A/N: Hey all! Back again with another chapter! Oh man, I've been having such a fun time! Kingdom Hearts 3 is out and it's amazing! I've been having the time of my life! I seriously recommend the entire series from start to finish, it's just so awesome!

Well, enough of me rambling about video games. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or My Hero Academia. They belong to Monty Oum, Kohei Horikoshi, and their respective publishing companies. Please support the official releases.

I do not own the cover image

Chapter 46: Red Rage, Grey Secrets

Bakugo didn't often go above deck if it wasn't to get food or fresh air, or to maintain the minimal contact with other people he required to keep his own sanity. But, to be frank, he'd nearly run out of things to do to keep himself occupied. His mom had told him that meditating in extreme temperatures would help him, but so far he'd only been able to do normal meditation. Honestly, he would've stayed above deck to at least start on his heat meditation, but there were too many people around up there for him to actually concentrate. And those damn kids were very, very loud.

Now, with nothing else to do, and only a day and a half away from Menagerie, he basically had no choice but to go on deck. The sunlight was warm, and a bit bright for his tastes, but not quite as unpleasant as he thought it would've been. It would also seem that he chose appropriate clothing for his venture to this island, judging from what he now saw some of the other passengers wearing. He'd opted to forgo the more complicated stuff used to resist heat and instead went the old-fashioned way: a sleeveless black shirt with the red sigil of a direwolf's head emblazoned across the back, along with dark grey cargo shorts that cut off just below the knees. In addition, he wore relatively tough but light tennis shoes with red designs across a primarily black body, as well as crimson combat wraps that ran from his hands to his elbows. They weren't really there to make a fashion statement, he was just wearing them to take some of the stress off of his arms. It also helped that they weren't quite as bulky as his gauntlets, even if they did offer a bit less protection.

"I see you're finally up and about the place," a familiar but kindly voice said behind him. It was then that Bakugo turned to find the captain of this particular cruise ship. He was nice enough, and though Bakugo didn't know his name, he held an odd sense of respect for the captain.

"Yeah. I kinda just ran out of things to do," Bakugo admitted to the captain.

"Must've been quite the list, considering how long the journey usually is."

"Mm."

There were a few moments of silence between the two as the waves beneath them lapped at and sometimes made contact with the hull of the ship.

"... well, I don't suppose you've got any stories to share, would ya?" the captain eventually asked.

"Why're you asking?" Bakugo shot back.

"Well, talking to someone just... passes time, I suppose. And when you've been doing this for upwards of thirty years, sometimes you just really need the distraction."

"Heh. That's fair. But trust me old man, I don't have any stories you'd want to hear about," Bakugo said as he leaned a bit more against the railings.

"They too personal?"

"Something like that."

"Well, if that's how you feel, then you don't have to say nothing," the captain said. "I'd recommend talking to someone though, doesn't have to be me. 'Sides, these trips can get pretty boring, sometimes."

"... 'sometimes?' What do you mean by that?"

"These waters have their fair share of dangers, young man. If you ever want to know 'bout 'em, I'd be happy to regale with a tale or two sometime!"

And with that, the captain turned and walked back across the deck, likely making his rounds, while Bakugo stared after him for a few seconds before resuming his earlier position, gazing out at the endless expanse of turquoise and blue. It was certainly more serene than he was used to. He liked it though. It was certainly preferable to... well, a couple of memories in particular started to come to mind, but he managed to shove those down quickly enough.

It was around when he was having those thoughts that he was suddenly bumped into by a cloaked figure, who gave an apology to him in an oddly familiar voice before they began to move on.

"No worries," he responded as his attention turned back to the ocean. He then heard a quick set of footfalls approach him as a relieved voice asked, "Bakugo? Dude, is that you?"

… wait a damn minute...

"... Gunchucks?"

Sure enough, that same figure, having now discarded his cloak, was the same blonde monkey faunus that he hadn't seen since the fall, Sun Wukong, or, as he'd nicknamed him, Gunchucks, after his favored weapon. Sun quickly removed his hood with a smile on his face, as though he was happy to see any familiar face at all. He still wore the same outfit that he'd seen him in at Beacon, though it, in addition to his weapons, looked surprisingly battle-worn, with a few scuff marks lining the shirt and a hole in the right leg of his jean shorts.

"Aw man, it's so good to see you in one piece! Is everyone okay? I didn't get to see much of anyone before I went back into Vale."

"Erm... I'm not really sure, but last time I saw them, they were alive," Bakugo answered honestly. He hadn't seen anyone from Beacon since the Fall, and while he wanted to be optimistic about their statuses, there was always a bit of doubt in his mind as to their ultimate fates.

"Oh... well, at least they're still kicking. Hopefully..." Sun said as he leaned against the railings of the ship, as though he'd been carrying something heavy and wasn't quite done with it yet.

"Yeah. Those bastards won't give in for anything," Bakugo agreed, deciding to not question Sun on where the hell he'd been quite yet. For the moment, though, it was nice to have a familiar face around. Even if he didn't know Sun all that well.

"So... where've you been?"

"... might as well," Bakugo said as he began to regale Sun with a few stories from the past four months. Sans the Berserker stuff, of course. That would take way too long to explain, and even then, he was pretty sure Sun would either call him crazy or laugh in his face. Possibly both... probably both...

(meanwhile, the Schnee Manor, Tenya's POV)

Again, Tenya had to wonder why on Remnant this place was kept so cold. If he didn't believe in scientific explanation, he'd be tempted to believe Klein's jokes about the balancing of hot air. Who knows? Maybe it was a preference of Jacque's. Granted, it was a rather annoying preference, but one that he would have to put up with for the duration of his stay.

But, it did give him a reason to enjoy simpler pleasures. Like hot coffee. How long had it been since he'd actually been able to have a cup of this?

Too long, it would seem.

It didn't take long for someone to join him on the balcony with their own mug of coffee. "Enjoying the view?"

Tenya turned his head slightly to see the person he'd come to reassure: Weiss Schnee, now dressed almost entirely differently than from when he'd last seen her. She now wore a short, glittering dress with a color gradation of blue to pale blue at the hem, a sweetheart neckline, and a white, tulle petticoat. A white ribbon was wrapped multiple times around her waist, and over the outfit was worn a slightly sheer long-sleeved blue shrug fastened at the collar with a large sapphire broach that had three pendants dangling from it. Printed on the back of the shrug was the Schnee Crest. Completing her attire were dark blue wedge heels and sapphire drop earrings.

"As much as I can," Tenya answered before taking another sip from his coffee mug. It was so strange, to see Atlas from this high up. It was a beautiful sight. One he didn't think he would ever quite get used to. He wished the others were here to see it with them.

As though sensing his thoughts, Weiss began, "I know it's beautiful for many people. And truth be told, it's one of the most spectacular sights I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, but... I guess... after all these years, it only seemed to serve the purpose of reminding me how lonely I was."

Tenya gave a solemn nod to that. This place was certainly had an ominous sense of isolation hanging all around it.

"Well, I hope that us being here lessens that feeling somewhat," Momo said as she too entered the balcony, the door quickly sliding shut behind her.

"It does," Weiss assured her friend. "I hope my father wasn't too hard on you two. He can often be... rather demeaning."

"I've dealt with him before. He's already thrown his worst at me," Momo said.

"It's nothing I haven't heard before," Tenya said too. "I did hear him bragging about various guests he's invited to the concert. Apparently, Coco's mother is coming, as well as... Endeavor."

.

..

…

"... the top hunter is coming here?!" Weiss exclaimed in surprise. "Why didn't he tell me?!"

"Or me as well?" Momo asked in a frighteningly neutral tone.

"It's likely because of your shared connections with Shoto, and that you would likely object to it. My leader and I never spoke all that much before... everything, so Jacque must've thought I was the safest to divulge this information to." The spectacled boy gave a dark chuckle. "His overconfidence makes me sick."

"... is there anything we can do?" Momo said as she placed her hand under her chin in a thinker position.

"Not much," Weiss answered. "If the arrangements have already been made, then there's just nothing we can do this late into the preparations. We'll just have to keep quiet about our disagreement, at least for now."

"I don't like this," Tenya said. "I don't know the full story, but there was certainly bad blood between Shoto and his father. Especially given the match between Izuku and Shoto during the festival."

"There is," Momo answered again in the same, neutral tone. "And while I don't like Endeavor in the slightest, he's still the top hunter. As much as I loathe to admit it, he is good at what he does. Even if he isn't as reassuring as All Might."

And that was where the conversation lulled and ended. As Tenya once more looked out across the view of Atlas, this time he wasn't given the grand sense of scale and beauty that he'd first seen. Despite the others being next to him, he couldn't help but feel just the slightest pang of loneliness. He couldn't help but wonder how often Weiss felt the same.

(meanwhile, somewhere in the waters of west-northwestern Menagerie, Bakugo's POV)

"So how'd you get down from there?"

"Calmed down, climbed up the rope, burned the knots off with my semblance and used what was left to get myself down relatively unscathed."

"That... doesn't sound like something you'd do."

"I took my time planning out my payback after that."

"There we are!"

Huh. The captain was right about talking. The sun was already beginning to steep beneath the horizon, painting the ship in an almost ethereal golden hue as it glided across the dark blue waters of the expanse. He and Sun were currently trading words in the cafeteria of the ship, which was currently bustling with chatter and people, mostly faunus folk, ensuring that they wouldn't be interrupted or overheard.

"So... how's your team? Last time anyone saw you, you were heading back into Vale to help them out."

Sun's face slowly began to fall at that question, his eyes quickly busying themselves with the half-full glass of water sitting in from of him. As he took a deep breath and let out an even deeper sigh-

BOOM!

A sudden impact rocked the ship, sending some people to the floor while others balanced themselves on the walls of the hall or the tables and counters bolted to the floor. Bakugo and Sun looked to each other and surmised what had just happened. They'd either hit one of the nearby rock spires on accident, or they were now in danger of being sunken by a Grimm.

With a loud, earsplitting roar coming from the forward deck, it was clear that it was the latter. The two wasted no more time and rushed for the entrance to the deck, the doors opening with a firm click, leading them to their twilight lit battleground where they saw their opponent.

The Grimm was enormous, having all the telltale coloration of its species across its long serpentine body and bone-like scales lining its underbelly and actual bone spikes protruding from its back. Its skin was dark, only disturbed by the glowing red gills that lined its upper neck. In addition to this, it had a pair of short, clawed arms, and a large white skull with horns slanting upwards and red designs running throughout it, the glowing yellow coals it had for eyes completing the signature look of a Grimm. It was a Feilong, no mistaking it. The only aquatic Grimm larger than it was a full-grown Orochi, and those things had eight Oumdamned heads.

A few semi-distant gunshots drew their attention next, leading their eyes to find Blake with Gambol Shroud in its gun form firing at the monstrosity. Said cat faunus apparently had a change in outfit from the last time they'd seen her, now donning a long white tailcoat with dark gray lining and a sleeveless black crop top beneath it, which had rectangular and diamond-shaped cutouts around the neckline. Additionally, she wore a white belt over black fitted pants. Across her torso was a diagonal strap that contained a smaller magnetic clip used to sheathe Gambol Shroud. She wore thigh-high black heeled boots with gold-colored edging around the top. The left boot had a belt wrapped twice around the thigh. Each boot bore her emblem in white on the outer side of the thigh, and a white pouch was attached to the back of her belt.

As the Feilong Grimm unclasped its jaw, preparing to fire it's bolt of energy upon the unprotected deck and put a massive hole into the ship, Sun burst forward from where he stood, his weapons forming into a staff as he thrust it towards the blast like a spear, diverting the blast and causing it to flow rather harmlessly through the metal of the hull down to the water below. Sun then quickly twirled his staff and placed it over his shoulders, his other hand now hanging over the other end as he gave the beast a coy smirk.

"Sun?!" Blake exclaimed in surprise. Honestly, while Bakugo was somewhat surprised as well, there was a time and place for this kind of crap. Namely when they weren't about to die.

"Quit staring, start fighting!" Bakugo yelled to her as he launched himself towards the Feilong's snout with his semblance, planting both of his feet into it before letting loose another explosion to propel himself forwards and maximize the force, sending it careening out to sea once more as Bakugo was left hanging in mid-air from the attack. Satisfied that they now had some breathing room to formulate a plan, he flipped himself around before gravity could take full effect and launched himself back over to the ship with a steady stream of cracks coming from his palms, landing on the deck with only a slight thud.

"You're here too?! What is-"

"Oh my fucking Oum, can we please have this conversation later?!"

"Erm... guys..."

By the time the two turned their heads to see what Sun was addressing, the Feilong had already sprouted its bone-lined red wings and emerged from the water with a mighty roar. Crap. Now it was fucking airborne. And he didn't bring any guns.

Welp! You only live once!

"Fire the heavy cannon!"

An even louder rush of sound emerged from just behind them, a large cannon with smoke now pouring from the barrel and what it launched just barely missed the wing of the coiling Feilong.

"Well, that didn't work!" Sun yelled over the ring in their ears.

"No shit!" Bakugo retorted.

"We've gotta get that thing away from the ship!" Blake yelled.

"Great! I love making diversions!" Bakugo yelled with sarcasm as he once more launched himself towards the giant beast, hollering at the top of his lungs, "HEY! OVER HERE YA NUMBSKULLED FUCKWIT!" as he launched himself just close enough to make eye contact before rushing for the rock spires in search of cover.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sun and Blake take advantage of the diversion, launching themselves from the ship and into the air as they aimed themselves towards the beast's wings. Smirking to himself, he then began to scamper up the rock spire he landed on and perched on the very top, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Blake took to slicing through the wing quite well, managing to get through the bottom half of the left wing and make it almost useless, and, if the cry from the Feilong was anything to go by, it was likely very painful. Sun, while not as clean or elegantly as the cat faunus, did manage to do some major damage to the wing itself, his gunchucks suddenly a blur of buckshot and force as he attacked the wing without remorse, and a large, gaping hole all that was left from the damage he'd done.

Bakugo then leaped from the spire of rock and let gravity take over as he started to speed up, explosions from his hands crackling as the sped him onwards. His fingernails grew a bit longer, into claws, darkening his fingertips just the slightest bit while his hair pigment turned just a bit lighter and his eyes began to glow like rubies. This was all he could handle of his Berserker powers, at least for the moment. That meditation on the ship hadn't been for nothing, after all. It would just take some getting used to.

"HOWITZER IMPACT!"

The explosion from his hands didn't leave quite as much damage as a full Howitzer, but it was enough to send Bakugo flying through the air once again, his hands aching from the sheer force of the blast itself. He wasn't gonna be able to use his hands for a few more seconds. Hopefully the others would pick up on that fact and catch him.

But then, of course, the world just took a look at his handiwork and spat on it, evidenced by the fact that the Feilong was once more roaring and coming straight for him with one last desperate push of its wings, ripping them both down their middles as it just barely managed to meet his trajectory. He could see the damage that the Howitzer blast had done, exposing about a quarter of its face due to the damage. That was it. That was all he'd managed to do. Shit.

C'mon... c'mon... work damnit! he thought as only the tiniest spark emerged from his hands despite his efforts. Well, there went that plan. No explosion, no mid-air trajectory change.

The crack and shatter of a mirror were the next sounds to greet his ears, followed by the sound of a flare and the feeling of a hardwood deck against his back. Someone had just saved him from getting eaten.

The blonde direwolf faunus managed to slowly get himself propped onto his elbows, where he picked up a scent that he once thought he'd imagined on the ship.

… Minty?

Sure enough, there she was, now sporting an entirely different look. She wore a whitetail jacket with a pink interior and one wide, broad tail; though it had certainly seen better days, thanks in no small part to the Feilong, which had taken a massive chunk out of the bottom half. She also wore brown pants, black gloves, and black and white boots with very high heels and multiple buttons on each side. Under her jacket was a brown corset, curved in the middle and at the bottom, exposing her hips. She also wore a multitude of necklaces, which hung haphazardly around her neck. As she turned to check that he was okay, Bakugo saw her real face for the first time. Her hair, once done up in puffy black twintails, was now hanging loose, reaching almost all the way down to the lower third of her torso, and was now split between three colors: a frosted pink on the right, a rich, chocolate brown on the left, and a few gradual white streaks that sparsely appeared throughout the former. Her eyes were different as well, now being a split between the twin pigments of her hair: bright pink and rich brown. She suddenly blinked, seemingly causing her irises to shift to white. Or maybe a very, very light shade of grey? Either way, it was weird, and something that he didn't get to process fully as her eyes quickly went back to their split color. Sitting atop her head was a small but rather classy looking black top hat, completing the outfit. She looked entirely different, but the scent definitely belonged to her. A two-ton tub of Neapolitan ice cream. It was her, alright.

It seemed odd, but something about her appearance seemed a bit off. She almost looked like that one person that Team RWBY had run into during their highway skirmish... with... Torchwick...

… well, shit.

Before either of them could really process their presences fully, a sudden roar brought them back to reality, and the fight at hand. The Feilong had broken from the assault that the other two had been putting on it and heading right towards the ship, and, in turn, was heading right for them.

Minty then offered him a hand up, the look in her eyes simply telling him, Talk later?

Bakugo, wanting to get rid of the Feilong as soon as possible, took her hand and firmly nodded, and was promptly pulled back to his feet as she twirled her weapon of choice into a firing position in front of her. It was Melodic Cudgel, Roman's favored weapon.

Looks like that talk might be a long one.

She fired the cane straight at the exposed portion of the Feilong's face, catching it almost directly in the eye as the flare burst into red light, causing it to wind off course and crash into the ocean blue to the left of the ship. Damn. She was actually a pretty good shot with that thing.

Also at this time, Sun and Blake hopped on their respective doubles in order to get back to the ship, and, after sticking the landing rather nicely, looked up to see Minty standing right next to Bakugo with Torchwick's cane now hanging haphazardly over her shoulders with a satisfactory smirk on her face.

Which quickly turned to a look of 'oh shit' when she saw who had just landed on the deck of the ship. And, as Blake's eyes quickly found themselves on the tri-colored girl in question, Bakugo realized why.

"You!" She yelled as she marched right up to Minty, only stopping the barest few inches away from her before continuing, "What the hell are you doing here, Neo?!"

The girl in question, now revealed to be 'Neo,' flinched back a bit from the abruptness of the question. She quickly recomposed herself though, and pointed to the port bow of the ship, which revealed the Feilong once more coiling up and readying another attack. It seemed to be very upset about the loss of its wings.

"... if we all survive this, we will have words!"

Neo promptly rolled her eyes and made her way, with a minorly shocked Sun and a very angry Blake in tow, towards the port side of the ship, Bakugo quickly following them as he tried with all his willpower to not make the timeless sarcastic gesture of slapping himself in the forehead, instead deciding to test out his semblance to see if it was back in working order. The satisfying crackle and small booms in his palms confirmed that his semblance was back, albeit with some minorly aching joints.

The ship suddenly started to turn in the direction of the Feilong, causing the four to slightly stumble from the abruptness. Then, the captain's voice rang out. "Hunters! If you can get that thing to stay in one place, we can ram it and take its damn head off with the heavy cannon! Sound good?"

The four glanced at each other, though Blake didn't look anywhere near Neo, and nodded, agreeing to the plan that was being put into place.

First, Sun opted to make only a single clone that bounded towards the roaring Feilong, narrowly avoiding being caught in its jaw before it suddenly enlarged at a rapid rate, gripping the bottom half of the Feilong and pinning it to the ocean from whence it had emerged.

Sun's face told all who looked that this was taking immense concentration and likely wouldn't last very long, only further compounded when he yelled out, "Little help?!" with a voice so strained with was a wonder that he managed to say anything at all.

Not even a second later, Blake launched herself from the ship with the help of a double and, with a few course correction shots from Gambol Shroud, was able to get herself to a nearby landmass and threw her weapon in its sickle form at the Feilong's body, quickly wrapping around its body before Neo grabbed the weapon mid-flight and made right for another small jutting of rock, burying the weapon almost down to the hilt and pulling it even further down.

"FULL SPEED AHEAD!" the captain and Bakugo yelled in synch, though the latter's order was followed by much swearing. Almost immediately, the ship plowed forwards with a thunderous roar of its engine and made for the Feilong's now vulnerable hide.

The ship met the beast's scales head-on, causing a sudden shake through the ship as it plowed into its upper body. It flailed wildly and desperately in reaction to this, a mix of whimpers and roars filling the air as it tried to escape its bonds and flee back into the ocean, to hunt another day. Sun, now pushed to the brink from the pure concentration, stumbled, causing his giant double to begin to flicker and lose its hold for the briefest of seconds before grabbing hold again.

Then the Feilong began to charge one last desperate blast of lightning in the hopes that it would be enough to free it. It angled its head down towards the deck at the front of the ship, the energy in its mouth visibly arcing and crackling-

KABOOM!

And suddenly, the blonde direwolf was launched from his perch on that same deck, planting both of his feet into the bottom of the Feilong's gaping maw and launching another explosion quickly afterwards, causing its head to snap upwards and causing it to fire its blast prematurely, soaring harmlessly into the sky with a loud crack that could've easily been mistaken for thunder.

But he wasn't done. As soon as the blast had been taken care of, Bakugo dug his now extended claws into the exposed flesh of the Feilong, causing it to again cry out in pain as he began scaling the Grimm, feeling his canines elongate and his hair turn lighter and longer before he reached the apex of his climb: the very top of the Feilong's head. With an inhuman howl. He once more planted both feet into the beast's snout and extended his arms behind him, yelling through the slowly worsening bloody haze, "WE'RE PULLING THIS FUCKER DOWN ON MY MARK!"

His 'mark,' simply put, was when he caused a massive, crimson explosion to launch the Feilong, and him in tow, down to the front of the ship, where the heavy cannon lay waiting and ready as the head collided with the front, miraculously not causing it to tip over from the sheer momentum and force as Bakugo held the head in place. Having no time to argue with this, Sun's giant double pulled with all its might to keep it pinned, even as it flickered and weakened, while Blake and Neo spared each other the hostility, at least for the moment, and pulled on their respective ends of Gambol Shroud's ribbon, causing the mid-section to fall into place as well.

All of that happened within seconds. And the battle, long, arduous, bloody, yet so seemingly short, came to an end when the Red Berserker yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice beginning to warp from his transformation, "SHOOT THIS THING DEAD!"

A roaring boom sounded from the cannon in question, burrowing itself into the skull before exploding in a rain of shrapnel, causing Bakugo to shield his face with his arms as he felt pieces finding their way into what flesh was exposed. For several seconds, all he could hear was the sound of the Grimm slowly fading into ash and several footsteps slowly moving towards him as he tried with all his might to calm himself down, to reign himself in.

The battle was over.

He'd won.

They'd won.

No one had died.

They were all okay.

Bakugo then let himself breathe a sigh of relief as he let his arms down, the shrapnel that had filled his arms and lower torso clattering to the floor with dull, metallic thuds. He only managed to take two steps forwards before he felt his legs give out. C'mon. He'd been through longer fights than this. Maybe it was because of the inactivity from all the meditation?

This question, however, went unanswered as he suddenly found himself being caught and slowly put down on the deck by a pair of surprising small and delicate hands. He managed to barely crack open his eyes to see Neo cradling him like he was a little kid. Why did she look so relieved? He was fine.

"Hey... Minty..." he began, his voice hoarse. "... we need... to talk..."

And those were the last words he could get out of his mouth before consciousness fully escaped from his grasp.

(a few hours later, the deck, Bakugo's POV)

This had certainly been one hell of a day. After waking up in the ship's infirmary alongside Blake and Sun, with Neo avoiding any and all eye contact with them until Blake asked to talk to her, he had been successfully rehydrated and was now somewhat recovered enough to walk the deck again. He could now hear Blake rather unfairly chastising Sun just a few dozen feet away, and Sun wasn't stopping her from venting, instead taking her anger in stride. It did seem like she'd been stressed out for a while. This would probably do her some good.

Though he did wish that she'd be a bit less... confrontational. From what he saw of Sun, he didn't even know that Blake was on the ship in the first place. Actually, why was he on the ship at all?

A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts, causing him to tun and see his sort-of friend, Neo, now in a new outfit since the one she'd worn during the fight with the Feilong was basically shreds now. It consisted of a brown jacket that hung just below her shoulders and above her chest, the bottom hem reaching her mid-thigh, and had pink trimmings on top and was pink on the inside, seemingly held up by two brown belt shoulder straps. Accompanying that was a gray scarf and tight white vest that hugged her figure and exposed her bust, with two slightly draping flaps that showed the interior of the vest was also pink. In addition, her forearm-length gloves, form-fitting pants held up by a subtle belt, and heeled shoes that ran halfway up her calves, were all of a matching white color. And through it all she still had that top-hat from her earlier outfit.

"You sure that outfit isn't a little much?" Bakugo asked sarcastically.

Neo, momentarily surprised, quickly recomposed herself and typed out a response. "This stuff's actually pretty light, considering I've got another one for colder weather."

"Tch. Seriously don't get why you'd need more than one version of the same outfit, but to each their own, I guess."

There was a brief moment of silence between the two as the waves continued to lap at the side of the boat, a melancholic sound of distance that was almost consistent enough to be equated with a clock ticking on and on without end or interruption.

"... so, how'd that talk with Blake go?"

"It consisted of a lot of screaming, yelling, and blaming me for stuff that I did and didn't do. Honestly, I expected worse."

"Meaning?"

"I thought she'd try to shoot me before I could get a word in edgewise," she answered with a straight face.

"Yeah, I think she has... issues."

"Don't we all?"

"Fair point."

…

"Your real name is Neo?"

.

..

…

"Yeah. Sorry for lying."

"The hell are you apologizing for? You technically didn't lie, you just didn't tell me everything, with good reason. Besides, we barely knew each other for like, two weeks, so telling me that would've been... problematic, to say the least."

There was a silence that highlighted Neo's surprise before she rapidly typed out her response. "I didn't expect you to take it this calmly."

"Honestly, if I was told this a few months ago, I probably would've decked you. But, I guess spending most of this trip meditating gave me 'perspective' or some crap."

"At least you're honest about it. Also, glad to see you haven't quite lost that attitude."

"Really?"

"Of course. You wouldn't be nearly as fun to talk to if you didn't have some sass. I actually kinda missed talking to you. You were a lot more understandable than most of the people I worked with." she typed, and despite that last line, Bakugo could tell that she somewhat missed her old colleagues. There was a pause in her typing. Brief, but noticeable.

But Bakugo made no mention of it, instead continuing the conversation. "Me too. You're probably one of the only people I didn't have an urge to blow up within the first five seconds we'd met."

"Really?"

"Really."

Neo held her hand over her mouth as she silently chuckled to herself, causing Bakugo's lips to upturn ever so slightly before he turned back out to the open sea, the tri-colored girl eventually recovering from her silent laughter and joining him in leaning her forearms against the railing.

There was a more comfortable silence that followed. This was an odd reconnection to someone he hardly knew. He honestly expected this conversation to be so, so much longer. He still had so many questions for her. Why was she going to Menagerie? What happened to Torchwick? Was said crime lord the uncle she'd mentioned all those months back?

But for now, he let them lie. There would be time to ask them later. For now, he had to get to the island nation in question and find this Pull Punch guy. And maybe deck him for living somewhere so far away that he had to be cooped up on a ship for almost two straight months just to get there.

(meanwhile, somewhere in Mistral, Oscar's POV)

And Jackie still wouldn't teach him anything about combat. C'mon, it's not like he was going to go off and hurt someone on purpose! He just... wanted to be ready in case something happened! That, and...

Oscar sighed as he slung his hoe over his shoulder, making his way towards the barn as the sun continued to peek over the horizon. They'd be having dinner soon. He opened the barn itself to find it barren of people with the exception of one: his cousin, Kota.

He never wore something that would be associated with farm-work, preferring to don a button-up, white collared shirt, dark shorts, and black boots. Kota himself had short, spiky black hair and wore a red hat with golden, spike-shaped horns on the front. He almost never took the damn thing off.

As per usual, Kota only looked at Oscar for a few short seconds before turning his attention back to 'something worth his time,' that being making sure none of their hay was rotting. Oscar had become accustomed to this, having long since learned of his cousin's hatred of hunters, and went towards the back where the other tools were to place his own back in its place.

A click from the entrance told him that Kota was done with his work and currently making his way back to the homestead for dinner. Oscar resisted the urge to sigh again. Kota had never particularly liked him even before he found out about his dream. Now he wouldn't even talk to him unless he absolutely had to. Not that he could blame him. If he'd lost his parents that young instead of...

… best to just not think about it.

Oscar then turned heel and made for the entrance of the barn, only stopping when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to the mirror they kept in front of the barn's sink, covered here and there with bits of natural grime, but still, he noticed something... off about his hair. His curiosity peaked, the hazel-eyed boy approached the mirror, his eyes narrowing the closer he got.

Is that... is my hair turning grey? What the hell?! I'm turning fifteen in a week, I shouldn't be getting grey hair!

It was then that the gray spot started to slowly grow, causing him to start panicking as to what was seemingly happening. Then his reflection seemed to grow in height, while he himself did not, convincing him that, while whatever was happening wasn't happening to him, it was still quite the cause for concern. At least, for him.

In the place of his own reflection stood a man. He looked to be middle-aged at the eldest, but his presence, even in the mirror, gave off a sense of unknowable age. He had tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. He had a light complexion and sharp facial features. Interestingly, he had black eyebrows, suggesting that he may have had black hair when he was younger. He wore shaded glass spectacles on the bridge of his nose, and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the dark green cowl around his neck. His outfit mainly consisted of an unzipped black suit over a dark green, buttoned vest, and green shirt. He also wore black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants.

"No... no way..." Oscar whispered to himself as he tried to get his arms to move, to try to wake himself from what could only be a dream.

"I'm afraid that this is the furthest thing from a dream, Oscar."

"... you just... how do you know my name?"

"Well, seeing as we're sharing a mind, it's not all that difficult to learn your name, young one. Ah! But where my manners.

"Greetings, young Oscar. My name is Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy. So, now that that bombshell is out of the way... any questions?"

A/N: And that's all for this chapter! Hope you all liked it! Sorry that this one took longer than the usual fare, but in my defense, I mainly did it to gather my thoughts for the review of Volume 6 at the bottom of this chapter. And now:

Review Responses:

Thunder Dragon: I did particularly enjoy writing out the imagery for that part of the chapter. It's definitely something I'll revisit in the future, both near and far.

Midgardsormr Jr: Nah man, you're fine. And Izuku certainly isn't the only one who's having this inner dilemma. The other cast members are dealing with it in their own ways, but some will have to face theirs earlier than others.

God-King Ghidora: That is certainly the question. Let's hope they don't lose themselves in it.

Enku: Their psychological trauma is most certainly the larger threat to them at the moment, no matter how much they may want to put on a front to deny it. I've actually been in and out of therapy for years. Let's just say I was a very unbalanced kid growing up. I'm a lot better now, though, so I know what you mean. Sorry for bringing up bad stuff. Hope you're doing alright!

KingKong94: It most certainly is. I'm glad you liked that part of the chapter.

Gorosaurus Fan: I mean, yeah, I think I'd probably puke my guts out if I saw what they did. As to the Raven part... well, let's just wait and see.

King Ceasar Jr: Most certainly.

DD Lore Nerd: Indeed.

Mecha Manda: That is the simplest explanation for their merry band of adventurers. And I don't currently have anything planned out for Tenya or Weiss romantically, but... I mean, who knows? It could happen. We'll just have to wait and see.

Odin's Eye: Well, they do have Qrow on their tails, so...

Rune Dragon432: Glad to be back! And yes, Qrow most certainly does have quite the issue to contend with.

Now that that's all out of the way, this is your official spoiler warning for my review of Volume 6 of RWBY. If you haven't seen the Volume itself, I highly recommend you do so, it's really, really good. Now, on with the review!

Holy shit, the premiere of this volume was probably the best out of all six! God, I love that first episode so much! The entire train fight was awesome, and I still can't get over how amazing everyone was in their roles! The second episode was no less entertaining, and offered up some genuine tension despite the fact that there wasn't any action happening, and it also reinserted Ruby into the role of the main character. Finally! She feels like a proper protagonist again!

As most of you might've guessed by now, the third episode was by far my favorite out of the entire Volume. Specifically because it gives us two things that I absolutely love: lore and backstory. It explains Salem's rather jaded behavior throughout the previous Volumes she's been in, and also explains the pure hell that would eventually become Ozma's life. Or... lives, I suppose. It certainly goes part of the way to explaining why he doesn't let people in that easily and surrounds himself with lies. The one time he'd told someone the truth, literally everything he cared about was ripped away from him with the sole exception of his cane. I think that might be why he's so attached to it. As to the gods of Light and Darkness... the word to describe them here would most certainly be "Greek," as in they themselves are very flawed despite holding themselves above mortals. That's not to say they're intentionally malicious or anything, but they are very... human in their depiction. That's not a compliment, it's just an unfortunate fact.

Now, episode four, as I understand it, divided people as to who was justified in doing what. What with Qrow punching Oz while he was inhabiting Oscar, Yang laser focusing on the end part of the memory sequence and going kinda ballistic, and Oz himself dipping out from the situation, there was definitely a lot of blame getting thrown around with both reasonable and not so reasonable arguments.

What's my two cents? Everyone was justified in how they reacted. Qrow just found out that the man he'd trusted for a very long time had been lying to him from almost the moment they'd met, and even though Oz had a good reason that doesn't change the fact that Qrow was lied to; Yang has serious abandonment issues and just found out that someone who she'd decided to trust had been lying to her, again, despite him promising to be open with everyone about everything; and Ozpin himself just relived one of the most traumatic incidents of his entire multi-century lifespan. That, on top of everyone demanding answers, getting punched by one of the people he trusted most, then getting metaphorically abandoned by that same person... honestly, I don't blame him for reacting the way he did. Does he have a lot to explain? Yes, of course he does. But that doesn't change the fact that he was put under intense emotional stress.

There was no other way that this episode was going to go down. But, one person that everyone seemed to keep forgetting about in all of this, even the characters in the show, was the only one who was caught in the middle with literally no say in this argument despite also getting punched by proxy. Oscar. The kid who was literally being dragged along for the ride up until the end of this Volume.

I genuinely like Oscar, and I hope they do more with him as the series goes on. I can understand why people might call him forgettable or one-dimensional, but for me, Oscar has something that almost no one in the cast seems to have nearly as much of at this point in the story, except for maybe Ruby, Jaune, and Qrow. Potential. There's a lot they can do with him, and I hope that wherever he's taken next is both fitting and satisfying!

Episodes five and six actually kinda scared me, especially the Grimm in episode six. There was a sort of eeriness surrounding the entire Brunswick Farm. Wasting away in your bed, knowing that you're going to die, but not caring enough to do anything to prevent your own death... that's fucking scary as hell. I kinda wish that they'd picked up on the obvious queue of "don't go to sleep!" I think that would've made these two episodes just... perfect. Now, the Apathy, as Grimm, can be most simply explained like this: zombies who are actually terrifying. They suck the will to go on right out of you, until you eventually feel nothing at all. And you waste away.

I also liked Weiss doubting the point of their mission, showing that she does have some sense, and her burning down the farmstead, because 1) I loved the Checkov's Gun scenario they put in for it, and 2) THE APATHY IS DEAD, YOU GUYS! TIME TO CELEBRATE WITH BEER AND TAP DANCING!

Actually, don't try that. You might die or something.

Another thing about this Volume that I absolutely loved was Maria Calavera. Just... everything about her. And I loved her backstory in episode seven. It was an absolutely amazing fight and showed just how much of a badass she was and still is. All hail the Grimm Reaper!

I also liked the subtle world building with the mixture of Mistral and Atlas cultures in Argos. If we ever go back there, I hope we're shown more of the city, because I think that it would be the perfect setting for something like a crime/mystery season, if we ever get that. A fan can dream.

Cordovan was... well, a diehard Atlas citizen, to be blunt. There are some people who can embody both the best and worst parts of their country, sometimes simultaneously, rare though that is. Her turnaround at the end was something I felt may have been a bit rushed, but it didn't feel as though it came entirely out of nowhere, it just could've been established better. Feel free to disagree if you feel so inclined.

Now, while some people think Jaune took things a bit too far when he learned the truth, I have to ask those same people one thing. What were you expecting? Of course he was going to react this way. His partner apparently died for no good reason, as far as he was concerned at that moment. While I do think that he shouldn't have gone that far, I also recognize why he reacted that way. He's human, and humans do stupid things sometimes.

As for episode nine, I can safely say that Mercury has just been upped on my favorite villains list, because OH MY GOD, THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?! Just... holy shit, I have so much more respect for him than I did before. I mean, he's done some really bad shit but... damn.

Also... *sniff*... oh god, I'm crying again! RIP Pyrrha. If you've seen the episode, you already know which part I'm talking about.

And now, we're down to the final four things that I wanted to talk about: Adam, Blake, Yang, and Bumbleby. Let's start with the first one.

Adam, in my eyes, really redeemed himself as a threat this Volume. And his plan, while immensely creepy, is a path of logic I could certainly see him following. A twisted, really fucked up logic, but logic nonetheless. And that reveal... damn. I did not expect to see that. I thought the scar that Izuku gave him in this story was bad, but now I really want to know what in the hell happened to him. Also, there was this one line that I cannot stop thinking about. "You didn't leave scars. You just left me alone." (A. Taurus, The Lady in the Shoe) It is so, so fucked up, and it captures his mentality perfectly. And, while I do think that they could've waited at least another Volume before killing him off, I think the way he did die was very... fitting. Stabbed in both the back and the heart by the two people he damaged the most. I honestly can't think of a more suitable death.

Blake has no complaints from me in this Volume. She's still a badass, and she's still awesome. I do like her trying to comfort Yang in the shed and fucking up. It showed that she's not perfect and isn't Shonen-psychic. You know, where the protagonist knows exactly what's wrong and exactly what to say to comfort their friend? She doesn't have that. She didn't know what was going on in Yang's head and that has consequences, somewhat straining their friendship before she gets it right by the end. And I know that people point to her line as another dumb line, like some of Raven's lines in Volume 5, but personally, I think it was meant to convey that they're not relying solely on each other, but they can lean on each other for support when they need it. It could've been worded better, but the meaning is there all the same.

Yang was a bit of a disappointment. Just a bit. Not to the point that she was unenjoyable, far from it. In fact, she was probably one of my favorites this Volume. But I do think that she shouldn't have been as stable as she was during the fight with Adam. Some desperation mid-fight would've driven the point home that this wasn't easy for her, mentally or physically. Really one of the only complaints I have about the Volume. Other than that, I thought she was amazing, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Now, as I understand it, the Bumbleby moments weren't exactly received by everyone as setup. Some people called it queerbaiting and, from what I've heard, others even had the gall to make callous jokes about Monty being "killed by bees." If the last thing isn't true, which I pray that it isn't, someone please correct me. While I don't have much of a problem with the former argument, as their reasoning comes from a place of genuine concern (at least most of the time), hearing about the latter made me want to put my fist through my screen. I don't think I even have to explain how fucked up that is if it's true. My advice if someone does make a joke like this? Ignore them. I know, I just complained about how pissed off this kind of stuff makes me, but most people are just doing it for attention. Deprive them of that and they'll get sick of it too.

As for the moments themselves? Well, this was the Volume that really opened up the possibility for Bumbleby actually happening, at least for me, and I hope that, if there is a romance planned between them, they get together sometime within the next two-ish Volumes or so. Otherwise, those queerbait concerns will become realized, and that's not fun for anyone involved. Now, I've said before that I'm not going to let the canon pairings have any drastic effects on the pairings for this story, and I'm gonna stick by that; but! If it works in both the canon and in this story, I'll try my best to implement some of the canon pairs, provided they make sense and I don't have anything planned romance-wise for the character(s) involved. For example: as far as I'm concerned, Saffron is still married to Terra, and Adrian is still their kid. I apologize now to anyone who takes issue with that, but that's how this is going down.

And that's all I really have to say on the Volume. This was probably one of my favorites, and I personally give it an 8.7/10. Very good, but could do with some improvements. I hope that if they learn from the feedback of this Volume as they did for Volume 5 (now down to a 5.5/10 after some major reflection), Volume 7 has a good chance of becoming the best Volume in the series. Now... *turns to unrevealed Vol. 7 poster* please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck...

Next Chapter: March 1st

Seeya in the next one!