OathToOblivion: Well, here we have Chapter 2! AKA Episode 1. We're doing things a bit differently. To prevent the same mess we made of the pre and post Notes last time, only the people involved in making the chapter will make the notes. In today's case, it's Zero and I!

Novice' Writer Zero: So, in this chapter, I finally get out of the Emerald Forest, get my own small epic scene, and we both get some exposition out of the way, is that right?

OathToOblivion: Yep. Seems about right. In that case, let's leap right in!

Remnants of Worlds

Episode 01 - The Black Swordsman

Six hours.

Six hours had passed since he had first arrived in this forest. Ever since then, he had been running through the forest as fast as he could, cutting down every Grimm that got in his way. Not to say that he got off scot-free, for he had quite a few cuts and bruises all over him; one small wound could still be seen on his right cheek. All of this had lead to his HP being cut down to 85% of the entire HP bar.

'I've been lucky so far. If I don't find shelter soon, I probably won't be able to survive the night.' This thought had him continue his trek through the forest, up to the twilight hours, when the sky turned burnt orange. A beautiful scene if one had the time to appreciate it, which this particular person didn't. Eventually, the boy came across a clearing that seemed quite familiar to him.

What he saw was a ruin of sorts, surrounded by green grass, creating an image that any artist would just love to paint. But he was no artist, so he was unaffected. What did affect him was that he had seen this image before, only not during sunset. After all, anyone who had seen the episode of RWBY's first victory would recognize this place.

"Hey... this is that ruin with the chess pieces from RWBY's Hunters' Initiation!" he exclaimed. He walked towards the ruin, with several thoughts in his head, with only one standing out. "There's no doubt about it. I'm in the World of Remnant..." While he let that sink in, he sat down in front of one of the pedestals where the pieces were laid in the show. It was empty now as the Initiation was not occurring at this time, otherwise he would have obviously heard gunshots.

As he was sitting, he began to contemplate his situation. "Alright, I'm obviously in the Emerald Forest, nowhere near home, and even if I did have my Cell Phone, I doubt I'd get any service out here..." While saying that, he idly summoned the Menu Screen, and noticed the Items button.

"Wait. Now that I think about it, everything disappeared and I got put in these clothes and with these swords... I wonder..." Curiosity getting the better of him, again, he pressed the button, resulting in the summoning of the Items List, its contents catching him by surprise. "Hey! This is all of my stuff!"

Indeed, the list contained nearly everything by name, his Nintendo 3DS, his Apple I-Touch, his Cell Phone, heck, even his Wallet was in there! ...But not his ALO cosplay or the swords it had had for some reason. "Wait, my wallet?" Looking at that, he quickly turned his eye to the status screen, noticing an icon saying 'Lien: 25000'. When he thought about it, he remembered that he had $250 worth in money in his wallet before arriving here, so all of it must have been moved to the screen in Lien, the local currency, thus leaving his Wallet empty. Pushing those thoughts aside, he pressed the button labeled Cell Phone, and low and behold, his cell phone was in his hand. Quickly, he opened and turned it on, immediately noting that there were no bars.

"I knew it. No service." With that said, he instinctively put the phone back into the Items List, and went back to thinking, until it struck him. "Wait, how did I know how to do that!" Before he could contemplate such a matter, he heard a growling. At first, he went for his sword, until he felt the gurgling in his stomach area. "Oh, that's right. I haven't eaten since Breakfast, and who knows how long ago that was..."

So, he moved on to more important matters: Food! "Ok, I know that SAO players stored food in the Items List, so maybe my snacks and rations are in here too?" So he scrolled down the Items List, and to his pleasant surprise, found the label: Peanut-Butter and Jelly Sandwich. "Oh, thank God, I thought I was going to starve out here!" And so he brought out the sandwich, which was in perfect condition, and greedily scarfed it down to the last crumb.

Once he was fed, he once again thought through his options. "Okay, so obviously this isn't a virtual reality, otherwise my stomach wouldn't have reacted like that, so this body is real. Which means if I don't get to civilization soon, I might very well die in here, depending on when the next Hunters' Initiation is. I doubt that anyone from Beacon will know that I'm even here. Either way, this really doesn't look good for m-"

"Grrrr."

His thoughts were once again interrupted by growling, only this time he knew that it wasn't his stomach. He jumped up and grabbed his sword, then searched around for any sign of movement, while unconsciously tapping into the SAO Searching Skill. With this, he noticed a large Grimm up ahead in the trees. Curiously, it had a pair of HP Bars of its own, but that didn't matter at the time, considering that it jumped out from the trees the moment he spotted it.

"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The beast in question had black fur and white mask, like a number of other Grimm, only this one had the appearance of a big Sumo with the small head of a dog, with large arms and long clawed hands. If anything, it looked like a more muscular version of the first Boss of SAO, Illfang the Kobold Lord.

"Damn, it must have followed the scent of the food!" He was obviously feeling terror, but he knew that if he just stood there, there would be a good chance that he would be killed, so he pulled out his sword and got ready for battle. Idly, he thought, 'This must be what Jackie Chan means by Bad Day.'

Fourze trekked through the Emerald Forest. He had convinced Ozpin to have them split up to cover more ground, saying that he could handle himself. If what he had read on RWBY's TV Tropes page was true, though, then Ozpin was probably still watching him using his Scroll.

"Now if I were a convention-goer stuck in a forest by myself, where would I go?" he wondered to himself. It was kind of dark, so he probably could have benefited from the Flash Switch working. Though that raised more questions in his head.

"I wonder why these 6 Switches are the only ones working?" he questioned, bringing out Shield and Claw from the Fourze Driver's Subspace Pocket. "I mean, the four in the belt make sense; they are the first four. But why Shield and Claw? Wouldn't it make more sense if Magic Hand and Camera were working instead?" he pondered.

Suddenly, an explosion shuddered through the air. It sounded close by too.

"Sounds like whatever's going on, there's trouble! In that case..." Fourze declared, hitting the button on the Rocket Switch down.

-RO-CKET ON-

He held out his right arm, the orange Rocket Module forming into existence on it. The engines on it fired up, propelling him through the air. His flight path was a bit jagged though. "YIKES!" he yelled as he started flying.

The earlier explosion was caused by the Grimm Kobold Lord throwing our black clad hero into one of the pillars of the ruin, reducing his HP to 55%, while the opposing Grimm still had 1/3 of his first health bar, while his second health bar was completely full. To say that this situation was bad for our hero would be an understatement. He was panting from the battle's toll on him, and his mind was moving beyond normal calculations. 'Okay, obviously this thing can't be taken down by one person alone, and I'm not really experienced with the movements my body is making either.'

The beast came ever closer. 'Come on, think! There's got to be something that can beat him. I need to distract that thing away from me.' At that thought, he quickly opened his Items Menu, and scrolled the list as fast as possible, until he found what he was looking for. He then got up and yelled:

"Hey, Grimm, I hope you like Turkey!" As he then threw all 4 of his Turkey Sandwiches to the left of the creature. That was pretty far, considering he seemed to have inherited Kirito's Throwing Skill. Thankfully, the Grimm took the bait, thus leaving our hero a good 3 minutes to come up with a plan.

'Okay, that will distract it for now, but I need to think of something that will beat it. Of course there is no way for one person alone to beat this thing. Damn it, if only my sword could cut it mor-' His thought stopped as he realized something. 'Wait, one person... my sword... one sword...' At this point, he only had 2 minutes left.

'One sword can't beat it, but maybe 2 swords can! And if all my things got sent to my items list, and I'm in Kirito's SAO form, then that means...!' At this thought, he quickly went to his equipment screen, then pressed the left hand option. At this point there was 1 minute left.

On the equipment list was just what he was looking for. 'Yes, Dark Repulsar! With this I have a chance!' He then pressed it and hoped that it would get equipped in time. Suddenly, the Grimm got back up, and roared at him.

"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

"Damn, got to make this count!" He dispelled his menu, picked up his sword, and quickly got up. Then he charged.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He ran towards the Grimm, with Elucidator in hand.

6 seconds until reach. He charged with determination and fear.

5 seconds until reach. He felt even more fear.

4 seconds until reach. He felt a weight on his back.

3 seconds until reach. He felt hope.

2 seconds until reach. He grasped the weight.

1 seconds until reach. He pulled the sword.

The Grimm was about to swipe at him, until 2 blades slashed the arm, and its owner, away. And what a sight to behold, for in our hero's left hand, was the crystal sword known as: Dark Repulsar. Then, he muttered the two words that would end this battle:

"Star Burst, Stream!"

From there, he moved on a power, beyond his own. First, he slashed with a Horizontal with Elucidater. Next, he used an uppercut slash and Full circle spin with Dark Repulsar, followed by a Full circle spin Horizontal with both swords. That was succeeded with a regular Horizontal with both swords. Then, a downwards X-slash with both swords, followed by an upward X-slash with both swords. Then, two opposite diagonal slashes, followed by a reverse-grip downward x-slash with both swords. Then a corkscrew attack with the two sword shifted into forward grip. Then several other slashes, followed by a forward thrust with Elucidater, then finished with a forward lunge with Dark Repulsar. This equaled a total number of 16 consecutive slashes. All of this happened in a span of 30 seconds.

When it was over, both of the Grimm's HP Bars were completely empty, while our hero's HP bar was still at 3/7 full. Then, the Grimm collapsed to the ground, dead, scattering in Rose Petals. Silence filled the clearing, all accept for exhausted panting. He felt like he could fall down asleep right at that moment. He almost considered it, if it weren't for the second Grimm that jumped out of nowhere and pounded him back towards the ruins.

"WAGH!" He fell onto the stairs of the Ruins, and nearly passed out. He barely noticed that his HP bar had fallen down to 10%. He couldn't identify the Grimm, for he was slightly suffering from dizziness, or what he though might have been a concussion.

'No.' He thought angrily. 'I can't die here!' His whole life flashed before his eyes, most prominently, every time that he had spent with his family. 'I haven't told them how important they are to me!'

Right when he had all but given up hope, a white blur seemed to slam into the Grimm. He passed out right afterwords, though could have sworn that he heard the words "Rider Rocket Punch!" before doing so.

"Whoa! I'm going to need to get used to this!" Fourze decided as he flew towards the source of the noise, fidgeting through the air due to his inexperience with the Rocket Module. As he flew forward, he saw what, to him, looked like a giant Hollow from Bleach about to attack somebody who looked like he was on his last legs. "Like hell!" he declared as he flew at the giant creature. "Rider Rocket Punch!" he yelled as he impacted the creature with the Rocket Module. The knockback from the punch sent the creature flying 15 feet, while Fourze himself tumbled to the ground, struggling with the exhaust from the Module.

"How do you get this thing to stop?!" he got out, before he manged to pull the button on the Switch up, causing the Module to disappear. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted that whoever it was was now unconscious. Hopefully he was alright...

"Okay, I'm having enough difficulties with Rocket. No way I'm using Drill right now. So..." he trailed off, as the creature got back up and turned to him, snarling.

"Okay, if I remember correctly, these are the kaijin of RWBY: the Grimm," Fourze said in a cautious tone. "Shoo!" he yelled at the Grimm. The Grimm, however, did not take to kindly to that, and leapt at Fourze, snarling even more fiercely.

"Wha!" Fourze quickly ducked out of the way of the attack. "How do you like this then?!" he declared, pulling the Launcher Switch.

-LA-UN-CHER ON-

The blue Launcher Module appeared on his right leg, and fired off its missiles at the Grimm! ...Unfortunately, they all missed, hitting the forest around it. "Oh crap!" Fourze said in alarm as he took in the craters, putting his hand up to where his mouth was under his helmet. Luckily, the Grimm had been spooked by the blasts and had frozen. "I hope I don't get fined for that..." he said miserably. He then shook it off. "Alright, let's try again!" he declared, flipping the Radar Switch on.

-RA-DAR ON-

The black Radar Module appeared on Fourze's left arm. There was no Rabbit Hutch connection, not like Fourze hadn't expected that, but that wasn't what he needed here. He quickly dodged out of the way of another pounce from the now-recovered Grimm. He then pointed the Module at the Grimm. There was a pause, before Locked On appeared on the Radar's screen.

"Round 2, Fire!" Fourze declared. The Launcher Module reloaded, and fired its missiles again! This time, they all impacted the Grimm, causing it to howl in pain. But the pain gave the Grimm a cunning, for its bestial mind anyway, plan. It leapt at Fourze again, causing him to roll to the side...but the lunge was actually a feint, because it lunged at the unconscious person!

"NO!" Fourze yelled in horror. Instinct took over as he hit the Rocket Switch, as well as twisted the Drill Switch.

-RO-CKET ON-

-DR-ILL ON-

The Rocket Module and the yellow Drill Module appeared on his right arm and left leg respectively. As he flew at the Grimm, he then pulled the Enter Lever for a Limit Break!

-RO-CKET-DR-ILL LIMIT BREAK-

"Rider Rocket Drill Kick!" he yelled, impacting the Grimm's back. He then flew through the Grimm, impacting the ground and continuing to spin thanks to the Drill Module. The Grimm, however, faded away into darkness!

Fourze was queasy from the spinning. "Urp...I'm definitely going to have to get used to this," he moaned out. Clearing his head, he turned to the unconscious person, who seemed to only have a scabbard on his person. As for his clothes, they looked familiar, but Fourze couldn't place them. With that said, though, Fourze hauled him up and trudged off to Beacon to deliver this person.

A ceiling.

That was the first coherent thought that came to his mind when he opened his eyes. The ceiling in question was white, and there were a few overhead lights scattered across it. He felt that he was laying on a soft and somewhat comfortable surface. There was also a slow and steady beeping coming from his left. This indicated one thing.

'Am I... in a hospital...?' With that thought, he looked around the room that he was in. 'No...more like an infirmary..but still, did I dream all of that up... turning into Kirito, and fighting off a giant Grimm?' To test it out, he waved his right hand in front of him, and to his disappointment, a menu screen came up. 'No...that was no dream...I really am in Remnant...' At that thought, he dismissed his menu screen, and looked to his right, spotting a window.

'My gosh, it's late... it's already night...' He idly noted, seeing how dark it was. 'Though the stars look a bit different than back home. That cracking moon certainly proves where I am... speaking of which, where is this room anywa-'

"You alright?" a voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned to look at someone who looked very familiar!

"Kisaragi Gentarou!" He jumped in surprise, causing the sheet on him to slide down to his waist, where he idly noticed that he had not been changed out of his clothes, aside from his coat and scabbard, revealing that the shirt underneath was short sleeved. And could you blame him for his yell? He was looking at a tokusatsu character, or at least at first glance. 'Wait, he looks like him, but there's something different about him...'

"Um...not exactly," the supposed Gentarou said sheepishly. "I mean, yeah, I look a bit like him now, and I'm also Fourze, although that last one was a surprise, but I'm not him," he said after that run-on sentence.

"Wait, what?" Now our Kirito ex-cosplayer was confused. How could he be sort-of Gentarou, yet be a real Fourze, unless... "Show me proof."

"Alright," the not-Gentarou shrugged, bringing out the Fourze Driver. He placed it over his waist area, the strap forming out of Cosmic Energy and coming from nowhere. "That enough?" he asked.

"Um, yeah I think so," the ex-cosplayer replied. "So... by any chance did that belt and those Switches use to be toys?"

"Yeppers," Not-Gentarou said, withdrawing the Driver. "Took me a while to track them all down, but they were surprisingly cheap. I should have guessed something was up when Joker invited me to Malaysia for a convention of all things," he mumbled under his breath.

Though the Not-Gentarou whispered it, the ex-cosplayer caught that last part. "Wait, you were at that convention too?! And by Joker, do you mean Symbolic Joker?"

Not-Gentarou was taken aback. "Um...yeah, I was there. You know Joker? So I guess you're either from the Forum or one of his other friends?" he guessed.

Not-Kirito was in shock. 'This guy knows Joker, is from the forum, and turns into a Kamen Rider. Which possibly means...' "OK. One, by any chance are you a fanfic author? Two, if you are, is your Pen-name OathToOblivion? And three, CURSE YOU JOKER, I DON'T KNOW HOW, BUT I HOPE THAT YOUR JLM SELF SUFFERS A THOUSAND PRESSURE POINTS AND YANDERES!"

"Don't bother, I already cursed him out already," Not-Gentarou said in a sour tone. "And dude, Sora didn't do anything regarding this; he's Joker from November," he pointed out. "Oh, and yeah, I am OathToOblivion. I'm guessing you're either Zero or CB?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," The identified Zero replied. "I'm Novice' Writer Zero. So, I guess that means we both turned into near copies of our characters?"

"Kind of sort of. I still have that tiny little scar on my forehead from when I went near a shattered lightbulb when I was a baby. By the way, who did you cosplay as? All I found on you was a scabbard. Oh, and call me Sharath. That is my name after all," Sharath said with a smile.

"Well, I still have a surgical scar on my left arm from when I broke my arm while riding an A.T.V. into a tree," Zero told back. "But seriously, you can't tell who my character is, his series is quite popular. Heck, you should be able to tell by the coat and swords alone... wait where are my swords and coat?!"

"Your coat's getting repaired. And I don't know about your swords. I said I only found a scabbard. And...no, I have no clue who you're supposed to be," Sharath said. "Sorry," he quickly apologized.

Zero gave him a deadpan stare. "Seriously Oat- I mean Sharath, you don't know this character? Ah, screw it, I'm gonna see if my swords are in my inventory." With that, he waved his hand to open the Menu Screen.

Sharath stared at the Menu. "So...something MMO related then? Like .hack or SAO...SAO; I'm an idiot. You're supposed to be Kirito!" Sharath realized, slapping his head.

"Yes, I'm glad you noticed," Zero replied dryly. "Now can you please shut up? I'm trying to find my- aha, here they are!" With that said, he equipped both swords, causing them to appear on his back, scabbards and all. Though it did cause him a bit of discomfort due to some injuries, which he just became aware of.

"Hey hey...don't strain yourself," Sharath cautioned. "That Grimm got you pretty good. You're lucky I showed up. A Rider Rocket Drill Kick to the back took care of it," he said in pride.

"Oh, thanks," Zero was surprised that he was talking so casually with someone who practically saved his life. "I guess I owe you one. So, where are we exactly?" While asking this, he decided to check his HP Bar, only to find it still yellow.

"Beacon Academy. You landed in the Emerald Forest, after all. I landed right in front of Ozpin himself," Sharath said.

"Really," replied a startled Zero. "So then we really are on Remnant... wait, at what point of the story are we at?"

"Sh!" Sharath held up his finger to his mouth. "I haven't told Ozpin about that part yet, mainly because I'm not sure of how to convince him. That, and he's probably spying on us with his scroll or something right now," he cautioned.

"Oh, sorry," Zero said, while looking really guilty. "Wait, does that mean that he saw me fighting that Grimm Kobold Lord?"

"...Which one was that again? My knowledge of Grimm species isn't exactly up to par," Sharath admitted sheepishly. "Anyway, I don't think so. Mainly because I arrived only a few minutes after you did and was talking with him at the time."

"Sharath, I was in that forest for six hours, and the first Grimm I ever fought was a Beowulf, and that was near a lake," Zero explained. "At the ruin, I fought a Grimm that looked like SAO's very first Boss Monster, the Kobold Lord, only it had muscular arms, and saber-like claw-nails. And I barely survived that encounter thanks to Dark Repulser here." Zero said that last part while pointing at his crystal-like sword.

"...Okay, give me the full details, because the Grimm I fought didn't look a thing like that," Sharath said in a serious tone.

From there, Zero recounted his entire experience to Sharath, including the fact that he had barely managed to pull out Dark Repulser in time to turn the odds. "...and after I finally managed to kill the thing, a second Grimm came out of nowhere. I couldn't recognize it because everything was a bit hazy by that point, but I thought I was about to die until you showed up. And then I woke up in here. So, any more questions?"

"Yeah. Was that the first time you used two swords?" Sharath asked with an odd look.

"Well, yeah," Zero said, nervously. "To tell the truth, I never really held a real sword before coming here, and I never really had training either... heck, I don't know how I was able to pull off all of those sword skills I used, especially Star Burst Stream. Because I'm sure I don't have Kirito's reaction time for that..."

"Hmm...speaking of, I still don't know how I did Rider Rocket Drill Kick that easily. I was having enough problems with just the Rocket Module, and I didn't want to exacerbate it with the Drill Module. But when that Grimm tricked me and tried to attack you, instinct took over and I executed it perfectly somehow. I'm going to need to train some more to do it myself," Sharath pondered.

"Which brings me to what I have to say. I don't think you should be using two swords right off the bat, especially if you don't have any practice with bladed weapons at all," he said seriously.

"Huh?!" That comment him by surprise, so Zero was obviously a bit shocked. "But, wait, I survived thanks to that, shouldn't I try to train myself to be able to use Duel-Wielding so that I won't have to worry about Grimm like that again?"

"Well, of course! But that's not what I meant. You've read JLM, Zero. You saw the trouble I, or rather Tsukasa, got into when he tried dual-wielding the Musou Saber and the Daidaimaru right off the bat. That's why at first he didn't use the two together that much except when he used Naginata Mode. It's the same here; you need to get used to one sword first. Besides, what if you're ever disarmed? If you don't know one sword style, then you're dead," Sharath pointed out.

"Well..." Zero didn't want to admit it, but Sharath had a point. It would be best to learn how to use one blade first before two, sort of like how a baby transitions from crawling to walking. "...Alright, fine, I'll learn how to use one sword first."

"Great. Now, hand over Dark Repulser," Sharath said, holding out his hand. "I don't want you getting any funny ideas and having the thing in inventory. Plus, this'll help me practice for when I get Elec and Cosmic States," he said.

"Alright, just hold on, I need to unequip it first." Zero then proceeded to unequip Dark Repulser on his Menu, clicked on it in the Items Menu to bring it out, then passed it over to Sharath. Then something came to him. "But, don't you need higher strength just to hold that thing? And where do you plan to put it, you don't have a Menu Screen like I do."

Sharath raised an eyebrow. "Then just bring the strap the scabbard rests on out," he pointed out.

"I only have one strap to carry my scabbards," Zero replied. "If I gave you this, how would I carry Elucidator?"

"Hmm..." Sharath thought about that, right hand fisted on his mouth. Then he snapped his fingers. "Aha!" he declared. From somewhere, he brought out the Claw and Shield Astroswitches and set them aside. Then, he took Dark Repulsor, cursed when he almost fell over from the weight, then...made it disappear?

"What the?!" To say Zero was surprised would be an understatement. He was outright shocked! "How did you-?!"

"I used the Fourze Driver's Subspace Pocket, the place where the extra Astroswitches are stored, to stash it away. I don't know how big it is, though, so I removed the Claw and Shield Switches out of it before I put it in," Sharath explained bemusedly.

"...That... sorta... makes sense...?" Zero said, quite unsure about the procedure himself.

"Oh! That reminds me," Sharath remembered. "Ozpin wanted to talk with you," he said.

"Ok, but, where is he?"

"Outside," Sharath said. "I should probably go let him in," he realized. He left through the door. A few seconds passed before Ozpin himself walked through.

"Hello there, young man," Professor Ozpin started. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah," Zero replied, a bit nervous at having to meet the man this early. "You're Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and the man who claims to have made more mistakes than any man or woman in the world."

"Oh, I'm sure I've never made that claim to the public, Zero, right?" Ozpin questioned.

"Zero is my pen-name, Sir," Zero replied. "And I'm sure that Sharath here gave you the details about us being from another world?"

"...You know, I'm outside and I can still hear you!" said Fourze yelled from outside the room.

"Yes, and I'm sure that the Professor here was listening in on our conversation with his scroll the entire time," Zero yelled back dryly.

"Well, this is embarrassing," Ozpin stated quite calmly. "Going by your tone, I take it that this world's story has also been recorded in your own?"

"Well, yes," Zero replied uncertainly. "Though we don't have the full details yet, and I don't know which point in the story we're at right now."

"Hm, I see," Ozpin pondered. "So then, at what point would the story start, exactly?"

"Well," Zero mentally went over his knowledge of RWBY. "Sometime before the beginning of the school year, though I don't know which year in particular, because that was never made clear to my knowledge."

Sharath rolled his eyes as he walked back in. "There's a really simple way to tell, Zero," he pointed out. He then turned to Ozpin. "Headmaster, have you ever heard of a girl by the name of Ruby Rose?" he asked.

"Hm," Ozpin thought for a moment. "Not to my knowledge, is she important to the story?"

"Well, she is the main Protagonist," Zero answered. "And you apparently accept her into the academy two years early because you're impressed with her Scythe skills."

"Really now," Ozpin looks thoughtful. "What are the relics that her class would find for the Initiation?"

"Chess Pieces," Zero replied automatically.

"That would be the relic I am planning for this year's class," Ozpin states contemplatively. "Going by that, I'd say that we have five weeks before the story begins."

"You know..." Sharath started, causing Ozpin and Zero to turn to him. "You said that there have been more reports of strange light shows, right, Headmaster? But they're all over Vale...if they're also convention goers, then we need to find them," he decided.

"Wait, there are more of us?!" Zero let out, startled.

"True, with this many Arrivals, all with powers like you two, there could be quite a panic," Ozpin stated. "I will see what we can do for the matter, but first, there is another matter to attend to." With that, Ozpin turned towards Zero. "You said that Zero is your pen-name, does that mean you are an author?"

"Well, I'm more of a Novice," Zero admitted, a bit embarrassed while doing so. "Oath-I mean, Sharath here, has been helping me out on this forum we both frequent, but I'm not very good."

"Hm, it's strange to see a writer using a sword instead of a pen," Ozpin commented. "But I digress, Zero is not your real name. So, what is it?"

"Um, uh," Zero didn't know how to reply to this one. "I'm not sure if I can really tell anyone that, Sir..."

"What?!" Sharath let out. "But, why not, I mean it's your name!"

"Well," Zero hesitated for a bit. "I'm just not sure if my own name would apply for this world. I mean, I'm not sure if this is entirely my own body anymore. Heck, even my face changed. So I just don't think my name would fit for this body..."

"Hm, I take it that there is more to it than simply being uncomfortable, isn't there?" Ozpin questioned.

"Well... yes," Zero replied sheepishly. "To tell the truth, for as long as I could remember, I've wanted to be a hero, someone that could help others, and is looked up to for it. And sometimes, in my mind, I would think up plans to change myself so that I could be like those heroes that I admire..." Zero has a wistful look on his face, but it doesn't last long. "...But, I couldn't change myself. I just, couldn't leave my comfort zone. But, now I'm here, in a world that I'm completely unused to, with a different body and face altogether. I guess... I guess I just see it as my chance to be someone new, not the old me, not Kirito, just a new me, so to speak... is that bad?"

"I get where you're coming from, Zero, but your name is your name. It's that priceless thing that sums you up in a nutshell. Are you really willing to give up your own name, just to play a part?" Sharath asked skeptically.

"Who said anything about giving it up?" Zero retorted. "I'll always remember it. Heck, I'd burn it into my skin so that I'll remember who I am. But I don't feel comfortable revealing my real name while I'm like this. I'll only give out my real name, when I'm me again."

"Teh. What are the odds of that happening?" Sharath asked bitterly. "We're stuck here in a World we barely know anything about, almost completely changed physically, and now you want to give up your own name? Forgive me if I find that completely stupid," he criticized.

"Now, now, calm down, both of you." Ozpin stepped in, giving a strict look to both young men.

"What Zero decides is his own choice; what he wants to be called in this World is entirely up to him. Whatever happens in consequence, happens." Ozpin then directed his attention to Zero. "As for you, Zero, if you're going to go by a different name here, make sure to always keep something that will remind you of who you truly are, for time can be unforgiving. And I promise, both of you, I shall do everything in my power to send you both, and every Arrival home. Understand?"

"...Yes sir, thank you." Zero replied, after calming down.

"...Alright, fine." Sharath answered reluctantly.

"Good, so Zero, what do you wish to be called here?" Ozpin questioned.

"...well..." Zero thought it over. "Zero Wright. Wright is my mom's maiden name."

"I see," Ozpin nodded. "Zero Wright, while you are in this world, would you like to be a student at this school?"

"Huh?!" Zero was startled at this question.

"Obviously, you will need to learn how to properly use a sword," Ozpin started. "And on top of that, you need to learn how to use these 'Sword Skills' of yours, and we have a number of combat instructors here. Otherwise, I'm not sure how well you would survive in this world. So, what do you say?"

"That offer have an extension on it?" Sharath interjected. "Because I get the feeling that a lot of people are going to need it," he pointed out.

"Don't worry, that is my plan after all," Ozpin replied calmly. "This offer extends to you as well, Mr. Sharath. So, what are your answers."

Zero thought it over. True, it wasn't like he was just going to find any real sword masters outside of Beacon. Heck, it was a lucky break that he ended up so close to the school in the first place. So the choice was obvious. "I accept your offer, Professor Ozpin!"

"Same. I need a controlled enviornment to get used to the Switches, plus there's a few Switch Combos Gentarou never used that I'm interested in trying out. Of course, that would require more of the Switches to be working," Sharath said sourly, glancing at his bag.

"Very good," Ozpin smiled at the boys' answers. "Now, are there anymore questions?"

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"Yeah..." A suddenly faint sounding Zero let out. "Do you have any food...?"

Sharath smacked his face, then went over to his bag. "Here. I had a sandwich I was saving for lunch," he said, tossing a strawberry jam sandwich at Zero. Suddenly, a glow from his bag distracted him. Digging into it, the glowing turned out to be...

"Oh hey, the Camera Switch is working now!" he beamed.

"Gee, thanks Sharath," Zero gave out, kinda embarrassed due to their argument earlier. "Aside from this, a PB&J I had in the forest, and breakfast at the airport, I haven't eaten all day. But wait, the Camera Switch just got working? How long does it take for those things to work?"

"No clue," Sharath shrugged. "The first four, Claw, and Shield were the only ones working when I got here. Doubt Cosmic'll be working any time soon," he said sourly.

"...Oh, and if we're really going to do this," he started hesitantly.

"...What?" Zero asked, expectantly.

Ozpin just stood by, looking unperturbed at the fact that he was being ignored for the time being.

"...Call me Gentarou. It's only fitting that I take up his legacy for as long as we're here."

"Oh." That surprised Zero a bit, considering that they were arguing about pseudonyms just a few minutes ago. "Okay. Nice to meet you, Gentarou-Senpai." Zero gave out his hand in greeting.

"I got your point earlier, Zero. It's just that I didn't really want to give up my name all willy nilly. This isn't fanfiction, after all," Gentarou said amiably. He accepted Zero's handshake...and went into the original Gentarou's own handshake. "Why do I keep doing that?" Gentarou asked as he stared at his hand.

"Maybe you're just getting too into character?" Zero asked, in an amused manner.

"Well," Ozpin interrupted. "I'm glad to see you both getting along so well. Now, it is getting late, so I suggest everyone should turn in for the night. Mr. Gentarou, there is a guest room prepared for you until the semester starts, so here are the directions." Ozpin handed a piece of paper with a map and directions to Gentarou. "As for you Mr. Zero, we have a similar guest room for when you recover, which should be quite soon. I must admit, I am quite surprised by how fast you're healing. At this rate, you'll be finished up by late afternoon tomorrow. Well, either way, goodnight. Oh, and welcome to Beacon Academy." He said the last part with a smile as he walked out the door.

"What do we do now?" Zero asked.

"We are going to do nothing right now. Tomorrow, I'm going to go look for other people from the convention, while you stay in bed and get some rest," Gentarou said sternly. "Even if you do have accelerated healing, take the time to rest and get acclimated."

"Alright, alright, I'm not Joker, I know when not to be an idiot," Zero talked back. "...well, good night."

"Okay, I was just making sure you understood that. Also, don't let him hear you say that whenever I find him. Night." With that, Gentarou departed.

With no one else around, Zero collapsed onto the bed completely. "What a day. I flew all the way to Malaysia for an Anime Convention, and instead I get zapped into an SI fic. I really hope Ozpin can find a way home, I already miss it." Zero just lay there thinking for a few more minutes. "Well, now's not the time to be worrying, I'm feeling a bit tired, might as well go to sleep." And with that he closed his eyes, and instantly fell into a dreamless sleep.

Episode 01 - Fin

OathToOblivion: And another chapter is finished!

Novice' Writer Zero: Wow, I hope that I didn't come off as some whiny coward. Or worse, Matou Shinji. (Shiver)

OathToOblivion: Of course you didn't, Zero. Well, counting myself, that's two convention goers down. But there's a whole lot of people all over Remnant left to find. This next "Arc", I guess you could say, is about finding all these new "Arrivals" and bringing them to Beacon. The next one we find will be my Second Rider as a matter of fact!

So, next time on Remnants of Worlds: Episode 02 - Moon and CPU! See you guys then!