"Metall clanging alongside people cheering can be heard. Two projections display Cardin Winchester and Jaune Arc. Cardin's aura has not taken a single hit based on the gauge while Jaune's was dangerously low. Meanwhile, Weiss looks over at Jaune's team as well as Ruby who is sitting right next to her. "You can do it Jaune!" Pyrrha shouts "Let's go! Let's go!" Nora continues "Stay calm and focused" Ren finishes. Weiss' attention turns over to Ruby. "Keep fighting Jaune! Represent team JNPR! Yeah!" Ruby's eyes meet with Weiss and blushes in embarrassment. "Oh! s-sorry am I being too loud?" she laughs nervously. "Hardly, but your advice could stand to be a little more helpful." Weiss states in a firm voice.

"Cardin stands confidently with his weapon, The Executioner perched on his shoulder and Jaune Arc opposite him clearly exhausted.

He looks at Cardin, who laughs at his opponent's tiredness, and Jaune gathers his strength to charge forward and swing his blade at Cardin, only for him to jump out of the way. Jaune looks back, surprised, as The Executioner sends Jaune's shield - and himself - flying back. Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continued to try and attack, but is blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked, Cardin forces himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.

"This is the part where you lose."

"Over my dead-!" Jaune is cut short as Cardin knees him in the gut, making Jaune drop his sword and fall to the ground in pain. Cardin raises his mace and is about to slam it down on a worried Jaune just when the buzzer rings, the lights come back on, and Glynda Goodwitch's voice causes him to stop.

"Cardin, that's enough!" Cardin relents and walks away as she comes onto the stage, tapping her tablet "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." while Jaune still lays on the floor in defeat and Pyrrha appears upset, Glynda turns her head to look at the losing warrior as he pulls out a smaller tablet with his low, blinking stats and that of his entire team. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"

"Speak for yourself..." Cardin comments smugly

"Glynda turns to the seated and standing students, Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale.

The bell rings, and students start leaving while Pyrrha continues to frown sadly. Jaune, still sitting on the floor, hangs his head in shame.

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night..." Nora starts

"It was day." Ren corrects

"We were strong surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!" she screams this as she stands at the table of both Team RWBY and JNPR, where Weiss is ignoring Nora and filing her nails, Ruby and Pyrrha are listening politely, Blake is lost in her book, Yang is listening to everything she was saying and Jaune is messing with his food.

"Two of 'em."

Ruby and Pyrrha now look at a distant Jaune with concern. "But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

Ren sighs, "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

"Pyrrha looks over to her leader, "Jaune? Are you okay?"

Jaune snaps back to reality "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little... not okay."

The others stop their distractions and stare at him. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" he holds up a thumb while laughing nervously until his attention is focused on the members of Team CRDL, standing around a girl with brown rabbit ears jutting from her hair as Cardin laughs at her and Sky Lark holds up his hands to his head in a mock interpretation of her "unusual" features.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!"

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!"

"He's a bully!" the redtipped girl adds.

Jaune scoffs, "Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

"What about the time he booked you?" Ruby starts

"Or the time he got you stuck in the doorframe?" Pyrrha adds

"How about the time he stuffed you in a locker and flew you off campus?" Yang finishes.

By now, everyone is focused on him now, even Weiss.

Jaune attempts to laugh it off "I didn't land far from the school!"

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask."

Nora gets up from the table and presents a diabolical solution with a rather... concering grin. "Ooooh! We'll break his legs!"

"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

They all looks over as the laughing grows louder, mixed in with cries of pain from Velvet when one of her ears are tugged on by Cardin.

"Ow! That hurts!" she stops struggling and grimaces as she says: "Please, stop..."

Cardin continues laughing as he turns to his cronies "I told you it was real!"

"What a freak!" His teammate, Russell discriminates.

Cardin finally relents, and the girl stands up and hurries off, her head bowed and hiding her face from everyone.

"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him." Pyrrha scoffs.

Blake gives a daggering stare, "He's not the only one..."

Yang places her head on a hand. "It must be hard to be a Faunus."

Having gotten up from the table, Jaune looks back at his friends and sighs to himself before moving on with his tray table. He doesn't realize that Cardin is watching his walk of shame with a sinister grin.

Jaune rests with his head resting in his hands while a constantly-zooming and fast-talking Professor Bartholomew Oobleck is in the middle of his hyperactive lecture.

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution-more popularly known as the Faunus War-" He zooms up to the front of the class and the map covered in papers behind his desk "-humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He points at the map of said-area with his stick, then zooms off to the side for a sip of his coffee before appearing in front of the desk. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" He zooms around the classroom more, sipping his coffee again before continuing to zoom and talk. "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

Some students raise their hands. Velvet, after a moment, does the same.

"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" He takes another sip of his coffee. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" "Yes?"

"The battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss answers with ease.

"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Unseen by the professor, Cardin flicks a paper football at Jaune's head, causing him to wake up.

"Hey!"

Oobleck zooms over into Jaune's face. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"

"Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... that the Faunus..." he looks behind Oobleck's focused face at Pyrrha, who coughs and motions to her lips as she gives him the answer. "...had over that guy's stuff..." he sees Pyrrha cup her hands around her eyes and goes for the most obvious answer. "Uhh... Binoculars!"

While Jaune looks pleased with his answer, the class laughs at him and Oobleck who is back at the front of the class, sips his coffee. Pyrrha sighs and slaps a hand to her forehead as Cardin pounds his fist on his desk while chortling.

"Very funny, Mr. Arc! Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha chimes in.

"What? You got a problem?"

"No, I have the answer! It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark." Cardin growls at the correct response.

Blake further explains Pyrrha's answer saying: "General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." She then turns to Cardin. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

Cardin gets up from his seat, fist clenched ready for a fight but Oobleck was not about to let it happen. "Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat." when Jaune laughs at his tormentor's embarrassment, he zooms up to him. "You emand /emMr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." He takes yet another sip of his coffee."

Jaune's shoulders slump and he groans.

"Now! Moving on!"

When the lesson ends, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren come out of the classroom, only for Pyrrha to stop near the doorway./p

"You go on ahead. I'll wait for Jaune." they look back inside as the after-class talk occurs to the two.

Oobleck sips his coffee. "You two have been struggling in my class since day one! Now, I don't know if it's a lack of interest, or just your stubborn nature, but whatever it is..." He takes a longer sip of his coffee. "It stops now! You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school, and we only accept the best of the best, so I expect you to act like it. History is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it... you're destined to repeat it. Pages fifty-one to ninety-one! I want an essay on my desk by next class! Now! Run along."

With that, he zooms out of the classroom and past a waiting Pyrrha in a green and white blur. Jaune comes out first, and Cardin emerges behind him, pushing him to the ground an emitting an "Ow!" from him that makes the bully laugh before walking away.

Pyrrha pulls Jaune back on his feet. "You know, I really will break his legs." There was a hint of anger in her voice. Jaune sighs, and Pyrrha looks like she is struck by inspiration. "I have an idea! Here, come with me!" she grabs a confused Jaune by the arm and drags him along as she turns down the corridor.

A dejected Jaune and Pyrrha come onto a rooftop of one of the buildings, with a clear view of the glowing green orbs in the central tower of Beacon./p

"Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not that depressed." He looks over the edge of the roof, to the confusion of Pyrrha. "I can always be a farmer or something..."/p

"N-n-no!" she dashes to push Jaune away from the edge. "That's not why I brought you up here!" Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so... I want to help you!

"Wh-what?"

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!"

"You think I need help?"

"N-no! No, that's not what I meant."

"But you just said it."

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!"

Jaune turns away from her, lowering his head and voice. "You're wrong. I-I don't belong here."

"That's a terrible thing to say! Of course you do!"

"No, I don't!" he sighs as Pyrrha looks bewildered and he reveals the truth "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon..." turns his back to her so he doesn't have to face her.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy!" he looks at her again. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"

"What? But... why?"

"'Cause this is always what I've wanted to be!" he turns away yet again. "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough."

Pyrrha approaches him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Then let me help you!"

Jaune suddenly turns on her with mad frustration. "I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"

"Jaune, I-"

"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own... then what good am I?"

Pyrrha attempts to reach out for his arm and console him, but he leans back from her touch.

"Just... leave me alone. Okay?"

Pyrrha's head is bowed "If that's what you think is best..."

"She walks away sadly, her footsteps getting softer and softer until she leaves the roof. Jaune paces a little until he hears a mocking laugh and Cardin appears on the roof from his window."

"Oh, Jaune..."

Jaune looks behind him to see the last person he wanted to see "Cardin!"

"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!"

"Please, Cardin, please, don't tell anyone!" The fraud begs.

"Jaune, come on! I'd never rat on a friend like that!"

"A... a friend?"

"Of course!" He traps Jaune in a headlock under his arm despite his struggling. "We're friends now, Jauney boy! And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." He finally releases Jaune, who gasps as he leans on the ground. "That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?" He leans down to rub Jaune's hair and gets up with a grin. "That's what I thought." He heads back to hang onto the edge. "Don't worry, Jaune; your secret's safe with me."

Cardin drops back down to his room as Jaune rubs his neck in pain and worry.