As Usopp stared into his lunch, he couldn't help but drift off into his own pool of negativity. The second semester was about to start, but Usopp had barely made any progress on his goal. Hours upon hours were spent on research, but he didn't find much. The only thing of real note that he found was that the architecture in Mistral was similar to the architecture in Wano. He had a feeling, or rather he hoped that it wasn't a coincidence. Usopp hoped that the two places had some hidden connection that would help him get home. If he were to travel to Mistral, then maybe he might stumble and fall into a pit that would lead him home.

The only problem with that idea was that the pit he fell into in Wano threw him in Vale. That seemed to go against the idea that Mistral and Wano were connected. Regardless, that information was something at least, and it was more useful than anything else he found. This coming semester, he would have to change his research tactics a little.

Besides his general lack of progress, there was also the fact that Roman Torchwick escaped from jail soon after he was captured. It made Usopp wary. He thought that it was strange that he would surrender so easily, but now his ease of escape made Usopp think that he just wanted to hide his true abilities. What made Usopp nervous was the thought that maybe if Roman was serious, he could have killed everyone that was surrounding him. He was a dangerous criminal after all. Maybe he just decided that it was too much of a bother to fight. There was also-

Usopp's thoughts were interrupted as a tomato impaled itself upon his nose. He noticed that almost everyone out was rushing out of the cafeteria, and there was yelling about a food fight. Two teams seemed to be facing off against each other, Team RWBY and Team JNPR.

"Hey, Usopp! Come and join us already!" Ruby yelled.

"No!" Jaune yelled, "Just look at me, Usopp. RWBY is too good already, you should join us!"

Usopp paused for a moment before saying, "I'll just sit this one out."

"What, you got Food Fright?" Yang asked.

Usopp chuckled before replying, "Nah, I just want to finish my lunch. I'll watch."

Usopp watched the food fight play out as he finished eating his own food. It was a nice distraction from his troubles, but seeing all of the wasted food reminded him of Sanji.

Sanji would probably lose his mind. The two things he hates the most are wasting food and when women are in danger. This fits both… well, actually, it's just a food fight so it is relatively harmless.

Usopp then saw Nora send Weiss into a pillar with a watermelon hammer.

On second thought, this fits both. If Sanji were here, Jaune and Ren might get beaten black and blue. The rest would probably get off with a lecture. Although…

Usopp's eyes widened. He just thought of a very stupid idea. The idea itself wasn't stupid because it would cause any harm to Usopp, but rather it's stupidity came from the fact that it had a 0% chance of actually working. Going through with it would do nothing but raise false hopes.

This situation could almost be called Sanji's antithesis, although that is probably an exaggeration. Surely, even though we are on a different world, his sixth sense for these kind of things would pick something up? And then he would… kick open a... portal? Somehow... And then I return home through that portal, assuming I survive getting beaten by Sanji. A flawless plan. It's not like it completely relies on something that would defy all logic. I still don't understand how I even got to this world in the first place, so maybe getting back will require something nonsensical as well. There's no harm in trying, besides crushing my hopes.

Usopp squeezed Black Kabuto, causing the slingshot to grow in size. The sling itself became a carnivorous plant, and it began eating various food items that were on the ground.

Everyone else is focused on their fight. I'll just feed Black Kabuto a large amount of ammo while they still think I'm sitting this out. If I'm involved, it will be more plausible that Sanji could somehow sense something… Although I'll be dead for sure if he actually comes and sees me shooting food at women.

Usopp was just about done collecting food when he was almost caught in a whirlwind caused by Ruby's Semblance. He was knocked to the ground, but he managed to avoid joining Team JNPR on the wall. Of the combatants, only Ruby was left standing.

Unknown to her, Usopp took aim, using the large amount of food that his weapon had eaten as ammo. Come on Sanji, now's the time where you heroically save the girl, right?

Usopp fired. Nothing stopped the mass of food from sending Ruby flying into the wall. Usopp never really expected much, but he still couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment.

"Usopp! You said you were just going to watch," Ruby complained, "And did Black Kabuto get bigger?"

Usopp laughed. "I did say I wasn't going to be a part of it, but that was a lie of course. And Black Kabuto can change its size with water."

Glynda angrily entered the cafeteria, and by using her Semblance, she managed to restore some measure of order to the room.

It just lasted a moment, but Sanji felt something strange. It was enough to distract him from his current cooking task.

Why do I suddenly have the urge to kick Usopp right now? But not only that, it feels like Usopp... needs help? What could have happened?

Sanji shook his head.

I can't be worrying about him right now. This cake is too important for me to mess it up.

Usopp's research was slow as usual, but starting this semester, he managed to narrow down some of the topics. Today, he was specifically searching for unsolved disappearance cases online.

Something that Usopp appreciated about this world was how it was easy to access a vast amount seemingly trivial information. While in his home, major events were reported in the news and told to the entire world, finding more trivial information would be impossible. For example, even though there were Devil Fruit users in the East Blue, the existence of Devil Fruits was still considered a myth by many who lived there.

Usopp set his sights on unsolved disappearance cases because they could theoretically have some relevance to how he would get home. He basically 'disappeared' from his own world, so if something like that ever happened here, then it would probably be labeled as a disappearance. Although, considering how dangerous the world was, people or even entire villages were known to disappear quite often.

The first link Usopp clicked on described the disappearance of the Grimm Reaper. It was a very old case, and it seemed that she was a rather legendary Huntress who practically disappeared overnight. She's presumed to be dead, but no body was ever found. Most people thought that she was eaten by Grimm, although there were a few skeptics that doubted she would be defeated so easily.

Usopp had to agree with that line of reasoning. From his personal experience with Grimm, they did not seem particularly threatening. Even first year students could take care of them. The idea that a Professional Huntress, and a legendary one at that, would fall victim to the Grimm just seemed strange. It would be like hearing that someone like Rayleigh was taken down by a Sea King. Sure, a Sea King would be threatening to a lot of people, but they wouldn't be able to do much against a legend. The problem with this line of reasoning for a lot of people was the fact that she has been missing for so long that she's probably just dead.

However, if she disappeared in the same way that Usopp did, then that would explain everything for him.

Usopp never found a disappearance case that was as suspicious as the first one he found. None of the other disappearance cases involved legends, and therefore the odds of them being normal was much higher. Usopp leaned back into his chair and sighed. In terms of relevant information, this day was better than most. That wasn't saying much though.

"Hey, Usopp, what's up?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, I didn't notice you there."

"That's because I just got here. It's getting kind of late, so me and my team are heading back to our dorm."

"Alright. I'm going to be staying here for a bit."

"Really? You look kind of tired. Maybe you should rest early tonight. You shouldn't work yourself so hard with schoolwork."

Is that what they think I'm doing?

"What? No, I'm not working on an academic thing right now. It's just a personal… project of mine. But anyways Ruby, I should have the team symbols ready by tomorrow. Sorry that it took so long, I've just been a little busy."

"Oh, that's great! I can hardly wait, but even if you're working on something you want to do, you should consider your sleep schedule more."

"Of course Ruby. I'll try to not stay up as late. I'll see you tomorrow."

As Ruby left, Usopp sighed. I spent two years training so I could help Luffy. What was the point if I couldn't even be there for him in one of his most important battles? By now, maybe he's already become the Pirate King. Although, as long as there remains the slightest chance that Luffy still needs me, I won't let something as trivial as sleep get in my way! I should try to get in some more research time. Maybe I'll stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 tonight.

The next day, after classes, Usopp went straight into his room instead of going to the library. Looking around, he saw the finished team flags laying flat on a bed. The flags were not the only thing he made, but he would bring out those other things after he had presented the symbols to each team.

Usopp moved the flags next to his dorm door, and then he exited his room. He knocked on the door next to his. "Hey everyone, I got your team flag ready."

The door opened, and Usopp saw Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and… Sun? As well as some blue haired person that he may have seen before.

"Oh, Usopp, you would be perfect for this," Sun said.

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"We're going after Torchwick, obviously," Sun replied.

"What?!"

"No, we're investigating the situation first," Blake corrected.

"What situation?" Usopp asked.

"Well…"

Usopp silently listened as Blake's concerns were explained to him. They also told him about their plan.

"So, let me get this straight. You think that Torchwick may be planning something huge, and instead of getting professional help, we're just going to go in with the assumption that the enemy is something we can defeat?"

"Yep!" Ruby said.

"Really? We're students. Shouldn't we ask someone else to handle this?"

"We can't. That 'Someone Else' wouldn't know the White Fang like I do," Blake said.

"Oh…"

That's right, she can't exactly tell others about them without raising suspicion on herself.

"Well, I still don't like this. I've never actually fought Torchwick, so I have no idea how dangerous he truly is. I know you can all hold your own in a fight, but it just seems too risky," Usopp said.

"Sometimes, you can't save anyone without taking a risk. We'll have to do dangerous and risky work like this all the time when we graduate. And besides, I think that we're all pretty good for our age," Ruby said.

"You especially," Yang said, "For the person that beat Pyrrha, you aren't very confident. You have more of a right to be confident than any of us."

Usopp sighed. "I have the feeling that nothing I say will change your minds."

"Nope," Ruby replied.

"In that case, I suppose that I can't just let you do this without me. Torchwick is still worrying me though."

"I bet you could easily take him," Ruby said.

"Wow, you're so positive. No wonder why you think this is a good idea."

"It is a good idea!" Ruby replied, "Alright everyone, lets get everyone's roles straight. I'll go with Weiss. Sun, you can go with Blake. Usopp and Neptune, you can go with Yang."

"Go with her where?" Usopp asked.

"We're visiting an old friend of mine that usually has shady information," Yang replied.

"Wait Ruby," Weiss said, "Why don't you go with Yang? After all, she is your sister."

"But Weiss, who would go with you then?" Ruby asked.

"Well… I guess Neptune could come with me."

Ruby laughed. "Nah."

"Is splitting up like this really necessary?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, it will make gathering information more efficient," Ruby answered.

Usopp went silent for a few moments to gather his thoughts.

I can't believe I'm about to suggest this...

"Well… If Torchwick is really planning something, then shouldn't we just go straight to wherever he is and take him out together? Given enough time, I could find him with my ability, as long as he is in Vale," Usopp said.

"We still need to get information on whatever Torchwick is planning though," Blake said, "It's not just him, the White Fang is also involved."

"Oh, I have an idea!" Ruby exclaimed, "Usopp, you can go ahead and find Torchwick, but just don't get close. After the rest of us have gotten our information at our respective destinations, we can converge to your position, and then we can all go after Torchwick."

"So I would go alone?" Usopp asked.

"It can't be helped. We have an odd number of people."

"Alright, so I'm not going with Yang. I'll be using my ability to keep track of Torchwick without him noticing?" Usopp asked.

"Yep. Alright, is everyone ready?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, but with all of this, I guess we're postponing me showing off your team flag?"

"Oh yeah... Sorry, but this issue seems more time sensitive at the moment."

It didn't take too long for Usopp to find Torchwick with his ability. Although, after that was the rather tedious process of keeping an eye on him. Simply standing around on the streets became boring, and so Usopp would often walk around, making sure never to go too far from Torchwick's position.

Right now, he was leaning against a wall, eating some ice cream. Whatever building Torchwick was in also had a lot of other people coming in as well. It seemed like it was some sort of gathering.

Maybe Torchwick is recruiting more goons to do his bidding?

From where he was, he could also sense Blake and Sun. Checking on them again, it almost seemed like they were heading straight to where Torchwick was. Actually, they were definitely heading to where Torchwick was.

Usopp fumbled around with his scroll. What was Blake's number again? Oh wait, that should be under 'Contacts'... Wait, is that a 'call' button in the contact page? So I don't even have to enter in the number every time. That's convenient.

Usopp quickly finished his ice cream and called Blake.

"Usopp, are you in trouble?"

"No, it's just that whatever building your heading towards has Torchwick in it."

Blake paused. "Sun and I are heading to the White Fang faction meeting. If he is there, then we'll likely be able to get good information on his objectives."

"What?! You're going in anyways? Ugh, well I'll try to get there fast in case something happens, and I'll let everyone else know about the situation."

"That is acceptable. We won't try to stay too long."

Blake hung up, and Usopp sighed. He quickly called the others to let them in on the situation before hurrying to the faction meeting place.

Ugh… Something will definitely go wrong. If Robin were here… No, I don't even want to think about what kind of messed up thing she would say.

Usopp got close to the building, and so far there was no sign of anything going wrong yet. Things looked calm and peaceful, and Usopp let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding.

"Maybe they can pull it off without-" Usopp was interrupted by the sound of gunfire, and he saw Blake and Sun crash out of the top window.

"Wait, why did you-" A mech crashing through the wall interrupted him and answered his question. After briefly activating his Haki, he learned that it was Roman Torchwick piloting the mech.

"Oh come on!"