s okay, you weren’t yourself.”

“That’s the problem…we were.” Weiss said, placing a hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

“We all had those thoughts, but our friendship made them seem unimportant. That thing just forced them out.” Blake said, also placing a hand on Ruby.

“Guys…” Ruby’s eyes began to water as her team, her family was reunited. To Twilight, they began to glow, and her Keyblade flashed into existence. Twilight found herself in space between Remnant and its moon, a Keyhole in front of her. She pointed the blade at the portal, and in a flash of light, it was gone.

“What was that?”

“Our goodbye. I’m sorry, but other people need our help. I promise we’ll meet again one day.” Twilight said, and with a nod, she, Sakura, and Shadow vanished in a flash of light; on to their next adventure.

Meanwhile with the council of Darkness, the pony in a cloak is kneeling before the thrones. “Do you understand what you must do? What must be done?”

“Yes, to exist, I must become magic.”

“And how do you intend to do that?”

The pony raised her head, red eyes glowing through the darkness of her cloak. “Destroy Twilight Sparkle.”

Author's Note:

*DiZ Report #10 obtained.

Comments

[DiscordDraconequus]

So you're doing a super-huge crossover, opposed to KHs huge crossover? Alright. I would say that this seems a bit rushed, but this is Kingdom Hearts after all.

[Xero Key]

5744068 It took me three months and still is rushed. But no it is only KH sized crossover, which is still daunting. This one was stupid of me to do as I made up a plot for the world. From now on I choose shows and games that already have plots that will work. Updates will still be infrequent though, so hiatus rag isn't coming off.

While you wait, read my Power Rangers story. It updates frequently due to having two writers!

[DiscordDraconequus]

Your world needs a great defender
Your world's in the way of harm
You want a romantic life
A fairy tale that's full of charm

Beware that the Light is fading
Beware as the Dark returns
This world's unforgiving
Even brilliant lights will cease to burn!

[Starlight Nova]

Why was this cancelled?

[Xero Key]

9378105
Too many ideas and too big a project when I started. I might come back in the future, after FiM is finished, but no matter what I need to cut a lot of what I have down to something easier to write.