Gone Native: Hard Truths and Training Wheels (ch. 43) (Patreon)

“What am I witnessing?” I heard Diana mutter to herself as we watched a battle of gods erupt in the skies above Themyscira. Ares apparently hadn’t needed his chariot to fly, but he seemed to prefer fighting in it as the two streaked across the darkening skies that churned violently. Any other time I might have brushed it off as a normal storm, but given what Yamoshi said, it seemed very likely that Zeus was making his displeasure known.

I said nothing, choosing to give the fight my absolute attention. It was harder to track their battle when I couldn’t properly sense them. It was a reliance that I had known about, but one that was never made so apparent before. Each clash between the two resulted in powerful winds that blasted against Themyscira, shaking the entire island from the aftershocks. The air itself trembled after each traded blow, displaying their power. However, it was the space in between the battle itself that I found most interesting.

Ares was shrouded in an aura of blood-red violent energy that I suppose was his divinity, similar to Yamoshi’s but when they weren’t trading blows, their auras seemed to have a battle of their own. Because of the color, it was a little difficult to make out whose was whose. Going by feel made the two easier to separate -- Yamoshi’s aura was powerful but comforting, like a powerful ally you could trust your back to. Ares was more dominating and violent in nature.

While they broke apart, I saw their auras intermingling. As if one was trying to dominate the other and force it into submission.

I didn’t answer, so Elery did. “You’re watching our god kick your god’s butt,” she remarked, looking and sounding thoroughly pleased with the turn of events. Her hands were on her hips, slipping into the Wrath State just so she could follow the fight. Mom was next to her, watching the fight with a hungry expression on her face. This was a fight that was unique to the gods.

“Should we stop them?” Clark questioned and I had to wonder if that was even an option. As I watched the fight, the more I saw something was… off about it. While the two were fast and powerful, neither were performing feats that none of us could. Superman could push the planet into the sun with enough time. I could demolish the island with a single punch. The two of them were clearly powerful, but it felt like I was missing something.

“This is a battle between our pantheons, now,” Queen Hippolyta observed, a note of worry in her voice. I narrowed my eyes at the battle, trying to see what I was missing. Despite my efforts, I only realized it around the same time everyone else did when a stray blast hit the pavilion that we were under, only it struck out of absolute nowhere. The pavilion itself was a complete lost cause, even if those standing under it proved far more durable. I batted away a piece of debris with a flick of my hand, knowing that nothing had prompted the explosion.

I see. “They’re fighting in multiple dimensions?” I theorized to myself, and as the battle grew in intensity, I saw more evidence to support it. The clashes in the parallel dimensions were bleeding over into each other. I wasn’t sure if that was a mark on how thin the space between dimensions were or how powerful even a stray blast was. All the while, I saw Yamoshi slowly begin to dominate the fight.

“Something like that,” I heard… Yamoshi say, prompting me to look over my shoulder to see him standing behind us, watching the fight with a thoroughly satisfied expression on his face. He lacked the shimmering red aura. More than that, I didn’t even feel a presence coming from him. He gave me a cheeky smile in response as if he was reading my thoughts. For all I knew, he might be. I didn’t have any clue how my soul engravings would interact with divinity. I imagined that it would be far more powerful than just normal magic.

Diana’s eyes widened dramatically, “How-”

“Eh, it’s nothing special. I can just make a copy of myself by pluckin’ a hair,” Yamoshi explained with an uncaring shrug. “I’m a pretty fragile copy too. I mean, I’m more than enough for you lot, just not enough to go toe to toe with another god.” He threw his hands back as he joined us watching himself fight a god of war. “And you need to stop paying so much attention to this dimension. Widen your gaze a bit.” He said, giving me a pointed glance.

How exactly was I supposed to do that? I frowned, focusing on my senses to do what he said but it wasn’t clicking. I expanded my ki sensing to its absolute limits, then shrank it down to give the two my absolute focus, and still came up with nothing. My frown deepened, finding myself more than a little frustrated. I wasn’t the only one either.

“How?!” Elery grumbled, a blood vessel in her forehead about to bust at her intense concentration. Yamoshi seemed faintly puzzled.

“Whatdaya’ mean how? Can’t you guys just widen your eyes a bit and see a bunch of parallel dimensions?” He questioned all of us, seemingly genuinely shocked with our inability. Elery and Mom looked to me, as if they fully expected me to have that ability. I don’t know if I should be touched or not that they expected that of me, but I shook my head, confirming that I didn’t.

“No, we can’t,” I told him, making the copy of Yamoshi scratch at his cheek in puzzlement.

“Huh. You guys are pretty weird,” he observed, growling before crossing his arms, as if he was struggling to comprehend our inability. “Ah, well, I guess I’ll help you out a bit in this case.” He decided, holding up a hand before wisps of the red aura emerged and drifted to-

I saw the fight.

Underwhelmed became overwhelmed in an instant when I could see the full scope of the battle. The churning sky became a backdrop for a hundred and one battles between the same two figures. It was utterly impossible to keep track of all of them as the sky became a mess of colors -- their auras clashing fiercely, the aftershocks of those clashes dancing across my skin like electricity. There were techniques performed that left me clueless by Yamoshi -- how he fought was completely defined by how he used his aura. It wasn’t ki. Or, at least it wasn’t normal ki.

“Unfortunately, you can’t just up and punch a god. Not the real ones, anyway. There are a punch of posers throughout the universe that’ll call themselves gods, but you can pretty easily sort the chaff from the real deal when they're capable of something like this." Yamoshi explained as I watched the fight with rapt attention. Each pair fought with different levels of intensity, some with blasts while others traded blows. "The fight ends up bleeding over into the nearby cluster universes -- not to be confused with alternate universes! Well, I suppose that could happen if you were strong enough. Not really sure about how, though… hm…"

While Yamoshi pondered the logistics of fighting across the multiverse, I watched as Aers drew his sword, revealing a wicked looking weapon was wreathed in hellfire that emerged from the skull in the cross guard of his blade. He slashed at Yamoshi, the single attack bleeding over into the other cluster universes, forcing a dozen Yamoshis to dodge. The attack hit the skull I brought and the ocean, sending up a massive plume of mist while the ocean around Themyscira boiled.

I was powerful. I had proven that. Both during the war and in my battle with Earth. While the Ascended Super Saiyan form eluded me for now, I had tapped into it before so it was only a matter of time before I mastered it. However, this fight was beyond me as I was right now. It wasn't even a matter of strength, but the power of a god was so fundamentally different from a normal fight that without being a god myself, there was no way I could fight the battle.

"So, mystery universes. Got it," Elery remarked, breaking Yamoshi out of his musings.

"Basically, yeah. Anyway -- a battle between gods is more of a battle of influence rather than actual power. Sure, raw power plays its part because power is an influence on its own, but it's not really what the battle is about." Yamoshi explained as I watched a Yamoshi defeat an Ares. In the chaos, I almost missed it, but I watched as the Ares faded into nothing, leaving behind only that Yamoshi for the parallel dimension they were in.

I saw it. "You're boxing him in. Eliminating his presence in the cluster dimensions, forcing him into one where he can then be defeated for good." I voiced, earning looks from the others while Yamoshi nodded.

"Exactly. Battles between gods are like punchy chess. You can give ground in one dimension for ground in another. Just be warned that not all gods like to fight. Tricky gods can end up leading you by the nose, and even though you're way stronger than them, they can pull the rug from under ya'." Yamoshi elaborated, giving me a pointed look. That sounded like both a warning and advice. I made a name for myself with tactics. He was telling me I could defeat a more powerful god if I fought smarter even if I couldn't defeat them by fighting harder.

With the defeat of the one Ares, I saw the tide start to turn against him. It was too soon to say that Yamoshi was winning, but in this battle of influence, he did seem to hold the edge. However, at the same time, I noticed a change in Ares. It was a slight thing. His blocks were a little cleaner, his attacks were more intensive…

Winning the battle came with its own difficulties, it seemed. The Yamoshi that had won hovered around, doing nothing. Or, rather, he was guarding that parallel dimension. Whereas Ares got to focus more on the fights that were left, consolidating his power to fight harder, Yamoshi was forced to keep his focus and power divided to maintain a presence in those dimensions, otherwise Ares would simply move back in and any ground that was won would be returned. It was a fundamentally different kind of battle. Almost like a grand strategy contained to a one on one battle.

My mind raced with possibilities as I absorbed the information, dissecting it and processing it for all I could learn. I wasn't at this level yet -- I felt no shame for admitting that, but there was a reason why Yamoshi was showing this to me.

"You know about Trigon," I voiced, still watching the fight. Clark, Diana, and my family were left clueless. What I didn't expect was for Queen Hippolyta to have a reaction to that name while Yamoshi just laughed.

"Course I do," He confirmed and that explained why he was here. Yamoshi never struck me as the type that demanded to be the sole god to the Saiyan race. I'm not sure he would particularly care if we did end up worshiping Ares or the Hellenistic gods in general. He was here to show me that fighting Trigon was something profoundly different than any battle I had fought before. "You're picking a fight with Trigon the Terrible. Guy existed before this multiverse did and this one exists because he destroyed the last one. I'll give you this, Tarble -- ya' don't aim for easy opponents. But, that's not the only reason why I'm here."

I glanced at Yamoshi, who watched the fight with his arms crossed, not continuing for a long moment.

"Don't leave us hanging!" Elery pleaded, earning a nod from Mom. Queen Hippolyta watched Yamoshi carefully while Diana and Clark seemed intrigued. I imagine that Yamoshi was pretty different from what they imagined the god of Saiyans to be like. That, and they were curious on who exactly Trigon was and why I wanted to fight him.

Despite the prodding, Yamoshi didn't say anything more for a very long minute. Partly, I suspected, because of the battle being waged above. Ares was fighting harder, yet he still was forced to cede three more parallel dimensions. Yamoshi was gaining the edge in the fight and Ares was digging in -- he was a savage fighter. Raw power, wild attacks, but with uncanny precision. Yamoshi, in contrast, was more playful and graceful.

"It's been done before," Yamoshi told me, his voice almost uncharacteristically serious. "What you're trying to do."

"Killing Trigon?" Mom questioned, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly. I could practically see her plotting to steal my enemy.

"Frieza enabled our race's worst traits," Yamoshi continued and it dawned on me exactly what he was speaking of. "But they've always been there. The Guardians did their meddling, and I'm sure that had its part in how we turned out, but the fact remains that you aren't the first one to try to… humanize the Saiyan race." Yamoshi said, catching Mom and and Elery completely flat footed while Yamoshi gave me a pointed look.

"I was," Yamoshi told me. What went unsaid was clearly heard. I wasn't sure when exactly Yamoshi had lived. I think he was a native to Sadala, but I also didn't know how long this particular version of the Saiyan race has lasted. Over our history, there had been hundreds of Sadalas, some lasting longer than others, but without fail, the Saiyan race always destroyed itself.

What went unsaid was that he failed. Possibly hundreds of times.

"We're a species that's dominated by our emotions," Yamoshi admitted. "And the Guardians tied our power with our emotions -- I see what they were going for, but it's also the reason why we keep wiping ourselves out. Because… empathy, love, and compassion? They make us form connections with others. Those connections, inevitably, lead to loss. Heartbreak. Despair. Those emotions hit us hard and we can't handle them."

I knew all too well what he was alluding to. My team. The loss I felt when I lost my brother. The betrayal I felt at the hands of my team. There weren't words to describe it. It defied explanation. The emotions came so fast, so burtally, that I only fully understood what I had done after I did it and in that state, I hadn't cared. There was a reason why I avoided the Super Saiyan transformations for so long.

"I managed it for a stint," Yamoshi told me as the battle continued. "Just for a little while. The Saiyan race was more than just warriors and killers. We were stronger than ever -- we were the closest we had ever been to reclaiming our true power and becoming what Sadala wanted… but the more we care, the stronger we become, and the greater the loss we feel when we do lose something. All it takes is one grief stricken Saiyan. Our true nature is that of beings of destruction. Loss makes it so easy to embrace rage and hate for comfort."

What he was saying struck a chord. I accepted that, eventually, there would be another Super Saiyan. I anticipated that they would go out of control much like I had and I understood that there would be collateral damage before I was able to stop them. It was only a question of how much -- a city? A planet? A planetary system? It might be arrogance, but I wasn’t worried about being outclassed powerwise by any other Saiyan except for Broly, and even if they were stronger than me, they wouldn’t be stronger than him.

“Are you saying it's impossible?” I asked him outright, earning a shrug from Yamoshi as he watched the fight with a frown on his face. Seemingly lost in old memories. I think he was considering the answer for my sake and his own. I hadn’t known it until he told me, but we shared a goal -- for our people to become more.

“I’m saying that the road you’re on is the wrong one. Seeing into the future isn’t one of my talents, so maybe things will be different for you. But, maybe they won’t be. For me, even as a god and with a lot more pure-hearted saiyans at my side, it all collapsed and there was a long backslide back into our old ways,” Yamoshi answered, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about having this conversation in front of the others. Mom and Elery were giving me curious and suspicious looks -- they likely suspected as much from me.

The others, though, seemed to understand how against the grain I was going when it came to changing my people.

In any case, I couldn’t say that his words weren’t disheartening. They were. Greatly. I knew that the road I was on was going to be a long one. A long and bumpy ride that was going to suffer setbacks after setbacks, but I had firmly believed that eventually I would achieve my goal. To hear that I wouldn’t was… discouraging.

My thoughts distracted me from the fight, even as the climax drew nearer by the second. Ares was getting put down. Again and again, he was struck down in the cluster of dimensions, leaving more and more Yamoshis to the dwindling god of war. Even as Ares’ power grew more intense, more concentrated, Yamoshi proved that he was more than a match for him. It was as Ares grew more powerful, his anger and frustration bleeding into his attacks that it became clear the gulf between him and the god of saiyans.

If Yamoshi was right, and I had good reason to believe that he was, then… I needed another answer. If simply exposing them to human and tamaranean culture wouldn’t be enough, then I needed to go another step. I needed…

I needed to talk to the Guardians.

“I’m here for one final reason,” Yamoshi continued, losing the frown that didn’t suit his face before aiming a lopsided grin at me. “To tell ya’ that you ain’t alone in that fight,” he said, holding out a hand to me and the shimmering red aura that surrounded the true Yamoshi’s body began to gather in the palm of his hand. “Call this a taster for whats to come. You’re gonna need it if you want to throw down with Trigon. For a cute girl, no less! Never took you for a romantic!” Yamoshi declared with a loud boisterous laugh that came from deep in his gut. The same kind of laugh that came naturally to Froot and the same laugh that he accused me of never experiencing.

I did not like how that instantly caught Mom’s attention, or how thoroughly pleased she looked.

Instead, I focused on the flicker of red aura that was offered, then at the lone Ares that flew above in battle with Yamoshi, who effortlessly dodged his every attack. A taste of divinity…

I reached out and took it. And I felt myself become more.