*Ponyville Hospital, Ponyville, Equestria; December 25, 2019; 12:01 PM*

Alex coughed loudly, his chest absolutely burning in agony after what happened two days before.

"Ow.... Everything hurts... This is shit... Fuck..." Alex winced.

He looked next to him on a table, trying to reach for a mirror only to find that his hand overshot it.

'Wait.. How did I miss?! Oh, right... Eye-gougeing and shit.. I have no depth perception...' Alex realized.

Alex reached for the mirror again, grabbing it and looking at his face.

Several new scars popped up, most of them in an odd-looking hand shape.. The cuts themselves never the same length or depth... Oh, right... Yang. AGAIN.

He looked at his eye, only to find that it had scarred over, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't open his right eye.

"Welp... This sucks..." Alex recalled until he found a letter.

Opening it, Alex read through it..

Dad-

We found you yesterday. You were really, really close to dying. Lucky for you, we've been tracking down Yang ever since New Magnolia got torn apart.

You're at Ponyville Hospital right now. Don't worry. The Bounty was called off yesterday because Mother thinks you're dead.

I healed you with as much Aura as I had, Cade was the one who managed to save your arms, and Natsu's team, who went with us, helped get you to safety here. Oreonna took Flurry Heart to Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer. Turns out they're the only authority left in Equestria.

You saw Cadence and Shining Armor die, but according to several Royal Guards, Celestia and Luna were killed two nights ago as well. Three guesses who the culprit is.

Oreonna and Cade are with Vinyl right now putting together plans for some new arms and legs for you. There's even been talks of fixing your eye. Doctors say they'll do it free of charge because they know you so well.

Get well soon!

-Auburn

P.S. While Cade and Fairy Tail traced Mom and Raven to Hargeon Town, we found out that you gave my younger self to Tukson and Neo. Thank you..

"Auburn..." Alex smiled a little bit...

At least there were some people still on his side.

Using the time alone he had, he figured he would take this moment to at least try and let some of the pain out.

He rolled over, face over his pillow, as he screamed and cried into it.

The way Yang barely even got hurt...

The way Yang had nearly killed him...

He knew he should only feel pain, and sadness... But he also felt another emotion... Something he'd felt since his first arrest in August 2016...

Humiliation.

Burning, smoldering, unbridled humiliation.

How did Yang managed to get to such a level in just over a month?! He nearly destroyed his sanity trying to get strong enough to survive such an encounter, but he nearly died.

No amount of training could have ever prepared him for what had happened.

He let Cadence, Shining Armor, and Skirmish die because of his fear, and he nearly died for his sheer lack of strength..

"H-How? I trained so hard... We were at the same level back in Helios Falls... And yet.." Alex crushed his pillow.

How did Yang even manage to beat him in his second and third forms?!

"I... Need to train... I have to get stronger... far stronger.." Alex asserted.

Using the Aura that had surely recovered by now, he forced his ribs to heal, absorbed as much energy from the residual magic around him, and left the Hospital.

A doctor walking down the hallway at that time saw Alex.

"Alexander?! Stay in your room and rest! Your condition coming in was the worst I've seen from anyone that went in here before!" The doctor said.

"I'm fine, doc. I gotta find Vinyl's." Alex stated.

"You haven't fully recovered yet! We still-!" Alex slammed the door and started walking to Vinyl's house.

*Vinyl's house; 5 minutes later*

"Hoofstentium Core worked well enough for you the first time, right? I took that crystal from Alex's old sword and used it as a base for this new one.. Then I used some of Dr. Richtofen's Wunderwaffe ammo to give it an extra boost. The Avalon X should have more built-in chest protection should Yang ever... Y'know..."

Alex slammed the door open glaring down at Vinyl and Cade in the basement.

"Vinyl, Cade. How are you?" Alex asked.

"Dad?!" Cade gasped.

"Alex?! How in Equestria are you still walking at this point?!" Vinyl demanded

"Aura, remember? Build that up over two days of being almost dead." Alex replied coldly.

"Hey... I'm really sorry to hear about what happened with you and Yang... You'll get through it." Vinyl comforted.

"I'm fine. What are you guys working on?" Alex asked.

"We're revamping the Avalon armor. Right now, we're redesigning the core for you so you get an added power boost." Vinyl replied.

"Any talk about that eye? Nearly tripped, like, eight times on my way here." Alex wondered.

"Oh, yeah... We'll have that ready for you in about 3 days.." Vinyl figured.

"Okay." Alex replied in a deadpan voice.

"W-Wait.. Really? I thought you'd be a bit more upset." Vinyl asked incredulously.

"Three days isn't bad. Besides, I have to make arrangements for a trainer." Alex shrugged.

"Okay.. Come to the Hospital in about 3 days and we'll get to work on putting in your eye." Vinyl grinned.

"Thank you both.. I gotta go see... Wait, what are Sunset and Starlight calling themselves?" Alex asked.

"I don't think they have titles, it's more of an oligarchy they set up with Mayor Mare." Vinyl shrugged.

"Alright.. Guess I'm off then. Take care." Alex waved, tripping on the stairs before waking up and out.

Vinyl turned to face Cade in confusion.

"I'm trying to think of which one of you kids takes more after Alex. You're kinda like the 'before', and Auburn's kinda the 'After'." Vinyl stated.

"His wife and our mother beat him within an inch of his life, stabbed his eye, and left him for dead. So.." Cade shrugged.

*Castle of Friendship, 2 minutes later*

"Hey, you must be Alex!" Sunset Shimmer greeted.

"It's nice to have you back in Ponyville... Sorry to hear about what happened.." Starlight winced.

"I'll deal with it later. How's Flurry?" Alex asked.

"She's fine.. She was kinda scared for a while yesterday, but she's fine now. We'll have Pinkie babysit when she needs it." Sunset answered.

"Good for her... Where's Auburn and Oreonna?" Alex asked.

"They're finding a bunch of other universes for you to train in. They've been keeping it discreet. Her friends are making quite the mess in the Pantry, though." Starlight replied.

"Figures. They are from Fairy Tail. Where's the Comms room?" Alex asked.

"Down that hall to the left."

"Thank you." Alex walked casually down the hall, a whirlwind of emotion still brewing in the back of his head.

Alex opened the door to find Auburn and Oreonna speaking with a potential trainer.

"He's actually something different.. He's an Adenienite.. Oh, hey Alex.." Oreonna solemnly greeted.

"Father.." Auburn nodded.

"Hey, Auburn. What are you two up to?" Alex inquired.

"We're speaking to a trainer for you right now." Auburn answered.

"Really, now? Who?" Alex asked.

"Odds are, I think you've heard of him.." Oreonna shook slightly.

"Heard of him? Seriously, who is he?" Alex asked.

"Those brats are referring to me, Weakling!" a cold, raspy voice shouted at the other end.

"S-Sorry, sir..! Listen.. Here he is right now..!" Oreonna smiled sheepishly, obviously trying not to piss him off.

Oreonna handed Alex the communicator, and pressed a hologram button on the other end.

A short figure popped up. The hologram was all purple, but several traits were apparent. His hair was raised to a point above his head, along with a prominent widow's peak. The figure also had cold, angry eyes and a scowl that practically oozed with arrogance and wrath.

"To who am I speaking?" Alex asked.

"Hmph! You ought not take such tone of voice, Adenienite! Especially not to the Prince of the Saiyan Race!" The Trainer shouted.

'Oh, shit! Did Auburn and Oreonna just hire Prince Fucking Vegeta?!' Alex thought in horror, mouth agape.

His thoughts froze as Alex stood still in terror. If his thinking was right, Vegeta, even when he was first introduced, should be exponentially stronger than he could ever hope to achieve!

"One moment," Alex held his hand over the reciever, "You hired Prince Vegeta?! I nearly died, and I don't want any more than that!" Alex scolded, being sure to keep quiet and was clearly shaking in terror.

"I can hear you. I'll be expecting you after those doctors install your eye. I had Bulma send a transcript of her address to you. Don't keep me waiting." Vegeta demanded, obviously relishing the fact that he was still feared.

"Ahem... Very well. See you in 3 days." Alex nodded.

Alex promptly hung up the communicator, glaring at Oreonna and Auburn.

"Out of everyone in the Multiverse, you picked Vegeta on purpose, didn't you?" Alex scowled.

"Aw, cheer up! He's just like you! A shorter version of you.. I wonder who out of the two is angrier.." Oreonna mused.

"Oh, go fuck yourself." Alex scoffed.

*Northern Vacuo, Remnant; December 25, 2019; 3:14 PM*

Sirius Da Long had been expecting a meeting with his longtime comrade, Raven. It was supposed to be a casual conversation of their next move, now that all the Inquisitors and Salem's Faction had, for the most part, been wiped out.

It turned into a fight for his life.

"Raven! Why are you doing this?! Why are you killing Inheritors?!" Sirius demanded, firing his machine gun/axe.

Raven blocked every shot, and stabbed Sirius from behind in the blink of an eye.

"Don't you remember what I said? The weak die, the strong survive. Something is coming, Sirius. Something far stronger than anything we've ever faced. If you can't win against me, forget about surviving what comes next." Raven scowled, kicking Sirius off of her blade.

"W-What?! What are you talking abo-?"

Yang punched Sirius through the chest, viscera dripping from his mortal wound onto the ground.

"It's a shame, isn't it, my little Yang?" Raven sighed.

"Yes, mother. They're all too weak." Yang replied blankly.

"Don't tell me. Alex is dead." Raven asked.

Yang nodded.

"I withstood against everything he had. By the time I transformed. there was nothing he could do but watch as I reduced him to a pile of broken bones. Our future children, along with survivors of Fairy Tail, interrupted the killing blow. Even so, there is no chance that they could have saved him." Yang explained.

"I see. Next on my list is... Hmm.. It seems Twilight Sparkle has disappeared. Our next targets are the Crux Family. They are all highly trained warriors, it seems. Be ready for anything. We're going to Adenien." Raven ordered.

"Yes, Mother." Yang answered.

Author's Notes:

Alex lived, though 'living' is a loose term for him at this point. And there's another Anime being added to the main BRS continuity.

Just for reference, The Corvus Arc in Blood Red Shadows takes place between DBZ's Cell and Buu Arcs. Specifically Age 770, so Vegeta by this point is in the midst of Training anyways.

This is mostly because... Well, let's face it, if this were any other point in DBZ/S, Vegeta would have either flat-out murdered Alex in cold blood for having the audacity to ask for training under him (Saiyan Saga to Early Android Saga), or one of the other villains would have dropped Alex in less than a second (Cell Saga, Buu Saga and onwards).

I also figured I'd add Vegeta now, since now his and Alex's characters are somewhat similar. That being Vegeta is still kind of an asshole, but he's getting to be a better person, between raising Trunks and all.

Alex, on the other hand, is still kind of a nice guy. He cares about his friends and family, but he has to become a cold, unfeeling bastard so he can fight Yang without breaking down in the middle of a battle.

Reason number three is that... Well, by this point, you all should have read Chapter 58, Yang beat the shit out of Alex and she barely even put an effort into it. Alex lived to tell the tale, but he's utterly humiliated and pissed that nearly killing him took so little out of her. If Alex actually wants to get at Yang's level and by extension Raven's, he's going to have to be put through hell just to achieve those ends.

Speaking of which, to those who read my OC Bio blogs, there's a reason why Alex is 2 years older than Kat by the end of the story, even though they're the same age.