Now that the cat, the dragon, and the rose were out of the bag, they saw no reason to continue spying from afar and decided to enter the training room completely, only to encounter something that could only be described as impossible.
Considering the anomaly that Vegeta represented, what he was capable of, and everything he had shown them on this fateful day, it shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was, and a big one at that.
"What the hell..." Yang lost her provocative smile and was genuinely shocked by what she was seeing, or rather, what she wasn't seeing. "This place looks..."
"...Endless," Blake finished for her partner, barely able to believe the extent of the emptiness before her eyes and how easy it would be for someone to go mad in a place like this. "How is this possible?"
Going to another world, seeing a moon be destroyed, and discovering the existence of aliens was one thing, but having something of this magnitude inside your own home?
Just what other kind of madness did Vegeta have in store for them?
At least, not all of them were having the same reaction, but perhaps that was only to be expected from the kind of leader their team had.
"Oh my god!" Ruby jumped up, understanding almost immediately what this could be! "Please tell me this is a pocket dimension!"
Just like in the comic books!
"I suppose you're not wrong," Vegeta sighed as he replied, feeling some relief at the change of subject, and Weiss felt the same. "It's called the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
This confirmation left Yang and Blake speechless, but they pondered the complex name of this place and its true purpose.
While it was impressive to have a door to another dimension inside his own home, besides the small temple where they were now, there was nothing else here!
Literally!
How could there be light without a sun? Or oxygen without vegetation? And what about this temperature that seemed to fluctuate endlessly?
There were so many things about this place that didn't make sense!
With that in mind, how did Vegeta even use this place as a training room?
Perhaps so he could unleash all that power without risking damaging the world outside... like what happened a week ago.
Merely imagining that Vegeta needed an entire dimension to contain his endless power only served to remind them of the kind of being they were living with.
As for Ruby, her question was about something simpler and less complicated, but not for her.
"Hypercaloric what?" she grumbled as she tried to repeat the name of this place and missed by a long shot, hating difficult words like that one. "Can't we just call it Pocket Dimension?"
It would be much easier and cooler that way!
"It's Hyperbolic, but you can call it the Room of Spirit and Time." Vegeta could still remember Trunks having the same pronunciation problem when biting his tongue with that complicated name. "This place is a separate dimension where time flows faster than in the outside world, about three times faster, to be precise."
Which wasn't much compared to the one back on Earth, but it had its uses, especially now that Vegeta intended to live and needed to maximize the time he had available to train.
"That's...cool, I guess?" Yang wasn't sure what else to say about such absurdity and began to walk around the temple and its large hourglasses to explore. "So, what else can this place do?"
Weiss saw that Yang was about to be caught by the increased gravity and raised a hand to warn her, but stopped when she remembered how annoying this girl had been just now with her teasing and smiled as she decided to just watch.
This would be a good punishment.
Besides, it wasn't as if she was in any real danger, and as expected, Yang ventured outside the temple's boundaries and regretted doing so.
"Argh!" Yang let out a pained cry as she hit the ground, almost as if she had lost all strength in her body and fallen without being able to do anything! "W-What...the...fuck?!"
It almost seemed like someone had used a ton of Gravity Dust on her!
Wait a damn minute, don't tell me... Yang could only think of one person capable of doing something like that, and she used everything she had to turn her head, looking in the direction of the temple where everyone was, only to see Weiss smiling back at her. That bitch!
While Yang knew she was being a bitter loser and letting her tongue run wild with taunts, this was too much as payback!
Worse still, she wasn't the only one caught up in it!
"Yang!" Ruby was quick to try to help, but only to find herself joining her sister in her pain. "Kyaa!"
Her body had become so much heavier so quickly that she was unable to handle it!
"W-What's going on?!" Blake asked Vegeta, unable to understand and afraid to try to help, when even someone much stronger like Ruby couldn't. "We need to do something!"
While she couldn't help, the owner of this dangerous place was more than capable of saving them both without even trying!
"The gravity outside the boundaries of this temple is ten times greater than that naturally present on a planet like Remnant." Contrary to the frightened cat's expectations, Vegeta did not move to help and only explained what was happening. "It's good for training, but only if you can handle it. Otherwise..." He pointed to Yang and, to his disappointment, Ruby as well. "This happens, and you put your life at risk."
That's because being exposed to increased gravity meant putting pressure on more than just your bones and muscles, but also your internal organs.
Without Ki to help bear that burden, it was extremely easy for a heart to fail, and only death would come of that.
"Ruby, what are you doing?" Weiss took no pleasure in seeing her best friend hurt like that, and Vegeta didn't seem willing to help, probably being another one of his tests. "Just increase your power, and everything will be fine."
Sort of.
Even Weiss had trouble dealing with this increased gravity, but she was much more tired than Ruby, having burned through her reserves when she obtained that new form, so her friend should be more than capable of handling it and helping her annoying sister.
I-I didn't even think about that! Ruby felt like an idiot for a second, but soon she was doing as Weiss suggested and began to tap into her Ki. Wow, I'm getting lighter!
It wasn't long before she was on her feet, but even using everything Ruby had, which wasn't much after the exhausting day she'd had, gravity kept pressing down on her shoulders in a merciless way. With that in mind and without wasting any time, she grabbed her sister, who seemed heavier than the Nergigante, and made her way back across a few meters of distance. Honestly, it felt more like a marathon or a torture session before she finally returned to safety, only to fall again, panting with exhaustion.
Right away, Blake was checking on the condition of her teammates, and while they were both visibly shaken, with Ruby muttering "never again," there didn't seem to be anything wrong with them... Well, except Yang, who had her eyes glowing red and looked ready to kill someone named Weiss.
Here we go again.
Without warning, flames fueled by the damage suffered under the increased gravity appeared in her hair, and in the next second, Yang was standing up and holding an indifferent Weiss by the collar of her white blouse.
"You!" She was shaking and ready to throw this girl out there so she could get a taste of that damn increased gravity, but Yang found herself unable to do it or even move Weiss an inch! Just how strong is she now?! This girl wasn't even using any power, and it seemed that the difference between them was like that between a child and an adult! "You knew about that, and you didn't say anything!"
While she was wrong about her initial accusation that Weiss was using Dust or one of her new powers to fuck with her, keeping quiet about the danger out there was just as bad!
Certainly, the same could be said about Vegeta, but at least he wasn't smiling as he watched!
"Heh." Weiss had a hand over her mouth to hide her growing smile. "Sorry, but I thought your over-inflated ego would soften the fall for you."
The sarcasm in her voice couldn't have been greater, much like the anger of the girl in front of her, who seemed to be on fire. If it had been before, Weiss would have been worried about being in her current position, but now? The threat Yang posed wasn't much better than that of a child throwing a tantrum.
The difference in power between them was that big.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the only difference between them.
"You little..." Yang began, but stopped when she realized something that would hurt much more than a punch, and let go of Weiss before hugging herself to accentuate her breasts. "Well, I suppose something extremely large really did soften my fall." That got a different reaction out of this girl, and as a bonus, she managed to make Vegeta look away. "Not that you'd know~."
At least in that department, Weiss could have all the power in the world, and she'd never be able to surpass her!
"All right, I think that's enough." Since Ruby was exhausted and couldn't fulfill her duty as leader, Blake put herself between the two just as Weiss was about to make Yang swallow her words alongside her teeth. "We don't have time for this; not when Ozpin could arrive at any moment."
A half-truth, she knew, even more so when they were in a separate dimension where time moved faster, but one that seemed necessary to avoid creating problems in Vegeta's presence.
While a part of Blake was tempted to let these two fight and worsen their reputations in Vegeta's eyes, she was better than that.
All the girls on the team were.
As for Yang and Weiss, they just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before turning in opposite directions, but not without letting an audible "Hmph" echo through the void of this dimension.
"Not bad," Vegeta said to Blake, surprising her and gaining the attention of the other girls with this unexpected compliment. "Looks like you're no longer just a shadow with no will." He then looked at Yang, and she swallowed nervously, even looking away as she expected to be criticized for her outburst just now. "I suppose something similar could be said about you." This was not what she was expecting to hear, her lilac eyes widening in surprise. "Unlike before, you've been able to suppress your anger when provoked, and that's a big step forward."
These girls were making excellent progress with their personal problems and becoming worthy of power.
"R-really?" Yang whispered in disbelief, but only for a second. Soon, she had a shy little smile adorning her lips as she looked down at the ground and held up her long locks of golden hair. Gosh, I feel like a little girl!
That must be how Ruby felt all the time, especially when she had cookies and weapons in front of her.
Which was ridiculous, considering what had just happened!
As for Blake, she wasn't reacting much differently, especially when she had been a shadow for most of her life, always running away when things got too much to bear, and her Semblance reflected this weakness.
But now, one of the most powerful beings in the universe was recognizing that she was more than that...that she was changing for the better.
Exactly what Blake wanted when she decided to join Beacon.
Just remembering everything that had happened since then made her want to cry and hug this man in front of her, but Blake held back and followed Yang with a happy smile.
"Thank you," she said with all her heart. "That means a lot to me."
Weiss remained silent, watching the way these girls in front of her were acting as they stole unassuming and affectionate glances at Vegeta.
They still haven't given up on him. She didn't need much more to come to that conclusion. So much for trying to get Blake and my brother together.
Especially when Vegeta was a vastly superior man in every sense of the word, even more so in the eyes of a faunus who tended to look for a strong partner instinctively.
That and Vegeta weren't helping by being so lenient with these girls, indirectly feeding the flame of ambition and desire within them.
That must be why Weiss had her cheeks puffed out and was pouting just like Ruby used to when she was upset about something and staring at Vegeta with her arms crossed.
That big dummy...her dummy.
As for the man in question, he had seen Bulma with this kind of look several times in the past, and at the end of the day, he always ended up asleep on the couch as a result.
Well, not this time. Not only was the house his, but Vegeta's relationship with Weiss wasn't at that stage yet. Not yet, huh.
Even if it was subconsciously, it seemed that he was responding to her interest in a much more...intense way than intended, which seemed inevitable after what happened.
Weiss had helped him find a reason to go on living, after all.
Not that he was going to admit it, of course.
"So." Vegeta cleared his throat and decided to take his mind off this complicated subject. "Is there anything else you'd like to know before we leave?"
In a way, Blake was right, and there was no time to waste, especially when they were dealing with a wizard.
"I have a question, sir!" Ruby had recovered enough to join the conversation and was happy to see her teammates getting along...sort of. "How long have you stayed inside this pocket dimension?!"
No matter what the alternative name of this place was, she was going to keep it nice and simple!
"About six years, I think," Vegeta said after a bit of thought, and that was enough to bring the girls out of their daydreams. "A number that will only increase during this next year."
Now that Vegeta had decided that he no longer wanted to die, he would make the most of this room.
"S-Six years, in this place!?" Weiss stared into the white void that seemed to have no end and felt her heart sink. "You... didn't spend all that time alone, did you?"
The mere thought of spending a third of her life in a place like this and alone on top of that was frightening.
"No, it was more like two years on my own." Vegeta would never forget that time, having endured immense humiliation at the hands of his opponents, let alone the touch of madness provided by this place. "In my first year, I trained with my son, Trunks. After that, I entered alone for a year on two separate occasions, but not necessarily in that order." A pause, his eyes narrowed as they glowed royal blue for a second with what he had to say next. "So, the last three years, I trained with...Kakarot."
The man he wanted to surpass, defeat, and erase from existence completely.
"No way..." Yang thought she was mishearing for a second, but Vegeta was deadly serious about it. "Then why?"
A broad question that didn't have a single answer and was probably the reason why the conversation they'd had earlier, after returning from that other planet, had come to an abrupt end.
"For a while, we were enemies on different sides of the battlefield." Vegeta was a completely different person back then, but Kakarot remained the same to this day, never changing. "After that, because of common foes that kept coming, like Freeza and many others, we became allies, rivals, and eventually...friends."
As much as he didn't want to admit it, that was the truth, and Vegeta would never have become so strong if it hadn't been for that insufferable clown.
However, that didn't excuse his endless stupidity and what he did!
In a way, the girls were able to understand, even if remotely, what it would be like to experience that level of betrayal.
Especially Weiss and Blake. The first was because of the connection she created with Vegeta during the awakening of his Aura, and the other was from personal experience.
"That explains a lot." Blake had seen a similar scenario before, when the old White Fang conflicted with a settlement in Mistral that refused to accept faunus, but only until the Grimm showed up and forced them to work together. An alliance that was necessary in order to survive.
From this experience, acceptance came, but it didn't last.
It never does.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the same was true for beings from other planets and even among the same species.
Except that Vegeta's motives were more than valid because they revolved around his family.
"But then everything changed last year, when Moro escaped from prison." Vegeta had even more emotion on his face as he remembered that old goat. "He was a ten-million-year-old demon who was capable of devouring entire planets to feed himself and grow stronger."
Four pairs of distinctly colored eyes widened as an instinctive chill ran up their backs.
After everything Vegeta had shown them, there wasn't the slightest doubt as to the veracity behind his words, and that was what frightened each of them.
The existence of a being so ancient and capable of devouring planets...
Just as Remnant was lucky to be on the edge of the southern quadrant of the universe and escape Freeza's tyrannical clutches, it seemed that the same was true of the threat posed by Moro.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the northern side of the universe and Vegeta's family.
"After an intense battle, the destruction of several worlds and the death of billions of living beings, Moro was defeated and fell to his knees at the feet of Kakarot, who claimed the title of the strongest mortal in the universe," he continued narrating, but with each word, his anger only grew. "That's when it happened; the decision that took Bulma and Trunks away from me."
The day his heart broke.