Ownership:

RWBY is owned by creator Monty Oum, God rest his soul, and Rooster Teeth Productions.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is owned by 20th Century Fox, Chenrin Entertainment, and TSG Entertainment.

I, the humble author of this fan-work, own absolutely nothing, gain no profit whatsoever, and wish only to express my writing and love for these fandoms artistically.


It's 2019 and I don't know what I'm doing with my life.
Also Bumbleby's canon can't change my mind.


Chapter 9: Unforeseen Conflicts, Part 1: Rumors or Truth?

Earlier today, Vale, after teams RWBY & JNPR left.


"I don't agree with this," General Ironwood bluntly told his two colleagues.

It was indisputable that sending children to an untamed land was a flawed plan. The youths were the future of the Huntsmen and Huntresses, but there was a limit to what can and should prepare them for it. The dangers of going to such an uncharted place, with a wild, hostile environment, was extremely; they were even higher with a tribe of sentient Grimm inhabiting said continent.

General Ironwood felt strongly about this. Sending Ozpin's students there shouldn't have even been considered an option, yet they had gone through it. He just heard from Ozpin that he just sent the teams for their mission already, with one extra student due to certain circumstances. Ironwood visited his friend's office to discuss the situation, seeing Beacon's Headmaster and Glynda once more.

"James, believe me, this is perhaps our only option," Ozpin reasoned.

"Why would sending your students to that wild continent be the best option?" James questioned.

"I didn't say it was the best," the Headmaster admitted.

"We should have sent my soldiers instead," he argued. James was a militant man, even for a general, so it was no surprise that's what he thought. "And if they proved to be hostile Grimm after all, then we'll just bombard West Dragon and eradicate them–!"

Glynda interrupted him. "Oh, would you stop that?!" she exclaimed, "Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado?! You treat every situation like it's a contest for measuring di–!"

"Glynda!" Ozpin stopped her from finishing that childish statement.

"… Well, he does," she said, having the last word.

Ironwood tried to retort. "I do not–!"

"No, she's right James," Ozpin claimed, surprising the General. "As much as I too would love to move back to our priorities, this event calls for action to be made decisively. We have to understand that even this goes beyond Vale. Beyond the average Grimm. Whether this is part of some greater plot, with a final motive we know not of, we mustn't be so bold. And we can't risk any more panic to spread already."

"I have served you faithfully for years, Ozpin," Ironwood stated calmly. "But if you mean to tell me that your plan is to really hold the defense, to wait–!"

"It is not!" the Headmaster exclaimed, standing from his desk. "You're a general, James. So tell me, when you prepare to negotiate, which do you send in first? The soldiers, or the diplomats?"

The answer was obvious, but James didn't really want to admit it. When a conflict of any size would occur, the ultimate outcome either side would strive for was peace. Peace is the ultimate achievement of any battle, almost guaranteeing a cease in hostilities and a chance for prosperity to return. Ironwood knew that he'd have to strive for peace with the Grimm Apes in order to get a hold of Vale's Dust shortage. As a military man, however, his instincts were to use force in order achieve such amity, thus where his faulty logic lied.

Before he or the others could say anything else, the doors to the elevator suddenly opened. An Atlas soldier came rushing out, looking frantic and exhausted.

"SIR!" the soldier addressed his leader, "permission to speak with you, sir!"

"We're in the middle of something, soldier," Ironwood told him strictly.

"I'm sorry General sir, but this is an emergency!" the lower-ranked man exclaimed.

"Let the man speak then," said Ozpin reasonably, making Ironwood sigh.

"Very well, go ahead," he said.

"Reports of a riot is going on in Vale's commercial district, sir," the soldier informed,, surprising the three. "They're demanding that the military take further action towards the city's Dust supplies."

"What?" questioned Glynda. She wasn't expecting the people to protest the military a second time, when they expressed their dissention with Atlas in the aftermath of the Grimm Apes' invasion.

It was a sign that the situation was getting worse in the city. The remaining Dust used in the city, which was not destroyed in the terrorist attack, was already despairingly low. The three senior hunters knew it and realized that the people were aware of it too. Now fear would start to take control, ever so slowly, and the population would lose themselves. No alternate source of energy would be enough to calm them down from panicking.

The worst to come out of it was whom the people blamed: Atlas. Ever since the military arrived for added security to the upcoming Vytal Festival, reactions in Vale were mixed. After the Grimm Apes invaded however, despite peaceful intentions, the people perceived Atlas' inaction as a lack of empathy for Vale. Now, they demanded of the General to do something about the energy situation, more than just giving them vague assurance that everything would be fine.

Taking it all in, Ironwood uttered a curse in frustration. "Damn. Get the situation under control immediately."

His subordinate saluted him, "Yes sir," and gone down the elevator. Ironwood turned to his colleagues with a stressed look, then left the office himself once the elevator returned.

Glynda and Ozpin looked to each other once they were alone, the former worried over the dilemma's sour developments. Ozpin did not show much reaction towards the news. Both understood, though, that these events would lead to something greater in the future. Whether that would be something wonderous or disastrous, neither of them knew.


Present time, West Dragon, night.


Teams RWBY and JNPR settled as best as they could in their camp. The apes had located them to a small, uneven piece of land that was full of rocks and dirt than any plants; it was not an ideal for them to set up tents. Although it had gotten to a point where everyone felt a little uncomfortable in their outdoor lodgings, they were able to tolerate it. They also remembered to contact their pilots and permitted them to leave, which the two did as soon as they could.

As it had gotten later and later into night, everyone set up a camp fire in the middle of their gathering, and they cooked a meal over it. It was nothing noteworthy, just something edible that could have been stored for long periods of time, like gruel. There was no real taste or personality to their food; if anything, it just added on to the awkwardness of their situation.

However, they did manage to strike up a lively conversation, as Ren was able to start it off. "I find it rather impressive how they don't need power like we do," he began.

Nora looked to him with an ecstatic grin. "Yeah, they're like really cool barbarians, or something!" she exclaimed excitedly. Weiss donned a skeptical expression in response.

"How are barbarians 'cool?'" She questioned, "the apes deserve a better name than that." She thought such a word as 'barbarian' was improper and insulting.

Yang watched this interaction in amusement, seeing the preppy heiress class ideas with the perky hammer-wielder. It was funny to see Weiss befuddled by people like Nora. Her attention was taken from them though, when Ruby came over and sat next to her.

"Hey Ruby. You holding up?" she greeted cheerfully. Ruby didn't seem to share the same feeling, unfortunately.

"Yeah, just… I'm missing her is all. Again," she said without any joy. This was the second time she had gone without her weapon, and this time she was requested to disassemble it. Yang knew very well that this was taxing on her little sister, being more than aware of how fond she was of that great scythe.

"Don't worry, you'll put Crescent Rose back together before you know it," she consoled, gripping on Ruby's shoulder gently in comfort.

"I just hope they didn't throw the parts into a pile…" she wondered with anxious concern.

"Barbarians are totally cool!" Nora argued, as the conversation about the apes continued. "They travel the world and hit baddies with clubs!"

"I can't even begin to discredit that claim," muttered Weiss in vexation.

"Well I have to agree with Weiss, I think the apes are much more than that," stated Pyrrha, trying to be positive about the matter.

"Thank you, Pyrrha," said Weiss, relieved to not be the only one with such opinions.

"Pyrrha~!" Nora drawled, feeling a mock hurting at her teammate not taking her side.

"They're very advanced with what little they have…" Pyrrha continued, "it's an advantage on their part."

"… So, uh, should one of us stand guard tonight?" Jaune suddenly interjected, earning his peers' curious attention.

"Why?" asked Yang.

He had a sheepish and nervous smile plastered on his face. "Oh just… you know… just in case…" he couldn't really finish his thought, but everyone managed to understand.

There was still the chance these Grimm Apes would show a more "Grimm" side to them. There may have been evidence that such a side may not even have one, with everything the teams saw them do, but their obvious physical nature would say otherwise. As hunters, they still had a job to battle the Grimm and protect Human and Faunus kind.

"We don't really have anything to protect ourselves with," said Blake, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, and I don't think they'll harm us," Ruby claimed. "They'd have done something to us already if they wanted to."

"Maybe they're taking their time," Cardin interjected. "Who knows, they could kill us at night when we'd never see it coming."

Ren looked at the bully skeptically. "You can't honestly believe that," he claimed.

"How come?" he questioned. "They're still Grimm, all of them."

"That doesn't make them all monsters," Ruby argued.

"Sure, whatever," the bully said dismissively. His flippant tone managed to peeve everyone around him.

It was then Weiss had a moment of realization. "That reminds me… we still haven't really discussed what they are?" she pointed out.

Yang looked at her teammate in intrigue. "What do you mean?" she queried.

"I mean exactly that. We don't know their origins, their exact biology or anatomy, or anything relating to that subject," Weiss listed, with everyone admitting to that truth.

Whatever the apes were, they must have had some sort of complex origin and biology in comparison to the normal breeds of Grimm. "That is something to seriously consider," said Ren in agreement.

"Well, what do you think Weiss?" asked Yang, rather curiously. "Got any clue where they came from?"

Weiss attempted to answer, "I–!"

"They weren't living here at first, that's for sure," Cardin interrupted, catching everyone by surprise. The bully huntsmen didn't seem like one who would contribute to a thought-provoking discussion such as this one. So with interests peaked, the others listened to him to hear whatever he had to say.

Weiss, on the other hand, was rather annoyed that she was interrupted. It seemed to be happening more often than it should have. "Excuse you?" she asked accusingly.

"Do you think you know where they came from, Cardin?" Pyrrha asked who, for the first time she could recall, was curious of the bully's input.

"I don't think I know, I do know," he asserted arrogantly. "Took me a couple of days to realize it, but I know where they're from."

Again, his words fueled everyone's interest, but this time brought confusion. For some reason, Cardin was giving off the air of a condescending intellectual, a know-it-all who didn't believe themselves to be wrong. Nevertheless, it was still a sense that he never gave off before, so the others' interests were still present.

"Then where did they originate?" Blake inquired. Cardin took a moment, having food in his mouth, then swallowed and spoke.

"Two words: Mountain Glenn." That was an unexpected answer. Mt. Glenn? Of all places? That sounded absurd to the two teams.

"Mt. Glenn?" Jaune questioned in puzzlement.

"The city outside of Vale?" asked Ruby, needing clarification.

"One and the same," Cardin confirmed.

"Wait, wait, wait… I'm confused," stated Nora.

"As am I, unfortunately," Ren concurred.

At that, the bully scoffed. "What, you guys don't know what happened there?" Cardin questioned in accusation, thinking them indignant of that city, to their annoyance.

"Of course we know, Winchester," Weiss retorted. "It was the Kingdom's first serious expansion, until it was eventually overrun with the Creatures of Grimm."

"Then the citizens went underground to escape the infestation, but were eventually killed off by a horde of subterranean Grimm," Blake added on to Weiss' explanation.

"And now it stands there in ruins, reminding all of us what happened," Yang concluded. "We've all known that when we first heard about it."

"Uh… yeah… all of us knew," said Jaune weakly. He was a bit sheltered in his past, so he wasn't too keen on Vale's history. Although, he did a poor job of hiding such witlessness.

"That's not even half the truth," Cardin refuted them, further puzzling his audience. "You all don't know why the Grimm kept attacking."

Ruby raised her brow in curiosity, uncertain of what he was getting at. "Because of no natural barriers?" she voiced her guess.

"Hell no," he countered. "Because they were deliberately attracted there."

That was a surprising claim. However, none of them could make heads or tails of what he meant, or what he was truly getting at. As if he saw that he wasn't clear enough, Cardin went on to explain what he thought the Grimm Apes' "origins" were.

"There was a company stationed in Mt. Glenn, called Merlot Industries," he began. "They were a big science and biotech corporation. They wanted to be famous by curing some diseases or whatever, and they were using a bunch of monkeys to test their stuff on.

"But there was this one guy, who was the head honcho of the company himself. He was crazy obsessed with Grimm, so he ordered for several of them to be captured and tested on. But they still had the monkeys, and do you know what they did with them?"

"They… fed them to the Grimm?" Jaune suggested, but had a nauseous feeling it was something else. Cardin confirmed that feeling, to Jaune's dismay.

"Worse; they made them breed. Years of their sick research, and they made a shitload of their offspring. They called them Half-Grimm, half Grimm and half primate. They made so much of them that they had to keep them in places outside of their lab, even outside of the city itself. Eventually, their monsters rioted, taking down Merlot and letting in hordes of Grimm.

"Instead of curing a sickness, they spread a new one. That's what really happened to Mt. Glenn, and you didn't know it because the entire government kept it under wraps. They didn't want a famous corporation's exploits revealed to the public," with that, he concluded his story.

Everything he said was… concerning, to say the least. Hearing a conspiracy about a company experimenting on live Grimm and apes, forcing them to breed and produce strange half-creatures, it was a serious thing to listen to. It was also something horrid and disgusting to listen to. …

"So, what do you think huh?" he asked of them, expecting them to believe him. "Explains pretty much everything, doesn't it?"

Neither team RWBY or JNPR answered him yet, looking to each other in puzzlement. They all shared the thought, however, that his story wasn't truthful.

Firstly, Grimm were very difficult to place in captivity, as several documents show how they would die almost immediately when captured. If Merlot Industries indeed capture Grimm, they must've had a secret method that somehow worked. That should have been impossible, as several procedures to keep Grimm alive in captivity have failed. That was only one of many logistical problems to Cardin's story.

There was the likelihoods that Grimm couldn't physically mate with actual animals; that the Grimm Apes couldn't have moved overseas from Mt. Glenn to West Dragon in a short time; that Merlot Ind. couldn't legally make such horrid experiments, and so many other inconsistencies. What was especially confusing was how that company was able to hid such a controversy, and Cardin was seemingly the only one who knew about it. This story just didn't make sense to the students, but he seemed to believe it fervently.

So teams RWBY and JNPR shared the conclusion that it couldn't be true, that Cardin's story was nothing more than a gruesome tall tale. Yet they weren't exactly sure how to tell him what they felt. A bully like himself was likely overreact to their certain disbelief.

Not wanting him to do so, Ruby approached him with a 'letting them down easy' method, hoping that he would take any disagreement politely if she talked to him that way. "… Cardin," Ruby began. "I don't mean any offense, but–!"

"That's bullshit," Yang stated bluntly, holding nothing back.

"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed, scolding her sister for that blatancy.

"What…?" Cardin wasn't expecting to be disbelieved. He figured them to be smart enough to understand, but that wasn't the case.

"It's total bullshit. All of it!" Yang declared. "You expect us to believe any of that?"

Cardin attempted to defend himself "I–!"

"Aside from explicit language, I'd have to agree," Pyrrha interjected. "It doesn't sound true whatsoever."

"It's too unrealistic, let alone atrociously ridiculous," Weiss added, feeling disgusted with that entire story.

"Yeah," Jaune agreed. "I don't think the council would hide anything from the people–!"

"It was REAL, dammit!" Cardin's sudden, flustered outburst caught everyone off. He glared at them harshly, incensed by their skepticism and discrediting of his words.

"It all happened! ALL OF IT!" he shouted. "My mother was there and worked for that damn company! She told me everything she was doing! And I saw them kill her!"

They were taken aback by that what he said. Apparently he had a personal connection to his story, and a deep one at that. They didn't know that he was connected to Mt. Glenn that way, or in any way at all. It would explain why he thought Mt. Glenn was a part of the Grimm Apes' history, but it didn't completely explain how the apes were there in the first place (assuming his story was still untrue and only fiction).

From what they understood, however, the city didn't have any survivors. Did he live there? Or did he witness his mother's demise in some other way? Questions about Cardin's past arose in their minds, as well as some sympathy for him.

Cardin glared at them all, frustrated at their silence and disbelief. For a moment though, he managed to take a deep breath in and out to relieve his tension, letting go of his emotions which took over him. After that break in conversation, Cardin spoke again, looking at the others coldly.

"… You don't get it, none of you," he claimed, shocking them. "None of you know what it's like to lose someone, how it changes you. You're a bunch of pathetic softies."

Having not explained in anyway how his mother was connected to Mt. Glenn, Cardin angered the others once more with his egotism. He may have had a tragic history, whatever the details to it were, but it was no excuse to assume he was the only one with that experience. Yang was especially miffed, as she and her sister had a history of losing people close to them. In her case though, Yang had technically lost two – a biological mother who ran away, and a real mother who never returned home.

With her own issues in mind, Yang wanted to put him in his place, "You better watch what you're saying–!"

"Cardin, that's too insensitive to comment," Pyrrha interjected, stopping Yang from any recklessness, to the brawler's surprise. Pyrrha didn't approve of what Cardin said either, but she took a more civilized approach in confronting him.

"And I think you're mistaken," the champion continued, "the apes aren't cold blooded killers like you think they are."

"Oh, don't try to defend them with excuses," the bully contested. "They're Grimm, they're gonna kill people anyway! Doesn't it make any of you sick to your stomachs to even look at them? Huh?!"

"I think we've discussed enough of this, Cardin," Pyrrha surmised, not wanting this to go any further. He glared at her for a moment, while everyone was very much uncomfortable or irritated with the heated discussion.

Cardin's eyes narrowed at her, "You know what? I was wrong," he said, to the others' confusion. "I'm not the only one who's lost family, I know that. I'm especially not the only one who's lost someone at Mt. Glenn. Isn't that right, Pyrrha?"

She widened her eyes at that, while the others looked at her in shock. "W-What?" Jaune questioned, shaken by the apparent revelation.

"Yeah, I know about that," Cardin proclaimed. "The Invincible Girl isn't known just for her fame. She's known for her big brother too."

"Cardin, that's enough," Ruby told him, but she was ignored.

"How did he die, huh?" he asked her, insistent and intrusive. "Come on, tell everyone here how."

"That's enough!" Jaune yelled at him.

"Oh what, jealous that I know something about your girlfriend you don't, Jauney boy?" Cardin mocked his rival.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" roared a certain blonde hothead.

Everyone looked to Yang, who was now standing. She was fuming, her eyes already red, and glaring daggers at the bully.

"Shut your goddamn mouth Cardin, or I swear I'll fuck you up," she threatened, seething mad. She was just seconds from turning on her semblance, ready to bash the bully till he'd bleed. The bully in question only stared at her, showing no emotion on his face. Cardin looked down to the fire, contemplating how his next action would decide his fate.

He looked back to them. "… Okay. I'm the asshole," was all he said, then stood up and left on his own. He was likely going to his own tent, separate from the others.

Teams RWBY & JNPR watched him go off, thankful that he was gone for now. With that, Yang sat back down, breathed out heavily, and changed her eye color back to lilac; she was emotionally exhausted. Ruby tended to her, making sure that Yang wouldn't have any more anger lingering in her for the rest of tonight and for tomorrow.

"… I should keep my mouth shut more often," Weiss decreed, feeling at fault for starting the conversation that led to this hostility.

"It's not your fault he said that, Weiss," said Blake, of all people to console the heiress. Nonetheless, Weiss was comforted by her friend's words

Nora and Ren just kept to themselves, feeling dejected by what had transpired. Jaune glanced to his partner, concerned for how she was feeling right now. Pyrrha was keeping to herself, picking at whatever scraps of food was left on her plate as a distraction. However, she had an obviously sullen expression. He didn't know what to do, having learned something about her in the worst of circumstances. Unfortunately, his only option for tonight was to keep quiet.

With everything said and done, the eight of them soon put out their fire, and quickly went on to sleep as much as they could. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.


The apes were prepping themselves for sleep, finishing whatever they were doing then going off to their huts. Things were relatively peaceful in the village, despite what was going on and what will happen.

Caesar was still troubled by Koba's misgivings. He was certain he knew Koba well, so he understood where his opinions came from him. He believed that Koba would tolerate them eventually, as his loyalty to Caesar and duty to their people would keep his temper in check. Accepting two races who've both done harm to him was troublesome, so Caesar wouldn't push that on his lieutenant and friend, but he would make sure Koba would do no harm to them.

What was also concerning was Blue Eyes, who looked up to Koba. Caesar saw how his son took the scarred ape's words to heart, even when they were words of hate. He made sure the young prince would not express that opinion again, but he was afraid of what other spiteful things Koba may have said to him.

Either way, Caesar hoped that everything would smooth over. As long as neither party does something to displease each other, the work on those "Dust Spires" should take place without complications. He was still wary himself, but prayed for the best.

Caesar traveled up to his house atop the village tree and entered, ready to sleep himself. Once inside he saw his wife there, already asleep with their infant in her arms. Blue Eyes wasn't there, so Caesar assumed he was somewhere else and not too far away.

Caesar walked over to Cornelia, happy to see her sleep so soundly. However, when he got closer, he heard that her breathing was a little raspier than he remembered. Worried, he lightly woke her up. She looked up to him in confusion.

You sound sick… you ok? He signed, showing his concern for her.

Smiling back at him, she assured that she was fine. Just need rest, she responded. She knew it wasn't the only concern on his mind, though.

You worry about Humans and Faunus… she claimed.

Caesar didn't say anything, though he still smiled at her. She was right, as the Humans and Faunus coming may have difficult time here, being surrounded by the apes. Even though they shared a relation with Grimm, he believed they would see his kind for what they were, not what they appeared to be.

With nothing else said, Caesar placed his forehead onto hers. The two held each other for a moment, and they fell asleep together with their baby son between them, snoring softly in their embrace.


The next day, morning.


The light grey sky returned over West Dragon. The wild continent's many inhabitants, large and small, awoke from their slumber and went on to their usual routines. The birds would chirp, the elk would forage, and any bears still around would hunt.

Within the students' camp, Jaune was one of the first to wake, sitting up and yawning. He didn't have much of a good sleep, as his particular sleeping place was coarse and uneven. He thought that the tent may have been unintentionally placed over rocks, or the like. He stretched his back and shoulders to get rid of any pain he felt there.

"Mm… that's a bad spot to sleep in," he noted, letting another yawn loose.

He looked around in his tent and saw his teammates still asleep, though they were on the verge of waking up. Jaune went to exit his tent, wanting more space to move around. As he started to get out of his plastic shelter, the first thing he saw was a Grimm Ape to his left.

It was one of the larger types, with shaggier hair, thinner white markings, and six bony spines sprouting from its back. As he just barely remembered, the science community had recently classified this type of Grimm as a "Gigantops"; in other words, it was a Grimm Orangutan. Judging from its size, it could have been male. Instinctually he froze at the sight of it, feeling nervous in the presence of Grimm. remembering it was a peaceful creature, however, he loosened up slightly.

The ape stood only a few feet away Jaune. After a moment of staring at each other, the ape took a few steps closer to him. The more he gazed at it, the more he saw a deep curiosity in its eyes, an expression of interest on its wide face. He was intrigued by the ape himself, but was more confused by why it was here, why it had any interest to see him or his friends.

"… Uh… hello?" he greeted, attempting to be friendly, though he felt very nervous. The ape didn't really respond, but did blink and turn its head at him. It seemed to also have a slight smile on its lips, possibly its own attempt at hospitality.

Suddenly from team RWBY's tent, Ruby stepped out. She had some fatigue in her eyes, and yawned from her own tiredness. She wasn't aware of what was going on between Jaune and the ape.

"Hmm… come on everybody, let's get ready," she muttered, rubbing her eyes. As she looked around herself, she noticed something aside from Jaune's situation. Weiss was next to appear, poking her head out of the tent

"Right… I have to make the call…" she said, remembering that she had to call her father, to tell him to send miners to West Dragon and work on the Dust Spires. She then noticed, however, that Ruby was staring at something with wide eyes.

"Ruby?" she addressed, getting no answer. She looked to where she was staring, and was soon shocked like her team leader. Jaune saw their expressions and turned his attention to what they saw too.

Before them was a whole party of apes, each of them gazing at the waking students with interest and patience. It wasn't just the one Gigantops who wanted to see the young hunters, but a whole group of those creature that did. These apes may have been their escort, established by the apes' leader to guide them back to the Spires, or perhaps they just came to satiate their own curiosity of them.

"… Today's off to a great start," Jaune muttered, somewhat unfavorably.


Author's note, 1/22/19:

I… don't really know where to start. I WAS planning to release this in December, after Christmas at least, I really was but… I was way more drained than I realized. College really fucked me over, family gatherings were a bit exhausting, car troubles, mental constipation, getting together with my friends, and to top it off… sleep deprivation. I'm kind of still struggling with that last one. AND IT CERTAINLY DIDN'T HELP WITH VOLUME 6 PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS GAWD. Overall I'm deeply sorry for getting this out later than sooner, as I let my personal troubles got in the way of writing this story. It was an honest struggle to get this chapter out. Nonetheless, I fought to get this out and I won. Better now than never.

There is good news and bad news though. Good news is that this is a two-part chapter; the whole product was almost 20 thousand words, and I just figured that was ultimately too much to read at once. So this Friday, I will publish the impromptu Chapter 10 (I MEAN IT I SWEAR). It may be 15 thousand words or less, but it's definitely more manageable to read. Bad news is because college is just around the corner, I can't really publish any more than that for now. Thankfully this may be my last semester before graduation so… I hope everyone can wait as I go through hell one last time. Maybe I'll get out one chapter a month from now to May but no promises (that'd be great though, wouldn't it?).

But anyhow, onto the chapter itself! As previously mentioned, this chapter was cut in two so it could be easier to read (and more content for this fanfic incidentally). I pretty much cut it at where was cus I thought it was a good enough stopping point. And we got a little interaction between Jaune and Maurice. I pretty much wanted to establish Jaune as a little bit of a parallel to the character Alexander, the kid whom Maurice interacted with in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. There will be a few more interactions between RWBY & Ape characters next chapter.

Also, we got an important (and possible) backstory for the apes and Cardin. I pretty much wanted to show the possibility that the apes had come from Mt. Glenn as to attach them to the lore of RWBY in this fanfic. Also, you may ask how Cardin even knows it; I'll pretty much explain in later chapters how he's connected to Mt. Glenn in this story. I pretty much gave him this backstory because I'm writing him as a parallel to Carver in the canon film, but I wanted to give him more incentive or reason as to why Cardin dislikes the apes. Also, I wanted to give Pyrrha original backstory too, as to haver parallel Ellie from the film. That will be covered more next chapter.

And now we're seeing that Vale is already in the stages of power failure, and the citizens are not happy about it. For some reason I was originally gonna have the people of Vale protest for the recognition of Grimm Apes as a sentient species, but I didn't really have a basis for it. So I'm just gonna write in more protests against Atlas more throughout the story. I may put in some small hippie movement or whatever that advocates for the apes' rights in the fic.

Alright, that's all I got. Chapter 10: Unforeseen Conflicts Part 2 will be published on Friday, that part's almost done. I'm not absolutely sure when I'm gonna update Team JGJO again. I will try to publish a chapter a month with college going on, but I can't promise anything like that for now. See ya Friday.

P.S. so with the latest episodes of Volume 6, Bumblebee's probably gonna be canon now; so I'm sorta taking back what I said in Chapter 7 and I'm shipping them here. Again I'm not really focusing on their relationship in this story because of the apes and all, but I'm gonna throw in a few background moments of Yang & Blake being cute together in future chapters (not a lot of moments but I will). It's my favorite pairing for that darn RWBY show, I have to do it. Sorry not sorry.

P.S.S. YA BOI GOT A RT FIRST MEMBERSHIP HELL YEAH