Chapter 6 – I Put My Armor On, Show You How Weak I Am

In which Jaune Arc suits up and is beat up.

He hadn't meant to bully the librarian into permanently giving him a copy of the autobiographic book on Fort Castle, honest. But now he and Nora were the proud owners of a copy of A Time to Run, A Time to Fight, and he wasn't going to return his new favorite book.

It was such a good read – epic action, compelling characters, practical knowledge, even illustrated depictions of some of the key moments.

And, crazily enough, it actually had given him an idea of how to survive his upcoming reckoning at Cardin's hands.

"A full set?" the blacksmith forgemaster asked incredulously. "You want it all?"

"As much as you can give me," Jaune said. "I can't afford a lot, but–"

"Son, I'll do this for you free of charge if it's what you actually want. But to be sure, is it? Most of you kids want some impractical but stylish bit of metal to look cool, not cover anything."

"I care more about practicality than aesthetics."

The woman wiped her brow and looked back into her workshop. "I can't recall the last time someone's asked for a full set of armor. Cripes, I can't remember the last time I've actually been excited to work on something."

Jaune handed her some lien, but the woman pushed back his fist.

"Keep your lien; I get paid enough by Ozpin. Boy, you're the first in ten, no, twenty years to actually give me free reign to work up some armor."

"Not completely free reign. I want you to make it the best armor possible to block hits."

"Well, duh. That's what free reign on armor is – real armor, not those limp toys Team Cardinal wears that look nice 'n' fancy. Blocking hits – somethin' wrong with your aura?"

"No need to waste it," said Jaune in a practiced tone. He's rehearsed every possible scenario that could take place in his head a million times, and being asked that question was chief among them.

"Smart." The forgemaster smiled. "You have no idea how much of a favor you're doing me. To actually get to design something, the way I want, and to optimize it so that it works best – that's every engineer's dream."

"So you'll make it?"

"Make it? This is now priority number one for me. Come back tomorrow morning. No way on Remnant will I be able to sleep while I have an outstanding order like this."

Jaune wanted to say that he didn't need it so urgently, but combat class was tomorrow morning, so he kind of did. It felt bad to take advantage of the Beacon forgemaster's generosity, but if the lady was genuinely happy to express her creativity and build Jaune the suit of armor he needed, who was he to say no?

It was the image of a cluster of knights-errant in Perry's book that had given him the idea, in tandem with coming back to his dorm and seeing his own pierced breastplate. Armor had saved his life during the initiation test, but he was officially out of it unless he decided to reuse what he had. Regrettably, 'what he had' also included a large hole in the front that seemed perfectly sized for Cardin to shove the butt of his mace through and fracture Jaune's sternum.

The forgemasters took requests, but Jaune had heard that they tended to be slow about it. The woman he'd spoken to, however, acted as though people typically made the silliest of orders. Jaune could sort of see it – most of the armored huntsmen and huntresses wore skimpy armor that was tailored to designs they had submitted rather than practicality. Cardin's own armor was so full of utterly exposed weak points that it seemed more like a fashion statement than an actual suit of metal to guard his vitals.

Jaune didn't care how it looked; he just wanted it to prevent his head from being bashed in. To that end, he'd requested one of everything – helmet, visor, breastplate, rerebraces, vambraces, pretty much something to prevent any bit of his skin from being exposed. Such a suit also gave him another benefit beyond just defense, as well. With his body fully covered, his lack of aura wouldn't immediately be exposed when he took a hit and didn't glow. He now had an excuse for why his aura was at 100% – he was conserving it just in case and letting his armor take the hits instead.

It would only need to work for the rest of the week. People would probably question the whole 'saving it for later' lie if he kept feeding them the same bit over and over, but he would just keep his head down after tomorrow's fight all the way to Friday. Then, he would be in the clear.

"Tomorrow morning," Jaune confirmed, and the forgemaster nodded distractedly. She'd already begun to sketch up some designs and call over some of her friends. Content that his safety was now in the hands of a professional, Jaune left her to her work.

The cafeteria was set to stop serving food in the next half hour, so Jaune decided to grab a bite to eat before he missed his last chance for dinner. Ren was the only familiar face in the dining hall by the time he got there. Well, the only familiar face who wasn't glaring daggers at him.

"Cardin's truly upset with you, isn't he?" Ren asked calmly as he sipped down a spoonful of his soup.

"Yeah. You got any tips for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" asked Ren. "For what aspect of tomorrow do you need tips?"

"Well, I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that Cardin's going to challenge me in Professor Goodwitch's class. She's already told me that I'm going to be fighting someone because I skipped out today, and I think Cardin's going to take advantage of that. I mean, I'm practically waving a chance to beat me up without getting in trouble right beneath his nose. If he doesn't take it, I'll eat my sword."

"Eating a sword is impractical, especially when you already have a plate of far more nutritious and edible food right in front of you," said Ren.

His fork halfway to his mouth, Jaune stared at Ren, who didn't seem to even realize that there was anything wrong with his comment.

"Y-You're just messing with me, right?"

"Messing with you? No, I'm not."

Ren seemed to have taken Perry's 'you darn kids' joke realistically earlier as well. Did he have some sort of sarcasm disorder? Jaune had no clue.

"Buddy, you know I'm just joking, right? I mean, you have to have heard of hyperbole."

"I'm familiar with the concept, yes."

"Look, Ren, when someone says something so outlandish that you can't possibly–"

"I said I'm familiar with the concept."

"Uh. Then why didn't you get it when I said I'd eat my sword?"

Ren shrugged. "You gave no indication that the situation was comedic, and there was no evidence to support the null hypothesis that you were being facetious."

Jaune didn't have an answer to that, as he had no idea what 'that' even meant, so he decided to let it lie. Ren wasn't his partner, and he figured that Nora could probably get through to him better after all the time they'd spent together.

He decided to switch the topic of conversation altogether. "So, how's Beacon been treating – I mean, how have you liked Beacon so far?"

"I cannot complain. I must admit, I had no frame of reference for what a private school would be like, so I was neither impressed nor underwhelmed. Steady access to food and shelter for myself and my companion is certainly an improvement from the type of life we shared before this, though."

"About that," Jaune said. "You and Nora…what exactly is the deal?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what deal you're referencing."

"Are you guys, like, a couple or something? I-If you don't mind telling me, that is. I won't pry."

Ren shook his head. "It is not an unreasonable question. Nora and I travel together, but we are not…ahem…together-together." Ren made air quotes as he said it. "Does that answer your question?"

"Sure."

While it technically did, the weird half-response that both Ren and Nora constantly parroted only raised more questions. However, Jaune wasn't sure he wanted to dive much deeper into whatever his teammates were up to. For now, he filed Ren and Nora into the 'not dating' box and decided to eat the rest of his dinner in peace.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"He looks so silly!"

"Is that Jaune? WHEEEE!"

Go ahead, jerks. Laugh it up while you can. But I don't think you'll be laughing when I'm still alive and you all are…uh, also still alive because you have aura, but that's not the point!

In hindsight, he probably hadn't needed the visor. Jaune himself was loving the armor (it reminded him of the legends of ancient Arc knights, the bravest defenders of the kingdoms), but trudging into class coated from head to toe in what might be considered a tacky, outdated Huntoween costume probably didn't win Jaune any points in the popularity department.

Perry was politely holding himself back, but at least Ren and Nora were being nice about it. Ruby, too, the young girl likely geeking out about what she considered a full-body counter-weapon. She was into gear something fierce, and he seemed to have engendered some loyalty among her and her team after accidentally saving them from a Nevermore and a Deathstalker. Well, it had been his intention to save them, but he'd succeeded in doing so mostly by accident.

In defense of those who laughed, Jaune's armor was technically unnecessary, at least in their eyes. Huntsmen and huntresses had aura, which meant that a heavy, poorly ventilated steel shell was redundant in terms of defending oneself. They probably thought Jaune's armor was another hand-me-down, like Crocea Mors.

I'll show them. Rather, I won't show them, by not dying.

Goodwitch called him right down to the arena after giving her opening remarks, and, like clockwork, Cardin's hand shot up when she requested a volunteer with which Jaune could spar.

"I'll fight our resident knight in shining armor, ma'am. Jauney-boy was brave enough to offer me a challenge before class, so I think it's only fair that I take him up on it."

"Very well," said Professor Goodwitch. "Mr. Winchester, please stand opposite Mr. Arc in the arena. When both of you are ready, you may begin."

Cardin had to walk past Jaune to get to his starting position, and he glared at Jaune as he went.

"You chose this, buddy. Remember that when I'm pounding your tin-can butt into the floor."

Jaune's entire face was protected by his visor, so Cardin wasn't able to see Jaune nervously gulp. Drawing his sword and shield, he unconfidently nodded towards Professor Goodwitch. Cardin did the same, and the match began.

In less than a second, the distance between them was closed, and Cardin's mace was driven right into his stomach. The armor prevented it from breaking his bones, but the impact still hurt.

"Aura still at 100%?" Cardin roared. "You tryna pull something, Jauney-boy? Got a trick up your sleeve? Think you're some hotshot strategist?"

The mace knocked Jaune backwards again, but Cardin's words actually helped him to focus on how to win this. I will have to be a strategist. He has me on strength, stamina, training, durability, speed, and reach. With my armor, we're equally matched on defense – the only way I can win is if I outsmart him.

"Excellent aura control, Mister Arc," said Goodwitch. To her, it must seem as though Jaune was conserving his strength and letting his armor soften the blows.

There's no way I can do enough damage to lower him to the red. My only chance of victory – and therefore survival – is to somehow trip him outside the ring without getting knocked out myself.

Jaune's bones reverberated against the mighty swing of Cardin's mace, but as much as it hurt, there was little real damage beyond some distracting pain. The forgemaster certainly had poured her heart and soul into the suit, and it showed. His thigh stung, but not so much as a scratch could be seen on the cuisse – and yes, Jaune had stayed up late last night memorizing the parts that made up his future suit of armor. Yes, Jaune now knew the names of each piece of his suit by heart. Yes, Jaune was a huge nerd.

The armor kept him safe, but it did slow him down noticeably. Also, any chance he had of exhausting Cardin was gone. Jaune was the one carrying fifty pounds of wrought iron and cast steel on his shoulders, and he didn't have the advantage of aura-unlocked superstrength. If anyone was going to tire out first, it was Jaune.

Jaune's breastplate took the next hit, and he realized that all he'd done so far was block and dodge. Wildly swinging his sword, he tried to slash across Cardin's arm, but Cardin deftly blocked it with the staff of his mace, then used Jaune's own momentum against him to nearly break his sword arm with a forceful beating.

Crocea Mors is useless against him. He's trained, and I'm tossing my sword around like a chimp with a stick poking at a delicious mound of tasty termites. I'd probably be better off throwing it aside and just trying to go hand to hand.

Jaune glanced to the edge of the arena.

…or maybe not. Hmmmmm…

Jaune lowered his sword and raised up his shield. If he was going to be defensive, he should at least use every advantage he could. Cardin's mace bounced against his shield, but apparently the Arc family heirloom wasn't going to break that easily. Seeing this, Cardin hummed murderously and began to rapidly bash his mace against the shield over and over.

Compared to the other attacks, this one was a whole lot less coordinated, and equally less effective. It didn't damage Jaune very much at all, and Cardin must have known he wasn't any closer to breaking Jaune's nonexistent aura from the scoreboard. Other than tiring his arm out a bit, Jaune really had no idea what Cardin was trying to achieve.

Suddenly, the edge of the ring came into Jaune's view, and the strategy of his opponent was revealed. Every smack pushed Jaune an inch closer to the edge, where defeat waited. As he was now, it would probably only take three more strikes to end this duel.

SRNK!

…make that two more hits.

Jaune needed to think. He had spent so much time assessing the duel and figuring out how to use his own new weapons that he hadn't really put much brainpower towards creating a strategy. I'd be willing to bet I can outthink a meathead like Cardin if I just use my head.

SKKR!

One more hit. Cardin smirked as he raised the mace over his head.

This arrogant little son of a – wait, that's it!

"Oh, thank Dust," Jaune muttered under his breath, too quiet for Goodwitch's ears but surely loud enough to be heard by Cardin. "Finally."

Cardin's eyes widened as he heard it, and his smirk disappeared. Then, instead of ringing Jaune out, he lowered his mace, grabbed Jaune by the shoulder, and tossed him towards the center of the arena.

Cardin wanted to hurt him. If Jaune made it seem like he couldn't wait for this to be over, the brute would probably drag it out, just to give himself more time to mash the potatoes out of Jaune.

Wait a second.

"Thought you were gonna take the easy way out, eh Jauney? You're not going to escape what you owe me, you insect."

Um.

Why do I want to prolong this?

It was in that moment that Jaune remembered that winning, while a nice thing to fantasize about, wasn't necessary. On the other hand, reminding Cardin that he had free reign to wail on Jaune as long as they were in the training ring wasn't probably the smartest move.

"This hurts to watch," said Blake. "That poor guy…"

"He's fine," said Ruby. "He's got armor, and his aura is at 100%." Her confidence was unwavering, and there was no force on Remnant that could shake it.

"That means he's feeling every hit," said Blake. She understood that Goodwitch couldn't call the match until they had a victor, but Cardin was knocking Jaune around like there was no tomorrow, and that wasn't lowering Jaune's aura one bit. Cardin had clearly decided that he wanted to pay Jaune back for landing him in detention, and he'd willingly given up a chance to ring out Jaune. This wasn't a classroom lesson – this was a school-sanctioned beatdown.

"He'll be fine," said Ruby. "Mark my words, he's planning something good. Oooooh, I can't wait!"

Cardin was going to beat him until his aura broke, except he didn't have aura. That meant Cardin was going to literally beat him forever.

Picking himself up, he gripped his sword tighter. Now that he was fighting for survival, Jaune felt a rush of adrenaline and used it to push his sword straight at Cardin's chest with all the force he could. The attack never landed, obviously, but the time it took Cardin to deflect was enough to give Jaune a second to gather his thoughts. He'd had the beginnings of a plan in his mind before the fight had turned away from his favor, and now seemed like a good enough time to implement it. Jaune was beginning to sweat, and his muscles were screaming in agony. If he didn't move fast, he would probably tire himself out and collapse.

His lack of training on his own sword put him at a disadvantage, but it also meant that he was no worse off without the weapon. Cardin didn't know that, and he wasn't going to be expecting Jaune to part with it so easily.

Backing up towards the edge of the ring, Jaune raised his blade and beckoned for Cardin to come at him.

"What, you think you're gonna lure me to the edge and trip me out?" Cardin barked condescendingly. "Idiot."

Jaune wasn't planning that.

The brutish bully didn't run towards the edge of the ring, instead opting to calmly walk his way there. If Jaune had been planning to dive out of the way and let Cardin's momentum carry him outside the boundary, his strategy would have been killed before it had even begun.

Jaune hadn't been planning to do that.

When Cardin got close, Jaune took a step back, putting himself dangerously close to the edge of the ring. Cardin reached for his shoulder, likely planning to pull Jaune back towards the center of their fighting stage should he try and end this by jumping out of his own accord.

It was then that Jaune struck.

Jaune threw Crocea Mors into the air in an underhand swing, and the blade flew straight upwards. Cardin's eyes followed it on instinct, and he focused his attention above himself to deflect whatever attack Jaune had planned with his sword. The only problem was that Jaune hadn't been planning any attack with his sword.

Jaune hadn't been planning anything at all.

He'd thought of a decent way to distract Cardin – throwing his sword into the air, knowing that a trained huntsman like Cardin would expect it to be the start of some great combo move – and he had no other idea than to just improvise from there.

The benefit of such a strategy was that your opponent couldn't outthink you if you didn't have any big brain thoughts yourself.

Jaune noticed that Cardin was still slowly stepping forwards towards him, so he dropped to the floor, getting down onto his hands and knees and inching sideways towards his foe. Cardin was still looking upwards, completely distrcted when his legs came into contact with the side of Jaune's stomach. He was moving very slowly, but he hadn't been expecting there to be anything in the way of his feet. Had he been looking down, he would have seen Jaune and stopped, but he'd been looking towards the ceiling at the flying sword.

Cardin's legs buckled when they hit, and his kneecaps went straight into Jaune's back as he tripped, pinning Jaune to the floor. With the entire weight of his humongous opponent on his back, Jaune felt like the metaphorical bug Cardin had likened him to, now being squished.

His balance lost and his footing uncertain, Cardin flailed both arms around in the air in a desperate attempt to steady himself atop Jaune. He wobbled forwarded, he leaned back…

And he stayed there.

Once he was sure that he wasn't going to topple over, Cardin smirked at the blond boy on whom he kneeled.

"Nice try, Jau–"

Crocea Mors hilt caught him dead on the back of his cranium, and Cardin's brief moment of stability was lost as he fell forward out of the ring.

"Jaune Arc," began Professor Goodwitch, "is the winner."

"Toldja so," Ruby said proudly.

Blake offered a simple nod in response.

With the weight now off of his back, Jaune was free to pick himself up and stand proudly over his foe.

He was free to, but he didn't, primarily on account of the fact that his muscles were aching all over, and his skin felt like it was on fire. The single fight had taken everything out of him. Even though he'd emerged victorious – and that was a HUGE deal to him, as Jaune was essentially a civilian who'd just beaten a fully trained huntsman – he was dead tired, and the effort it would take to gloat seemed monumental to the fully drained knight.

Even if he could, he wasn't sure he wanted to. Perry had said that he didn't want Jaune to stir up trouble with Team Cardinal, so maybe it would be best for Jaune to just bury the hatchet with Cardin once and for all.

And so, Jaune strained his muscles with the last of his strength, got up to his feet, ignored the agonizing stress it placed on his body just to move, and held a hand out to his downed foe.

"Good match."

Cardin's eyes were swimming with uncontrolled bloodlust, but Goodwitch was watching, so he took the hand. Jaune tried to close his palm and lift Cardin back up to his feet, but Cardin's aura-enhanced grip was more forceful than he'd been expecting, and the gauntlet around his fingers accidentally slid off.

Jaune quickly pulled back his exposed right hand and offered Cardin his left, but it was too late. Cardin had seen it.

A bruise.

Jaune was torn between giving into despair over his inevitable fall from grace and living up the remaining time he had left at Beacon. On the one hand, there was no chance that Cardin was going to keep that information to himself, which bummed Jaune a lot. On the other hand, feeling sorry for himself was a waste, and he might as well make the most of his remaining access to the school's facilities and the family he'd found in his burgeoning team.

A small portion of his brain, a very stupid small portion, tried to remind him that he'd thought it inevitable that Cardin would win the duel at the time, proving miracles could happen and that Jaune seemed to be favored by the gods of luck. A much smarter part of his brain slapped that stupid part and screamed that there was no hope, that said duel had only been won at the cost of Jaune's big secret, that he still didn't have aura, that the problems were just piling on too high for him to ignore.

Despair won out for about five seconds, but then Perry shook Jaune's hand and apologized for ever doubting him, and Ruby grabbed him and hugged him and squeezed him (and nearly finished what Cardin had started) and told Jaune that she'd always believed in him. It was more or less impossible to not smile after that, so Jaune decided to go with making the most of his limited time with these kind people. Ren congratulated him without using more than ten syllables, and Nora, hanging up her scroll, informed Jaune that Velvet would be expecting another interview with him sometime tomorrow.

These guys…this school…Jaune shook his head and joined them in their jubilation. The invisible sword of expulsion precariously perched above his head might have been a downer, but today was still a win. Without using a single percent of his aura (it started at zero and ended at zero), Jaune had beaten his bully in a straight fight. Not even Cereal Box Girl has been at full aura after winning against Weiss, and she was supposed to be a world-famous cereal saleswoman or something. It had probably cost Jaune ability to fight for the rest of the week (or move for the rest of the week) based on how loudly his muscles were screaming, but he had walked straight into that ring with no hope, and he'd walked out with a 1-0 win record. Cardin may have been toying with him, but he only kept Jaune in the ring because Jaune has used reverse psychology on Cardin to make him think he wanted it to end, so that counted as tactics, right? And, yeah, he would cream him next time they fought, but hey – there was no next time! Jaune would be gone from this school this weekend, out in Vale paying off some schmuck to unlock his aura, so who cared?! Jaune and his dusty old family sword and his useless shield-sheath and his silly armor had won, and nothing could bring him down.

Cardin kept throwing Jaune weird glances from across the classroom for the duration of the combat class, and he didn't seem to be able to focus on Oobleck's history lecture either.

That stupid part of his brain reared its stupid self up again and whispered into Jaune's ear that all Cardin had seen was a bruise. As far as he knew, Jaune had just intentionally lowered his aura or something as part of some grand plan to win the fight. Maybe, just maybe, he would rationalize away what he saw as a fluke, and this whole thing would blow over.

Jaune's hope had grown like a mold, starting small but gradually expanding its coverage until there was nowhere it hadn't spread. By the end of his busy school day, he actually found himself doing his homework, an action that would be pointless if he wasn't planning on sticking around.

"Renny! There is a difference! One is hot, and the other is pan!"

"The terms are synonymous. I shall access a dictionary to prove this, if need be."

"Oh, need be. Need be indeed!"

Jaune had wisely chosen not to involve himself in Ren and Nora's heated argument about hotcakes vs. pancakes. When Ren had made some comment about insurance polices on small Dust shop selling like pancakes due to a crime wave, Nora had corrected him ('It's hotcakes, Renny'), and it was all downhill from there. Jaune was pretty sure that it was only a matter of time before the couple came to blows over 'pan erasure,' as Nora so nicely put it.

A hand tapped his shoulder, and Jaune looked to see Perry nodding his head towards the door. Renora didn't seem to even notice them as they fled the room.

Perry shut the door. Beacon didn't force him to wear the school uniform, so he was dressed in a much more comfortable dress shirt and slacks. He looked away and ran a hand through his hair. "Jaune, I just–"

A small explosion came from behind the door, startling the duo.

"FLAPJACKS?! YOU DARE? I'LL END YOU!"

Smoke began to pour out from the crack beneath the door.

"I'd say I'm surprised, but I think the only surprising thing is that it took this long," said Jaune.

"We might get some peace and quiet on the roof," said Perry.

"Lead the way."

The human and Faunus found themselves in the same calm spot they'd had their heart-to-heart not two nights ago. It wasn't nearly as late, and the sun was still out, so Jaune could take in a better view of the illuminated campus this way. Still, there was something beautiful about the artificial lights that would shine out the window of every building on campus when dusk broke. Either way, this school was the most picturesque sight he'd ever had the fortune of laying his eyes upon.

"You wanted to talk?"

Perry wrung his hands. "Yeah. I…I ought to apologize."

Jaune tilted his head to the side. "Whatever for?"

For the life of him, he couldn't think of a single thing that Perry had done to offend him. He actually owed Perry one for the tip on that book; the illustrations within had given him the idea for the armor, and Jaune wouldn't have stood a chance without it.

"What I said to you yesterday, about you causing me problems by standing up to Winchester's bunch."

"Oh." Jaune frowned in confusion. "But why are you apologizing to me? I'm the one who made things more difficult for you."

Perry shook his head and leaned his upper body over the railing. "Kid, you did the right thing. You stood up for your ideals, and you defended them. Every time Cardin knocked you around with that oversized meat tenderizer of his, I thought to myself, 'This kid did it for me, and how did I repay him? By telling him off for doing what was right.'"

"You were right, though. It'll make things harder for–"

"Jaune, if all we ever cared about was making things easier for ourselves, no positive change would ever happen in this world. Every Faunus would keep their head down and take it because the alternative of standing up for themselves is too hard. I'm jaded about things because I've had a tough life, but that don't mean I gotta bring everyone down to my level. The few good decisions I made were the toughest ones – not joinin' the Fang, comin' here, stickin' around when things got tough. I owe that last one to you."

Perry stepped towards Jaune and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't be like me. Don't give up on what you believe in because fighting for it looks tough. You're the best of us, Jaune, and I was wrong to try and drag you down. If you feel like something is worth fighting for, you go ahead, and you fight like hell for it."

"I…I will. If that's what you think."

Perry snorted softly. "I don't think I'm in any position to tell you how you should think. Jaune, I may be older than you, but if my track record on life choices is any proof at all, I ain't a whole lot brighter than you."

Jaune couldn't think of anything to say to that, but his partner was already halfway back to the door to the building by the time he shook himself out of it. Before he left, he turned back and looked Jaune dead in the eye.

"There's a reason you were chosen as the leader of Team JNPR. I'm sorry it took me so long to see it."

With that closing bit of wisdom, Perry departed, leaving Jaune alone on the roof with his thoughts.

I…really am a leader? This whole time, I felt like it was a mistake. Like Ozpin heard from Ruby what I did and mistakenly thought I was better than I am.

Except I really did kill that Garrial.

And I was responsible for killing the scorpion and the Nevermore, even if it wasn't all planned in advance.

And I did beat Cardin, a real huntsman.

Maybe I really do have what it takes to be a…

"Touching. Truly touching. I half expected him to give you a sloppy kiss at the end of it."

Jaune's head snapped around to see Cardin standing behind him.

He frantically looked around for an explanation for the boy suddenly coming down with a case of teleportation. "How–"

"Top floor." Cardin shrugged. "I opened the window. But it's not about me, Jauney-boy. It's about you, and that untarnished aura of yours."

Jaune gulped. "I like to fight with my aura lowered," he stammered out. "No need to waste it. My armor protects me."

Cardin began to pace back and forth, his face neutral as he looked down at the floor. "Yeah, that makes perfect sense, but you see, it actually doesn't make any sense at all. Your little suit of metal kept me from slicing your limbs off, but it still must've hurt, even through all that armor. You were rattling around like a pair of maracas. Why take all pain when you could avoid it? Why bother when your aura could protect you?"

"You wear armor, too."

"Cause it looks nice. Not 'cause I need it." Cardin stopped walking. "Of course, you don't need it either. Why would you?" He turned his head to look at Jaune. "You do have such fine, stunning, wonderful aura, don't you?"

"I was saving my aura for–"

"For what, Jauney-boy? You didn't use it at all, and you don't strike me as the type who likes to show off. The others may have bought it, but I don't, not for a hot second. You could have instantly healed that bruise on your hand if you wanted when the sham fight was done, but you didn't."

"I–"

Cardin stepped towards Jaune. Jaune tried to retreat, but he quickly found his back to the edge of the building. When Cardin reached him, he grabbed hold of Jaune's arm. Pulling Jaune in close, he tilted his head and grinned.

"Now, there's two ways we can do this," Cardin whispered into Jaune's ear. "I can break your arm and see that your aura hasn't dropped a bit, or you can't tell me what I already know."

"I…I…"

Cardin gripped Jaune's hand tighter.

"Auurgh! Gah – I don't have my aura unlocked, okay! My scroll reads it as 100%, no matter what. Now please, just let me go."

Cardin smiled and released his hold on Jaune's hand. "See, Jauney-boy? Doesn't it feel good when we're honest with ourselves?"

His meaty fist rammed into Jaune's stomach before he'd even finished the question.

tl;dr Jaune becomes the reining undefeated heavyweight champ in the ring

Omake – something my brain thought of and immediately regretted but I couldn't not include

Crocea Mors hilt caught him dead on the back of his cranium, and Cardin's brief moment of stability was lost as he fell forward out of the ring.

"Jaune Arc," began Professor Goodwitch, "is the winnamon."

Next Chapter: I Did It His Way

In which Jaune Arc becomes Cinderella to his evil step-bully and then his friend Ruby recounts her hog.

Author's Notes

Oh mah gawsh, it's the suit of armor in the logo! That's one of the three things I decided was most important in the story; the other is the iPhone and the last is the desert. We'll see them all in due time…

Jaune has won, but at what cost? Also, since he has the rooftop scene with Perry instead of Pyrrha, does that mean he's going to be shipped with Perry? Arquerry confirmed…?

Unfortunately, Cardin now knows the truth. Regrettably, that means he's going to have to die to keep the secret. Place your bets on how Jaune murders him viciously and disposes of the body now, while the betting's good. Personally, my money's on Jaune switching places with the Ozpin-Jaune from The Empty Seat and using magic to kill him.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!