Pyrrha looked out the window sadly as Ren was busy loading StormFlower and Nora was jumping on her bed in Team JNPR's dorm room.
"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora asked inquisitively.
"He's become rather scarce since he started fraternizing with Cardin." Ren said matter of factly.
"That's weird... Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest!"
"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing," Pyrrha stated angrily.
Nora and Ren exchanged glances, not knowing that Jaune himself was looking in through the crack of the door.
"Mmmm... I guess so." Nora responded.
Jaune hung his head in shame and sadness and closed the door, just as a voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Hey, Jaune!"
Startled, Jaune turns around to see Ruby in her pajamas, the shorter girl giggling at his reaction.
"Long time, no see! Did you lock yourself out again?"
"Oh, uh, nope!" Jaune quickly said as he raised his Scroll, attempting to laugh along. "I got it!"
"So! Where have you been lately?" Ruby asked.
"I, uh…" Jaune stumbled, trying to come up with something, but just sighed and lowered his head.
"I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and…" Jaune breathed heavily through his nose. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea."
He pressed his back to his team's door and slid down to the floor in defeat.
"I'm a failure."
"Nope!" Ruby rebuffed, causing Jaune to look at her in surprise.
"Nope?"
"Nope! You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."
Jaune was still doubtful. "But... what if I'm a failure at being a leader?
Ruby thinks about it for a moment, then gives her answer.
"Nope!"
Jaune laughed a bit as she joined him on the floor.
"You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff," Jaune said.
"Nope! Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid…." Ruby said.
Jaune groaned and sank lower to the ground.
"And you might've even been a failure the first day we met!"
He groans and goes lower still.
"But, you can't be one now. You know why?" Ruby asked
Jaune was confused.
"Uhhh, because...?"
"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us." Ruby clarified as she got up from the ground and placed her hands on her hips. "We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you."
Ruby then walked over to her door and opened it as Jaune, now slightly inspired by her words, watched her wave.
"Have a good night, Jaune!"
"Goodnight to you too, Ruby, and thanks."
With newfound energy, Jaune pushed himself off the ground and faced the door, ready to turn the knob and face his team, but then his Scroll beeps and he pulls it off of his side to open it, seeing Cardin's contact relaying a message.
"Hey! It's your buddy Cardin! I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, buuuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps."
Jaune makes a terrified sound in response.
"And make sure they've got some really big stingers! It's important, so don't screw this up!"
Jaune closes his Scroll just when it begins to beep again. Sighing, he wearily heads down the hallway and away from his room. While walking down the hallway Jaune sees Smith leaning against the wall.
"What are you doing here?"
"Nothing much, I just need some fresh air. However I do have something to tell you."
Jaune was confused at this, looking at the boy who shared a first name with his teammate quizzically.
"Just know that you won't be in this situation for long," Smith said cryptically as he stood up and walked away, leaving Jaune unsure of what he meant.
[THE NEXT DAY]
Glynda was leading Teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, KAAB, DOTS, and MRTY through the forest known as Forever Fall.
"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sightsee. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."
"We are all capable of protecting ourselves…..well excluding Teams RWBY and JNPR." Kamikaze thought.
The group stopped, and Jaune, grunting and carrying a large case with six empty glass jars on top, tried to catch up with them and ended up bumping into Cardin. The bully scowled at Jaune, who quickly attempted to feign innocence by whistling tunelessly.
"Each of you is to gather one jar's 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 4 o'clock. Have fun!" Glynda finished her lecture.
"Fun? Collecting tree sap all day is the opposite of fun!" Ollie complained under his breath.
"Don't worry about Ollie, we'll get through this in no time," Samantha said reassuringly.
While Yang and Ruby smiled at one another, Jaune attempted to sneak away from Cardin to his team, but the blackmailer saw this and grabbed Jaune by the back.
"Come on, buddy, let's go!"
Momonga stared at Cardin and scowled at this.
"You will soon regret your misdeeds, Cardin. I will personally ensure that you will answer for your actions." He then sent a telepathic message to his team. "It's about to begin, get ready."
Team MRTY collectively nodded in affirmation.
Jaune miserably looks up at his team, where Nora and Ren are already walking into the forest's depths and Pyrrha is staring sadly at the scene. Dropping his gaze, Jaune turns and follows CRDL, to the disappointment of a sighing Pyrrha before she continues on.
Team CRDL is making themselves as comfortable as possible by leaning on stones, trees, and the ground while Jaune returns to the group with six full jars, setting them down just as he collapses face-down. The surrounding team gets up in response.
"Hey, great work, Jauney boy! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin said mockingly.
Jaune is still on the ground, cross-eyed and sounding dizzy.
"I think I'm allergic to this stuff…"
Cardin ignored his plight. "Greeeeat, 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?"
Jaune nodded as he was still exhausted.
"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes."
Cardin pulls Jaune up to his feet. "Well, come with me, and you'll find out."
Jaune moans and gulps in worry. Unbeknownst to them, Momonga and Yuki were following.
Now perched on a hilltop overlooking the other students, team CRDL and Jaune, squeezed between Cardin and Russel, peeked their heads over the crest and watched as everyone was retrieving their samples of sap. Ren, kneeling to collect it from a tree, passes a full jar to Nora, who looks at it hungrily as Ren trades it for the other jar in her care. He turns back to the tree and starts filling it up while several licking sounds are heard as Nora, now with an embarrassed smile, is covered in red and holds the now empty jar in her hands.
"Cardin, wh-what's going on?" Jaune asked anxiously.
"Payback." Cardin replied.
"Pyrrha...? Wh-what are you-?" Jaune stammered.
"That's the girl. Red-haired know-it-all, thinks she's so smart. Alright, boys... Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put him to work." Cardin said.
Russel grabs Jaune by the shoulder, who barely laughs in nervousness.
"Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things loooove sweets. I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two." Cardin explained.
The members of CRDL get up. Cardin offers his hand to Jaune, only to painfully yank him up on his feet and shove the jar into his grasp.
"And you're gonna do it."
Jaune is confused by and fearful of Cardin's demand.
"Do what?"
"Hit her with the sap! Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." Cardin threatened.
Jaune looks down at the jar of sap in his hands and then up at the four grinning teammates waiting to see what happens. Jaune turns towards the group and aims his throw at an oblivious and smiling Pyrrha, trying to steel his nerves and shaking hand to do the deed, but then he remembers what Ruby and Yuki told him. Jaune then steels himself for what he's about to do.
"No."
"What did you say?" Cardin asked with narrowed eyes.
"I said NO!" Jaune shouted.
He turned and threw the jar at Cardin, leaving the latter's breastplate covered in sap. Cardin however, just looked at himself and laughed darkly.
"Oh, you've done it now…"
Russel, Sky, and Dove approach Jaune menacingly when Momonga and Yuki decided to make their presence known.
"So you finally revealed your true nature as cowards and bullies," Momonga said with his arms folded across his chest.
"Hey wiseguy, why don't you do yourself a favor and butt out?" Russel sneered.
"Who made you the boss of us, punk?" Yuki said with a glare. "Besides, it is crystal clear that you are bullying Jaune and forcing him to break school rules."
"So what? I'd like to see you do something about it." Cardin challenged.
Momonga simply smirked. "You just gave us all that we needed to expose you."
He took out his scroll from his jacket, it was recording.
"I documented everything that you were saying. You can say that you were caught in 4K." Momonga said.
Jaune was left speechless at how cleverly Momonga had outmaneuvered and exposed Cardin and his cronies. Cardin's teammates couldn't believe what they had heard. As for their team leader?
Cardin's expression morphed from confusion to shock and finally settling to anger.
"You wouldn't fucking dare."
"Wanna bet?" Momonga grinned.
Cardin charged at Momonga who sidestepped away but not before discreetly tying Cardin's feet together with web causing the bully to fall flat on his face.
The rest of Team CRDL advanced towards Momonga and Yuki but the latter blasted them away with a starbolt. They are sent into the nearby bushes by the force of Yuki's attack. Suddenly a low growl is heard and a huge Ursa Major emerges from the woods. It had dozens of jagged spikes sticking out from its wide back. It leaps forward and stands over the students. It then lifted its head in the air as it smelt the sap on Cardin's breastplate. It lands back on its forelegs and roars at the teens.
"Oh boy..." Momonga muttered.
Yuki stood her ground as she prepared to fight however Team CRDL (who had recovered) sans Cardin were not as brave and fled the scene while screaming like little girls. Cardin manages to untangle his legs and stand up but then he makes eye contact with the Ursa Major.
Cardin is rooted to the spot in fear as the Ursa identifies him as the source of the smell and charges at the terrified leader of Team CRDL. Momonga acted quickly and tackled Cardin out of the way. Meanwhile, the roar of the giant Ursa was heard by the members of Teams RWBY, JNPR, KAAB, DOTS, and the remaining two members of Team MRTY still collecting sap on the other side of the forest.
"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked in concern.
"Yup..." Ben said as he continued collecting sap.
"If there are Grimm nearby, shouldn't we be more cautious?" Blake asked.
"Relax Blake, Ms. Goodwitch is still here. She'll take care of any trouble." Kamikaze said.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Trust me we'll be fine."
"Time to see if this version of Jaune is up to the challenge," Arcee said to herself.
Back with Team CRDL, Jaune, Momonga, and Yuki, Yuki was flying around the Ursa peppering it with her star bolts and keeping the Grimm distracted.
Momonga turned to Cardin. "Leave now and get to safety, my teammate and I will handle this."
Cardin didn't need to be told twice as he left running.
Momonga took a breath and focused on the now agitated Ursa.
"Let's get dangerous…."
Jaune walked up to Momonga.
"What should we do? We're not ready to handle Grimm by ourselves!"
"Jaune, a wise man once said that hesitation is defeat, don't let doubt cloud your mind." Momonga replied.
"But what can I do? You probably heard what Cardin said about my fake transcripts…." Jaune said downcast.
"Listen to me Jaune, while it's true that you lied on your transcripts, Professor Ozpin already knew they were untrue." Momonga said.
"Wait so he admitted me into Beacon despite this?" Jaune inquired.
"Professor Ozpin is the principal of one of the best huntsman academies in Remnant, of course he can tell what documents are authentic and which ones are not." Momonga said while rolling eyes.
"Oh…" Jaune replied but was still reluctant to act. "I haven't been formally trained, though. Looking back I shouldn't have played macho when Pyrrha offered to help."
"Jaune, you're human and we all make mistakes, even I have regrets of my own but there's always a chance to do something about it." Momonga said.
Jaune digested what Momonga had said and after a moment of reflection, he became determined.
"Okay, lead the way Momonga."
Momonga smiled. "That's the spirit, now listen to what I say carefully."
After a couple of minutes had passed Yuki called Momonga.
"Are you guys ready yet? This Ursa isn't going to wait all day."
She dodged a swipe from the Grimm and retaliated with a starbolt.
"We're ready! Bring the Ursa over to us." Momonga said.
Yuki nodded as she lured the Grimm to Momonga and Jaune's position.
Momonga took out the Darksaber.
"That's a cool sword." Jaune remarked.
"Thanks. Now brace yourself."
The Ursa came barreling at the two boys.
"DODGE!" Momonga said.
Jaune complied as the Ursa missed them.
"Now shadow me," Momonga said.
The Team Infinity member attacked the Ursa, slashing and stabbing at the Grimm with his weapon. The Ursa roared in pain from Momonga's attacks and tried to claw at him but the teen ducked, bobbed, and weaved as he avoided the swipes.
"Thank goodness for the agility I have as a Spider-Totem," Momonga said to himself.
"Yuki, strafe the Ursa!" He said to his teammate who was still in the air.
"Got it," Yuki said.
She flew up into the sky, gathered an orb of her energy, and dived over the Ursa before dropping the energy sphere on the Grimm, blasting it. The Ursa bellowed in pain as it accumulated more injuries. Momonga saw that the Grimm was in a weakened state.
"Okay, Jaune do the coup de grace and finish it off," Momonga instructed.
"R-right!" Jaune replied as he charged the Ursa.
The Ursa spotted Jaune as swiped at him, Jaune quickly put up his shield to block the Ursa's paw and slashed at its stomach, causing it to lash out and try to crush him. He rolled out of the way and jumps over its swipe at his feet, but he is unprepared for it when it launches a claw at him in midair. He landec far away, yet was immediately back on his feet as he charged again. The Ursa knocked Jaune behind it when he tried for a leaping attack, and he looked at the Scroll in his shield to find out that his Aura level was in the red. He grew angry again and starts to run at the Ursa as it also begins to dash towards him.
As they are just about to clash in slow-motion, Yuki sees that Jaune has left himself completely open to the Ursa's attack, and lifts her hand out to him, gathering purple energy in her arm. Just as the Ursa is about to hit him, the glow surrounds Jaune's shield and makes it lift up to block the swipe. Jaune uses the surprise defensive move to lean on the ground, push his shield back up, and swing his blade right through Ursa's neck. The head falls to the ground as the body slams onto the ground.
Yuki's hands stopped glowing as she smiled. Momonga had noticed what she did but nodded in satisfaction.
Jaune collapsed on the ground in a supine position.
"I-I did it!" He said tiredly.
"Yes, you did." Yuki replied.
Later that day
After returning to Beacon Academy, Jaune apologizes to Pyrrha for his recent behavior.
"Sorry for being a stupid jerk….." Jaune said.
"Jaune, it's okay, I am just happy that you're back. Your team really misses their leader, you know." Pyrrha replied.
Jaune rubbed his head bashfully.
"Thanks for understanding…"
"Also Ren made pancakes so you better hurry before Nora eats them all." Pyrrha advised with a smile before she entered their dorm room.
Jaune then thought back to what Momonga and Yuki told him.
Flashback
"I hope you have learned to trust others after today. Especially those who have your best interests in mind" Momonga said.
"Yeah and thanks for helping me." Jaune said.
"We were happy to help, besides making Cardin accountable for his actions was priceless." Yuki said.
"Tell me about it, we caught him red-handed then his team abandoned him in the face of danger and I heard from Ruby that he may wetted his pants." Momonga said.
"Well he and his team have enough time to think about their actions." Yuki replied.
"No kidding, Cardin and his pals are lucky that Ozpin only suspended them for a week and gave them a month of detention to serve after their suspensions are over." Jaune commented.
He then remembers something he wanted to ask.
"I know that I probably don't deserve it after all that happened, but would you still be willing to help me... to help me become a better fighter?"
Yuki and Momonga smiled.
"You didn't have to ask because our team already decided that we will train you to become the best you can be and Ozpin greenlighted it." Yuki said.
"Not to mention our friends would be pitching in as well so bring your A-game." Momonga said.
"Thanks guys, I won't let you down." Jaune said with a smile.
Back to the present
"I will try to be the very best Huntsman that I can be." Jaune thought as he followed Pyrrha.
Moments later his voice is heard.
"Hey, that's mine!"
"First come, first serve, Fearless Leader!" Nora replied cheekily.