*Over the Sirantine Ocean, Adenien; June 17, 2021; 2:30 AM*

Alex and Osiris had been riding across this divine-forsaken ocean for at least 4 hours by now.

The trip, taking 7 AND A HALF HOURS on the whole, with the first 3 alone being dedicated to evading the local ordinance, who would surely try to kill him anyways.

Looking back at the map of the Adenien World, there lay 2 major landmasses, Kiros, where the Three Cities resided, and Sudantis. Sirantis lay directly between the two. Meaning it would take 4 hours each way to reach civilization from Alex's Cruiser, running at about 650 kilometers per hour.

Meaning this was the fastest way to Sirantis.

At least they were almost there.

"Are we there yet?" Osiris asked.

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No.."

"Are we there yet?"

"Stop that."

"Are we there yet?"

"What did I just say?!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Osiris!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Stop!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Fucking hell, Osiris!"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO!"

"Are we there yet?"

"FUCK OFF!"

"Are we there yet?"

"FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR REFERENCES!"

Alex and Osiris eventually came across a large mountain range, preceded by a cliffside dozens of meters high, with a monastery on the range's highest peak.

Lightning struck the darkened sky as Alex and Osiris stared up at the Monastery. Alex's expression remained emotionless as he glared up at it's stone columns.

"A-Are we..?"

"Yes Osiris. We're here." Alex grumbled, piloting the craft into the skies and landing in the main entrance of the Monastery, where a crowd of white, gold, and blue-robed monks stood lining up at the edges so they could land. A large stairwell led it's way up to a catwalk going to the East and West Wings of the ancient structure.

"D-Did they know we were coming..?" Osiris asked.

"I can't say... This thing doesn't make much noise, so we couldn't have alerted them. Either they're psychic, or we've walked into a trap. Keep your guard up." Alex ordered with a slight shrug.

Alex quickly landed the cruiser, pressing a button that pulled back the roof of the ship and quickly disembarked in this crowd of strangers.

Osiris, doing the same, felt some relief when he wasn't immediately engaged with suspicion and fear as the monks offered to take their coats.

"Welcome, Travellers. Please, make yourselves comfortable while we alert the Grandmaster to your presence." One of the older monks greeted.

'Something's off... They don't seem panicked or even surprised. This was a bad idea.. I may as well be back with Yang and the others.' Alex thought, almost frantically.

Alex slowly reached for his weapon, ready to strike in case anything went awry.

"I was wondering when you would arrive..." An elderly voice stated from the main stairwell of the monastery.

Alex faced up to find an old man with a thinning, grey crew cut and a short beard follow two elders down the stairway. The 'Grandmaster', Alex assumed.

"Though, it is unusual to have brought your friend, here.." The Grandmaster continued, his voice bearing not a shred of disappointment, suspicion, or malice. Much unlike his own friends...

Alex slowly released the grip of his weapon as he stood face-to-face with the Grandmaster, the older man roughly a head taller than his own. Alex reached out and shook the Grandmaster's hand.

"Hi, The Oracle sent me, I'm-"

"Alexander Gabriel Walker, Birthname Saigo Emphas, Son of Yurei Emphas and Kyra Sirant-Emphas. Father of One, as I understand." The Grandmaster smirked knowingly.

"Stepfather, if anything. She's Yang's now." Alex corrected.

"You're still concerned about her, aren't you?"

"Maybe- Wait. How do you know all this?" Alex demanded.

"You've had a rough time these past few years, have you not? War, death, loss... Betrayal?" The Grandmaster insisted further.

Alex pulled his hand away as the Grandmaster grabbed his wrist. Trying in vain to wrestle his hand away, Alex clenched his fist and pulled as hard as he could.

"Who or what are you?" Alex asked, coldly.

"You've also gotten a substantial loss in power... And it's already borrowed from many different worlds..." The Grandmaster continued.

"H-How are you..?"

"You are a man of war. Sent here to find some semblance of peace."

"Alright.. You better start talking, who are you?" Alex demanded.

"I am Artemnas Sirant. Grandmaster of the Sirantis Monastery. Kyra and Rhys are my daughters."

Alex immediately stopped. Releasing the tension in his muscles and allowing Artemnas to examine his mechanical arms.

"So... You're saying.."

"Yes, Alexander. I am your grandfather." Artemnas explained, releasing Alex's arm as Osiris was allowed to step forward.

"You actually look a lot like him, Alex." Osiris noted.

"So, You mentioned another daughter. Is she here?" Alex wondered.

"As a matter of fact. She is." A mature, yet feminine voice replied in the crowd as Rhys removed her hood. From what Alex could tell, she almost looked exactly like his mother, save a darker brown hair color, green eyes, and a scar on the bridge of her nose.

"We prophesized you would be here some point after the Revival. We had no idea it would take this long for you to arrive." Artemnas explained.

"Okay, so... What exactly am I doing here?" Alex wondered.

"The Oracle requested you be brought here. To find some level of inner peace, reconnect with some family, and to learn some skills before the Cataclysm." Rhys stated.

"Wait, so... How are you guys related to the Oracle?"

"We Sirants have a connection to the Universal Fabric. The very same fabric that ties The Oracle to the universe. It's also where we channel our energy from. Using Adenien's force as an anchor, we can achieve a source of infinite power all our own. The deeper our connection, the more powerful or skilled we become." Artemnas explained.

"Which is why we were confused when you defeated the Inquisition, Corvus, even the Dark God Lillith whilst lacking this connection."

"And now I understand why. Your Power is derived from many sources... Your DNA is all muddled up, as well." Artemnas explained.

"So, how can I be expected to grow without using my power?"

"You use your otherworldly powers like a crutch. The only way you can learn to walk, so to speak, is to remove it." Rhys elaborated.

Artemnas poked a number of pressure points in rapid succession. A final tap to the solar plexus blew Alex backwards with an ethereal blue glow surrounding his body and pulling his energy within.

"W-What did you do..? I can't even move..!" Alex demanded, unable to move his mechanical arms and legs.

"I simply locked your power away while you train here. You've also been using that power to help you move your arms and legs, so until you learn to channel the Universal Fabric, you're almost a prisoner in your own body. Rhys, Lex, carry the boy to our training area so he may begin his training."

And with that, Alex was dragged off into the East Wing, most likely one of the meditation chambers. Osiris followed, his curiosity piquing at the mere note of this 'Universal Fabric'.

As Alex made him aware during the trip, between dimensions was a sort of chaotic parallel void. Apparently, it had corrupted the man who would later become King Sombra. Osiris came to the conclusion that some uses of this 'Fabric' is best left avoided.

He would have to take notes, at least, for Dr. Callan's sake.

*Concordia, Remnant; June 17, 2021; 5:35 AM*

Cade and the Auroran Fleet had finally been prepped for sendoff. Cade insisted leaving three ships behind, specifically those captured from the Adeniens.

Cade, Twilight, Kat, Saisho, Vanoss, Ruby, and now Makarov were discussing their gameplan for their impending battles.

"The Inquisition is most likely going after Earth. The Adeniens have torn through the American defenses there, and now they're about to reach Washington." Saisho figured.

"Yeah, though it feels like they've been on their way for months now." Kat shrugged.

"In all seriousness, Cade's forces are incredibly solid. Even when Alex's guys were outnumbered, he somehow pulled through long enough for us to turn it around." Vanoss noted.

"Even so, you should probably head to Earth.." Twilight suggested.

"You think I wasn't gonna go? I don't know if any of my other friends or family made it. If I can't find out, I can at least help you guys out." Vanoss insisted.

"Fairy Tail will join you, Cade. This is far beyond any challenge we've faced before... and I feel this won't be the end." Makarov predicted, almost sadly.

"Alright. Twilight, with everyone else going to Earth to fight, will you stay behind and help Saisho and I?" Ruby asked.

"I-"

"Twilight, Princess Celestia requests your presence." Skirmish notified.

"... I guess I'll have to take this. If I can't help either of you, I wish you all good luck.." Twilight smiled while heading off alongside Skirmish.

Skirmish led Twilight back outside and into one of the tents, where the rest of the Mane 6, as well as the surviving equine members of Alex's old Squad; Blast Radius, Haunting, Ember, Cloudchaser, and Flitter.

"Celestia and Luna are calling you up. She needs all of us to return to Equestria immediately."

"What for?"

"Said something about "Binging back-to-back Crimson Chin..?" Skirmish shugged, confused.

Twilight gave her that look. You all know the one. The one your friends give you when you've done something funny, but not 'ha-ha' funny.

"I gotta take this. If I can't get back to you, good luck, everyone..!" Twilight smiled as she followed Skirmish off to some undisclosed destination.

'There's no way Princess Celestia's bringing us all of us back to Equestria for watching childrens' cartoons... Except- OH NO.'

Twilight's face paled at her ensuing realization.

Princess Celestia, who always held Equestria's best interests in mind. Who ruled only out of benevolence. Who had saved Equestria many times before her, who had mentored her, was now about to open up a gate to Tartarus itself...

Princess Celestia planned to revive the Crimson Shade.

She had read stories about the ancient Alicorn group that had once ruled Equestria before Celestia herself was born. They were destructive, malevolent, death incarnate. So much so that not even Discord himself was able to stop them..!

And the one thing that had was far too horrible to even think about now..

The fact that Celestia even took this to consideration could only mean one thing.

The 1000 year peace Equestria had, which had been slowly crumbling over the past 7 years, was truly over.

*Other World; June 17, 2018; 2:00 PM*

Vegeta had gone through much in these past few hours.

Between thorough interrogation from the rest of the Z-Fighters, getting the OK from Little Green Dende, and actually finding the damned things, suffice to say, Vegeta's had a hell of a day.

'This had better be worth the effort, Kakarot!' Vegeta bitterly griped as Shenron quickly materialized before him.

Shenron glared down at Vegeta as he began granting the Saiyan's wishes.

Since nothing had really been going on, Vegeta's first wish was a relatively simple one; something nice so Trunks would finally get off his back for a little while, at least.

His second wish was a bit of preperation for his third wish. He wouldn't dare wish for more power, but what he could do was wish for some more advanced equipment to increase his own power.

This third wish... was the true reason Vegeta showed up.

"Dragon, I demand to speak to Kakarot, and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, do you understand?" Vegeta ordered.

Shenron mused for a moment as Vegeta felt a golden light materialize around him.

"Your wish has been granted."

Vegeta's body was now a mere, glowing outline as he soon rematerialized on King Kai's planet. Goku quickly taking notice and heading his way.

"Hey, Geets!"

"Argh, damn it."

"Hey, You came to me, so we might as well catch up, right?" Goku asked.

"Shut up and listen, Kakarot. It's quite important." Vegeta smirked.

"I don't sense anything going on with Earth. Though you have been gone for a while... And you've gotten stronger."

"That's right, fool. Though, I'm not getting into that yet."

"Ohh! This is about that apprentice you had for a while, isn't it? How is he?"

"He's doing alright, I suppose, but listen. Off in some other universe, there's a great war building up. My apprentice is a key player, though I sense it may not be enough.." Vegeta explained.

"How does that include me?" Goku wondered.

"There's a lot of strong guys involved. And I know you won't turn down a chance to get stronger." Vegeta grinned, knowing this last bit would get through to that clown.

"Well, why didn't you say so? Count me in!" Goku replied, already fired up at the idea.

Author's Notes:

Dang, month's almost over, an it took just now to finish this chapter.

I AM THE SAD.

Anyways, one more chapter, and we're off on the first of two six-parter sequences in this Arc!

Oh, and Goku's here now.

To anyone asking, I'm not getting into how strong Goku or Vegeta are by now. Yet

EDIT: In other news, I announced an Act V Q&A event some time ago, but it kinda goes against the site's rules so I can't really do that. My bad

Feel free to comment, and I'll see you all later!

-The Destoyer