"Of course. It just had to be this room!" Cardin thought, raging internally. He'd finally found where the weekend classes were but they were located in the room with a really squeaky door. There was no way he'd be able to enter discreetly.

The mace-wielder could here Professor Oobleck talking at 90 miles per hour inside accompanied by the sound of him zipping around the room to help each student with their work.

"Oh well, here goes nothing."

Cardin pushed the door open gently, hoping to avoid making to much noise but to no avail. The former bully cringed heavily as the door creaked as if it hadn't been oiled in decades. Funny how a noise that seemed insignificant could sound so deafening in the right circumstances. The ginger watched with bated breath as everyone in the room glared at him with a mixture of contempt and utter hatred.

"Ah, Mr. Winchester! What can I do for you?" Oobleck asked, closing the distance between the two faster than anyone could blink. In his first few days, the Professor's flash stepping would cause him to flinch but now it was just sort of…expected.

"I'm...uh, here for the weekend classes?

The ginger heard someone at the back of the class snort.

"Hmm. Mr. Winchester, why was the Battle of Fort Castle the turning point of the Faunus War?"

"Well, it's mostly due to the resources lost in the battle."

Cardin, to the amazement of the class and Oobleck, launched into a five-minute speech about the loss of the human armies most talented soldiers, many of the more talented recruits, as well as supplies left the human forces with a lack of resources and vulnerable to counterattack.

"Excellent! Simply excellent! Take a seat Mr. Winchester; we're just starting the theories surrounding some of the rumours of the war

"Damn it…"

"I've only just started that topic."

"No matter, the purpose of this class is to identify weaknesses in your knowledge so that we can aid you. Take a seat, Mr. Winchester I'm here if you need me."

And with that, Cardin walked over to his seat while Oobleck all but teleported over to a student with their hand raised. Flicking through his history textbook until he reached the page number he was looking for.

"Alright, why was General Lagune, an inexperienced general, trusted with so many resources. Hmm…Oh god dammit. Ok let's see, he wasn't exactly a favourite with the government and he was only just promoted…"

"Ok Mr. Winchester, do you need help?"

"Yeah, um…I'm not sure why Lagune was trusted so much?"

"Think about his family…"

"Hmm…he had a strong military background."

"Don't think too hard Cardin. You'll hurt yourself."

Cardin looked over his shoulder to see a tall, dark-haired man wearing jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket. His name was Marty Sam and Cardin had butted heads with him quite a few times. Cardin viewing him as a violent, whiny, arrogant tosser who only managed to make friends because he was 'cool' and Crimson…well, he thought what everyone else did of Cardin.

"Piss off! I'm here to learn."

"Ooh, feisty. Maybe you should calm down before I teach you some manners."

"Enough! Crimson, don't provoke him! Cardin, don't take the bait! Now do your work!"

The day wore on like this. Crimson tormenting Cardin, the mace-wielder biting back and Oobleck stopping the arguments from turning into a brawl right then and there.

"The hell is this guys problem?"*

"Alright class, it's almost time for lunch! Excellent work today, especially you Cardin. Nice to see you finally taking an interest."

And with those words, he zipped out of the room immediately. The students took a more relaxed stance and trudged out slowly, chatting idly with their friends. The ginger walked slowly, making sure all of his stuff was in order when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Do you nee-"

Cardin didn't get to finish his words before a fist slammed into his nose, sending him reeling. The former bully fought back tears while blood trickled down his throat.

"What the-"

He tried to retaliate, but his assailant ducked under and pushed him up against the wall. Cardin looked through bleary eyes and saw the leather jacket and deep purple eyes, knowing instantly who it was.

"I don't like you, Cardin." Crimson whispered sinisterly into his ear.

"Racism, stupidity, bullying. It's all I can do to not beat you into the ground right now."

Cardin took advantage of his close proximity to stamp the heel of his foot into the soft spot of Crimson's ankle and shoving him violently into the opposite wall.

"Gargh! You've got some fight in you. Good, you'll be needing it on Friday."

"Why?"

"I've organised a duel with Ms. Goodwitch after last period. I'm gonna make you regret messing with the other students."

The tiny, logical voice in Cardin's mind told him that this was a bad idea. That he shouldn't go through with it. The pain coursing through his nose and skull quickly overshadowed that voice.

"Fine, I'll see you then."

The rest of the week flew by insanely quick Cardin thought as he took his place on the stage. He scanned the crowd, hoping to find his teammates present. They weren't.

"This is the second time they've abandoned me."

Taking another look at the crowd, Cardin felt a sense of hopelessness wash over him. Their faces were hateful and twisted in anticipation, not a single friendly face amongst them. He found himself reminded of Velvet's outburst on Sunday.

"Do you really think one day of good things makes up for three months of loneliness and suffering?"

Three months…

"All that time I've been acting like a jerkass and I thought that one sudden change would fix everything? What have I been thinking? How could I think this would work?"

He could've sworn that he saw someone was selling mutilated Cardin plushies near the back of the hall. The oddness of the situation almost made him chuckle. He was about to finish his inner monologue when he saw the door open and his teammates walk through.

"They…they came?"

He saw them hold unravel a large white banner and hold it up, waving it around as if they're life depended on it.

"Kick his ass Cardin?"

The ginger chuckled out loud at his teammates antics. It wasn't exactly subtle but at least it wasn't something so cliché as 'we believe in you'.

"Will do guys. Will do."

"Hey! Numnuts!"

Crimson had finally shown up, wielding his dual katanas with guns built into the hilt. It always struck Cardin as unoriginal, considering that everyone and their grandmother wielded a katana at this school.

"We doing this or what?"

Cardin took one last look at his friends, finding some amusement in Russel getting knocked out for hitting on some red-headed girl.

"Damn right."

Hefting his mace across his shoulder, Cardin and Crimson walked into the middle of the arena to were Goodwitch was holding up an aura barrier.

"This will be a traditional, tournament style dual; no outside assistance and no unsportsmanlike behaviour. Once your opponent's aura hits the red, they are defeated. Understood?"

The feuding hunters nodded their consent.

"Very well then." Glynda said as she backed away as to not be caught in the middle of the fight.

"Let the match…begin!"