"We're here." Kaneki said into his scroll. He heard two voices mutter behind him. Something about walking, he didn't really care.

"Good." Emerald was on the line. Apparently Cinder was occupied with some surgeons. "Leave them at room 4C and then go to room 4F." Kaneki beckoned the cannibals to follow him into the building. "Are you sure about this?" The girl on the other end of the line asked worriedly. "I know you've got over-the-top regeneration but still-"

"I can handle it." The ghoul stated calmly. "I've gone through worse."

"What can be worse than having one of your organs being taken out while still being conscious?"

"You don't want to know." Kaneki told her. He felt several eyes stare into the back of his head. "You really don't." After that unceremonious end to the call, the fox faunus spoke up.

"There's something you're not telling us." He could hear the wobble in her voice, even if the other two couldn't. Kaneki considered just keeping silent as they took the elevator up to the forth floor. However, it would probably be easier on Cinder if he told them the truth.

Some of the truth anyway.

"I'm going to drop you off in a room. Someone will come see you and prepare you for the operation." True. "I will head to different room, and get prepared myself." Also true.

"Why do you need to be prepared?" The shorter one, Oasis seemed even more suspicious than his friend.

"You're receiving my organs." Again, true. The large man's head shot up slightly, eyes wide. He hadn't said a single word since the ghoul had entered his presence. He seemed docile though, despite his size and possibly his strength. Maybe he'd fit in with the ghoul's own plans. "Well, parts of them anyway. They'll be merged with your own, and that is how you'll become ghouls."

"Wait a sec." Oasis cut in again. "If we need your organs in order to become ghouls, how exactly did you become one? That Fall chick said you were the first."

"I'm the first successful one." True, his operation had been successful, but it had also been the first. The first his world anyway. "I'm actually the second. The original ghoul was unstable from what I understand." A lie.

"How so?"

"I'm not sure. They didn't tell me much." A lie. Quite the opposite in fact. The only one who knew about him being actually 'made' was Cinder. Neither Torchwick, Mercury, or even Emerald knew. The only reason the three cannibals behind him thought he had gone under an operation was because it made convincing them easier. "All I know is that it was supposedly messy."

"Alright, here we are." He and the cannibals now stood in front of a basic wooden door. A plastic plaque next to it reading '4C'. "You'll be waiting in here for a bit. I recommend you prepare yourselves."

"Is this going to be painful?" The faunus girl asked.

"No. You'll be sedated. When it's over you'll wake up with a headache. And you'll probably be hungry."

"That apple's sounding more and more appealing as time goes on." Oasis snarked. Kaneki, to his credit, managed to hide any traces of irritation on his face.

"I'll be seeing you later." Kaneki advanced further down the hallway. Hear a door open and shut behind him, he removed his mask. A bit of searching and he managed to locate his scroll.

"Yes." Emerald answered rather quickly.

"I'm just outside room 4F. The surgeons wanted some of my small intestine, correct?"

"Correct." The thief's tone became a lot more sombre. "Are you sure you can do this?"

"If there's some food in the room, then I'll be fine."

"That's not what I meant-"

"Emi, I've been through worse. I can handle this." Kaneki's own voice was as calm as he could make it.

"What did I say about calling me that?" A half-hearted mutter came from the scroll.

"Look, everything is going to go fine." He said warmly. "I'm not going to die here. Neither will I die any time soon. So trust me here."

"...Fine." Was the answer he finally got. "I'm expecting you to call back."

"Once I've regenerated, yes I'll call back. See you in a bit." He ended the call, pushing the door in front of him open.

The room was almost completely barren, with the exception of a table, what looked like a metallic box, a plate with a slab of raw meat on it and a metal chair right in the centre. The floor itself was bare and polished to avoid any staining. A good thing, considering it was about to get incredibly messy.

The ghoul sat in chair, allowing his eyes to investigate the room. The next few minutes were going to be extremely painful. And while he had been through worse, he wasn't very enthusiastic to disembowel himself.

Then he thought about who he was doing this for. It wasn't for science, it wasn't for the cannibals. He wasn't even sure if he was doing this for Cinder at this point. But he knew he was doing this for Emerald. Emerald and Mercury. They saw something in their mentor. So much so that would gladly murder anyone if she told them to. They had a lot of faith in her, and the ghoul didn't know why. However, he did say he was going to support them. And when he thought about it, the fact that he had gone through worse for friends before meant something.

It's better to be hurt yourself than it is to hurt others.

He supposed that applied here, more than it ever had before in this world.

A deep inhale.

A red tail.

A lot of pain.

As he carefully placed the long organ in the metallic cooler, he sealed the lid as quickly as he could and began devouring the meat next to it.

Falling back into the chair, what was left of his butchered inside began to regenerate at unbelievable rates. He'd have fully healed within the next few minutes.

As the minutes passed, he watched as pool of blood around him spread further and further across the floor. The pain was slowly dissipating, and the organs were all but completely healed, but he was still in an unbelievable amount of pain. He hoped he wouldn't have to do that again. Ever.

He also hoped it was worth it. He wasn't even sure whether or not the operation would be successful. What if the cannibals became unstable themselves? What then? Do they look for more cannibals? Do they make due with what they have? He didn't know.

He guessed he'd have to find out later.

Ra stood at the top of a small, grassy hill. Miles upon miles of flat grassland could be seen in any direction. It seemed to go on forever. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun shone as bright as it would in Vacuo.

How did he get here, though?

He didn't know, honestly. He remembered several men and women walking into the room he was in, taking him and his friends to different operating tables. Being jabbed with a needle...and then he found himself here.

He stood there, examining the empty world around him. He didn't feel much. Not even bored. He did however, find himself growing tired. Faster and faster, the urge to sleep became more and more inevitable.

Just as he sat down, he saw a figure at the bottom of the hill.

A man in a mask.

The man in the mask.

Kaneki Ken.

He reached up to the back of his head, undoing his mask. Around him, several small flowers began to grow.

The mask finally came off. All the features were indiscernible. All with the exception of one.

A smile. A small, genuine smile.

Ra had woken up about ten minutes ago, refusing to open his eyes and let his other senses survey the situation. The first thing he heard upon waking was several monotonous, repetitive beeps. Definitely the kind of beep you heard from heart monitor. There must have been three of them. The second was the sound of breathing. Two different people on either side of him. He was all but sure they were his friends. They had gone under the same operation, after all.

The operation. Right. He almost forgot. How he almost forgot eluded him. It seemed like something you would remember, considering what it was supposed to do. Thinking about it brought up a lot of questions. 'What the fuck does being a ghoul actually mean?' being the most prominent of which. Did it mean he was stronger? Maybe. Did it mean he was on top of the food chain? He didn't know. Did it mean that he was now a monster?

That was something he decided was true the moment he learned what ghouls did to survive. However, being a monster didn't mean much. What mattered was if he was okay with being one.

He hadn't decided. He knew too little to tell himself this change was wrong or right.

He supposed the answer would reveal itself with time.

With a slight delay, he managed to sit up in the bed he was in, a silent yawn escaping him. He took a deep breath in.

And he smelt the people around him.

The smell gave him pause. He knew it was the people next to him he could smell. It wasn't an awful smell though. It was just...unique. Not bad, not especially good, it was just 'there'. Another sniff, and Ra found he could differentiate where the smells came from. To his left, to his right-

In front of him.

There was definitely someone in front of him.

After a few hesitant seconds, the large man saw him. The man in the mask. He sat in a chair, tapping on an armrest to the beat of one of the heart monitors. Ra almost didn't pick up the slight increase in tempo to the man's impromptu drumming.

"Hello." Kaneki said. No hint of excitement, boredom, interest, resentment or anything could be heard in his voice. There was only the acknowledgement.

"...Hi." Ra's own voice was raspy. Partly due to him being cautious, mostly due to his throat feeling drier than a backwater town in Vacuo.

"You're awake." The first ghoul noted. "That makes two of you." A low grumble came from the left of Ra. A familiar grumble.

"Well aren't we perceptive?" Oasis rose slowly, rubbing the sleep his eyes. "Where can I get some water? And some food, now that I think about it. I'm fucking starving."

"You're not." Kaneki told him. "When you actually starve, you'll know. And so will everyone else in the general vicinity." He got off his chair, walking toward a nearby door. "I'll go get some water."

"And an apple." Oasis' comment may have gotten a reaction from him. It was unlikely though.

"And so the mighty Team KORL is formed." Emerald's smile, while genuine, did nothing to hide the smirk in her voice.

"Really? KORL?" Talking face-to-face with a friend felt good. Kaneki had been forced to talk to a group of people he didn't care for, and it only now dawned on him how much they truly annoyed him.

"Mercury came up with it." Emerald admitted. "He came up with CRME as well."

"I'm not surprised."

"...I'm glad you're alright."

"If I'm going to die, it'll be of old age. Now I have to go and pick up some water. You coming?"

"Of course."

A/N:

I'm really sorry about how long this took to come out. Vacations happened, internet problems happened, a lot of stuff.

That's over now, though. Next time, you'll get fair warning before I, and subsequently whatever stories I'm writing, go on hiatus.

Oh and for those of you that are confused, KORL (I'm pronouncing that as coral by the way) is in fact comprised of Kaneki and the cannibal-no, comprised of Kaneki and the new ghouls. The operation's done. Good thing too, because now that the team's in place, action can finally start to happen.

Anyway. I'd like to thank you all again. I never expected to receive so many follows on this. Crossovers don't tend to be popular, eventually getting dropped by either the reader or the author. I'm glad you guys enjoy this. It's you that inspires me to write more than anything else.

Things are going to slow down, though. More than originally intended. This is because I'm focusing on my other crossover, Qrow Hunter Badge. That's going to receive most of my attention, but only until it's caught up chapter-wise with this story.

Thanks for coming around. Until next time.