*Former Crux Family Complex, Sokarian Plains, Adenien; December 28, 2019; 2:50 PM*

Yang charged directly at Cade, landing a hit on his chest and knocking the wind out of him.

Cade reared back, clutching his chest as Auburn immediately leapt to his defense.

Auburn kicked her mother away, aiming her weapon at Yang.

"Don't even try it." Auburn threatened.

Yang merely grinned at the response, and teleported directly in front of Auburn.

At the same moment, Auburn and Oreonna swung their instrument weapons at Yang, hitting her at once, leaving a residual sonic boom and temporarily deafening Yang.

"Now!" Oreonna yelled.

Natsu grinned as Grey, Erza, and Cade stood back up.

"Wendy! Support!" Cade ordered.

Wendy deeply concentrated as she summoned her support spells.

"Ile Armor.. Ile Arms.. Ile Vernier..!"

The mages all glowed with a strange teal light as they all charged Yang at once.

Natsu and Erza kept Yang gridlocked at close-range while Cade, Gray, and Wendy attacked at long-distance.

Auburn and Oreonna waited patiently for an opening as Lucy, Happy, and Juvia watched from the side.

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" Oreonna demanded.

"R-Right..! Open, Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" Lucy yelled as she summoned a.. Young woman with short, pink hair.

"You summoned me, Princess?" Virgo asked.

"Y-Yes! You see that crazy lady with the dark... Okay, darker red hair?" Lucy specified, so Virgo wouldn't confuse Yang for Erza.

"Yes."

"Beat her up!" Lucy commanded.

"As you wish, Princess." Virgo nodded, digging underneath the ground.

"I SAID ATTACK, NOT BURROW UNDERGROUND-!" Lucy yelled.

"Hold out just a moment longer, Gray!" Juvia shouted as she placed her hand against the ground, absorbing the residual groundwater from Aquarius' prior attack.

"Erza, now!" Cade ordered.

Erza reared back, glaring at Yang as she raised her sword.

"Requip!"

Erza's armor immediately changed to her Morning Star armor, a leather-like armor composed of orange, wing-like pauldrons, and two short swords.

Yang's eyes immediately widened in shock.

'They'll be attacking me with everything they have..! Hehe... Let's see how this goes..' Yang thought with a sadistic grin.

As Erza combined her two short-swords, Virgo suddenly shot out from underground, kicking Yang in the chest with a drill-like attack that nearly winded her.

Oreonna and Auburn leaped up instantly and swatted Yang back to the ground as Erza unleashed her attack.

"PHOTON SLICER!!!"

A powerful beam of energy struck Yang, forcing her backwards as Natsu leaped at her head-on, mere moments after Erza had finished her attack.

Natsu joined his hands together as a massive fireball formed between his palms.

"FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!!!"

Yang was blown away before she had time to react. Only having a moment to recover, she noticed Erza and Natsu rounding back for a finisher, and glared.

Leaping towards them, Yang slammed Natsu to the ground and launched Erza away with her gauntlets.

Auburn flew past, readying her own strike as Yang clotheslined Auburn with her mechanical arm.

Yang wasted no time slamming her to the ground as she readied her own attack.

"This ends here! MIDNIGHT BLAZE!!!"

Yang's energy beam was a swirling dark-orange color, burning away the ground as Auburn struggled to defend against it, holding the blast back with her guitar.

"ICE-MAKE: COLD EXCALIBUR!!!"

Gray materialized a large ice sword and leaped to Auburn's defense, slashing Yang in the back and ducking to avoid Yang's counterattack.

"Don't stand in my way." Yang coldly demanded, punching Gray directly in the chest.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!" Juvia yelled.

Yang looked behind her, surprised at what she saw.

Juvia had risen to tremendous size, rearing back a massive fist.

"Make me." Yang confidently grinned.

Yang flew into Juvia's watery fist, blowing the water Mage into puddles with her energy.

Yang, though soaking wet, was still at full power.

Wendy stood back before running at Yang full-tilt.

"WIND DRAGON CLA-!"

Yang slapped Wendy aside, scowling contemptfully at the Mages.

"And I was expecting a challenge." Yang scoffed.

Cade kicked Yang in the back, blowing her away at least 10 feet before she picked herself up.

"Think twice before you think I'll let you kill them! OVERCHARGE!!!" Cade roared.

Yang smiled, preparing her own attack as Cade charged his energy to his absolute maximum.

"LET'S SEE WHAT YOU'VE GOT, YOU LITTLE BASTARD! FLAMING ECLIPSE!!!"

"VOLTAGE CRASHER!!!"

Cade and Yang's attacks collided in seemingly a stalemate.

Yang laughed as she took another step forward, lording an advantage over her son.

Cade continued to brace himself as Wendy's power-up slowly faded out, leaving him nearly powerless against Yang's beam.

"I CAN FEEL YOU SLIPPING!!!" Yang smiled menacingly as she furthered her attack.

Eventually, even Cade's Overcharge gave out, and he was less and less able to stand up to his own mother's attack.

'No..! This can't be the way this ends..! I can't let it..! I.. I wasn't able to protect Flurry Heart.. I couldn't protect Cana.. I can't even save myself.." Cade sighed, letting the attack inch closer to him.

"I'LL KILL YOU UNLESS YOU FIGHT BACK! JUST LIKE THAT WASTE OF FLESH AND BLOOD WALKER!!! NOW DIE!!!"

'B-But if I can't save myself... I can't save Auburn.. Or Oreonna..! Natsu, Gray, Erza.. Everyone..! I'm going to lose them all!!' Cade realized.

Cade suddenly felt a deep, pressing anger in his heart. At Raven. At Yang...

At himself..

"I WON'T LET THIS BE THE END! NOT ONE DEATH WILL GO UNAVENGED, NOT ONE!!!!!"

Cade's aura suddenly grew brighter, nearly outshining his mothers and he forced back Yang's energy beam all the way to her.

Yang dodged, avoiding the ensuing blast as it sped past her, wiping out the nearest hill.

As quickly as Cade's power up came, it expired, leaving the young man exhausted.

Yang herself powered down, casting a cold glare at her son.

"There may be some hope for you, after all. Continue training, and you might be able to survive what comes next." Yang admitted.

"I.... I don't.. Get it.. Why..?" Cade demanded.

Yang glared at him, slightly angered at his question.

"Very well. Listen carefully, because I'll only say this once. There is a project afoot. A project being conducted by an unknown ex-Inquisitor.

"This former Inquisitor has spent many years now collecting the genetic material of some of the most powerful people the universe has ever known to create a monstrosity. An ultimate lifeform with immense power.

"Countless trillions died in the lifeform's ensuing rampage, and a warrior from that timeline traveled back from the year 2035 to 2018, where she formulated a plan to kill the life form the moment it appeared.

"This warrior, was that timeline's version of my own mother.

"After she had travelled back, she took the name of 'Corvus' to conceal her true identity, used other-dimensional magic to restore her youth, and obtained one of Remnant's four Relics."

After Yang had finished her explanation, Cade rose up, scowled, and threw a weak punch.

"Y-Y-You bitch.. If y-you wanted t-to save people.. W-Why did you k-kill Father?" Cade spat.

Yang shrugged.

"The weak die, the strong survive. It's a pity Alex merely trained himself into insanity instead of focusing on his physical prowess."

"W-What?!" Cade demanded.

Yang scoffed.

"Didn't you know? Your father spent a month at the Crystal Empire, used the Room of Fear to be able to stomach having to kill me, and let himself go. If Alex couldn't handle me, then forget about him fighting a physical god." Yang answered, flying away.

Cade was shocked at hearing this. If what he heard was true, then he was actually scared for Yang, no matter how much she's changed.

'God.. A month's worth of mental conditioning, and at least a year of training with a Saiyan..! Father isn't going to kill her..! He's going to wipe her from existence..!' Cade realized.

*Capsule Corporation, West City; January 18, 2020; 7:00 PM*

In the 20 days since Alex had begun his training alongside Vegeta, things didn't get much easier.

Because Vegeta felt he was starting to feel bored with training in normal gravity, he decided that Alex shouldn't hog the Gravity Room for an entire 2 months, so he shortened the 2 months into one. Meaning that in another 10 days, Alex was going to train at the full 450 times gravity.

Presently, Alex was currently training at 210x Earth's Gravity, and was in the middle of his pull-ups when suddenly, he felt his weight increase dramatically.

After struggling to complete his last pull-up, Alex fell flat on his back, completely exhausted.

"What, 300x Gravity too much for you? And here I thought you were starting to improve." Vegeta scoffed.

Alex grit his teeth, rising to his feet and panting breathlessly.

"I c-can do this..." Alex forced himself to walk.

"Hm. Is that so? You have 6 seconds to run 3 laps around the Gravity Room, go!"

Wasting no time, Alex used his energy to force himself into his Enlightened Form, running around the chamber once in a mere 2.5 seconds.

'Still... behind..!' Alex winced, running around the second lap at another 1.5 seconds.

Charging around the room, he dived to the ground at his last stop, just under 6 seconds.

"Not bad. I'd say you're about as strong as Piccolo now.."

"Wait, rea-?"

"Before the Earthlings went to Namek." Vegeta added last-second.

"Dammit!" Alex kicked the bed.

"What? You think you're doing better? Fine, I'll test you out for myself." Vegeta threatened.

"Oh, shit, no!" Alex begged, before suddenly feeling an immense weight lifted off his shoulders.

Within the minute, Vegeta opened the door to the Gravity Room, only wearing a blue training suit, leaving his battle armor behind.

"I... That's weird. I never see you with that armor off." Alex noticed.

"It's unnecessary. Besides, the armor was getting old, anyways." Vegeta scowled.

"So, insults aside, how am I honestly doing?" Alex asked.

Vegeta merely scoffed.

"Well, we'll just have to find out, won't we?" Vegeta challenged with a grin.

"This is the first time I'm saying this, but 'I like the idea, Vegeta.'" Alex stood in a battle stance.

Vegeta leaped into action immediately, punching Alex everywhere he was able to, since Alex himself was moving and deflecting a few of his attacks anyways.

It wasn't until Alex was backed into a wall that he decided to counterattack. Using the wall as a launch pad, he kneed Vegeta in the chest, to little effect.

Ducking to avoid Alex's kick, Vegeta grabbed Alex by the ankle and threw him upwards.

In an instant, Vegeta flew into the air, slamming Alex back into the ground.

Alex flipped back up, throwing a barrage of electric attacks that a Vegeta managed to dodge, causing several electric explosions behind the Saiyan.

Seemingly teleporting, Vegeta punched Alex in the gut, causing the younger Adenienite to collapse.

"C-Crap, you're strong.." Alex winced.

"Hmm.. You aren't too bad, but you're still too slow. I might have to ask a few... Ugh, 'friends', to help properly increase your power. I'd ask Kakarot's Brat, but he's too busy 'studying'." Vegeta mocked.

"Anyone else in mind?" Alex wondered.

"Well, there's the Bald One, but he's too busy dealing with his marriage with that bucket of spare parts. And the other Earthlings are likely too weak to handle training with you. Oh, Dammit." Vegeta cursed.

"What?" Alex asked.

"I'm going to have to ask the Namek." Vegeta scowled.

"I wouldn't worry about it now. I still have another 10 days before I'll be on-par with your usual training, anyways." Alex shrugged.

Vegeta smiled, very, very, very slightly.

"I suppose. Besides, if you training with the Namekian gives me some time in here, I don't care." Vegeta shrugged.

"Wait, hold on a second.." Alex raised his hand.

"What now?!" Vegeta demanded.

"Can you give me your hand for a second?" Alex asked.

"This is Elite Training, not Brokeback Mountain." Vegeta scowled.

"Just... Let me explain. You know how you said earlier that 'if I had Saiyan Biology, this wouldn't take so long'?" Alex asked.

"You have five seconds."

Alex took a deep breath before his explanation.

"I had a magic artifact smashed on my chest that lets me, among other things, copy and paste my DNA onto another person. What if I could do it the other way around?" Alex suggested.

"So, what?" Vegeta asked, actually interested.

"If I copy-paste your 'Zenkai Boost' gene onto my own DNA, then this training should go by a lot quicker. Plus, I should be a lot stronger by the end of your training." Alex finished.

"Hm... You are aware that Zenkai Boosts only work when a Saiyan is near-death, right?" Vegeta asked.

"Yeah, wouldn't be the first time I've been there." Alex shrugged.

"But do you understand what that means?" Vegeta inquired.

"Uh huh... What?"

"It means I won't hold back when we fight." Vegeta grinned malevolently.

*Castle of Friendship, Ponyville, Equestria; January 28, 2020; 9:00 PM*

Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer stood in a living room of the castle, eating salad or drinking tea.

"You ever wonder why we're here?" Sunset suddenly asked.

"I... Honestly don't know. Is the universe just a randomly-created space, decorated with flaming balls of gas with a few rocks orbiting around it, some of those rocks with a happy accident called life? Or is there really a god watching over us? If so, is this 'god' some bored college student with nothing better to do with his free time, or a bunch of crazy-talented writers with brilliant ideas? Or somewhere in between? I don't know, but it keeps me up sometimes.." Starlight wondered out loud.

"Um... No... I meant why are we here? As in, the Castle, when Twilight's old War Buddies need our help wiping out those crazy lava-Grimm. Speaking of, where in Fausticorn's name is Twilight, anyway?" Sunset asked.

"Probably in the middle of a crossover with some niche game that was cool about a year ago." Starlight shrugged.

"Oh, that makes sense. Kinda..."

Author's Notes:

So, Yang has decided that Cade's worthy enough to survive... Something. We also get to learn about Corvus' origins a bit, something I'll go into further detail by the time the Arc ends.

Alex is still training with Vegetable, and he's probably going to train with Piccolo soon. And Alex is just getting more and more 'Gary Stu'-ish.

And Sunset and Starlight? Well....

I better get to work so that last reference makes sense...

-The Destoyer