*Tukson and Neo's House, Nothern Mistral, Remnant; November 11, 2019; 10:58 AM*

Alex jogged to the door, with the young Auburn in his arms, protected by the chilly breeze and falling leaves by a small, orange blanket.

Wasting no time, Alex frantically knocked the door, actually desperate for the first time in 3 years.

A very tired Neo opened the door, wearing hair curlers.

"Neo, I know we aren't the best of friends, but-"

Neo promptly slammed the door in his face.

"Oh, come on, Neo! This is serious business..! Can't we just-?"

"No."

"Wha- I'm in some deep shit, here! Haven't you seen the news?" Alex demanded.

Neo opened the door a small crack.

"Yes. I don't care. Fuck off." Neo dismissively slammed the door again.

"Neo..! I left for Magnolia the second before shit went down! That. Wasn't. Me!" Alex shouted again.

This time, a larger man with an angular, grey-black beard opened the door.

"Excuse Neo. She's still kinda..." Tukson greeted.

"Right.. So.. Can I come in? At least I won't be staying very long." Alex pleaded.

Tukson took one look at his wife before facing Alex again.

"Come in."

"Tukson!" Neo shouted.

"T-Thanks.." Alex shakily nodded, stepping inside the couple's... Surprisingly comfortable house. The walls were lined with beige wallpaper, a small 'welcome' rug laid underneath his feet, and he saw a wooden stairwell leading to the second floor, most likely the bedrooms.

"Huh.. No instruments of torture on the walls.. That's a start.." Alex mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Neo demanded.

"I said 'I can't hear you from down there'." Alex wryly retorted.

"Speak up, Thunder-Blood, I can't hear you from up there!" Neo shot back, using the go-to racial slur for the Adenienites.

"Here, sit down.." Tukson pulled up a chair to one side of the kitchen table while Alex sat on the other.

The three sat in their chairs, Alex holding the young Auburn as he sighed thoughfully.

"Why are you here?" Neo demanded.

Alex sighed.

"Look. I'll just make things simple and get to the point. It isn't safe for me to be... Anywhere, really. And if it isn't safe for me, it sure as hell isn't safe for Auburn." Alex stated.

"So, you're giving up your only daughter?" Tukson gasped.

"Sad thing is, I have to."

"Why?" Neo coldly demanded again.

Alex sighed.

"Yang and I were approached by her mother, Raven Branwen, during our honeymoon. Yang agreed to go with Raven to help out her Tribe.. But, after I left, Helios Falls was literally attacked. They can't disprove it was me because they took out all the cameras before I had to leave. I know for a fact that bitch Branwen set me up... And if she was involved.." Alex's breathing shook more and more as he continued.

"Oh... shit.." Neo winced.

'Since when does Neo of all people have a sense of sympathy?' Alex thought.

"Listen, we'll help in any way we can. We'll protect Auburn.. For the time being." Tukson promised.

Alex quickly stood up.

"Listen, I literally can't thank you two enough for this.. Listen, I gotta go. You probably won't hear from me again for a while.." Alex admitted.

"Just get the fuck out of my sight and stay that way, Walker." Neo shook her head.

"Wish I could, Napoleon." Alex retorted.

"It's Neopolitan!" Neo shouted.

"I know what I said."

"Grrr!!" Neo growled in frustration.

Alex set back on the path, contemplating his next move.

'Okay... Think.. Raven's after you. Gotta find a place to hide. Can't stay here because it's too high-profile. Same with LS or Fiore.'

'Earth? Pfft. Fat chance. That's suicide. Every CIA asshole and their mom will be there!' Alex thought frantically as he took a sharp turn into the dense pine woods.

'At least I've narrowed my choices.. Adenien..? Okay, no. The Crux Family is probably going to waste no time just killing me... Dammit! Why is there nowhere left to run?!' Alex demanded inwardly.

"Aren't you forgetting something important?" A familiar dragonequus asked.

Alex jolted, turning around to face Discord.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Alex demanded.

"Oh, pardon me. The pine forests of Mistral are always beautiful this time of year. Anyways, tough luck for you. Having to start all the way back to square one like that." Discord figured, taking a deep breath of the admittedly fresh air.

"That doesn't explain why you're stalking me like the rest of the multiverse probably will within... 45 minutes..!" Alex gasped.

"Calm down, Alexander. I'm sure you'll figure something out." Discord figured.

Alex immediately got thinking.

"Hey, Discord.. You've still been hanging around Pinkie, right?" Alex asked.

"Why yes. Though Fluttershy is much more delightful, Pinkamena is a true friend." Discord replied.

"Look. I've got places to be hiding in, D. I'm in kind of a pickle here." Alex admitted.

"No kidding." Discord snapped his fingers, and Alex's bottom half was suddenly embedded in a giant pickle.

"Clever bastard. I'm being serious here..! If I don't hurry my ass up, I'm probably gonna die!" Alex shouted.

"Especially if you insist on shouting like that. Attracting everyone in a 2 mile radius." Discord shrunk back, literally to the size of a pine needle.

"Destoyer dammit. I need to hurry the fuck up! There must be somewhere I can train!" Alex shouted.

"Oh, train? I thought you had wanted to hide. Well then..! You've come to the right God of Chaos!" Discord grinned.

"Yes! Great! Tell me where to go and how long?" Alex asked, as grateful as someone who finally got to meet a representative on the phone after an hour of being on hold.

"Oh, hold on, sport! I hear your enemies this time around are some of your closest friends!" Discord snapped his fingers again, turning into a literal copy of Yang, down to even her voice.

Alex froze, already reaching for his sword.

"See?! Your fragile mind is still reeling after being utterly backstabbed by your one true love," Discord explained, nudging him, "So a lot of your training is going to be psychological from this point on!" Discord snapped his fingers again, reverting to his dragonequus form.

"Psychological? The hell you talking about?" Alex demanded.

"I'm talking, of course, about the Crystal Castle. As you may have heard, it was King Sombra's old castle. And somewhere within, if you can recreate Sombra's Dark Magic, then a door will be revealed at the very bottom of a dark stairwell. A door that leads to your worst fears." Discord explained.

"And you're sure this will help?" Alex asked.

"But of course! A strong warrior such as yourself needs a strong mind as well!" Discord stated.

"But how am am I supposed to use Dark Magic?" Alex asked.

"Do you recall your training with Princess Celestia? How your magic came out all black and shadowy? That's dark magic!" Discord elaborated.

"Great..! So when do I start?" Alex asked.

"Right now!" Discord snapped his fingers again, and the two were instantly teleported to the Crystal Square.

The square itself was a vivid place. Crystal Ponies bartered in their stores, a great deal of tourists hustled and bustled around, and the area was more lively than Alex had heard it was.

"Wow..! T-Thank you, Discord..!" Alex gasped.

"You're quite welcome, Alex. Anyways, do you want me to teleport back and get them off your course for a while?" Discord asked.

"Please do." Alex sighed as Discord teleported away, leaving Alex staring up at the Crystal Castle above him.

Thinking fast, Alex pulled up his hood, and walked towards the castle on foot.

*New Magnolia, Fiore; November 11, 2019; 12:00 PM*

"So there's really been no sign of him?" Yang asked.

"I don't know what to tell you... He just ran off last night.. Either he actually did it, or he's as scared as he was before now that everyone's after him again.." Cade explained.

"Okay.. Thanks, Cade!" Yang smiled, walking out of the building and towards the center of town.

Yang soon found Raven, and looked at her mother with a serious expression.

"Still no sign of him?" Raven asked.

"Unfortunately, there is none, Mother." Yang sighed.

"I searched your old house. Neither he nor your young daughter is there." Raven stated.

"What is the next course of action?" Yang asked.

Raven smiled.

"Now comes the fun part," Raven stated, beginning to speak into her microphone, "Send in the tip. Sweep the town. Start with the Guild Hall. We'll clean up after you." Raven then ordered.

*Elysium; November 11, 2019; 12:23 PM*

A young man with dark blonde hair, shimmering blue eyes, and a few trace scars laid in the fields of Elysium, a section of the afterlife where Warriors, Mystics, and those favored by the spirits in charge rested.

A woman in her 30's with similar features as the boy, only with back-length brunette hair, sat next to him with a sorrowful look on her face.

"It seems poor Saigo can never catch a break, can he?" The woman sighed.

"More people died?" The boy asked.

"Most of the town by now has been destroyed. Fairy Tail has survived the siege and retreated to the mountains, but those monsters won't stop coming for him." The woman explained.

"Ridiculous." A man scoffed.

The man also had similar build as the boy, only he had bright blonde hair with a slight twinge of gray.

"I can't believe people won't stop hounding the kid. He even said he didn't want to be involved with the Inheritors anymore!" The man shouted.

"Jason, calm down.." The woman suddenly said.

"Calm down?! Alice, that's our son down there, and you're just going to sit there and watch?!" Jason demanded.

"It's not like there's much we can do!" Alice retorted.

"I gave Alex every chance against Alpha I could! Don't tell me we can't do anything because we're stuck in the afterlife!" Jason shouted back.

"If you ask me, this whole thing is ridiculous." A rough voice scoffed.

The boy immediately tended up at his voice.

"Saisho, now isn't the time." Jason stated.

"I'd say it's always the right time. Saigo is, and always was, a coward. It would be better for him to just kill those two and be done with it." Saisho scowled.

"Saisho, are you nuts?! That's his wife! He doesn't even know that Corvus is just mind controlling her!" The boy shouted.

Saisho glared down at the boy.

"Chūkan, we both know that thing on her forehead is nothing more than a simple trinket. The original version was only meant for controlling power, controlling the mind is a different puzzle. Odds are, she's hated Saigo from the start." Saisho explained.

"No! I won't believe that! Yang's in there somewhere, I feel it!" Chūkan retorted.

"Weakling. Such a soft-hearted attitude was what got you killed in the first place." Saisho scoffed.

"And what about you? You were such a treacherous asshole that you killed Summer, Cyrus, even Chūkan because you were head-over-heels for that Cinder!" Jason shouted.

"You're just upset that you chose the wrong side. The Inquisitors were the strongest group of warriors the Multiverse had ever known. Defeating Arabus, The Shadowman, Salem, that was supposed to be our job, until Saigo came along!" Saisho scowled.

"You're lucky he did. If you guys couldn't even beat him, there was no way you were beating them." Alice stated.

Saisho growled angrily, leaving the general area.

"So, what are you going to do?" Alice asked.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this. There's no way she could betray Alex like that. I'll prove it." Chūkan replied.

Author's Notes:

In a desperate plea for the goodness in Yang's heart, Alex's dead brother, Chūkan, intends to reach into the Huntress's mind and free her from within.

Are his hopes all for naught? Or is there something more to his hunch? How far will Alex go to save himself? And what is Corvus' next move?

Find out on the next exciting chapter of Blood Red Shadows II: The Crimson Shade!

-The Destoyer

P.S.

I'm going to get to work on the Spin-Off, so I won't be as active on this story, but only for some period of time. Say... 4-5 Weeks?

Also, feel free to leave comments! I love responding to feedback and answering questions for you guys!