Kratos had told his team about Jaune sneaking his way into Beacon and, while somewhat annoyed by the cheap tactics, they agreed not to tell on him, which would ruin a team with their good friends on it. However, after a few days, they'd notice Jaune was rarely around the rest of his team, preferring to hang with Cardin for some strange reason. Ryu and Kratos quickly grew suspicious of this, meeting up with the rest of Team SCRN in the auditorium after classes were finished. "So, you noticed it, too?" Ryu asked.

"Yes. Jaune's hanging around Cardin whenever he has any free time. But it doesn't make sense." Kratos said.

"Cardin's the last person Jaune would want to hang out with even when the bastard ISN'T bullying him." Dante agreed.

"He must have some dirt on the boy he's blackmailing him with." Bayonetta guessed.

A thought then occurred to Dante. "Hey, Kratos, where was it you and your sister took Jaune to train?" He asked.

"On a large section of the roof of the dorms, easily accessible, facing directly towards Beacon." The Spartan answered.

Bayonetta pulled up a quick map of the dorms on her scroll, deadpanning. "That was right above team CRNL's dorm." She said.

"Cardin must've heard, then." Ryu said.

"So, a friend of ours, who's also the leader of a team with two of your close friends and your sister on it is being blackmailed by the school's biggest bully, who could at any minute spill the beans and get Jaune kicked out of the school, which would throw team JNPR into ruin. I don't think any of us want that." Dante said.

"True, but he got himself in this situation. After what he said on the roof to me and especially to Pyrrha, he'd be lucky if I saved him from a Grimm attack, let alone this." Kratos said, before turning to the team's resident ninja. "Ryu, you could keep an eye on them. If he forces Jaune to do anything that might bring harm to any other member of his team, then we do something. Until then, Jaune's on his own." Kratos said.

"Damn, man. That's cold." Dante said.

"Still, like he said, Jaune DID bring this on himself. Who knows? This may help him grow as a leader." Bayonetta added.

"You're being WAY too optimistic about this. And for the record, I'm almost 100% certain this will end in disaster." Ryu said, before vanishing into the shadows.


Meanwhile...

Team JNPR, with the exception of Jaune, were in their dorm, Pyrrha looking out the window sadly as Ren loaded Stormflower and Nora jumped on the bed.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?"

"He's become rather scarce since he started fraternizing with Cardin."

"That's weird... Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest!" She proclaimed while twirling in midair so her back hits the covers.

"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." Pyrrha said angrily at the mention of their leader.

Nora and Ren exchanged glances, not knowing that Jaune himself was looking in through the crack of the door. "Mmmm... I guess so."Nora said simply.

Jaune hung his head and closes the door, just as a voice interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, Jaune!" Ruby called out. Startled, Jaune turned around to see her in her pajamas. She giggled at his reaction. "Long time, no see! Did you lock yourself out again?" She asked.

"Oh, uh, nope!" He said, raising his scroll, attempting to laugh. "Got it!" He confirmed.

"So! Where have you been lately?"She asked.

"I, uh..." He tried to come up with something, but just sighed and lowered his head. "I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and..." He stopped, breathing heavily through his nose. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He said sadly, pressing his back to his team's door and slid down to the floor in depression. "I'm a failure." He said sadly.

"Nope!" She said simply.

He looked up at her in surprise at this. "'Nope?'" He asked.

"Nope! You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure." She explained.

"But... what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" He asked.

She thought about it for a moment, then gave her answer. "Nope!" She said again.

He laughed as she joins him on the floor. "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff." He told her.

"Nope!" She agreed as Jaune leaned into the door some more. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid..." She started, to which Jaune groaned and sank lower to the ground. "... And you might've even been a failure the first day we met!" She rubbed salt on the wound. He groaned and went lower still. "But, you can't be one now. You know why?" She asked.

"Uhhh, because...?" He started.

"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us." She explained, getting up and placing her hands on her hips as she spoke. "We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you." She said, before walking over to her door and opening it as Jaune, now slightly inspired by her words, watched her wave. "Have a good night, Jaune!" She said, happily as ever, before going inside.

With new energy, Jaune pushed himself off the ground and faced the door, ready to turn the knob and face his team, but his scroll beeped and he pulled it off of his side to open it, seeing Cardin's contact relaying a message.

"Hey! It's your buddy Cardin! I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, buuuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps." He said as Jaune made a terrified sound in response. "And make sure they've got some really big stingers! It's important, so don't screw this up!"Cardin warned.

Jaune closed his scroll just when it begins to beep again. He sighed, wearily heading down the hallway and away from his room. Meanwhile, Ryu just sighed and shook his head from around the corner. (Poor bastard.) He thought. "Yes, quite the learning experience, Bayonetta." He said, before heading back to his own dorm.


The next day...

An overhead shot of a forest bustling with red leaves and gray trunks is seen. After a few seconds, we see Glynda leading teams RWBY, JNPR. CRNL and SCRN through the forest. "Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." She explained.

The group stopped, and Jaune, grunting as he carried a large case with six empty glass jars on top. He tried to catch up with them and ended up bumping into Cardin. The bully scowled at Jaune, who attempted to feign innocence by whistling tunelessly.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 o'clock. Have fun!" Glynda finished instructing her group, holding up a full jar of their objective.

While Yang and her sisters smiled at one another, Jaune attempted to (noisily) sneak away from Cardin to his team, but the blackmailer saw this and grabbed Jaune by the back.

"Come on, buddy - let's go!" He said, pulling the smaller boy along.

Jaune miserably looked up at his team, where Nora and Ren were already walking into the forest's depths as Pyrrha stared sadly at the scene. Dropping his gaze, Jaune turned and followed CRDL, to the disappointment of a sighing Pyrrha before she continued on. However, from the trees, Ryu glared at the team of bullies leading Jaune away, before jumping to the next tree, following them into the depths of the forest, unseen.


Team CRDL made themselves as comfortable as possible by leaning on stones, trees, and the ground as Jaune returned to the group with six full jars, setting them down, before he collapsed face-down. The surrounding team gets up in response.

"Hey, great work, Jauney boy! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin asked.

Jaune, however. was still on the ground, cross-eyed and sounding dizzy. "I think I'm allergic to this stuff..." He said, stuffed up.

"Greeeeat, great, great. So, Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'" Cardin wondered.

"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes." Jaune confirmed, although still exhausted.

"Well, come with me, and you'll find out." Cardin explained as Jaune sat up, letting out a moans, before gulping in worry.

Still hidden in the trees, Ryu raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "What are you up to, Cardin?" He demanded, before following the team.


Now perched on a hilltop overlooking the other students, team CRDL - plus Jaune, squeezed between Cardin and Russel - peaked their heads over the crest and watched as everyone was retrieving their samples of sap. Ren, kneeling to collect it from a tree, passed a full jar to Nora, who let out an "Mmmm!" at the gift as Ren traded it for the other jar in her care. He turned back to the tree and started filling it up while several licking sounds were heard off-screen until the camera panned back to Nora, now with an embarrassed smile covered in red and an empty jar in her hands.

Jaune turned to his left to face his bully "Cardin, wh-what's going on?" He asked worriedly.

Cardin simply stared at the unsuspecting group sharply. "Payback." He answered.

Jaune widened his eyes in understanding. "Pyrrha...?" He asked as he watched her gather more sap from a tree. "Wh-what are you-?" He asked worriedly.

Ryu glared at them from the tree. He wanted to drop down and beat them all down himself, but they brought Pyrrha into this, so Kratos would want to brutally beat them into paste himself. "You get your wish, Kratos." He said, jumping back through the trees where his group was.

Cardin pounded his fist on the ground. "That's the girl. Red-haired know-it-all, thinks she's so smart. Alright, boys..." He said, pulling out a buzzing cardboard box with a large "W" written on its sides. "Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put him to work."

Russel grabbed Jaune by the shoulder and gave him an encouraging shake, while the blonde boy barely laughed in nervousness.

"Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things loooove sweets." Cardin explained while Pyrrha was finishing her sap collection. "I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two." He said with a sadistic smirk.

The members of CRDL got up. Cardin offered his hand to Jaune, only to painfully yank him up on his feet and shoved the jar into his grasp. "And you're gonna do it."

"Do what?" Jaune asked, still clueless.

"Hit her with the sap!" Cardin ordered, leaning in close to Jaune's face. "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." He threatened.

Jaune looked down at the jar of sap in his hands and then up at the four grinning teammates waiting to see what would happen. Jaune turned towards the group and aimed his throw at an oblivious and smiling Pyrrha, trying to steel his nerves and shaking hand to do the deed, but ultimately steeled himself for what he was about to do.

"No." Jaune said sternly.

"What did you say?" Cardin demanded.

Gripping the jar tightly Jaune looked over to his bully. "I said... NO!" He snapped, turning and throwing the jar at Cardin, instantly recoiling his hands to himself as he looked at Cardin's breastplate covered in sap. The other team leader, however, just looked at himself and laughed darkly.

"Oh, you've done it now..." Cardin said darkly. Jaune humorously laughed to himself once more with his hands still raised in an attempt for defense as Dove and Sky grabbed Jaune's shoulders and pulled him in. Cardin landed several punches on the smaller male, before one more punch sent him back to the ground. "You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney boy." Cardin taunted as he picked up a bruised Jaune again while the rest of Team CRDL watched. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces." He said darkly.

"I don't care what you do to me..." Jaune said defiantly, looking at Cardin with fury. "... But you are not messing with my team."He said seriously.

Cardin looked momentarily shocked, before shaking it off and glaring at the smaller male. "What? You think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?"

Jaune smiled in defiance. This enraged Cardin, who roared and raised his fist again, but just as the hit connected, a bright light shined from Jaune, and when the white faded from the screen, Cardin cried out in pain as he held his hand. Jaune, now back on the ground but completely healed, looked confusedly at his hands as they faintly glowed white. While he stared, though, Sky kicked Jaune in the back and got him on his stomach, but he looked up and glared at the approaching Cardin.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are..."Cardin said, reaching down for Jaune once again, only to be knocked away by a punch from Kratos.

"He's already more of a man than you." Kratos said, standing protectively between Jaune and the team of bullies as the rest of team SCRN arrived on the scene, Bayonetta pulling Jaune to his feet, before glaring at team CRDL along with the rest of her team.

"What was that, baldie!?" Cardin demanded, getting back up.

Dante scoffed at this. "4 on 1? Win or lose, the only person in that scenario who can call themself a man is the dude fighting on his own, not the four pansies who can't take someone weaker than them by themselves." He taunted.

"Honestly, we don't have to make you look bad anymore. The only one making a fool out of you is yourself." Bayonetta added.

"I knew children who were braver than you. And could fight on their own." Ryu threw more fuel on the flame.

Cardin growled at them, furious. In the back of his mind, he knew that his entire team didn't stand a chance against ONE member of the other team, let alone a fair 4 on 4, but his anger got the better of him. "You want some?! Fine, then. Let's go, guys." Cardin said, readying his weapon along with his team.

"I'll deal with them." Kratos said, activating his Cestus and storming towards the other team. Russel was the first to attack, using his spinning rush attack in an attempt to hit the former god, who simply threw his right fist forward, slamming it into the dagger wielder's back, sending him flying back and skidding to a stop at Cardin's feet. Dove was next, charging in towards Kratos' left while Sky wasn't far behind, more towards Kratos' right. Dove swung his sword downward towards Kratos, who easily blocked it overhead with his left gauntlet while slamming the right into the dirty blonde's stomach, knocking him back as well, before swinging his right fist outward, smashing it into Sky's head, causing him to flip, before falling to the ground, face first. Kratos then spun and fired out the fists of the cestus towards Cardin, who managed to deflect them and rushing in, jumping and swinging his axe down on Kratos, who blocked with the guantlets, the fists having been reeled back and locked into place just in time to stop the mace.

Kratos easily pushed Cardin back and delivered a kick to his stomach that sent him skidding back a few feet, but he managed to bring himself to a stop with his mace, looking up angrily at Kratos, the two preparing to re-engage, before they heard a low growl. Everyone turned towards the scene and see large paw crash onto the scene, belonging to a huge Ursa Major with dozens of jagged spikes sticking out from its wide back. It leapt forward and stood over the shocked (team SCRN) and terrified (CRDL) students, lifting its head in the air to smell the sap on Cardin's breastplate. It landed back on its forelegs and roared at Cardin while his teammates heroically fled. (~Brave team CRDL ran away~)

"That's a big Ursa!"Russel said in fear as he ran.

Cardin was rooted to the spot when the Grimm swung its claws and knocked him sideways. The Ursa continues to sniff, uninterested in team SCRN and Jaune and following its nose to Cardin. They watched at it towered over Cardin, who got his wits and pulled out his mace only for the monster to swipe it away to Jaune's feet. He looked. conflicted, wondering whether to fight or run away.


Meanwhile, the roar of the giant Ursa is heard by the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR, still collecting sap on the other side of the forest.

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked, concerned as she stood up.

Suddenly, the remaining members of Team CRDL came running the other way from the roar through the other students.

"Ursa! Ursa!" Russel shouted as he looked back, accidentally running into Yang.

She was completely unfazed by his collision, more shocked about the news of an Ursa nearby. She picked him up by the front of his shirt. "What?! Where?!" She demanded.

The idiot struggled, still trying to run in air, but eventually pointed back from where they came. "Back there! It's got Cardin!" He answered.

Pyrrha gasped as she this, dropping her jar of sap "Jaune!" She said, also unaware her brother was currently over there.

Ruby suddenly went into leader mode, directing her team on what to do. "Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" She ordered. Dropping Russel, Yang and Blake nodded before following the orders.

Pyrrha turned to Ren and Nora as she and Ruby activated their weapons. "You two, go with them! There could be more!" She ordered.


Cardin attempted to run from the following Ursa, but it leapt over its prey and clawed him away. He tried to get up and crawl away. "Crap! Crap, crap!" He said nervously.

Kratos growled at this. Cardin was not a good person, but he didn't deserve to die. He rushed in, attempting to smash his fist into the monster's head, but the monster turned in time and backhanded him into a tree, grunting in pain as he crashed into it.

"Oh, no!" Pyrrha said as she, Ruby, and Weiss came on to the scene, seeing her brother knocked into a tree.

They watch as the Ursa leaned over the helpless victim, raising its paw and swiping it down... only to be blocked by Jaune's shield, Crocea Mors. He struggled to defend a stunned Cardin from its attempted to lean on him.

Weiss lifted Myrtenaster as she prepares to go help, but Pyrrha held up her hand to stop her. "Wait!" She said.

Ryu and Bayonetta also prepared to help, drawing their katanas, but Dante held them back. "Hang on. Let's see how this goes." He said.

"Now I'm positive you're trying to get him killed." Ryu said, but complied, anyway.

Jaune took the shield out from the Ursa's paw and slashed at its stomach, causing it to lash out and try to crush him. He rolled out of the way and jumped over its swipe at his feet, but he was unprepared for when it launched a claw at him in midair. He landed far away, yet was immediately back on his feet and passing Cardin as he charged again. The Ursa knocked Jaune behind it when he tried a leaping attack, and he looked at the scroll in his shield to find out that his Aura level was in the red. He grew angry again and started to run at the Ursa as it also dashed towards him.

As they were just about to clash in slow-motion, Pyrrha saw that Jaune has left himself completely open to the Ursa's attack and lifted her hand out to him, gathering black energy in her arm. Just as the Ursa was about to hit him, the glow surrounded Jaune's shield and made it lift up to block the swipe. Jaune used the surprise defensive move to lean on the ground, pushed his shield back up, and swung his blade right through the Ursa's neck. The head fell to the ground as the body slammed onto the ground.

"WHOA!" SCR said together in disbelief.

Kratos, however, understood completely. "Pyrrha." He said, looking to his sister.

Ruby was shocked and confused as Pyrrha's hand stopped glowing and she smiled. "Uhhh... What?" She asked.

Weiss was equally amazed at this. "How did you...?" She asked as well.

"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs and Kratos has his strength... My Semblance is polarity." Pyrrha explained.

"Whoa, you can control poles..." Ruby said in awe.

Bayonetta facepalmed at her sister's response. "Ruby..." She sighed.

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss explained.

Ruby was still impressed, though. "Magnets are cool, too..." She whispered.

Pyrrha then started to leave. "Wait, where are you going?" She asked.

"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby agreed.

"We could... Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" The redhead suggested, walking away again as Ruby and Weiss smiled to each other in understanding.

"So, Ryu, did this work out better than you expected?" Dante asked teasingly.

Ryu rolled his eyes at this, but nodded. "It actually did." He confirmed.

"Looks like you really underestimated him." Bayonetta said to Kratos as he rejoined the group.

A bruised Jaune sheathed his weapon before going over to Cardin. Cardin, still covered in sap, looked up at Jaune as his savior offered him a hand. Cardin smiled and took it and was lifted back up on his feet.

"Holy crap, Jaune!" He said in disbelief.

"Don't ever mess with my team - my friends - ever again." Jaune said threateningly as he stared Cardin dead in the eye. "Got it?" He demanded.

Cardin looked intimidated, possibly even apologetic. With his order spoken, Jaune tureds and walked away from a still-frozen Cardin. "I did indeed." Kratos said, looking at the blonde with respect and pride.


Later that night, on top of the dorm building, a uniformed Jaune stood on the edge and looked into the distance at the green lights of Beacon.

"No Cardin tonight?" Pyrrha asked, walking to his side as Kratos stood back towards the window. "I thought you two were best buds?" She asked.

Jaune finally swallowed his pride, turning to her. "Pyrrha... I'm sorry. I was a jerk! You were only trying to be nice, and... I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head-" He rambled.

"Jaune! It's okay!" Pyrrha told him, the two sharing a smile.

"Everyone makes mistakes. Learning from them is what's important." Kratos said.

Pyrrha smiled back at her brother as well, before turning back to Jaune. "Your team really misses their leader, you know." She said, beginning to walk to the exit. "You should come down! Ren made pancakes! No syrup, though - you can thank Nora for that!" She said with a giggle.

"That girl is a bottomless pit." Kratos said, turning back with his sister.

Jaune smiles, but held his hand out to them. "Wait!" He called, Pyrrha and Kratos turning around, Jaune looking at them sheepishly. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but... would you still be willing to help me... to help me become a better fighter?" He asked.

Kratos smirked at this while Pyrrha turned around so a worried Jaune wouldn't see her satisfied smile. She went up to Jaune and suddenly pushed her leader to the ground.

"Hey!" He whined.

Pyrrha simply stood over him with her arms on her hips. "Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." She said in an evaluating tone. She offered him her hand, which he graciously accepted, and they continue to hold on to and grin at each other. "Let's try that again." She said.

Kratos slightly narrowed his eyes at this as the blonde continued to hold his sister's hand. "Be lucky she's here, because training with me is going to be tough. You'll almost wish Cardin DID get you sent home." He said in an ominous tone, which successfully put the fear of death in Jaune's eyes.