Chapter 6

Top 10 Anime Betrayals, Part 4

Oscar couldn't believe his eyes, scooping up pieces of the broken remote in his hands. His only way home lay shattered before him.

"What have you done?!" he screamed at Neo. The woman shot back a confused look before pointing to Penny.

"Perhaps we were too rough with it," Penny observed, her voice too calm for Oscar to handle.

"You think?!" he cried. "Now we'll never get home! Ironwood's going to kill everyone, and it's all your fault!"

(Oscar, you must compose yourself.)

"No!" Oscar shouted aloud. "I'll never get to see my friends again! I hate this! I hate all of y—"

A thunk on the head from Neo's umbrella caught him off guard, leaving a painful lump. He glared up at her, fists clenched and ready for a fight. Neo simply pointed with her umbrella upwards.

Oscar looked up, finally taking in just exactly where they were. The shadow of Atlas loomed high above them.

"We're in Mantle?"

"It would seem so," Penny added. Neo simply nodded.

"What's your point?" Oscar shot back at Neo. "So we're in Mantle. How does that change anything?"

Neo sighed and rolled her eyes, walking over and picking up the broken pieces of the remote from Oscar's hands. She pointed at it, and then back up to the hulking mass of city above them.

"She's right!" Penny exclaimed.

"She...is…?"

"We might be able to find another remote in this world. We just need to get to the Atlesian Academy!"

The idea was so incredibly stupid that, for a moment, Oscar wanted to believe it. After the things he had seen, the idea that something so simple could be possible was alien to him.

"What makes you think there even will be another one?" Oscar refuted. "What if this world is full of tentacle monsters? Or everyone is a ghost? Or technology is all based around pasta?!"

Penny and Neo both looked at each other, before Penny placed a hand on Oscar's shoulder.

"You've been through a lot, Oscar," she said. "But we won't get home without trying to find another remote."

She was right, and Oscar hated it. He hated how optimistic Penny could be, minutes after her carelessness destroyed their only way home. Yet he still had to trust that she knew what she was doing. Everyone in their world was counting on it.

Penny's thrusters were powerful enough to boost herself up to Atlas while Neo and Oscar held on tight. There seemed to be a skirmish of sorts going on at the Academy.

"Has the fight already started?" Oscar shouted over Penny's jets.

"I do not think so," Penny responded. The skies were dark, but there wasn't a Grimm in sight. As they flew closer it appeared that the combatants were human, with a handful of Faunus sprinkled throughout. A Faunus with a long, slender tail and blonde hair was leading the charge on the Academy steps.

"I believe that man is Sun Wukong," Penny explained. "He is the leader of Team SSSN, and fought at the Vytal Festival recently."

"Is he a good guy or a bad guy?" Oscar asked.

Penny wasn't sure; the last time she remembered Sun was the tournament. She couldn't recall anything nefarious about him, but yet here he was leading an attack on Atlas Academy.

As Penny came in for a landing the forces seemed to separate, making room for her. Oscar and Neo let go and felt for their weapons.

"The protector of Mantle!" someone in the crowd yelled.

"She'll bring us to victory!" said another.

"She would never join your kind!" shouted a fighter on the other side.

"I am not here to fight!" Penny stated loudly. "I seek access to the Academy, may we pass through?"

"Yeah, right!" Sun Wukong's cocky voice sounded as he appeared at the front of the army lines. "As long as Blake's being held captive, they won't let any of us in!"

"Wait," Oscar interrupted, "who's holding Blake captive?"

Penny felt a tap on her shoulder, as Neo gave her a confused look.

"The one with the cat ears," Penny explained, which earned a thumbs up from the silent one.

"These assholes," Sun shot daggers at the army blocking the entrance, "are keeping her from me! We're destined to be together, they just can't see it."

"As if monkey brain!"

All attention turned to the Academy entrance as the voice of Yang Xiao Long echoed out. She began heading through the soldiers; they parted as she walked. "You two had your fun, but I'm the one who helped her kill her abusive ex."

"I would've done that!" Sun retorted.

"Yeah, but you didn't, did you?" Yang smirked. "Don't worry, I'll take real good care of her."

"You can't satisfy her like a man could!"

Yang held up her robotic right arm. "Believe me, this thing is for more than just kicking ass."

As the two continued to bicker, Penny managed to catch the other's attention and slowly creep their way past the incensed army and into the Academy, leaving the fight behind. It would have been a clean getaway too, had they not immediately run into a frantic looking Ruby Rose.

"Ruby!" Oscar beamed. "What is going on? They said you had Blake held priso—"

"Oscar, no time!" Ruby shouted, panting. "I can't find my dad, and I think he's in trouble!"

"Tai is here?" Penny asked, curiously. She didn't know much about Ruby's father, but she couldn't imagine why he would have come all the way to Atlas with them.

"Not Tai!" Ruby shook her head. "I'm talking about my dad, Qrow!"

"Since when was Qrow your father?" Oscar asked, shocked by this revelation.

"Probably since I was born," Ruby responded, a hint of frustration in her voice.

"Ruby!" another man's voice came from down the hall. The shaggy blonde mess that was Jaunce Arc rounded the corner, panting as he came to a stop by them. "Did you… find him yet?"

"No!" Ruby replied, "but Penny and Oscar are going to help us look!"

"We are?" Penny said, confused, throwing a glance at Oscar who was equally concerned.

"Actually," Oscar began, "we're looking for something too."

"Alright!" Jaune pounded his fists together enthusiastically. "Help us find Qrow, and then we'll do your less important thing."

"Aww, babe," Ruby swooned. "You're so helpful." She threw her arms around Jaune and their lips met. Oscar felt his stomach churn.

They're dating? How?

(Jealous, are we?) Ozpin teased.

Oscar didn't have time to think about his response, as the two lovers dashed away, pulling him and Penny along.

Once again, Neo watched as the others were dragged off and she was seemingly ignored. Perhaps she needed a flashier outfit? It didn't matter, the remote was somewhere in this building and the brats were out of the picture.

This was her moment.

The halls of Atlas Academy were familiar to her at this point; it had only been a few hours ago that she was stalking Oscar for the Relic of Knowledge. If only she had been faster, she could have caught him before he met Penny. Before they found that stupid remote in the first place.

Effortlessly she weaved through the nondescript halls; a left here, another left, a right. Within moments she had found the corridor. The technology room, however, was already opened. Peeking inside, Neo was shocked to find it occupied already.

By herself.

Despite not making a sound, the other Neo whirred around to face her. She held the remote in her hands. Neo felt relieved that another device existed, but why did her doppleganger have it?

This world's Neo flashed the remote, and Neo nodded back. The other Neo tucked the device in her behind her back; she obviously knew what it could do and was not about to give it up without a fight. Neo readied Hush in preparation for what this other her had in store.

A sizable group of people had assembled inside a transport heading outside of Mantle in pursuit of the missing Qrow Branwen.

Ruby and her beloved Jaune had also enlisted the help of Weiss Schnee, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Yang was still apparently busy fighting off Sun's army in their battle over Blake, who had remained absent from the scene.

The ride had become uncomfortable, as Oscar's curiosity had gotten the better of him in this foreign world.

"Are you shaming me, Oscar Pine?" Weiss said harshly, her eyes like lasers into the boy who was clearly distressed.

"I just asked what it was!" Oscar replied. "I didn't need to see it!"

"Aww, poor baby. Did your curiosity get the better of you?"

"Correction," Penny interrupted. "Oscar said, 'I've never heard of a Schneenis before. What is that? Is it a type of animal?'"

"It's okay, Osky Woksy," Nora cooed. "Someday you'll grow up to have a Schneenis of your very own."

Even with his face buried in his hands, Oscar felt the heat of his cheeks radiating. He looked up momentarily and met eyes with Ruby, but both turned away instantly.

He just sat there, defeated. In his own world, Ironwood had probably already sent Atlas high into the sky. The people of Mantle would be overrun with Grimm, but their screams would never reach the heights of civilization. All of his friends would likely try to fight the oppression, but a handful of barely adults versus the greatest armed force in Remnant didn't have great odds.

Now he was stuck in this hell. Yang and Sun were having a literal war over Blake Belladonna, Ruby and Jaune were a romantic couple, Qrow was Ruby's father, and Weiss had that… thing. Neo had slipped away once more and was probably searching for the remote that moment. Oscar highly doubted that their time together had made the woman sympathetic

He and Penny would be stuck here. Forever. This was his life now.

Throughout the halls of Atlas Academy, the echoes of conflict rang out as Neo and her otherworldly self did battle.

It was a fight for the ages, a spectacle so breathtaking that if someone were to try and describe it in detail, they would surely fail. And if an audience had expected to hear this detailed description, they would surely be upset by its omission.

When the dust settled, however, Neo stood victorious, holding the device in her hand, ready to say goodbye to this world. She didn't know where Penny and Oscar had been dragged off to, and she did not care.

She pressed the central glowing button on the remote, and was enveloped in light.

Author's Notes: This chapter has honestly been the hardest to finish. We're at roughly the midpoint of the story, I would say, and even when I outlined this thing Chapter 6 was always the sketchy one. It went through several iterations before I finally decided on an idea for the world. Then, halfway through the chapter I realized I didn't like that idea, so I changed it again. So I apologize if this chapter feels lacking or sloppy, things will be tightened up from here on out as we ramp up to the dramatic conclusion. Thanks everyone for your patience!