*Rose/Xiao Long Household, Patch, Remnant; January 15, 2020; 3:00 PM*

Taiyang had returned home on account of a recent injury whilst fighting off the Furies alongside Qrow. Well, alongside is kind of a strong word for working with Qrow.

One of the bigger monsters; a flaming beast that reminded him of Anima's legendary Grimm, the Nuckelavee. This... Thing was roughly twice it's size, twice as intimidating, and four times as ferocious.

Fortunately for them, Ruby's team of Sun, Ultimus, and his own family, along with five other mercenaries, arrived at the nick of time and bought Qrow enough time it kill it, but Taiyang himself was left with bruised ribs and a shattered leg that ensured he would have to stay home for a few weeks.

He had just finished replacing his bandages when he heard a knock on his door.

"Just a second!" Taiyang shouted, limping to the door.

Twisting the knob and pulling the door open, he saw his eldest daughter, Yang, standing in front of him.

Yang looked rather different from when Taiyang last saw her. He was surprised to see that her new, dark grey coat showed none of her... Assets..

"Hey, Yang..! Dressing a bit more conservative than usual, I see." Taiyang greeted.

"Yeah... I've been meaning to... Talk to you about something, actually.." Yang replied.

"Well, whatever it is, you can tell me." Taiyang promised. Being pretty much a single parent for a majority of his time raising the girls, Taiyang always had to be the dependable, friendly figure he knew they would need. At least at this age, he could treat his daughters more like old friends than children.

"It's about Auburn... I haven't seen her anywhere.. Would... You happen to know where she is?" Yang asked, putting a hand behind her back.

"Oh, Geez. Did that asshole Alex leave and take off that kid of yours?!" Taiyang demanded, actually angry. Yang could at least understand why.

"Actually... Alex died.." Yang stated.

Taiyang blinked in surprise, but quickly regained his composure.

"Figures... He was a bit of a hothead.. So... Who finally got him?" Taiyang asked as Yang raised her Gauntlet to his forehead.

"You're looking at her."

*Meanwhile, within Yang's Mind*

The gem's personality, or Corvus' meddling, made his death a quick one. Just a mere shot to the head and a stomp on the neck. More than what could be said for most of these missions.

Yang had expected to have more of a reaction from this.. She still cared about Alex, and mourned him for a long time, and she only knew him for roughly 2 years. The first being when they had first met, and the second year being their misadventures from Adenien to Fiore.

This was her own father.

She fought off her own children and guild mates, killed her husband, and slaughtered nearly an entire family line, and cried at all of that, but not for the death of her father..

Maybe she had gotten used to it.

She'd been watching people die from within her mind for months now. Her Aura, combined with her mother's training, made her practically invincible. Only the combined strength of her own children and Fairy Tail's strongest team was enough to get the body to confess.

At least her children proved their worth and hadn't driven themselves insane trying to kill her, like Alex had.

"Y-You still okay..?" Chūkan asked.

"I don't know anymore.." Yang answered blankly.

Yang watched the screen, showing her the Gem's perspective of her 'mother' giving their next mission.

"Now, this next mission is of the utmost importance. As you know, The Furies haven't been gaining as much ground as they were initially. This is, in our opinion, a bad thing." Corvus explained.

"I understand." Yang's body, still under the gem's control, replied.

"This is almost completely attributed to a certain squadron. You should know some of them well." Corvus handed Yang's body a document filled with names and photos.

Yang couldn't believe what she was reading.

Target 1: Ruby Rose, 19.

Target 2: Sun Wukong: 21

Target 3: Ultimus Crux: 23

Target 4: Illiya Crux, 16

Target 5: Spyden Crux, 14

Target 6: Julius Crux, 13

Target 7: Evan Fong, 27

The list only continued, listing the names of Vanoss' remaining friends.

"R-Ruby?!" Yang gasped in horror.

Her own sister had been deemed a primary target.. She hadn't even done anything!

"Ruby Rose?" Yang's body asked in slight disbelief.

Even her own mind-controlled body thought this mission was too much!

"Yes. Such a respected and talented warrior. Shame she still fights for the weak." Corvus sighed.

Corvus had gone through this ideology several times. 'The strong exist only to weed out the rest of the world'. What her 'mother' saw as the only true way of saving the world, Yang only saw as Darwinism at it's darkest.

"What is the plan?" Yang's body asked.

"The group intends to move into the Adenien city of Lithia within the next 3 days. We will intercept, and kill them all in one fell swoop. Only then can the world truly begin to grow strong." Corvus explained.

"I do as you wish, Mother." Yang's body obediently nodded.

Yang stared in shock.

"Y-Yang..." Chūkan gasped.

Yang didn't respond, only letting out a slight groan of surrender.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her controlled body from killing Alex. She couldn't stop fighting her own children with clear intent to kill.

Ruby, even at her strongest, can only do so much to Yang herself. Her mother, she would have little trouble with, since she's still new to her Maiden's abilities. But Yang didn't rely on outside magic as much as Corvus did.

Alex at his Evolved Form had been equal to Ruby's Silver Eyes mode. She barely stood a chance..

"Chūkan... There's no use.. This... Thing... Controlling me, it's going to kill Ruby the same way it killed Alex." Yang sighed.

"Don't think like that! Ruby's been fighting for the past few months! She's prepared for anything..!" Chūkan stammered, trying to show Yang the light in this situation.

"Is she?! Alex prepared for a whole month at least, and in the same amount of time, this husk I'm living in got strong enough to kill him." Yang stated.

"Ruby's powers aren't the same as Alex's! She can handle anything you can dish out!" Chūkan promised.

"What's the point? Nobody I've fought's been able to see the stupid rock on my forehead!!" Yang demanded louder.

Chūkan was stunned. Usually, Yang was able to deal with this sort of thing... She dealt with losing her arm and leg just fine...

There has to be some way out of this thing....

There had to.

*Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Kami's Lookout; January 15, Age 771 (2020); 3:03 PM...?(Day 2 inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber)*

"Saigo..! Saigo.!!"

Alex heard a voice calling to him... A hauntingly familiar voice..

"Who the hell is that?!" Alex demanded.

"You mean to tell me that after 4 years, you forgot who I was?! Look for once in your life, dammit!" the voice shouted again.

Alex jerked up, seeing a spirit that looked similar to him.. Only slightly older...

"Saisho?! The hell are you doing here?!" Alex demanded.

"This is your dream, imbecile! It's the one safe place people can communicate to the afterlife without a dimensional rift." Saisho chided, turning away from him.

"Oh... The hell do you want?" Alex asked.

"Listen! You know your Ex-Wife? Ever since she's gotten to you, her and her Extreme Darwinst of a mother have been killing Inheritors left and right! She's just killed Taiyang an hour ago!" Saisho told him.

"What?!" Alex gasped.

"That's not the worst part! In three days, She's going to Lithia to kill her own sister, a few of your own friends, as well as Ultimus and the rest of hisfamily! I know you're in that Time Chamber now, but hurry the fuck up! Do you want more people to die, Saigo? Or have you finally matured and moved past saving people for the hell of it?! If that's the case, it's hardly the time!" Saisho insisted.

"... I have one question, Saisho." Alex asked.

Saisho turned around to face Alex, glaring at him with unspeakable hatred.

"Speak."

"Why are you telling me this? Don't you hate us for what happened to your little club? I feel like this should be fun for you." Alex scoffed.

"Poetic? Immensely. Fun? It's only fun if I get to kill you all with my own two hands. Besides, your life is basically our form of entertainment." Saisho replied evilly.

"Oh, fuck off back to wherever you came from." Alex scowled.

"Very well. If Vegeta's Training does manage to kill you. Expect some... bonding, when you get up here." Saisho grinned, walking away.

*

*

"Wake up.. Wake up!" Vegeta shouted.

Alex woke up with a start, panting frantically.

"Well, at least you're responsive. Shall we commence?" Vegeta asked, grinning.

"Fine.. What's the plan?" Alex rubbed his eyes.

"Well, you can start by doing your basic exercises.. Take however many reps you usually do, and multiply by one hundred." Vegeta glared.

Alex, who was only half-awake, jolted with a start.

"You want me to do 5000 push-ups, 5000 sit-ups, 5000 squats, and..?!" Alex gasped.

"A 15000 kilometer run, every day for the next two years. And we're not even accounting for your sparring, and your speed training." Vegeta answered.

'He really is going to kill me..!' Alex mentally screamed.

*Ponyville, Equestria; January 15, 2019; 5:04 PM*

"Wait... A dragon was killed?! Where?!" Sunset asked.

"In that mountain. He was found with mysterious wounds all over his body. We've recently discovered the cause. Gunshots. What kind of joint are you psycho-ponies running here?!" Ember demanded.

"W-Well, you see.." Cade tried to explain.

"It was Alex!" Spike suddenly shouted.

"Father?!" Cade gasped.

"Grr..! I knew that asshole had something to do with it! Where the hell is he?!" Ember demanded.

"Dead." Natsu replied, only after Erza and Auburn cast a threatening glare at him.

"Dead?! Oh, good.. Who killed him?" Ember wondered.

"His wife.. Well, Ex-wife..." Erza answered.

"Well, as long as he's actually done for, I have no problems having the Dragon Lands provide aid for Equestria, then." Ember decided.

"Whew..!" Starlight sighed in relief.

"But. If I find out that he's still alive. Consider it a declaration of war. Which I wouldn't recommend, since you ponies lost your Alicorn crutches." Ember scowled, walking out the door.

The entire Human entourage stared in horror at the door, waiting for Dragon Lord Ember to finally leave.

"Well, shit." Oreonna cursed.

Auburn suddenly felt her Scroll vibrate, noticing it was a call from Ruby.

"Hello?" Auburn answered.

"Auburn?! It's me, your Aunt Ruby!" Ruby shouted over the phone.

"So, what is it?" Auburn asked.

"Huh.. I guess you actually are Alex's.. Speaking of, where is he? He might be able to help with this." Ruby asked.

"He... He's dead." Auburn replied.

"DEAD?! Who killed him?!" Ruby wondered in horror.

"The same person who might be after you next. Where are you?" Auburn asked.

"What do you mean?" Cade asked.

"L-Look.. Sun, Ultimus, and I are on Adenien right now to fight off a huge swarm of Furies. We're heading towards Lithia. If you can get here, get here!" Ruby ordered.

"Got it. See you in Lithia, Aunt Ruby." Auburn nodded.

"Bye..!" Ruby said after hanging up.

"So... What was that about?" Lucy asked.

"You remember Ruby Rose?" Auburn asked.

"You mean the kid in the red cape? She was awesome!" Natsu answered.

"What's our next move?" Cade asked.

"We're going to Lithia." Auburn replied.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so considering the Coven Arc 'Climax' had a ten-part sequence, this arc's only going to have 4 parts.

Even then, the climax of this Arc starts in two more chapters. One to show a bit more of Alex's training and behavior before the battle, and the second's just going to set the stage.

By the way, I've been planning Undertales of the Vanished, and we'll see the major characters of that story (Twi, Fluttershy, rest of Vanoss' crew) will be returning with a few new tricks up their sleeves. Just a heads up.