Chapter 7 – I Did It His Way

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

"Oops," said Cardin, intentionally bumping a potted plant in the dormitory hallway. The plant tipped over, and the majority of the dirt within the pot spilt out onto the carpet. "Man, someone really ought to clean that up."

Jaune bent over with a sigh and began to scoop handfuls of dirt back into the pot as he righted it.

"Oh, but that won't be enough," said Cardin. "I mean, there'll be tiny specks of dirt all over the carpet. You better grab some wet paper towels. Go on, boy – fetch."

Jaune held in his anger at the dismissive language and set off in the direction of the nearest restroom. Before he made it around the corner, Cardin called out, "Oh, and while you're heading out, why don't you fetch us some Dust? Dove and Russel need some for their weapons."

"Dust?"

"Yeah. I hear Schnee keeps the stuff in briefcases, so I figure we can save a couple lien and borrow a bit directly from Miss SDC herself. She's rich, so she probably wouldn't miss it if one of the cases disappeared. After all, it's better to give than to receive and all that, right?"

"Oh, and I want some snacks from the cafeteria," said Dove. "See if they have any pretzel sticks. Or chocolate covered raisins."

"Get him both," demanded Cardin authoritatively.

Jaune had no choice but to nod in agreement. As he departed on the quest for the increasing list of miscellaneous items, Russel laughed heartily. "Man, this is great. What did you do to him that's got him so obedient, Cardin?"

"Let me put it this way. He knows exactly what'll happen to his precious Team Lose-iper if he steps out of line."

At first, it had seemed like he'd gotten off easy. Cardin had told him up on that rooftop that he had no intention of letting Goodwitch or Ozpin in on the truth.

He wasn't going to be expelled. He had another three years, eleven months, and twenty-eight days to look forward to as a student of Beacon.

Another three years, eleven months, and twenty-eight days to look forward to as Team Cardinal's personal slave.

Cardin, ever the enterprising young team leader, had piled his homework onto Jaune, as well as that of his three equally miscreant peers. He'd also insisted that Jaune clean their room, wash their uniforms, carry their things wherever they went, and perform a whole other slew of demeaning tasks that were more for Cardin's amusement at Jaune's humiliation than any need for them to be performed. It had gotten so time consuming that Jaune hadn't been able to fit in any training with his team in the two days that followed. Friday was just around the corner, but he had a feeling that his new status as doer of Team Cardinal's chores would interfere with his plans to get into the city.

The homework wasn't that bad, as he could just copy his own, and transcribing it didn't take that long. The real issue was the fact that Team Cardinal seemed to keep him perpetually on call as their houseboy.

It hadn't started off unbearably. Cardin had forced him to do menial labor on behalf of his team, but it was mostly problematic because of how much time it consumed. So, Jaune sucked it up and did all the work he was assigned as quickly as possible.

That only made things worse. When he'd finished and asked to leave, Cardin had become visibly upset, grabbed Jaune as well as several pieces of freshly cleaned laundry, dragged both articles outside, and threw them both into the dirt.

"Looks like you have a little more work, now, eh Jauney-boy?" he had said gleefully.

Jaune had cleaned the shirts and underwear again, fearful that Cardin would get angry enough to reveal his secret, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do after that. Leaving would just set Cardin off again. Thus, he'd had no choice but to stay for even longer. Cardin seemed to realize this as well, hence his recently developed habit of intentionally dirtying things, breaking them, or otherwise sullying his surroundings for the sole purpose of giving Jaune work to do.

Jaune had only been released long after the day had turned into night. Nora and Ren were usually asleep by the time he got there, and Perry didn't really say anything when Jaune came in late.

The next day, the intentional mischief had become so frequent that the amount of time it took eclipsed the meaningful chores and schoolwork altogether. The plant was only the most recent in a long line of other tasks that Jaune only had to do because Cardin gave rise to the circumstances that caused them.

It felt like he was betraying his team, especially his Faunus partner, by being so subservient to the crass bullies, especially after the heartfelt speech about fighting for what he believes in, but what could Jaune do? Cardin had him right where he wanted him, and he knew it. It didn't take a genius to figure out that zero aura and a glitching scroll meant Jaune wasn't properly qualified to train at Beacon. If the truth came out, Jaune's falsified transcripts did as well, which meant bye-bye Beacon.

That bitter fact did little to ease Jaune's conscience as he neglected his real friends in favor of the people who made his life a waking nightmare.

He didn't end up stealing the Dust. Cardin had believed it when he said that there hadn't been a time when Team RWBY's dorm room was completely empty, or perhaps he'd never intended it seriously in the first place. Either way, Jaune had finally put his foot down, and Cardin had respected it.

It might have helped that he'd traded a large amount of his own lien to a fourth year for half their Dust reserves and offered that up to Cardin instead.

Yeah. Great job standing up for yourself, man.

"Five, six, seven, eight…nine crystals? Jauney-boy, that's not nearly enough. Tsk, tsk. Well, I can think of a couple of ways that you can make it up to Dove and Russel."

"Oh, this is gonna be good," said Sky as his two teammates stepped forward.

"What'll it be, boys? I'm thinking that we have Jaune polish your guys' armor…with his tongue."

"Heh," said Dove, smirking. "Yeah." He looked up to Cardin. "And then…he'll clean it off again with a rag? And soap?"

"Yeah, of course. Oh, but that just isn't enough." Cardin began to circle around Jaune, reminding him of a Nevermore circling its dying prey. "How about he give you both…"

Russel's eyebrows raised. "Give us…?"

"Lien?" offered Dove.

"Nah, that's too simple. It's gotta be something better, something funnier. Giving you lien isn't enough."

"I…" Dove's eyes darted back and forth. They landed on the potted plant from before, the one that Cardin had knocked over. "Hey, Car – watch this!" He pressed his foot to the rim and tipped it over again.

"Hah! It's even funnier the second time! Clean that up, Jauney-boy!"

Lunch was a quiet affair. It was the only time Team Juniper spent together, but Jaune couldn't bear to meet his teammate's eyes. For their part, they sensed his unease and clearly wanted to help, but without understanding the issue, there was nothing they could do.

"We'll break his legs!" offered Nora. When Jaune didn't respond, she began to look a bit more nervous. "O-Or put glue into his shampoo bottle! Or shove him in a rocket locker and launch him into orbit! Or kidnap his mace and hold it hostage! Or just straight up murder him!"

"It's fine, you guys. Just leave it."

Nora winced and looked to Ren for aid, but he didn't have anything to say. Why would he? As the most rationally-minded member of the team, he'd probably accepted that Jaune was a poor excuse for a leader, and any attempts to help him were wastes of time. Jaune certainly had.

"Jaune." Perry set down his fork. "We're not upset with you or anything."

"It's fine."

"Let us help you–"

"I said it's fine!"

Jaune grabbed his lunch tray and tried to stand up, but a hand grabbed him.

"We're not stupid, you know," said Ren, breaking his silence at last. "You despised Cardin, then suddenly you 'like him?' He's obviously coercing you into this somehow. If he's threatening you, a teacher could help."

"Ren's right," said Perry. "Jaune, we aren't upset with you."

"Why not?" asked Jaune. "I'm a failure of a huntsman. How am I supposed to be a leader when I can't even solve my own problem?"

"By letting us help you," said Nora.

"Getting a teacher involved would only make this worse," Jaune admitted. "It's fine. Cardin's just another bully. I've faced them before – you just wait until they get bored and lose interest. In a few weeks, this'll be something we're all having a laugh about."

"I-Is this because of me?" said Perry. "Because I told you not to stand up for yourself? Jaune, I already told you that that was bad advice."

"No, Perry, it's true advice. I don't need help, you guys. I just need…"

"What, Jaune?" asked Nora. "Tell us what you need, and we'll give it to you."

"Space," he said at last. "Just give me some space."

"If that is what you wish," said Ren. "But I do not believe you truly wish for us to distance ourselves from you."

"OI, JAUNEY-BOY!"

The four of them looked across the table to where Cardin stood, holding up a mop.

"Russel accidentally forgot to turn off the bath, and he also forgot to pull the plug from the drain, which means it's cleanup on Aisle Jaune."

"Still think this'll take care of itself if you do nothing?" asked Perry.

Jaune didn't, but there was no way he could admit that. If the others got involved, Cardin might panic and tell someone Jaune's secret. That would mean he would be stripped of his title as leader and would have to return home in shame. Team Juniper would fall to bits, and Perry would probably have to quit Beacon without a partner; he was already on thin enough ice as it was. His situation was already precarious enough as it was, and Jaune was technically the second partner he'd had after Sky. Future generations of nontraditional students would face difficulty and discrimination when they tried to become hunters, and it would all be because Jaune had been too much of a ninny to handle mopping an overflowing tub.

"Yes," he said. "It'll be fine."

When he got to the bath that Team Cardin had ruined, it wasn't full of water.

"Sorry that I forgot to mention it, Jauney-boy, but Russel likes to take molasses baths. I'm sure it's fine, though. I mean, hasn't there ever been anything you forgot to mention, Jaune?"

Cardin shoved the mop into his hands as the three others snickered.

"I…where did you even get all this molasses, Cardin?" Jaune asked. It wasn't like there was a store selling that particular foodstuff on campus, and even if there were, there would have been no way that it could carry this much. Filling an entire bathtub with the sticky brown syrup meant that Cardin had either flown to Vale in his free time and lugged a huge tub of it with him, or he'd had some express shipped to his dorm room.

"You wanna question me, punk? Do you think that grandpa Faunus freak of yours would stay in Beacon for more than a hot minute if you got the boot?"

"No, Cardin, it's just…how long did it take you to ready this?"

Cardin's eyes narrowed dangerously, but Jaune couldn't hold it in.

"What's the endgame, here? Are you going to have me do this stuff, every day for the next four years? That's just impractical. And these things you're making me do – it started as homework, which seemed normal, but then you started going out of your way. I mean, yesterday, you were knocking pots and stuff over and making me clean it up, which was weird – like, what did you get out of that? What benefit did that bring you, other than a quick laugh? And then you did it four more times, that same afternoon! And now, this molasses thing…how much money did you spend on it? How much time did you have to invest planning it out, getting the molasses, filling the tub, and finding me? And for what, just to mess with me? For another 'laugh'?"

Cardin actually was speechless. "I…"

"Uh, he's…kind of right, Car," said Russel, looking away. "I mean, it's getting kind of weird. It feels like it stopped being about having Jaune do our chores a while ago."

"Maybe we should just stop this, bro," said Russel.

Cardin raised his hands into the air. "There's no need to stop, you guys. I can get Jauney-boy to do whatever I want. Think about it – no homework for four years, no chores, free stuff every day. It'll be great!"

"Um, I kinda do need to do my own homework eventually," said Sky. "I mean, I came to Beacon to learn how to become a huntsman. If Jaune does it for me, then why am I even paying tuition?"

"Then he can keep on being our clown," said Cardin, as though that answered all their concerns. "A walking joke that we can mess with for our pleasure."

Dove cringed and nodded. "I didn't want to say anything, but this reminds me of those people who have to take more and more drugs just to get that same high. O-Or, and this is just another random example, not at all related to you, Car, but those people who need continuously weirder stuff to beat their m– ahem, to, you know, get it u-u-u–uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhmmmm – what I'm trying to say is…"

"Go on," Cardin said calmly through gritted teeth, his tone not rising. Somehow, that made it sound even angrier that if he'd been shouting. "What exactly are you trying to say, Dove. Please, tell us."

Dove winced. "There's nothing, uh, wrong with…um. Being. T-That."

"Being that." Cardin's brow furrowed. "Being…wait, what! You think I'm gay?"

"You call him Jauney-boy," observed Russel. "You obsess over controlling him, and you've spent hours thinking about how to troll him. It's unhealthy, dude. N-Not being…that, just the way you're so into humiliating Jauney – er, Jaune."

Dove waved his hands back and forth in protest. "Again, nothing wrong with that. Just…maybe you should find someone other than Arc to–"

"You guys are idiots if you think that Arc is anything more than a slave to me!" Cardin turned around and backhanded Jaune, knocking him to the floor. "A personal toy that I can do with as I please!"

Jaune and the three other Cardinals declined to point out that Cardin wasn't doing his argument any favors with the way he spoke.

Jaune hadn't really thought that Cardin had feelings for him or anything, but now that Russel had pointed it out, the whole obsession with him did seem to have a certain undertone to it that might have been…stalkerish? Sexual? It was hard to decipher what went on in Cardin's head. Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't, but Cardin's reasons didn't make a difference Jaune. He despised what the taller huntsman was putting him through, and love, lust, or whatever this was wouldn't excuse that.

"Cardin, your relationship with Jaune seems like an abusive one. You need to find someone e–"

"Relationship!" Cardin roared indignantly. "There is no relationship! You guys are the gay ones if that's the first thing you think of! You're freaks!"

"He keeps doing whatever you say," said Dove. "Why else would he, if you gays are – er, guys aren't…uhhh…together."

Jaune was about to bring up the blackmail just to deflect, but he stopped himself before he did. Cardin, for whatever reason, hadn't wanted to tell his teammates about Jaune's lack of aura, and he evidently still didn't based on his silence. That was good for Jaune, as the fewer people who knew his secret meant a smaller likelihood of it coming out. Unfortunately for Cardin, though, without being able to explain the actual reason for Jaune's compliance to the others, he could do nothing but sputter and glare.

Cardin's hand grabbed Jaune by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. "You. Me. Roof, tonight. Don't show up, and you're dead meat. Show up, and you're still dead meat." Slamming Jaune back into the ground where the others stood with all his might, Cardin stormed off. The taste of blood filled Jaune's mouth.

"Screw you all – I'm outta here."

"Cardin! Wait!"

Sky ran off after him, while Dove and Russel helped Jaune to his feet.

"S-Sorry about him," said Dove. "He's not that bad a guy, if you get to know him."

"Yes, he is," Jaune hissed.

Jaune pulled his hands free and ignored the Cardinals attempts to aid him. They had gladly taken part in bullying Jaune, and the only reason that they seemed to stop was because they'd been reluctant to join in when they thought it was some sort of sex game that had gotten out of hand.

"Looks, we don't think any less of–"

"Cardin and I aren't dating or anything like that," said Jaune. "He screws with me because…I can't stop him. Not in a romantic sense, in a literal sense. He's bigger and taller than me, and I'd lose a fight if it came to that."

"That's not cool."

"Really? You didn't seem to mind knocking that flower pot, Dove. And you took the Dust I bought without complaining, Russel."

Russel cringed. "If he's struggling to admit how he–"

"Does it matter? That's no excuse for how Cardin bullies me relentlessly. You guys bullied me as well. Don't act like you care."

"Hey, we…we…"

"It wasn't…uh…"

"That's what I thought," said Jaune. "Look, just leave me alone. I don't want your help. I don't need anyone's help. I just want this to end."

"Whoa, dude. Your face…"

"What's–" Jaune turned to see his own reflection in the bathroom's mirror. Cardin's red handprint from the slap was visible on Jaune's cheek. It wasn't definitive proof that he lacked aura, but if this conversation went on any longer, either of the other boys might figure it out. The blood in his mouth was also becoming thicker, and Jaune had to swallow it to prevent any from dripping out. He was lucky it was just internal; a cut not healing would have given him away instantly.

"Just leave me alone," Jaune said as he hurried out the room.

Jaune had never felt more alone than he did right now. He couldn't talk to his team, he couldn't talk to a teacher, he certainly couldn't talk to the Cardinals – the only person who could figure this out was himself.

Cardin was clearly getting more and more unsatisfied with punishing Jaune emotionally. If that slap from earlier was any indication, tonight on the roof would mark the start of things getting seriously physical. Maybe it would be the right call to bring his sword and armor and go down fighting…

What a joke. I won last time because of a ring out. There's no ring in a real fight. Even if I somehow pulled a second miracle out of my thin air and got him to trip over the edge of the roof, that kind of fall wouldn't even phase a real huntsman. Maybe I should just jump off myself and frame him and his team. At least that way they won't be able to bother Perry and the others anymore.

"Jaune? You good?"

He looked up to see Ruby Rose standing over him. Jaune had curled up into a sad little ball behind the couch in one of the common areas in their shared dorm, and she apparently had heard him sobbing. She was currently kneeling on the couch, leaning her head and shoulders over the back of it. Concern and fear were written across her face, and she reached out and poked Jaune in the shoulder.

"I-I'm fine, Ruby."

"Is this about Cardin?"

Jaune wiped his eyes. "Why would it be about him?"

"Well," began Ruby, "he did randomly call you out to mop a bathtub in the middle of lunch. It's kind of obvious that he's jerking you around."

Dove's words reverberated in Jaune's mind, and he had to hold back a retch. "C-Can you not phrase it like that?"

"Why do you put up with his bullying?" Ruby scrunched up her nose. "A superhuntsman like you could annihilate him. Are you trying to be the bigger man or something?"

"It's not that."

Jaune looked up at Ruby. She had befriended him early on, before he had even passed their initiations. This tiny girl seemed both incredibly mature and majorly childish at the same time. There was something about her, some aura of innocence, that just made him trust her. Jaune decided to give her a little something. She didn't seem like the type to give away a secret told to her in confidence, and maybe she would actually be able to help him out. If not, he was dead either way.

"H-He knows something. Something I can't tell anyone. If I don't obey his every whim, he'll tell people, and my life will be ruined."

"Huh. No offense, Jaune, but your life already seems pretty bad if you're crying behind a couch in the dorm room hallway."

Gee, thanks.

His disapproval of her wording must have been apparent, because she shook her head. "I don't mean that you stink or something. I'm just trying to say that whatever secret Cardin knows getting out can't be much worse than what he's doing to you."

"Oh, believe me, Ruby. It can. If my secret gets out, it'll hurt the team. Right now, it's just me that's suffering."

"That's hogwash, Jaune."

"H-Hogwash?"

"Yeah, the stuff you use to wash a hog."

"No, I know what it means. It's just a weird word to use."

"Why's that?" asked Ruby. "I used to wash hogs back in Patch all the time. Look, we're getting off track here. Jaune, your team is already suffering. Seeing you in pain hurts them, and your absence isn't going unnoticed. Even I can see it, and you know how un-perceptive I can be sometimes."

"Don't sell yourself short, Ruby."

"And you shouldn't either. If you're thinking that you aren't special, you're wrong. You are, and your team needs you. That's not just from a friendship standpoint; they need a leader, they need a swordsman, and they need their last member. A team of four is never as strong as a team of three and one."

"That doesn't change things with Cardin." Even if Jaune stood his ground and fought for himself, he would lose. Cardin would flip, everyone would learn that Jaune was a fraud, and he'd be kicked out of Beacon. Then, it would be a team of just three.

"Well, if this involves your entire team, then maybe you should ask them for help. It sounds like they have a stake in this fight, and I'd bet they're willing. What's the harm?"

The harm was to Jaune's pride. The harm was the loss of his faith in his ability to take care of his own problems without having to call in his friends to fix it for him. The harm was that Jaune was supposed to be a real huntsman, and if he couldn't take care of a jerk like Cardin, there was no way he'd ever succeed against the Grimm.

"I'm supposed to be a hero, Jaune. I need to do this by myself."

Ruby hopped up off the couch, made her way around the arm, and maneuvered herself to stand right in front of Jaune. Staring at him, she towered over him for a few seconds, then kicked him right in the stomach.

"HUUUUHHH! R-R…why?" he rasped.

"Because you're being a bigger loser than Weiss! If this is something so bad that it could hurt your entire team, then how can you even think about pride? I swear, Jaune, you make it sound like your secret's so bad it's going to get you expelled from Beacon and tear apart Team Juniper, and then you go and say that that you don't even want to fix it because, ohhhh, muh self-reliance! Stop being a dummy and take the help! Do you think I never get help? Yang and Blake are just as involved with Weiss being a…a…let's not get into that, but I'm relying on my allies to help me take care of our team's problems, and you should too!"

Ruby pulled back her foot to kick Jaune again, but he held out his hands to stop her. Speaking was still too painful to even consider after having the wind kicked out of his lungs, so he gave her frantic thumbs ups to indicate that the message had been received.

"That's better. Now, Jaune, if I don't hear that you've resolved this situation with Cardin by the weekend, you can bet your bottom lien that Team Ruby's going to be inserting itself into the situation. And you don't want to know what happens when I start inserting…uh, things!"

Jaune weakly pulled himself up off the ground and into a sitting position. Ruby gave him a nod and left back to her dorm room. Before she did, she gave him one final word of advice.

"And you may want to raise your aura next time. I know you're in a safe place here in Beacon's dorms and all, but who knows when there's going to be threats or evil people lurking around."

Maybe…help wouldn't hurt…

When Jaune was entirely sure that Ruby was gone, he pulled out his scroll. It rang only once before there was an answer

"Jaune? What can I do for you?"

Jaune sighed, swallowed his fragile ego, and answered the question.

Cardin was not in…ugh, he couldn't even think it. No matter what those pieces of dumb, stupid, gay junk thought, he was definitely into girls, and he was not at all into Jaunethan Arc. Or whatever that loser's first name was – Cardin didn't actually know.

He was getting a good deal here, and his teammates just were so caught up on how gay they all were for each other that they couldn't see what was right in front of them. A free maid to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and Russel was asking him to just stop? Like, why? Why turn this down? Buncha morons.

The door opened up.

"Finally. There you are, Jauney-boy." Cardin turned around to face the maggot. "Wasn't very bright of you to keep me w–"

"TIMBER!"

A hammer broke Cardin's legs.

"Wraaaaah! Argh, what the–!"

It wasn't Jaune Arc who stood before him.

"You snapped my legs in half, you crazy–"

"Sorry, Cardin," said Nora Valkyrie. "Just following my leaders orders."

What? No way! Absolutely no way! I had Arc by the balls! There's no way on the Brother Gods' green Remnant that he would even think about standing up to me, or sending this crazy chick after me. He was following me around like a whipped little dog. This can't be!

But it was. Without the ability to walk, Cardin could do little but watch as Jaune Arc followed shortly behind the crazy hammer-wielder out the door to the rooftop on which the three of them stood. "Hey, Cardin. I felt like I at least owed it to you to be here."

"Oh, you may as well have just signed your own death warrant, because–"

"Nora."

"Aye-aye, boss!" Valkyrie made a silly salute, then grabbed Cardin's lower jaw and shoved something into his mouth. Next, she kicked him in the crotch.

"Don't worry, Cardy," she said chipperly as Cardin tried and failed to dislodge the item in his throat. "That's just some of my socks. Jaune says that he doesn't want you to…pour beans on me?" She turned back to her leader. "But why would they come out of his mouth? And where would he even get the beans?"

"Maybe the same place he got a tubful of molasses," said Arc, shrugging as Valkyrie pinned Cardin to the floor and began to tie him up. For such a tiny thing, she was unnervingly strong. "And I said he'd spill the beans. That's enough for now, Nora."

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL TEAR YOUR ARMS OFF AND SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT, YOU AURA-LESS PHONY!"

That's what Cardin would have said if he hadn't been gagged. Instead, it came out as a muffled, "KMMMMLLLYYAAA! HLLLYYYFFFNNNSSRRMRMTT, RRRLLLSSSFFFFEEEE!"

"Molasses and beans?" Valkyrie gasped. "Are you going to make baked beans? Can I have some?"

"Tell you what, Nora. I'll cook an entire meal of baked beans and pancakes for you as thanks for taking care of this for me."

"Aww, Jauney!" She stepped away and pulled out a scroll. Gesturing to Cardin, she said, "He's all yours."

Cardin struggled as much as he could, but the rope Valkyrie'd bound him with wasn't budging. That was a lucky break for Arc, because if Cardin were free, old Jauney-boy would be flying over the edge of the rooftop and going splat on the pavement below.

"Sorry about this, mate. But you kind of took things too far. I have a feeling that I would be bleeding out right now if I didn't bring backup."

You would have, you fake huntsman. You'd be a pulverized heap of the nothing you are if I had my way.

Arc, like the queer he was, leaned closer to Cardin and whispered. "Now, I know you probably think that you're going to tell everyone my secret when you get back from your trip, but keep in mind how easily Nora just took you down. If you tear apart my team, she'll probably be pretty upset, and I wouldn't be around to call her off."

"Incoming!" shouted Nora.

"Just some food for thought," said Arc. "You know my secret, and there's nothing I can do to prevent you from outing me, but maybe a little mutually assured destruction will help us both. Keep away from me, stop forcing me to stay away from my team, don't even so much as think about trying to break up the Junipers, and we're good."

Cardin tried to say, "No deal," but his words still were incomprehensible. Nonetheless, Arc tiredly sighed and nodded in understanding.

"I had a feeling you would say that."

There was an enormously loud thud behind Cardin, and for a second, he worried that there was a bomb going off behind him. Then, the hammer-wielding maniac lifted him up by his armpits and pushed him backwards. Cardin felt cold metal against his back, and something smacked the back of his head.

"You'll need some time to cool off and think about the merits of my offer, so enjoy the flight. Ruby and Yang tell me that Patch is awfully nice this time of year."

"Safe travels!" said Valkyrie, then she slammed the door.

Fully trapped within whatever metal coffin they'd shoved him into, Cardin could do nothing but struggle as the sound of igniting fuel filled his ears, and the rooftop and its two hunter occupants gradually began to shrink out of view through the grates.

"Do you think that was too much?" said Jaune. The rocket locker was now barreling through the air in what Jaune assumed was the direction of Patch. He assumed that was east, but he didn't have a compass, and the sun had already set.

"I think it wasn't enough. Jaune, you came home with blood in your mouth."

"Yeah, but–"

"That means he didn't just hit you, he hit you until your aura failed! That's assault, Jaune. We should've launched him straight into the Grimmlands."

"It wasn't about launching him or beating him up," said Jaune. "I just wanted him out of our hair for a while so he can think on the matter. Eventually, he'll realize that you can hurt him just as bad as he can hurt me. The anger will fade, and he'll accept the logical conclusion that he can't…do me harm, at least not without risk to his own safety. I doubt we'll see much of him when he gets back."

And if they did, it couldn't be worse than the way it had been for the past two days. Jaune hadn't realized how much his absence was impacting his teammates until he'd talked it over with Nora. Perry seemed to think it was his own fault and had retreated into himself. Ren didn't say much, but he was also seriously affected by the sudden silence from half of the team.

It was only going to get worse. Cardin was escalating things. He was forcing me to spend every waking minute with his team, and things were starting to get physical. I wouldn't have been able to train with the others, and our teamwork would have suffered. Maybe this was a bit much, but Nora's right. He probably deserved it.

"So…pancakes and baked beans?"

"Sure thing, Nora. As soon as I can get my hands on a bathtub full of beans."

After all, he certainly had enough molasses.

tl;dr Cardin spin-off confirmed…?

Next Chapter: Saturday Morning Rain Is Falling

In which Jaune Arc stares at a unicorn and staves off the apocalypse.

Author's Notes

Canon: Remember Jaune, machismo and pride will only hold you back. You don't need to solve problems on your own. It's not a sign of weakness to get help.

Also canon: If you kill that Ursa alone, Cardin will stop bullying you, Jaune. That's the big secret to how to deal with bullies – fly solo and don't ever accept help. That's the Aesop here.

I don't get it. They say that Jaune was supposed to get help and cut the crap with the macho 'gotta do it myself' thing (Ruby pep talks him in the hallway about the most important thing for a leader being their team), but the only help he received was Pyrrha using her semblance to help him from afar, and that was without his knowledge. Jaune's bravest moment in Jaunedice was just him choosing to not kill Pyrrha via Rapist Wasp and honey sap, and that's supposed to be a moment of personal growth? Hogwash. Hog and wash. The hoggest of washes.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!