PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

-CHAPTER START-

Realm LN-34

Beacon System, Midchilda, Rocky Badlands

The sizable group of heroes tensed up as they saw and felt the power radiating from the magenta & black gem Joker was holding aloft.

'The Phantom… Ruby?' Sonic thought. 'I've never heard of that thing before. But it feels like it's major bad news…'

"Quite a curious artifact, this little thing" the evil harlequin said casually, gazing into the gem's baleful radiance. "The strength and versatility of its power depends at least partially upon the strength and willpower of its wielder; the stronger the wielder's will, the more potent the gem's effects they can call forth. Dr. Eggman, the one I took it from, certainly has the will to wield the Phantom Ruby's power quite effectively, but he lacks the knowledge & skill with dark magic that would allow him to access the gem's full potential like I can. Science can only take one so far, after all…

"The Phantom Ruby gives me a few rather potent abilities. It allows me to warp space, overwriting or nullifying gravity, creating pocket dimensions that are inescapable, forging barriers of great durability… It enables me to call forth 'living simulations', virtual people made physical and real, and I can choose whether or not to give these 'Phantom Clones' their originals' memories. And, it enables me to assail others with forged sensory data – sights, sounds, sensations, and the like – that are so 'real' that your bodies are actually affected by it. I can make you experience the sights and pain of being stabbed through the heart, and you actually will keel over dead! And if you're wondering why I'm telling you this, it's because no amount of foreknowledge can protect you from the effect; no matter how much your mind tries to tell your body that the disorientation, the pain and damage aren't real, it won't change a thing! Even the eye powers passed on by the Six-Paths Sage cannot overcome the Phantom Ruby's power to turn virtual pain into real harm & death!"

Teana was quite nervous now. A Lost Logia that let Joker command the fabric of space, create duplicates of warriors living & dead, and blur away the lines between genjutsu and reality? This 'Phantom Ruby' was extremely dangerous, especially in his hands…

"Of course," Joker continued, "when I went to that world, I didn't just get a new toy." His grin widened. "I also found a partner."

A second figure strolled up beside Joker, about half the harlequin's height or so. He appeared to be a Mobian (a catch-all term for the 'animal people' of Sonic's world), tall and slender with black fur, a black tail that started slim but ended in a tuft of bushy white, wearing black & silver boots and gloves, a chest-piece that appeared to contain a duplicate of the Phantom Ruby (less powerful than the original, but still plenty), and his race was concealed by a silver helmet that had a single hole that revealed a glowing red eye, as well as a wild mane of white hair sticking out the back.

"So this is the rabble we're up against?" he spoke, his voice carrying a slight flanging effect.

"I don't think I've seen you around before" Sonic said. "You got a name?"

"My old name means nothing, to me or anyone else. Now, you can call me… 'Infinite'. Joker found me when I was at my lowest, and offered me the means to rise above my old self, become a new force of great and terrible power. I can certainly appreciate the world of chaos and desolation he seeks to bring about, so I've decided to join forces with him. In return, he's granted me the Phantom Ruby's power. I'll use it to crush you and all those who fight beside you, Sonic, and when I finally find the one who humiliated me before I claimed this power… I will make him beg for death…"

Joker chuckled. "All in good time, my friend. For now, let's give them a little… demonstration. Perhaps we'll even kill a few of them, though just striking some fear into their hearts as they realized exactly what they're up against would be enough for tonight, I suppose."

He held the Phantom Ruby high, and the gem flashed as its power was called upon. In flashes of red, several 'Phantom Clones' were forged – Metal Sonic, Chaos (in his 'Zero' form), Kumojaki, Akaoni, Bel, Gametsu, Scaglietti, and finishing with a Phantom Clone of Dune as the heaviest hitter of the group. And of course, they were all then accompanied by a sizable number of Unversed.

"Oh, this just isn't fair…" Cure Sunny murmured, wide-eyed. "It's like Edo Tensei all over again…"

Joker grinned and waved his hand forward, and the lineup of Phantom Clones and accompanying horde of Unversed all leapt down, some charging full-steam ahead and others taking to the air and scattering to either observe or to pick & choose targets from different angles. Nanoha flew up to head off Phantom-Dune, who immediately fired a dark energy blast at her, kicking off a hectic dogfight between the two. Teana & Subaru, meanwhile, quickly got engaged in a 2-on-2 fight against Phantom-Scaglietti and Phantom-Bel, blasts of Darkness energy and of orange & blue ki being exchanged.

As Phantom-Metal Sonic and Phantom-Chaos Zero tried to double-team Sonic, Cure Shade came to his aid, skewering the water-spirit with spears of shadow, forcing it to waste several seconds pulling itself free and reforming. Metal Sonic tried to attack her from the side, only for Sonic to return the favor and send the robo-duplicate tumbling with a haymaker. Phantom-Kumojaki went straight for Cure Marine, but Cure Princess came to her aid, the two blue Cures managing to hold the dark warrior back. Meanwhile, Cure Felice and Cure Beat teamed up against Phantom-Gametsu, and Cures Peace & Rosetta handled Phantom-Akaoni.

Everyone else was stuck handling the mass of Unversed that accompanied the Phantom Ruby Clones. Laicixa, Illya, Erika, and Kuro were leading the pack in terms of kills, their Keyblades letting them carve through the dark creatures with practiced ease. More of the Cures were working together with members of other teams, and it seemed that Cures Melody and Flora were slipping into a shared leadership role amongst the entire seven-team group, helping their fellows coordinate effectively. Cures Sunshine & Fortune were thrashing a squad of Bruisers, Cures Ace & Scarlet were frying a pack of Axeflappers, Cures Muse, Honey, & Blossom were carving through Floods…

Nanoha and Phantom-Dune flitted through the air, firing magic blasts at each other and occasionally coming in close to exchange blows of crushing power and blistering speed. Below, Phantom-Scaglietti waved the arm that was clad in a wicked-looking clawed glove, releasing a slicing wave of Dark power at Teana, who blocked it with a Stage-0 Susanō ribcage shield and retuned fire with a Crossfire Shot barrage. Phantom-Bel formed a shield that stopped the orange mana bolts, but was then sent tumbling by a blow from Subaru that caught him while he was distracted. Caro had 'unsealed' Friedrich, the wyvern sending streams and blasts of flame against larger, tougher Unversed, while Caro & Erio fought together with sword and spear; nearby, Anya and Mariko had teamed up, while Timmy kept Erika & Laicixa covered.

As Sonic and Cure Shade fought together against the Phantom Clones of two of Sonic's old foes, they were caught off-guard as Infinite joined the fray, flinging spears of dark-red energy at them. Pushing the two apart, Infinite and his 'minions' prepared to attack Sonic together… but then, a small black & red object slammed spinning into Phantom-Metal Sonic's Back, knocking the construct forward into Infinite, disrupting them both and distracting Phantom-Chaos. As the newcomer landed nearby, Sonic showed a relieved little grin, while Infinite's lone visible eye trembled and glowed with pure, vicious hate.

"You…" the masked villain snarled.

"Heh… I was wondering when you'd decide to get involved with us" Sonic said.

"I've been busy making life difficult for Dr. Eggman," Shadow the Hedgehog replied, "attacking his bases & supply depots. But when I found out that one of the DDF's enemies had a powerful artifact from our world at their disposal, I came as quick as I could. So, what exactly are we dealing with?"

"It's called the Phantom Ruby. I'll give you the details once things aren't quite so hectic around here."

Suddenly, a shadow-barrier from Cure Shade sprang up, protecting the two hedgehog heroes from a glowing-fisted punch from Infinite that made the barrier ripple and warp and almost give way.

"Shadow the Hedgehog…" Infinite growled with a deep, inhuman growl. "I'll make you suffer…"

Although confused for a moment, Shadow's eyes then ran over Infinite's body, his stature, his tail, his coat pattern, and after a few seconds a semi-recent memory came to him, and his eyes widened. "You're the captain of the mercenary band Eggman hired to protect his base in the forest."

"I was" the empowered villain replied. "I'm not that person anymore. I go by 'Infinite' now. And with Joker's guidance and the Phantom Ruby's power, I'm going to bring your world to ruin. I will burn everything you hold dear, everything you've sworn to protect…"

"Something tells me you would've done something like that even if Shadow hadn't beaten you in a fight" Sonic said.

"…True enough. But now I'll enjoy it even more than I would have."

Infinite's Phantom Ruby glowed, and Sonic & Shadow found themselves dodging a wave of spears of crimson energy. Meanwhile, Illya & Kuro got some help against a group of Unversed trying to box them in when Qrow Branwen swooped in to aid two of the gifted young girls he'd helped out before, a wide swing of his scythe bisecting four Scrappers. Then, the other ally Shadow had brought along with him made their appearance, Sora adding his Keyblade to the cause, cutting down Unversed and helping against Gametsu.

As the fight rolled on, the Unversed's numbers were quickly dwindling, but the Phantom Clones were holding their own for the most part. Finally, Teana decided it was time to test out her newest technique, and maybe take at least one of her & Subaru's two opponents out of the fight. She fell back a little and formed two Shadow Clones, and Miss Shamour in her humanoid form leapt in to help Subaru against Phantom-Jail and Phantom-Bel, the two of them keeping the enemies back. Teana and her two Shadow Clones began forming, molding, changing, and shaping chakra, a lot of chakra, Fire-type energy rapidly building up around a Rasengan core. The initial Katon: Rasengan was surpassed, more and more energy being gathered and compressed and shaped, spinning faster, a delicate balance of energy growing into something chaotic yet stable. Finally, it had taken shape, four slightly curved thin, flat 'blades' of Fire chakra whirling around a compressed core of energy, the whole high-level construct being wreathed in orange light as Teana applied magic-based telekinesis so she could throw it. Stepping forward, she threw her new creation as she called out:

"Katon: Rasenshuriken!-!"

Subaru and Shamour got out of the way as the whirling disk of orange-yellow flames flew in, right towards Phantom-Scaglietti. The man only had time to murmur "Oh, not again…" before it hit, grinding and tearing and burning into him while pushing him up into the air at an angle. The Fire Release Rasenshuriken detonated into a huge sphere of whirling, spiraling flames, incinerating the rocky soil below the epicenter to create a sizable glassed crater. The enormously powerful flame attack tore and shredded and scorched its victim, Phantom-Scaglietti quickly being cooked black and torn asunder at the same time. When the energies finally dissipated, there was little left but ashes, which quickly disintegrated into motes of deep red light.

"Huh" Teana observed her handiwork. "Did even more damage than I expected…"

Having witnessed the spectacular display of Teana's newest high-level finisher, Nanoha decided it was time to try out the new big trick she'd been working on, too. Phantom-Dune was powerful, enough to match a Super Saiyan blow for blow, so she wasn't exactly doing well right now; her Sage Mode could crush him, but the situation was so chaotic she couldn't get the chance to enter it. The problem was, her newest technique would take a while to ready, too…

'Anyone willing to help me up here?' she sent out telepathically. 'I think I've got something that can put this guy down, but I need someone to cover me while I charge it up!'

Cure Moonlight in her Super Silhouette and Cure Fortune in Innocent Form answered the call, their combined power just barely enough to push Phantom-Dune back. Nanoha, meanwhile, flew higher up and began pulling in raw mana from the natural world around her and cast-off residual mana from all the magic being flung around the battlefield. The glowing pink orb of power that would become a Starlight Breaker began to take shape fairly rapidly, growing and growing by the second. The dusk sky was soon lit up by the charging power, and some of the enemies tried to intervene only to be stopped by Teana and Illya running interference.

Finally, the Starlight Breaker was fully charged, the orb of readied power at least four times as big across as Nanoha was tall. But Nanoha didn't fire it. Instead, she reached out at it with her left hand, extending her chakra and her will into the mass of magical power. The huge orb of power began to spin, slowly compressing as it did, and as it shrank the rate of spin increased accordingly. She formed a Shadow Clone to help, the process streamlining and slightly accelerating. Beams of bright pink light – not power, just light – started to radiate out from the compressing mass' 'poles', spinning through the dusk sky like a lighthouse beacon. Everyone watched in awe as the compression continued, the magic and chakra rotating chaotically within a 'shell' of power.

The process continued, until finally Nanoha was 'holding' a swirling, rotating mass of power about four feet across. It shone brilliantly, like a tiny pink star, and as it rotated at great speed, several times a second, the two bright beams of light from its poles whipped across the sky like a lighthouse in fast-forward, making the mass appear to pulse to those looking at it from the right angle. For such a mighty technique, formed from a Starlight Breaker rotating with such speed and compressed so much, there could be only one name:

"Pulsar Rasengan!-!"

Nanoha flew at Phantom-Dune, though the sheer 'mass' of the Pulsar Rasengan slowed her down a little. This became a moot point, however, when Cure Felice used the Amethyst Linkle Stone to form a portal that Nanoha flew through, depositing her right behind the Phantom Ruby duplicate of the HeartCatch Cures' ultimate foe. Phantom-Dune's eyes widened as he realized he had no room or time to dodge.

As Nanoha slammed the attack into the middle of Phantom-Dune's back, she released it and let it fly forward, pushing Phantom-Dune through the air as it began to grind and 'burn' into him. Finally, it detonated as an enormous spherical explosion of pink power, a mighty blast of wind racing across the battlefield as the light briefly turned night into day. Phantom-Dune was annihilated, his body breaking apart into motes of red light which were quickly swallowed up and destroyed by the all-consuming pink.

As the light and wind gradually died down, Nanoha floated back down to earth, panting softly. Joker clapped twice, and the remaining Phantom-Clones and Infinite returned to his side, some of them grudgingly. All of the Unversed had already been destroyed by now.

"I believe that's enough of a demonstration for today" Joker said. "I'd love to stick around longer, but I'm a busy man with a schedule plotted out, so I'm afraid we must be going now. But don't think you're safe. I'm off to search for more power, more weapons, more templates to create Phantom Clones from, and when we return it will be to end everything. …Of course, you've got two other alliances of evil to deal with, so perhaps there won't be quite as many of you next time…"

Joker, Infinite, and the Phantom Ruby clones vanished in swirls of scintillating red light, leaving the battlefield quiet.

"…Two?" Sora asked as he and the other heroes & heroines gathered together. "What does he mean by that? We know Xehanort and Ganondorf have teamed up, but who else?"

As if in response, a pillar of bright green flames around seven feet high suddenly sprang up, startling everyone. The flames faded to reveal a transparent projection of an infamous fae sorceress, tall with pale skin, wearing a black & purple cloak with red underlayer, a helmet/shawl with two ribbed black horns, and wielding a long scepter with a magic-charged gem at the tip.

"Who indeed?" she said with a smirk.

"Maleficent!" Sora growled as he instinctively summoned his Keyblade, even though he knew this was just an astral projection he was facing.

"You look like you've been doing well for yourself, boy. Not many could come back from what Xehanort did to you. Of course, I fear you won't be hale & hearty for much longer…"

"And what makes you say that?" Teana asked, glowering at the figure.

Maleficent's eyes widened slightly. "Ah, the girl whose self-imposed exodus set off the chain of events that led to the multi-Realm alliance. I've heard great things about you."

"Wish I could say the same…"

The evil fairy chuckled. "Yes, I've been rather busy lately, hunting for a certain relic from the time before the Great Keyblade War. As such, I've been unable to spare much attention to the Dimensional Defense Force and its affairs. Now, however, I can at last spare some time to start addressing the little problem you all pose."

"So, you and Pete are gonna try and take us all on, all by yourselves?" Sora asked with a light smirk.

Maleficent's own smirk grew. "Hardly. I've made a few new friends…"

Another pillar of fire sprang up beside Maleficent's projection, revealing the projection of another figure. At the sight of her, Teana and the Princess Cures gasped, Scarlet trembling a little.

"B… But how? We… We killed you…"

"Almost" Dyspear replied. "And by the way, Close survived as well. He found me, and then Maleficent found us. I've decided that perhaps working with a peer for once, instead of just subordinates, might be worth a try. Certainly, the Heartless under her command will be useful in spreading Darkness and despair."

"Of course," a new voice echoed out, "they won't be the only beasts of darkness at our disposal. I'll be bringing my underlings into play as well."

As Maleficent turned her smirking gaze over her shoulder, a third and final figure appeared – a woman wearing a long, flowing black gown with a deep-red mantle; her skin was bone-white, with purplish-black veins spread across the outside of her face, a black diamond-shaped marking on her forehead, and glowing red eyes with black sclera. Seeing her, Qrow went pale.

"She… looks like a Grimm…" Subaru realized, remembering the dark creatures of Team RWBY's homeworld.

"No…" Qrow tried not to shake. "They look like her. She's the Queen of the Grimm – Salem!"

"We are the three strongest and most dreaded sorceresses in all the Realms" Maleficent announced. "Alone, we were mighty. Together, we shall be unstoppable. The Book of Prophecies, the Four Relics, the Door to Darkness, and Kingdom Hearts itself… all shall belong to us! The Fallen Master and the Harlequin will either join us, or be swept aside!"

"Now then," Salem spoke, "we've got quite a busy schedule to attend to. Lady Dyspear, could I ask to 'borrow' your knight Close to assist in the hunt for the Spring Maiden?"

"Of course" Dyspear nodded. "He'll help you, while Maleficent's lackey Pete helps Stop & Freeze in searching for the Door to Darkness."

Maleficent nodded. "And Salem's underling Dr. Watts shall assist me in following a lead I've discovered regarding the Book of Prophecies." She turned to the hero group. "Savor the peaceful days while you can, children. They will not last much longer…"

The three astral projections vanished in bursts of green embers, leaving a chill in the air.

"Son of a bitch…" Qrow murmured. 'You better hurry up and reincarnate soon, Oz; we're really gonna need your help soon.'

"They're really coming outta the woodwork" Illya remarked. "And, on top of those three groups, we've gotta get ready for our big assault against the Ainsworths soon; Angelica sent me a message not long ago saying that it 'feels' like Julian is preparing something big back on their Earth…"

"What a mess…" Cure Melody sighed. "We'd better batten down the hatches and get ready for all Hell to break loose at any time."

"Which means I've gotta head over to Mt. Olympus" Sora said. "Herc said he was gonna help me train. Hope it'll be enough…"

"We should all probably step up our training" Nanoha said. "Hopefully we'll have a little while to do what preparing we can…"

-BOOK 35 END-

And that's it for this Book. The next Book, #36, will cover either Kingdom Hearts III or the battle against the Ainsworths, depending on if the latter (currently in the midst of the fight in the manga) finishes before the former is released. …I might, however, try to throw in an original story taking place on the Pokémon world, haven't decided yet.

Until then, this is DKN117, signing off.