Jaune Arc was proud to freely proclaim that, aside from his years as a drooling infant, he has never, once in his life, wet his pants.

That changed when Jaune entered Beacon Academy's dueling ring to fight the leader of Team CRDL.

Jaune crouched and curled into himself, hiding behind his shield. Bolts of Dust-infused energy peppered the shield like a merciless hail storm. The forceful bursts of fire pushed Jaune's entire body back across the arena floor, inch by inch. The nonstop sound of blaster-fire deafened his ears. Some bolts whipped through locks of his hair. Others singed his toes, knees, and elbows that inevitably stuck just outside of his shield's protective border.

Sweat was already making Jaune's baggy clothes stick uncomfortably against his skin. Wetting his pants didn't help matters. When Jaune's back finally hit the wall surrounding the arena, he knew he was beyond screwed.

The unforgiving onslaught finally subsided. Jaune risked a peek at his opponent.

"Pathetic!" the walking tank scoffed. His face was hidden under his helmet, and Jaune was thankful for that. His armor actually looks pretty cool. It's what lay underneath that would have made Jaune's bladder situation even worse. He could only imagine how scary an unmasked, bloodthirsty Canderous would look like. "Goodwitch, I thought you said this was going to be a worthwhile learning experience? The only thing I've learned today is that Jaune Arc is an incompetent coward who puts his bloodline to shame."

"That's Professor Goodwitch, Mister Ordo." Goodwitch walked to the center of the stage. "And if I recall correctly, I specifically disallowed any banter, goading, or insults to be had in this class."

Goodwitch turned to the rest of the class in the arena stands. She was giving a lecture, but Jaune was too busy looking at smoke fizzle into the air from the barrel of Canderous' heavy repeater. The way that you could just make out the shine of Canderous' T-shaped visor through the smoke absolutely unnerved Jaune. There was too big a chance that Canderous would start revving up his giant gun again if Jaune looked away.

"… wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf," Professor Goodwitch was saying, turning to Jaune, "now would we?"

Canderous lifted his gun and let the barrel rest against his shoulder. "Why not?" he snorted. "A Beowolf cub would put up a better fight than the Arc can. At least cubs bare their fangs and sharpen their claws when they're cornered."

"Mister Ordo," Goodwitch repeated. "Your victory against Mister Arc does not excuse you from the rules on how to respectfully conduct yourself and your peers during dueling class. Watch your language."

"Respect isn't warranted until you've earned it," Canderous countered. "What has the Arc done to earn respect for himself?"

"He survived initiation," Professor Goodwitch said with a notable edge to her voice. "Headmaster Ozpin approved his enrollment into Beacon, just as he approved yours and every other student in this academy. Do you doubt the Headmaster's judgement?"

Canderous finally relented. He lowered his repeater and turned on the safety. "No, I don't. You have a point there, Professor Goodwitch."

"I do. Now, return to the stands before you say something else that will land you in detention." In a gruff silence, Canderous did as he was told. Goodwitch set her icy sights on Jaune. A shocking shiver flowed through his body. "Go on, Mister Arc. Your Aura levels are still stable enough to get you back to your team, as well, I would imagine."

Jaune took the opportunity and made a mad dash for the staircase. The moment he plopped down beside his teammates, all his worries disappeared. Fatigue and exhaustion aside, he immediately felt safe, even if Nora's "supportive" bear hug probably dropped Jaune's Aura levels to zero.

"That was awesome!" Nora screamed into his already deafened ears. "That shield took like a thousand shots! You weren't kidding, Jauny. Crocea Mors is definitely an oldie but a goodie!"

"Nora," Ren warned as he pulled her off Jaune. "Give him some space. I think he needs some breathing room."

Ruby, seated alongside her team on the aisle above Jaune, lightly punched him in the back. "You gave a good effort, Jaune," she said brightly. At Jaune's involuntary wince and groan, Ruby retracted her fist. "Uh, sorry."

Jaune slumped forward and buried his head in his arms. He felt a hand place itself on his shoulder. "There's always next time, Jaune," Pyrrha assured.

A familiar barking laugh caused Jaune to shudder. He looked up from his lap and saw Canderous setting down on the seat below him. "Next time, learn how to draw your sword instead of solely hiding behind that shield of yours." Canderous patted his repeated for emphasis. "You're lucky I was using one of my older models. A fully upgraded and customized heavy repeater can fire two hundred rounds per minute with no jamming, reloading, or overheat."

That's absurd! "What kind of Grimm needs that kind of firepower to take down?" Jaune questioned in incredulity.

"The kind that I plan on killing," Canderous answered with an excitement that disturbed Jaune far more than their duel did, "and making sure that stay dead."

The rest of Team CRDL glanced at Jaune. Even though they all wore their own stylized helmets with T-shaped visors, Jaune could clearly see them passing judgement on him. He's weak. He's a chump. He's not good enough. Lord knows there's been plenty of people that's judged Jaune like that for years. His dad, his disappointed teachers, the schoolyard bullies...

Team CRDL was different, though. They were big and intimidating, for sure, but CRDL never came across as actual mean-spirited bullies. They actually reminded Jaune of his older sisters who were Huntresses; highly skilled prodigies, and with a not-very-high tolerance for ineptitude and monkey business.

Jaune didn't blame Canderous for his harsh words. Canderous was like Pyrrha. They were already on the fast track to becoming fully-fledged Huntsmen and Huntresses. A guy like Jaune would just slow them down.

But Jaune's already double-downed. He's a student attending Beacon Academy with weapons, an active Aura, a team, friends, and a paid scholarship thanks to those doctored transcripts. There's no turning back for him.

These solemn thoughts filled Jaune's head all the way to the lunch hour. At the cafeteria, Nora was finishing up another retelling of that weird dream she kept having when Pyrrha and Ruby asked aloud about the depressed air lingering around him.

"Guys, I'm fine!" Jaune insisted, putting up a fake smile. Jaune was pretty good at faking convincing smiles, if he said so himself. "Seriously!" At everyone's unimpressed and concerned looks, Jaune avoided their gazes and turned away. His eyes spotted Team CRDL at a nearby table. The team member with the red cape draped over his back and gold rings around his fingers was flirting with a bunny-eared Faunus girl.

"Jaune," Pyrrha said in a firm tone that brokered no interruption, "Canderous has been picking on you since the first week of school."

Weiss made a cute pout that Jaune watched and committed to memory. "What do you expect?" she asked contemptuously. "Not even five days after the school year started, Jaune spilled gallons worth of water all over Canderous' weapons."

Jaune was just trying to refill his water bottle! It's not like it was his fault that the first water dispenser lost balance and caused the entire row of dispensers to fall over. If anything, it was Canderous' fault for laying so many of his weapons out to show them off to his team. Most of them were waterproof, too, so only a few of his blasters had to be taken to the workshop for serious repairs.

Not like Jaune said any of this to Canderous' face at the time, however.

"Blasters and battle axes of such high grades aren't cheap," Weiss continued haughtily. "I'm surprised Canderous didn't make you pay for the damages. By the Academy code, since you admitted fault, it was well within his right to do so."

Thank God Canderous didn't. Jaune's parents didn't need any more money problems stacking on top of the ones already bleeding them dry.

"It was an accident," Ruby chimed in. Her pout was also a little cute, but Weiss' was the one that made Jaune smile inside. "Jaune, you apologized. It's been weeks. Canderous is a bully."

No, Jaune privately thought to himself, Canderous wasn't really a bully. Jaune has seen his fair share of bullies. He has the physical scars and mental trauma to prove it. Jaune still flinches whenever he flexes his fingers, reminded of the time those thugs had bent them so far back that he had to spend an eternity in the hospital to get his hands fixed. Bullies always try to hurt you where they hope it'll hurt the most. They make sure you can never forget it.

Canderous wasn't like that. He was a jerk who pusheed people around, but he doesn't really try hurt to people. He already knows that he can do it. There's just no point or reward to it for him. If Jaune's learned anything about Canderous in the days since he's met him, Canderous only hurts people as long as there's a good fight to be had. Any of the "weak" kids like Jaune wouldn't put up a very good fight, and the kids that would are more likely to either enjoy the fight themselves or have already earned Canderous' respect.

"Oh, please," Jaune drawled, waving a dismissive hand in Ruby's and Pyrrha's general direction. "Name one time, outside of combat class, that he's bullied me."

"He stole your chemistry book and never returned it," Pyrrha reminded Jaune, as if it was a serious offense against him. Honestly, while Jaune was annoyed about that, Dust chemistry was actually one of his stronger subjects. Jaune was no genius, but with Ren's tutoring, he can make due in Professor Peach's class no problem.

"He messed with your weapons and trapped you in the frame of a doorway," Ruby added. Jaune would have to give them that. Canderous had been hassling Jaune about ruining his blasters. Jaune's had hands instinctively went to his hip, ready to draw up his sword and shield just in case. Canderous must have caught Jaune's movements and quickly hit the button that unfolded his shield. Getting trapped in the doorway made Canderous had burst into laughter, and he had left Jaune stuck there for nearly an hour until Pyrrha figured out that he was missing.

"He trapped you in your locker, set off its rockets, and launched you miles off campus," Pyrrha said. That was also true, but that was also the day Jaune had water-damaged part of Canderous' weapon collection. Canderous' reaction was completely understandable.

Feeling everyone's eyes on him, Jaune chuckled nervously. "I didn't land far from the school."

No one was convinced by Jaune's words, especially Pyrrha. "Jaune," she said, "you know if you ever need help, you can just ask."

"Oooh!" Nora hopped to her feet. "We can break his legs!"

Canderous overheard Nora's declaration and called out, "I'd like to see you try, Valkyrie! If you're not doing anything after Oobleck's class..."

Before Nora could give her exuberant response, Ren pulled her back down. "We're supposed to work on an essay for Oobleck," he reminded her.

Nora expressed a whiny cry. Canderous shrugged. "Your loss." He returned to his food, as did Jaune.

Pyrrha and Ruby looked like they wanted to continue berating Jaune for letting Canderous trounce all over him, but then someone tripped and spilled their tray of food onto Yang's hair. With Yang exploding in a fiery wave of golden energy, the momentum Pyrrha and Ruby had steadily built was lost. Jaune resigned himself to ducking under the lunch table to avoid getting caught in the ensuing food fight.

Later that night, after Jaune admitted his secret to Pyrrha, and after he told her to walk away and leave him alone, Jaune felt just about ready to shut his eyes and walk off the roof, to be the done with the entire charade he's been playing for so long.

As he stared at Beacon's beautiful gloom of a horizon, a dark shape suddenly sped past Jaune's vision. His eyes followed the shape until it landed on the roof. The flames his jetpack were spewing puttered out. The figure shut the door to the stairwell. Leaning against the door, he crossed his arms and faced Jaune, as if daring Jaune to try to get past him.

The visor on the figure's helmet was unmistakable. It wasn't Canderous, but he and the rest of his team climbed over the edge of the roof and had Jaune surrounded.

Canderous didn't bring his armor or helmet. His black tank top did nothing to hide his massive, menacing muscles. His facial scars were even more terrifying up close, and that's not even mentioning his unpleasant, cruel scowl.

"You better tell me that you were playing some sick joke on your partner," Canderous growled, "because if you actually faked your way into this academy, you've got worse things to worry about than Oobleck's essay."

Jaune took a step back, his heart beating at an uncontrollable rate. "C-Canderous, please! I just, uh..."

Canderous placed his hand on Jaune's neck. He didn't immediately crush his throat like Jaune had thought he would, but he certainly wasn't going to let Jaune move away anymore. "'Tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in the tree'? 'Don't want to be the damsel in distress'? 'Want to be a hero'?" Canderous spat to the side in disgust. "Where is that hero now, Arc? Where is the man carrying the legacy of his forefathers? Where is the Huntsman who promised to devote his life to protect his team, himself, and all of humanity from the Grimm?"

The bigger of the two tossed Jaune to the floor. Coughing, Jaune scrambled to his feet, "Just wait a second. I can – I can explain! Please!"

The sneer and the breath that seared past Canderous' teeth smelled awful. "The only reason I've let you run around like a headless chicken for so long is because I assumed this academy could make a solid warrior out of you. Now I learn that you've never even been trained in the basics of combat. You lied and cheated your way into one of the most renowned Huntsmen academies in the world, and you think you can just explain it all away as if it doesn't matter?"

"That's why I'm here!" Jaune screeched. "To learn how to be a warrior! To become a real Huntsman!"

"Carrying the title of Huntsman is not some God-given right anyone can attain. It's a privilege rewarded based on capability and merit. What merit do you have to justify your enrollment in Beacon, Jaune?"

"I'll – I'll show that I have merit! I'll prove my worth here!" Jaune's voice was getting higher pitched. He hoped no one else was eavesdropping on them. "Give me a chance!"

"You had your chance in one of the lower division combat academies!" Canderous countered "Unless there's more liars and cheats that crawled their way into Beacon, every student and professor on this campus fought and bled to earn their place here. They went through the steps, progressing through the lower schools, or like your friend Rose, showed an innate talent that would be better groomed at a more advanced level of teaching."

Canderous took one giant step forward. Jaune took one clumsy step back, tripped over his feet, and dropped to his knees. He couldn't stop his body from shaking as Canderous' shadow fell over him.

"What makes you so special?" Canderous asked.

Jaune knew the answer long before he was given the question.

Nothing.

There was nothing that made Jaune Arc special.

And that was why Jaune cheated his way into Beacon Academy. Like his mom liked to say, people who graduated from Beacon become legends. Jaune wanted to become a legend, to be special.

Canderous wasn't going to let Jaune become someone special.

He was going to let Jaune get kicked out of Beacon.

Jaune couldn't fault Canderous for that.

Before Jaune could answer Canderous' question, Canderous sniffed scornfully. "You want to be a hero, Jaune? Let me give you a history lesson. Pay attention." Canderous gestured to his team members. "You see my brothers? Not brothers by blood, but by common values and traditions. We share the same armor, speak the same language, and always stay united and strong to destroy any threat that seeks to bring harm to our clan." Canderous waved a hand over his face. "Our people have a name. Professor Oobleck spoke of us in today's lesson. Do you know what we were once called?"

Jaune couldn't. Admittedly, he had slept through that class.

"Mando'ade," Canderous said. "We are Mandalorians. We were once a strong people that struck fear in the hearts of every man, woman, and child, human and Faunus, until the Great War nearly destroyed us. Now, the Mandalorians are scattered and lost, but my team and I were lucky enough to find each other here in Beacon." Canderous glowered his eyes at Jaune. "In our language, we have no word for 'hero.' Any self-respecting Mandalorian has no need for a hero to rise up and do their fighting for him. A good Mandalorian participates in the fight himself, and he does so honorably, inevitably achieving victory."

Canderous sucker punched Jaune. It took Jaune a half-second to realize what Canderous did until his jaw flared in pain. Jaune mumbled inquisitive moans as he tried to set his teeth right.

"We're a dying people, Jaune," Canderous continued, and for once, he sounded almost sad. Then that sadness disappeared as Canderous said, "but we're not dead yet. If have anything to say about it, the Mandalorians will never die. We can't die. Our legacy is not dependent on land, Dust, or infrastructure, but on culture and custom, taught and passed down from brother to brother, sister to sister, generation to generation."

Canderous offered Jaune a smile, and Jaune never felt more fear for his life than ever before. "You want to be a hero, Jaune? I'll give you the next best thing. I'm going to make you a Mandalorian."