Chapter 14: Untapped Power?

"Alistor." Kar'yin's tone was serious. She pulled him aside so that the rest couldn't hear them. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think?"

"Do you really think it's possible for those girls to stand up to him?

"With enough time, I'm sure that-"

"We don't HAVE time. Wherever he is, he'll find us soon enough."

"Look, I..." His words failed him, fleeing from his mind.

"I get your relationship with them, but there's no reason to put them in danger. I see how you get around that Ruby girl."

He tried to protest, but no words would come out.

"Just send them home," she continued. "If… if you like her, or any of them for that matter, then wouldn't you rather see them safe?"

A look of understanding passed through them both. Alistor turned to the team.

"Call it off."

"What?" Yang was excited for this, but hearing the statement disappointed her. "What do you mean?"

"Look at yourselves. I can't even believe I thought of something like this."

"But-"

"Just go home."

Weiss, of all people, was infuriated. "WHAT!? So, lemme get this straight: you have the nerve to silence me, drag me out here so you can 'train' us, then just call it off? I'm sorry, but it doesn't work like that." She got in his face. "Listen here, 'Saiyan', now that we're here, you're gonna train us, and you're gonna train us good."

He sighed. "If you say so." He readied a battle pose. "Ready?"

"Hold on, wait-"

In the blink of an eye, Alistor was behind Weiss. He struck a pressure point, leaving her unconscious. "Take her home. If all goes well, we'll see you soon. If not, well… Just, don't worry about it, okay?"

The days passed by. Weeks. Six weeks, in fact, and they still hadn't come back.

"Do… do you think something's happened to them?" Ruby asked. The truth was, all of them were worried, but some more than others.

"It's nothing to lose sleep over, Ruby. If they come back, they come back. If they don't, they don't."

"Weiss..."

"Look, let's just drop it, and focus on school." She opened a textbook and started to 'read', really just staring down at the page.

"Y'know, I think Weiss has a point." Yang followed. "We should worry about more important things." They sat in silence, for a couple minutes. Ruby stood up.

"I'm going."

"What?" Blake, having spoken up the first time that day, asked. "Ruby, you shouldn't just-"

"Look, I don't… I, okay, listen. I'm tired of just sitting around and worrying. I'm going to find out what's going on."

"Ruby..." The girls sat in astonishment. "If you're going, I'm going too!" Yang stood up. "Who's with me?"

Blake stood up, then Weiss.

"I suppose it's better than just moping all day."

"Then it's settled. Operation 'Find-a-Friend' is under way!" Saying that, Ruby jumped out the window.

"She knows we have a staircase, right?" Weiss sighed. "Let's go."

The two were still in the forest, not too far away from Alistor's ship. Kar'yin was asleep. The two had made an agreement: During the day, they'd train with each other, and they'd alternate nights training themselves. The Grimm never even bothered to come close; after Alistor's sheer energy output blew them away, they decided to prey on other things.

Kar'yin was usually a heavy sleeper, but the energy output had gotten so high that even she started getting scared. She opened her eyes, and walked towards him, making sure not to alert him.

Through a clearing, she saw him straining his body, his yelling slowly becoming louder and higher as the power kept rising.

"What the Hell…? He's never been this strong." She checked her scouter, and it seemed like it was skipping intervals. "Even if he could get this strong, it could never get this high in six weeks! Brother… what power are you hiding…?"

"Hey." A whisper called. Kar'yin turned around, ready to fight, but what she saw surprised her.

"Ruby?"

"Kar'yin, what's up? You never came to tell us anything."

"Sorry for worrying you guys, but we've been at the grind." She turned to her brother. "But I think he's overdoing it."

What happened next was… well, no one really knew. The silver aura around him was changing color… It was slowly turning golden. His hair, which had grown longer over time, stood up on end more than usual. That, too, was flashing golden. His yellow eyes were flashing green. The ground around him started crumbling away, dust being lifted up and blown away by the energy.

"Wait… that can't be..." Kar'yin looked in awe, the others clueless about what's happening.

He let out a bone-chilling roar of a scream. What happened next, well…

He fell to the ground, panting and out of energy.

"D-damn it… I… n-need… this power..." He fell unconscious.

He opened his eyes. His entire body was in pain, and he was void of almost all his energy. He had a wet pad on his forehead, and it reeked of rubbing alcohol.

"Where… ow… pain… everything's in pain..."

"Just rest."

He turned to see Ruby, then Weiss, Yang, and Blake.

"Girls…?"

"Y'know, you can get scary sometimes." Kar'yin entered the room, with Alistor's gear. "With all that, I guess you might've scared the Butcher off."

"What power?" He asked, wincing at the pain that followed.

"It was… unreal. There was gold, and green." She turned to the team. "Excuse me a moment? I need to talk with him in private."

"Uh, yeah, sure, okay." They promptly left.

"Alistor." She hinted worry in her voice. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Do what?"

"That power, idiot! Where'd it come from?"

"I… don't know."

"Quit lying! It's no joke, my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. You got stronger than Dodoria. You got stronger than Zarbon. Goldo, Recoome, Burter, Jeice. I'm pretty sure Captain Ginyu himself. What… did you do?"

"I..." He winced again. "I've… only felt it once before. When he killed Orion." Both of them flinched at their late brothers name. "Although, I haven't been able to do it again. Every time I tried… well, this happens."

"Well, just don't try it again."

"You don't… get it..." The pain was overwhelming him, and he had no energy to compensate. "There's… a bag… in my pocket..."

Kar'yin rummaged through his clothing. She pulled out a brown, burlap sack. She opened it, revealing what looked like beans.

"Give… me… one..." She did so. He swallowed it, and, within a couple seconds, he was back on his feet.

"W-what the…? How did you-"

"They're called Senzu Beans. I stole them off of some fat guy on a planet called Earth. King Vegeta wanted them for the troops, but I snagged some for myself. And, man, do they work!" He threw a couple punches and kicks.

"Are you guys done?" The door opened, and RWBY re-entered. "Because honestly, if we have to take care of a-a-a-a-a-a-a..."

"Hey, Rubes."

"W-what?"

"What's up?"

"Y-you… you were..."

"About to die, yes."

"We… were so worried..."

"And now you are…?"

He wasn't sure what surprised him more, the hug or how hard she had grabbed on to him.

"Hey, woah, woah. I wasn't gone for that long."

"I, uh, I..." She let go. "S-sorry," she said, but the blush didn't go away.

"Well, bro, next order of business..." Kar'yin messed with her scouter. "What do we do with that power?"

"Hmm..." He pondered a bit. "I say, let's bring the party to him!"