"*FWEET* Rise and shine, maggots! Time for a jog!" Ordered Tanya.

The rest of team RWBY groaned.

After making sure her team was up, Tanya went next door to team JNPR's room.

Tanya opened their door with a spare key she 'got'. "*FWEET* Rise and shine, maggots! It's time for a jog!"

"YES MA'AM!" Said Nora, excitedly.

"Y-YES MA'AM!" Said Jaune, making Tanya smirk.

[1 hour later, outside]

"We have 30 minutes until class, keep moving!"

By now, everyone was tired, but Yang and Nora did a good job at keeping up. The most shocking thing however, was Jaune's determination to keep moving, despite his body telling him, BEGGING HIM, to stop.

Tanya turned to him. Hope you're not planning on quitting, Vomit Boy. Not like you have a choice either way, mind you. I'm just asking."

Pyrrha scowled. "For the love of whatever's out there, can you stop picking on Jau-"

"O-Of course not, Ma'am! Let's keep going." Jaune cut Pyrrha off.

"?!"

"Good boy." Tanya handed Jaune an energy drink (zero sugar for obvious reasons). "Drink up, quickly."

"Thank you, Ma'am!"

As Jaune drank the juice, everyone else was busy staring at the pair. Well, almost all of them.

"Heyyyy. How come Jaune gets a drink and I don't!?" Ask Nora.

Tanya looked at her, and then sighed. "You have too much caffeine in your body already, Nora."

Ren nodded. "It's true!"

Nora slumped down in defeat.

[Later that night at the training grounds]

Tanya and Jaune stared each other down.

"Listen up. If you can land one good hit on me, then you can consider our training over for today. Got it?"

"Y-Yes ma'am! Um... question?"

"What is it?"

"You... will go easy on me, right?"

Tanya raised an eyebrow. "What kind of person do you take me for, Vomit boy? Of course NOT!"

"Hu- AH!"

Suddenly Tanya rushed a Jaune with a manic grin on her face, and slashed at him. "H-HEY!? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!?"

"Who? Little old me?" Tanya laughed. "Of course not. I'll just beat you within an INCH OF YOUR LIFE!" She said as she continued her assault.

"S-STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT!" Jaune continued to run away from Tanya's attacks, but because she shared Ruby's semblance (why wouldn't she?) she was very fast, faster than Jaune could handle. Every time he dodged an attack was extremely close, so close that it's a wonder how he didn't get scratched, but this has to end. He needs to get just one hit, yeah? So it's time to be aggressive.

Jaune stopped running. Tanya smiled. "Done running already? Finally, Now come, show me what you can do!" She charged at him again, but this time, Jaune stood still and blocked the attack. "Oh?"

"HA!" Jaune swung his sword as fast as he could to counter her. However...

"To slow." Tanya used her semblance to quickly get out of the way.

"Hu-?"

Tanya got behind Jaune and *Slice* slashed his back, knocking him to the floor and taking a big chunk of his Aura. Good thing he apparently has a lot of it.

"AHHH!"

"Weak."

Jaune tried to get up, but he couldn't even do that in peace as Tanya jumped at him again. "Ah!" Jaune rolled out of the way.

"More. Give me more! ENTERTAIN ME!"

[A few more minutes later]

Jaune laid down on the ground, drenched in sweat, tired, and nearly out of Aura.

Tanya looked at him with a glint of pride(?) in her eye, "Surprised you lasted as long as you did, Vomit boy."

"P-Please... n-no... more..."

"Hmmm... Well I did say I would beat you within an inch of your life, but one more attack and you might die... So we can take a break for now." She took out an energy drink. "Drink this. Father says it can help replenish Aura. Of course I tested it myself, and it somewhat works."

Jaune wasted no time in drinking the beverage. "Thank you... Guess we're done for the day, yeah?"

"Done? Vomit boy, it's only been five minutes."

Jaune immediately snapped his head to look at her, losing all signs of fatigue. "ONLY FIVE MINUTES!?"

"Yep. We still have one hour and 25... 24 minutes left." Jaune wanted to scream, but he needed to do this. "How are you feeling, Vomit boy?"

"...Honestly, I feel fine. That drink really works."

"Good. Now then... TIME FOR ROUND TWO!"

"AH!" Tanya wasted no time in attacking Jaune again. He was able to dodge thanks to his replenished stamina, but that was the least of his concerns. "OH COME OOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!"

[One hour and 20 minutes later]

The two have been training relentlessly. Again and again Jaune would fall, and again and again he would have to get 'revived'. However, he was never able to hit Tanya, once... Until...

"This is getting boring, Vomit boy. Put some effort into it!"

Jaune, annoyed after everything he's been through, snapped. "For the love of God, IT'S JAUNE!" Jaune charged at Tanya. Scoffing at the readable attack, Tanya quickly used her semblance to dash to the side and counter attack, but after doing this so many times, Jaune saw this coming, turned around and-

*Slash*

Slashed Tanya, grazing her cheek.

"?!"

"... I did it... I-I hit you! I WON-"

*Bang* Before he could finish, Tanya shot him with a gravity dust bullet, sending him straight to the ground.

"AHHH!"

"I said one good hit, Vomit boy. That was just a graze. And we're out of time for today."

"I-I... b-but..."

"Here. Drink this and go to bed. We have to wake up early tomorrow, again!"

Tanya packed her things and left, leaving Jaune by himself.

"... I should've just gone with Pyrrha..."

[Six days later]

Six days. Six days of Hell on Remnant, for Jaune. To his credit, the 'jogs' have gotten easier... a little. The same could not be said for the training. Not once has Jaune landed a good hit on Tanya during this time, and Tanya didn't waste any time in reminding him. Tonight is no different.

"*Yawn* Hey, wanna quit now, Vomit boy? This is getting boring and we both know how this is gonna end. We only have 5 minutes left, and we have a field trip tomorrow. I won't blame you for leaving now-"

"Again."

"Hmm? Seriously? ...OH WELL!" Said Tanya with a huge grin

"Tanya... Get ready!" Jaune took a defensive stance.

"This again...?" Tanya charged at Jaune at full speed, but Jaune did nothing.

"...1 ...2 ...3 ...4 ...5!"

As soon as he said five, Jaune parried Tanya with his shield, perfectly.

"?!" Whether it was from the shock of the hit, or the fact that it hit at all was beyond Tanya, but time seemed to come to a screeching halt. "How?" She thought. "Don't tell me..." Tanya smiled. "Well son of a bitch, Vomit boy... or maybe... I should call you..." Tanya quickly used her semblance to get above Jaune to attack him.

With lightning speed, Tanya swung at Jaune and…

*Slash*

The attack hit. However, Jaune didn't fall. He was still standing like the attack was nothing, with a golden yellow light around him. Was he healing... no. He was amplifying his Aura! This was... his semblance.

Tanya laughed. "Well I'll be damned." Jaune quickly turned around and readied his sword. "Well done..."

"SMASH!*

"Jaune Arc..."

As time 'resumed' to normal speed, Tanya was sent flying towards the wall, hitting it very hard, and breaking a big chunk of her Aura.

Jaune stared in disbelief. "I... I did it. I ACTUALLY DID IT!" He cheered. "TAKE THAT TANYA!" It was then that he noticed her on the ground next to a wall. "... Oh no... Tanya!" Jaune rushed over to her. "Here! Let me patch you up! He said as he placed his hand on her shoulder and began to amplify her Aura, causing it to heal her faster.

Tanya scoffed. "You don't need to do that," she blinked as his actions actually registered in her mind, "I'm surprised you knew what to do though."

"It just came to me. Besides, I don't think we want Ruby to wake up with back pain."

"... True. My other half is such a cry baby."

"Isn't that basically insulting yourself?"

"Oh please, we're nothing alike. As far as me, Ruby, and everyone else is concerned, Ruby and I are two separate people." Tanya sighed. "Anyway, Jaune. Good work tonig-"

"Say that again."

"...I just said your name-"

"THAT'S MY POINT! YOU FINALLY CALLED ME BY MY REAL NAME!" Jaune cheered. "That means I've earned your respect, right?" Jaune said, looking intensely at Tanya.

"Get out of my face, before I shoot you!"

"S-SORRY!"

Tanya sighed. "Anyway… Yes, yes you did earn my respect. Which, by the way, you managed to do that before the Princess, so good on you."

Jaune blushed. "W-Well thank you... However, My heart belongs to Wei-"

"I'd keep my options open if I were you. You could find someone better right next to you." Said Tanya, making Jaune blush even more.

"H-Huh!? H-Hey now-"

"I'm not talking about me, Jaune. I'm not into you, or anyone really."

Jaune's face went back to normal. "Oh."

Tanya smirked. "Though I can't say that Ruby WON'T develop feelings when she's older." Jaune's face glowed crimson. Tanya laughed. "I'm just messing with you, Jauney. However... If Ruby were to develop feelings for you, and you two did end up together, and you break her heart…" Tanya grabbed him by his collar. "I'll cut your dick off." Tanya said coldly, turning Jaune paler than a ghost.

"Y-Yes, ma'am..."

"Good." Tanya released him and got up. "Well, time for bed. We have a field trip and you have that work to give to Cardin. The one that you 'totally' did by yourself." She winked. "Well, good night Jaune. Same time tomorrow. And next time, you have to land TWO good hits on me." Jaune gulped. With that, Tanya left.

Finally by himself, Jaune sighed. "Soon, Cardin. Soon I'll make you pay for using me-"

Before he could finish, Jaune's scroll began to ring. It was a message from Cardin.

Sighing, Jaune played the message. "Hey! It's your buddy Cardin. I know you're probably busy with that dust project I gave you, buuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of rapier wasps."

"HUH!?"

"And make sure they've got some reaaally big stingers. It's important, so don't screw this up!" With that, the message ended, and Jaune closed the scroll. His expression lost its prior exuberance at his success.

"... *sigh*... Guess I should tell Tanya..."

"Or... you can show her how far you've come and do it yourself!"

"Hmmm... Yeah, you're right!" Jaune found himself grinning again, "Great Idea voice in my head that sounds conspicuously like Nora!" Jaune's face shifted into something a bit flatter, "...Wait a minute." Jaune looked behind him to see a barrel where he could've sworn he heard the voice from. He went over to it, opened the top and saw- "NORA!?"

Nora laughed nervously. "Umm... Surprise!"

[The next day. Forever Fall Forest.]

Trees, red Leaves as far as the eye can see, a sweet smell wherever you go.

Glynda turned to address the students she was leading. "Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. However, we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest. And I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so."

Ruby was still looking at the sight around her, Yang and Nora did the same. Jaune on the other hand was just catching up as he carried a heavy looking case with seven jars on top. He ended up bumping into Cardin, who looked at him angrily. Jaune just nervously whistled in response.

Glynda continued. "Each of you is to gather one jars worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at Four o'clock... Oh, and have fun!"

With Glynda done, and gone, Cardin put his hand on Cardin's back. "C'mon, buddy! Let's go."

Jaune looked forward to seeing his teammates. Both Pyrrha and Nora were looking at him worryingly (Nora doing so while still walking with Ren). In response, Jaune gave them a small smile and an even smaller nod. Before leaving with Cardin.

Pyrrha sighed. "Oh Jaune... I hope you know what you're doing," she said.

Nora on the other hand, just smiled. "Break his legs." She whispered.

[Sometime later]

As Cardin and his friends sat down doing nothing, Jaune came back with seven full jars of red sap. Jaune placed them all on the ground, and then took a tissue out to blow his nose.

Cardin laughed. "Hey, great work, Jauney boy. Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" It really wasn't hard at all. Compared to Tanya's training, this was quite literally nothing (At least his body toughened up after all that work).

Jaune just continued to blow his nose. "I think I'm allergic to this stuff..." He said, his nose still stuffed up. That was something no amount of training could fix.

Cardin shrugged. "Great. Great great. So, Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, 'why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'"

"...That is one of the many questions that I've asked myself today, yes... And we're NOT buddies..." Said Jaune, whispering that last part.

Cardin smiled. "Well, come with me and you'll find out."

Jaune followed Cardin and his friends to the area where the rest of his team, and team RWBY were. Most of them were already done, except for Ren and Nora... because Nora kept on drinking the sap.

What does this have to do with the sixth bottle of sap though? "Cardin, what's going on?"

Cardin looked at Pyrrha, and then both his face and his voice darkened. "Payback."

"Payback? On Pyrrha?"

"Not just her, but that little freak over there as well." Cardin pointed at Ruby. "Look at them. A Red-haired know-it-all that thinks she's so smart. And that short little bitch who threatened me, almost killed my bloodline, and on top of all that, has the nerve to act all innocent." Cardin turned around to pull up a box. "Alright, boys. Last night ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of rapier wasps. And now, we're gonna put 'em to work." One of Cardin's friends patted Jaune on the back, but Jaune didn't react. Cardin continued. "Now, according to one of the essays he wrote for me last week, these nasty things looove sweets. And with these guys and the sap combined, I'm thinkin' it's time we teach those bitches a thing or two." Cardin pulled Jaune up. "And you're gonna do it."

Jaune looked at the jar. "You want me to hit them with the sap..."

"Exactly! I knew we were getting the same page, Jaune. Besides, it's either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon. However, seeing as we're all on the same page, I guess I was worried for nothing. So go on, Jaune. Get them."

Jaune sighed. "I know I messed up, and all of this can be boiled down to MY actions, but I can't do this anymore."

Cardin raised an eyebrow. "What...?"

"You can tell Ms. Goodwitch, Ozpin, or whoever you want Cardin, but my answer... IS NO!" Jaune gripped the jar firmly and threw it at Cardin, causing it to break and spill the sap on him instead.

Cardin was shocked, but that shock was soon replaced by laughter. "You've done it now."

Jaune looked at him. "Yeah, I did." As he said that, he took out his weapon. "AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO FIGHT MY WAY OUT!"

[A few moments later]

"HA!"

*SLASH*

"GUH!"

The sound of metal clashing echoed across the forest. Jaune and Cardin's fight moved them deeper and deeper into the forest, far enough that nobody could hear them, which is fine by Cardin.

"I'll admit Jaune, you've gotten stronger."

"Don't say that like you've been winning, Cardin."

"Yeah yeah. So? Where did you learn this power? And don't tell me that you've been holding back this whole time, we both know that's not the case!"

*Clink*

"And why should I tell you anything!?"

"Because maybe you can save yourself from further beatings!"

The two continued to move deeper and deeper in the forest. Cardin still had brute more physical power, but his movements were slow and predictable. Compared to Tanya's fast and constantly changing movements, Cardin might as well be moving in slow-motion. If only Cardin wasn't so tanky...

"It's a shame you didn't just quit while you're ahead, Jauney boy. So, I'm going to make sure they send you back to Mommy, in tiny, little, pieces!" As if on cue, Cardin's friend's jumped out of a bush, going straight for Jaune.

"I don't care what you do to me," When they got close, Jaune used the spin attack that he almost mastered, knocking them all away. "but you're not messing with MY FRIENDS!"

Cardin scoffed. "What, you think talking like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?"

Jaune smiled. "This 'Big strong man' just repelled your team with one attack. I'd say that makes me a little tough. Granted, I would've loved a little more time before all this."

Cardin got visibly angry at Jaune's lack of fear, and charged at him once more. "HRAHH!" He swung his Mace, but Jaune managed to parry it with his shield. "AGH! Okay... Let's see how much of a man you really are!" The two got ready to engage once more. However, they were interrupted by a low pitched, loud, roar.

"Huh?"
"What was-?"

The two turned around to find the source of the noise. And what they found was a massive, hungry-

"URSA!" Said Russel, one of Cardin's friends.

The bear like Grimm began to sniff, smelling the sap on Cardin, combining that with the fear it was sensing, and it was only a matter of time before it showed up.

Cardin looked at the monster with fear in his eyes. He then tried to attack it, but he easily got swatted away.

Seeing their leader on the ground, the rest of team CRDL wasted no time in... running away.

Jaune was shocked to see them run away instead of helping their friend, but the shock quickly changed to concern, and something... dark.

Jaune had a choice. He could go and help Cardin, or leave and allow him to take a further beating... but after their battle, how much abuse could Cardin take before getting seriously injured... or worse.

"What should I do?" He thought. "On one hand, leaving him would be wrong, especially since he has a chance to die. However, on the other hand, who cares if... WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING!?" Snapping out of his dark thoughts, Jaune knew there was only one answer. "I might be her student… but I am NOT Tanya!

[Meanwhile with Team RWBY and the rest of team JNPR]

"Did you guys hear that?" Asked Ruby, hearing a roar in the distance. Before anyone could answer, team CRDL ran past her.

In his panic, however, Russel ended up running into Yang. "Hey, what's with you guys!?" She said as she picked Russel up.

Despite his situation, Russel finally felt calm enough to speak. "Ursa! There's a huge Ursa!"

"WHAT!?" Team RWBY and NPR said in unison.

"Where!?" Asked Yang.

Russel pointed in the direction he came from. "Back there! It's got Cardin!"

Hearing this, Pyrrha dropped her jar. "Jaune!"

Ruby turned to Yang and Blake. "Yang! You and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch. Weiss, come with me."

Pyrrha turned to Ren and Nora. "You two, go with them. There could be more."

But before they could do anything, a roar of pain ran through the forest.

[Back to Jaune and Cardin]

Jaune blocked the Ursa's paw with his shield moments before it hit Cardin. With enough force, he was able to lift his shield up, and follow up with a slash. The monster then tried to attack again, but Jaune dodged it. He continued to avoid and block attack after attack, while doing some good damage on his own.

And while this was going on, his friends were watching in awe.

"When did he get so... good?" Asked Weiss.

"Honestly, I have no idea." Said Ruby. "You won't see me complaining though. YOU CAN DO IT JAUNE!"

"SHOW THAT TEDDY BEAR WHO'S BOSS!" Said Nora.

Hearing this, Jaune smiled. The Ursa lounged for one more attack. Jaune did the same. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for everyone there. 'Would Jaune get the hit off in time'? Was the main question, as from the looks of it, Jaune and the Ursa were going to do a trade off.

Fearing for Jaune's safety, Pyrrha was about to use her semblance to move his shield to block the incoming attack. Before she could, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Nora, the one responsible, just smiled.

Jaune noticed the incoming claw. With his reflexes in overdrive, he quickly moved his shield to parry the attack, stunning the bear, and giving him the opening he needed.

"TAKE THIS!"

*SLASH*

Swinging upward, Jaune cut the Ursa's head clean off, killing it instantly.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" said Yang.

"I can tell Jaune's been training. He's definitely grown," said Blake.

"I guess that's why he's our leader then," said Ren.

Pyrrha looked at her hand. "I didn't even need to help. Well done Jaune." Pyrrha turned to her friends. "Why don't we all keep this as our little secret, okay?" Everyone nodded.

"I just wish Tanya was here to see that. It's about time she ate her own words." Said Weiss.

"I-I'd rather stay up now, thank you very much. I haven't been up much since last week." Said Ruby.

"Tanya was always leaving somewhere. Wonder what she's doing." Pondered Yang.

"It's a mystery!" Said Nora in a sing-songy voice. Ren knew she was lying, but decided to leave it alone.

"I mean..." Yang pulled out some pepper. "I could always-"

"I SAID NO!"

Jaune walked up to Cardin and extended his hand, beckoning Cardin to take. Cardin hesitated a bit, but ultimately grabbed Jaune's hand, then Jaune helped him up.

"Holy crap, Jaune-"

"Cardin. I'm sure we both know what this means. I don't care what you think of me, but don't EVER mess with my friends, ever again. Got it?"

"..." Cardin didn't know what to say.

"Cardin, I don't know what happened to make you this way, but leave my friends out of it, However... I will say this. You CAN change."

With that, Jaune left to join his friends, leaving Cardin alone with his thoughts.

[Later that night on the roof of Beacon]

Jaune looked up at the night sky. It was nice to finally get all of that over and done with.

This moment of peace was quickly interrupted though, as the door to the roof opened. "*Sigh* Yeah, yeah, I'm coming Tanya- ?!" Standing by the door wasn't Tanya, or even Ruby, but rather, his teammate. "Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha looked confused. "I would've expected you to assume Cardin was here. I thought you two were best buds, after all. I didn't expect you to assume Tanya was here."

Jaune sighed. "Let's just say that Cardin wasn't me only... bud." Pyrrha looked pale. "I-It's not what you think! She... Tanya helped me."

"She did?"

"... Pyrrha, I'm sorry. I acted like a huge jerk that night when all you wanted to do was be nice and help. I had all of this stupid macho stuff in my head at the time, and then to top it all off, I did end up getting help from someone else without telling you..."

"Jaune," Pyrrha grabbed his hand and smiled at him, "it's okay. I'm just glad you're safe." Jaune smiled back. "Your team really misses their leader, you know. You should come down. Ren made pancakes. No syrup, though. You can thank Nora for that."

"Haha... sounds great. Actually, I have something to ask you."

"Yeah?"

"I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but would you still be willing to train with me?"

Pyrrha smiled and walked towards Jaune, "If you really want it." Before Jaune could say anything, Pyrrha tried to shove him to the ground. In response, Jaune quickly fixed his stance to prevent himself from falling. "My, my. Did Tanya teach you that?"

Jaune chuckled. "After what I've been through, it's basically an instinct now."

"What was she doing to you?"

"Well...-"

"We can just ask her." Said a voice from above. Jaune and Pyrrha looked up to see Nora, who somehow managed to climb up the roof. "Hello!"

[Later at the training grounds]

"So, let me get this straight. Nora was spying on us and decided to tell both your team and mine. And now you all want to make this a group training session?" Said Tanya, looking at team JRNP and WBY, with her right eye twitching.

"Yeaaaahhh...?" Said Jaune nervously.

Tanya, now very annoyed, lifted her finger and began to protest, "I-! … I…" but when she started, the words wouldn't come out. Tanya lowered her finger "I… Ummm….." Was she being too harsh? She thought as she placed her finger on her chin. "Well… I mean… This isn't…" Tanya looked at Yang, who gave her a small smile. "I… What the hell's wrong with me?" Lowering her head in defeat, Tanya sighed. "Fine. Very well. Just know that I'm not going to be responsible for all of you. If this is group training then you're responsible for your own body, got it."

"YES MA'AM!"
"Got it sis!"
"Whatever."

[Bonus scene. Team CFVY's dorm]

*Knock knock*

"Yeah? Who is it?" Asked Coco. "Is it another underclassman who wants some advice from their sem‐" She stopped short as she saw who was standing at the door, "You..."

Cardin scratched his head. "Um... H-Hi there. Is... Velvet home?"

"Why should I tell you, of all people, anything about my teammates whereabouts!? Don't think I didn't notice what you did to her or that Jaune boy, Winchester!"

"... Yeah, I know. I don't have any right to ask you this, I just want to talk to her. I swear, that's all."

"Well here's what I have to say to that," she narrowed her eyes, "Fuck. Off."

"Coco, wait." Said Velvet.

"Vel, you don't need to-"

"Cardin," the boy in question stood a bit straighter at her tone, "I'm gonna put my trust in you, just this once. I hope you aren't planning on wasting my time."

"... I swear."

Velvet stared at him for a little bit, and then smiled. "Very well. Let's go to the roof."