A/N: Lol, two weeks, I said. Three months is better than three years, but still not great. I'll do my best to at least do monthly chapters, two weeks was a bit ambitious in retrospect.

More importantly, ELBAF! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'll talk some more about it at the end of the chapter.

By the time Maria was done training Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and Ren for the day, the sun had already set. Qrow still wasn't back, which concerned them, but everyone besides Maria was too exhausted to do anything about it.

Jaune let out a heavy sigh. "I seriously thought you were trying to kill me back there, Maria!"

"I'm glad to hear it. This won't work if you don't truly believe that your life is in danger."

"Gah, what a pain!"

Nora raised her hammer into the air and laughed. "I had fun! I'm looking forward to tomorrow!"

"Your definition of fun is a curious one indeed," Ren said. "Still, you are certain that this dangerous training will make us stronger?"

"In theory, it should" Maria said, "Though I myself only know what I've been told. When I practiced, it took six months to learn Observation Haki, and one full year to learn Armament Haki. We do not have that kind of time, so the normal and safer method that I am experienced with won't work. But I was once told that it is in the midst of danger that Haki truly blooms… And that's the best lead I have for how to get you all up to speed fast."

"We will do whatever it takes," Ruby said.

"That's what I like to hear!"

After a brief review of their training, the group hardly even had time to get settled before they heard a knock on the door.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Is Uncle Qrow finally back?"

"He's there, but he's with another person…" Maria said. And that other person's Aura is… strange. It's almost like there are two distinct presences in one body.

Maria opened the door, revealing a boy with dark brown hair, tanned skin, and hazel eyes. The boy took a step back after seeing Maria's skull mask, but he recomposed himself shortly. "I, uhh, is there a Ruby Rose here?"

"Yep, that's me!" Ruby said from behind Maria, "Do you have my Uncle nearby somewhere?"

"Yeah…"

Qrow suddenly came from around the corner and put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "I FOUND HIM!"

"I think he could use some help."

Qrow stumbled into the building, unable to stop laughing as he barely made it to the couch.

"Qrow, did you get drunk again?" Ruby asked.

"Maybe…"

The boy nervously stepped inside the building and caught a proper look at Ruby. "Oh… You have silver eyes."

Maria's hand hovered over her scythes, waiting for even the slightest hint of malicious intent. Is that simply an innocent comment, or…

"Who… are you?" Ruby asked.

"Uh… Well, my name is Oscar Pine."

"Wait for it…" Qrow said from the couch.

"But you probably know me as… Professor Ozpin."

Everyone looked so shocked that Maria felt like she must have been missing something. Ozpin Ozpin Ozpin… That sounds familiar… Oh wait, didn't Qrow and Lionheart just talk about the man like he's dead? No wonder everyone is shocked.

"Hehehehehehe! I DID IT!" Qrow yelled as he rolled off the couch.

"Hold on just a second, you know Usopp?!"

Penny nodded. "Yep, he's a friend of mine. Or maybe a friend of a friend? I'm not sure, we did not interact that much, but he did find my laser beam cool. So, I would say that I have a favorable impression of him."

"Franosuke, what exactly is your relationship with Usopp?" Pietro asked.

"He's from the same world as I am, and he's a dear friend of mine. Now, what does Usopp have to do with this Fall of Beacon thing?"

Usopp being from another world somehow explains a lot, Pietro thought. "You mean you haven't seen the video? Almost everyone saw how valiantly that Usopp lad fought against the Grimm Wyvern, even if he lost in the end."

"He WHAT?! Show me that video, now!"

Pietro pulled up the video on his scroll and handed it to Franky. His eyes were glued to the screen the entire time. By the time the video was over, Franky was in tears. "WAAHH! Usopp, sniff, why didn't you just run?! What were you doing, fighting a scary looking monster like that?! HEY HEY HEY, PIETRO! TELL ME HE'S STILL ALIVE! PLEASE!"

"Last I've heard from General Ironwood, he was admitted into the hospital, with one of his classmates providing funds for the best medical treatment money can buy. With global communications down, however, we have no way of getting an update on his situation. I wouldn't worry too much though, from his time as a student at Beacon, he's proved to be rather sturdy."

Franky, while relieved, was unable to stop the flow of tears. "Sturdy eh? Yeah, that sure sounds like him… sniff… Wait a second, did you say that Usopp was a student at Beacon?"

"Yes I did."

"Did he join midway through the school year or something?"

"No, he was there for the entire school year, with the Fall of Beacon happening during the Vytal Festival at the end of the school year."

"That's… But, Usopp was only missing in my world for six days before I myself came here, and this Fall of Beacon thing had already happened when I arrived, right?"

Pietro's eyes widened as he realized what Franosuke was saying. "Yes, you are correct… How is that possible?"

"I have no clue… This is a super lot to think about, but I do know one thing… Penny, I'm sorry that I have to go right after I got back, but I need to talk to Ironbro now."

Penny shook her head. "It is not a problem, Uncle. After all, this time you are not heading off into danger, so there is no need to worry about you."

This brought Franky a fresh wave of tears as he wrapped Penny in a hug that would have broken a normal person's bones. "WAAHH! You're the best niece in the whole wide world!"

Usopp... To think you've been in this world for so long... I'm sure you must have been scared, but you made some friends, right? They must be the reason why you couldn't run from that monster. I know how tough you are, there's no way you'd let that creature kill you... But still, you better be alive, got it?!

Maria was sure that she would never find anything unbelievably again after finding herself in another world and even sailing the Grand Line with the Kuja Pirates, and yet life still found ways to surprise her once more. "So, you're saying that you've been cursed by the Gods to fight forever until you can stop Salem? And that is why your soul entered the body of this young boy?"

"That is correct… You are the Grimm Reaper, are you not? I'm surprised to see you alive… and so young at that."

"You are correct… and how I am alive and young is another unbelievable story, but perhaps for someone who's lived as long as you may have heard something like it before."

"Trust me Oz," Qrow said, "what she has to say was hard to believe even for me. You of all people might know something about her situation, so please listen to it."

Oscar's, no, Ozpin's eyes gleamed with interest. "Well then, let us hear it."

"Then let me tell you the whole story, about Usopp, and about myself."

From the skies, Usopp looked below him to see about 300 various Grimm swarming beneath him. 300 is a good number… It's probably time to go down there and clear them out. Then, it will be safe to visit the next village.

Slowly descending on his Sky Wolf, he landed on top of a tree branch overlooking all of the Grimm. Leaving the Sky Wolf behind, he then hopped down to the ground. The bottom of his boots glowed purple as he landed on a Beowolf with increased gravity, crushing it completely. I'll have to thank Maria later for the idea to incorporate Gravity Dust into my outfit.

As the Beowolf disintegrated, several surrounding Grimm lunged at Usopp. Catching one Ursa's arm, he threw the Grimm over his shoulder and smashed another two Beowolves to dust.

Low level Grimm like this were perfect for Usopp to train his melee combat skills, per Maria's suggestion. At first, he would select lone Grimm to try and practice with, but now he even felt confident dealing with nearly 300 of them without any ranged attacks. Doing this also served a secondary purpose of saving ammunition.

Besides simply practicing unarmed combat, he also had a small cut off portion of a Bamboo Javelin attached to the end of Black Kabuto which he could use as a spear. And this makeshift spear had a special function thanks to his Semblance.

"Bamboo Culverin!"

The bamboo on his slingshot started to grow immediately, impaling a charging Beowolf. However, it didn't stop there. The bamboo changed the direction it grew in at a hard right angle, taking down another Beowolf. Again, it continued to do this over and over again, changing direction whenever it needed, and making any attempts to avoid it futile.

"How'd you like that!" This move is based on Luffy's own Culverin he uses in Gear 4th… But bamboo doesn't retract like rubber, so it's slightly more awkward.

After a certain point, the bamboo had extended long enough that Usopp could not hold it up, so he had to detach it from Black Kabuto. This left an awkwardly shaped bamboo spear just left on the ground, but it was soon smashed to bits by charging Grimm. He took out another cut off portion of a Bamboo Javelin and attached it to the end of Black Kabuto, 'reloading' his spear. "Now, bring it on!"

His practice would not last much longer, as his scroll started to ring. Usopp froze, thinking that an emergency must have happened back in Haven. "Sky Wolf, to me! Shit shit shit, did Cinder really just show up? Or something worse? I need to get back to Haven immediately!"

Usopp's mount, feeling his sense of urgency, fell down from the branch it was perched on and blasted away several Grimm with a fierce gale wind. Usopp wasted no time getting on, scattering several seeds as the Sky Wolf jumped into the air. Some seeds were thrown, others shot far with his slingshot. More Grimm were closing in on the location they just jumped from, but then the seeds Usopp scattered grew into large pinecones. These pinecones then started to glow, and then…

BOOOOM!

A large section of the forest was engulfed in a massive chain explosion, destroying most of the Grimm that had gathered around Usopp. His own Sky Wolf caught the shockwave of the blast and used it to propel itself even faster.

It was only after Usopp had time to calm down that he realized that his scroll was still ringing. Taking the chance to actually look at the scroll, he saw that it was in fact Ruby calling him rather than the Humandrake he left in Haven. "Oh right… I did forget to call her yesterday…"

He looked at the section of the forest he destroyed in his haste, and scratched the back of his head. "Uh… oops, hehe…"

Ironwood had only just finished receiving his report from the recent extermination mission from the Ace Ops that took part when Franky stormed into his office. Clover and Marrow had already left, but Winter was still in the room.

"HEY! Ironbro! I'm going to need to build myself an airship, and then head out ASAP!"

"Franosuke!" Winter shouted, "You can't just barge in and make demands of the General!"

"Demands? I'm just letting him know about what I'm going to do. I desperately need see Usopp! Got it?!"

"That doesn't excuse-"

"Hold on a second, Winter," Ironwood interrupted, "What is your connection to Usopp, Franosuke?"

"We're both from the same world, and a part of the same pirate crew as well. We're crewmates."

Ironwood took a few moments to let Franky's words sink in. Usopp being from another world… almost makes too much sense. It explains the alien Pop Greens that behave like no known plant on Remnant, his almost superhuman durability, and even his somewhat strange nose. There were even some medical reports that I dismissed back before the Fall about him healing his bones with milk… Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves now. That one has to be false.

"...Why wait until now to bring this up?"

"It's because I only just now learned that Usopp is even in this world in the first place! I just saw the video of him fighting that dragon or whatever it was! And the last that was heard about him was that he's in a hospital in Vale?! I barely even know what happened at Beacon or why Usopp was fighting, but I'll be damned if I let him deal with everything by himself! I know that it'd be unreasonable to ask you for an airship, so that's why I want to build one myself!"

"I don't think there is any need to rush over to Vale. The medical care he received is top notch, courtesy of Winter's little sister."

Franky looked at Winter in surprise. "Your little sis is the one who did that for him? I gotta thank her, is she around?"

Winter looked at Ironwood for permission before saying, "Yes… But our father would never let you meet her. He… really hates you after all."

"Huh? Why?"

"It's because the cola power you introduced to Atlas directly competes with Dust, which my father had a near-monopoly on. He has tried to expand into producing Schnee Cola, though this was met with limited success since the cola industry was already well established. While there are still some things Dust can do which cola cannot replicate, it's undeniable that he lost a great deal of power."

Franky couldn't help but frown. "I still would really like to talk to her… If she did that for Usopp, then they have to be friends, right?"

"Let us shelve this discussion for now," Ironwood said. He had a feeling that Franky was going to possibly admit to planning something illegal, and he wanted to at least be able to claim ignorance to Jacques. "What I was trying to say earlier is that you should calm down. Usopp's injuries were not fatal, and I have no doubt that he is still alive."

"That's a suuuper thing to hear… But I still need to go to him. I can't let him fight all by himself, and I'm sure he misses me as much as I miss him, sniff," Franky said as he started to tear up, "so I won't be taking no as an answer here, sniff, got it?!"

"I get it, I get it! Now take this tissue before you get snot on my desk!"

"Thank you Ironbro, sniff, I'm not crying by the way, it's you who's crying, sniff."

Ironwood gave Franky some time to calm down before continuing. "I'm not exactly fond of the idea of letting someone as strong as you leave Atlas… I can't help but feel that this country will become vulnerable."

"Have some faith in Penny, with my help she's become far stronger than when she was first built. Her laser weapon has been upgraded to be just as powerful as mine, and her body is made of Wapometal to boot. Even I would have trouble fighting against her, not that I would ever do such a thing."

Ironwood let out a sigh. He isn't wrong, but it's a shame we lost the chance to properly test out her power against that massive Megoliath.

"Franosuke, I don't think I could stop you even if I wanted to, so I'll agree to let you leave the country. However, I do want to see just what kind of ship you plan on building first."

"No problem, I already drew a draft of the blueprints." Franky opened up the compartment on his stomach and handed the stored blueprints to Ironwood.

"...Can you really build this?" After looking at the blueprints, Ironwood felt the need to once again reevaluate just what the strange cyborg in front of him was truly capable of.

"Of course I can. Something like this would have been impossible for me in my old world, but from what I've learned of Dust and how your regular airships are made, I was able to come up with this design."

"This is beyond any regular warship, and certainly beyond any Paladin in our arsenal… I will let you build one for yourself, but if you could also build one for each of the Ace Ops, Winter, and myself-"

"Sorry, but I can't do that."

Winter looked like she was about to retort, but Ironwood held up his hand to stop her. "Why?"

"As a craftsman, it is my duty to love all of my creations no matter what. However, if one of my creations were to hurt or kill one of my friends, it would be impossible for me to love it. Now that I know that Usopp is in this world, I can't directly create a weapon for you when I can't be sure that you'll never use it against him."

"I have no reason to fight against Usopp."

"I believe you, but I am just being cautious."

"Franosuke… could you please reconsider? Humanity itself could be at stake here!"

"I'm not going to back down from my principles, how-"

"Franosuke!"

"Let me finish here. As I was about to say, you should have no problems using these blueprints for yourself. It doesn't have to be me who builds it, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I already taught Pietro what I know, and of course he taught me many things as well. He's the one who actually made all of Penny's weapon systems after all. If you gave him those blueprints, then he could build it for you as long as he had a team to support him."

"...I am glad to hear that, but are you still fine with that? These blueprints are yours, so if these weapons were ever turned against Usopp, is it really any different than if you had built it yourself?"

"Of course it is! I never told you this before, but back in the day I used to be a ship demolisher. As long as I'm not the one who made them, then I'm free to take them down as I like! And Pietro isn't just going to copy those blueprints exactly, he is sure to add his own modifications to make them truly his. Do you got any problems with this compromise?"

Ironwood shook his head. "No, in truth I am actually thankful for all of your help… Which is why I want you to stop by my office once your ship is complete. There is one last thing I'll need to let you know about before you go."

Franosuke, even with your explanation, I can see that you'd never even let me see those blueprints if I didn't have some of your trust... I'm sorry, but I don't deserve that trust. As even now, I am hesitating to tell you about the Staff... That relic at the heart of Atlas could very well be your ticket home.

A/N: I pretty much had to re-write the whole last conversation between Ironwood and Franky, that's part of why this chapter took so long.

Enough of the boring stuff now, Elbaf is coming up in the One Piece manga, which is good news for us Usopp fans! At least hopefully, ha ha. Of course, a powerup would be nice, but I'm mostly hoping for some good character moments for him in Elbaf. In other good news, RWBY did get picked up by Viz, meaning that the story should continue in one way or another.

As for the actual chapter, Ruby and some of her friends are finally starting to train with Haki. I'm excited to write them using it, as the main cast of RWBY hasn't really had the chance to shine in this fic. At the end, I finally decided to bring up the Staff of Creation as a way for Usopp and Franky to potentially get home.

On the topic of Haki, I am curious how you all feel about Conqueror's Haki. Usopp has lied about having it several times so far, which is interesting. I've pretty much already made my decision on the subject, but feel free to let me know your own opinion on whether Usopp has Conqueror's Haki or not.