Chapter 3: A Midlife Crisis at Age 16

The Deathstalker twitched as it died. Mato yanked his foot free from its carapace, shaking it to dislodge the fading fragments of the Grimm's bones. He sniffed the air for a scent and found it. He sprang off the corpse and raced through the trees, following the stench. As he got closer, he heard gunfire and growls.

Mato burst from the trees to find a trio of White Fang trying and failing to gun down and Ursa as it charged them. Though to be fair, it was a big Ursa. Big enough that when Mato body flickered in front of it and drove his fist into its stomach, the creature was actually able to stay conscious. Mato had to finish it with a second punch embedding its head in the ground.

"Thanks!" One of the trio called. "We really-" Mato cut him off with a raised hand. He took another deep breath through his nose. There was still the smell of Grimm nearby. He was about to smell again to try to sniff out where when the Nevermore flew overhead, shrieking. Mato shot into the sky after it. The Grimm's eyes widened as he appeared in front of it, the fingers on his left hand forming a blade.

"Goshigan." Mato drilled the overgrown bird between the eyes. Its body vanished immediately, a sign he had destroyed the brain. The irony of using a modified version of the classic Shigan bullet punch, used by saiyans almost exclusively for killing prey without overtly damaging their bodies, to kill a creature that couldn't be eaten wasn't lost on him. He didn't think there were any more, but just to be on the safe side he sniffed one last time. Nothing.

He dropped back down to earth. The trio rushed over to him as he landed. The short one spoke first. "Boy, do we owe you one."

"You came out of nowhere!" The lanky one with antlers said.

"How did you know where we were?" The one without any easy identifying features asked.

The true answer, that Mato had no idea they were there, probably wouldn't go over very well. "I followed my nose." Mato said instead, tapping it. One thing he'd learned over the week he'd spent fighting for the White Fang was that a human's sense of smell was terrible. They couldn't even pick up things as pungent as the Grimm, as hard as that was to believe. Mato hadn't lied about how he could track Grimm with unerring accuracy; he had told them the truth every time he was asked. He may have been telling the truth in a way that seemed like he was lying, though.

"Head back to camp." He told them. "The Grimm have already been cleared out." Fuchsia had been insisting on continuing to send her patrols out to counter the Grimm incursions, despite Mato's presence making them entirely superfluous.

"Yes sir!" They trio trooped off with Mato frowning after them. That was another annoying thing; the White Fang grunts had rapidly assumed Mato was one of their number. His clothes, he noted irritated, were probably not helping. Perry had successfully badgered him into donning the standard White Fang white vest, black pants, and armguards. Mato had agreed mainly to get him to shut up, though he hadn't budged on the mask. His excuse, that he wanted his enemies to remember his face, had been just reasonable enough that Perry, also sick of arguing by then, had let it go.

In Beta Camp, where Mato had been first, the wardrobe change hadn't been a problem. The White Fang knew where they stood, humans he was fighting for for profit. It was after he came here to Gamma Camp that people started to mistake him. It was amazing. You save maybe a dozen people from slavering, homicidal monsters and suddenly everyone thinks you're a hero of the revolution. Fuchsia was one of the few left who retained her sense. Good thing too, she was the one paying him.

Mato fished the cards out of his pocket. Naturally, he was getting paid with this planet's currency, Lien. Each of the cards being a different color and being able to observe a game of cards between the grunts had given him a rough understanding of which were high value and which were low. That in turn helped him with being able to read Remnant's numbers at least. Now if he had to break from the White Fang, he could at least buy a meal instead of having to take it. It's the little things in life, Mato mused as he regarded the forest. He'd give it one more sweep just to be sure then head in.

Later, after raiding the mess tent for his usual double helping of rations, Mato was sitting in the branches of a tree on the edge of camp. He sighed. It was barely midday and he had nothing to do. That was becoming a recurring problem here on Remnant. Back home, he worked the farm, when needed, hunted in the mountains, and on occasion went into to town to trade crops for whatever they needed around the house. And more than anything else, he trained. Honing his body and developing his techniques had tended to take up the bulk of each day for Mato.

But what was there to train for now? He was already the strongest being on the planet and it wasn't like he was going to get another chance at the trials. There just wasn't any point in getting any stronger than he was now and it's not like he had ever really been interested in training for its own sake. So what was he going to do now? Sure, his deal with the White Fang had gotten him food, lodging, and money. That was all he needed to live, but what was he living for? Was this going to be all there was for the rest of his life?

Mato thumped his head back against the trunk and closed his eyes. He was too young to be thinking about heavy shit like that. For now, he'd take a nap and if there was daylight left when he woke up he'd go hunt down some more Grimm. He'd have to range a bit afield, but he could find them. Though, at this rate he'd have hunted the Grimm to extinction before year's end. Minor existential crisis averted, he started to drift off to sleep.

"Mato!" Every damn time. Mato thought as he cracked his eyes open. He leaned over to look down at Fuchsia. The dark haired woman had her hands on her hips. "The boss wants to see you! Over at the command tent!"

"Got it!" Mato called back, waving lazily. Fuchsia marched off. Perry was here already? When Mato left Beta Camp four days ago he said he wasn't going to be coming to Gamma for a week. Mato sprang off the branch and controlled his descent so he landed at the command tent's door. Perry was inside but not by himself.

"Ah, familiar faces. So to speak." Bruno and Adam looked up from their conversation.

"Funny." Perry commented, standing near the back of the tent with his arms folded.

Adam waved him into silence. "I hear you've been doing well exterminating the Grimm."

"Mostly. They've been thinned out around the camp itself, I was planning on expanding that radius some more though." Mato explained.

Adam shook his head. "Don't bother. Our… partner," and there was a great deal of emotion loaded into that word, "wants there to be a certain amount of Grimm near the city for the sake of our plans. As long as our camps aren't under threat of attack, we are to leave the Grimm be."

Mato folded his arms. "Then what would you have me do? I'm not hanging around if you're going to stop paying me to fight."

Adam frowned. "You'll get your money, mercenary." It was amusing how he tried to turn the word into an insult. "Don't think I don't share my comrade here's distaste for you trying to turn a profit from our fight. I would much rather lop your head off where you stand than give you a single cent more."

Mato noted Adam's hands were on his sword as he spoke and unfolded his arms just as a precaution. "If you hate me so much, why hire me in the first place?"

Adam sighed, his anger draining away. He looked Mato in the eye, as much as he could with that mask on. "Because we need you. Do you know anything about our new partner?"

"Just the rumors. A mysterious woman appeared out of nowhere and is giving you everything you need. People are divided on whether it's a trap, divine providence, or a divinely inspired trap." That last one was unlikely; it wasn't really the gods' style.

Adam hmphed. "Mostly true. Cinder did come to us out of the blue and we don't really know her motivations." His face hardened. "What they missed is that she forced us to work with her."

"How?" The White Fang's structure, as far as Mato had bothered to understand it, was fairly loose and disorganized. Everyone within it was more or less expendable for the sake of the greater goals, a rare case of pragmatism born out of fanaticism.

Adam didn't answer right away, gritting his teeth at what were apparently painful memories. Perry took it upon himself to fill the silence. "She assaulted Alpha Camp, our strongest concentration of fighters at the time, and brought it to its knees."

"She has power." Adam said. "Power we can't match."

"But you think I can." Mato could tell where this was going. "So you're willing to put up with me until I get rid of her for you. You should have just said so from the beginning. I'd have already killed her by now."

"It's too soon." Adam said. "Though she has seized control, her interests and ours do align for the moment. The plans she's working out will aid our cause. I'm just not enough of a fool to think that once we've outlived our usefulness she'll continue to support us. And when that time comes, she'll have outlived her usefulness."

"So it's a race to see who betrays who first." Mato summed up. "You didn't answer my question though. If you don't want me killing the Grimm or this Cinder, what do you want?"

Adam looked down at the diagram of the city on the table in front of him. "Vale is where everything is coming together. I want you there for a few reasons." He looked back up at Mato. "First, as insurance in case anything unexpected happens and we find ourselves in need of your strength. Second, it will put you close to Cinder and her lackeys. I want you to watch them, learn what you can about their skills, and be ready in case their betrayal comes sooner than expected."

Well, it wasn't like Mato had pressing business elsewhere. "Fine with me. When are we going?"

"You will be accompanying Bruno, Perry, and some of our other key operatives on a flight to Vale tonight. I'll be staying here to pick up the slack."

"Farming by the light of your ki eh?" Mato was too preoccupied to catch the confused looks they gave him. He had just remembered. "I can't go tonight; I have something I need to do."

"What?" Perry asked.

"Something personal, private, and important." Mato answered. "It's something I'm not willing to budge on, so you can either delay the flight or have me join you the next day, either is fine by me."

Perry was about to protest but Adam stopped him with a glance. "Fine. Come see me tomorrow morning, I'll give you new orders. Are there any other days you want off in advance?" He asked sardonically.

"I'll think about it and let you know." Mato knew exactly when already, but it wouldn't hurt to keep his cards close to his chest. "Was there anything else you wanted?"

"No." Adam waved him towards the exit. "You can go."

Mato's pride bristled a little at the dismissal, but treating this human like his words actually mattered would have been even more a blow to his dignity so Mato just left. Now that he remembered, he had some preparations to do. He took off over the forest, flying low.

The sun was low in the sky by the time he finished. Going back to the camp would be cutting it close, good thing he had already brought down a deer for dinner. Mato made a quick trip down the hill to the stream, drinking deeply. He hadn't thought ahead to bring anything to carry the water in, so this was going to have to last him the night. Climbing back up, he threw the deer carcass into the hole he had gouged out of the hillside. He cautiously picked up the boulder he had dug from the earth, careful not to break the rock several times his size. He backed into the makeshift cave and set the stone down, blocking the entrance aside from a small space near the ground where he could monitor the light levels.

Mato looked around the dark, cramped hole with distaste. It was a poor excuse for a lunar shelter, but with night falling in minutes he didn't have any better options. He settled in the dirt next to his dinner and prepared to wait out the full moon.

Mato stood on the cliff, waiting. And waiting, and waiting. "How about now?"

"Still no." Fuchsia said, staring at her scroll. Mato was beginning to get sick of this.

"That's it, I'm going."

"No!" Fuchsia grabbed his arm, as if she expected that to do anything. "We need to wait until it passes out of contact before we go or they'll call for backup."

"Who cares?" Mato was tired of this needless skulking about. "We'll be gone before any help could get here."

"But that distress call will tell them that we are the ones taking it." Fuchsia pointed out. Mato grumbled. That was true, but his experiences as a hunter told him to not ignore prey within his reach, lest it suddenly slip out of his reach before he could take it.

But instead he waited some more, while the wind howled around the precipice they stood on. When he had returned that morning and been given this assignment by Adam, Mato had been expecting something a bit more impressive.

"This might be one of the most important missions you do for us."

"Really? It's that critical?"

"Yes. Your success today could finally tip the balance of power in our fight in our favor."

Instead, Mato had flown Fuchsia to this godsforsaken hunk of rock and spent several hours standing around with his thumbs up his ass. Some important mission. And what was coming wasn't much better.

"Okay, it's time." Fuchsia said a minute later, pocketing her scroll.

"Finally." Mato wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted the woman over his shoulder easily. She had objected to being carried like that on the flight here, but for this one Mato was going to need a hand free.

From her position near the middle of Mato's back Fuchsia was giving orders. "Be sure to be careful entering, we don't want to damage the cargo."

"I know."

"And don't be too rough subduing the crew, you might damage the controls."

"I know."

"And- uuuwwaaa!" Mato shut her up by shooting up into the air towards the airship. He drew up alongside it until he found a door marked with the emblem of a spear within a circle. Mato drew back his hand and pointed his index and middle fingers.

"Nishigan." His fingers punched deep into the metal. Mato flexed and twisted them and ripped the door open. He darted inside against the outrush of air pressure. There were four armed robots within, two against the wall leading to the cockpit to his left and two on the far wall to the cargo bay to his right. They all raised their guns to point at the intruders in creepy unison.

"Identi-" One began, before it could finish Mato had already dropped Fuchsia, crossed the cabin, and buried his foot in its head. The other one was turning when he sheared it in half with a kick. The two near the cockpit fired. Mato twisted around the first two shots, deflected the second two with a sweep of his hand, and caved in their chests before they could fire a third time.

"What the hell?" The door to the cockpit had opened, revealing one of the armored pilots. He stared at the downed robots, Mato and Fuchsia, and reached for his gun. Mato kicked him against the wall to put him down. The other pilot tapped a button on the controls and rose, pulling his own gun free. Mato bent over backwards to dodge the shot and crushed the gun before there were any others. Conscious of the need to preserve the controls, he threw the pilot over his shoulder back out into the compartment. The man was scrambling to his feet when Mato drove a knee into his stomach, knocking him out. The third and final crewmember entered from the cargo bay. He leveled his gun and fired.

Mato had to body flicker in front of Fuchsia to get there in time to deflect the shot. His enemy looked taken aback, but recovered his composure quickly and continued firing. Mato almost lazily deflected each shot with his right hand, his eyes never leaving the man's visor. Eventually, pulling the trigger only resulted in a clicking noise. The crewmember threw down the weapon and raised his fists. He was a brave man. Mato respected that courage by treating him seriously and floored him with a punch.

"You can stop cowering now." Mato said dryly to Fuchsia, who was only just now getting to her feet. She ignored the comment and went into the cockpit, settling into one of the chairs.

"Right, now it's my turn." She said, more to herself than Mato, who suddenly was having second thoughts.

"Are you sure you know how to fly this thing?"

"'Course I'm sure." Fuchsia pressed a button and the entire craft lurched. "I meant to do that."

"Right." Mato leaned against the back wall of the cockpit and folded his arms. Fuchsia glanced back at him.

"Why don't you take care of the crew?"

Mato's smile faded. They had discussed 'taking care' of the crewmen earlier, and he didn't like it. Stealing this ship and everything in it was just his right as a being stronger than those trying to keep it. The three of them had in turn fought back to the best of their abilities, proving their courage. The honorable thing to do was to let them go on their way after taking what the White Fang needed from them. Adam had insisted they be killed instead. Humans had not even the slightest respect for basic civility at times. And yet, having accepted payment from Adam for this task, Mato was honor bound to comply with his instructions, within reason.

Mato left the cockpit and regarded the fallen bodies, thinking. He eyed the still open door and made his decision. A quick bit of scrounging found some packs filled with food and other survival supplies, likely in the event of a crash. Mato piled them and the weapons from the robots on top of the unconscious bodies, scooped up the entire pile, and jumped out of the ship. One of the rifles slipped loose and plummeted to earth, but there was still one for each of them.

He left them atop a moderately large rock and returned to the ship. They were in no position to report on Mato's actions and if they lived or died was in their own hands.

"Where'd you go?" Fuchsia asked him suspiciously when he reentered the airship.

"I was taking care of the crew, just like you asked." Mato said. He was getting rather practiced at the art of half-truths.

"Good, go get a count on the cargo next. And maybe after that find a way to shut that door."

Mato repressed the urge to kick her through the control panel and take off laughing. He hadn't considered that being a mercenary would involve taking so many orders from lesser beings. Maybe he ought to seize control of the group sooner rather than later. He tapped the open button and walked through the door into the cargo bay, and surveyed it from the balcony. Mato didn't really care, but he suspected a human would have found the rows of hulking battle suits to be an impressive sight.

Hours later, the airship coasted to a landing in a clearing not too far from Vale. Awaiting them there was Bruno, Perry, and around two score other White Fang. As soon as the ship had touched down they swarmed over it like ants, quickly prying open the cargo bay loading doors and beginning to offload the mechs. Mato and Fuchsia were approached by Bruno while Perry oversaw the work.

"Did everything go well?" Bruno asked, clearly directed at Fuchsia. Mato answered anyway.

"Of course it went well, I was there."

Bruno somehow managed to convey he was rolling his eyes despite the mask. Fuchsia remained the professional out of the three of them. "What should we do with the ship? Taking it wasn't the original plan."

"Scrap it." A sibilant female voice said. "We have no need for it, and it will only draw attention." The speaker was a woman, approaching while flanked by a pair of lackeys. To her left was a man with silver hair and a grin that screamed cockiness, to her right a woman with red eyes. Mato had to resist the urge to flinch away, he was pretty sure the bloodshot plague wasn't a thing humans had. The speaker had flowing black hair and ominous golden eyes. Those eyes found Mato. "And who are you?"

"Oh right, you haven't met yet." Bruno put on his show. "This is Mato, a special new recruit of ours. Mato, this is-"

"Cinder Fall, right?" Mato stared her down. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Mmm, I can't say I've heard much of you. But, I expect that will change soon enough." Cinder replied, holding his gaze.

Oh, just you wait. Mato thought.

AN: Another day, another chapter, give or take a dozen extra days. We've actually started to get into the plot, both the fic's and RWBY's. Regarding the lunar shelter, I'm pretty sure most Saiyans didn't just go full on Great Ape every time the moon was full. It'd fuck up their homes and stuff something fierce. So on my Planet Vegeta, Saiyans either run off into the wilderness if they want to transform or hang out in windowless basements until the morning comes.

Credit where it's due, Shigan and its variants are shamelessly ripped from One Piece.

Review Responses: Ddragon21: I haven't decided if Vegeta and Frieza themselves are in this universe, but there definitely is an elite warrior Saiyan prince and a despotic ruler of the Planet Trade Organization. And don't worry, humans aren't going to be an afterthought when it comes to fighting once we get a little farther along.

Shadows being: I'm glad to hear it. I've got at least seven more chapters of plot worked out already, so this baby is gonna go for a while.

Epikphael: Good to hear you've accepted my definitely real reason that I had planned from the beginning and definitely didn't pull out of my ass because I was lazy. As far as Mato's power level, I have him pegged around 300. For some practical context, that's roughly Goku's power at the start of DBZ. As far as Remnant is concerned, this puts Mato in the highest tier, top percentage of Rattatas. He's incredibly strong, but not ludicrously so. So while he could beat, say, Port in a fight, he couldn't beat Port, Oobleck, Qrow, Glynda, and Ironwood.

Philip J Fry: Well shucks, I'm glad you like it. It's a pet peeve of me too when people try to compare series and forget that the DBZ power scale gets ludicrously huge really quickly. Romance may or may not be happening, it's not an area I have a great degree of skill and poorly done romance arcs piss me off too. We'll see.

Jackalope89: I'll give you just a teensy little plot tidbit ahead of time. Yang's semblance is going to be pretty important in the grand scheme of things.

Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the next one. Cya then!