*Lithia, Adenien; January 18, 2020; 3:20 PM*

Alex didn't say a word. He immediately leapt at Corvus.

"Dammit! You told me I would fight Raven!" Vegeta charged after Alex, kicking him in the side.

Alex was blown to another building, completely winded, at least for a moment.

"Hmm... I figured if Alexander was still alive, he'd call for backup. Greetings, Prince." Corvus greeted.

"And to you, 'Corvus'. Would you care to explain that bracelet on the woman's head?" Vegeta demanded.

"Ah, yes. I had a special order for that. My daughter would never have agreed with an operation such as this, so my plan called for desperate measures." Corvus explained.

"M-Mother was being manipulated..?" Auburn gasped.

"Yang..." Ruby pulled Yang's unconscious body out of the battleground, lying her down on a table as they watched the carnage unfold.

"That... Monster..!" Erza seethed.

"I... I can't believe she would do that... To both of them..!" Twilight trembled.

Vegeta scowled at Corvus.

"You and I aren't so different, Vegeta. We both seek to become more powerful. We even share ideologies. Only the strong can survive. Why don't you join me? After all, I do need an assistant." Corvus offered.

Alex struggled to stand, ears ringing as he staggered up to see Vegeta and Corvus talking.

Vegeta merely turned to look towards Alex, then at the group, and back to Corvus.

"You know... I once would have considered accepting. But that has changed. My wife is a puny earthling, and my son is a filthy half-breed.

"But, despite this glaring difference, I have grown attached to both of them. And I'm not about to let you go gallivanting and kill them out of indifference. I'm ending this now." Vegeta scowled.

"Very well.. It seems one of the strong fights for the weak. Let's see if you're worthy of keeping that pathetic family of yours." Corvus raised her sword.

"RAAAAAAAGH!!!"

Alex side-kicked Corvus, to little effect.

"WHAT?!" Alex demanded angrily.

Corvus glared at the both of them, raising a dark grey sword with glowing, purple cracks. She then raised her other sword in a menacing fashion.

"You've made a grave mistake." Corvus scowled.

Alex turned to face Vegeta.

"Fine, deal with Corvus. I'll take out the trash."

"Don't keep me waiting, Adenienite!" Vegeta shouted, flying at at Corvus.

Alex raised his sword, charging at Auburn and Yang as Twilight and Erza attacked him.

Alex flipped backwards, unleashing a torrent of lightning at Twilight while simultaneously blocking Erza's swords.

"Wait..! It wasn't Yang's fault!!" Twilight yelled.

"I won't... Let you...Hurt Yang.." Erza asserted, trying to overpower Alex.

"THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU OR CORVUS!! PISS OFF!!!" Alex roared, launching Erza away from him and turning to attack Twilight, only for Auburn, in her Enlightened Form, to block Alex's sword.

"Turn around and fight Corvus. That thing that nearly killed you wasn't Mom." Auburn demanded.

"DON'T HOLD ME BACK!!!!" Alex swung his blade, disorienting Auburn long enough to attempt a disabling strike.

Ruby sped between the blade, blocking it with Blood Rose and letting her Silver Eyes empower her.

"Auburn's right! We have to fight Corvus.!! We're your friends, Alex!!" Ruby added.

Alex broke the blade lock, standing back to face the four.

"So... It's come to this.. I'll deal with you first, finish off Yang, then Corvus." Alex raised his sword at the four of them.

Alex charged at them, attacking at lightning speed as Ruby instantly out-maneuvered Alex and threw him into the wall with her blade.

"That other guy might need my help. Try not to kill each other.." Ruby worriedly turned to look at Vegeta and Corvus.

Vegeta charged, hitting Corvus with his knee and narrowly evading her blades.

"Your toys won't save you here, Human." Vegeta smirked.

"I don't need them to, Prince" Corvus smirked, sheathing both swords and raising a hand, a condensed ball of Corvus' multi-colored energy forming in a matter of seconds.

Vegeta took this as a challenge to show the young warrior how far out of her depth she was, raising his hand and generating a blue ball of energy.

"DARK ESSENSE BURST!!

"BIG BANG ATTACK!!"

Both ki blasts collided, an explosion grand enough to shake the very ground beneath them ensuing directly afterwards.

Knowing Corvus was still alive not only angered Vegeta.

He was furious.

He threw dozens of Ki blasts in the span of seconds, the relentless barrage only slowing Corvus down.

Ruby swept in from the side, catching Corvus off-guard long enough for Vegeta's barrage to blow her into a building.

As Corvus stepped out, she cast a disappointed glare at both Vegeta and Ruby.

"Pitiful that the two of you must work together, is it not, Prince? Miss Rose, I expected more from you." Corvus shook her head.

"You may help if you wish, but don't get in my way!!" Vegeta shouted, turning Super Saiyan.

"He seems... Familiar.." Ruby shuddered, remembering Weiss.

As the battle between Maiden, Saiyan and Huntress raged above, one between Twilight, Erza, Auburn, and Alex continued below.

Twilight grabbed Alex by the leg with her Magic, pulling him down and Giving Erza ample opportunity to strike.

Alex instantaneously blocked the strike, sweeping his leg and tripping Erza as he grabbed one of her swords.

With Agartha's Thunder and Erza's sword, he blocked Auburn's incoming axe, managing through the shockwave ensuing from colliding with the strings of the weapon.

"Stop..! Will you really be able to forgive yourself after this?" Auburn demanded.

"I've.. Gone too far.. Already... Why stop there?!" Alex roared, launching Auburn backwards as he leaped at Erza, both fighting to a standstill.

However, Erza was getting exhausted.

'So many powerful strikes... How is he not tired?!' Erza internally demanded.

Once managing to exhaust Erza, Alex placed his hand against Erza's chest plate.

"Shock Breaker!"

Alex blew Erza into a building, leaving behind a trail of electricity as Alex turned against Twilight, who countered every last one of Alex's attacks.

Auburn staggered up as Erza stared at Twilight and Alex's fight. Out of the three, Twilight seemed to be doing the best out of all of them.

Launching a magic attack at Alex, Twilight flew into him, trying to impale him with her horn.

In response, Alex grabbed Twilight's wings.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET IN MY WAY!!!" Alex roared, flinging her against the ground.

A sword struck Alex from behind, surprising him as he turned around to face his new opponent.

Ultimus.

"Emphas, you've lost your mind. The real threat here is Corvus. Don't waste your wife's little remaining time with your abusive tendencies. Turn around." Ultimus mocked.

"Funny. As if I'm gonna listen to Inquisitor scum like you."

Ultimus transformed to his Evolved Zealot, glaring at Alex as the other three women stood up.

"Don't make me tell you twice. I've trained just as hard as you."

"Funny. How long?" Alex demanded, raising his sword.

'How long? He's been gone the same amount of time as Ultimus... What could he be talking about?' Erza wondered

Twilight sensed something different about Alex. Not just in behavior, but in appearance. His hair had grown darker and had appeared.. Older..!

"You've found a way to extend your training time.." Twilight realized.

Alex smirked.

"Perceptive as always. I've been training for two additional years, thanks to one of Vegeta's assets. The Hyperbolic Time Chamber!" Alex announced.

Unfazed, Ultimus and Twilight leapt in, leaving Erza and Auburn behind, both shocked by this discovery.

Yang had woken up just in time to hear about the revelation, and trembled upon hearing.

'Alex trained for two years just to beat me?! There's no way I'll survive if I stay here..!' Yang trembled.

Yang shook Cade's still-unconscious body, awakening the younger man.

"Cade, get up!" Yang urged.

Cade gabbed his head in pain, only to see his mother, seemingly restored.

"What.. Happened..?" Cade wondered.

"Raven had me under mind control.. Alex got me out, but he's still gonna try and kill me.. We need to go..!" Yang told him.

"Hold on... Evan might have a way for us to get out of here.." Cade pulled himself up, only to fall back down.

Yang carried Cade over her shoulder, figuring out that Cade was still disoriented from her attack.

Above Lithia, Vegeta and Ruby were neck-in-neck against Corvus, who blocked all of their attacks with relative ease.

Ruby swung her scythe in a wide arc, with Corvus blocking the attack with only her glowing purple sword.

Vegeta charged at Corvus from the other side, attacking with a barrage of punches and kicks.

"Pathetic." Corvus growled.

Corvus' blade separated in two, revealing a pulse cannon that released a multi-colored beam of Raven's power, blowing Ruby through several buildings, leaving her to focus on Vegeta.

Vegeta was just slightly faster than Ruby, but still able to dodge both of Corvus' blades and manage to deal just as much damage as Corvus would've been able to had she landed a strike.

Corvus dodged Vegeta's stronger punch, using her original sword and launching a blade into his abdomen.

Shocked, Vegeta pulled the blade out and flung it to the ground in a furious rage.

Giving Corvus just the opportunity she needed to continue.

Corvus hacked and slashed at Vegeta, ripping apart his training suit and leaving deep cuts in his flesh as she finally kicked him to the ground.

"Are we finished here, Vegeta? Or do you have one more in you?" Corvus mocked.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=w50zQ67D6wY

"WE'LL SEE WHO'S LAUGHING WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU!! HAAAAAA..!!!!"

Vegeta raised both of his arms in a 90-degree angle as two balls of yellow energy formed in his hands.

"No fucking way.." Vanoss gasped.

"Holy fuck..!" Basically cheered.

"VEGETA'S USING HIS FINAL FLASH!!!" Delirious shouted while a great deal of the Vanoss crew practically fanboyed.

"WHAT THE HELL KINDA MAGIC DOES HE HAVE?!" Natsu gasped.

In another part of town, Yang and Cade stared up in the sky with surprise.

"Oh, shit!!" Yang shouted as she turned practically 180 degrees, ducking immediately into a building.

Ultimus, Auburn, Twilight, and Erza were also shocked.

"Such pressure..! What kind of power is this?!" Ultimus trembled.

"So, Vegeta's changing tactics here.." Alex noted.

Corvus stared down at Vegeta, admiring the power as she raised her purple sword. The sword broke apart to form a gauntlet.

"Yes... Give me as much energy as you can..." Corvus smiled.

Vegeta slammed his hands together, forming one, dense ball of energy as he raised his power to as high as he could at his state.

"FINAL FLASH!!!!"

Fully prepared to absorb Vegeta's power, Corvus raised her hand knowingly, grinning as Vegeta fired the attack...

...Only for the beam to turn 90 degrees to the right just before Corvus could absorb it.

NO!!!" All color drained from Corvus's face as the beam advanced towards Alex instead..!

Twilight formed a shield around herself, Erza, Auburn, and Ultimus as the attack met Alex's awaiting hands.

Alex staggered backwards, managing to absorb a great deal of the energy all at once.

"HRAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!"

The ball of yellow, pulsating energy merged with Alex's own power, glaring at the four as he teleported away.

Yang trembled in surprise. She knew that attack was made up of plasma, and Alex could absorb lightning.. Meaning that Alex absorbed the attack!

"We have to go... Now..!"' Yang ran with Cade in her arms.

Vegeta practically collapsed, giving Corvus only a cocky smirk.

Corvus grabbed Vegeta by what remained of his collar, completely past the point of reason.

"YOU DENY ME MY BIRTHRIGHT, YOU LOWLY SAIYAN?! I'LL RIP YOU LIMB FRIM LIMB!!!" Corvus demanded.

"Heh... Heh... You're already weakening... I can sense it.. After Alex kills the blonde one, it's all over for you... Your end will be slow and unforgiving.." Vegeta smirked.

Corvus raised her blade, only for Ruby to block, saving Vegeta.

"Back off!" Ruby ordered.

"As though I take orders from YOU!!" Corvus shouted, locking blades with Ruby as the battle continued.

At the wall, the Vanoss Crew, the rest of Fairy Tail, Sun, and Ultimus' Clan stared in awe.

"We'll... Probably need to call someone about this.." Vanoss decided.

"Yeah, but who the fuck's gonna want to deal with this shit?" Mini Ladd stated.

"He's got a point. Tell them to come, then wait until the fight's over." Gray decided.

"Oh, you're so smart, my beloved Gray!!" Juvia cheered, hugging Gray

"I'm not sure we'll be put in a bright light for this.. I mean, we just got out of Magnolia being destroyed twice." Lucy disagreed.

"You'll be fine. Tell them you went with us to help deal with the Furies." Sun shrugged.

Yang and Cade climbed up the stairs, meeting with the group.

"Call Kat..! Call Richtofen..! Anyone..! I'll never be able to get back on Alex's good side for this..! We all remember what happened to Cinder, right?!" Yang trembled.

"Technically.. I killed Cinder..." Cade coughed weakly.

"OTHER CINDER!" Yang shouted.

"Already dialing!" Spyden yelled back.

"The fuck does it matter, anyways? Treat what you and Alex had like... Um... Joker and Harley Quinn..!" FourZer0 snapped his fingers.

"Can someone explain that..? I didn't see Suicide Squad." Vanoss asked.

"Trust me, nobody wanted to afterwards." Nogla deadpanned.

"Wait... Wasn't Joker and Harley Quinn's relationship super abusive?" Lucy asked.

"Exactly! Alex is a dick, you won't be missing much!" Ohm elaborated.

"Wow. We're roasting the fuck out of Alex. Didn't he save the multiverse?" Mini asked.

"Yeah, fuckin' once. And that was to save his own ass in the process." Terroriser pointed out.

"Is it bad that what you guys are saying makes too much sense?" Yang asked.

"You know I can hear you, assholes." Alex scowled, floating above Yang.

"Speak of the dev- oh FUCK!" Lui gasped.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Start at 0:57 for dramatic Effect.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oC5xVrXJgyY

Alex lowered himself to Yang's level, glaring at her as she stared back, terrified beyond words.

"I don't care what you people say about me anymore. After I kill all of you, I'm gonna go down. But I'm dragging her to hell by the SKIN OF MY TEETH IF I HAVE TO!!" Alex seethed, raising a ball of energy directly at Yang's face.

A million thoughts whirled around Yang's mind at once. Her former husband was about to kill her.. Learning that he was going to kill both Corvus and himself..

Worse yet, in the time she spent with Alex, she knew that with him, suicide wasn't an option. In Alex's own words, 'If I spent this long fighting to stay alive, why the hell would I just off myself?'

This person howling with laughter in front of her..? That was the broken, fragmented, insane shadow of what he once was..

Yang trembled, slamming her eyes shut tightly as the others crowded together.. One last show of union as Alex obliterated his friends in a fit of insanity...

Or he would have.

Instead, Alex was blown to the side just before he could fire the blast. Corvus had thrown an unconscious Ruby at Alex, leaving both confused.

Yang's eyes shot open in surprise as she glanced around to see that they were all still alive.

"I called them..!" Spyden shouted.

"Who? The SCP? Ryders? Silver Ocelots?" Illiya wondered.

"All of them..! We need to find cover... I don't think we'll last much longer here..!" Spyden replied.

"Yeah, we gotta go..!" Wildcat shouted as the group ran for cover.

Meanwhile, Alex scowled at Corvus, casting a glance at Ruby's unconscious body.

"Aw.. Look at what I've turned you into. What would you have said about this before all this happened? You pathetic, insolent little pest." Corvus scowled

Alex cast a glare at Corvus, flying up to her level.

"Fine, then. I'll let it live. It's just you and me. Shall I warn you about the last time someone in my family fought off an All-Maiden!?" Alex smirked, raising his sword.

Corvus smiled, dropping her original blade in favor of her purple-black blade.

"What, Cinder Fall? That pathetic joke?! She squandered her powers! She had grown complacent! Weak! This is the TRUE POWER OF THE ALL-MAIDEN!!!" Corvus shouted, letting her raw power explode.

Author's Notes:

Wow, I am god awful. Both with release dates and morally!

I mean, Jesus! I drove the main character into a homicidal, likely suicidal maniac. I mean, he didn't come off that great to start, but still!

Now, on with the obligatory DBZ-styled outro!

'Alex, trained by Vegeta and driven to the ends of insanity, and Corvus, a manipulative, psychopath with planning on-par with Cinder's, fight head-on with none of those pesky boundaries or distractions! The real battle begins on the next chapter of Blood Red Shadows 2!

Okay, credit to Bruce Faulconer and Norihito Sumitomo for their music!

(Speaking of which, I should really credit the other music I already put in the story!)