"Okay, so…"

The chaos had subsided at 232 Masayoshi, for the moment. Each of Team RNJR sat upon the couch as Gohan stood by, Qrow standing over them, trying to keep the peace.

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby began, face living up to her namesake, "could you really not've warned us about the bugs?"

"Before we all took showers and," Nora added, similarly puce, "other stuff?"

"I've still got soap in my hair!" Jaune finished, present wearing only his towel. A fact not helping the two girls sitting beside him.

"So rinse it out…" Qrow said with a sigh.

"Because I'm guessing whatever we're gathered for is important?" Jaune rebutted, arms crossed. "So who's he?"

"Mmm… not an easy question to answer," Qrow said, regarding Oscar out of the corner of his eye. "I'd say you've met, but I doubt you'd recognize him." He only received broken stares, Nora in particular looking unamused by his vaguery. Qrow turned to the farmboy. "Welp, you've got the floor Oz…"

Oscar gave an annoyed grunt and closed his eyes. Gohan watched as he felt a strange power surfacing, and his jaw dropped slightly as he finally recalled Oscar from before, leaving the train station.

" 'Oz…?' " Ren repeated, as an emerald glow overtook the boy.

His hazel eyes burned gold for a moment, and suddenly his demeanor was utterly changed. "My students… It has been terribly long, and the hour is late."

There was a stunned silence before Jaune finally pieced it together. "Oz… pin?!"

The boy smiled as all of them fidgeted, as though on a rollercoaster that had pitched into a sudden, white-knuckle drop. "Be I ever so humble. Mister Arc, I'm surprised and elated to find you here. Miss Rose… I am less surprised, but no less comforted. I should never have doubted… but I am nonetheless… proud, if that were the appropriate word?" he finished, uncertainly.

"Okay, I'm completely lost," Nora admitted. "So who crammed our headmaster into the runt?"

Oscar's eyebrows lilted. "I'll have you know, Miss Valkyrie, that Oscar very much resents that, and he's appropriately developed for his age."

"I thought you were Ozpin…" she droned back.

"One, the same… and also neither," Ozpin admitted. "My soul is combined with Oscar's. To speak of one is to speak of the other… Or shall be, eventually."

"Okay, okay, hold on!" Ruby began, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Last I heard anyone say, Ozpin was missing! So… I mean, what?"

Ozpin chuckled lightly. "For those who understand my… circumstances, that would not have been an inaccurate statement. But for the sake of brevity, the form you all would have recognized… perished under the assault of one Cinder Fall, deep below Beacon Academy. Young Oscar here, is, let's say, a reincarnation."

"You… reincarnated," Ren began looking troubled, "into the body of another person?"

"The body of a like-minded soul," Ozpin clarified, nodding. "A young male. Not wholly unlike how the powers of the Four Maidens transfer. Of course, the Maidens only receive flashes of feelings, traces leftover from the souls their power has touched. Something akin to a second conscience. Oscar has the benefit of my knowledge, my memories, and… for a time… my guidance."

"For a time?" Ruby asked.

Jaune however, didn't wait for him to elaborate. "So you died and came back… What is this? What the hell makes you so special?!"

"Hey!" Qrow barked, but Ozpin caught his eye.

"No… it's alright. Firstly, 'came back' is all rather subjective. My soul lives on after death, and I latch onto another. The self that came before, however, ultimately melds into and surrenders to the host."

"So ya mean…" Nora began, thinking, "He takes over for good?"

"Yes, eventually," Ozpin affirmed. "I've explained this to him, of course, but my predecessor did not bear my name, nor my personality. Rather gruff, in fact, as I recall. But honestly, given my immortal task, a shift in perspective is often welcome when it comes to combating Salem." The youthful face turned wistful, but sad. "Yet still I feel I've repeated the same mistakes, so many times…"

A memory flashed in Ruby's mind. " 'I've made more mistakes than any man, woman or child'..."

He nodded. "Very astute, Miss Rose. Yes, I'm afraid I very much meant what I said."

"But why?!" Jaune demanded, becoming more heated with every passing minute. "Why do you get to come back, but… but nobody else?! Not…"

Ozpin seemed to freeze, unable to look Jaune in the eye. "My powers don't come with omniscience, so I've only recently been briefed on what occurred since, and… during… the Fall of Beacon." He took a deep breath. "Mister Ar— Jaune…"

The swordsman froze, locking eyes at last.

"You wouldn't want Miss Nikos to return as I do…"

Jaune looked very much like he'd been stabbed, pupils shrinking.

"It is not voluntary, nor something I have done to myself, in the traditional sense. I… I have been cursed. To live and die, again and again, until my task here is ended."

"Task?" Ren repeated, pondering. "To… stop Salem?"

Ozpin nodded. "As I failed to do, a very long time ago." He began to pace, his cane extending out, an ancient ivory handle hiding a great onyx block. He hefted it idly. "I am the last of a kind… to my knowledge at least. A holdover from an age forgotten, as my parents told me. Much like the Silver Eyed Warriors. I had astonishing powers, but I kept them hidden from the world, guarded them jealously, as always had I been instructed. I was bitter and alone into my latter years… centuries, owing to the longer than typical lifespan of my kind… until my lonely dwelling was visited one day, by four extraordinary young women."

Ruby's eyes lit up suddenly, and a few of the others held curious expressions as well. "W-wait! This is starting to sound really familiar!"

"You… you're the wizard?!" Nora very nearly shouted.

The boy chuckled like an old man. "That… is how history has referred to me. And I must admit, I don't really have a more accurate term for what I am." He looked out a window into the distance, a smile growing. "All I know is it hadn't mattered until that day. I had squandered my gifts for so long, and I chose to present them to the worthy. They… they taught me so much, of the power of simple kindness… in a simple, honest soul."

A look of nostalgia took him, but swiftly faded away. "But I was… deceived. I was so taken with the four, so desperate to use what power I had left to be as good to others as they had been to me…"

Pain filled his features. Qrow made to step in as Ozpin's pause spiraled. "Maybe we finish this next—"

The cane whirled to tap across Qrow's sternum. "No… no, it's important they understand," he said, taking a breath. "My story… which is to say, the Maidens' story, spread uninhibited. Townsfolk came to me for help, favors… on occasion, to threaten. But most notable was a strange, frightened-looking creature who sought me out. The palest complexion… red-eyes… beautiful in her own strange way… and deathly, almost false-looking… like a mannequin. She told me she was the embodiment of the Grimm, and that I might save both our races."

"The…? Do you mean…? Sal—?" Jaune stammered, as Ozpin sighed.

"When we met, she told me she had no name. In retrospect, it feels so foolish… of all the regrets, this opened the way for so much more to come after… but I was compelled by my newfound sense of philanthropy to look past her morbid appearance. Especially, if what she said was true, and it could mean the Grimm would never darken humanity's proverbial doorstep again. Feeling a sort of compassion for her, as she pretended herself a harmless, timid thing, I offered her the name 'Salem.' An old word from a society who once existed in what we now call Vacuo. It meant multiple things at once. 'Peaceful,' to honor her aims in seeking me out… 'complete', and 'perfect', to assuage reservations she confessed to me in our time together. For all her resentment of mankind, she always came across… self-conscious, even ashamed of her more feral nature. Her constant emulation of the human form suggests enough that she desires something of ours…"

"That word's just a thing you knew, huh?" Nora asked, her face half tired, half disbelieving.

"I was a recluse for so long," Ozpin said in reply, "reading had long been my greatest vice. So… I let her lead me to a place, hidden and ancient. A place from before the cataclysm that left this Remnant of the old world. She told me that within this vault lay the power to heal the world of the sickness that afflicted her kind, but it was sealed by a magic that was precious and fading in the world. A magic I alone had been born with. Thrilled, taken by delusions of destiny, I broke the wards… and she didn't hesitate to strike."

Ruby was surprised to see Qrow return with a steaming mug. She hadn't recalled him even leaving. Ozpin took the cup in Oscar's hands, nodding his thanks.

"I don't suppose you object to coco?" Ozpin asked, eyes upturned. The others shared confusion before they recognized his question was directed at his new 'roommate.' "Mmm," he intoned with a nod, before taking a sip. "So yes, if I hadn't been following the path of an inscription on the chamber wall, I'd have entirely missed her attempt to slay me. I was wounded, immobilized, but still strong enough. She made for the four treasures within as I demanded she explain this betrayal."

The memory was bitter. His beverage, sweet.

"She claimed she had been truthful. She wanted to heal Remnant of the disease, the abomination that afflicted it. The abomination of Mankind. She was, she claimed, the Aspect of the God of Darkness on Remnant, enactor and purveyor of his will. A heart in the Grimm, from before the god was swayed by his brother to create humanity. She would continue that campaign of ruin."

"She just… told you that?" Ren asked. "She had the upper hand, and stood there to explain?"

Ozpin gave a single cry of mirth as his eyes closed a moment. "Yes, quite different from her underlings, in my experience… though that was a great time past."

"I dunno," Ruby said with a shrug," that guy Tyrian had it in for me, and he was pretty chatty…"

"Hmm." Ozpin eyebrows rose. "I'll like if you could regale me on this one later. But yes, Salem explained simply how little she spoke to anyone at all, let alone she'd be incapable of wringing misery from an extinct species… so I was merely a proxy, the representation of her hated enemy… and I would bear the punishment for mankind's sins."

"So… hold on…" Nora said, eyes still narrowed. "She works for dark god, but she's thrown out that whole 'beings that can choose both' stuff from the story? I don't get it. Did he change his mind?"

"Honestly I can't rule it out," Ozpin answered, "but I don't think so. The only example of either brother's will I've encountered is dubious at best. All signs point to them having left Remnant to its own devices. It could indeed be the Dark Brother's will, he might never have truly embraced humanity at all, and Salem reflects that. Perhaps he simply detests the lighter path humanity has taken, and reneged on his brother's bargain in fury. Or Salem existed in some primal form at the start, and her heart merely mirrors the whims of her master when the Grimm were created. Her divine title could be an invention of her own, and as the Grimm incarnate, merely resents being her master's less favoured creation…"

None of them had anything to add to that, merely blinking unevenly as they processed.

"Uh, yeah…" Ruby said at last, "one of those…"

"Or none of them," Ozpin said seriously. "Either or, she's never divulged much beyond our first true clash… Oh, of course, I've yet to finish, have I? Well, the long and short of it is I escaped, and she hastened, but both of us were plunged into a chasm as we gripped the Relics. In that moment, I had flashes of things I didn't understand, but knew the power and danger were vast. I gained an upper hand and separated her from her treasures, beaten and bloodied astride a fortunately placed outcrop. Somehow, I knew I had the power to destroy her then and there."

He sighed, taking another sip. "A moment's hesitation… a mercy, undeservedly received… and she was gone. Vanished, back to her cold corner of reality beyond man's notice. Frail, old, and injured, I hobbled to my home, precious cargo in tow. I found a secluded space and buried them, casting an illusion over the site. My sight grew dark… and I collapsed on my own doorstep, not to wake again… Or, that's what I believed, before I found myself staring through the eyes of a young lad named Zoroaster."

"And that," Ren began, slow of cadence, "that was…?"

"My first reincarnation, yes," Ozpin said. "It's funny how deities work. Magic is certainly a force of reckoning, but the divine… that's another matter altogether. The Relics are direct instruments of their might, a true Promethean Flame… and attached to them, their maker's will."

His face fell.

"I was cursed, that day, when I might have slain the enemy of Man. I failed, and was tasked with correcting that. Were I more circumspect with the truth of myself and the Maidens, Salem might not have discovered me at all. Had I been decisive when it was necessary, she'd be gone… and countless generations might have been spared the suffering that has come of this endless war."

Nobody spoke. Ruby Rose had heard the fairytale as a girl, but never would she have expected such appalling things to have followed 'happily ever after...'

"So now you know," Ozpin said idly. "And the rest is strategery… but of course, I can't plan effectively without being properly informed myself. Most new and curious… who might you be, young one?" Oscar's voice asked, eyes turned kindly towards the silent child.

He had wondered when feigning invisibility would run its course. "Oh, I'm… Gohan, Son Gohan, sir."

"Mmm, Mistrali naming convention I see," Ozpin noted. "You know, it's not unheard of, but one so young exhibiting a semblance as you did earlier is rather quite extraordinary."

"Oh… well, it's not a 'semblance' exactly, sir," Gohan said, unnerved to be addressed by the man behind the boy. "And I'm not really from around here."

"Oh?" Ozpin intoned with interest. "How so?"

"That's a…" Ruby began.

"Looooooooong story," Nora finished.

Oscar's eyebrows rose at seeing the two Huntresses subtly backing the claims. "Well I pride myself in my patience, among other things, so perhaps you should explain then? To Oscar of course… I think it's time you all were duly acquainted, rather than catching-up with an old man."

In a flash, Oscar gasped, "Wow… I'm really not used to that yet ...Hi? Everyone?"

With that, Jaune gave a heavy sigh. "And here's the part where I can finish my shower…"

"I thought you didn't want to miss anything important?" Ren reminded him.

"Eh, I've heard this part."

Krillin beheld the stalemate, relieved to see he wasn't the only one surprised by Yang's statement. The bandits, even the tattooed termagant, were staring between Yang and their masked mistress, mouths hanging open like a school of terrified fish.

Finally, Raven Branwen broke the silence with a smile. "So you've finally come? I'll admit, I was starting to think it just wasn't happening."

Yang's lips parted just enough to see her grit teeth. "I've been searching for you my entire life! Dad wouldn't tell me where you were. Uncle Qrow only JUST did in time for us to lose everything!" she shrieked, eyes flashing red again before she silently took a breath.

Raven's eyes appeared to tire before her. "Calm down… I was only trying to be humorous. I know your father's kept you from me. If anything, I'm impressed you're here already… perhaps a little wiser?"

Yang reeled back. "Wiser?"

"Perhaps a little more prepared to hear what I have to tell you?" Raven clarified. "You've been trained up, cloaked in the apparent safety of your paper Kingdoms and Huntsman schools. Under fools like Ozpin, who think they're still in control, who think they can save the ones too weak to protect themselves and still fight an invisible enemy."

"Ozpin…?" Yang whispered. "What does he have to do with…?"

"But you've seen those walls crumble," Raven continued, "front and center to a Kingdom, crippled—" Raven's eyes flashed to Yang's golden prosthetic. "Being broken from within, even with one of their strongest allies there to help them."

Yang's narrowed eyes found a way to squeeze ever tighter. "I'm a Huntress," she said, words laced with venom, "You were a Huntress! It's our duty to protect people, not a burden! It's what I signed up for!"

Raven's expression hadn't changed. "But it's not what we signed up for. My brother and I. Oh certainly, we applied and attended under the guise of runaway idealists… and Ozpin, bleeding heart, so easily swayed by a hard luck story… he accepted us with open arms. Two children of The Tribe, learning how to KILL Huntsmen, at his very knee."

Yang's narrowed eyes flew back open. She stood a beat before storming back in. "Well Qrow clearly changed his mind! You were with Dad! You had ME! Maybe Ozpin knew better than you thought?!"

The bandits collectively took a breath, faint mutters in the crowd. Raven's light grin had vanished, but her eyes remained steely. "I was young once too, rebellious… stupid. All that heroic optimism at Beacon, the warmth and apparent safety of Vale… it made you forget how the world really works. Ironically, Ozpin himself was the one to remind me. I wish I'd come to my senses a little sooner in some ways, prevented myself from making a few childish mistakes."

"Yeah!" Yang cried, trying her best to keep her lip firm even as her voice faltered, brows furrowing in her wake. "Mistakes like me? Mistakes like your FAMILY?!"

Raven shut her eyes with a breath, but kept a firm grip on her stride. "This is family, Yang. I hoped one day you'd find me out here, and now that you have… you've earned yourself a place in it. And possibly more, if that's what you want."

Krillin had been watching the discussion, but was also paying close attention to the crowd, and so he noticed the short haired woman eyeing Yang with flared nostrils at Raven's last statement.

"I'm…" Yang began, metaphorical footing giving way, "I'm not here for any of that! I'm not even here for you! I'm here for my sister."

Raven's brows furrowed, the muscles around her cheekbones softening. "Summer's child? I've no idea what you're talking about. We've never even spoken."

"No… but she's gone to Mistral," Yang explained. "She left months ago, and she needs my help."

"I just told you we've never seen her. Anima is a big place. There are any number of holes she might've stumbled into."

"Exactly," Yang said, stepping forward. "Could take ages, she could be anywhere… but I know Qrow's not far off. That's where you come in."

Raven froze. Her expression hadn't changed, but she stared unblinking. "I fail to see where you're going with thi—"

"I know about your semblance," Yang blurted. "I know you anchor to certain people, and make portals straight to them. That's why you were able to show up out of nowhere and then just vanish back in Vale, and it's how I'm getting to Ruby."

Raven's countenance finally fell as she sighed. "I see Tai's been blabbing… Well, you'd better hope you're wrong for your sister's sake… because if she's truly with my brother after all that's happened, then she's walking into the same fate as her mother."

Yang's eyes flashed wide as her teeth became ever more visible. "Summer…? What are you talking about?! Summer vanished after you walked out! Nobody knows what happened to her!"

"Maybe that's technically true," Raven admitted, "but I knew why she was gone as soon as I got the news. I can't stop you running after Summer's girl, but say what you want about my parenting… I'm not helping you destroy yourself."

"What does it matter to you?!" Yang shouted, finally incensed. "You were never there, you never cared before! Just send me to them so I'll stay out of your life just like you wan—"

"You don't know what you're talking about, young lady!" Raven shot back, just as fiery. "How dare you?! Stop being petulant… I refuse to grant your request, that's the end of it."

Raven turned to walk away.

"Fight me for it!" Yang shouted, cocking a fist and firing a gleaming flare.

The swordswoman twisted in a heartbeat, sword unsheathed as a blood red maelstrom appeared before her and behind Yang. The blonde staggered forward as her own shot struck her in the back with an eruption of sparks, her aura flickering protectively. Krillin was at her side in an instant.

"Fight you for it?" Raven repeated. "Fine, there's your portal. Or…" Another flash of steel ripped a new hole in reality beside her, "...you can have this one. Free ticket, one-way, straight home to Daddy."

"You know what I mean!" Yang shouted, back up to full height as Krillin backed away in surprise. "You, me, right now! I win, you send me to Qrow!"

"And what?" the bandit lord asked, eyes half closed in irritation. "I win, you don't get what you want? Pretty uneven stakes. What's in it for me?"

Yang stopped and considered. The time came that she was silent long enough for her mother to turn with a grunt, prepared to leave outright.

"I'll stay."

Raven and Krillin both turned their heads towards Yang, the onlookers giving a more subdued response.

"Stay?" Raven asked.

"Forever," Yang clarified. "You beat me, I stay, no resistance."

Both involved parties took a metaphorical or literal step back in surprise.

"Yang…!" Krillin whispered. "Look, what you do is your business, but how do you help your sister if it turns out you can't take her in a fight?"

"I'll be fine."

Krillin shook his head. "No, you don't get it… I can't sense her energy."

"So?"

Before he could answer, both turned as they heard Raven give a burst of mirthless laughter. "Forever? It's like you think I'm some ogre guarding a tower. I'm not keeping my own daughter as a prisoner. How about a season? I win, we spend some time catching up. You see how we do things, and when it's over, if you don't stay, at least we'll know where everyone stands."

"Deal!" Yang cried immediately, still standing as tall as she could. "Just don't get your hopes up… I'm ready when you are!"

Raven winced, shaking her head. "With your attitude, this time of night? The Grimm will come running, endanger my people."

"That'll be true any time of day," Yang bristled.

"Perhaps," the matriarch admitted, "but by first light, the guards will be rested and can better see the beasts coming. That's when we'll duel."

Yang didn't answer, only glaring. Her mother took the silence for agreement.

"So relax, prepare, get some food. And if you have any questions… I'll be in my tent."

Krillin did his best subtly to block the path —in case Yang tried to muscle past and start something she'd regret— as Raven strode off, only sparing a moment to turn and add, "It's the big one."

By the time her heavy-heeled bootfalls left their ears, Krillin visibly relaxed, Yang still stiff and immobile as the crowd dispersed.

"You really don't know what you're in for," Krillin told her, still staring after the place Raven vanished. "If she can mask her energy, odds are good she knows how to control it too."

"I don't care," Yang said, dispassion in her voice. "She doesn't know what's coming."

"I'd listen to your friend, buttercup," came a familiar voice from behind.

Yang snapped to face the tattooed woman, even as Krillin slowly turned with little surprise.

"Oh yeah? Know something we don't?" Yang asked.

She smirked. "Bit of a dumb question for a girl in search of answers."

Yang only regarded her coldly, but the woman laughed.

"Sorry, sorry… I really should try to start over, seeing as we're going to get pretty well acquainted the next few months. Name's Vernal."

She offered her left hand. Again, Yang did little but stare at it, before her gaze returned to Vernal's icy-blue eyes.

"You're lucky you're the boss' kid," Vernal said, edging closer, hand withdrawn. "If you were literally anyone else, you'd be hunkered-down this time tomorrow, picking through the commode for your own teeth."

"If I weren't 'the boss' kid,' I'd never be here in the first place," Yang answered back, not blinking at the threat.

Vernal gave the lightest snort in acknowledgement. "Fair enough. Just beware," she said, beginning to walk out into the camp, "us thieves and scoundrels ain't exactly the rank and file type. Keep pissing us off, one of us might do something about it... And your mom wasn't exactly 'in line for the throne,' or picked for the job when she took over."

With a slight smile, she turned her back, one arm up as she silently waved back at them.

Krillin sighed. "This place gets more charming by the minute."

"So this guy, 'Vegeta'?" Ruby repeated, oddly stoic. "He sounds a lot like…"

"Like Cinder," Nora spat, arms crossed.

Gohan had spun quite the epic yarn, as he expounded upon his own world, the friends he knew, and all the fighting he'd been present for. Unexpectedly, as much as he admired his father, —the champion named Son Goku— he knew precious little about the man and his accomplishments compared to the enigma he called 'Mister Piccolo.'

Oscar shrugged, though he and all present hung onto every word. Even Qrow, though he was more likely to interject with an intermittent, disbelieving push of air and noise. "I dunno," Oscar opined, "I guess on some level people who do evil stuff all start to sound alike."

"Well, yeah…" Gohan said, conflicted, "Vegeta's done some really bad stuff, but… I don't know, we've worked together with him against Frieza, and… I don't trust him, but Frieza is so much worse, and... I feel like he could come around."

"Mmm," Jaune intoned, feigning disinterest even as he found himself back in the foyer, listening intently.

"Ugh…" Oscar groaned.

Ruby stared. "What?"

"You'll know in a second," Oscar said, as the glow overtook him again.

A different gleam took Oscar's hazel eyes, as the familiar tone filled his voice.

"I'll try to keep it to a minimum," Ozpin said in apology. "I'm afraid there are just certain things that will get on faster if I handle them myself."

"Hi again, Professor!" Gohan greeted brightly, even as the older boy approached.

"Hello Gohan. I must say, regardless if your words are the truth, you impress with your consistency. If this is a tall tale, it's one you know intimately. At no point did you contradict yourself or even hesitate to answer a direct question."

Gohan's ears reddened bashfully at the strange praise, though Ozpin wasn't finished.

He sighed. "But what you say is all… frankly so extraordinary, I'd be a fool to take you at your word alone… or anyone. And as much of the problem stems from your proclaimed feats, I dare to suggest… Gohan, would you indulge me in a spar?"

Qrow blinked as he caught himself from falling over in his chair. "What? Oz, you're joking."

"I am not."

"He's five."

"Yet already exhibiting abilities beyond his years."

"Okay!" Gohan said at last. "Where?"

Gohan and Oscar stood at opposite ends of the yard, a plate of red clay overlooking much of the middle city, where hundreds of lights and the soft smoke of chimneys shimmered warmly under star and moonlight. The other Huntsman watched from the sidelines as they squared off.

"Alright Gohan," Ozpin began, "I'll start bare-handed and give you the first move. Just try and land a strike on me if you can."

Gohan peered at him, almost seeing through him. "Just land one? Like tag?"

Ozpin chuckled. "I suppose so, yes."

Gohan breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, good… because I really don't want to hurt you… and I don't want Frieza to pick me out."

Qrow leaned his torso far sideways to catch Ozpin's eye, brow risen as he rolled his eyes. Ozpin smiled, understanding the message quite clearly. 'Now the kid's making excuses for why he's not as tough as he says.'

"Alright," Ozpin chuckled, "whenever you're ready."

"Go Gohan!" Ruby cheered, excited even as her fellow teammates watched with apprehension.

Gohan closed his eyes for a moment, taking a breath...

There was a shrill noise like air compressing, and Gohan's image fractured and shimmered, like he was slipping behind the very curtains of reality. Even as they tried to process this, Oscar fell forward to a single knee with a gasp of air before Gohan had even fully filtered into their vision again, standing firmly behind him. Two fingers had curled, and it was plain to see the boy had merely tapped Oscar in the back with his second knuckle.

"Did… did anyone else not follow that at all?" Jaune asked.

"No…!" Qrow said, eyes bugging out.

"Yeaaaaaah," Ruby drawled, still smiling even as her eyes gaped. "Speed is kinda my thing… buuuuut…"

"It's inhuman!" Qrow finished for her. "I don't think I've ever seen anything move like that!"

"Y'know he did say he was half alien, right?" Nora noted.

"Actually, he said he was half of another type of alien," Ren corrected. "The first half was alien to us in the first place…"

"Oh yeah… WATCH OUT, Ozpin, he's a DOUBLE-alien!" Nora shrieked, using her hands as a megaphone.

Oscar returned to his feet, winded, but determined as he turned to face the boy. "T-teleportation… perhaps?" Ozpin wheezed. "It's not unheard of."

"Maybe you should find out?" Gohan suggested, wearing a devilish grin. "After all, you're 'it' now..."

Oscar unlatched the cane, thrown from his hip in an instant, an ornate can-shaped, ivory artifact which spun end over end towards Gohan in a tall arc.

"Indeed so," Ozpin said with a grin, dashing over at blasting speed just in time to catch the artifact in midair, and Gohan by surprise as the carbon cuboid telescoped out of its end into the young boy's direction.

The extending weapon sprung to full length, but the boy was far too fast, body twisting as the blocky tip sailed past. A follow-up swipe slashed towards Gohan's ribs but still only made air whistle, as the boy set his fingers upon Oscar's scalp and vaulted up with a feather's force upon his opponent. Arm extended, Gohan looked down into Oscar's eyes, even as his feet faced twelve o'clock into the air above them.

As Gohan hung slowly, Ozpin upped his game, twirling the cane a moment before thrusting its point up at Gohan, who drifted effortlessly to evade it. It had only been the prelude to something more, however, as a flurried blur of identical strikes fountained into the air, several per second. Gohan appeared almost not to move at all, but his floating image gently drifted higher as he visibly obscured in that same curtained strobing.

At last Ozpin leapt above him with a spiraling sweep, forcing Gohan to descend before hurling his staff into the ground with a blast of green light as it embedded itself there. Gohan backed off to clear it, letting his toes skim the ground as he glided to a slow stop on the other side of the yard. Oscar landed with perfect balance atop the handle of his cane, eyeing Gohan without a shred of humor before hopping down to set both hands over his embedded weapon.

A light breeze began to kick up around Oscar as he focused intently.

"Uh… hey," Gohan asked, dropping his stance a moment, " is it okay if I parry your strikes? 'Cause I think it'll be kinda dull if I just keep dodging… and you'll probably start getting really frustrated."

Ozpin held his focus, his eyebrows rising. "I don't recall having forbade any such thing, Gohan. This is but a friendly match, I'd dare to say there are no set rules."

Gohan grinned. "Oh, sorry, I'm used to sparring with a pretty strict—"

Oscar crouched swiftly into a running stance, and the rest of them hardly saw him cross the distance with a burst of air, cane aimed at Gohan's sternum. Ruby felt the impact in her chest as Gohan blocked, meeting the tip of the weapon with his thumb, still standing straight. He hadn't even lowered his stance. Oscar spun around him, back to his opponent as the cane twirled like a propeller, Gohan weaving out of its reach as he twisted to face him on the other side.

Oscar took the twirl's momentum and spun to face Gohan with a great overhead slam that shook the yard, as Gohan matched it with the flat of two fingers.

Oscar betrayed a frown as he zipped around the boy, poking and prodding with lightning speed as he sought an opening Gohan simply didn't have, the same two fingers thwarting every strike. He dashed in for another frontal strike, but instead slid sideways into a feint as his foot kicked off, and he vaulted in an arc over Gohan. Locking eyes, Ozpin arrested his own momentum as he began to rapidly strike with the cane, Gohan meeting every blow even as they came in intervals too fast for Team RNJR to see. Oscar's body hung in midair from the pushback on his weapon, floating over the impact as surely as if he'd been balancing upon Gohan's shoulders.

It looked as though a storm of onyx rods were crashing over some impenetrable shield above Gohan as his arm had similarly become blurs of color. But with a sudden move, Gohan's left hand raised, palm-up, middle finger alone retracted. Without so much as bracing it against his thumb, the one finger flicked, and the effect was instant. Oscar sailed upwards as he was disarmed, the cane flipping just out of reach as his green aura flickered.

'*Kuchink!*'

The sharp, metallic report of gunfire puzzled Gohan as something sparked, glancing off Ozpin's cane and knocking it into his reach. The wayward wizard immediately twirled the weapon before him, the resulting gale pushing him away from freefall to slide with a clatter upon the brittle tiles of the sloped roof.

Gohan smiled as he realized his error, focusing too intently on his single opponent and not remaining wary of his surroundings. He felt it coming before he'd even turned around.

"Banzaaaaaaaaaai!" was Ruby's shrill cry as she catapulted down at him, Crescent Rose unfurled as her feet rode its twin blades like a lopsided pogo stick, the blunt head of the weapon aimed at him.

Gohan's palm rose as his body lowered, skipping Ruby, weapon and all over him like a stone thrown over a still pond. She reached the wall of the house on the other side feet first, kicking off and back into the fray with a lethal whirl of her weapon… had she been attacking with the bladed end.

The others watched as they spun around each other, foiled attack after foiled attack, and yet Ruby seemed no less discouraged. Her cape seemed to stretch impossibly as brilliant rose petals enshrouded her, and she became a maelstrom of blades and bullets She dove into the center of her own crimson cyclone, plunging the aft end of her weapon down as she struck with the force to blast petals out into the Mistral skies en masse.

Ruby knew she'd missed, but found him standing yards off, looking to her with his fist held out.

All stood perplexed, until he opened his hand to let several high tech rounds clatter to the floor with innumerable small thuds and clicks. He'd caught every shot aimed at him BARE-HANDED.

"Holy schnikes…!" Ruby whispered, knowing she had the reflexes to deflect bullets, certainly… but catch them from the air?!

A collective war cry sounded from the sidelines as the rest of RNJR leapt in, and the fight began anew, Qrow still watching with wide eyes and a sweating visage.

Gohan twisted in a midair corkscrew to fit between a pair of green bladed machine pistols as they sailed at him, fingers out to counter the head of a steely hammer swinging between, which rang like a gong in its owners grip as he pushed backwards under a slashing sword and past blue jeaned legs. Qrow watched as they all danced against the Moon, dark shapes beneath silvery light, rapt in friendly combat.

But in due time, they all leapt from each other as a flash from the rooftop broke the night's spell.

"Stand aside!" Ozpin ordered literally from on high, an emerald power encircling him. "Gohan… prepare yourself."

Ruby looked between the two, her friends sharing her unsure expression. Qrow silently nodded, eyes locked on Oscar, whose power swiftly grew into a thick sphere as Gohan stared it down.

The power built and swole, cane against the rooftop, as if drawing power from the Universe itself.

Gohan barely felt his hair stand on end as Ozpin struck at last, launching himself and the sphere of power like a meteor. He barely entered a guarded stance as the attack was brought to bear on the boy. His eyes widened at the sudden force, immeasurably different from the paltry resistance they'd given before. He slid back, heels digging into the red clay and leaving a tract in the ground as he tried again and again to overpower Ozpin. It wasn't happening.

There was no choice. With a high pitched two-pronged sound like shredding spacetime, the same white flames erupted over Gohan's body as before, and he strained as he brought the pair to a stop.

"RrrrraaaaaaAAAAAAUGHHHH!"

Gohan punched forward, the dome of power shattering as a shockwave rattled everything, dust shaking from timber and the watching Huntsmen blown from their very feet as it all settled.

Oscar staggered, drained. All looked up to see Gohan still standing, his aura surging, his face still warlike from the effort.

"It took nothing less than magic to even faze you… yet I don't sense a shred of it in you. Incredible," Ozpin said at last. "Impossibly incredible…"

Gohan seemed to remember something as he looked over himself, the furious power flashing out of existence as suddenly as it had arrived. He pondered a moment before something flat tapped him on the head. He turned to see Ruby Rose, leaned over and beaming at him.

"No tag-backs…" she told him, mussing his hair.

He smiled.

"Ready…!

His red eyes bore a hole into the reading on his scouter. It had been brief… so brief… and it was gone by the time he turned his head.

"Aim…!"

Frieza knew the reading was paltry, barely a step up from the meaningless power levels scattered across the planet. But even so…

"Fire!" cried the lieutenant, before Shade's inner courtyard flared with the flash of a dozen rifles, as it had all morning since dawn. The since appropriated Minutemen, clad in bright blue, wasted no time in dashing after the lifeless forms that crumpled to the floor… wheelbarrows in tow.

In truth, the courtyard was an indoor well to the hollow pyramid, lit only by golden shafts from slit-windows surrounding the very tip of the academy. Palm trees stretched overhead from manicured planters.

The sovereign of space idly tilted the contents of a wine glass as he sat upon his new hover-throne, quietly presiding over the affair from the comfort of the… well… shade.

The Professor before him had prattled on with her report… 'Diana Henrys,' if he recalled. She wore great wire-rim spectacles, a suit of pewter with an adorable little red bow tie… yet the fragile-looking thing carried some manner of whip on her belt. Poor compensation, in his opinion. At his right hand, Cagliuso Perrault, who like many were doing their best to ignore the other happenings in the area, even as the smell of iron dominated the air.

"I'll hear nothing of pretense to failure," Frieza declared, attention still not fully given, "such basic information shouldn't require half a day's reprieve."

"Shade has never formally taught astronomy," Henrys explained, eyes steely and words measured, "other than, you know, 'low-tech' navigation. Our combat instructor headed that course apart from his key duties, and you lost the pleasure of his company in the first few volleys of—"

She paused, glancing at the next poor souls as they were led at gunpoint to the wall.

"The first few trials," she finished alternatively.

As they glanced, one of the paler-looking gunmen tremored, eyes to the middle distance, before swinging the rifle around to face his own head…

The captives screamed as he fired, eyes no less empty than they had been. Perhaps the trigger was merely formality?

"Lieutenant, add the late gentleman's surname to the list…" Frieza ordered casually, before turning back to Henrys. "Opening with an excuse is nothing if not unfortunate as a first impression, madam," Frieza said, voice like a razor. "I hope you've something of value to show me, if only for your own sake."

"I do," Henrys said, pulling out a great clear tablet as she began fluttering her fingers over it, eyes still agape at what had occurred seconds previously. "It took some doing, but we recovered and plotted data leftover from before the CCT system went down."

"Fire!" the order came again, the shots and shrieks not even rousing the horned alien.

Frieza sighed. "I'm not grading you on your methodology, so might we kindly proceed without further stalling?"

She nodded, swiping as the image on her screen expanded out into a true hologram, colored lights hanging in the air. Unmistakably, Remnant sat in the focus with its oddball satellite around a white/yellow Sun labeled 'Luum,' with three rocky worlds of varying scale between them, three gas giants after and a huge terrestrial world rampant with geologic activity in spite of its icy surroundings.

"None else inhabitable, but hardly a surprise," Frieza droned. "Expand to local clusters."

Henrys complied, the representation of the cosmos shrinking as stars raced into view, all labeled with minor annotations beside them. Frieza's nostrils flared as he gave the most imperceptible noise.

"Nothing recognizable, no clear sustainables… Damnable thing…! Galactic scale!" he ordered.

Stars flooded the view like dust, spreading into what tasted like infinity, and in moments they formed the ragged shapes of spiral arms encircling a brilliant golden sphere. One third of the mass wasn't filled in, incomplete and blocked from Remnant's gaze by the galactic center. It was a beautiful sight, but it left Frieza's eyes bulging, his teeth slowly sliding into sight as a vein throbbed dangerously on his temple.

"Whaaaaaat?!" he hissed. "This… this is not the Milky Way! WHAT WRETCHED CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE IS THIS?!"

"We've always called it 'The Pinwheel,' " Henrys said, doing her best to remain static and helpful in the face of his building and monstrous rage. All occupants in the courtyard stopped to watch. Of all the tyrant had already wrought upon them… they had never seen him angry before.

Cracks formed in the surrounding windows as the floor shook around him. His wine began to bubble in its glass. "Filter and identify the nearest neighboring galaxies, spiral bar, two-hundred thousand lightyears maximum diameter!"

Henrys tried her best to stay firm as she followed his instructions. The application she used didn't have the filtering features he asked for, but she found them all the same.

"There!" Frieza cried instantly as one of the selections appeared. "Plot it on the galactic map!" It was done, and he saw the gulf between himself and his ultimate goal. "Six megaparsecs from this location…!" he growled, staring into the starry cloud as if it were behind impenetrable glass. "Even in state of the art craft, it would take decades to reach…!"

The wine glass shattered in his hand, the alcohol evaporating in a small flash. There was only silence as he growled. Nobody dared to move.

Ultimately however, the sounds of struggle reentered the area, the Lord himself not appearing to notice as a family of two was dragged in. A woman clad in white, sleek black hair short and flat against her head, pleaded with the dead-eyed guardsmen. "I don't care, I don't care for me, but Atreya's innocent! It can't mean that! It CAN'T mean that, I BEG you!"

As she stood immobile, hunched over with her hands clasped, additional guards swept forward. It was less that she was being physically unruly, and more that she had become the center of attention in the same room as their new ruler.

And as this happened, a quiet patter escaped the guards notice, weaving past legs, bright eyes finding Frieza's.

"A'scuse me? Mister Frieza?"

Despite his swollen fury, he found himself roused by the voice, eyes settling on a figure in a tan dress. Thigh high, auburn haired, she approached without fear. She couldn't have been older than the tot who fought alongside Vegeta.

"Please, let mommy and daddy go, they didn't mean it."

The frantic woman's face peered around the guards in horror as the child stared Frieza in the face. "Oh gods…! Atreya, come here, come to Mommy, please!"

The girl glanced to her mother, not answering. "Mommy's been sad all day. Could you please make her smile again? It's okay to be mad sometimes, but you don't have to be mean to people."

Frieza's face, to the shock of all, softened as the new Lord of Vacuo stepped off his throne and approached pleasantly. "Dear child, is that a thing your mother taught you?"

"Yeah," she answered. "She says even if they do a bad thing, 'two wrongs don't make… a right.' "

Frieza gave a humming laugh as he put a hand upon the child's head, the mother in question speechless and frozen. "The simplicity of children… endearingly ignorant, and so unquestioningly loyal."

The girl barely understood his words, but all the same took on the thinnest smile as sharp-nailed fingers ran along her cheek.

"Is your father here then?" Frieza asked, eyes scanning the crowd beside the girl's mother.

"I dunno, mommy won't tell me," Atreya said, lip upturned in frustration.

"Ah, shame… My father and I are indelibly separated as well now. But fret not, young one," Frieza said. "The merciful Lord Frieza shall lift of you your woes."

Her eyes brightened as the hand on her cheek turned upward, and she followed its course down, face alight with curiosity until it was over her chest.

With a sound like a suppressed pistol firing, two of Frieza's knuckles lanced forward and recoiled in the blink of an eye, the girl's eyes flashing wide as she gave a short and surprised "Uh…!"

She fell back, blue faced and vacant as her mother shrieked her name, clawing her way forward and escaping the grip of the guards. The other soldiers were hot on her heels when she finally arrived over the child's still form, cradling her head as she stared into unseeing eyes, the light of surprise having yet to leave them. "Atreya…! Wake up, please…! Don't do this to me…!" she sobbed, lifting her from the floor. "Don't do this to me…!"

"Do nothing," Frieza ordered with dispassion as the guards made to grab the woman, "my word, gentlemen, let the poor thing have this," he admonished, unable to suppress the gleam in his eyes.

"You… you'll die for this…!" she said, not meeting Frieza's gaze as she wept. "You'll die…!"

A smile filled Frieza's face. "Such empty threats… Would you have preferred she face the wall with you? I'd call this nothing less than mercy."

"MERCY?!" she demanded, finally locking eyes, her face sodden and her eyes red. "You're an ANIMAL! And you'll be put down like one…!"

He turned his back, rolling his eyes as he made to climb back into his throne. "An earthquake stays not its wrath for the sake of the city… nor does a mountain relent when the vulnerable cross the path of a landslide. Nor shall I deny my own destiny… For the worthless, least of all."

His head turned, just slightly.

"So yes… I call it mercy. Ask it of any other force of this Universe… I promise you'll receive far less for it. Take her away."

The guards wrestled with her as she clutched the child's body, steadily dragging her towards the firing line.

"No no, you cretinous dullards," Frieza said, his anger slipping even as he masked his mirth. "Escort the good lady to her home."

"Que…?" Perrault whispered, certain he, like everyone else, had heard wrong.

"What are you talking about…?" the grieving mother demanded. "What point is there? There's nothing more you could take from me…!"

Frieza smiled. "I don't even think you believe that's true."

"Sir," the guard dared, "she threatened your life."

"Yes, and it is exactly that which I invite, are you not paying attention?," Frieza said with contempt.

The woman drew herself to full height, still shielding the child from his gaze as she shook with hatred. "If this is a game, then know I won't play it! I'll end my own life before I become your entertainment!"

Frieza laughed. "Oh, feel free! You don't matter enough for me to care either way, but can you really resist the chance to indulge in your hatred? To avenge your fallen and succumb in peace? Could you even live with not having even tried? Could you even die with that knowledge, Miss…?"

"Mrs. Kaiserin Monden," she told him, "you demon wretch…!"

Frieza's smile widened. "I'd use that old phrase about 'sticks and stones,' but they would avail you nearly as well… Ta-ta…"

She was led away, glaring, Henrys and Perrault glancing cautiously at Frieza's back as he sighed.

The Lord himself watched on as a musclebound youth, one of the fighters they called 'Huntsmen,' was brought before the pitted wall as another volley was prepared.

"Fire!" the lieutenant ordered, all crumpling in pain but the Huntsman, his golden aura taking the blows.

"Fire!" he repeated, every shot now trained on the survivor, who winced and struggled.

Frieza was, in truth, livid still, even as he smiled darkly. Never had he been so wronged. Ripped away from all he'd built, but he would be the one standing over their bodies in the end.

The killing was never enough. Killing was efficient, methodical. It was about removing an obstacle in the most expedient manner. There was only so much pleasure to be taken in it. He could have vaporized Henrys, blasted the vengeful woman apart, brought the entirety of Shade Academy down upon their heads, such was his fury!

"Fire!"

But no… No, indeed, he thought, as another volley chipped away at that little shield, the boy wincing… Torment wrought true joy… and most deliciously, they often did it to themselves.

"Fire!"

Defiance, the fight to the bitter end, the tragic delusion that they might somehow escape it with their lives. They could just surrender and accept their fate, ease their own pain… but they wouldn't. Too proud, enraged or sanctimonious to lie down and die as they should.

"Fire!" came the order again, his aura buckling at last as he screamed.

They did it to themselves… and Lord Frieza was so thankful for their cooperation.

The final shots rang out.

A/N: I hear people say I remind them just how cruel Frieza can be… good!

I must once more apologize for the length between updates. Been a lot to take care of. And ALSO apologize for this chapter's length given the span. Remember, I always keep a chapter shelved, so the most recent one I finished is NOT the one you see. Latest chapter is nearly 17k words, and some major stuff goes down. I also apologize for the emphasis on RNJR and dialogue. This story has a LOT going on, and believe me, I'm not wasting a WORD in explaining it. I'm doing my best not to make it dry, but little of this is "showable" as opposed to "tellable," or if it is I'm stumped as to how. Rest assured, it's all necessary information.

Also I know Ozpin vs Gohan isn't terribly much, but I promise some serious action is coming to far eclipse that.

Speaking of… I know some of you are foaming at the mouth over Ozpin gaining any ground, but as will be explained later, magic in Dragonball Z is some serious stuff. Not only reality altering, but people with ZERO power like Babidi were able to ward off or manipulate characters like Vegeta and Piccolo and mindslave Dabura. That's not even considering the Dragonballs themselves. Magic is not equal to power… but on Remnant, certain people do muddy the water, because that magic is tied to their Aura… their Shou-ki.

So I guess this is also the point where I tell you that the Yang/Raven part of the plot was originally meant to be much different. Before Volume 5, I'd taken Qrow's hints and all the clues we got in Volume 4 to say Raven had the Spring Maiden… and created a character named, I'm not kidding… 'Verna'. I can prove this was pre-V5 with my writings earlier in the year, but yes. She was meant to be a child, a second daughter of Raven and the sister Yang had never known, and Yang would eventually fight Raven to escape and free Verna from there.

Ultimately, if you couldn't tell by VERNAL existing in this version, I relented to sticking by the canon arrangements. Largely this was because Verna became something of a tagalong and I had nothing for her to do after the first act, aside from possibly getting murdered by Cinder or something awful like that. She distracted from Yang and Ruby's sisterhood and even detracted somewhat from Ruby and Gohan's adorable thing. So Verna got the ax and I refurbished what I was going for. Act 1 and 3 of this story are the most set in stone, but Act 2 is where things are less certain for me. A lot of general direction and major events to link, but it's the place where the writing will be the most spontaneous as I thread A to B.

Oh, and here's a little challenge for you guys! I introduced a few less important but NAMED original characters this chapter. I often do this as long as it's not a guard or random bandit usually, and you can bet dollars to doughnuts if they have a name and description, they're probably named for something from a fantasy book or movie or something. Because that's what RWBY's all about, right!

Also yeah! Remnant is in another galaxy! The West Galaxy, specifically. So THAT'S a thing…

What else… Oh right! So my buddy Sivam who writes "This War of Mine" and "Pride of Four" recently got the former a page in TV Tropes' section on Fanfiction! Congrats man! Also, watch out, I'm creeping my way there…

He and XMan both certainly inspired my desire to write something of my own, and I'm glad to see now specifically that TWOM is taking a far different course than I am on most things… but I won't deny, as that story has approached its conclusion, that's largely because I really don't agree with a lot of his decisions in regard to certain themes and characters. Namely the RWBY villains, who he's basically turned into second stringers, thus trivializing RWBY's plot as little more than something to brush aside on the way to the real threat. Anyone reading THIS chapter can compare our takes on Salem and tell you we have a very different notion of these characters.

And that's not to say that Salem in Transposition F is somehow going to hulk out and supersede Frieza. No, not even close. But there are other ways to foster a threat, and when it comes to crossing with DBZ, highballing the unknown elements is not a bad place to start in avoiding characters soloing an entire Universe.

I can't, however, fault his protagonists who he's handled very well. And Chapter 9 was actually enough to send me into a sort of emotional shock-conniption. Dear god, I can only HOPE to inspire such a strong emotion in my own readers. Perhaps I have, but it's hard to know.

But yeah. He's admitted that it was always Gohan's story and Gohan's fight ultimately, and we're clearly writing two very different kinds of stories… but it does make reading it all frustrating in ways, and drives me to put this story out with the vision that I —surprise surprise— like rather better. To put it lightly.

But hey, we all think we know best, don't we? The point is, diversity of ideas is a good thing, and ultimately people vote with their attention.

Here's to the next chapter not taking so long! I think you guys will like it!

Peace ~