Chapter 3: Awaken The Warrior Within
Kai was out for ten minutes before he woke up in the infirmary room. He sat up and looked around. He was hidden from view behind the curtain, so he decided to get up and walk out to find his team. He fixed up the bed sheets and opened the curtain. He noticed that his robe and gear was off, so he looked around and found them on a nearby table. He sighed and walked over to put his gear back on. After about five minutes, he turned to walk out the door. There was a note on it for him.
"Went to the cafeteria to settle down and grab a light bite to eat. Hopefully you'll be awake before the match. Blonde is gonna be waiting for you ya know."
- Alex
Kai: "That guy I swear is digging his own grave."
He then folded the paper and placed it in his pocket and headed off to the cafeteria.
Moment later...
When Kai arrived at his destination, he noticed that the place was crowded with students. They all were surrounding something, or someone, or people. Kai with ease slipped past the crowd and managed to get to the front of the crowd. He saw that the crowd was surrounding his team. He sighed as he walked over to his team. Some girls who noticed him began to call out to him. He got a bit ticked, but he controlled himself and continued towards his team. Mason was the first to notice him.
Mason: "Kai! You're awake! That was fast."
Kai: "I wasn't really knocked out."
Alex: "Yeah, you were knocked up."
Kyle: "Boo, you suck at those Alex."
Alex: "You know that was a good one."
Mason: "No, just no."
Kai: "What's going on here?"
Kyle: "These people just came up to us and started to ask for our autographs."
Alex: "Particularly the lasses."
Kai sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Kai: "Why does this happen every time?"
Alex: "Because we're awesome."
Kai: "Don't forget to humble yourself."
Alex: "I won't, but enjoy this for once."
Kai sighed again and turned back towards the arena.
An hour later...
Kai was waiting near the entrance of the arena with some students around the area chatting and occasionally glancing his way. He sighed and walked away towards the cliffs. The sun was still setting, in fact it was at the horizon. After a minute of silence, he felt a presence behind him. The energy was warm, bright and welcoming. He knew who exactly it was. He sighed.
Kai (without turning around): " What is it Yang?"
Yang: "How did you know it was me?"
Kai: "Let's just say it was a lucky guess."
He turned around to see Team RWBY standing behind him along with his own team, minus Alex.
Kai (looking at Kyle): "Where'd the Brit go?"
Kyle: "Bathroom, had too many spicy tacos."
Kai pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again.
Weiss: "Is he always like that?"
Mason: "Yeah, he always is the cheery one, but his disciple is a little shaky, particularly when it comes to someone he holds dear."
Kai (turned back towards the horizon): "What do you girls want?"
Yang: "We just wanted to wish you guys luck when you fight us."
Ruby: "Yeah! You're gonna need it."
Blake smiled & said: "I agree with Ruby."
Yang: "Did Blakey just brag?"
Kyle smiled & replied: "Alright, but don't get too cocky. After all, we were taught by the best assassins in the order."
Weiss: "Oh don't worry, I analyzed enough information on you guys during your fights."
Kai smirked & turned around to face her.
Kai: "Is that right? Well, for this next fight... (turning towards Kyle & Mason) I may take it up a notch."
Kyle: "You're going to take an extra step?"
Mason: "That's unfair for them."
Weiss: "What do you mean next step?"
Kai: "Let's just say that you've yet to see my true potential."
Ruby: "Wait, how much did we see then of your potential?"
Alex (coming from behind): "About one fourth."
Weiss: "Impossible!"
Alex: "Nothing's impossible for this guy lass. He has accomplished many feats that you may consider impossible."
Weiss: "Like what?"
Kyle: "Kai here took down five Death Stalkers on his own in fifteen minutes."
Ruby & Yang: "Five?!"
Blake: "That's impossible!"
Weiss: "And in fifteen minutes!"
Kai smacked Alex and Kyle in the back of their heads.
Kai: "Why did you tell them about that feat?!"
Alex: "Why is that a bad thing."
Kai (pointing behind the group): "My expectations were just set to a higher standard."
Everyone turned around to see Professor Ozpin along with Ms. Goodwitch listening to their conversation.
Ozpin: "Having high expectations isn't always a negative ideal Kai."
Kai turned back towards the horizon and sighed.
Kai: "That's because you haven't gone through what I have professor. You don't know how much pressure I already have."
Ozpin: "I'm sure I have some notion."
Kai turned around with an annoyed look, but remained calm. He walked up to Ozpin until he was a mere foot or two away from the man's face.
Kai: "Really Professor? Have you ever lived in a perfect world, or what seemed to be a perfect world where everyone is smiling, laughing, or even crying with each other. Have you ever had your mother and father taken away from you before you even turned five?!"
The tension in the air was high, and everyone remained in silence. Even Ozpin seemed a little shaken by the fact that Kai's parents had been killed when he was at a young age.
Kai: "Have you been orphaned by your uncle and aunt, and lived with them for five years before your own cousin held a dark secret and unleashed it upon them and yourself. Have you had your whole village slaughtered before your very eyes and have your cousin leave you alive in the mist of dead bodies?! Have you had to battle that cousin and receive a scar from them, and then go back to your friends who care about him just as much as you do and tell them that you failed to bring him back from the path of hatred?!"
Professor Ozpin stood in place looking into the eyes of the assassin. The eyes were filled with hatred, loneliness and a slight hint of confusion. He opened his mouth to speak, but the young assassin walked off and headed back towards the stadium to prepare for the fight with Team RWBY. The silence was broken when Alex spoke up.
Alex (looking at Kai's disappearing figure): "I never thought he would've broke like that."
Mason: "He's lived a dark life, that's for sure."
Kyle: "But what he doesn't realize, is that he's on the edge of walking down that path that Shangzu is walking right now."
Yang: "Shangzu?"
Alex: "It's not our place to talk about him Yang."
Kyle: "Yeah, it's better if you talk to him about it personally. It's his life not ours."
Mason: "Well, we better go and make sure he doesn't do anything rash."
Alex: "Yeah. We'll see you lasses in the arena."
The trio walked off leaving Team RWBY and the two professors in silence.
Another hour later...
The students began to file back into the stadium. Team RWBY was waiting in their respective locker room, while the assassins were waiting at the entrance of the tunnel for the match to begin. Kyle and Alex were talking while Mason stood in his place staring out onto the battle ground. Kai meanwhile was leaning on the far left wall of the entrance with his hood down. Little did the other three know that his eyes changed. For better or for worse, they were about to find out.
Moments later...
The stadium was packed and the competitors were standing in the middle of the field waiting for the instructions of Ms. Goodwitch. Once that was over, the contestants took twenty steps away from each other and readied themselves, except for Kai. The buzzer went off, but no one took a step or flinched.
Ruby: "Uh, the buzzer went off."
Alex: "We know, but ladies get the first attack."
Weiss: "If you think we'll fall for-"
Yang: "Dibs!"
Yang wildly charged at the assassins. Mason, Alex, and Kyle all jumped out of the way, but Kai still stood in place. Everyone in the audience gasped. Mason looked with shock in his eyes.
Alex: "Kai! Mate! What the hell?!"
Yang was going to deliver a right hook, but just before she managed to deliver a blow, Kai looked up and blocked her punch by simply raising his hand up and catching the attack.
Yang: "What?"
Kai used his free hand to pull down his hood. Yang saw the same red eyes that he used in the previous fight against Team JNPR. Kai smirked as Yang was sent flying at a blink of an eye. She smashed into the opposite wall and then slumped to the ground. Ruby ran over to her to see if she was alright. Yang looked up and gave Ruby a reassuring smile. They returned to formation along with Weiss and Blake who were still trying to process exactly what happened. The other three assassins regrouped with their leader.
Alex: "Oi! What the hell are you doin' there matey?"
Kai: "Getting us a deserved win."
Kyle: "Kai you know that it's not fair to them if you use your Draconic Abilities."
Mason: "Try to refrain from using it."
Kai: "And for what? To let us loose? Forget it!"
Alex: "I thought that you wanted some competition?"
Kai: "I do, but no one here has any power to match my own."
Mason: "You're talking about someone who's basically a divine being!"
Kai: "Maybe that's what exactly I want Mason."
Their conversation was disrupted by the sound of Ruby giving a command.
Ruby: "Quick, Bumblebee!"
Blake and Yang charged in dispersing the assassins. Blake disappeared and reappeared quickly doing combo attacks on all four of them, while Yang followed afterwards delivering heavy blows upon them. Yang sent Kyle flying into a pillar, Mason into the stands, and Alex into the wall. Kai managed to recover as he skidded across the battle ground, and then coming to abrupt halt. He looked up to see Yang and Blake now standing next to Ruby and Weiss waiting to see what he would do. Kai looked around to see his team coming back around. Mason jumped down from the stands, Kyle was trying to get debris off of him, and Alex was tugging and pulling himself out of his own imprint on the wall.
Alex: "What now?"
Kyle: "I'm not sure. Kai?"
Kai: "Thinking."
Ruby: "Ladybug!"
Mason: "We gotta move!"
The four of them tried to move out of the way of the next attack, but they couldn't budge. They looked down and noticed a glyph was right below them, preventing them for moving. Weiss smirked as she left her sword in the ground, and Ruby charged in quickly slashing and hacking at the frozen assassins. After Ruby dazed them, Weiss switched the dust chamber and then rushed at the assassins. Once they recovered, Weiss stuck her sword into the ground, which then caused an explosion catching the assassins in the process. Ruby and Weiss made it back to Yang and Blake. Once the dust and smoke disappeared, they saw that the assassins were knocked to the ground with scratches, rips & tears, and a few singes here and there. Kai was the first to get up and he was looking down at the ground with his hair covering his eyes. He then looked up at the girls with different eyes. His eyes were still red, but the pupils contained slits in them, and the color amber. The girls noticed this and backed away a little. Kai looked up at the monitor to see that his team had reached the mid yellow to light orange aura level. He however was still in the green.
Weiss: "Impossible! He's not even in the yellow."
Kai closed his eyes for a split second, and then he opened them and rushed at the girls. The girls took a defensive stance and waited for his attack. Yang was the furthest at the front, and was going to punch him, but he disappeared and reappeared behind her. He kicked her in the back and then went between her legs and uppercut her under her chin. He then sent her flying with a powerful punch, but he didn't stop there. He disappeared again and reappeared in the direction Yang was heading. He then kneed her into the air as she came his way. She was heading towards the already broken roof when Kai appeared over her again, and then kicked her back towards the ground. Yang's body smashed into the ground as her aura dropped from the blue level to the yellowish orange color. The rest of Team RWBY was shocked to see Yang was attacked that easily.
Blake: "Did he just..."
Weiss: "Impossible..."
Ruby: "Yang!"
Yang was out like a light. Her aura was still fine, but she wasn't responding. Kai turned his attention back towards the remainder of Team RWBY. The girls cringed and took a defensive stance. Kai disappeared and the girls began to look around for him. At a point when Weiss turned around, he was standing mere inches away from her. She shrieked as she too was kicked. Her fate was the same as Yang's, only this time, Kai added a bit more combo punches and kicks before kicking her away, and she smashed through the far wall where there wasn't an audience. Ruby and Blake didn't sit around and wait to be attacked, instead they attacked this time.
Ruby: "We'll try this again, Ladybug!"
Blake and Ruby charged at Kai at blinding speed, but he too knew how to quickly get away, he sped away from them every time they tried to land a hit on him, but every attempt led to no results. At this point, Yang and Weiss were getting back up on their feet. Yang however unleashed her semblance, which is Rage, and Ruby noticed this and decided to have them help out.
Ruby: "Freezer burn!"
Weiss switched her chamber again and then stabbed the ground. The surrounding area turned to ice, and then Yang came flying in from the ceiling smashing the ground causing a mist to form. Kai noticed this and he couldn't see where the girls were. He closed his eyes and waited. However, this strategy didn't work well. He was attacked from all directions from the four of them.
Ruby: "Checkmate!"
Kai was attacked by Blake and Weiss who quickly slashed and hacked at him.
Ruby: "Ice Flower!"
Ruby turned Crescent Rose into her original form, and Weiss returned by her side and switched her chamber again. Ruby began to fire bullets with Weiss's glyphs giving it an additional taste of power. The attack was meant to freeze one's opponent, but Weiss slightly changed the attack causing the hits to actually have a hard impact instead of simply freezing someone or something. After fifteen shots, Ruby fired a final round that sent Kai flying into the far wall. On the monitor, his aura finally reached the yellow, but it still wasn't at the point that his teammates were at. Kai fell out of his imprint and landed with a loud thud onto the battle ground. Yang's hair was still burning and her eyes still red, but she softened a little bit. Ruby looked at Kai's figure who was still face flat on the ground. After a few moments, Ms. Goodwitch was going to call the match a win for Team RWBY, but then everyone saw that Kai was slowly getting up. Team RWBY was still surpirsed just as everyone else in the building was, except for Professor Ozpin who has a simple smile on his face.
Weiss: ' Impossible! '
Blake: ' What is he? '
Yang: ' Wow, he's strong. '
Ruby: "Let's finish this girls!"
Blake, Weiss & Yang: "Right!"
They all took an offensive stance and readied to attack, but what they saw prevented them from doing so. The ground around Kai began to crack and rumble. Also, his anger rose and it felt so menacing that everyone present felt it. His aura was increasing. A red outline of his energy surrounded his body, and his eyes turned into a full scale reptilian ones. He began to yell and the cracks got bigger. The roof then cracked and fell in on the area where he was. The far wall also began to crack and crumble. For once, Team RWBY could not react or do anything. They were too terrified by this boy's power. After a minute of this, Kai gave not a battle cry, but a roar. A roar of a beast so divine and mystical that many do not believe in its existence. After a few minutes of roaring and the building crumbling, the stadium was suddenly dead silent. The whole audience fell out of their seat because of this catastrophic event. Half the building was in pieces, the monitor now had several cracks long the screen, however, one can barely see that Kai's aura level was back up in the blue, and even going beyond the indicated 100%. In fact, the monitor showed an animation of fire surrounding Kai's bar level.
Kai looked back at the girls with a monotone & angry looked at the same time. Yang's hair was still on fire and her eyes were still red, but behind those eyes showed fear. Kai noticed this, but didn't bother to say anything. He began to take some steps towards them. Ruby was the first to snap out of her daze, and she began to fire bullets at him. However upon impact, the bullets disappeared and left not a single scratch. After the tenth round fired, Ruby stopped as she tried to quickly come up with a plan. At the same time, Kyle, Alex, and Mason began to come back to the land of the living just in time to see Kai in his transformed state. Alex was the first to notice.
Alex: "Crikey man! He transformed?!"
Mason: "Appears to have."
Kyle: "What happened to the arena?!"
Alex: "Probably was an intense fight between him and Team RWBY."
Mason: "Were they that much tougher than we expected?"
Alex: "Perhaps so, perhaps so."
Kyle: "I think they've just woken up the warrior from within Kai."
Alex: "You mean the monster within him."
Mason: "But what exactly did they do?"
Kai continued his small steps towards the girls. At a certain point, he stopped about twenty feet away from them. The girls raised their weapons ready for an attack, but Kai simply raised up his left arm and motioned for the girls to come and attack them. The RWB of Team RWBY stood in place confused, while the Y saw this as an opportunity to strike. Yang launched herself at Kai, but he disappeared and then reappeared behind her. She turned around ready to strike again, but he lightly tapped her on the back of her neck, and she passed out like a light bulb. The RWB stood there in shock.
Weiss: "Did he just-"
Weiss collapsed on the floor before she could even finish her statement. Kai did the same thing to her and Ruby and Blake backed away. They both managed to get a last glance at him before they too fell to the ground by his simple "attack". The audience sat in the place in silence after what had just unfolded before their eyes. Ms. Goodwitch snapped out of her daze before she grabbed a microphone.
Ms. Goodwitch: "The winner is Kai Tetsuya... I mean the assassins."
Kai sighed as he powered down and returned to "normal". His team gathered around behind him, but before they could speak, he began to walk towards the entrance tunnel with his hands in his pocket. They shortly followed him in silence. Professor Ozpin smirked again and took a sip of his coffee.
Ozpin: "This indeed will be an interesting year."
The monitor showed the overall grade of the team and the individuals on it.
Team/Grade Total:
- Team Creed - 8.1/10.0
Individual/Grade Total:
- Alex Jones - 8.2/10.0
- Kyle Beckenmeyer - 8.0/10.0
- Mason Andrews - 7.9/10.0
- Kai Tetsuya - 11.0/10.0