Uuuum, I can explain? No? Fine, yes, throwing Jaune to the wolves before he even lands on Beacon grounds was cruel, but still! It serves a purpose! Hopefully. Maybe. Anyway, let's get this party started.

I do not own Roosterteeth

or the rights to RWBY

and may Monty Oum be forever unbound by death.

It was late the same night that Ozpin had informed RWBY of the coming battle, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't sleep. Yang was pacing the floor, fuming in silence while Weiss wrote a letter to her sister. Blake read from her… choice selection of literature. Ruby was oddly silent, a look of contemplation taking over her features as she sat on the edge of her bed. The silence was broken when Weiss set down her pen with a sigh, garnering looks from the rest of the team.

"Look, it's pretty obvious it's Jaune, but someone other than Ozpin wants it kept quiet from us, so what do we do?" Yang slowed her pacing and Blake shut her book, setting it under her pillow. Ruby still looked contemplative.

Finally, Blake spoke up. "Do you think they found out about his transcripts?" They all flinched at that. He had told them about his transcripts at the end of their first year. It was fairly well received, as he had proved himself to them by guiding his team to victory in the Vytal Festival. Weiss took it the worst, but got over it shortly after reminding herself who her raven haired friend used to affiliate with.

"It's not impossible, but if they did and this is a method of proving himself, should we throw the match?" Weiss' statement gave everyone pause, except for Ruby who remained in her pensive state. Yang held her chin, tapping her foot in thought as Blake moved to the edge of her bed.

"No." Three gazes snapped onto the form of their youngest member, who's gaze remained affixed to the floor in thought.

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"Isn't he your best friend?"

"This is rather fooli-"

Ruby held up her hand, silencing the other three, though they did appear to be agitated.

"Look, I get it," She stood up, beginning to pace as Yang took her spot on the edge of the bed. "He is my first, and best friend here at Beacon, and it does seem rather foolish, but how would he feel if he knew that we held back when he was fighting to prove himself?" THAT gave the others pause, and Ruby took the silence as an opportunity to continue.

"He would hate us, hate himself, thinking that he couldn't earn his keep on his own. I would devastate him!" She threw her arms into the air to emphasize the point. "That's if whoever's watching doesn't notice us holding back." She finally took her gaze off the floor and placed it on Weiss, who did look a bit sheepish at the statement of fact.

"We are going all out, for his sake." She looked around, determination clear in her eyes. The others matched her gaze and nodded. Yang stood up and clashed her fists together.

"Yeah! Vomit-Boy won't know what hit em!" The others raised their arms at the declaration, determination and ferocity filling the air. They would give it everything they had.

The moment was shattered when a neighboring wall was pounded on, a cry for their silence muffled but still audible from the other side of the wall. They all appeared sheepish at the call out, but their determination was unbroken, wills unshakable.

They were ready.

Jaune was not ready.

He was pacing in front of a row of lockers in the men's locker room. Cinn's trench-coat adorned his figure, and Azul's pauldron sat above it with his chest piece hidden beneath it. His hands were gloved, and a pair of brown cargo pants tucked neatly into brown combat boots. He had a replacement sword and shield/sheathe on his hip, identical to his except for it's palette change and lack of the double arcs on its face. To top it off, a helmet was covering his head. When asked about the design, he decided on one that matched the Watcher's he had fought before Port found him. It was a sleek blue dome with a golden orb in its center. One way glass made up its entirety, and its density was military grade. It did well to hide his figure, but that wasn't what Jaune was worried about.

No, what bothered him was the coming battle.

The RWBY he remembered was fierce, with each person deserving their high rankings in Combat Class. Their teamwork was nothing to scoff at either. While their tactics may be questionable at times, unorthodox at others, they never failed to somehow defeat those that stood against them.

So it was one whole team, one considered the best of their year, against one of the worst of the same year.

He had more than enough reason to panic.

Sadly, his time to lament at his own situation was cut short by a text from Ozpin on his phone. The message was short and simple. "It's time." Nothing else had to be said, he knew he had to head out and face the fire. Ride the lightning. Taking comfort from the warmth of the trench-coat and a little sadness at the state of its previous owner, he left the locker rooms.

He would prove his worth here and now.

RWBY walked out to the center of the arena. The surrounding stands were full of students across all years, and the took time to look over the audience. They spotted CFVY cheering them on, and _NPR was in the front row. Professor Port and Prof- "Doctor!" right, Doctor Oobleck were off to the side, conversing to one another. Goodwitch was waiting by off the side of the center of the arena, waiting the arrival of both sides.

They didn't have to wait for long, as the "mysterious" transfer student walked up to the assembled team. His helmet did well to unnerve them, and it was even better at hiding his features. The left sleeve of the trench-coat was tied in a knot at the shoulder, the excess cloth tapering off for a few inches, clearly showing the state of the appendage underneath.

Neither said any words for a minute, before Ruby finally spoke up.

"Good luck, and may the best Huntsman, or Huntress, win!" She cheerfully said, earning a respectful nod from the lone student. They backed away a few feet, and once Goodwitch checked to make sure everything was ready, he raised her riding crop.

"Begin!"

To nobody's surprise, Yang tore forwards while Blake and Ruby flanked from either side, shouts of effort coming from both as they sprinted forth. Weiss fell to a supportive position behind the three, casting multiple glyphs that rained shards of ice from a distance. What she didn't account for was the dust and ice particles it would kick up, effectively blinding and halting RBY's progress. Jaune wasted no time, infusing some aura into his shield before hurling it at Blake. She was caught off guard by the sudden move, resulting in her taking it directly to the stomach, ripping the air from her lungs.

The shield glowed and returned to Jaune's arm as he spun, ending with a slam to the side of Blake's head, taking a chunk of aura with it. He was forced back as Yang leapt in-between her partner and the knight. Ruby was no slouch either, as she quickly moved forward to sweep out Jaune's legs from under him. He wasn't allowed to go very far, as a glyph had formed behind him and kept him from dodging Ruby's swipe, forcing him to lose 4% of his aur-

4%!

This was the thought that went through everyone's head. A person's aura capacity went up the more it was damaged, much like how muscle fibers tear before reforming stronger than they were before. This level of aura was insane, it suggested that his aura had been beaten to exhaustion almost as quickly as it could refill. Even Jaune was surprised, but he knew better than to waste time marveling. That lesson had been soundly beaten into his head.

Jaune threw Ruby off of him and hurled his shield at Weiss. The sound of metal striking aura snapped everyone out of their stupor as they regained their bearings. Jaune had made it to Weiss as she was doubled over, unable to stop the shield from returning to his arm. He slammed Weiss' head downwards and was about to follow up before the back of his head was slammed by a high caliber round, and his back was peppered with buckshot and small caliber rounds. He grit his teeth as he continued to focus on Weiss.

Doesn't matter how much aura I have if they shred it like this.

He charge Weiss once more, forcing her entire form onto the face of his shield before he carried and shoved her out of bounds. Goodwitch signaled her out of the fight as he spun around to deflect the hailstorm of Dust propelled bullets being sent his way. Being prepared for bullets and receiving an aura powered punch left much different results, however, as Yang's fist met the center of his shield. With a smirk, she unleashed a volley of high speed punches towards Jaune, the pace only increasing as time went on.

Not to be outdone, Jaune met each strike with the center of his shield, resulting in neither giving an inch. Blake and Ruby took the time to reload their weapons before dashing into the fray. Ruby tried to get around Jaune and Yang to get a better shot at his back, while Blake opted to try and force him to back off. In response, he dodged to the side just as Yang sent a powerful strike his way, leaving her stumbling. Blake had no time to change course as she struck Yang's side instead.

Jaune rushed Ruby, following another thrown shield as he made his way over. Ruby used her semblance to dash past his approaching form, moving to land more shots in his back. He could do nothing as she had dashed by his left side. He focused on his shield, and it returned in time for him to block a sniper round. He checked the aura readers.

Transfer Student- 73%

Ruby- 92%

Yang- 70%

Blake- 76%

This could be going better. Jaune thought as he moved to the side, dodging an approach from Yang. He saw Blake approaching from the corner of his eye, and he smirked from behind his helmet. Just as Yang sent a punch that was now powered by her semblance, he dropped low. The strike sailed over his head, letting him slam her chin with the point of his shield. He sent her back with a bash from his shoulder just as another rifle round glanced off his pauldron. He waited a few seconds, before spinning around and blocking a sneak attack from the cat faunus. Her eyes widened before he shoulder checked her, forcing a slight backpedal on her behalf before digging the point of his shield into her gut. Her aura flared before a scythe forcibly separated the two.

The look on Ruby's face was one of pure determination as she followed up the downward swing with an upward swipe that tore Jaune's shield upwards and away. He jumped back but couldn't avoid the horizontal conclusion to the three strike attack sent his way. The young huntress smirked as she blitzed forward before her world was flipped upside down. As she fell to the floor, she spotted the shield come from underneath her feet and move in Jaune's direction before her airborne body was sent sprawling by a shoulder check from Jaune.

Yang saw red when she witnessed Jaune pull that stunt on her little sister, and her aura (and hair) flared in response as her eyes went red. With a furious scream, she leapt forth with a punch leading the charge. She slammed the back of his head, forcing him to fly forward. He stuck out his only hand and spun on the floor before he kipped up, ready to block the raging bull that was Yang Xiao-Long.

Jaune could feel his arm going numb as the other blonde's assault refused to let up before a ballistic chain scythe wrapped around his torso and yanked him backwards. He looked over his shoulder just for his nose to meet the fist of an angry kitty. Said kitty began to unload her other clip into his side before he slammed his head upwards and into her face. She was forced to let go and her form was slammed again, this time from his shield that dug its edge into her ribs. A buzzer went off, signaling her defeat.

Just as Jaune stood up fully, Yang was back on him again, and now she was forcing him to the edge of the arena with her assault. He was starting to struggle with her ferocity. The sheer power behind each blow was damaging his aura even through his shield. He felt he heels at the arena's edge and grit his teeth. This was it, it's over.

NO! I REFUSE to go down here!

With a shout, he ducked down once more and spun around to Yang's side. She was caught completely off-guard by the maneuver, so she could do nothing as he slammed the face of his shield in a backhanded swing into her form, forcing her out of bounds. Jaune was left panting but turned to face the final member of Team RWBY, its leader nonetheless. It would prove to be his undoing, however, as he turned just in time to see her scythe inches from his midsection. Time seemed to slow as his eyes widened behind the helmet, and Ruby never lost her look of determination as she shouted with effort. He was caught in the crook of her scythe, and using her momentum, she forced him out of bounds. The buzzer went off, and now Ruby was left panting at the arena's edge. All was silent until Goodwitch finally caught up with what happened and announced the results. Ruby's eyes finally went wide in realization just as she heard the statement echo throughout the hall.

"Team RWBY wins!"