Fuse

Nobody ended up talking to me after I roamed the street for about 30 minutes waiting for something interesting to happen.

Interestingly enough, though, it seemed like all of the citizens could guess my tier of power and stayed steer clear of me. It feels like they hated every single gamer, no matter their nature.

Yet another point for me utterly destroying them all for my own sake later.

Anyhow, I figured that my next course of action would be to inspect the huge ass cage that apparently trapped all of the gamers inside of Vale. According to the others I talked to, nothing they did could let them escape or destroy it.

According to the few citizens I talked to, they could easily walk out of it. The ones who didn't were too prideful to leave their home, or stayed because it was now the cheapest place to be, to be at the mercy of the gamers.

According to this world's internet, it was a gate that kept the demons inside at bay.

Again, I'll be doing this world a favor.

Flying over a few miles to one side of the barrier, I landed in the middle of a small street that led outside of the barrier.

It seems as though there were a lot of people who lived nearby, who had jobs on the outside, but lived on the inside.

Taking the moment to observe the barrier…

[Replica Wall of The Universe - A barrier which replicates that of the one surrounding the universe. Not a single Gamer is allowed to pass through, for those parasites are not permitted to spread their corruption further. Those who do not abide by the laws of the universe are permitted to pass through.]

I hummed in slight interest at the blurb.

If this was a replica of the same wall that prevented Skryb and his gang from waltzing in here, I shouldn't be able to pass through it either, right?

Which is why my ability to casually walk through the damn thing was so concerning.

Looking at the other side of the barrier, the citizens around me bursting in terror assuming correctly I was a Gamer, I ignored all of them as I tried to figure out why I could just do that.

Those who do not abide by the laws of the universe…

Well, I do, don't I? I'm literally a person from this universe.

Maybe it has to do with the domino? But then Azure Dragon would be able to pass through…

…Which does somewhat line up with nobody apparently having heard of him in here. Fuck.

What a shitty fucking replica.

That means my scope has to be increased from just this city to the entire world. That's a huge inconvenience for me, since any time I spend investigating Vale could be completely worthless.

I could just start killing everyone inside and hope that Azure Dragon shows up… But what if he doesn't? Then I just have a destroyed city and everyone assumes I can't be trusted.

But do I need this world's trust?

All I would need is someone to point me in the direction of Azure Dragon.

Hm…

I am unquestionably stronger than every other Gamer here individually. I could only lose if they all gang up on me, which is more likely to happen because of the barrier.

I'll shelve the idea of crashing out for now. I can try to just check the internet for any signs of some dark mysterious Overlord in the shadows. Perhaps that'll be Azure Dragon.

I should also check with the people I already defeated and see if I can rely on them for any meta knowledge about RWBY I could use. The Gamers here all had some weird pact where they wouldn't hurt the canon characters. That was because they were all horny bastards who would kill each other if their favorites were touched, but it still worked out in my favor.

Maybe if I can get one of those characters to fight against a Gamer resulting in the character's death, I can trigger a war inside of here. Then Azure Dragon has to step up to the plate to fix the situation.

Or he could be chilling on a beach on the other side of the planet. Who the fuck knows, really.

It might just be a way to get some extra experience for me.

My train of thought is interrupted when someone calls me out directly.

"It is quite concerning that someone like you can so easily step out of this barrier, you know," A middle aged man called out.

Turning around, I had to double take at the white hair but not being old, but hey, I guess white hair is normal for some people.

Ozpin… Definitely some important dude if his name shows up in my Observe.

I casually shrugged, "Maybe, but it depends on who you are. Any particular feelings on America?"

"Never heard of the place," Ozpin replied, gripping his cane weapon tightly.

The Americans here must be shit salesmen then. How does someone not hear of our great country?

I sighed in disappointment, "That tells me a lot about my fellow Americans who came here. Well, I can't blame you fully for not hearing about the greatest country in the universe if its citizens are stupid enough to not tell you about it. I'll let you pass for now."

Obviously confused, he warily nodded his head, "I see… But who are you?"

"My name is Fuse, you're Ozpin. If you've talked to the other Gamers here, you know my powers," I skipped the introduction, "More importantly, what's the deal with you coming to me?"

"I was simply in the area when I heard news of a Gamer passing the barrier," He said, still on guard, "We are lucky that the Gamers inside of Vale are stuck in there. If the barrier were to disappear…"

"Yeah, I can guess," I waved him off to get him to stop talking, "In other news, have you ever heard of a guy named Azure Dragon before?"

Ozpin paused for a moment before answering, "Why do you wish to learn about him?"

Ah, so he does know the guy. Otherwise he wouldn't be this sly about his answer.

"I want to kill him," I plainly replied, slightly surprising him, which I had to admonish, "What? You know I came from outside of this barrier, you've never seen me before. Is it so outlandish that I came here to kill a guy?"

Ozpin nodded, "Perhaps a bit. We've prayed for a miracle that never came for these Gamers to be gone. If you are looking to upset the balance, then all you will do is end up destroying Vale."

Looking nearby and seeing people hold up their cameras to us, I told him, "Well, maybe that is my end goal. Who knows? But more importantly, I'd wager a guess you want to have this conversation in a more secluded area, so why don't I follow you for a bit?"

Turning around to check the situation and seeing that I was right, Ozpin agreed to my offer, "Then follow me. I will lead you to Beacon. Mercifully, it is outside of the barrier."

As he began to walk, I decided to offer him a ride with Texas, my Salamence.

Yeah, I was not fucking walking.

AN:

I guess my muse broke after writing 100k words last month lmao. Finished literally an hour and 30 minutes before Saturday ends for me.

It was expected but damn, I was not expecting to crash THIS hard.

Anyways, this chapter is like 1k words long solely to make sure I can write another 1k words for the 20th.

Both Inauguration Day and MLK Day are federal holidays. Luckily for me, they fall on the same day this year.

I've also been doing a little thinking. I can probably finish this fic in maybe the span of two months if I were to write only Manifest Destiny in that timespan.

I might actually do it and get the 4 fics I'm writing back to 3.

Though, if I had to pick a timeframe, it would probably be in March.

Anyhow, apologies for my writing motivation suddenly cracking for half a month. We'll pick it back up in February.