Chapter 9: Gods and Mortals

"This is a pretty nice city." Jaune said as his team paused on a bridge to watch the sunset. There was the scent of something delicious on the wind. The clatter of people moving about and living their lives filled the air. Jaune found himself soaking in the peaceful atmosphere.

"Took you a year to reach that conclusion?" Ren commented drily.

"Be fair, the last time we were here the city was basically on fire." Jaune replied.

Nora pursed her lips. "There were Grimm everywhere, but I don't remember the city being on fire."

"There was a definite lack of fire." Pyrrha chimed in.

Jaune let out an annoyed grunt. "Okay, fine, on fire, but with the Grimm trying to kill everyone this was not a nice place to be."

"Fair enough." Ren said, the bastard poorly masking his grin. "I'd imagine most cities seem okay when you're not embroiled in a desperate, life-or-death battle."

"But those are fun. We might get another one tonight." Nora cheerfully suggested. When the rest of them looked questioningly at her she continued. "We're going to meet RWBY, there's always excitement around them."

That wasn't wrong, but still. "Hopefully not." Jaune said. "I've had enough excitement to last me a good long while."

Ren jerked his head and stared to the west. "Was that an explosion?"

"What? No." Jaune said quickly. There had been a boom, but he didn't think you would call that an explosion per se.

"I didn't hear anything." Pyrrha added.

"See, I'm sure it's nothing." Jaune said reassuringly.

They all heard the second explosion. "It sounds like it's coming from the docks." Ren said. As if on cue, all three of them turned to look at Jaune. He met their gazes with a sinking feeling in his stomach. There were very few things he wanted to do less than go charging off towards the sounds of combat right now.

"Come on." Jaune set off at a run.

Mato threw a flurry of punches and kicks. He varied his attacks, being sure to attack from all sides and angles. The Kai blocked or parried every single one without breaking a sweat. When Mato launched a particularly strong kick the Kai caught him by his ankle, yanked him in, and struck him in the chest with a lightning fast jab. Flung backwards, Mato prepared his technique on the fly and whipped the energy ball at the Kai. The Kai imitated Mato's move and knocked the ki blast away with a pair of fingers. It flew up over one of the massive metal shipping crates that lined the area they battled and dropped. Mato was able to halt the ball before it hit the ground, but before he could do anything else the Kai swept out his hand and a wall of force smashed Mato into the ground.

Mato lifted himself up and stared with disbelief. He'd expected a considerable difference in power but this was above and beyond anything he'd have predicted. Sure, Mato's fighting style did rely a lot on using counter attacks and the Kai was fighting rather defensively, but he couldn't land so much as a blow on the god. He was holding off Mato's attacks while making it look easy. And he was the Eighth Kai of this galaxy. Which meant there were seven others, all of them more powerful than this one. So even if he did win, he'd just be earning himself another fight with an even stronger opponent.

"Are you ready to accept your death?" The Kai asked politely. He was showing an awful lot of courtesy for someone who had hunted Mato down to kill him like an animal.

"What do you think?" Mato thought quickly. Perhaps, if he could stall…

"You know," He began, careful not to let his gaze betray him. This would need to be delicate work. "For a member of a race that spends all its time being gentle and meditative, you're pretty tough." The words weren't just meant to distract, this really was bugging him. There was something about the Kai's movements, they weren't normal.

The Kai didn't react much, as usual, but there was a faint hint of surprise in his expression. "The true path to power is learning to suppress your energy. A wild and undisciplined fighter like you would never understand it. And so, you will never be strong."

"I'm strong enough to get the attention of a bigshot god like you." Mato fired back. "It's a big galaxy; you guys must be pretty busy."

"We are never too busy to defend innocents from the depredations of violence fueled savages." The Kai replied. He made no move to attack, seeming content to let Mato resume combat at his own pace. But Mato wasn't done talking.

"Never, huh? Then I guess you just didn't like the people of Endel III. How many were on that planet again?"

That got a reaction. The Kai faced him with his rage poorly masked, the first real emotion Mato had seen from him. "How dare you?" He asked, fury evident in his voice. "You would mock the victims of your own mass murder? Does your kind have any shame at all?"

Mato shrugged. "It's not like I killed anyone. I wasn't there, or on any other saiyan conquest, as you well know. And I'm not mocking those poor bastards, I'm mocking a hypocrite that tries to act like a protector of the weak while still letting them burn."

"You have no idea what you are talking about." The Kai said, his voice icy cold.

"No?" Mato said. Just a little bit more. "Don't treat me like an idiot. We both know full well the reason none of you gods did anything was because if you acted, the empire would respond. You don't have the balls to piss off Freeza, so instead you just pick off stragglers and strays and tell yourselves you're making the galaxy a better place."

"It is not that simple." The Kai was starting to get agitated. "Actions have consequences, something I doubt you would understand. In saving a single planet, we would prompt the tyrant to ravage several others in retribution. Even if we dethroned him, the resulting chaos would only-"

Now. Mato jerked his fingers up. His ki ball which he had been slowly inching along behind the shipping crate until it was right behind the Kai went up and over and bolted for the Kai's back. It didn't reach him; the Kai spun around and effortlessly caught the orb, negating it with a blast of his own. Just as Mato expected. The man could sense ki; a sneak attack just wasn't possible, particularly with a large mass of ki. But if his attention was drawn by what he thought was the real sneak attack…

The instant the Kai had turned to counter his technique, Mato had shot forward. He thrust his arm out in front of him, fingers forming a wedge, and after he had almost gotten within reach of the Kai let him have it. "Oni Gun!"

The blast threw Mato backwards, rolling on ground. He gingerly picked his head up to look at the Kai. The completely spotless and unharmed Kai. This is ridiculous. The Kai had spun around, raised his own hand, and thrown the blast back at Mato. Instead of blasting him point blank while he was off guard, Mato had the entire force of his own attack shoved in his face. He tried to push himself up and let out a hiss of pain when he moved his right arm. With no time to defend himself properly, he had been forced to block the full brunt of the blast with just that arm. Though it had fully healed from its encounter with Cinder's fireball, a direct hit from an Oni Gun was enough to disable it once again.

He forced himself to his feet and regarded the Kai with narrowed eyes and forced defiance. He was running low on viable plans. The Oni Gun and his own technique were the best techniques he knew and could use most easily, outside of the body flicker. And since the Kai was obviously faster than him, that was useless. There was too much of a difference in power.

Remember Mato, you don't need to have more power than your opponent; you just need to have more power than them at one point. It doesn't matter how strong your legs are if your fist is meeting his.

It was one of the first lessons Mato's father had taught him. But it was no help here. Mato was already flowing his ki to use it more efficiently, and was losing regardless. There was nothing more he could do; the Kai was just more powerful than him.

The true path to power is learning to suppress your energy.

That was what the Kai had said. It had been such a stupid thing to say Mato hadn't paid it any mind. Mato was aware that it was theoretically possible to lower one's ki, but how could reducing your power make you stronger?

More power at one point. Mato glanced at the Kai. He seemed content to wait for Mato to make the first move again.

Mato knelt. He'd look foolish if his legs buckled underneath him while he was concentrating. He pushed away the thought and reached within himself for his ki. He had long since passed the point of even needing to think when controlling his ki; it happened as easily as breathing. Intentionally manipulating it directly, rather than just as a means to an end, was a distinctly unfamiliar experience for him. He took a moment to simply examine his ki as a whole. He felt it as a fire that permeated every fiber of his body. Just as an experiment, he drew his ki into his clenched fist. The fire moved along his body, and while he did indeed feel stronger in that one hand, he could sit feel embers of ki throughout his body.

So, at least this would be worth a shot. Mato let his ki leave his fist, returning to equilibrium throughout his body. This next part he wasn't even sure was actually possible. He visualized the fire not going out, but being drawn up into a single, brightly glowing spark that rested not within his body, but his soul. At first, nothing happened. Then, Mato began to feel his ki slowly leave, not just shift to a different part of his body but genuinely dissipate.

"Saiyan." The Kai said. "What are you doing?" There was a sharpness to his voice, and was that a hint of uncertainty? Emboldened, Mato continued. And he did need the bolstering; his ki receding felt like his skin was being stripped off. Not painful, but exposing. Goosebumps formed all over his exposed skin. His limbs began to feel weak and fatigued, like he had been fighting for hours. It all wasn't terribly surprising, having lived with a body constantly shrouded in ki made its removal go against every bit of sense and reason Mato had. His instincts were screaming that he needed to stop this madness and stop reducing his own power immediately.

And yet, there was something else. An odd feeling not in any part of his body, but somewhere he couldn't quite place. A warm, almost hot, feeling that smoldered inside him. This is my ki. Mato realized. It wasn't gone, it was just put away. And it could be drawn back out, he understood. Not just in general, but to a specific place and with a specific purpose. There'd be no wasted energy left behind and it would be easier to simply move all of his power instead of only a part of it.

Mato slowly stood. With almost all his life spent with his ki and muscles working in tandem, having the latter support him alone felt very bizarre. Not necessarily bad, but different. Mato faced the Kai, took a stance, and with his new understanding of his ki used the body flicker technique.

A metallic clang rang out throughout the dockyard. Mato pulled his head back through the side of the shipping crate and looked back to see the Kai looking at him askance. "Shut up." Mato said, flustered. He hadn't been expecting the increase in his ki usage to be so dramatic. He'd overshot his target by quite a bit. Thankfully, his ki had instinctively surged back into his body to protect him when he had seen the oncoming wall of metal or his head might have splattered against it.

Mato drew himself up, concentrated and withdrew his ki, which came easier this time and prepared himself. This time, knowing what to expect, it went a lot better.

He flickered right behind the Kai's back. The Kai was turning and Mato flickered again, returning to where he had first started. His heart was pounding and his face was stretched into an uncontrollable grin. I took his back. It had been brief, but for that moment Mato had been faster.

That filled him with elation. The Kai's power was not insurmountable. He could be beaten. His reflexes were better, so Mato would need more than a few body flickers but enough of them used consecutively would disorient him when he tried to follow Mato's movements and leave him open. Hopefully. Then all it would take was a solid, full-power punch to take him down. Hopefully.

Mato settled into a fighting stance, his mind focused on his ki. The Kai, surprisingly, took his own stance. He was getting rattled.

Mato took off. He became a blur of motion, each flicker coming right on the heels of the one before it. He darted in close to the Kai and just as quickly retreated. He zigged left, zagged right, constantly on the move. After one pass near the Kai, as Mato withdrew he noticed the Kai had thrown a punch his way. Dodging the blow, even if only unintentionally, filled Mato with confidence. He began to not retreat as far and approach the Kai more often. After two, three more evaded strikes it was time for his own. He flickered directly behind the Kai, but this time instead of moving on he drew all of his ki back from his legs and into his arm. Moving in one solid mass, the energy flowed through his body faster than he would have thought possible before this battle and Mato threw the strongest punch of his life at the Kai's defenseless back.

He struck nothing but air. Oh, right. With the Kai having stood still for the entirety of their battle, it had slipped Mato's mind that he was, in fact, capable of moving.

A fist smashed into the side of Mato's head. Even as his face turned from the punch, another slammed into his stomach. The air forced from his lungs with the sheer strength of the blow brought Mato to his knees, gasping and coughing. Blearily, he looked up to see the Kai's outstretched hand and behind it a resigned expression on his face. Energy began to coalesce in his palm.

There was an odd whistling, and then an explosion engulfed the Kai's head. He blew away the bizarrely pink smoke with a wave of his hand, only for another shell to detonate against his shoulder. Through the smoke Mato could see the Kai glare, and three more shells exploded in midair. Meanwhile, some kind of metallic disk whirled around in front of Mato and pressed against his stomach. It yanked with enough force to pull him back away from the Kai, until he came to rest next to a group of humans. From their apparent ages and weaponry, Mato assumed them to be the warriors-in-training on this planet.

"Are you alright?" Asked the male with bright hair as the leader, a woman with long red hair took a defensive stance between them and the Kai. The disk slipped off Mato's stomach and revealed itself to be a shield when it attached to her forearm.

Mato, still a little dazed from the blow to the head, answered him with a question. "What are you doing?"

"I told you I owe you a debt." The other man said. It took Mato a second to notice the ridiculous stripe of pink in his hair and recognize him. "I intend to pay it back."

"Get away from him." The Kai said unmistakable urgency. His fists were clenched at his sides and he looked ready to charge forward at a moment's notice.

"I don't think so." The redheaded leader said. She began to move forward, but the Kai froze her with a glare. Literally, it was some sort of paralysis technique. The woman was clearly struggling, but from the neck down her limbs didn't so much as twitch. A technique applied with such an indirect method yet still being fully effective spoke volumes for the power discrepancy between the humans and the god.

"You do not understand what you are doing." The Kai said to them evenly. "That is not a human or a Faunus you are defending, nor any other being of this world. He is a Saiyan, a violent and barbaric race that does nothing but fight and kill without-"

He was interrupted by the orange haired woman firing yet another explosive at him. "Shut up already!"

"Yeah, like we'd believe that bunch of bull." A blond man with a sword in his hand said. He looked down at Mato. "Right?"

Mato looked up at them, people who willing to fight, and probably die, to protect him. "Actually, it's all true. Pretty much every word." He forced himself to his feet. "And on that note," He whipped his good arm around and smashed his fist into the jaw of the orange haired woman. The force of the blow flung her backward into a shipping crate, caving in the wall where she hit it.

"Nora!" Pink Stripe ran over to her. Mato forced himself to ignore them and grin darkly.

"Who said you could interfere in my fight? This bastard is MINE!"

Mato lunged at the Kai, spinning into a kick aimed at the side of his head. The Kai blocked with his wrist and Mato continued to spin, slipping around behind him. If he could gun it out over the water, pull the Kai after him- his plans were interrupted by the Kai's fist clenching around his neck. Mato gasped and choked, trying to force air down his throat to no avail.

Mato lashed out with his arm and legs, but the Kai didn't so much as flinch beyond his grip tightening. He felt dizzy, nauseous, and he desperately grabbed at the Kai's arm with all his strength as his lungs burned. It didn't even budge. The Kai's unblinking stare bored into Mato's eyes as he tightened his grip again. Darkness began to swallow Mato's vision. I guess this is it for me, huh?

A metallic twang echoed through the air. The blond swordsman had slashed at the Kai's arm with his sword. It had done nothing, not even scuffed the sleeve of the Kai's robe, but the Kai still looked over at him and his mouth opened. What he intended to say, Mato would never know as he pooled every last scrap of ki he had into his arm and punched the Kai square in the face as hard as he could.

Mato fell. He dropped to the ground in a tangle of limbs, desperately inhaling as much air as he could. He remembered himself after a few seconds and looked up wildly, seeking his enemy. The first thing he saw was the swordsman standing over him, like the galaxy's most inept Guardian. The second thing he saw was the Kai having withdrawn a ways from the two of them. The third thing he saw was the blood trickling down the Kai's face.

I made him bite his lip. The petty victory made Mato absurdly happy, before he realized the implications. He rose and grabbed the swordsman by the neck of his shirt. "I told you-"

A blast of ki slammed into Mato, stronger than anything he had felt since his last attempt of the trials. It drove him backwards and detonated, surrounding him in a pillar of raw power that devastated his body as it shot into the sky. Mato screamed as the power ravaged him, collapsed to his knees as the energy abated. With him already having spent most of his ki, especially in that last attack, he hadn't been able to defend himself from the blast at all. His body was wrecked. Even lifting his head to confirm the swordsman had been unharmed by the blast was nearly beyond him.

Through eyes he could barely force open, Mato saw Kai regard him with distaste. Wordlessly, he raised his hand again and another blast of ki coalesced in his palm. Mato knew this one would finish him off.

Once again, the swordsman stepped in between them, raising his shield as if that would do anything.

"Jaune!" His comrade with the red hair cried, struggling against her frozen state.

The Kai glared. "Move aside, boy. You don't know who you're defending."

Jaune didn't move. "Someone who can't fight back, that's who. I'm a Huntsman; I don't need a reason to protect the defenseless."

"Well said, Mr. Arc." A high and clear voice said. Leaping down from a stack of shipping crates, a figure dressed in green landed in front of Jaune.

"Professor Ozpin." Jaune said, half in amazement, half in relief. The man rested a comforting hand on his shoulder before turning to face the Kai.

"Regardless of your business with this young saiyan, it would seem you will have to go through my students to get to him. And so, you will have to go through me to get to them."

Surprisingly, the Kai lowered his hand. "He is dangerous." He said, the words more warning than order.

"As are you." The professor replied. "For that matter, I am dangerous in my own way as well."

The Kai didn't respond to that. He just shook his head and vanished with what Mato would have marveled at as a teleportation technique had the darkness not finally claimed him.

AN: Man, for some reason this chapter just would not follow properly. Took me forever to get this much and I'll admit I kinda just pushed it out here just to be done with it. There's probably a bunch of typos and shit, I dunno.

Raos: The Kai's are picking on Mato instead of vaporizing Planet Vegeta because of realpolitik. Pissing off Freeza is not a good idea and dethroning him would only start a massive civil war. So they have to pick their battles a bit. The Eighth Kai isn't terribly happy about it, but he's resigned himself to the fact that that's the way the galaxy is.

MaxHD2490: Adam currently has like half the bones in his body broken from his run-in with Matozaru. He had been absent and returned to see the destruction, gave a boast about killing the overgrown monkey, gave Mato a minor cut on the cheek, and was immediately pounded into the ground.