In this chapter we continue with a bit of Arkos. Then we see just how much Jaune has improved now that the Thirst is under control. We also get to beat up Cardin again. A very important figure makes an appearance.

Chapter 11: In the Emperor's secret service.

Pyrrha woke up early in the morning out of force of habit. Years of waking up early to train had left an imprint on her. She was alone on the bed, rolled up in the sheets for warmth. Some warmth to her side on the bed sheets and a depression in the mattress let her conclude that Jaune had gotten up recently.

She knew that he had tossed and turned a bit at night but nowhere near as much a usual. He had almost seemed to be having happy dreams for once. Pyrrha thanked her lucky star for that. She would not have been able to rest otherwise while they shared the bed. And he had seemed happy, even cuddling up to her.

They had shared the bed. Dust, she was not looking forward to explaining that to Nora. Ren would deal with it stoically as he did with everything else. Nora however was a different manner of beast altogether.

Pyrrha had enjoyed it. Heck, she had instigated it but how had Jaune felt about it?

A problem for later, Pyrrha reasoned.

She stretched her aching limbs. She had fallen asleep in her armour. It was great for moving around in during combat. It was not however good for sleeping in. It was about as bad an idea as it would be to hike in high heels.

Her head felt a bit better now than when she had gone to sleep but she was dehydrated. Her body was pulling on all the fluid it could in order to replenish her lost blood volume and her heart was working harder than usual in order to maintain proper blood pressure.

And yet she felt better than she would have expected. She had been through blood-loss before due to her combat-career and so had not expected herself to feel this well after her little 'blood-drive'.

It was like she was tapping into a reserve she had never touched before.

Someone opened the door and entered the dorm and put something on the table. She didn't she who, still keeping her eyes shut from the harsh sunlight.

"Morning Pyr. How are you feeling?"
The voice was chipper and energetic.

"Like I been in a sauna for too long, Nor-"

Hold on!

The voice was not energetic enough to be Nora. And it was to energetic to be Ren. That only left…

"Jaune?"

"Yes Pyr?"

"You are up and about early. How? You usually don't wake up until the alarm has gone of three times, even less think."

"I know right! Isn't it great? I can think again, Pyr. I can think!"

Pyrrha felt herself being raised up and propped up with pillows behind her. Jaune moved what he had been carrying to her. It was a plate with breakfast. There was toast, eggs, coffee, juice and water.

'Breakfast in bed, a girl could get used to this.' thought Pyrrha as the scent of fresh coffee filled her nostrils. Vacuoan light roast, her favorite, and with a slight hint of cocoa, her guilty pleasure.

'He's even gotten the right blend of coffee.'

"You didn't have to." she said. She did however accept the plate after she had made room for Jaune to sit next to her.

"No, but I wanted to. You helped me so I help you."

'Brothers, he is positively giddy today.'

He looked so happy when he looked at her. Pyrrha could feel her cheeks try to redden but with the blood loss it was not noticeable.

"Umm, so changing the subject. How were the dreams last night?"

"Not as bad as they tend to be. Why, did I accidentally wake you? I'm sorry."

"Nh-nhh" she shook her head, mouth full of toast.

Pyrrha could not help but to be happy right now. Jaune was Jaune again. She had missed the merry goof that she had met during initiation.

Although Jaune had tried to keep his spirits up it had been hard on him and those around him. Nora and Ren would be happy with this change.

Speaking of the two, where were they?

"Met them on my way here. Apparently Nora decided to take Ren out for a while so we could…. talk." said Jaune still smiling at her.
"Any idea about what we are supposed to talk about?"

Pyrrha had a guess what Nora had hinted at but Jaune seemed oblivious.

Well Nora had compared Jaune to a piece of lead, as in he was dense.

Like clockwork Pyrrha's scroll buzzed with a message. She opened it and saw a picture Nora had sent her. It was of her and Jaune cuddled up in the bed.

Dust, Pyrrha could imagine the shit eating grin on Nora's face right now. But still, she couldn't help but smile at the picture.

She contemplated making it her screen saver.

'Slow down Pyrrha. Don't rush this.' she reprimanded herself.
'Why did you even think about it?'

"I suppose we should talk about us." Pyrrha said.
"About me helping you, I mean."

"Are you sure about it? Pyr, I don't want you to force yourself if you don't want-"

"I DO!"

The tray almost fell over as Pyrrha rocketed up from the pillows but Jaune managed to keep it steady, just barely.

"Jaune, what I said yesterday, I meant it. I meant it all."

Jaune nodded. They look in Pyrrha's eyes made it clear how determined she was. It gave him a wonderful feeling, that she would do that for him, that he mattered so much.

"Okay I guess, I'm just worried that I might hurt you."

"Jaune, you were so careful yesterday and the bite did not even hurt. Well, maybe a little but not much. I trust you with this."
She leaned back to the pillows. She was still feeling a bit weak.
"But I suppose we can't do it too often."

"We won't. At least I don't think so. Somehow I managed to hold out this long. The Thirst got worse with stress, stress that got worse when I had to struggle with the Thirst. Now with it…. subsided and you helping me I think I can manage for a while."

Manage, heck, he felt like a new man. It was like he was ready to take on the world right now! Jaune made a nod to the tray with food. The coffee was getting cold.

Pyrrha nodded and finished her breakfast. Jaune couldn't help but glance at her. Dust, he owed her so much for this.

The memory of Sanguinius breaking Alotros' neck flashed through his mind again. How close had he come to share the marine's fate? Had Pyrrha not helped him he would have fallen into the abyss to never return back from it.
Was this the fate he had left his sons to? Had his fears of his entire legion succumbing to this fate come to pass?
He shook his head. Lamenting such things would not help him now. He had a team to look after now.

"So what happens now?" Jaune asked as he took the empty tray from Pyrrha.

"First, I'm going to take a shower. Then we take on Beacon and then…"

"School is out today, Pyr."

"What?"

"It's Saturday. we don't have classes today."

"Oh, well then…" she got up from the bed a bit wobbly.
"... we train."
She was eager to see how Jaune could handle himself now. He seemed so much more focused.

"Pyr, I know you are feeling better but you should probably not strain yourself for a day or two." Jaune said with concern, gently taking her by the hand and brushing a lock of hair from her face.

"But I-"

"No ifs and/or buts. That's an order from me as team leader. You matter to me just as much as I seem to matter to you. Besides, I think we could do with some R&R. And I do have studies to catch up on."

Pyrrha gave way. A bit of relaxation would be nice.

"He he he. All according to cake." Nora chuckled as she sent the picture to Pyrrha. She did in fact have a shit eating grin on her face.

"What's so funny?" asked Ren.
"Is it the picture you took of them?"

"Well yeeesss. So what do you think they will do after this? Do you think they will be a thing?"

"Hmmm, we shall see but I do not think anything will come from this. At least not yet."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I think they just ended up like that after Pyrrha helped Jaune with his problem."

"But you saw how happy they seemed. And how our leader acted just now."

"Well she did just get her best friend back from the brink of lunacy and he is probably just grateful to be back to normal."

"Renny, people do not let others to to them what Jauney did to P-money if they don't care for them deeeeeply. I bet you a pancake that they will end up together!"

"Maybe someday. But you are forgetting one thing."

"And what's that?"

"That Jaune was so dense that he couldn't notice her feelings before he became so glum. I doubt that has changed yet."

Nora slumped.

"Oh, right. I forgot." Then she cheered up. "But it can still happen!"

Ren nodded and walked on with his partner.

They would have to keep a few secrets from their teammates from now on. In their haste had neither Jaune or Pyrrha thought of locking the door to the dorm yesterday. In their flood of emotion they had not noticed Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie standing by the door frame, listening in, hearing everything and seeing much.

It had all been quite concerning but they had faith in their teammates to manage it. They doubted Jaune would ever do something that would actually harm his partner. He just cared too much.

One day they would let their friends know that they knew their secret but for now their lips were sealed. Their team was whole again and that was all that mattered.

Team JNPR was sitting in the cafeteria properly as a team. Ren and Nora had been overjoyed by Jaune's return to happiness. They had missed their joyful conversations.

Jaune was currently telling them some stories of his family, particularly how his sisters had like to mess around with him. Accidentally he had brought up the time they had given his mother the idea of making him his first bunny-eared onesie.

"... And that's when your mom decided to leave you outdoors during the winter, wearing only a bunny pyjamas-onesie?" Nora asked.

"Yes, and that's just proof of how warm they are. I slept like a babe. Well, maybe because I was a babe."

"Well, I think they are just adorable." Pyrrha interjected.

She really did think so. She had seen Jaune in one of them and it had taken all of Pyrrha's willpower not to drag Jaune to her bed and use him as a teddy bear. Well, teddy-bunny really. After that she had forbidden him to wear the thing under the claim that it was "not suited for a huntsman in training".

Blatant lies - her reasons for saying it, that is.

"Well if you like them so much I could always ask mom to make you one."

Pyrrha's face turned as red as her hair.

"N-n-no, that won't be necessary."

The image of both of them in onesies went through her mind. She would never be able to live that down.

As if she had read Pyrrha's mind Nora flashed a grin. Then she got an idea.

"Oh, do you think I could get one for Renny? He would be so cute in one." Nora almost shouted.

"No, just no." Ren said while doing a thousand yard stare. "The hugging, no escape, no hope."

He could almost imagine the sound of his ribs cracking under Nora's loving and "tender" care.

Jaune decided to change the subject from bunny onesies and looked for something or someone else to talk about or to. His eyes found Velvet, the rabbit faunus. Not quite who he had been hoping for but she would do. She was accompanied by the rest of her team. They seemed grumpy.

"Oh hi, Velvet. How are you?" Jaune saluted and invited Team CFVY to sit down with his.

"I'm fine, just a bit... "

her words trailed off and her rabbit ears came down a bit. They seemed ruffled. All of Team JNPR noticed this and frowned.

"She had another run-in with Shit-chester this morning." muttered Coco.

"Cardin Winchester?" Pyrrha asked out of concern. She had seen him torment Velvet before with his team. Pyrrha did not approve.

"Who else? Seriously, Vel, why don't you just let me beat some sense into the bastard?"

"I don't want there to be any fighting because of me." said the faunus.

"Don't be like that. Look, even Jaune is angry about it."

Dust, was Jaune angry about it? Had he not explicitly told Cardin not to mess with his friends in Forever Fall?

Velvet might not have been part of his team but he sure as hell considered her as his friend. The pastry in his hand turned to mush as he made a fist.

"Cardin!" The word was a growl and his fangs were bared in anger.

Velvet flinched away, her faunus instincts telling her to avoid the fangs.

"Jaune, control your anger" Yatsuhashi said, indicating Velvet's unease.

"Oh right, sorry."

Oh, how he wanted to get back at the bully. To teach him a lesson he would not forget. Question was what sort of lesson that would take. At Forever Fall had Professor Goodwitch given Cardin one hell of a beating that had left him walking funny for a few days. If that was not enough then what would?

Ren, ever the voice of reason, decided to change the subject matter.
"So, Coco, how is the new wardrobe?"

"Oh, it's an improvement alright. Lots of more room. How are things with yours?"

"Just fine…."

"Good, for all my deals are final!"

"...We did however find some of your… more personal clothes in it a while back, in a hidden compartment."

The faces of Team JNPR reddened a bit. Oh yes, those clothes….

Nora had been the one to find those. She had then proceeded to throw them… right into Jaune's face.

He had screamed as if he had gotten the literal plague in his eyes.

Pyrrha had not dared touch them with a ten-foot pole - but she had blushed a lot.

(There may or may not be a catalog for lingerie under her bed after that incident but if there were such a thing no one would be able to find it and live to tell the tale. Pyrrha would make sure of that.)

"Oh, those are not mine." explained Coco without shame. "They are for Fox's."

The dark skinned youth seemed to blush. It was hard to tell with his dark skin.

"I didn't want my boyfriend to lose some of our 'recreational gear' so i kept it in my wardrobe. I was actually starting to wonder where they had gone."

"Coco, not in public!" Velvet said earning agreeing nods from Fox, now even darker in his face.

"Well, what can I say? I do what I want, and I like what I do."

"Well, we have the clothes put away separately. You can come by our dorm and pick them up some time." Jaune said.
"The sooner the better."

"Great! You hear that Fox? You better prepare that pretty butt of yours for I have been wanting to try some new things out!"

(What can one say? Coco taketh and she giveth. She giveth good.)

"COCO! Don't be so lewd!"

"All right, all right. I'll stop, for now. Well, it has been fun but we have to get going. Might run into Cardin and take him down a peg."

Take down a peg? That was it! Jaune knew what had to be done about Cardin.

They had all been going at it from the wrong angle! They had tried beating and scaring him straight but that had not worked. Instead they should have gone for the man's arrogance, his pride!

Jaune got an idea, an idea that would make him and many others at Beacon very happy.

He turned to Team CFVY, Coco in particular. He knew Velvet would not want to take part in the plan he had hatched, even if it would be to her benefit.

"Say Coco? Could you do me a favor?"

He pointed at Velvet and made signs language for bully. Really he just mimicked Cardin pulling Velvet's ears. Coco got the message though.

"Depends. What do you have in mind?"

Jaune pulled her close in order to whisper into her ear so that Velvet wouldn't hear. Though Jaune suspected she could hear everything anyway.

"Hmm. Yes. Ah-ha. Ho, ho ho! You got it, Arc! We will do it! Just make sure you can pull of your part."

"Don't worry. I will."

"Jaune, what was that all about?" Nora asked.

"That was a plan coming together. Do you guys think we could meet by the forest for some training in a few minutes?"

"Sure. We will meet you there?" Ren said getting up. "Let's go Nora."

Pyrrha turned to Jaune. Did he want her to take part in this? Her team leader had forbidden her to exert herself after the blood loss.

"I suppose I will head to the dorm then."

Surprisingly Jaune took her by the hand. "No, you are coming along."

"But you said…"

"I said WE shouldn't train for a while but I think I will want some practice for what I have in mind."

"Then why do you want me with you?"

"Because I will need an instructor, Pyr."

She beamed up. She could still instruct him. He gave her a smile.

"Besides, don't you want to see what I can manage now?"

Oh, yes. Very much indeed.

"Do you have anything special in mind, Jaune?"

"Oh yes, I do." Jaune said while flashing a mischievous grin, pulling his partner along by the hand. He really wanted her with him for this.

Professor Glynda Goodwitch had been teaching at Beacon Academy for several years now. She had seen many odd things at the school. Usually it was the unique quirks of the students but occasionally the young ones would approach her with a special request in mind.
It tended to be to be matched up against a certain opponent at combat class. Glynda would consider such requests to see if granting them would help the students improve.

This had been one of those cases.

She had been surprised when she saw Ren Lie at her office with a request from his team leader. When she had asked why Arc had not come with the request to her in person Lie had informed her that Arc was busy sparring with Valkyrie. The spar was being supervised by Nikos.

The request was simple: for her to put Jaune Arc up as a participant for one of the matches during class and wait with choosing his opponent.

It was an odd request but Goodwitch agreed to the it. This was the first time Arc had showed any initiative of his own regarding combat class. It would be a shame it let it go to waste. The request practically reeked of ulterior motive but she could live with that.

That had been yesterday.

It was now time for combat class and the room was stuffed to the brim. Not only were all the first years there but also many of the older students, particularly faunus. Beacon had rather few faunus among its students so seeing them all gathered here like this was unusual. They usually stuck to their teams, not wanting to attract bullies by gathering as a group.

The oddest part was Team CVFY almost herding them into the classroom and directing them to "the good seats". There was anticipation in the air. The students had smelled metaphorical blood and like metaphorical sharks they had gathered to it.

Glynda checked her list for planned matches. It was time for Arc's and as per his request she had not yet chosen an opponent for him.

"Mr. Arc, your turn."

Glynda could see his team wishing him luck. The boy seemed different. Glynda had been teaching for quite a while and had learned to notice… things.

Arc did not seem to hesitate like he usually did. There was a bit of confidence in his stride.

The boy took his place and took forth his weapons. The room got quiet. This was what the students had been waiting for.

'Why though?'

"And your opponent will be…" Glynda did not get to finish her sentence as Jaune interrupted her.

"Cardin Winchester!"

One could have heard a pin drop. All eyes kept shifting between Jaune and Cardin who seemed equally surprised. One would have thought that the larger and stronger Cardin would have risen to the challenge but he remained seated. Cardin swallowed nervously, feeling the stares of all in the room on him.

Glynda considered this. Jaune Arc did not have a good track record against anyone, especially against Cardin. However, if Arc had improved lately this match would be useful for measuring his improvement. That, and the boy seemed confident. Glynda decided to go along with it.

"Yes, Cardin Winchester. Please make your way down to the ring."

As Cardin made his way down he seemed to regain his composure, returning to his usual cocksure demeanor.

"Well, well, well Jauney-Boy. Just because you managed to fend off a few measly grimm you think you can stand up to me? Let me knock some sense back into you, with my mace!"

Cardin made his way to Jaune for the customary salute the students always did before a match. It was meant to remind them that it was meant to be akin to a duel, not some brawl.

Cardin leaned closer for a whisper.

"Maybe you have forgotten about our little secret? You wouldn't want me to slip the truth about your transcripts now would you?"

"Maybe you have forgotten about what I told you about staying away from my friends, Cardin?"

Cardin backed away a bit. He still woke up in a cold sweat as he had nightmares about that moment, the look of pure hatred in Jaune's eyes and the bare fangs.

"Take your places." Goodwitch said, breaking the two of them up. The two students did as they were told and readied their weapons.

"Begin!"

Cardin rushed forward and brought his mace down but Jaune easily blocked it with practiced ease. Cardin's blows were child's play compared to Nora's hammer that he had practiced with. And absolutely nothing compared to Horus'.

Nora and her hammer had been the closest thing Team JNPR had had to Cardin and his mace. It had not been a perfect emulation but beggars can't be choosers. The young Valkyrie had been pissed during the training because she had to mimic Cardin's style.

Not making things better had been the fact that Pyrrha had been sitting on the sidelines correcting them both on their 'styles'.

She had kept telling them what they did wrong, how Nora had not been moving like Cardin or that Jaune had to keep up his footwork.

The really annoying part was the enthusiasm with which she had been instructing them.

It had been a real bother but it had paid of. Jaune was now easily sidestepping Cardin's blows or deflecting them, not having to use his aura all that much.

In truth the training had just been to help him with his coordination.

The knowledge of how to face and fight Cardin was readily available to him. His 'spare' memories showed him what he had to do but his body did not really know how to pull it off yet. Jaune was after all nowhere near the physical prowess that he had possessed as Sanguinius.

Cardin swung again, frustrated over not easily winning like he usually did. Jaune landed a few blows on him, wearing down his aura.

Cardin was not a stellar fighter. Sure, he had size and brawn but he lacked style, discipline and he had no sense for tactics.

Had Cardin been a bit smarter he would have disengaged, gotten some distance from Jaune and tried to come up with a plan. Instead he just kept up his futile attacks, tiring himself out.

"STAND AND FIGHT, YOU CHICKENSHIT!" Cardin roared and brought the hammer down with all his might. Jaune would have been able to see it coming regardless if he didn't have the Thirst under control.

Cardin had gotten slow. Jaune simply sidestepped the blow and struck out with his sword.

The blow hit Cardin's exposed fingers holding the maze. Cardin's aura let him keep his fingers and prevented any real harm.

It still stung like hell though.

With a yelp Cardin let go of his mace and started tending to his sore hand.

"You little prick!" was all he managed to say when Jaune's shield hit him right in the face.

In his daze Cardin thought he could feel Jaune's sword hit him in the knee. Cardin's aura took the blow but he did buckle.
Another bash from the shield knocked Cardin over.

"Auw."

Cardin was not good at taking hits. Any half-decent blow would leave him wobbling. He looked up to his opponent who was… sheathing his weapon?

'The fuck?' Cardin thought. 'Does he think he has won? My aura is not in the red yet. Just wait until I get back up! I will give you the beating of a lifetime!'

Instead of going back to his seat, Jaune bent down and picked up Cardin's mace. He swung it around a bit, testing the weight of the weapon. Then he turned to Cardin. His eyes were cold as ice and his fangs were showing.

"Oh fuck." muttered Cardin and tried to get up but was pushed back down as Jaune put his foot on Cardin's chest.

"I'm sorry." Jaune muttered. "I'm sorry I ever compared you to Horus."

"Eh, you are forgiven." said Cardin, trying in a last ditch effort to get back into Jaune's good graces. He failed miserably.

'Who the fuck is Horus?'

Jaune put more weight onto his foot, pushing Cardin lower onto the floor.
"I'm not apologizing to you, Cardin. Even after all Horus did to me, to Father and the Imperium I will not forgive myself for comparing him to someone like you."

Jaune lifted the mace. He held the it like a golf club and was readying a swing for Cardin's head.
Survival instinct kicked in and it kicked Cardin's dignity out.

"Jauney Boy! My friend! My pal! Let's not be hasty about this! Tr- try to remember the good times we have had! Remember the the time we collected wasps! Remember when I promised not to mess with your friends?"

The maze came down. Cardin shrieked in terror (like a little girl) and closed his eyes, readying himself for the pain. It never came.

He opened his eyes and saw that the mace had stopped a few inches away from his head.

"Oh, sweet dust, Jauney Boy. I thought you were about to take my head off."

Cardin gave a small smile as the mace moved away. He tried to get up put Jaune kept his weight on Cardin's chest.

"Hey, what gives?"

"Your aura is still not in the red." answered Jaune, smiling maliciously. The fangs made it look horrifying.

"What are you up to? Ufff!"

Cardin gasped as he felt Jaune's entire weight press down on him, focused on the toes. Gracefully like a dancer Jaune spun around on Cardin and landed on the other side by the bully's legs.

The mace was raised again and from the floor Cardin could see where between his legs the blow would land.

It horrified him.

"Jaune, think of what you are doing? Please, have mercy! No!No!No!No! No!No! No!No! NOOO!"

The mace came down. There was a loud crack and Cardin went from being a baritone to being a soprano as his aura went into the red.

The entire class room went dead quiet. The male students winced and even some of the girls seemed to have a bit of sympathy for the Winchester family jewels… for a few seconds.

Then the roomed boomed in cheer!

Cardin Winchester, the foe of all oppressed students, had been defeated by one of their own.

"You did it!" shouted Pyrrha, overjoyed to see the fruit of her labors and sacrifice.
This is what she had hoped for! The untapped talent she had seen in him! And she would keep training him, make him even stronger!

"Way to go, fearless leader!" Nora chimed in.

"Yes, but the groin attack might have been a bit excessive." Ren noted. He was however smiling.

"Bah! Like that's a problem!" said Coco and jumped up from her seat, onto her desk. "Alright ladies, listen up!"

The room got quiet again.

"Vote of hands: who here thinks the loss of the Winchester family jewels was a bad thing."

No one put up their hand.

"Yeah, like we were ever going to let let him put them to use!" shouted Yang, earning many approving shouts and laughs.

"ENOUGH!"

Goodwitch roared over the noise.

"The winner of the match is Jaune Arc, even if the victory was achieved by unorthodox means. Do you have anything to say for yourself, young man?"

Jaune looked at his teacher sheepishly. "Well, maybe…"

"Yes?"

"Could I maybe have another match?"

Goodwitch was speechless for a moment.

"Mr. Arc, do not let one victory get to your head."

"Too late for that, professor. But my aura is still in the green and I feel like I'm on a roll."

Goodwitch looked at her student. He was smiling so happily. Not even the fangs could mare such a smile. It would not do to ruin such happiness.

'Snap out of it, Glynda! Something needs to be done!'

Goodwitch looked around the room. All the students wanted more and to deny them that would breed resentment towards the staff. On the other hand, Jaune Arc did need to be brought down back to earth. A sudden boost of his ego could easily get him killed in actual combat.

Her attention turned to the rest of Team CRDL that had gathered around their fallen and very suffering leader.

They were sharing the male pain.

"Breathe, Cardin, breathe!" Dove said, holding his leaders hand. "You will get through this!"

"A light, I can see a light!" Cardin's voice was a whimper. "It speaks to me!"

"Don't go into the light, Cardin! Focus on my voice!" Sky shouted.
"Damn it, won't someone get him some ice?"

Russel stepped forward, holding his leader's weapon. "Hold him still. I'm gonna knock him out before the real pain sets in."

TWACK! THUNK! TWACK! Russel was not good with heavy weapons. It took him three tries to do the deed.

"We're gonna get him, Cardin. We're gonna get him!"

Goodwitch almost smiled. Here she had wondered who would be a suitable opponent to bring Arc's ego under control.

Nikos would have been overkill, as would any of the other top students.

"Will the able members of Team CRDL step forward for a match against Arc?"

In unison the three boys stepped up to the ring.

Jaune smiled confidently.

He had not really considered the idea of a 3-on-1 match before. That was the sort of thing Pyrrha could pull off, not him.
Well, at least not in the past. Now was a completely different matter.

'You wanted another match, Mr. Arc. Well, here you go.' thought Goodwitch.
She was not evil. No, no. She was just making sure one of her students didn't go off and get himself killed doing something stupid because of some foolish pride.

"Begin!"

Jaune did win the second match, but it had been a close thing. Had it been any other team he would have lost for sure.

Team CRDL was not keen on strategy or coordination. They liked to rush their opponents one by one, to take them out on their own rather than like a team. Still, having to face three opponents at the same time made it a lot harder to block and dodge. Jaune had only really prepared for a fight against Cardin, not the rest of CRDL as well.

As he had been taking blows he had cursed his ego for making him request another match.

He had blocked, parried and countered just like he had done in his memories and dreams. Well, almost like in the memories and dreams. He was human now. Not a supreme prince of battle as the Emperor had made him to be.

He kept stumbling over his own feet and almost dropped his sword while doing maneuvers that he had not done before.

He was still slower and weaker than the others, not to mention less experienced. Because of that he still doubted his action, second-guessed his actions and hesitated. And that had cost him dearly.

But he wasn't tempted to drink their blood. Not anymore.

When the match was over Jaune was breathing heavily and was drenched in sweat. He got down on the floor and leaned his back against the wall.

He felt the cool touch of a water bottle in his hand. He drank eagerly.

"Slow down, Jaune, or you will make yourself sick." said Pyrrha and pulled the bottle away from his lips, spilling some water on him. Jaune didn't care for the water felt cool on his skin.

He looked up. There was his team as well as RWBY.

"That was amazing!" Ruby said.
"You should have seen the look on Cardin's face when you called him out! Oh, wait, I have a picture on my scroll!"

"You dunce, he was there. Of course he saw it." Weiss scolded her partner.
"But yes, your performance was moderately better than we would have expected (from some stupid faunus)."

"Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised. Had you planned this or was it just a coincidence that all the school's faunus were gathered here?" Blake asked.

Jaune just nodded. He couldn't talk as he was breathing so heavily.

"Well, that was kind of you. I don't think Cardin will bother them for a while now."

"Yeah, not with his balls broken!" Nora slammed her fists together for emphasis. It were no legs but Cardin's balls had been a good second best for her.

"That, and his power over them is broken. No one can really be afraid of him after seeing this."

Ren held out his hand to help Jaune up. He could not stay on the floor forever. Jaune refused the help, he needed a few more moments before he could get up.

"I have to say you really have improved a great deal as of late."

"Thanks guys but I couldn't have done it without Pyrrha's help."

"Oh, please, you don't mean that. I just helped a little bit."

"A little bit?" Yang scoffed.
"Seriously, P-girl, what have you done to Jaune and could you do it to the rest of us?"
She gave Pyrrha a shameless grin of the lewd variety.

"Wha- I haven't done anything!" Pyrrha tried.

She looked over to Nora who was grinning evilly, no doubt remembering the picture she had on her scroll.

"Just kidding. Come on, let's go celebrate Vomit-boy's victory!" said Yang and all but dragged her sister with her.

As they walked along Jaune couldn't help but notice that Pyrrha seemed pleased with herself, either that or lost in happy thoughts.

"A lien for your thoughts."

"Oh, just thinking of how to proceed with your training."

"Eager are we?"

"Well, I will get to spend time with my partner." she mused.

Jaune nodded. Yes, if anything else, that was a reason to keep training. He got some time with her and that pretty smile.

"Just say when, Pyr. Just say when."

Their fingers nudged each other, but rather than pulling away they stayed together for a while. But only for a while before they retracted in embarrassment.

Cardin Winchester had been hauled of to Beacon's infirmary for his injury.

Now, smashed nuts was not an uncommon condition at Beacon Academy.

In fact it was rather common, especially among those young men whose IQ was inversely proportional to how much they bench pressed.

For those whose IQ was not inversely proportional to how much they bench pressed this was rarely a problem.

What was unusual about Cardin's case was the symptoms the young man was showing.
Now, there was the usual swearing, vows for revenge, fetal position, and not-so-manly-yet-very-manly-tears.

The unusual symptoms were the hallucinations. Since before Cardin had been knocked out and gotten medical attention and after he had woken up he had been talking about a golden light, an oddly handsome man and that said handsome man kept talking to him.

If Beacons resident physician Arzet Surgia had to make a guess as to what was happening he would have guessed pain induced deliria or a religious visions.

He settled for the deliria. Not that it mattered to Surgia all that much. He would just inform the headmaster that Cardin Winchester would make a full recovery in a week or so, though he would walk funnily until then.

Surgia might also inform the headmaster about the pain induced deliria.

Surgia knew that the headmaster had a bit of a mean streak and tended to enjoy hearing of others suffering.

Because let's be honest, why else would the man throw his would-be-students over a hundred feet off the ground into a grimm infested forest every year whilst sipping coffee?

Now to be fair, from what Surgia could gather had Winchester had this coming for quite a while now.

Another reason Ozpin would like to hear about it. The man had a thing for karma.

Surgia placed Cardin on a bed, gave him a few painkillers, an icepack and some general advice Surgia had collected for this sort of thing during his time at Beacon. He then told Cardin's teammates to piss off from his clinic since it was not a dust-damned coffee shop.

Surgia then headed off to Ozpin's office.

It was time for his coffee break anyway and Ozpin always had a pot brewing.

Cardin was left to his misery. The visions had continued since the match. As Cardin's pain was letting up thanks to the special painkillers he was letting himself drift into unconsciousness. The visions got clearer. Even with his eyes closed he could still see them.

"Cardin Winchester. I have need of you."

"Who are you?"

"The Emperor of mankind. Heed my words for my time is short. Look out for him."

An image of Jaune Arc flashed behind Cardin's eyes, burning into his mind. But the image was wrong, like it kept changing like a movie clip. He saw Jaune one moment, the other he saw a giant with wings like an angel. But there was no doubt about it, it was Arc.

'Lord…'

The figure, the Emperor, continued. "Do as he says."

Cardin saw Arc commanding warriors, like some great warrior king, leading them to victory and glory.

'Primarch...'

"Beware of those who would hurt him."

A woman of raven hair, surrounded by fire, was shown but her face was shrouded.

'Witch…'

"And what do I get out of this, huh?" Cardin shouted in his mind, as if the figure would let itself be intimidated by him.

"You shall see."

The light intensified and then vanished. Cardin woke up in Beacon's infirmary. He winced as his busted balls ached from his sudden movement. Then the pain receded and then stopped. Cardin tossed away the ice pack that had been placed on his crotch and watched. There was a golden glow as the swelling subsided.

"Sweet dust." Cardin muttered. His injury, one he had feared would make him an eunuch, had been healed. It was miracle!
Then, as sudden as Cardin's recovery, there was a flash in his mind. The burning mental image of Jaune Arc went through Cardin's head along with the golden figures orders.

"Look out for him…. Beware those who would hurt him."

Cardin was tempted to refuse but he realized that would not be an good idea. In fact, doing as the apparition said seemed like an excellent idea for some reason.

"Yes, I'll do it. I'll do it, my Emperor."

Getting out of the infirmary Cardin gathered his posse.

"Get up, you lazy bastards. We have work to do."

His teammates were almost dumbstruck. They were all convinced that they were seeing a miracle. Cardin's injury should have kept him down for hours, maybe even days. Yet there he was, strutting around. They wondered how such a thing was possible. Even aura couldn't do such a thing.

Cardin just laughed at them. Of course aura hadn't done this, but something else.

Nay! Someone else!

"Boys, I've seen the light, the light of the Emperor!"

Ha! Bet you didn't see that one coming!