Jaune Arc
There was silence in the room as everyone looked between Jaune and Ozpin, who both looked like they were having a staring contest. Jaune had a conflicted look on his face while Ozpin looked calm as usual.
"But that talk can wait. I'm sure your friends have lots of things to say." Ozpin ducked out of the room, clutching his steaming cup of coffee tightly.
As soon as the door closed behind the headmaster, the chatter started.
"Jaune, what were you thinking? You almost died!" Ruby cried out, her voice heavy with concern. "i don't want to lose my only friend here!"
"But you gotta admit, the explosion was pretty cool." Yang said. She welped as Ruby dug her elbow into her side and elbowed Ruby back.
Jaune tuned them out as they fought between them, still staring at the door. Ozpin seemed...strange today.
And what was all that about Ozpin not being on the board with us? He seems human and seems to care deeply about the safety of the students. And why did her words affect me so much? I mean, for all I know she's just doing this to unsettle me. Hell, it could just be a nightmare for all I know!
"Jaune, are you alright? You seem a little distracted." Pyrrha finally spoke up.
"Yeah, almost dying will do that to you." Jaune say Pyrrha's expression and immediately felt bad. "Sorry about that, just thinking of some stuff."
"Jaune…" Pyrrha started in a reproaching tone.
"Pyrrha, relax! Jaune's alive, so everything is fine. Anyways, what was up with the explosion? Do you remember anything before that point?" Yang turned away from Ruby and looked at Jaune.
"Well, I remember setting the charges that caused the explosion and running like hell. That's when the explosion happened." Jaune said offhandedly, as if it wasn't that big of a deal.
A stunned silence met his statement.
"You…you set off that explosion? Why? Being that close to the explosion, it was dangerous!" Ruby piped up, eyes wide.
"Well, I knew that that deathstalker was bad news and I knew it would be difficult to fight both it and the Nevermore at the same time. So I rigged that up to kill the Deathstalker and distract the Nevermore so you guys could get away. Simple decision, really."
They all contemplated that while Jaune looked at each of them in turn.
Ruby spoke up again. "How did you manage to create such a large explosion? You only had the gadgets in your pouch, nothing that could've created such a large explosion."
"Like I said Ruby, trade secrets. But I will tell you one thing, sound can be really powerful."
Ruby looked even more confused at that, but decided to drop the issue.
Jaune glanced at the duo that lingered by the door, one chattering constantly into the other's ear.
The talkative one looked short with short orange hair. Her turquoise darted around the room wildly and her arms flailed in passionate motions. She wore a collared black vest and a sleeveless white top with a heart shaped hole near the neck. She had matching pink fingerless gloves on, and a mid-thigh length pink skirt.
Her partner was quiet and stared at Jaune while seemingly ignoring his talkative partner. He had long straight black hair that hung down his face. One strand was painted bright pink, the same color as his eyes.
He wore a forest green long-sleeved tailcoat with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. Wrist armor was visible when the sleeve moved up his arm. He also wore light tan pants that lacked any design.
"So, uh, what's the team situation Pyrrha? Who'd we end up with?"
"Ozpin announced the teams after you were declared stable. They're the other half of our team, team JNPR. She's Nora and he's Ren." Pyrrha pointed at the talkative one and the quiet one in order.
"That's pretty cool. So which one of you three is the leader?" Jaune looked back at Pyrrha.
"Uh, none actually. Ozpin made you the leader."
Jaune almost sprang out of bed to find Ozpin and strangle him. His lab time was already cut short due to school but now Ozpin made him team leader? He would have to plan activities, help his team out with any problems. As a wise woman once said, 'Ain't nobody got time for that'.
"Uh, do you think he's going senile? I mean, I almost killed myself with my own bomb and he made me leader? That defies all logic!" Jaune desperately looked at each member of his team, even Ruby and Yang, for support.
"Jaune, he saw the same thing I did in the cafeteria yesterday. You have the qualities to be a wonderful leader. Just give yourself a chance."
Jaune sighed, realizing he couldn't win this.
"Alright fine. I'll be the leader. Now let's go, we've waster enough time talking as it is."
Jaune climbed out of bed and followed his new team out the door and to his new room.
It was spacious, with two beds on each side of the room. There was an attached bathroom and kitchenette, as well as four small wardrobes next to the beds. There was a window to the outside opposite to the door and it gave a great view of the Beacon grounds.
The same grounds that she showed me, desolate and destroyed. Damn it, why does that keep coming up?
Jaune saw suitcases already unpacked next to three of the beds, and moved to sit on the empty one. All his stuff had already been packed in his room before initiation and it had been put in a corner.
He retrieved it and started packing away his stuff inside the wardrobe while his teammates chatted quietly. He went to the bathroom and changed out of his hospital garb into more comfortable clothes.
He went back to his bed and joined the conversation during a lull.
"So Ren, Nora, where are you guys from?"
Nora was the one to speak up, unsurprisingly. "Oh Ren and I are orphans, we were admitted to this school when we helped defend our town from a large Grimm invasion. Ren was so cool, slicing beowolves apart and blowing their heads off with his fists, and me, well I was careening through the air, smashing into everything and blowing stuff up! Ren and I work really well together since we've live together for years, but not together-together. I really like pancakes and Ren is really quiet and I like that because he listens to me, and he is amazing. He also is really smart and helps me out. He cooks the best pancakes and omigod they are the best things ever! Did I tell you I really love pancakes? His are so soft and I love putting maple syrup on them and- "
"Nora." Ren interrupted her rambling as Jaune and Pyrrha looked on in shock. How did Ren manage to survive with this veritable fountain of energy for years?
"Sorry Ren, I just got excited. We already know about Pyrrha here, but what about you, fearless leader. What's your story?"
Jaune was tempted to say 'Oh, I'm just from across the universe, ended up here, almost died once, and have invented such things that would blow your mind. Oh did I mention I have clones I can possess? Can't forget those.'
"I'm actually not from here, I travelled here from afar, outside of the Kingdoms." Jaune said instead, not technically lying.
"Outside of the kingdoms? Life must have been tough." Pyrrha said.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. To me it was all I'd known." His life indeed had been tough, but not because of Grimm, but because of problems he couldn't solve. He let them draw their conclusions from his statement.
"Anyways, we can know more about each other later. It's almost 9 and we have classes starting tomorrow. We don't want to be late on the first day, do we?" Pyrrha gathered some clothes and headed to the bathroom to change, leaving behind a schedule.
First Year Schedule for Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, of Team JNPR
Apparently partners had every class together, except for some extra classes Jaune had to take due to being a leader. He noticed that every class on their first day was academic and breathed a sigh of relief. He would have the whole day to himself in the lab.
The joy turned sour when he realized that he was now an assistant in the Weapons division and would have students coming in to get his help with their problems. Damn it all, why did I even accept this?
Pyrrha got out of the bathroom and Nora went in next. Jaune strode over to Pyrrha and nudged her, speaking quietly.
"Pyrrha, I am so sorry, but I will not be able to attend any academic classes with you, since I will be working in my lab in the R&D wing. Again, I am so sorry, but I really have no choice. My research is really that important."
Pyrrha looked at him stunned. "Wait, so you're telling me Ozpin took you on to do research here at Beacon? You have your own lab?" Something akin to realization dawned on her face. "Ozpin told us Beacon had a bright new Weapons assistant that would help us with any weapon problems we had. Is that you too?"
Jaune smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, that's me."
Pyrrha smiled, a little amazed. "Jaune, you must be exceptionally brilliant!" Another realization seemed to hit her. "Did you make all the gadgets you carry yourself?"
"That's right, every single one, made by yours truly."
"You'll have to show me what they do soon, they looked very interesting."
"Will do." Jaune turned away and slipped into his bed. He felt better than he had in the past week which was ironic since he had just recently almost died.
His aura was completely full, and he felt well rested. The real reason for his happiness lay in the fact that he now had friends that cared for him. For the past several years of his short life he had never truly had friends outside of his family, merely teammates and acquaintances.
He smiled before slipping into the now-familiar shell of the Prometheus C for a night on the town.
Today was a special day for today was the day Jaune had decided to confront Roman Torchwick. He had worked to bankrupt some of Roman's allies and suppliers. He had also finalized deals with various other competing groups to supply them with slightly superior technology for a lower price.
Overall, the past month was spent forcing Roman into a desperate position, where he would make bad decisions and generally make Jaune's life easier.
He had been upgrading this particular Prometheus C suit with some of his prototype technology. He had placed multiple sensors over the clone's body that connected to a motion tracker and alert system on the HUD. It would be hard to surprise Jaune, but not impossible. Anything faster than the average first year student at Beacon could not be easily blocked due to Jaune's reaction times. They still gave him a warning and that was better than nothing.
Jaune had added a full head helmet to his outfit that had a better HUD and more complex computer systems. He had attached a rear facing camera to better see his periphery and though the whole effect of looking backwards was disorienting and confusing, it was worth it. Along with the helmet, Jaune had also donned gauntlets that covered his forearms, similar to Yang's. Instead of firing Dust rounds, he had installed nozzles that sprayed gas or powders. Jaune knew that gasses were not blocked by aura and he intended to exploit that.
One of the chemicals he had was chlorine trifluoride, a chemical that would burn almost anything it came in contact with, except a couple metals. Jaune intended to use this as a trump card, since he knew it would devastate whatever it landed on, potentially killing the enemy. The other chemicals were less deadly, but not less potent. One of them was thioacetone. A volatile substance, even minute quantities of it would render anyone who smelled it violently ill and unable to do anything.
He had built an air filtering system into his helmet but as with everything, it wasn't perfect. Jaune would still have to exercise caution around anything toxic.
I feel sorry for anyone close by when I have to self-destruct this body. Getting blown up, set on fire, and becoming violently ill is never fun.
Junior, who had been constantly feeding Jaune information in exchange for security, had told him Torchwick would be hitting a dust store in South Vale that night. The store was in a suburb but set away from the rest of buildings.
Jaune had no idea what Torchwick had been thinking of doing with all the Dust he had been stealing for months, but whatever he was doing, he was not selling it. The prices of Dust had been going up, causing Jaune consternation as his supply had been getting slightly smaller over the month or so he had been at Beacon.
Walking through the dark streets, Jaune was quiet and none of the people noticed him as he walked by. The less people saw of his very peculiar getup, the better. He didn't want his picture on the front page of every newspaper in Vale the next day as that would make it harder to use this body in public.
He turned the corner into the street the store was on and walked in. It was a bright, cheery place with crystals of every sort in display cases. A white haired ancient looking man was at the counter and looked bored out of his mind.
Jaune took his time walking through the store, pretending to look at the variety of crystals and vials of the powdered Dust as if contemplating a purchase.
After about 5 minutes of aimless wandering, the door opened again. A tall, orange haired, bowler hat wearing man stepped in, swinging his cane around his finger. His eyes were slanted and dark green, one covered by his bangs. He wore a long white suit with a grey scarf around his neck.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A Dust shop, unguarded, with no one around to help. Now, you can already tell what I want, and unlike you, I do have help. Boys!" The man, who could only be Roman Torchwick based on Junior's description, called. At his command, men in black suits and red ties streamed into the store and took their positions at the entrance.
And the presence of Junior's men confirms it. There's the man of the hour.
"Now, I want you to hand over every ounce and every single speck of Dust you have in this here shop. I don't have all day, I got places to go, people to rob blind." Roman continued, tone condescending. He continued to bark orders at the help, insults towards their intelligence and their worth scattered throughout.
After all the Dust was packed away, Torchwick turned and motioned for the men to follow him. They trudged after him, carrying boxes upon boxes of crystals and powder. Jaune followed, moving into the shadows of the street.
Torchwick strutted around a corner into a large space between buildings and looked up. Jaune crouched near the alley entrance and peered upwards hoping to see what Torchwick was waiting on.
His question was soon answered as a Bullhead appeared, lights off, engine quiet. It hovered and lowered itself to the ground. Torchwick motioned again and the men began loading into the cargo space of the Bullhead which had opened as it landed.
Torchwick watched for a little while, muttering things about the help's "unfortunate brain damage" and "lowered intelligence".
Junior wasn't kidding. This guy has arrogance down to an art.
As the number of crates wound down, Torchwick walked into the airship. The door started slowly closing behind him and Jaune managed to dart in. He was in a very small room with four chairs and two doors. One door led to the back of the aircraft, presumably to the cargo hold and the other to the front. That door had closed as soon as Jaune had entered.
Jaune sat down in a chair, waiting for liftoff. The door to the cargo hold opened, almost smacking Jaune in the face. It closed and one of Junior's men walked through, missing Jaune behind the door. He continued on to the cockpit door and knocked thrice and then turned and walked back into the cargo hold.
The engines rumbled to life, the seat vibrating beneath him. The craft rose up and hovered for a second before accelerating forwards. Jaune noted the direction the craft was heading in based on the compass in his HUD. He had a rough idea of the speed at which Bullheads travelled and from that he could deduce the location of the safehouse the Dust was to be stored in.
The trip didn't take long, minutes at maximum. The lights turned on and Jaune adopted a casual pose, waiting for Torchwick and the pilot to step out.
The door slid open and Torchwick stepped out, his head to the cockpit. "Yeah yeah Neo, real funny. At least this operation went smoothly, no little red girls to screw us ov…who the hell are you?"
Torchwick had finally turned his around and saw Jaune sitting there innocently. His expression was a curious mixture of surprise and confusion and Jaune knew he would remember it for a long time. It was just hilarious on the man's face.
Jaune feigned confusion. "Who me? Why Torchwick, you must have heard of me, no?"
Torch wick's composure returned, though slightly tinged with apprehension. "The Prometheans saw fit to deal with me directly? No more stealing from my suppliers?"
"That's right Torchwick, you little genius you. They wanted me to have a little chat with you. I'm sure your large brain is able to figure out a reason?"
Torchwick merely grit his teeth and opened his mouth. Thinking better of it, he turned and yanked to door open and stalked out. Jaune got up, stretched and followed. It felt good to have the upper hand so far.
He followed Torchwick into a large warehouse. The inside was dark, but Jaune could see stacks on stacks of metal crates crammed into every corner.
Jaune almost whistled. This is enough Dust to run an army. What the hell is he going to do with all this?
Torchwick continued to say nothing, leading him to the far corner of the warehouse where took some stairs down to an underground room.
Like Torch wick's clothes, it was lavish and well furnished. There was a liquor cabinet on the wall and a sofa next to it. A TV hung on the wall next to the door with the sofa facing it. Jaune sat down on the sofa while Torchwick prepared a drink for himself.
You'll need it after I'm done with you Torchwick.
Jaune eyed Torchwick as the tall man sat down on an armchair that was at right angles to the sofa.
"What do you want? Money, men, information? If it's the latter, you've come to the wrong place my helmeted friend." Torchwick lit a cigar.
Jaune just smiled and laughed a little, as if at a little kid's antics. "Torchwick, you aren't being very nice right now. What if the Prometheans wanted to be partners? Would you turn them away so roughly?"
Torch wick's eyes widened slightly, though he may as well have held up a sign that declared his surprise.
"A partnership? Why?" Torch wick's tone was cautious, as if not believing what Jaune was saying.
"Do you really need to know the reason? We buy stuff from you, you get stuff from us. It's really not that hard to understand Torchwick, I'm starting to have doubts about you. I was told I would be talking to someone smart."
Torchwick spluttered angrily and was about to retort when Jaune held up his hand.
"And please, do tell the charming lady in the corner to sheathe her sword. I don't like being threatened during negotiations." Jaune's voice was ice-cold.
Jaune saw Torch wick's eyes widen even more and he savored that feeling. He turned to look at the girl standing behind Jaune. "Neo, uh, please do come sit with us. Our guest would appreciate it."
Jaune cringed inwardly at the terrible, terrible attempt at getting control of the conversation. Was he even trying? The Torchwick described to him was cool, suave, controlling and intimidating. This Torchwick was starting to get embarrassing. Jaune would've called off the partnership and left if he hadn't the amount of Dust crates in the warehouse.
"Hello Neo, how kind of you to join us. Now, Torchwick, I want to know your decision." Jaune's voice returned to his previous warm, slightly playful voice, as if it was all a game to him.
"You haven't set down any terms, any conditions. Do you even know how partnerships work?" Torchwick smirked, trying to show superiority by telling Jaune to state his terms. Jaune just shook his head internally at the pathetic attempt.
Seriously, have I surprised him that much? Is my getup too scary? Maybe I should make the helmet less obvious, make it a bit more streamlined.
"Oh Torchwick, haven't you ever had an open partnership? You ask me to do something, I ask you to do something. We figure out the exact number and amount of askings and doings as we go along. Both of us are happy and it's a win-win all around."
"That just sounds like a friendship." Torchwick squinted at him. "Are you trying to say you want to be friends?"
"If that is the term you want to put on it, be my guest. It's really strange to come to that conclusion, not going to lie, but I can see why you would want a friend, staying locked up in here, surrounded by idiots. Not you Neo, you seem clever."
Neo still hadn't lost her expression of surprise since he had called her out. Jaune was really enjoying that look on people's faces.
Torchwick merely ground the cigar between his teeth while glaring at Jaune. "Fine, I accept." He managed to spit out.
"Wonderful! That will be it for today Roman. May I call you that? Or how about Big R? That sounds like a great nickname between friends. Until later, Big R. See you around Neo."
Jaune got up and strolled out of the room and up the stairs, his rear camera seeing the dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
JAUNE ARC WINS. FLAWLESS VICTORY
Jaune decided to celebrate later, wanting to get back to Beacon. Even with his self-control, he couldn't help but feel excitement bubbling in him.
He had just beaten one of the smartest criminals in Vale in a negotiation. It wasn't much of a negotiation either, Jaune had been in control since the beginning. He had thought it would've come to blows when he had called Neo out.
Luckily, it hadn't. He knew he would have no chance against the both of them and didn't want to test out his trump cards. His dad was right, confidence was key.
Oh Torchwick, you really screwed up today. Not even making any counter offers? No alternate terms? Not asking for anything as insurance? What are you, an amateur?
Jaune continued down the dark and isolated city streets, humming a merry tune.
Roman Torchwick
"We may have a problem here Neo, and I have no idea how to deal with it."
Neo and Torchwick were still sitting where they had been when Jaune left, mulling over the one-sided conversation that just happened.
Neo looked at Torchwick with one eyebrow raised as if to say, 'Really? I never would have guessed.'
"What the hell do the Prometheans want from me? They seem to have every resource needed to steal anything they want from any of the gangs. They don't need to be making partnerships! Yet they still are. I heard Junior had a pretty good weapons and equipment deal going on with them, but those are only rumors."
Neo continued to look at him, waiting for him to continue his thought.
"Neo, I think we should talk to the boss."
Neo's eyes widened at that. Torchwick had made it a point never to go to the boss unless she summoned him. He didn't admit it, but Neo had known Torchwick long enough to know he was beyond terrified of her, no matter what bravado he showed around her and her cronies.
Torchwick whipped his scroll out and dialed the number.
"Hello, Cinder? Yeah, it's me. We, and by that I do mean we, have a problem."
Jaune Arc
A few days later
Jaune woke up before the others, a byproduct of being practically a vegetable during the night. He tended to need less sleep than the average person, which was great. He had gotten into the routine of getting ready before everyone and heading to the cafeteria to secure breakfast and a table for teams JNPR and Ruby's team, team RWBY consisting of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang.
After breakfast, they would head their separate ways, some to History, some to Grimm studies, and Jaune to his lab.
Today was different however as today was the first combat class on the year. Jaune had been looking forward to a spar with someone who was not trying to turn him into tomato juice.
The teams headed together to Goodwitch's classroom after breakfast and chatted about who they thought was going to fight and who would win.
The classroom was a sizeable auditorium with a large stage that had a raised platform that took up most of it. There was a large screen hanging on the wall that would allow the contestants to check both their and their opponent's aura levels during the duel.
They all sat down together in one row near the front. Ruby was bouncing in her seat, Yang was leaning back surveying the rest of the room, Blake was reading, Weiss was filing her nails, Nora was yapping away into Ren's ear, Ren was looking serene and calm as usual, and Pyrrha was looking at the door waiting for Goodwitch.
Jaune just sat back in his chair listening to the conversation around and focusing on his own aura, thinking of the ways he could use it against his opponent. He was thinking about somehow using his aura as a way to turn himself into a spinning tornado of death when Glynda cleared her throat.
"If Mr. Arc would please attention to what I'm saying. I would not want anyone to get hurt during the spar due to inattention."
Jaune grinned at her sheepishly and gave her a little wave. She continued in her explanation of the rules.
"This will be a tournament duel, as usual. First person to go into the red or be thrown out of the arena is the loser. Anything goes, you will have time in between rounds to change out of your uniform if you so wish. Locker rooms are to the right out of the door. Now for our first battle, Ruby Rose of team RWBY and Russel Thrush of team CRDL, please come to the stage."
The battle was short, with Ruby's speed and skill with her sniper-scythe (seriously, I can't believe someone looked at that and thought it was a good idea, Jaune thought) outmatching the green haired combatant.
The rest of the day went on, battle after battle, none of them too spectacular or drawn out. Pyrrha won her match without a single hit landing on her, Nora had launched her opponent out of the arena within minutes, and Ren had outmaneuvered his opponent, eventually finishing him off with an aura laced punch to the face that shattered the other's aura.
"And now for our last match of the day, Jaune Arc of team JNPR and Cardin Winchester of team CRDL"
Jaune almost sprang out of his seat, grabbing his sword, but leaving his shield in sheath form. He checked to make sure his pouches were secure before heading to the front of the room, armor already worn.
His opponent was much taller than Jaune, towering at least a head above him. His hair was combed back, and he had thick silver armor that covered his chest and arms, as well as his thighs. He carried a large mace with black flanges and a red crystal in the center.
Jaune stared at the cockiness the boy displayed as he swaggered up to the platform.
"Jaune is it? Weren't you the only one to go to the hospital after initiation? Maybe this is the wrong school for you. Anyways, we'll figure it out, after I wipe the floor with you."
Huh, maybe Torchwick and Cardin can teach the class on arrogance on alternate days?
"As you said, we'll figure it out." Jaune replied.
"Combatants ready? Begin." Glynda announced.
Jaune knew Cardin would rush him, hoping to get close to Jaune to prevent any escape routes. Jaune saw the way Cardin handled the mace and knew that if he got hit by that, his aura would take a dip.
He waited for the swing to come towards his head and dropped to the floor, allowing the swing to pass him by. Cardin tried to correct his over swing, but the momentum of the mace won out. Cardin stumbled, tripping over Jaune's prone body, but getting up just after Jaune did.
Jaune swung forward at Cardin's unprotected legs, keeping the taller boy slightly off balance. He kept slicing, never letting Cardin fall or recover his balance, using the boy's massive height to his own disadvantage.
Glancing at the board, Jaune saw that the meter showed Cardin's aura had barely gone down halfway through the green, even after the countless slashes that Jaune had delivered.
It was time for something bigger. Stabbing the point of his sword into Cardin's chestplate, he forced the boy to fall over. He activated a scorch crystal and channeled the heat into the blade, heating it up.
As Cardin rose to confront Jaune, the red hot blade arced through the air, sparks forming in the air behind the sword as the air ionized due to the heat.
Cardin managed to get his mace up in time to block the blade, and pushed Jaune backwards. His superior strength winning out, Jaune fell to his back but used the momentum to somersault backwards and onto his feet.
Jaune saw the mace falling down to his position, the black and grey metal twinkling maliciously. Jaune felt the heat from his own blade, he was aware of everything in his surroundings in a moment of perfect concentration.
Gathering up his aura into his legs, he sprang upwards at just the right moment, throwing a water crystal at his own blade and activating it. The mace missed him, but the water crystal exploded on impact with his own heated blade.
All the aura Jaune had put into it was used in an instant to form gallons of water. Which landed on a sword. A sword made of superheated metal.
Steam exploded from the blade, throwing Jaune higher into the air and slamming Cardin's head to the ground. Their immediate surroundings were immediately covered in hot steam, making it impossible to see anything. Jaune couldn't use his goggles for fear of causing water and temperature damage.
He activated a small wind crystal next, creating a small cyclone around him, just enough to create calm directly around him but a swirling mass of steam further out.
Jaune rushed the position where he had seen Cardin last. He wasn't there. Jaune cursed, pumping more aura into the wind crystal to create a bigger radius of clear air around him.
He waited for a few seconds, trying to listen to footsteps of the large boy, but all sound was muffled by the dense steam.
Sighing, Jaune pulled out an Ice crystal, sending very small amounts of aura through it. It was enough to draw heat from the steam, but not enough to convert it into ice.
Slowly, the steam started clearing and the air got very humid, very fast. The cyclone of steam he had created turned into a mass of rotating water droplets that were flung out when they got too big.
Great, I turned myself into a lawn sprinkler. Maybe I should join Ruby in the 'Uses gardening tools as an offense' Club.
Jaune finally caught sight of Cardin, standing on the other side of the arena, black shirt completely soaked underneath his armor, a complete deadweight. Cardin caught sight of him as well and rushed forward once more.
The weight of the water inside the shirt was reflected in the clumsy strikes that Jaune could parry with ease. Utilizing jets of aura as boosters to add more power to his swings, he slowly started parrying strikes less and started going on the offensive.
He started hammering on Cardin, strikes landing on his body parts in seemingly random order. Head, chest, left arm, stomach, shoulder, right leg, and so on.
Cardin slowly grew more tired as the weight of his shirt and the aura depletion worked against him. Eventually, he stopped even trying to hit Jaune and focused on not getting battered.
Jaune glanced at the screen, his aura was still in the green, going down slightly as he used it to power his strikes. A good position.
Cardin's was a different matter altogether. It was being torn away in chunks with each hit Jaune managed to land on the boy.
This continued on for half a minute longer before Cardin collapsed in utter exhaustion and Glynda called the match. Jaune immediately sheathed his sword and bowed to the prone boy, mockery in every corner of his body language.
"I guess you were right Cardin; we did figure out whether this was the right school for me."
Obligatory AN: What'd you think of the chapter? Anything I can fix? Anything you especially liked? Please review and PM me with this stuff, I love to get them and it helps me write better. Thanks for reading!
