Here's another chapter for Labor Day! Also, the second part of the Badge and the Burden seemed superfluous to add, as I could not figure out a way to add onto the chapter and make it longer than two pages. Therefore, I'm just going to move onto Jaunedice. I hope you enjoy!
'He must be holding back somehow' thought Mika as she sat in the Beacon sparring room. She was currently watching Jaune's match with Cardin Winchester. Well, match was a strong word. It was more of a beating.
The rest of Team MSTC sat with her, just as engrossed in the match, except for Tyran, who was currently trying hard not to fall asleep.
'I mean, no one can be that bad and still get into Beacon right?' she continued. Jaune used his sword as a crutch as he breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. Across from him stood Cardin who was laughing mockingly. With the last bit of his strength, Jaune rushed at Cardin unleashing a battle cry but Cardin merely leaned to the side, dodging the attack. Jaune fell forward and Carding immediately retaliated by slamming his mace against him.
An audible "oooh" was heard from the rest of her team, but Jaune did not give up. He threw his shield down and grasped his sword with both hands. Attempting his frontal assault technique again, he dashed towards Cardin and brought his sword down, but it was merely blocked by Cardin.
Cardin easily pushed back Jaune and threatened him, "This is the part where you lose" he said.
"Over my dead b-oomph" Jaune began but was cut off as Cardin delivered a knee to his stomach. Jaune crumpled to the ground holding his stomach and Cardin brought up his mace. Ready to finish the match, he began to bring it down on Jaune but stopped as a buzzer rang, signaling that the match was over.
"Cardin, that's enough" Glynda stated as she walked to the center of the arena. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match. Mr. Arc it's been weeks now, please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack. Or when it is better to move to a more…defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a beowolf, now would we?"
"Speak for yourself" Cardin said picking up his mace and walking away.
"Remember everyone! The Vytal festival is only a few months away, it won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale so keep practicing!" Glynda announced. "Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!" The bell echoed throughout the arena as students gathered their belongings to leave.
Sunny happily clapped, obviously excited for the future tournament, however the rest of the team was not so similar.
'He's holding back.' Mika thought. 'What's his special ability? Semblance? Power?'
"Mika?" Sunny asked. Mika snapped out of her train of thought as she gazed over to her team who were all staring at her.
"Wha- What?" Mika inquired.
"We were asking you if you agree with us that Cardin is a bully" Sunny answered.
"Man, I just kind of feel bad for Jaune" Cye said. "Cardin's been pushing him around since the first day of school."
"Maybe not for longer…." Mika whispered mostly to herself.
"What?" Cye asked.
"Nothing." Mika replied plainly. "Come on guys, let's get lunch."
"So, there we were, in the middle of the night." Nora began.
"It was day." Ren corrected her.
"We were surrounded by ursi" Nora continued.
"They were beowolves" Ren corrected again.
"Dozens of them!" Nora shouted standing in her seat.
"This is the best story ever" Sunny whispered completely engrossed with her elbows on the table. Mika rolled her eyes and looked over to Tyran who was currently asleep on their lunch table.
Ren sighed "Two of them."
"But they were no match! And in the end, Ren and I took them down! And made a boatload of lien selling ursa skin rugs!" Nora finished.
"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now" Ren explained. Mika sighed as she sipped a glass of water.
"Jaune? Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked turning towards him.
"Huh?" said Jaune, evidence that he was not previously paying attention. "Oh! Yeah! Why?"
"It's just that you seem a little…not…okay" Ruby said carefully.
"Yeah, plus Cardin kinda kicked your-" Mika added but was stopped by Sunny slapping her hand over her mouth.
"Guys, I'm fine, seriously. Look!?" Jaune answered as he gave a weak thumbs up. The room quieted as the teams suddenly heard an obnoxious laugh coming from a couple tables away. Cardin and the rest of his team were currently mocking a rabbit faunus girl.
"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school" Pyrrha said.
"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nahhh! He just likes to mess around, you know, practical jokes!" Jaune defended.
"He's a bully" Ruby stated bluntly.
"Oh please! Name one time he's bullied me." Jaune said sarcastically. The teams thought back to the many occasions in which Cardin had been a jerk to Jaune. This included knocking his books down, getting him caught in a doorway, and even launching him out of the school by means of their rocket propelled lockers.
"I didn't land far from the school!" Jaune replied.
"Jaune you know if you ever need help you can just ask." Pyrrha offered.
"Oh! You'll indulge him but not me?!" Mika nearly shouted across the table, but Pyrrha ignored her.
"Ooh! We'll break his legs!" Nora suggested excitedly.
"I think that's a bit excessive, even for Cardin" Cye replied apathetically as he rolled vegetables around on his plate with his fork. Nora merely shrugged in response.
"Guys really! It's fine!" Jaune said standing up. "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone."
"Oww! That hurts!" came a girl's voice. Everyone looked over to where Cardin and his team were currently ridiculing the same faunus girl. Cardin had her ears in her hands and continuously pulled on them.
"Please stop" the girl said.
"I told you it was real" Cardin said looking over to his teammates.
"What a freak!" one of them replied. Mika ran her hands across her ears and began to stand up. 'He needs to be taught a lesson' she thought. She also noticed that Tyran immediately stood up with her, awake from his slumber. They both glared at Cardin, prepared for a fight, that is until Cye and Sunny grabbed them both.
"It's not worth it guys" Ruby said.
"Ruby's right, fighting won't solve anything" Sunny pleaded. Mika sat back down hesitantly but Tyran did not.
"…People like Cardin only respond to violence" Tyran muttered as she pushed Sunny and Cye away before walking out of the cafeteria.
"Yes, yes! Prior to the faunus rights revolution, more popular known as the faunus war, humankind was quite quite adamant about centralizing faunus population in menagerie." Professor Oobleck explained as he zipped around the classroom. "Now! This must feel like ancient history to many of you, but it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why the…repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!"
'And I thought Professor Port was weird' Mika thought as she leaned back in her seat.
"Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your faunus heritage?" Oobleck continued. Mika noticed that only a couple students raised their hands, including the rabbit faunus girl from earlier, Tyran, and herself.
"Dreadful! Simply dreadful!" Oobleck stated. "Remember students it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence. I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?"
Weiss raised her hand in response. "The battle at Fort Castle" She answered proudly.
"Precisely! And! Who can tell me the advantage the faunus had over General Lagoon's forces?" Oobleck said.
"Hey!" Jaune said as he awoke from Cardin flicking paper at him.
"Mr. Arc!" Oobleck said as he rushed over to Jaune. "Finally contributing to class! This is excellent, excellent! What is the answer?"
"Uhhh, the answer, the advantage, uhh, the faunus had…over that guy's…stuff, uhh binoculars!" Jaune replied confidently. The class laughed at his response.
'What's his secret?' Mika thought. 'He's just not taking this seriously. He must truly be a genius. What is his power?'
Oobleck sipped his cup slowly. "Very funny Mr. Arc. Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject?"
Cardin leaned back in his chair. "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."
Mika clenched her fists tightly. What a complete insensitive jerk! "You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you Cardin?" Pyrrha asked.
"What? You got a problem?" Cardin threatened.
"No, I have the answer. It's night vision. Many faunus are known to have nearly perfect sight in the dark" Pyrrha replied. Cardin growled at her response.
"General Lagoon was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the faunus in their sleep." Blake added. "His massive army was outmatched and the general was captured. Perhaps, if he paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."
Cardin stood up in his seat, ready for a fight. "Mr. Winchester, please take your seat" Oobleck sighed. Jaune giggled at Cardin's shutdown. "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings. Now! Moving on!"
The bell signaled the end of class and Mika packed up her things.
"Well that, was interesting" Sunny said as they walked out.
"Yeah, I don't think he blinked once" Cye replied shivering.
"I was more referring to Jaune's situation, but yeah, Oobleck too" Sunny said. "What do you think Tyran?"
Tyran merely grunted in response before walking away from the group, most likely heading back to their dorm since classes were finished for the day.
Sunny sighed at Tyran's response. "You comin' Mika?"
"I'm gonna stay for a bit. I need to ask Oobleck a question about, uhh, homework!" Mika answered.
"Really? Since when did you take an interest in your education?" Cye teased. Mika glared at him and began to roll up her sleeve. "Cause I think that's great! Education is important, come on Sunny! Let's head back!" He quickly added. Mika looked back at the classroom and hid behind a pillar, waiting.
Jaune walked out of the classroom with Cardin who quickly shoved him to the ground. Pyrrha helped him to his feet.
"You know, I really will break his legs" Pyrrha offered but Jaune only sighed in response. Pyrrha's mood immediately changed though. "I have an idea!" She said triumphantly before grabbing Jaune and pulling him away. "Here! Come with me!"
'What's going on?' Mika thought as she followed them a little farther behind.
Pyrrha and Jaune walked out onto the roof of the school. The night sky was teeming with beautiful stars. A cool breeze swept across the area.
"Pyrrha I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not that depressed" Jaune said looking over the edge of the building. "I can always be a farmer, or…something."
"N-NO!" Pyrrha exclaimed pulling Jaune away from the edge. "That's not why I brought you up here! Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so…I want to help you!"
"What?" Jaune questioned.
"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" Pyrrha said hopefully.
"You…think I need help?" Jaune said downcast.
"N-no! No, that's not what I meant" Pyrrha defended.
"But you just said it" Jaune replied.
"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us!" Pyrrha said. "You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of."
"You're wrong" Jaune said turning away from Pyrrha. "I-I don't belong here…."
"That's a terrible thing to say, of course you do!" Pyrrha responded.
"No, I don't!" Jaune said angrily. He sighed quietly. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon."
"Wha-What do you mean?" Pyrrha inquired.
"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any test, I didn't earn my spot at this academy!" Jaune declared. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied…."
"What?" Pyrrha repeated in disbelief. "But why?"
"Cause this is what I've always wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! And I wanted to be one too….I was just never good enough." Jaune said.
"Then let me help you" Pyrrha offered.
"I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress, I want to be the hero!"
"J-Jaune I-"
"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand?! If I can't do this on my own, then what good am I?!"
Pyrrha reached forward but Jaune retreated. "Just leave me alone, okay?" he said.
"If…that's what you think is best…." Pyrrha said walking away. She gave one final look at Jaune before opening the door back into the building. She lowered her head in shame.
"What do I do?" Pyrrha whispered.
"You know" came a new voice. Pyrrha looked up quickly to see Mika leaning against the wall next to the door. "All today I thought Jaune had some sort of hidden ability. Some special power maybe? And it looks like I was right, a special power over you" she taunted.
"I'm afraid, I don't know what you are talking about" Pyrrha said solemnly. She began to walk down the hall, away from Mika.
"You know he's not gonna make it right? Jaune'll be on the next airship outta here." Mika called to her. "You should be focusing on our rematch rather than waste your time with him."
Pyrrha ignored Mika's opinions and continued walking.
Mika smirked as she walked back to the Team MSTC dorm, where the rest of her teammates were studying.