*Vanhoover, Equestria; June 5, 2021; 8:55 PM*

Alex laid his head near one of the damaged buildings, pondering over the events of the past few months.

In their quest to find the Illuminati's Dragon Balls, The Team had visited several worlds, but still had only found six of the Order's seven.

For 18 Months, Alex had to deal with Twilight's rambling, roughly 50% scientific stuff between herself and Richtofen, 45% telling Alex to at least try and speak with Yang and his family, and the other 5% talking with Mako and the rest of the Order...

Cade and Auburn? They were fine, but he couldn't give out exact details of his business.

Yang was still out of the question.

Richtofen had been doing field-testing equipment and weaponry on their adversaries. Unfortunately, though, the end results were usually not only noisy and attracting a lot of attention, but it resulted in the crew having to act as cleanup.

Mako's trustworthiness was still in a gray area for Alex. On one hand, they'd been through hell and back together, but on the other, her loyalties laid with the other 'initiates'.

Going off to a nearby pond to wash his face, Alex took note of the fact that he'd actually been growing a beard.

A dark-blonde tangle of scraggly hair reaching about halfway between his chin and collarbone.

His Armor, which he'd worn since the Lithia Incident, had fallen somewhat into disrepair. Constant battling had rendered most systems inoperable, or too dangerous to even consider. The only function it really served to Alex now was a power boost.

'It'll all be worth it in the end, Alex,' He thought to himself, 'once I find that last Dragon Ball, I can put this all behind me... Start all over... Maybe patch myself up mentally afterwards..'

With a glance at the setting sun and a quick sigh, Alex returned to his 'comrades' at the campsite.

"What we got on that last Dragon Ball, Mako?" Alex asked.

"The Dragon Ball should be somewhere around here.. From what the Radar is telling me, it's stopped here, at least for the next day or two." Mako explained.

"We've been chasing zis damn thing for long enough, Director Cerise... Ve should just take it vhen zey aren't looking." Richtofen grumbled.

"The Ocelots've been moving this thing around dimensions for a while now... they're trying to figure out what the hell it does." Alex rolled his eyes.

"The... Ocelots..?" Twilight wondered, casting an accusing stare at him.

Turns out a power-up wasn't the only thing useful in that Armor.

"Stay calm.. don't give off any other indication." Andromeda guided.

"I just figured that they might be the ones doing this. We've seen the news, the Ocelots have had their hands in this town for months now." Alex replied evenly.

"He isn't wrong.." Mako figured.

"Well then... we should hope that we're the only ones who know about ze Dragon Balls. Ve need to get moving.." Richtofen urged.

Privately, Alex hoped the same... less people in the way of returning the prize to the Illuminati alone.

"Yang, we should set up camp here.."

The Maidens of Remnant had settled in at Vanhoover, roughly 7 kilometers away, where nobody would suspect a team of Remnant's best and brightest.

"You sure they're here, Orchid?" Lilac wondered.

"I'm positive. The Ocelots've been dimension-hopping from one area to the other. We nearly had at least two of those Dragon Balls and, poof!" Orchid scowled.

"Way I see it, we find the people taking these things, we find the rest. Then we can wish away this stupid war and move on with our lives." Neo added.

"AAnyway, we should get some rest... I don't think we've slept all that much..!" Ruby grinned.

"Agreed... You coming, Yang?" Aster asked.

"Sure, just... hang on.." Yang shrugged.

The Huntress cast a curious stare across town.

'That's him... The energy's faint, but that's him, all right.. Come to think of it... Wherever we go to find these Dragon Balls,

I always find his energy..."

The Maidens had stumbled onto one of them, a four-starred Dragon Ball, by accident.. Next thing she remembered, she woke up, and the Ball had vanished.

'There's no way it's the other kids... Cade's off with Vegeta... and Auburn and Oreonna are keeping up their training with Ultimus and Fairy Tail.. Besides... the kids are strong, but not like.. That..' Yang decided.

Ruby poked her head out from the sleeping bag, knowing full well what Yang was thinking.

She sensed Alex's energy too..

No matter how much she tried to get her sister's mind off of him, she still kept running into traces of him..

'Yang... As much as I don't want you to let go... As much as I hope the two of you smooth things over.. I don't think it's possible anymore...' Ruby grimly thought.

With a sigh, Ruby eventually fell into the clutches of sleep, feeling almost immediate relaxation.

"Cade, Ultimus and I are going to set up camp here."

As soon as Cade arrived, he felt something was off... Two familiar powers surged in the area, along with a mysterious energy that He'd felt since then.

"And you're certain there are Dragon Balls here." Vegeta demanded.

"Illiya and Spyden were the first to take note. Then, Auburn sensed a familiar presence. I felt it too.." Ultimus answered.

"You don't think that lunatic is here too?!" Natsu begged.

"He already said he was, firebreath!" Gray quipped.

"SHUT YOUR TRAP, COLD CUTS!!!" Natsu retorted

"Dragon Balls? In other dimensions? I wouldn't put it past them, but.." Cade shrugged.

"Cade?" Auburn greeted.

"Hey sis." Cade grinned slightly.

"Dad is on one side of town, and Mom's on the other." Auburn explained.

"Yeah.. I noticed too.. You don't think there's a correlation, do you?" Cade hoped.

"It doesn't look like a coincidence.. But who's stalking who?" Oreonna asked.

"Either way, unless we can stop our parents from killing eachother, then this whole thing is gonna blow over.."

"It's not like you'll actually cease to exist, right?" Oreonna grinned.

Cade cast a worried glance at Oreonna.

"R-Right..?"

Vanoss and his crew had finally finished up making their newest temporary base along with the rest of his crew.

"What're they up to this time?" Pyrrha asked.

"I dunno... They were gone for a while, and now i think they're back.." Vanoss replied.

"What!?" Delirious shouted.

"Not so loud!" Russell urged.

"MOTHER FUCK! WE JUST GOT RID OF THEM!" Panda yelled.

"That's such total bullshit!" Wildcat added.

Mini then did his own personal 'best cry ever'.

"I find it odd that the Ocelots are so eager to return.. We pushed back their offensive as far as Luna Bay." Ember stated.

"They probably left their shit behind. I know I'd come back for my stuff." Nogla figured.

"I don't think that's the case.. We've been raiding their empty bases for weeks now.. If there's anything left of theirs, it's in our possession." Pyrrha explained.

"Well, then what the hell are they back here for?" Lui wondered.

"We'll find out in the morning. We don't know what kind of reinforcements they're packing."

*Illuminati Centrum, Kalos Ultra; June 5, 2021; 10:00 PM

The Leader stared out at the endless ruins outside the Centrum, taking a sip of his wine.

Minerva calmly walked inside, greeting him with a polite bow.

"Sir, it seems The Silver Ocelots are in possession of the last Dragon Ball. They're calling in backup from the Dragon Lands and a team from the Fiorian Guild, Blue Pegasus." Minerva explained.

"At least we know where it is. Alex should be able to clear out any opposition for our initiates and Sister Cerise. Once he returns, we will allow him one of our two wishes, and be done with this charade." The Leader explained.

"I understand now why you listened to Sister Cerise.." Minerva nodded.

"Indeed. What you must understand about his type, Sister Minerva, is that they are opportunists. If you can promise them what they want, they will follow to the ends of the multiverse to do their work.

"Something terrible is soon to come, and we need all of the help we can get. If Alexander wants to set things right, we can do so... under our terms..."

Author's Notes:

Hey guys, guess who's back?!

I've been very, very busy in these past few months and I've hardly had time to write. but I have some new developments.

I'm re-naming the Scarlet Entries line I've been planning out to the 'Tales of Shadows' series. More fitting to the general story itself, rather than a singular aspect.

2. I have something planned out for Tales of Shadows 1, Twilight and co. land in a universe far different from the universe we're used to seeing. This will give some insight to the Oracle.

3. As such, Once I'm done with the 'Wake of Corvus' mini-arc, I'll be devoting time solely to Tales of Shadows 1. None to worry about, these stories are about 1 arc long (15 chapters or so), then Crimson Shade will hit it's climax.

And, trust me, this Arc is the most eventful. Some stuff I'm planning to add as of the Osiris Arc include The Introduction of Son Goku, The return of a lot of characters, along with the soon-to-be reunited Elements of Harmony.

More on that later, now, onto the outro!

With things heating up in Vanhoover, our heroes may soon meet once again. Not as friends, but as rivals!

The Leader of the Illuminati seems to have plans for Alex. What are they, and what danger does he suspect is coming?!

Find out on the next chapter of Blood Red Shadows 2!