The last living warrior of the fading race cried out in anguish, echoing into the empty expanse. Mulberry blood seeped from the fresh wound, his limb taken as easily as a twig. It splattered upon the wild blue grass which dominated every fertile inch of this world. The long green arm hung limp in the clutch of a light violet hand, attached to a true demon in miniature.

Cruel red eyes drilled into the face of the antennaed green warrior as from his considerably higher stature, he collapsed to his knees, where he belonged.

A face the same shade as his hands grinned cruelly, aside from pink stripes that almost seemed to be raw muscle, a feature his upper limbs all shared along with parts of his long, thick tail. His smile was not gleeful, but utterly satisfied. The howl, the wide eyes of the shrieking creature before him… He rarely did this part of the job himself, but it was so terribly rejuvenating to exert himself so. Black horns gleaming atop his white armored head, he threw the Namekian's arm down at his splayed, three-toed feet. The limb's owner barely registered this kindness.

So ungrateful. To be felled by Lord Frieza himself, heir to the infinite… it was an honor ill-afforded of such meager beings.

He idly brushed a fleck of the purple ichor off his banded, burnt-orange pauldrons. One might believe this and his similarly armored chest were some manner of clothing, but it was quite natural, though it served to inspire the uniforms of his underlings.

"Oh, by all means, knit that back on and continue," Frieza offered, voice drenched with mockery before it krept lower. "I'm nothing if not a mark for a lost cause." He let his head dip, the lustrous purple inset which covered much of it shimmering with the light of the green skies. "Or… are we to suspend this, and you give me the password?"

His teeth bared, the Namekian struggled to his feet, gingerly extending the stump of his arm.

Frieza glowered. "And what do you intend to achieve in that state? The obstinance of your race would be intriguing, inspiring even, had it not gotten the lot of you kil—"

"HhhhrrrRAAAAGH!" The Namekian warrior's cry played prelude to a burst of viscous lime-green mucus from his wound, as a perfect, full replacement of his lost arm speared into being from seemingly nothing.

As he panted, flexing his new limb, even the vicious emperor himself was surprised into near speechlessness.

Near.

"My oh my," Frieza breathed, eyes alight with intrigue, "An innate ability of regeneration… it seems I'll need to reprimand the medical branch of my research and development for having missed such unique and miraculous traits." He tapped his Scouter, the postmodern monocle chirping as it logged the technique. "A little note for tomorrow, to ensure I don't forget in the victorious haze of my newfound immorta—"

The Scouter trilled again, an arrow blinking on it, bidding him to glance. For some reason, the device interpreted him as enabling the 'scan known signatures' function.

Curiosity got his goat, and he humored the gadget. Five blinking red marks came into view, tagged in different positions on the planet. Three clustered around somewhere in the middle of the endless Namekian wastes. The other two were smack in the midst of his ship. He wouldn't jump to conclusions normally… but he only received this Scouter after Zarbon and Dodoria were already dispatched. No other major signatures, and five flatlines. His Ginyu Force had been killed?!

The vile lord's mind spun, torn several directions. Fury that his greatest elites had failed him… confusion at how Vegeta might have managed that at all… fear that his Dragonballs lay unguarded, enemies no doubt pawing around for them like confounded curs!

"Hey! We're not finished here!" the Namekian shouted, before a fuchsia ray pierced his knee and forced him to sink back to a kneel.

"The password!" Frieza demanded, finally turning his attention to the wounded warrior. "Time is short, but I can still wring a lifetime's suffering out of ours! Tell me! Now!"

The Namekian smiled. "Fight me for it! Come on, you can do better than that!"

Frieza stared, locking eyes with his foe. Something was… off. Bravado was usually extinguished after the gap between his challengers and himself was revealed in any capacity. The man was either incorruptibly principled and courageous, or…

The Namekian glanced off into the distance for but an instant, into the same direction he had come fro—

The child.

He'd passed a tiny Namekian headed the other way on his course to their elder. Of all the places to flee, crossing his very path…?

Frieza's nostrils flared. "You're stalling. My defeat was never your intent at all." In a flash, he'd pinned the Namekian on his back, foot on his chest and squeezing. "I passed a young Namekian on my way here, you know. Would you suppose they were of any consequence?"

The Namekian's lip tightened as his eyebrows lifted, not breaking his gaze. The silence gave him away.

Frieza blasted off and away into the endless sky, back to his ship, air ripping with his speed. He'd recover his hover-throne later. He'd be damned if these little fools were going to ruin this day!

All would burn.

The boy in the blue armor, barely a few years more than a toddler, kept watch over their temporary haven… right in their enemy's backyard.

Frieza's ship was abandoned… or as abandoned as a place could be after its various guards and Ginyus had been wiped from it one way or another. For now the powerful lad with his curtain of black hair, Son Gohan, could only keep watch of the foot diameter amber treasures they came so far for.

The Dragonballs. Each apportioned an identifying series of red stars within, all factions planetside had tailored their actions for their sake, all for a single all-important wish from the Eternal Dragon. For them, it was simply to revive the friends whose lives were lost in the Saiyan attack on Earth… to the very man inside the nearby ship with his healing father. It was a fragile truce, but the terror of Frieza was enough to keep it. Even Gohan, the half-Saiyan, half-human child knew it was only time and opportunity that spared them from a knife in their backs.

"Hey, Gohan!" a welcome voice called from the sky.

He shot to his feet, just catching one of the huge Dragonballs as it made to roll away, the figure in black landing in front of him. "Krillin! What happened, you're already ba—"

Gohan looked up to see Krillin, incense burns dimpling his bald head, was not alone. With him, looking meek, was their little Namekian friend Dende, who eyed the collected Dragonballs with evident anticipation.

"Yep!" Krillin confirmed, confident but hurried. "We gotta make this quick though, help me with these!" he said, picking up as many of the awkwardly huge spheres as he could.

Gohan looked confused, but picked a ball up in compliance.

"That awful Frieza person," Dende said, fear on his face, "he was already on his way to Grand Elder Guru after I left! Nail will have to stall for time, and if he… if he kills Guru…"

"This'll all be for nothing!" Krillin finished, taking off.

"Why aren't we summoning here then?!" Gohan asked, still dutifully picking up a second ball as Dende swooped in to help.

Krillin's eyes scanned the area nervously. "Because if Vegeta finds out, he's gonna bully his way to the front of the line! We didn't come all this way to give him what he wanted on Earth!"

Gohan considered, looking to Frieza's ship. It was all very dangerous… but an enraged Vegeta soon was better than an invincible Vegeta forever. He was only worried about his father, still healing and vulnerable...

"I hate Namek."

It was practically a mantra at this point, if only it would lead to any form of enlightenment besides the conclusion of 'Namek SUCKS', because she'd figured that one out a long time ago.

She puttered along on her hover bike, blue hair flowing in the wind. Even she wasn't sure what she was there for anymore. Goku had gotten here in a ship with an automated guidance system. A little more work and those two could've gotten here without her, and she'd be spared all this crap! They didn't utilize her anyway! Bulma Briefs, who basically owned and ran the highest of the high tech corporations on Earth, and who directly contributed to solving the major non-alien/supervillain problems mankind faced! Stop looking at my Dragon Radar, my eyes are up here!

And she'd been told to stay put and babysit Dragonballs while they did everything themselves! Never time to explain, never asked how she might weigh in! Of course not, maybe they'd accomplish something! Couldn't have that!

Instead she'd been abandoned. Last she heard, Goku was planetside, and yet things had only gotten worse for her. Gigantic killer crabs, alien soldiers, alien dinosaurs —what?!—! It was a never-ending parade of monsters and mayhem! She didn't even have the Dragon Radar to find where everyone was!

"Well… on the bright side, Namek has pretty stable weath—"

She had to open her mouth.

Something pink and purple ripped by overhead, a dust storm following in its wake to blow her immediately off course. She wailed and screamed as she fought the storm, the bottom of her bike kicking up sparks as it ground over stone from the island beneath her. A final blast of wind sent her into a spin, and she wiped out, submerged with a splash in a swamp as the dust finally settled.

She shook her head like a dog, sitting in the knee-deep water as she sourly watched her bike bob like a cork. "Alright… hit the roulette wheel. Any planet but this one. Streams of lava… acid rain. Your move, Kami…"

And then a fish hopped onto her head.

The widow-peaked Prince of the fledgling Saiyan race awoke with a start. It took him a moment to remember where he was, but everything surged back as he glimpsed the taller man in the orange and blue fighting gi floating peacefully in his healing tank.

He was on Frieza's ship. Somewhere that, if his senses weren't lying to him, was about to become the most dangerous spot on this or any planet. He found the nearest way out of the vessel, his ragged spike of hair barely bending to the wind as he leapt out to where the Dragonballs were—

"Gone?!" he barked, terror in his harsh eyes. The balls, Kakarot's kid… nowhere!

He burst into the air, careful to suppress his energy, lest Frieza detect him. The better view let him search faster, until—

There. Nestled a half mile off, just out of sight of the ship. He tore over in seconds, startling the trio as he landed, dust kicking everywhere.

"V-Vegeta!" cried Gohan, before he was gut-checked and collapsed, winded.

"Treacherous little sneak-thieves! One wish wasn't enough?! Not even two?!" Vegeta shouted, before scruffing the Namekian child and lifting him to eye-level. "I suppose he's our little master key?! Got the password then, do you?!"

Krillin stepped forward, eyes full of concern. "Yes, it's in Namekian! Put him down!"

"Good!" Vegeta said, a smile sneaking onto his cruel features as he threw the kid down in a heap. "Get to it then, Frieza's on his way!"

Dende had been prepared… or so he thought. But if Frieza was coming, it almost certainly meant that Nail… Nail was...

Dende complied, shaking as his hands hovered over the humming spheres. He took a breath. "Eilíft Porunga, með þínu nafni, kalla ég þig fram!"

In but a second it was clear it had worked. A twisted smile graced Vegeta's visage as the light of the world seemed to be siphoned away. Far and away, the glow of the Dragonballs was the brightest thing for miles, as a towering pillar of light blasted into the skies. It twisted and flowed, like a river of power before it formed the shape of something huge. Green bodied, it's underside beige, the heavenly beast's tail began where they all stood and tapered into something grand. Wide as a building, the dragon's chest and arms were like a bodybuilder's, its lumpy horned head looking small as red eyes glinted down upon them.

"W-whu-whoa…!" Krillin muttered. "And I thought Shenron could be intimidating! This guy's enormous!"

The dragon spoke in a booming, but peaceful voice. "Ég er eilífur Porunga. Enn einu sinni eru sjö saman. Ég mun veita þremur langanir þínar. Talaðu, í hvaða tilgangi er ég kallaður?"

Dende nodded, turning to the group. "Porunga says he'll grant us three wishes."

Gohan stared while Krillin and Vegeta offered wordless exclamations of surprise.

"Three!" Krillin cried. "Wow, didn't want to get my hopes up, but that Nail guy was right on the money! Maybe everyone can get what they want… and Vegeta doesn't have to kill us."

The Saiyan Prince scoffed. "I'll take it under advisement, baldie. First thing's first, kid! Wish for my immortality! Nothing else matters until then!"

Dende froze, looking between all of them.

The Prince stomped forward. "Well?! Did you hear what I said?! Frieza's coming, and if I'm not immortal, we're all going to—"

"I-I can't!" Dende cried, not in defiance. "Y-you've killed so many of our people! Someone like you…"

Vegeta growled, taking a menacing step forward. "Idiot! There's no time for this petty griping! Make the wish! Or I'll…! I…"

Vegeta froze stiff, eyes becoming saucer-like as he stared past Dende into the distance. He stammered without words, as the others turned their heads, feeling it before they even saw it.

A humming laugh reached their ears, as a sound like a creaking spring grew louder and louder. "Tut tut, Vegeta… have you learned nothing from my example?" They all froze like statues as Frieza stalked between them, eyes only turning to glance at Vegeta as he passed him on the side. "No no, you don't reason with them for what you demand. Threatening is far more effective."

Vegeta dared to turn around, to find Frieza had reached the other side of their circle, back turned to them.

"But I must say, you've all done such a splendid job of setting this up for me, my mood is quite alleviated. If this is an act of penance, it's a worthy start, and the uniforms are most becoming." Frieza delighted in it all. A captive audience, his every whim soon fulfilled…

"Vegeta, I'm in such a good mood, I'm almost inclined to give you your wish!"

"What?!" Vegeta bellowed, certain he must have heard wrong. "You would—?!"

Frieza laughed openly, head turning to meet his gormless gaze. "Oh Vegeta… your ignorance is so endearing. You see, even if you were made to be invulnerable, you simply haven't the might to compete with what I am!

"You would possess an everlasting body, but be capable of nothing. Clash with me for ten-thousand years, and all of it will be naught but your own agonizing shrieks as I introduce you to ever more creative means of pain and suffering!"

Vegeta bared his teeth as Frieza finally turned around, his amusement visibly waning.

"Your vision is as thin as my temper, and it honestly insults me! To be immortal is but a waste if one is not also mighty! There is a name for an eternal existence of misery and anguish, and we of sound faculty call it Hell!"

Vegeta snapped free of his fear, pride swelling as he laughed, pointing to Frieza suddenly. "Why don't you try it then, Frieza! I've come farther than you know!"

"The pride cometh before the fall…" Frieza sighed. "But all will be moot, you see, as I will now have that which is mine by right of birth!" In but a flash, Frieza was beside Dende, a hand around his neck as he lifted him high. "Make the wish! Make me immortal!"

Dende barely got a moment to stammer before a boot slammed into Frieza's ear. Surprised and growling, he slid back, releasing his hold on the young Namekian as Vegeta swept in again to clash with the awful emperor.

Gohan and Krillin stepped back as the area exploded with movement. Vegeta and Frieza were nearly matched as the prince fended off the ever enraging demon. A bit of plateau smashed off without obvious cause, before a supportive landing leg on Frieza's ship blew out, the saucer craft listing suddenly. Blasts of gold and fuschia added to the chaos as Dende huddled by Porunga's tail in terror.

Not helping, Frieza managed to stand before him again, but finally the two earthlings joined in. A headbutt from Gohan shoved Frieza away as Krillin extended his palms and put them to both sides of his head.

"Taiyo-ken!"

And then the arena was awash with blinding light, staggering Frieza and stopping a charging Vegeta in his tracks.

"Dende, make the wish!" Krillin commanded, awaiting Frieza's next move.

"I...I…"

Gohan looked to him as well. "Just anything! Anything that will help!"

"I… wish…!" Dende simpered, blinded and scared…

Finally, he turned to the Dragonballs, hands spreading. "Ég vildi að þeir myndu allir koma—"

Frieza turned towards the sound, and his finger shone with power.

"—aftur til þar sem mennirnir komu frá!"

There was a sound of great power from the dragon, as it's eyes glowed brilliantly. "Það verður gert…"

All eyes were on Frieza as he aimed for the Namekian child, his one eye peeking open as his teeth ground with rage. Vegeta took a chance and charged, going for a low sweep with his leg.

...But as Dende cowered, Frieza vanished in a burst of light. As did Vegeta, and Gohan… There was even a burst somewhere on the horizon, until Dende found himself alone with the Grand Dragon.

"Fyrsta ósk þín er veitt…" Porunga boomed, shaking Dende to reality once more. "Hvað verður næsta ósk—?"

But at once Porunga's eyes went black, and he seemed to wilt. A great blast of energy signified the dragon's departure, and the huge orange spheres went dull grey, slamming into the soft dirt as naught but stone.

"N-no! Guru…! I… I'm all alone…"

Indeed. The wind whistled in the silence and desolation, as the young Namekian, the last of his race could do little else but to take it all in.

Lord Frieza saw Namek, and the brat doing who-knew-what with his wish, fade away even as he fired his Death Beam. In an instant, he was somewhere else entirely. He barely glimpsed thatched roofs, baked clay brick buildings, tall fronded trees and lots and lots of sand before his late projectile illuminated the twilight of the evening.

The building in front of him had its roof blasted clean off in a cone, as the pink spear pierced the sky, busting clouds as it made for the horizon. The sound of the beam was followed only by its own echo, as it found a pre-broken moon and struck a fragment in its shattered mass. There was a blinding flare as the fragment he struck exploded, pieces raining down upon the larger moon surface and leaving dirty pockmarks, like gunpowder.

With his sudden appearance, the obliteration of a building and damage to a natural satellite, he'd gotten the attention of the entire square as he turned. Numerous colorful civilians, some with feral features, fled from his irate visage in a flurry… All of them looked as human as the fools who played party to sabotaging his moment of triumph. Others stayed, caught looking between him and the moon, trying to piece together what was surely impossible. Some were simply frozen to the spot, or had collapsed to their knees.

As he drank in his surroundings, seeing large industrial buildings and refineries in the distance, he knew enough that he had left Namek far behind. Given his surroundings, he wondered if this wasn't Earth. A reality that might be fortuitous for laying low the fools that did this to him…

But…

Frieza stalked towards an outdoor bar, upon whose stools sat four patrons too stupid, scared or intoxicated to have fled. The hawk-winged male around the bar's corner opted too late to summon the courage to flee, sprinting away only for Frieza to point his way.

A hanging beer-bottle-turned-decorative-lamp shattered from the awning as an invisible force raced and caught him, leaving the terrified faunus running chillingly in place before Frieza swept his hand sharply left. The man screamed as he was flung into a dusty box truck, which flipped onto its side a split second before it exploded, flooding the marketplace with flickering light. It danced against his pitiless red eyes.

A decidedly sloshed young woman with chartreuse hair in curtains shrank into the arms of her bewildered boyfriend, his flesh-colored mustache not helping his gormless expression.

"If you want any chance of surviving this night, you'll learn from his example!" he shouted, the three, plus the old bartender shrinking as he finally made use of his voice.

He turned to the ragged old man, beholding him like a phantom. The man dared to speak, his dialect clashing slightly against Frieza's transatlantic tones. He was instantly reminded of one of the Ginyus.

"Y-you some kind a' Faunus, are ya? I—"

"What world is this?" he demanded.

"W-w… world, mate?"

"Yes! This diseased dirtball hanging in the cosmic infinite!"

"Ain't no 'sease here, sir!"

Frieza kicked the —mounted— stool out from under him, catching him by the neck before he even hit the floor. "Earth! Is! This! Planet! Earth!?"

"N-n...n-no sir! This planet's called Remnant!"

"Liar!" Frieza shrieked, tail rearing up out of nowhere to slam him through the liquor shelf behind the bar. He didn't get up.

Frieza let his fingertip shine with power, fanning it across the few remaining.

"No, man, this is Remnant! You're in the Kingdom of Vacuo!"

Frieza showed what he considered deep restraint, as he aimed his barbs at the man and his flesh-colored mustache. His girlfriend slammed her eyes shut, sinking low. "I'll not ask again!" he cried. "This world is rife with human refuse… If this is not Earth, then kindly direct me to it! This must be an Earth colony… come forward, and I may yet spare this wretched wayward rock!"

The bartender finally opted to speak, drawing Frieza's gaze. "T-there's been several tries by the Atlesians to send rockets out into space, but it's all been failed! They lose power once they get too far from the ground!

"I'm telling you, we don't know what 'Earth' is!" he insisted, flinching every time Frieza twitched.

Frieza glanced between the members of his small audience, daring them to reveal the lie in their eyes… but ultimately he saw none. "Damn it!" he growled lowly, turning his back and lowering his hand. "Of all the places, a civilization that's yet to develop proper space travel!"

A wave of relative relief took the survivors, even the chartreuse-haired girl, who had stopped shaking. The mustachioed man dared to inquire further. "So you're a space alien or something, right? Do you really need our air? Can't you just… breathe through your skin or whatever?"

The human's question was… idiotic. And yet, Frieza found it in him to smile and bark with laughter. "Haha! In spite of your limitless shortcomings, my dear inebriate, you present an imminently viable stratagem!

"And indeed, once I've charted a course for the nearest civilized system, I can reduce this 'Remnant' to ashes!"

"...Oh," was the man's only reply.

Frieza considered, pacing in the square. "In which case, I'll need to scope where nearest I can find such basic information. I don't suppose you creatures would know of the nearest unburned library, place of governance, or…" Frieza chuckled. "Perhaps some overly complicated sundial made of stone and mortal fear for the next solar eclipse?"

"W-Well," the barkeep began, "Vacuo rejected any formal governin'... but everyone recognizes Shade Academy and its Huntsmen."

"Lawless but for academia?" Frieza whispered. "What a bizarre dream…"

"Well, Shade is one a' the Huntsmen academies, training the greatest of warriors!"

"Ah," Frieza uttered, in mock apology, "Pardon me, lawless but for writ of muscle and brawn… truly, you hominids are all peas in the proverbial pod."

In the square far behind Frieza, a gout of flame illuminated the streets as a blonde woman with what looked to be a small rocket engine lowered herself onto the dirt from above, blonde curls waving in the wash of heat. Frieza barely turned to glance at the minor spectacle, as yet more curiosities followed.

Red hair streaked with blonde, another female swooped in on steel wings attached to her back. Their component 'feathers' looked to hover beside each other independently as she was held aloft by a humming antigravity.

Gripping her wrists and only letting go as she neared the ground was… yet another female. A brunette with purple eyes, knocking a strange golden bow of multiple strings with multiple projectiles.

Lastly it seemed, a male with a cat's tail and ears took a flying leap from a rooftop, age-defying grey hair fluttering over glowing green eyes. His tall brown boots slid across an awning before he tumbled onto his feet wielding —of all things— a dagger.

The evident leader, the bow-wielding brunette, approached them slowly. "How's business, tapster?" she asked the barkeep. "Seen anyone… strange?"

Frieza smiled, feeling the stalking behavior of the four as they formed ranks behind him. "I must say," Frieza began, tilting his head, "exemplary response time… for one asleep at the switch."

The blonde with the flame weapon stepped forward, the rasp in her voice pronounced with a growl. "I don't know if you're a faunus, a freak, or even a human being," she added, looking him over with as much curiosity as caution, "but this ends here. We're taking you in."

"Gretta…" the brunette warned.

Frieza's tail wobbled dangerously behind him. "Oh, why, even among my own people, 'freak' might fill out my size of boot," he admitted, the cat faunus looking down at his odd feet and silently agreeing.

"I am something of a lusus naturae… but that is but one term of many."

"Let's start with a name."

His arms drifted behind his back, hand gripping his other elbow as his chest puffed out. "Very well," he said, turning at last, red eyes gleaming. "I am Lord Frieza, Emperor of All. The single most potent being this side of Creation, and sole heir to all I survey therein.

"From the first sweltering breath of the sun's birth at the start of the cosmos to the bitter crushing supernova blasting at its end, my reign is absolute. If not a god by birth, I shall be by right of birth!"

All present stood frozen as he spoke. Confusion and fear were thick on the air.

"What I am… is dominance. And bitter fear."

He let the words hang as he closed his eyes "This is the part where you bow, if you've not gleaned its meaning."

He opened his eyes. The bar patrons were cowering on the floor, and he suspected the unseen barman was doing likewise. His challengers, however, stared at him like he were some strange and dangerous animal. "Oh? Not impressed?" he asked, the amusement in his eyes growing. "My, you must all be quite the fighters then. Who did you say you were?"

The winged one, hanging listlessly, nearly danced at the question before the brunette held a hand out to her and spoke again. "Maia, not now…" she ordered, the redhead wilting in compliance. "I'm Jackie Magnus. This is my team, MMGP. That's all you need to know."

" 'Magpie?' " Frieza repeated before letting out a single jolt of mirth from his shut lips. "Rather on the nose for a mercenary group."

"We're not for sale, if that's what you're suggesting," Jackie told him. "We're bringing you up to see Dhalia, at Shade."

"That gonna be a problem?" Gretta demanded, as Frieza's eyes drifted eerily to meet hers, his head not moving.

Finally he laughed. "Fortune favors you ill… As it happens, I was already set to visit this Academy of yours when you crossed my path! But Lord Frieza will not go anywhere under the context of custody."

Maia touched ground, her wings audibly winding down. "An escort, maybe?" she offered helpfully.

Nobody answered her. The silent standoff went on for several seconds.

"I'm torn," Frieza admitted at last. "Part of me almost wishes to offer you a shot at walking away from this… but I'd be lying to myself if I said I wasn't in the mood." Frieza barely twitched as an invisible, blasting force kicked up dust, cracked the earth and staggered the group as one.

Jackie gave a silent command… and the massacre began.

For the second time in days, Ruby Rose, the girl with silver eyes was in the fight of her life. Clad in her tattered red cape, she huddled with the rest of Team RNJR, the survivors of what once was Team JNPR… but that was another story.

On their way to Mistral, and Haven Academy therein, a number of unexpected events had driven them to desperation. Her uncle, the Huntsman Qrow Branwen, had arrived to help them fight off a deadly foe. Only known as Tyrian, the scorpion-tailed faunus had come for Ruby herself, to capture and deliver her to his master. Why her? Well, that was the purpose of their entire journey. Ruby Rose, with her silver eyes, held a special power. One that she did not understand, let alone could control, but had saved her and probably many others on that horrid night. The Fall of Beacon Academy.

Having lost contact with her original squad, Team RWBY, she regrouped and set out. Knowing she could be the difference once more, she felt no other choice made sense. As they learned, Qrow had been tailing them the whole way, as they ventured out to right the many wrongs that had befallen their world of Remnant… and ruined their lives.

Qrow had been poisoned in the battle with Tyrian, and was only growing worse by the hour. Hoping to find medical supplies, Ruby and the blonde swordsman Jaune Arc had split off from the party into the destroyed town of Kuroyuri, but nothing had been forthcoming. Instead, the other half of their team, the softspoken Lie Ren and bubbly, redheaded hammer-grenadier Nora Valkyrie, had come running back to them before they were intercepted by… that.

Yes, that… being a Grimm like Ruby had never seen before. Colossal, twisted, and disturbing in all its behavior and appearance. It was unique from any she had ever seen, and likely, utterly ancient. It stood on a dark horse's massive body, but unlike nearly all Grimm, it's top half took the form of a man. A demonic rider, fused to its mount, lanky arms dragging the ground as it occasionally hung over the horse body like a corpse.

It had been a perilous fight, but a plan was beginning to form. "Ren. Jaune and I can take care of its arms," Ruby offered, Jaune catching her eye and nodding.

"I'll take care of the horse," Nora declared, hefting her great hammer, Magnhild.

Lie Ren took a calming breath. "And I'll take care of the rest."

The beastly thing gave an otherworldly shriek as it refocused its assault, arms blasting towards them like prehensile harpoons. They scattered, beginning to take their positions on this last gambit.

The hulking Grimm with its deceptively swift and deadly strikes sent one of its arms exploding towards her. Crescent Rose in hand, her beloved sniper-scythe, Ruby leapt away. She fired shot after shot until she was perfectly positioned. The scythe snapped into glaive-mode for the plunge on the exposed limb.

And then a spear of light appeared to form on the ground, and at first she thought the Grimm had a new trick, until a black haired child in some strange blue, white and gold armor literally popped into existence. With a shriek, she abandoned her strike, firing at the beast to re-angle herself. As she landed with a skid, the child turned to meet her eyes with bewilderment.

At that instant, a pink flash overtook everything, and she was transfixed as part of the Moon's broken fragments silently detonated with the same colored light. She felt a searing unease at the sight...

Unfazed however, the massive Grimm's limb instead seized the boy around the feet and began whipping him around as a weapon.

"Umm…"

"What the heck was that?!" Nora demanded, staring at the sky.

"Ruby!" Ren called. "What's happening?"

"Why didn't you— Is that a KID?!" added Jaune, as the young boy was dragged across the ground towards a building.

Ren saw the boy, memories flaring of another black-haired child, who suffered greatly in this very town.

Ren leapt in front of him, shielding the child as he was slammed into the structure, shaking off decaying paint as the young Huntsman slumped to the floor with a groan.

"REN!" Ruby and Nora shouted, knowing full well his aura, their shield against harm had been depleted before this.

The boy got his bearings at last, seeing the young man that protected him harmed. He surged with power, a brilliant white burst overtaking him as he dug his heels into the ground. Digging a trench with his feet, he came to a stop and tugged on the monster's limb. It shrieked with frustration as it pulled right back.

Ren found Nora at his side in an instant as he swooned, Ruby bringing up the rear. "Are you okay?!" Nora demanded as Ren looked up.

"I'm fine…!" he groaned. "What about the… boy."

They all stared as the child of only a handful of years forced the Grimm to struggle, wreathed in white flame.

The awful creature shot its other limb in desperation, but the boy merely gave a tilt of his head to dodge it as it overshot. The child pinned the extended limb under his arm as the beast wailed helplessly, both its weapons nullified. He brought his arms up over his head and whipped the limbs down, a rippling wave running the length of them back to their owner, which was knocked off its hooves and onto its front. Granting the monster no quarter, he whipped right, sending its body skidding into the tower Nora had previously chosen for a perch.

The building's front collapsed in a landslide of rubble as the thing shrieked in pain, but it wasn't over yet. Yanking towards himself, the giant Grimm sailed back as he released the limbs. It coiled its arms as the child cocked his fist back, and all eyes were watching with utter surreality as he stood his ground.

None of them even saw the blow this wunderkind sent out from his short arm, but they felt its collision in the very earth as it connected with its horrible face, like a mortar firing. The Grimm's body seemed to flow over him, gelatinously, before the boy and his fist punched through. The Grimm let out a low, agonized moan of death, as its mass instantly became a pillar of smoke rising slowly into the sky.

The boy stepped out, surprised, but pleased as he glanced towards the group. "Hey, are you guys alright?!" he shouted, advancing at a sprint.

Team RNJR only stared, slightly intimidated at the youngster's approach.

"So… did I hit my head harder than I thought?" Ren asked.

Maia kicked off, her wing components taking aim and raining down plasma shots as bar patrons scattered, hobbling out of harm's way. Jackie Magnus fired her bow, the array of projectiles separating into a net. Gretta's flamer popped off like a massive roman candle, concussive blasts of sparks lashing out with every impact.

The chaos ended once Jackie clenched a right-angled fist in command, and the dust and fire ebbed to show nothing where Frieza had stood. "Check the bar, pipsqueak might've hopped over i—"

"Oh, apologies! Was all that meant for me?" called the voice from behind.

Gretta was last to turn, shaken by the sound's proximity. She gave a war cry, whirling around as a red-hot bayonet sprang from her weapon's barrel, the length of the thing concealing it. It snapped upon contact with his neck, but that wasn't what shocked her, as a sharp-nailed hand lunged forward…

There was an awful splitting sound, a sickening crack, as Gretta's aura —the same blue as her eyes— flared and went out. The weapon clattered against the dirt, discarded. Her eyes bulged, instantly streaming in agony, as her teammates beheld the same hand poking out of her back with its fingers extended.

"Oh gods, no!" Maia shouted. "Gretta, NO!"

Frieza's eyes bored into hers as her body below the point of impalement went limp… his arm having blown through her spine. Arms still of use, she clutched the limb that ran her through, even as blood stained her gown below the sternum. She spluttered and gave shallow breaths, but did not speak. Frieza tilted his head, regarding her coldly as his free hand fiddled with his scouter.

"Hmm… curious. You've some manner of energy field, as if it matters. And your power level…" He glanced at the others in turn, the grey faunus speechless, their winged blaster overcome and their leader livid.

"Ha! Consistently menial! If quite average for my own soldiers. Yet you seem to exert even less than what you possess…"

"SHUT UP! LET HER GO!" shrieked Maia, whose wings spread before she took towards Frieza like a shot.

"No, maintain ranks! MAIA!"

"Very well, have her then!" Frieza laughed, launching Gretta off his arm and into his assailant. Both tumbled to a stop, a mere fifteen feet away.

Growling with frustration, Jackie stepped forward, reaching into a pocket and pulling a handful of large seeds. She flicked them forward, onto Frieza and the earth he stood upon, then swiftly extending her hand. Frieza watched the strange attack with vague interest, as thick vines split from the seeds and began coiling around Frieza every way they could find. "Get outta this, you BASTARD!"

Then from her belt, she began to sling a salvo of tech-tomahawks, their heads full of fire dust which ignited after embedding in the vines. Frieza's two fingers caught one headed for his face, his victim's blood still literally on his hand.

Meanwhile, Maia was trying in vain to stabilize Gretta, as she choked and wheezed on the ground, blood in her mouth. "Nnngh…! Gh… H-Hans…" she gulped on the floor, eyes unfocused. "M'... sorry, I s...aid I w-wouldn't… d… dah…"

The blonde-streaked redhead sat wordless as her teammate gave a last rattle and went silent. Hands over her mouth, she gasped for air as she shook her head.

Frieza's body surged with power, glowing fuschia as the smouldering vines broke apart around him as he dusted off idly, staring at the desperate leader whose teeth ground with frustration.

"MONSTER! HOW COULD YOU?! MURDERER!" came a shrill cry, as all barrels of Maia's wings fired and hit home, forcing Jackie to stagger back.

"HEY, you'll overheat those linking fire like tha—!"

But another similar shot pockmarked the ground as Maia swooped towards Frieza, her gossamer periwinkle suit fluttering madly.

Frieza fired twin rays from his eyes, the other-most feathers of her wings caught, instantly belching hot fluorescent plasma behind her. But as Frieza prepared for the frontal assault with a knife-hand strike ready, she nearly vanished. "Hmm?" Frieza hummed as something fluttered past his face.

Maia had shrunk to the size of a rodent and flanked the cosmic menace, finding the base of his spine and plunging her arms forward. Though small, she was no less strong in this form, putting every ounce of force into a single point. In the right situation, Maia Tommelise was deadly when she needed to be. For good measure, she kicked away and hit the same spot with her still functioning barrels. She disengaged her semblance and returned to full size, turning to see the fruit of her—

She had only an instant to see the horned thing looking up at her with a predatory gaze, utterly unhurt, before those red eyes lit up again.

This time his aim was flawless, striking the plasma reserves of her wings, which ignited. The resulting blast tore her wings apart and dropped her from the sky, obliterating her aura and leaving her exposed to the jewel blue and green plasma. It stuck to her like napalm, leaving her to writhe as she was immolated, screaming even as her long hair was reduced to cinders.

Jackie sat stunned, watching as the plasma mercifully consumed her quickly. "Oh g-god…! Oh… my god…!"

Frieza watched as the leader's will to fight broke, stuck staring at the spot, arms hung limply at her side. He aimed his finger when he found a dagger at his throat.

"Not just yet, bastardo, now you're in the claws of Cagliuso Perrault."

"I see learning from example is a premium on this world…" Frieza groaned with mild amusement. "So, cat-man, what makes you think your little toy will have any further effect than your chums?"

"Io non," he replied, before his body literally vanished.

"Hmm?" Frieza wondered curiously, glancing around before he made out Perrault at the end of the square, running like the devil was chasing him. The vicious lord was speechless but a moment, before he burst out in laughter. A violet light flew idly from his finger, passing through the catatonic leader's head before she crumpled in a heap.

In a flash that —to human eyes— was instantaneous, Frieza appeared in the alley before Perrault, who gasped as he came to an awkward stop. His harsh features found a way to showcase amazement, as Frieza pointed a single finger, and slowly tapped him in the forehead with it as he watched in a cold sweat.

His short cackle filled the street. "Now that is a change of pace, my slippery friend! I've always held a modicum of respect for those shrewd enough to recognize the patently obvious. Such are the righteous fools I encounter with almost disturbing regularity."

Perrault shook, not finding it in him even to back away, lest it provoke him. "Please, Signore… no, Imperatore! I am your humble servant! My life is my wage! Command this body!"

Frieza hummed with laughter, retracting his hand and crossing his arms. "Do keep up then. We're to pay a visit to your alma mater. There is education to be had for everyone, I think… on a great many subjects."

A/N: And thus the adventure begins...

Hi folks, and thanks for giving this story's debut a chance! Hope you like what's on offer so far! I've wanted to write this story for a long time, and had to wait for Volume 5's conclusion to be sure I could get it right.

That having been said,"Transposition F" is going to be very 'pick and choose' about the canon. Characters might change, settings might be different than they were shown in the series, events might transpire a very different way. Basically, everything in Volume 4 is sacrosanct, but I reserve the right to alter Volume 5 at will in the areas where it... "erred". This is by and large done in the name of a better, more interesting story and world. So if you see something that contradicts Volume 5, don't rush to review and tell me I'm mistaken... because it might have been a deliberate decision. I will try to explain the major stuff when I can here.

Make no mistake, I love RWBY, and I love Dragonball, and both will be fulfilled as best as I possibly can. There's a hurricane a' coming'...

So hey, you might ask... isn't it a bit convenient and contrived that Dende wished them off planet, and they all ended up on the same world? Well... it WOULD be, yeah...

But Fun fact: The Namekian language used here is NOT gibberish, and in fact, CAN be translated. Perhaps this might shed some light...

Anyway, thanks to none other than XMan321 of "Power Within" for being here all throughout the writing process from inception to proofreading. Thanks to Cruzerblade for playing a similar role, but more recently, and to fellows like Sivam of "This War of Mine" and "Pride of Four" and Doomguy914 for further proofreading and support!

—And thank you to my wife for putting up with me and my nonsense—