In Beacon, Ozpin was busy with the preparations and paperwork resulting from the Vytal festival, which was a lot, especially when Vale was to host this year's event.
A futility in his eyes, yet one that had its uses, helping to ward off the ever-growing negativity by entertaining the mundane minds of the population.
Besides, it was good for the local economy.
So, in a way, it was worth the effort.
Mainly for helping determine the quality of the new generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses.
That and who knows, maybe find/confirm the one worthy of receiving the Fall Maiden's powers...or what was left of it, anyway.
The fact was that Amber, the current Maiden, didn't have much longer to live, and this festival would be the last chance to select the successor to this power, even if incomplete, and put an end to a good girl's pain.
That and prevent this power from falling into the hands of the enemy.
The way things were going, it was already bad enough.
Losing a Maiden completely would only make the situation worse.
After all, he already had two whose whereabouts were unknown and two on their deathbeds.
No matter how you looked at it, things were not going well.
In that case, Ozpin could only hope for some pleasant surprise at this festival.
Like some Semblance whose effect could be useful in this war, or another pair of silver eyes.
The latter was quite a weapon, an extremely rare one that Salem made sure to keep that way when hunting its bearers.
A power that Ozpin regretted being in the hands of a girl as innocent as Ruby Rose.
The girl was a good child and apprentice with enormous potential, just like her mother, but one who remained a child at heart.
She needed to mature, and so Ozpin was making exceptions, placing her as a leader when there were better options and giving her responsibility, as well as allowing her inexperienced team to have access to missions meant for those in more advanced years.
A wise decision, considering the plan she and her team managed to thwart...to some extent.
The damage to the city could be repaired, but the lives lost can't be recovered.
He wonders if a better team would have had an equally better result.
There is no point in reflecting on this. All that mattered was that the damage was minimized. However, this is not enough. For every known or failed Salem plan, there are always ten more being made. Ozpin knew that. Ruby Rose needs proper tutelage.
Although Qrow did a good job, the man was not a role model.
The same could almost be said of Taiyang, the girl's father.
The way Yang behaved said a lot about the freedoms he gave his daughters.
Understandable, considering his losses, but a choice that would have no positive effect in the long run.
The two were overprotective, to the point that Ruby Rose was ignorant of adult relationships, and Yang Xiao Long about obeying rules.
Something that would have to change soon.
"Until then, though," Ozpin stood up from his desk with his cup in hand, watching another day come to an end with dark clouds forming on the horizon, almost as if it were an ill omen; the literal prelude to a storm. "They can continue to be children."
Afterward, there would hardly be time to play when they have to risk their lives to save others.
That was the life of a protector; a Huntsman and a Huntress.
"Now, what about that flying figure..." Ozpin began his consideration of the latest internet rumors, but couldn't finish, being interrupted when he looked at the cup in his hands and saw its content rippling. "Hmm," his eyes narrowed as he knew he wasn't shaking and looked around to see that he really wasn't the cause, as things in his office were following the same course. "A seismic activity? In Vale?"
As minor as it was, this was unprecedented and raised untold concerns.
After all, it might not be a natural occurrence.
There were some Grimm out there whose size was so absurd that they could trigger disasters with their mere presence.
Such a possibility existed, and this put him on alert, especially since he did not receive any kind of notification about such a threat and raised troubling questions about its origin.
Could it be coming from underground? A desert worm, one of the largest Grimm in the world, even among the Kaiju Class, came to mind, and Ozpin felt his heart flutter for the first time in a long time. "I need to look into this immediately."
Although it was only a theory, the growing tremor did not help to appease his uneasiness.
However, that wasn't all.
When he picked up his Scroll to request a depth scan, the weather itself decided to take the same course and go crazy with a storm.
Again, an unusual occurrence, even more so to form at this speed, and again suggests the hand of something else in this.
This change was reminiscent of the work of a Grimm who lived in the highest mountains of the world, a desolate place that was constantly under the adverse effects of storms.
All this added up to make Ozpin fear for the worst, imagining that Salem had somehow managed to tame these living calamities and was retaliating for the failure of her latest plan.
Before he could activate the general alarms, however, Ozpin was left without action as he saw the local lighting change completely.
The darkness provided by the black clouds suddenly disappeared as a golden light emerged from within the city.
It was like seeing the birth of a star right before his eyes, and that couldn't be a good thing.
Then there was gold, flames, and lightning whose intensity could pierce the black clouds in the sky and blind everyone for hundreds of kilometers.
Ozpin kept his eyes covered and his mind tormented with the possibilities, this now being of a bomb in the middle of his city!
When the light finally faded, he stood at his office window, looking for the damage done, and...there was nothing.
"What in the world was that then?!" Ozpin couldn't understand, only that he needed information as soon as possible! Taking his Scroll, he contacted his right arm. "Glynda, where are you?!"
The woman was needed as soon as possible to help with the investigation in Vale.
"O-on my way to your office, sir," was the shaken reply she had after what just happened. "Give me a minute."
To get her head on straight because of this madness.
"Very well," was all Ozpin had to say as he ended the call. "What are you up to now, Salem?"
This explosion of light couldn't be a coincidence or a mere accident, so there had to be someone behind it.
The goal?
Scaring the people was an ever-present option, and panic was definitely taking place around the city at this moment to whet the hunger of the Grimm outside the walls.
This couldn't go on like this, and Ozpin, for the first time, was happy to know that James would soon be arriving in Vale with reinforcements.
If possible, before then, Ozpin would find the cause of this problem, and this time, he would make sure to deal with it personally.
-----
Unaware of this fact, despite Whis' protection over his new residence that prevented the power used from being felt or detected outside, the light and effects of Vegeta's transformation were felt not only in the kingdom of Vale but the entire planet... and far beyond.
After all, Vegeta, in his current base form, was far more powerful than he used to be as a Super Saiyan before gaining access to his latent power with Spirit Control and doing some training with Beerus over the past few months.
In that case, even if he didn't let his power completely out of control, his current ascended form as a Super Saiyan was too much, and the shockwaves of his thoughtless actions had their consequences.
Not only on the planet, but even outside the atmosphere, it was possible to see the flash of golden light shining stronger than a star to alert other entities around the galaxy of this anomaly and one day make his stay on Remnant less peaceful than expected...or more fun.
Except that, even without possible outside interference, Vegeta already had a problem in the form of four girls to deal with.
Inside his residence, he occupied himself by eating something after his training session and a little revenge/test while the girls gathered in the living room to have some space and recover from their shock. That and taking care of the faunus girl who had passed out, and was showing no signs of waking up anytime soon.
Instinct... Vegeta learned from the princess that it was the cause of that girl's fainting, and not because she was weaker, as he had imagined being the case. She has sharper instincts than other people, a result of her animalistic heritage as a "faunus".
In a way, she was similar to a Saiyan, and that set up some expectations for the uses of this trait in combat.
Would it be easier for her to achieve Ultra Instinct then? An impossibility, he knew, especially since Kakarot was the only known mortal to be able to master such a power, but the idea hovered in Vegeta's mind. One day, who knows, I will have that answer.
All she had to do was overcome her fears and tame this natural instinct; turn this weakness into a weapon.
That and provide a satisfactory answer to his question from before.
Until then, Vegeta would busy himself with the training of the little girl whose courage and ingenuity were without measure, as well as the princess with a powerful attitude who knew how to put her differences aside in order to risk herself to protect someone important to her.
It would be fun, and Vegeta hoped it would help put his own mind in order while also learning more about the power of his soul.
As for the girls in question, Weiss had Blake lying on her lap and Ruby looking around like the curious girl she was, determined to find out if Vegeta really was some kind of superhero. Yang, on the other hand, stood with her head down right next to her, being so silent that it was unnerving.
The girl had never gone this long without speaking, not even when she was sleeping, and this was worrying.
Considering what happened, I don't blame her for acting like this. Weiss would also be at her worst with the idea that she almost caused the death, theoretically speaking, of the people around her by her childishness. It was eventual, I would say.
Yang had always been like that, wild, doing whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and without regard for consequences.
Now she learned the hard way that this was not exactly how the world worked.
Respect leads to respect, and liberty to liberty, just as Vegeta had said...not to mention the part about power, but Weiss preferred not to take that into consideration because of the implications behind that argument.
White Fang certainly had some very similar and dangerous ideologies...as did her father.
With power, anything was possible, regardless of whether the source was financial or military power.
In a similar way, Vegeta was a monster on his own and could probably do whatever he wanted, and no one could stop him.
That must be why Weiss had her heart beating harder just thinking about him, about what he did earlier.
How?
That was the question that wouldn't shut up, probably for all of them... Well, except for Blake, who was still unconscious.
However, the point remains:
How could anyone have that much power?
According to Vegeta, Ki was his Vital energy, the power coming from his own flesh and blood.
In that case, how could someone's body produce that absurd amount of power?
Even Jaune, who had a well above average Aura reserve, a coveted rarity, was not in such an absurd way, being only about twice as much as another ordinary student.
Vegeta, on the other hand, had what? Thousands of times more?
Probably much more than that?
To be able to affect the weather and trigger some sort of natural disaster like an earthquake along with a storm, a combination that she hoped didn't have a catastrophic result in the city of Vale, being in the dark because her Scroll had been without a signal since she passed through those gates, had to be powerful like that.
Even though he had such power, he was still training diligently under severe conditions and wanted to unlock his Aura.
In that case, just how much stronger would he get?
Invincible was the word that came to her mind and created perspective instead of worry.
If she learned to use and channel her Vital Energy/Ki along with her Aura, would she also be that strong?
Somehow, she couldn't imagine herself with such power.
Furthermore, Vegeta went through some kind of metamorphosis or transformation to raise his powers to a level that she couldn't even comprehend.
It was almost like being in the middle of an ocean of power in the form of golden flames, one that seemed to have no end.
Therefore, Weiss didn't believe that this particular ability to transform could be taught, being something similar to a Semblance.
Meaning that Vegeta was special.
Very special.
That must be why she wasn't afraid of him anymore, not really, even more so after understanding the motives behind his punishing actions, and now she was only curious about everything he could do and nothing more.
...Right?
The way her heart fluttered at the memory of him in that divine and imposing form; at the sculpted muscles that seemed to have become even larger and more defined after that transformation...
She swallowed dryly as she felt a sudden surge of heat in her body and almost bit herself, preferring to change the course her mind was taking while she still could.
Yes, I need to focus on what he is going to teach me. Inevitably, Weiss couldn't calm her heart, but at least she knew it was beating harder for a different reason; out of anticipation, being even more than when she waited to have her Aura unlocked as a child. With power like that, beating Pyrrha will no longer be a dream.
Forget Pyrrha, Weiss could even surpass Winter, her older sister!
This would be her greatest achievement and a definite step towards achieving the perfection she so longed for!
Not only that, she could help change the world for the better and make up for everything wrong her prejudiced father has done over the years!
Unfortunately, her enthusiasm could easily be misinterpreted when considering what happened and the current situation.
"What's so funny, Weiss?" Yang finally said something when she saw this little princess smiling like an idiot. "Seeing me at my worst or Blake's condition?"
Considering that the girl only liked Ruby on this team, she would begrudgingly admit this much after what happened, this must all be a treat for her.
At least, that's what her bitter mind wanted to believe.
"Neither," Weiss sighed, disappointed that Yang still thought so little of her and possibly learned nothing. "I'm just excited for the possibilities that await me; that await us."
With the power they would soon obtain and everything else that would come with it.
Yang clenched her fists, trembling at the recent memory that filled her with fear before she had her way of being destroyed completely.
That was the weight behind the power of that damned prince who until a few minutes ago she had some attraction for and wanted to seduce as if he were just some other man, destined to eat out of her hand.
How wrong she was about that, being even more naive than Ruby in her fantasies.
Vegeta was someone who could literally burn in his own power, in a way she couldn't replicate even in her dreams.
"I can do that too," she recalls saying out of sheer arrogance and feeling like a weak fool for it. I'm nothing compared to him.
Probably no one was, and that added reason to fear him, to want to get away and never come back.
At the same time, as much as she hated to admit it, her heart was beating faster, in a way that only happened when she was immersed in adrenaline.
Reason?
The same as this little princess.
The possibility of having that absurd power for herself.
To have the power to never again feel afraid of being unable to protect her little sister, just like when it happened when they were children.
In the end, after thinking it over, this was the answer she should have given earlier, about her real reason for seeking power.
Only... she couldn't, being ashamed and afraid to admit her selfishness born of her failure in front of other people, especially Ruby, who hardly even remembers what happened on that cold winter day anymore.
That's why Yang trained hard after that, dedicated herself since that day that almost ended in tragedy, to get stronger and gain the inconsequential confidence that Vegeta crushed in a matter of seconds to teach her a lesson.
One that she perhaps deserved to finally open her eyes.
A pity Ruby was as stubborn as she was in her way of being and didn't seem to understand what happened, not completely, or she preferred to pretend she didn't, reflecting the purity that existed in her heart.
"Yes!" she jumped up and down with excitement, sharing her best friend's enthusiasm and more! "We're going to learn to fly, shoot energy beams, and go blonde!"
Who wouldn't want something like that?
Well, the blond part maybe not so much, since her black hair with reddish tips was just like her mother's and she preferred to keep it that way, as a tribute to her, but the point about the rest remained.
Everything Vegeta could do and possibly teach them was just amazing!
That way, she could be like a hero, too!
Imagining herself flying around Remnant to save and help people while fighting evil made her heart beat in a way Ruby almost didn't know, and kept her happy as if it were Christmas Eve!
"I don't think we'll be able to transform like him, Ruby," Weiss didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but someone had to. "That and Yang is already blonde."
A detail that the girl was proud to flaunt and use as an excuse to beat anyone who dared to touch her beloved hair.
One more dangerous flaw for someone who could end up getting her hands on that power, but hopefully, she would change for the better after this day.
As for herself going blonde... Weiss wasn't sure she liked the idea.
Her white hair was a noble heritage from her family, which she was immensely proud to have, regardless of the circumstances she found herself in.
Although...changing it a bit, for a short period of time, and getting stronger from it, might not be a bad idea.
However, it was as she said before, and that transformation must be something unique to Vegeta.
"Right, I kind of forgot about that," Ruby said as she looked at her sister, who was still in a bad mood after being scolded in a very explosive way, and the long golden strands she was so proud to have. Just like me, having it in order not to forget someone who is no longer around...
Except, there was a difference between them.
Yang's mother was still alive, and Ruby couldn't help but envy her for it.
Unaware of the stares she was getting, all this talk about transformation made Yang think about it too.
As Weiss said, I am already blonde, so even if it were possible, I don't think it would work for me. Unless her hair took the opposite direction and turned black. Just like my mother's...
The image of the woman who abandoned her as a child and contributed to her overprotective personality was there to heighten the conflict within her.
One of Yang's goals in life was to find and confront that woman; to get answers and understand why she did what she did.
Until then, even though she had her long hair the same way as her mother, Yang didn't know if she wanted to look even more like her.
Especially when Vegeta's eyes changed color as well, from black so deep one couldn't distinguish the iris from the pupil to a kind of oceanic green.
In that case, hers would look like what?
Red?
Again, the same as her mother, and she didn't know how to feel about it.
As if to confirm Weiss' theories and crush Yang's doubts, Vegeta entered the room to put them all on alert.
Except for Blake, who was still unconscious, and Ruby, who seemed to be even more excited than before.
The way her eyes sparkled as she looked at this prince as if he were some kind of hero, made a hole in Yang's stomach...for envying this admiration that was once hers.
"The princess is correct," Vegeta stopped in his tracks without getting too close, being aware of the damage he had done. "I can't teach any of you to transform."
At least, not as he did.
After all, undeniably, many races could reach an evolved state after breaking their limits.
In this case, they were welcome to surprise him.
"Own..." Ruby couldn't help but get a little discouraged. Even if she didn't like the idea of changing the color of her hair, it didn't change the fact that the transformation was something temporary, and the golden lightning flames were just amazing! "But what about flying and shooting energy beams?!"
If that was still on the table, she would still be happy!
"That's up to you," Vegeta said, deciding not to elaborate to have this girl jumping up and down in happiness and excitement with so little. I think she would easily be able to ride that flying cloud that the clown's youngest son used to use. A magical object that only accepted those pure of heart. Something I never was. In the positive sense of the word. "She hasn't woken up yet?"
He preferred to change the subject and address something that mattered...to them.
I can't be wasting too much time. While he had grown stronger after training the last few months with Lord Beerus, it was a more technically focused training to learn the Hakai, so he needed to make up for it. Even more so since Kakarot must be making gains on his own at this very moment.
Unfortunately, it looked like that was going to take a while, as someone hadn't learned her lesson yet.
"No thanks to you," Yang muttered instinctively, but not quietly enough, and the attention of everyone in the room was on her, especially that of the person she wanted least. "Wh-what? You think we're just going to ignore what you did to Blake?"
What did he do to her?
Vegeta narrowed his eyes, and the girl winced visibly before clenching her teeth and having her lilac eyes turn red in defiance.
She still has courage, he would admit that much. But she doesn't have the power to back up that confidence.
Somehow, this girl managed to show one more familiar aspect to him, this one being about himself.
For most of his life, Vegeta was like that, being confident and arrogant about his power and talent... that is, until he met Lord Beerus and was subdued by Freeza soon after.
Against the overwhelming power difference that used to exist between them, Vegeta had no choice but to cower, even when all his instincts screamed at him to fight regardless of not having the slightest chance of victory.
This girl was demonstrating the same at this very moment, and Vegeta didn't know what to do exactly, only that he didn't dislike that, as it was a reflection of what she might become given the opportunity.
His conflicted expression, however, was rigid enough to convey an angry image and made Yang begin to break out into a cold sweat as fear returned to her eyes, shifting them away from his face.
Luckily or unluckily, hard to say, before Weiss or Ruby could say anything to calm the tempers and change the focus of this conflict, whose outcome was evident, an unexpected voice came up to do just that...
In the worst possible way.
"Ahn~" Blake let slip from her oddly smiling lips as she rolled onto Weiss's lap and hugged her closer before muttering, "Bad Prince~"
An awkward silence closely followed this unconscious display of affection, and Weiss wanted to get up to knock this girl off her lap, who seemed to be having one of those dreams, of all things!
Yang had a vein pop in her forehead at the complete loss of her argument, whereas even Ruby seemed to know what this dream was about and felt embarrassed about it.
However, the reaction that was most worthwhile in all of this was that of Vegeta, who had his arms crossed and veins popping over his defined mass as his face reddened as much as Weiss'.
The all-powerful prince was still acting like an inexperienced teenager, and this served as a reminder that he wasn't someone bad.
It was they who brought out his bad side.
"She looks fine to me," very, Vegeta would say, but he would refrain from addressing this issue further for obvious reasons. Why do females tend to be like that?
Obscene... just like Bulma used to be.
"Fine, you say?" Yang looked at her partner, and the traitor girl seemed to be having a hot dream, even after this prince scared the hell out of them, which made her a possible masochist. "To me, it looks like you broke her!"
In a way, she didn't even like to think about it, because she was sure that if Vegeta hadn't done what he did earlier, later in the night, she would be the one having these questionable dreams.
"I think she was already broken before she met me." Vegeta wouldn't fall for that, knowing that even this Yang wasn't much different, only that now she was too scared to continue with her teasing. "Just as she can be woken up now, don't you think?"
As soon as possible, he wanted to say, not liking to imagine what this girl was dreaming about.
"R-right..." Weiss wanted to choke Blake and her corrupted mind, mostly because she didn't know that the girl also had a mania of talking to herself in her sleep. "Blake, wake up!"
She didn't ask, demanding as he shook her until she saw those dreamy, strangely happy amber-colored eyes.
"Weiss?" Blake slowly lifted off her colleague's lap as she cleared her eyes, a little dazed. "What happened?"
It was enough to look around and see the prince she had been dreaming about to remember everything.
His stern, flushed expression recalled precisely the time she had tied him to a bed to tease him into submission...in her dreams, apparently, and it made her blush with embarrassment before she took a seat next to Weiss without having the courage to say a word.
D-Did I say something while I was blacked out?! This alone justified these reactions, where even Ruby was looking at her with a reddened face, making her feel like a pre-teen who had her secret discovered and revealed to everyone. I want to bury my head in a hole... At the same time, she also wanted to write in her Scroll while that questionable dream was still vivid in her mind. Later. Now it is better to pay attention.
That's because she was also remembering what happened before she passed out and what this prince had done when he turned blond and demonstrated power that should make him someone known throughout the world.
"If you are all done, we should get down to business." Vegeta took a deep breath, deciding it was about time he got what he wanted and focused on the princess. "Will you keep your side of the bargain and unlock my Aura?"
At this, all the girls looked at Weiss, and she swallowed nervously.
"As long as you keep your side," that was what mattered most to her at first. Only, as she looked at her teammates, there was something else she couldn't let go of. "That and you will refrain from repeating what happened earlier."
No one deserved to be scared like that.
Ruby didn't want to agree with this, but she shut her mouth as soon as they all stared at her.
Nobody there seemed to be happy or to want a repeat of the dose.
"Then keep your friends in line." Vegeta felt not one bit of guilt for what he did and would do again if he had to. "If it wasn't for her disrespectful attitude, I wouldn't have done anything, to begin with."
Yang could only dwell on this, not being able to respond when she knew she was to blame.
"That's all I need to hear." Weiss stood up, deciding to trust this man who had the power and resources to get what he wanted without depending on them. "Then I'll get started."
Providing more power to the most powerful person she knew.
Vegeta, meanwhile, could no longer help but smile in his own twisted way at the expectation of having a third source of power and what would come of it.
Slowly, the impossibility that his revenge represented until a few months ago, took another step towards becoming real, and Kakarot receiving what he deserved.