Not wanting to risk a slice with a block, the man moved himself out of the way, but with that move made, his hood fell off to reveal on how he appeared. to the others.



"Tch... guess I have to do this the hard way now..." the man clicked his tongue in annoyance, backing away once he saw that Battler was given the title of the new Gamemaster... and not Erika. For some reason, this man had a connection to Erika, prompting him to take his stance in front of the detective.

With a snap of his fingers, a stronger version of the fire spell he had used on Sora was aimed right for Battler, who was still getting a sense of his new prowess as a Gamemaster. However, before it would get any closer to him, the fire was immediately eradicated by an explosion of many colors and lights.



"Sorry bub, while Erika really did some show-stopping stuff with those lengthy truths to solve the mystery, I'm the one in control of the trial here. If Battler managed to survive Erika's Red Truth assault, that only means that Battler's found out a better truth that can topple over Erika's. Riiiiiiggghhttt?" Lambdadelta revealed that she was going to side with Battler and possibly Sora. Well, that was something at least.



"Lady Lambdadelta! I... I'm the gamemaster around here now, and I demand that you let Battler be denied existence like Beatrice was! At least let the intruder do his thing, given that he plans to do just that already!!" Erika seemed to even allow the existence of this cloaked man, sounding as if she has never met him before...



"Too bad, so sad! You forget that I'm the gamemaster for the game that just concluded, and I can simply allow it to start whenever I want!" Lambdadelta grinned at her dismay, knowing that it was futile enough that Erika wasn't the gamemaster anymore. It was pretty short lived for the detective too.



"It doesn't... matter if he believes some sort of truth," the man growled as he happened to take out all of his tomes, these tomes appear around him as he stared down at the three of them,"Battler Ushiromiya has already lost this game with the detective and Witch of Truth Erika Furudo! He failed to provide his explanation before the declaration of defeat, and thus, his existence should be denied! But if your system of justice is that lacking that it allows this, then I guess I'll play the role for Erika's side! I, Grandmaster Robin, will win this for Erika Furudo and remove Battler Ushiromiya along with his subjective truth from existence myself!"

Before the three of them could respond to his words, Robin sent all sorts of spells towards their way. Pink blades of winds, spears of ice, and torrents of flames flew out in a deadly arc towards them, but mostly aimed towards Battler. All of this... to ensure one girl's victory?



"... I have no idea why you're doing all of this, but keep it up, I guess? ... maybe I'll put you in one of my games to reward you for this?" Erika wasn't so sure on how to respond to how this one man wanted to ensure that she had a victory in this game.



"I don't need my own place in your stories to help you triumph, Erika! All I need is to know that you're able to smile at the end of the day!" Robin looked over in her general direction, giving her a small gentle smile before looking back towards his foes.



"Smile? ...u-uh, are you some kind of mysterious suitor that I don't know about? A-and how come you can use the Red so easily? Last time I checked, only Witches and Sorcerers can use the Red!" Erika just seemed to be surprised by whatever Robin was devoting himself into.



"... He apparently fits the requirements. I don't know how it's possible that we've missed this... but if he chooses to support your theories, Erika, just let it be. Don't disappoint me," Bernkastel was just as confused as Erika, since there were two outsiders here that they didn't know much about.



"Oh? So things will get super duper interesting for helping out Battler," Lambdadelta had a sly smile on her face, sitting back on a chair she conjured up and also holding a bucket of popcorn for herself to snack on during this,"You know what to do, Battler-kun. I'll leave this up to you, okay smart guy? Oh, and that includes you, random outsider person. I take it that someone sent you here for a task, and it's to help out Battler... right?"

Oh, looks like Lambdadelta was finally addressing Sora. At least he had some temporary allies while in this alternate timeline...

"... it appears that you may need the Truths in order to combat the anomaly here. Sora, be careful with these however, one mistake with lying in the Red... you're done... so please, tread carefully..."

With the recent addition of Crona's voice inside Sora's head, he would feel a new power being granted to him. Well... it wasn't the powers of a Witch, but it was more of the powers over the Red Truth and Blue Truth at his disposal.

Dlanor remained unfazed as she guarded herself against the incoming stake... but yet, she found herself both slashed at by Sephiroth's sword and stabbed by the thrown Red Truth stake. While Furniture couldn't exactly die that easily, Dlanor fell to the ground, as if being stabbed with the Red Truth stake was too much for her...



"D-Dlanor!" Erika was shocked to see that Dlanor, the Death Inquisitor, was easily put down like that... it wasn't right at all!



"Alright, you're going to die!" Erika yelled out as she prepared herself to go up against Sephiroth now that Dlanor was out of the fight from the looks of it.

BGM - Solitary Deep Sea Fish



"Good to know that... whoever you are. While I'm not sure if Lambda is going to help us out... it's us against all of them," Battler appeared to be grateful to have some help with this, even if he seemed rather confused as to how Sora knew him and the others so easily when it was obvious that he wasn't from around here. If he knew for one thing, it was that Bernkastel and Lambdadelta weren't going to be directly involved in this dispute. They weren't the key players to this game anyways. From the looks of things, it was him and Sora against Erika, Dlanor, and Robin.



"Boy, I don't wish to play around with these types of things. All that I wish to see out of this is Erika's happiness with the result of this game. I'm not willing to let anyone ruin this for her..." Robin declared, a glint of determination in his eyes. His spells may have been destroyed easily by Sora's Keyblade, but he was still confident that he could get this one victory for the detective. Again, it seemed like his words were surprising the detective more and more. While she had to stay focused as she had to protect her theory from whatever Battler and possibly Sora had in mind, Erika found this hard to do so when it sounded like this outsider had some sort of secret interest towards her. If only she knew of the countless other timelines and Kakeras... because then this would make much more sense for her than it was right now.



"Then let's begin this retrial. I can construct a theory with someone other than Aunt Natsuhi as the culprit." Battler declared with the Red, holding out his hand and summoning a blade made out of golden energy.



"Another culprit? How? ... Dlanor, please help me put Battler in his place!" Erika readied herself with her scythe, but considered on testing out their opponents with Dlanor first. Though, for a moment it appeared as if Dlanor were transferring over information to Robin about the situation at hand, almost alike to how Sora was informed with bits of information given to him from Crona. Once that was done, Dlanor began to advance towards them, both of her weapons out, and those being the Red Key and the Blue Key.



"Battler... I've been waiting for YOU," Dlanor spoke in her usual monotonous voice, keeping a good attentive eye towards Sora's direction as well. As for Robin, it appeared as if he were taking the time to figure out on what to say concerning about the case that will either lead to Erika's victory or defeat.

---

"We'll see about that!" Erika exclaimed as she rushed in with swift swings and twirls of her scythe. While it may be just due to the fact that Dlanor was taken down that easily, but Erika's movements became erratic and in a way... reckless. It was like she wanted to see the defeat of Sephiroth rather quickly, and it didn't seem to appear that she took in mind the risks of being this reckless in the first place.

Further down the hallway where their fight was talking place, a sight of a lone cat wandering the hallways could be seen... What was a cat doing out here all alone?

"Sounds good with me," Battler grinned back at Sora before returning his attention over to their opponents. He remembered what occurred during his last duel against Dlanor before realizing the truth behind Beatrice's games. He wasn't going to let that happen again, not when he knew what was behind those games after all.



"Heh... sorry for coming late, Dlanor. Who knew that coming out of the grave would take that long in the first place?" Battler happened to say to the Death Inquisitor, making it sound like they had a neutral stance against each other.

"No PROBLEM. In fact, you returned earlier than I THOUGHT," Dlanor didn't seem to change her vocal expression when responding to Battler as if they were going to have a casual spar. Of course, Erika did have authority over her, so here... Dlanor knew that she had to go for the kill once more. The very moment that Dlanor would take her first step towards them, she was gone with the wind... The very next moment, they would hear a footstep behind them, and that would be Dlanor preparing to make her first attack.

... she's fast... Battler had that single thought, having not been in a combat situation against someone like Dlanor before.



"Erika solved the fifth game with her REASONING! There are no new facts that can overturn this REASONING!" Dlanor exclaimed, preparing to stab both the Red Key and Blue Key into him for good measure considering how he lived through the Red Truth blade from earlier. Though, even if it seemed hopeless to defend himself and possibly Sora, Battler knew that he could be on equal footing in this fight. He had the knowledge necessary for it. With a swift turn around, Battler readied his own golden blade to force Dlanor back.



"I can construct another truth using a different interpretation! When two theories exist, the credibility of both can be questioned. In this case, that's both Erika's theory and my own theory which I'm going to use here!" With a strong swing of his golden broadsword, he was able to successfully drive Dlanor a distance away from himself and Sora. It was an interesting move that Battler was playing here, that he would make another theory to fit the current result of the game and it wouldn't contradict what Erika had...



"Now then, as Dlanor has given me knowledge of this trial of yours, I believe we can finally begin this dance with one final amendment," Robin glared at Battler, a challenge issued by the look, "Occam's Razor. Unless you can keep this theory of yours as simple as possible, I will never accept it." With the power of his used Red Truth charged into his next tome, Robin casted a Valflame spell, a small spark happening to fall near Sora's location before bursting into large restless flames that grew over time in attempts to consume the boy in it's heat.

---

"Wah!" the detective clumsily twirled her scythe around, just barely avoiding any fatal blows and coming as close as getting several tears and rips on her dress. Due to her stance losing balance, the Witch of Truth stumbled and fell on her back, the scythe clattering away from her grasp before disappearing in a purple light. While the cat was still in the background, it was also noticeable on how the unconscious Dlanor was somehow missing.

"So you're advancing a theory that hasn't been said yet? I'd like to challenge that!" Robin doubted that this theory of Battler's would be able to pull this game into a draw, holding out his tome as he charged energy for a spell.

Even Dlanor had the same doubts as Robin considering that Battler hasn't said his theory yet.

"Then let me ASK! If it's not Natsuhi, who is the CULPRIT?" This needed to be clarified if they were going to have a good footing against this theory that was soon to come around.



"It's possible to everything with the revenge of the baby from nineteen years ago," Both of them clashed blades again, making no room for error or even a sign of rest.



"Knox's 1st. It is forbidden for the culprit to be anyone not mentioned in the early part of the STORY! A person first introduced in the fifth game can't be named as the CULPRIT!"



"But what if the baby was one of us since the beginning?" Battler locked his blade against Dlanor's, taking a moment just to think if he should go on with this Blue Truth, and then finally saying,"For example... if it's me!?"

While it was settled that it was something that could be plausible, Robin was quick to counter it immediately, since he had the knowledge of certain events through the help of Dlanor.



"Impossible. Battler Ushiromiya is an 18 year old man, meaning that he was not alive at the time of Natsuhi's actions 19 years ago. Along with this, I also know the 'crime' that Natsuhi committed, one that by it's very nature excludes Battler due to the nature of time!" For a moment, you could see a small smirk on Robin's face, as if he were telling them that he was on the spot with this game.

"Natsuhi had agreed to adopt a baby, most likely the supposed man from 19 years ago, but refused for mysterious reasons. The reason I have reached this conclusionis that the man from 19 years ago calls Natsuhi 'mother' as an insult because of her abandoning him! Simply put, it is ridiculous to say that Battler Ushiromiya was the man from 19 years ago as for one, he had most likely not even been conceived in his mother's womb, and as for two, if he was meant to be adopted but was subsequently abandoned by Natsuhi, the whole family would have known and a scandal would have broken out unless Kinzo Ushiromiya covered it up. Even then, there would have been rumors yet it seems the only individuals to know her 'crime' are herself and the man."

Seeing that Dlanor would say something, Robin held out a hand to show that he wasn't done just yet,"Before you quote Knox's Decalogue, hear this! Battler Ushiromiya knows that he is not the man from 19 years ago! The 9th law protects me in this instance because Battler has been withholding knowledge of the case! Even if he was, why would he help Natsuhi kill members of the family? Why wouldn't he kill simply Natsuhi, her husband, and her progeny before moving on to the rest of the family if he so desired?"



He turned to Battler, a glint of satisfaction in his eyes, "Go on, Sorcerer, disprove my words. I want to see your desire to survive in your eyes.​"

Instead of casting out a spell from the fact that he held out a tome to use, this much of the Truths being used here caused his spell to become a beam of the Red and Blue Truths aimed for Battler and Sora.



_{"... d-dammit,"} Battler muttered, not expecting this outsider to rip apart the foundation to his theory just like that. The other resort would be to use the Truth that he now knows about Beatrice's games... judging that using himself as the culprit wouldn't exactly work anymore.

---

"... just... wa... it... until... everyone else... around... here... finds..o... ut" Erika managed to say, seeing that it was useless to try and wiggle her way out of this.

"And how can you be sure of that? Dlanor... would you like to refute with the Decalogue now?" Robin had a satisfied look on his face from how his beam had struck both of them as they didn't have a proper counter to it before it would hit. Dlanor nodded slowly as she walked forward, preparing to do just that as Robin mentioned it to her. As quick as lightning, she charged to attack this time around towards Sora.

"Knox's 8th. It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not PRESENTED! Was there any foreshadowing showing that someone known early on in the story can be acting as ANOTHER?" Dlanor held both blades, ready to strike down Sora. She was aiming for a quick finish off of him, considering that it would be easier to go up against Battler with his support taken down. However, before Dlanor could get as close as a scratch on Sora, Battler intervened.



"In the first game, it's noticeable that both Shannon and Kanon are never seen together in the eyes of the detective, which in that case, was me! It's also evident in the fourth game, the woman named Beatrice, the apparent culprit, wanted me to remember a sin. And since I wasn't able to remember it so clearly because of never 'meeting' Beatrice beforehand, it's possible that someone else took up the role as the culprit, and that includes the role of Beatrice the Endless Witch!" Battler swung his sword at Dlanor, actually dealing some damage to the angelic Furniture. At least this way, Sora wouldn't be taking major damage from Dlanor.

"... Good START. Let's hear out your theory pertaining to this 'Beatrice' CHARACTER," Dlanor didn't seem to be bothered by this, and prepared for any incoming attacks that would start to come her way.

"Sure, I'll explain everything-" Battler nodded, but found that a scythe's blade was held out from behind and locked for his neck. If it wasn't for his reaction speed, he wouldn't be able to block the incoming scythe.



"Good! Very good! Go ahead Battler-san, lay out the details of your theory so I can tear it apart!!" Erika grinned as she was determined to put her theory back up as the resolution for this game and achieve her victory.

---

Erika seemed rather out of it as she felt these foreign cells invading her body. At the same time... a hint of blue butterflies began to resonate around her... Weird.

It seemed to become a fight solely between Battler against the duo of Erika and Dlanor, and maybe Robin included in Erika's side if he decided to jump in once more. Knowing Erika, she was going to try every single possible Truth to see if she could stop Battler's attempt in pulling this game into a draw.



"If this Beatrice character is the culprit, there are lots of contradictions! The crime could happen between midnight and 1 AM! At that time, everyone else but the victims were in the dining hall! Thus, this crime is impossible under these conditions!" Erika didn't waste any time to take a breath after this period of speaking, using her scythe to cut her way towards Battler.



"There is no guarantee that the crime happened between midnight and 1 AM. It could happen during another period of time too!"



"Not so fast, Battler-san. There are restrictions on the cousins' room!" As if the timing were perfectly synced, Robin jumped in to assist Erika with this next Red Truth.



"It was impossible to commit the crime in the cousins' room between 1 AM and the discovery of the crime."

"Dlanor, now!"

With the combination of Erika and Robin's words, Dlanor was already on the move, a short distance away from Battler as she was ready to land merciless strikes onto him.

"Knox's 8th. It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not PRESENTED! If the crime was carried out outside the cousins' room, there must be CLUES! Unless the detective, miss Erika, who was observing the room the whole night, noticed the clues, the crime is IMPOSSIBLE!" It seemed like Battler didn't have anything for this as the Death Inquisitor was going to make her move on him seconds away from now.

---

While Erika seemed to be completely helpless in this situation, the butterflies didn't seem to go away. What was their deal with sticking around anyways?

"... you're sure on this?"

Battler didn't know why, but he felt unsure on pressing onwards with the Keyblade's help. Sure, it actually could be a helpful factor... but if something were to go wrong... He stopped himself from thinking too far into this string of thoughts, he knew he wouldn't get anywhere with anything until he did something, and surely this was becoming more than a simple logic battle as Erika had her own outside assistance to begin with.

"Alright... I won't let this opportunity go to waste... Sora..."

Taking the Keyblade with his right hand, the Endless Sorcerer took slow but steady steps towards the opposing force... Not understanding why Battler wasn't just standing his ground, Erika had a feeling that he had some sort of theory that she wouldn't be able to break... He must have!



"N... N-Not so fast Battler-san! You still have to refute back with some sort of theory against mine?! Right?!! Approaching like this isn't going to help in your case..."

As Erika started to show uncertainty for the impending situation, thinking that Battler had some sort of backup plan to topple her success thus far, Robin took her side again, preparing a certain tome that was different from the rest. Even if it meant that he had to kill the Endless Sorcerer to ensure Erika's happiness, he would. Only for her...



"Then prepare your best comebacks, detective... Let's presume that-!"

...

...Everything became deathly still, as if time itself had died out. Sora would see this right away, that he was still able to move despite the complete halt of time. Yet, he wasn't the only one able to defy the halted time, as it appeared that Robin was able to move around as well. Turns out that he was never a part of this timeline, and that would explain why both of them were unaffected by this.

Upon closer examination, Sora's Keyblade was still in Battler's grasp... and a strange shadow that had a purple hue... was slowly wrapping around the Keyblade without much consequence to it.



At the edges of the walls, ceiling, and the floor of the chapel interior, everything began to dissolve apart, as if the timeline they were in was slowly being eaten by an unknown force. The dissolving shadows of what was once a part of this chapel exterior was almost similar to the shadows that attempted to take away the Keyblade for whatever reason.

"... oh no. Sora, this isn't good at all. I... I don't know why, but something here is ripping apart this specific timeline until there's nothing left! I can't stop it... I just can't. The least I can do... is take you out of there... Please... stay safe until I can take you out of there!!"

Crona's urgent and worried voice echoed in his head, completely unaware of this new timely force coming into play... and what would happen if she just left him there in this dying timeline.



"Ggh... back off!"

By now, a bunch of these shadows happened to grab a hold of Robin's feet, and seemingly were unaffected by his tomes' magic by the looks of it. Hopefully Crona could solve this soon, because it wouldn't take much longer for the shadows to completely eradicate this timeline...

---

For some strange reason... the butterflies would soon vanish. There was no reason to it. Nothing occurred after the butterflies took their leave. It was like they had no other purpose of being there now that Erika had lost her own purpose as well...

---

During their trek to where Sora would be, muffled shivering could be heard from nearby. Something about it seemed... strange considering the rather empty setting of the Metaworld.



"That sounds like..."

Before Riku would finish his sentence, they would find the source of the muffled sounds: a small boy with silvery hair curled up on the floor, attempting to restrain his sobbing... It was terribly off on why a child would be here out of all places, but knowing on how some Witches work around here... it wouldn't be a surprise if this child was dragged into this mess as well.

After things had been prevented from being erased from time, things still appeared differently. Such as the fact that a lot less people were around, specifically some that were still around before the whole time rupture attempted to eat up this timeline. At the very least, this entire timeline was stabilized...



"G... gh... the hell was... all of that for?"

Even if he was just recovering now with the Kingdom Key in his hands, the Endless Sorcerer immediately found everything amiss with this area, such as the absence of Erika, Dlanor, and the observing Voyager Witches. Even Sora was gone... which instantly worried him. What if those twisted Witches had gotten a hold of him while... something occurred to the time? Battler couldn't be sure on what was going on here, but he had a feeling that it wasn't any good. Something even above Bernkastel's twisted expertise was behind this...



"... This is certainly a predicament we've gotten ourselves into, Endless Sorcerer. I know I am not supposed to be a part of this timeline, and that I should be returned to my own by now... However, something... or someone did such things to try and eat up this single timeline, and whatever that Sora boy did... stabilized this entire iteration of the Metaworld. Seeing that I may not be the expert on entities that could be at work here, I see that I have no other choice but to assist you until this is all resolved... or that I find my way back to my respective timeline. Whichever comes first."

Much to his surprise, Battler saw that he wasn't alone, turning around to see that the hooded man that seeked to rip his theories apart for Erika, Robin, had been pushed into this predicament as well. So there were other timelines, and that might as well explain the strange connection that Robin had claimed to be between himself and Erika... Well, a different Erika to be precise. For the time's being, they had to see if something were still lingering in this timeline... possibly the culprit to the attempt of destroying this timeline...



"... makes sense. Just don't try any funny ideas with me, given that you wanted to destroy my hopes of winning that logic battle back there."

However, before they could make their first move, Battler could've sworn that a presence was lurking behind them, and with the Keyblade's newfound connection with him, the Endless Sorcerer had the strongest feeling that something were going to go wrong.

And it did.

With a single gunshot ringing throughout the air.

A small whimper coming from the boy, the child looked up to see that he wasn't alone anymore. As they weren't really the same people that possibly brought him here in the first place, he still felt the tension build up in his system, feeling all sorts of anxiety when it came to seeing new faces appear to him. As he looked up, both Riku and Mickey would realize that this boy hasn't been having a good time lately, and that could be easily seen in his current condition and behavior thus far.



"...n... no... nonono... don't... don't come near me... please."

A weak and stammering mess that the boy was, he began to back away from them, covering his left eye as a mysterious purple liquid ran down the side of his face... dripping numerously on his tattered clothing, wrist and ankle chains that were seemingly broken now, and all over the floor. It wasn't clear if this was the Witch's doing, that a boy was experiencing all sorts of trauma, and even if it were their doing, it was something that couldn't be forgiven.



"... I know you must be scared, but I'm not going to leave an innocent child like you alone here. Not when someone else that could hurt you can come around if we just leave you here. We can help you... you can trust us."

Riku wasn't sure on how else to go about this situation, as he didn't want to startle the kid any more that he is right now. However, some of Riku's words did have an effect on the boy, making him a bit more at ease when it came to fact that they haven't tried anything... bad to him yet.

"Here, I'll introduce myself too. I'm Riku."

For a moment, it looked like the poor boy was going to have another panic attack again, but after a single deep breath, he finally spoke up without much stuttering.

"Um... m-my name's Add... but... but I don't know how I... got here... I really don't..."

At least there were getting somewhere, but it seemed like the boy, Add, was experiencing some repressed memories when it came to answering on how he got here in the first place.

"_{... I don't know.}"

Add shook his head once, trying to remember, repeating that one phrase over and over again. However, he did come across some recollection...

"... I don't know... if this is all happening... because of a witch... but... but someone bad did things to me... and my family... I don't know where they are... I woke up here... all alone... Every now and then... I... I see things flash in my head... like memories I've forgotten... and every time I see them... my eye hurts... and purple stuff comes out of it... it hurts..."

The more he talked about it... the more it started to... "hurt" for him. It was unclear on what he was seeing, as if talking about those occurrences were actually triggering those flashing memories. However, whatever he was seeing... truly startled him on the inside. Forgetting that Riku and Mickey were there, Add began to hyperventilate, his closed left eye opening... A clear purple pupil surrounded by a completely pitch black, that was what his left eye was. As if what he was seeing right now, those "lost" memories, was that bad, Add started to freak out, his corrupted eye triggering a magical process which consisted of strange rips of time and space. It happened so fast...

The same moment that figments of corrupted spacial energy would be flung at them, Riku pushed himself and Mickey out of the blast radius. It would've been a bit easier taking out his Keyblade, but he didn't want to hurt this boy... seeing as this strange power that came from Add was something that even the little boy had no control over.

"No... no no no... those people... they didn't... they didn't do that... to them... please no..."

Still unclear on what this memory of his was, Add was clearly traumatized by it, and he was unaware that this may be all some strange ailment that another person had put on him or worse. Crying out in despair, the boy buried his face into his hands, all sorts of spacial distortion began to spread about, eating up whatever was there nearby or flinging around blasts that would do same all over...

Whoever do this to Add, whether it be the memory he was seeing, the ailment he had with time and space, or both, clearly wasn't a person that'll be any help at all.