Author's Notes: Hey there, been a while huh? Sorry for how long it took to get this out but same old, same old, work and life in general. Plus the heat drained my motivation for a while. Still, I felt bad for not updating all this time so here's an extra long chapter for your enjoyment. I'll blabber on more at the end.
Combat Class, as the name implied, was where students were taught how to fight. While each student already had their own fighting styles, there were still things they could learn and use to hone their techniques. And the best way to do that was through actual combat with each other though most typically use the class to show off to their peers.
This obviously made the class the favorite for the majority of the student body as evidenced by how eagerly the students made their way to the class. The class itself took place in the combat arena in the main school building as it was the only place that had enough seats to accommodate the students and an arena to hold the actual fights.
Being among the first students to arrive, Jaune and the rest of his team had claimed a spot in the front row, close to the ring where the matches took place. His eyes scanned the other rows and soon spotted Team WRBY on the other side of the arena and judging by the way Ruby was waving at him, she saw him too.
He smiled as he waved back, prompting Ruby to nudge her teammates and get them to wave too. His heart fluttered at the sight of Weiss smile while waving at him. He felt so happy that he ignored the sigh Ozma made. Though the feeling was quickly replaced with dread when Yang winked and blew a kiss at him in full view of the other boys in class who started giving him dirty looks.
Damn it Yang! It was the night before Initiation all over again!
As for Blake… Fortunately, Blake just looked up from her book and nodded to him in acknowledgment before going back to her book.
He nudged his own team to greet Team WRBY back in kind though their exchange was interrupted when the speakers around the arena turned on in a brief crackle of static.
"Welcome back to combat class, kids!" Professor Amber Autumn's voice cheerfully sounded off from the speakers as the woman herself stepped onto the ring, "Today's lesson is going to be a bit different. Don't worry, you'll still get to wail on each other for my entertainment later."
This garnered some laughter from the students. Just as combat class was many students' favorite class, Professor Autumn was also their favorite teacher due to how easygoing she was compared to the other professors.
"Alright kids, settle down and listen up, cause I won't repeat myself." Amber then cleared her throat and spoke in a more professional tone, "As you all probably know, Vale will be hosting the Vytal Festival this year-"
"Ayyy! Yep! Goooo, Vale!" a student suddenly cheered with his fist pumped high into the air though he quickly lowered it after he noticed everyone staring at him instead of joining in the cheer.
"Ahem…as I was saying. A big part of the festival will be the tournament between huntsmen academies so today we're going to talk about the rules used in the tournament. Some of you might be familiar with these rules…"
Several sets of eyes briefly stared at Pyrrha who shrank at the sudden attention before she started smiling and waving at them like she has done countless times before in her tournament career.
Amber ignored this and kept talking "..But I'll go through them for everyone's sake so keep quiet and listen. First off…" she then started listing the rules one after the other.
Most of the rules weren't that much different from the ones used in class and the ones used for the tournament was really obvious. Like avoid hitting the audience or not destroying the ring for a technical ringout. Nora was upset about the latter as she wouldn't get to test out a new grenade she and Ruby had recently cooked up together in Practical Dust Applications.
He hoped that she won't test it out on him next time they sparred.
The only rule that stood out to him was that fights would end when either fighter's aura dropped into the red at 25% instead of the usual 15% used for combat class. When that happens, a loud klaxon would sound off to signal that the match was over.
Ozma explained that tournament fighters, especially first-timers tend to get swept away by the excitement during the tournament and keep fighting even after they or their opponent lost the match which is dangerous if either of their auras were low or had been broken during the fight. The rule acted as a safety net of sorts to protect fighters in such instances.
Jaune nodded and focused his attention on the lecture as he didn't want to imagine the aftermath of such an accident. Though other than that rule as well as a few obvious ones about not using drugs and poisons, the students were allowed to do what they usually did for combat class.
"Alright! That about wraps up what you all need to know about the tournament rules. Now to see if you actually understand the rules, how about we have a match with them in place?" Professor Amber announced, much to the students' glee, "Who would like to volunteer?"
"I'll do it!" a voice called out and everyone turned to see Cardin Winchester coming out of the entrance from the locker, already dressed in his combat outfit as he confidently walked up to the ring with his weapon in hand.
"Mr Winchester, you certainly came prepared." Amber noted. Cardin took it as a compliment and grinned smugly as he stopped next to her. "Now who would like to be our second volunteer?"
"Actually, I want to pick who I get to fight." Cardin interrupted.
"Fine, but only if they agree to it." Amber said and gestured for Cardin to pick his opponent.
"I want to fight Arc!" Cardin declared as he pointed his finger into the stands. Everyone swiveled their head in the direction he pointed to see Jaune also pointing at himself in confusion.
"Me?" Jaune asked.
"Is there any other Arc around here?" Cardin retorted sarcastically. "Now come down here and fight me already. Or are you a coward?"
Jaune frowned at the taunt though he didn't mind as much since he was more excited that he finally got the chance to fight in combat class instead of just watching them from the stands. He was about to accept Cardin's challenge when he was interrupted by an angry Valkyrie.
"Coward!?" Nora exclaimed as she shot up from her seat, "Nobody calls Jaune-Jaune a coward and get away with it! Why I oughta break your-Mmph!" she yelped when Ren covered her mouth and pulled her back down to her seat.
"Settle down, Nora. No need to make a scene." Ren admonished before turning to Jaune, "However, I do agree that Cardin needs to be knocked down a peg or two."
"Yes, somebody needs to teach him a lesson." Pyrrha said while glaring at Cardin.
'It seems your people have spoken…' Ozma added jokingly, already knowing Jaune's answer.
"So Mr Arc, do you accept Mr Winchester's challenge?" Amber asked.
Jaune mouth widened into an eager grin as he stood up and declared, "Challenge accepted!"
"Challenge accepted…ugh, why did I even say that? That was so lame!" Jaune facepalmed himself after changing into his jeans and hoodie.
'On the bright side, you made your team laugh.' Ozma consoled him.
"Them and everybody else in class. I just hope Yang doesn't give me some other stupid nickname after that." Jaune complained before putting on the rest of his armor. "At least I finally got a chance to fight in combat class."
'Indeed, though I wonder what are your chances against Mr Winchester.'
"I'd say it's pretty good." while he hadn't been able to fight in combat class until now, he hadn't spent his time playing around as he had observed how his peers fought in hopes of learning from them. And after watching Cardin who had been picked to fight on more than one occasion, something that he was jealous of, he believed that he had a solid grasp of Cardin's fighting style to beat him easily.
'I see…' Ozma was glad to see Jaune being proactive in his training which made him confident. However, the line between confidence and arrogance was oftentimes a thin and one he preferred that Jaune didn't cross. Not if he can help it at least. 'Then how about we make things a little more interesting, shall we?'
Jaune raised a curious brow at Ozma's proposal.
The arena was filled with the sounds of metal clashing mixed with the noise of the students spectating the exhibition match that had started minutes earlier. Many cheered for their favored combatant while also jeering the other. However, Team JNPR themselves were quiet as they observed the match with confused expressions on their faces as they shared a single thought.
Why was their leader fighting so poorly?
"Does Jaune Jaune have a tummyache or something? Cause he's not doing too good." Nora commented.
Having sparred with Jaune on several occasions already, they quickly realized how he wasn't fighting as well as he usually did. They noticed moments where he hesitated to attack and got punished for it badly. The trio winced when Jaune was struck by a particularly nasty blow after he failed to dodge it. They held their breath when he was knocked to the ground but sighed in relief when he rolled out of the way of the follow-up strike.
"I don't think so. He was fine this morning though I suppose I could check him over once the match is over." Ren said as he tried to recall some herbal remedies that could help an upset stomach.
"Then could it be stagefright?" Nora suggested.
"No…maybe?" Pyrrha was skeptical as Jaune hadn't shown signs of stage fright when he fought the boarbatusk in Port's class. Then again, she remembered how poorly she performed in her first tournament match and wondered if this was the case for Jaune. Maybe she could offer him some tips after. It would be a good excuse to spend time together and maybe- She promptly shook off the distracting thoughts and focused on the match, hoping that Jaune didn't end up in the infirmary.
"Ngh!" Jaune grunted as he blocked the flanged head of Cardin's mace with his shield. While the power behind the strike wasn't on par with Nora's, it still made his arm shake from the impact. He glanced down to his scroll attached to the back of his shield and saw his aura level drop even further. Even though he had been taking hits throughout the fight so far, his aura was still in the green at 82%. Still hurt though.
"Heh. Not so tough without Nikos doing the heavy lifting, huh Arc?" Cardin taunted as he pushed his weapon down on Jaune.
Jaune didn't know what Cardin was talking about and ignored it as he shoved Cardin back before lunging forward with his sword. However, Cardin sidestepped the attack, causing him to miss and stumble forward. He tried to recover his footing only to be blindsided by Cardin's mace striking him hard in the ribs. His aura flared as it protected him from the blow which knocked him down to the ground. He quickly got back up with his aura pooling into his sword, ready to retaliate with an 'Air Slash' but stopped himself and raised his shield up instead.
'Now?' he asked impatiently.
'Not yet.' Ozma answered. When he heard Jaune's claims of an easy victory, he challenged Jaune to fight Cardin without using his aura techniques beyond passive defense until told otherwise.
Confident in his victory, Jaune had accepted the challenge. However, trying to actively not use his aura techniques was proving far more difficult than he thought as he had stopped himself from using them several times already during the match. This threw off his combat rhythm which left him wide open to Cardin's attacks.
In addition, Cardin had been stronger and faster than Jaune had anticipated. Despite his thuggish demeanor, Cardin was still a combat school graduate who had earned his place at Beacon so it was no surprise why Jaune was struggling to beat his opponent, especially with a self-imposed handicap. Suffice to say, Jaune had bitten off more than he could chew and Ozma couldn't help but rub it in a bit, to keep him humble of course.
'Just think of it as me giving you more time for you to win the fight.'
"Me and my big mouth." Jaune moaned before ducking to avoid Cardin's swing.
Though even with said handicap, Jaune had done an admirable job of adapting to Cardin's attacks as he was getting better at blocking and avoiding them as time went on so Ozma had to give the boy some credit. However, one can't win a fight by staying on the defense. Since he was already satisfied with Jaune's performance, he could allow the boy to let loose but he wanted to see how far he could go.
Jaune leaped out of the way of Cardin's mace as it smashed into the arena floor, shattering it from the impact. He raised his shield to block the debris before noticing Cardin was having some trouble pulling his mace out. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, he took a page out of Ren's playbook and dashed in for a quick sword swipe at Cardin's unguarded back.
"Aargh!" Cardin shouted before swinging his arm back in retaliation but missed as Jaune had already retreated to a safe distance. Cardin yelled in frustration as he forcefully yanked his mace from the floor, and glared at him. "Quit running and face me, you coward!"
Jaune raised a brow at how angry Cardin was acting. While he understood that things tend to get heated in a fight, especially ones that dragged out as long as this one, Cardin was getting too worked up for a sparring match.
'Mr Winchester really has it out for you, doesn't he?' Ozma commented as Cardin charged at Jaune with a furious look in his eyes.
'Gee, you think?' Jaune retorted sarcastically as he parried Cardin's mace to the side. Did he do something to upset Cardin? He couldn't think of anything since he rarely interacted with Cardin outside of class and even then they barely shared a couple of words in passing. And yet here Cardin was treating him like he was his mortal enemy or something. He shelved the thought for later as he focused on the fight.
"You're going down!" Cardin shouted as he smashed his mace down onto Arc's shield. He growled in frustration as his opponent didn't buckle under the heavy blow like he had wanted. The fight hadn't gone as he had wanted either as Arc had lasted longer than he had expected but he was still confident in his victory. He grinned when he saw Arc's shield dropping little by little and pressed down even harder, eager to see the terrified look on his-wait, why didn't Arc look scared at all?
"Umm, sorry if this sounds weird but did I do something to upset you recently?" Arc asked cluelessly while struggling to keep his shield just low enough to talk to Cardin face to face, "If I did, then would you accept an apology?"
"What?" Cardin blinked, confused before he glared at Arc when he thought it was some desperate ploy at mind games. "Are you stupid?"
"Hey! I was just trying to be nice here." Jaune retorted which only annoyed Cardin more as he bared his teeth and growled at him.
'I told you it was a bad idea.' Ozma reminded.
'Alright, alright. I get it.' Jaune rolled his eyes at Ozma though Cardin thought it was aimed at him, which made him even more angry.
"Why you! Rraargh!" Cardin roared furiously as he raised his mace with both hands high over his head and swung it down with all his might. And grinned with vindictive glee as he focused his aura and pressed the hidden trigger.
Jaune quickly moved his shield to block the attack as he's done many times already-
*Boom!*
-only to be caught off guard by the sudden and literal explosive blow that sent him flying. His mind barely registered his body crashing to the floor and rolling back several times before coming to a stop. He groaned out in pain as his head rang from the explosion but it soon cleared up just in time to hear Cardin laughing at him.
"Hah! Serves you right, Arc!" Cardin gloated as he rested his mace on his shoulder while pointing a finger at him. "Now everyone can see how much of a weakling you are."
"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out worriedly over the audience's cheering and jeering.
"Come on, Jaune! Get up!" Ruby's voice joined in.
Jaune staggered to his feet and winced at the pain in his arm and chest. He guessed that he probably lost a good chunk of his aura from that attack. And a quick glance at his scroll confirmed it as his aura meter flickered between yellow and orange before settling on the former at 50%.
'Are you alright?'
'Felt like I've just been hit by a truck but other than that, just peachy.' Jaune groaned while pressing against his aching chest. Thankfully nothing was broken but it still hurt like hell! 'What was that?' he asked as he never saw Cardin do that before.
'Dust. Burn Dust to be exact though it's more powerful than expected. Might be his semblance." Ozma answered. 'We don't know how many times he can use it so be careful.'
Jaune nodded as he raised his shield.
"Give it up, Arc. You ain't winning here." Cardin mocked while lazily swinging his mace around in an arrogant display of dominance, "But if you want to get your butt kicked some more, I'm happy to oblige."
Ozma frowned at this. He was fine with the trash-talking each other as it was what fighters do during matches but Cardin's near-constant taunting was starting to wear on his patience. The brute was in need of a lesson and he knew just the person to teach it.
'Jaune.'
'Yeah, Oz?'
'Since Mr Winchester was kind enough to go all out against you. I believe that it would only be polite to do the same in return, wouldn't you agree?' Ozma said.
"Totally…" Jaune grinned as he stood straight and pointed his family sword at Cardin in a silent challenge.
"Hmph, your funeral." Cardin scoffed as he readied his mace in a defensive posture. "Come on Arc! Give me your best shot!"
Jaune answered with a downward swing of Crocea Mors and fired a vertical 'Air Slash' at Cardin. The lower half of the shockwave carved a line through the floor, resembling a shark's fin as it surged straight toward Cardin. As the shockwave got closer to Cardin, Jaune reinforced his limbs with more aura for the next part of his plan.
Ozma raised a non-existent brow at said plan but said nothing so as not to distract the boy.
Meanwhile, Cardin grinned as he had been expecting Arc to use that move of his and waited until the shockwave of aura was about to reach him before slamming Executioner down onto the floor and pulled the trigger. This set off an explosive shockwave that collided with the 'Air Slash' and the two opposing forces canceled each other out, leaving him untouched.
"Hah! Was that all you-" Cardin laughed before he saw something coming from above him and instinctively raised Executioner just in time to block Crocea Mors' blade, stopping it barely an inch away from his eyes, which were wide with shock, more at the strength of the blow than how close the blade was, "-got?"
"Woo! Way to go Jumpman!" Yang's voice cheered after witnessing Jaune diving from the air.
"Nope." Jaune cheekily replied before the front of his shield started shimmering with a white and green light, "Arc Flash!"
"What the-Aargh! My eyes!" Cardin cried out when he was blinded by the sudden flash of light.
Jaune then kicked Cardin in the chest and sent him stumbling back while also using him as a springboard to get out of range of his mace in case he used that explosion again. However, Cardin didn't do that at all as he simply started swinging his weapon around wildly while rubbing at his eyes with his free hand.
'Arc Flash? Really?' Ozma deadpanned.
'Come on, you have to admit it was pretty cool.' Jaune defended. It had taken a lot of trial and error to figure out how to control the direction the light flashed and he was pretty happy that it went off without a hitch-
"Damn it, Jumpman! Watch where you flash that thing!" Yang complained and Jaune looked over to see Team WRBY as well as the student audience in the stands behind Cardin adding to the complaint while rubbing at their eyes.
-or not, "Oops! Sorry!" Jaune called out.
'Jaune, focus!'
'Right!' with Cardin still blinded, Jaune dashed towards him and with a reinforced swing of his sword, knocked Cardin's mace out of his hand. He then moved to follow up with a shield bash to Cardin's face but was surprised by a sudden kick to his sides which pushed him back.
"Rragh!" Cardin shouted angrily as he threw a wild haymaker as his fist glowed with the telltale signs of the Reinforcement technique though it was rough in comparison to Jaune's own technique. However, in his anger, he had forgotten that Jaune had a shield that he used to block the incoming fist. Even with aura enhancing his fists, hitting a shield strong enough to withstand the full might of a giant deathstalker's claws with one's bare hand was…
*Crunch!*
…a bad idea.
"Aargh! My hand!" Cardin cried out in pain as he pulled back his arm and cradled his stinging hand. "You're going to pay for this, Arc!" he exclaimed before lunging at Jaune.
"Hey! You're the one that tried to punch my shield." Jaune retorted as he sidestepped Cardin's tackle before spinning his body around and used the momentum to smash the side of his shield right into Cardin's face, stunning him. Jaune then reinforced his arm with more aura before swinging his sword at Cardin's chest. And just as the blade made contact with him, Jaune unleashed a point-blank 'Air Slash' that sent Cardin crashing down to the ground, right next to where his mace was within arm's reach.
'Crap!' Jaune panicked as he raised his shield, ready to block Cardin's attack but was confused when nothing happened. He peeked over his shield to see that Cardin was still down on the floor. Before he could see what was going on, he was startled by the klaxon suddenly sounding off before he realized that the match had ended.
"Huh? It's over already?" Jaune said in mild confusion as he lowered his shield. Did Cardin go down in just a few hits?
'Jaune! Look out!' Ozma warned but it came too late as Jaune saw something coming towards his face before everything turned white.
"Mr Arc? Kiddo, you okay?" Jaune cracked open his eyes to see Professor Autumn standing over him with a concerned expression on her face.
"Y-yeah, I'm okay." Jaune answered as he got up into a sitting position and clutched his head at the sudden headache, "Ugh… my head hurts."
"You got hit in the face with an explosion so I'm not surprised." the professor remarked.
"Huh?" Jaune muttered before he recalled what happened, "Wait…did Cardin attack me?"
"Yep, he got you right between the eyes though I think he's already regretting doing that." Amber said while gesturing behind her. Jaune craned his head to look and was shocked to see Cardin sprawled out on the floor which was cracked around his prone form. It looked like he had been slammed into the floor with great force.
"What happened?"
"I was hoping you could tell me that. When you got hit, we were all blinded by a bright light. The next thing we know, both of you were on the floor though Mr Winchester got the worst of it. Was that your semblance?" Amber asked.
"I'm not sure…maybe?" Jaune shrugged as he felt a sense of deja vu though thankfully Cardin's chest didn't get caved in like Professor Mulberry's drone chimera had.
"Well, either way, the match is over." Amber said before turning to address the class, "Alright kids! As you just saw, Mr Winchester attacked Mr Arc after the match had been called. This is obviously against the rules and if this had been an actual tournament, Mr Winchester and his team would be disqualified from the tournament. So you kids better learn to control yourselves if you take part in Vytal Festival, got it?"
Several students sounded off in acknowledgment while others nodded their heads.
"Good!" Amber said before turning to Cardin and rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "As for Mr Winchester…I was going to give him detention for breaking the rules but, I think sending him to the infirmary to see Doctor Tsune is a better idea."
Jaune, along with the majority of the students in the stands shuddered collectively at the prospect of seeing Beacon's resident doctor for treatment. Many of them had personally learned about the fox faunus' proclivities for pain the hard way and had no desire to visit her again if they could help it; a fact their combat instructor was well aware of.
"Team CRDL, please take your leader to the infirmary." Amber ordered and Cardin's teammates hurried down to the ring before carrying their unconscious leader out of the arena.
As Jaune watched Cardin being carried away, a thought occurred to him, "So…does this mean I won the match?"
"Yep, why did you think I called the match in the first place?" Amber said, pointing up at the holographic projection where Jaune could see his and Cardin's picture as their aura levels. His was in the orange at 33% while Cardin's was well into the red with barely 12% left. "Congrats on winning your first match, Mr Arc."
"Yes!" Jaune cheered.
"I wouldn't celebrate just yet, kiddo." Amber interrupted, "Don't forget that we still have to evaluate your performance in the match and I have a lot to say. First off, you dropping your guard at the end was pretty sloppy, Mr Arc. I hope you won't be as careless out in the field or else you'd be gobbled up by a beowolf."
'Agreed. I thought I taught you better.' Ozma added.
"Sorry…" Jaune said sheepishly to both teachers.
"And I don't think I need to explain why blinding the audience is a bad idea, do I?" Amber said pointedly.
"No professor." Jaune gulped nervously. Guess he won't be using that move in class until he figures out how to lower the brightness.
"And while you did do well at the end, your performance at the start was honestly just terrible. You froze several times in the match and got hit when you could have avoided it. I know you have a lot of aura but that's no excuse to take hits like that." Professor Autumn lectured.
"Sorry." Jaune wanted to defend himself but he couldn't exactly say that his poor performance was because of a bet he made with the voice in his head. Ozma had made him well aware of the consequences so he could only grin and bear it. "I'll do better next time."
"You better, Mr Arc." Amber said before sighing in exasperation, "Honestly, the way you were fighting made me wonder if you had a stomachache or stage fright."
"That's what I said!" Nora exclaimed loudly, causing the class to burst out into laughter.
"Damn it, Nora." Jaune sighed at the indignity. There goes his rep…again.
Classes were done for the day and everybody was down at the cafeteria for lunch and Team WRBY and JNPR were eating together at the same table as usual. And just as usual, their table was full of chatter though the source of most of it came from one member of Team JNPR in particular.
"So, there we were, in the middle of the night…" Nora said in a hushed tone.
"It was day." Ren calmly corrected.
"We were lost deep in the forest, surrounded by Ursai…" she continued without missing a beat to her audience though Yang and Ruby were the only ones paying attention to the story while the rest tuned it out for the most part.
"They were beowolves." Ren said before taking a sip of his smoothie.
"Dozens of them and they were led by an ursa major!" Nora exclaimed excitedly.
"It was two juveniles and an adult beowolf." Ren corrected again.
"Ooooh." Yang and Ruby echoed each other before giggling, clearly enjoying the fun for what it is.
"But they were no match for me and Ren-"
"Ren and I." Weiss corrected her before taking a dainty bite of her apple.
"Silly Weiss, you weren't there." Nora teased.
"That's not what I…forget it. Just continue your story." Weiss huffed in annoyance as she took a bigger bite, making not-so-dainty crunching noises.
"Okie-dokie! Now where was I? Oh yeah! We were surrounded by dozens of ursai led by an ursa major but they were no match for me and Ren! With Ren's super ninja skills and my awesome explosives, we took them all down and made a boatload of lien selling ursa skin rugs and used the money to settle down in a little cottage on the hill and lived happily ever after. The end!"
Yang and Ruby applauded as Nora stood up and bowed to the two before sitting down to eat her sandwich. The kitchen had run out of pancake batter that day.
"Nora, that didn't happen." Ren sighed in exasperation.
"Not yet it hasn't!" Nora exclaimed but gave no further explanation as she went back to eating.
"Look at it this way, Ren. At least she switches things up to keep things interesting." Jaune said jokingly. "Last time, it was a bunch of boarbatusks and you two retired as bacon barons."
"Please don't encourage her…" Ren moaned while the rest broke down into fits of laughter though it was cut short when Jaune hissed in pain while pressing a hand against his head. While his aura had healed his injuries, the headache still persisted long after combat class was over. It wasn't debilitating but it was still annoying to put up with.
"Jaune. Are you okay? Do you need to lie down?" Pyrrha asked in concern.
"Want me to zip over to the infirmary for some painkillers?" Ruby offered.
"No need, I have some with me." Ren said as he reached into his sleeve and pulled out his first aid kit.
"Guys, relax. I'm fine. It's just a small headache." Jaune assured everyone though they just stared at him, clearly unconvinced. "Okay, okay. If it makes you feel better, I'll go rest after lunch."
"It does, thank you Jaune." Pyrrha smiled.
"Grrr! Stupid Cardin hitting you like that!" Nora growled, "I want to grab my hammer and break his stupid face!"
"Nora, don't. As much as of a bully Cardin is, attacking him will get you in trouble with the teachers." Ren warned.
"Bully? Who, Cardin?" Jaune asked cluelessly.
"Jaune. Please don't tell me that in all the time you've been at Beacon, you haven't noticed Cardin harassing other students." Weiss said. "Like tripping people in the hallways."
"Or messing with people's weapons." Ruby grumbled.
"Relax cuz, it's not like he messed with your weapon." Yang pointed out.
"But those poor babies…" Ruby pouted while Yang rolled her eyes.
"Err…no?" Jaune said sheepishly which made Weiss sigh. "To be fair, I've been too busy focusing on my studies to notice."
"Ooh! Ooh! Don't forget the time he shoved Russell into a rocket locker and sent him flying!" Nora added.
"Huh, that would explain why we were sent out to the Emerald Forest a while back." Jaune said to himself, "But if he's such a problem, why hasn't anyone done anything about him, like telling the teachers?"
"Oh people have tried, but all they've done is give him detention at most." Weiss huffed, "All this accomplishes is make him more belligerent than before and make things worse for everyone."
"Umm, Weiss…" Ruby mumbled while raising her hand.
"Belligerent means that he becomes meaner." Weiss quickly answered.
"Okay, thanks Weiss." Ruby chirped.
"What about suspension? I mean, all the complaints against him should be adding up." Jaune stated.
"I'm afraid not. As much of a brute Cardin may be, he is smart enough to toe the line and avoid suspension or expulsion." Weiss explained.
"Which means he's free to bully others and oppress them." Blake said with great distaste. "Disgusting."
"So there's nothing we can do?"Jaune muttered as he wondered if Ozma had any ideas on how to stop Cardin.
'I'm afraid Miss Schnee is right. As long as Cardin doesn't cross the line, he can do as he pleases.' Ozma replied. While he did regret allowing such behavior to fester at the academies, humanity needed as many hunters it could get to fight the grimm. Even if there were some bad apples among them. 'You could try the diplomatic approach and ask him to stop but I doubt it'll work. Mr Winchester seems to be the 'might makes right' type but I advise against it unless it's a last resort. Got it?'
'Yeah, I-' they were suddenly interrupted by someone crying out in pain.
"Oww! Let go off me." Everyone at the table turned to see Cardin and his team harassing a faunus girl with rabbit ears which Cardin was pulling on.
"Ha! See! I told you they were real." Cardin laughed as the rest of his team laughed along. He could see people from the other tables looking his way, some he recognized as his previous victims. A quick glance in their direction made them look away. Heh.
"Please! Stop, it hurts." the girl begged but Cardin didn't care as he tightened his grip, causing her to gasp sharply, making him grin in satisfaction.
He was surprised when he woke up in the infirmary and found out that he had lost to Arc. He refused to accept it and believed that Arc must have gotten lucky somehow. This put him in a foul mood but luckily, he found the perfect way to vent his frustrations. He grinned viciously as he reached for the animal's other ear only to be stopped by someone grabbing his wrist. He looked up at who dared to interrupt his fun and frowned when he saw that it was Arc.
"What the hell are you doing, Cardin?" Jaune demanded.
"What do you mean?" Cardin asked as if had done nothing wrong, "Can't you see that I was just playing around with this animal? Isn't that right?" he said to the girl who said nothing and took it as compliance. "See?"
"She. Is. A. Person. Now, let her go." Jaune said sternly, narrowing his eyes at Cardin.
"Oh yeah? And what if I don't want to?" Cardin challenged as he tightened his grip, making the girl whimper while asserting his dominance.
"Then I'll make you." Jaune said evenly.
"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you-Aaaah!" Cardin suddenly cried out in pain as Jaune's grip suddenly became vicelike. The grip was so strong that he could feel his bones creaking in protest. He immediately let go of the faunus' ear and tried to pry Jaune's hand off his wrist with his other hand. "Let go!"
"Not until you apologize to-huh?" Jaune became confused when he turned and saw the girl running off without a word. 'Well, that didn't go as planned…'
'I did warn you though I can't really blame the poor girl for running.' Ozma stated.
Jaune was going to agree with Ozma before he got punched in the face. His aura took the brunt of the blow but it still staggered him enough to loosen his grip on Cardin. He looked back to see Cardin rubbing at his wrist while glaring at him.
"You're gonna pay for that, Arc! Get him boys!" Cardin ordered and his team quickly moved to surround Jaune.
'Crap…' Jaune thought as the situation escalated just as Ozma warned him when he moved to intervene. Fortunately, he had also listened when Ozma told him to prepare some backup in case this happened. Speaking of which they should be stepping in right about…now.
"All four of you ganging up on my partner is hardly fair, now is it?" Pyrrha asked as she walked up and stopped to Jaune's right with Ren and Nora not far behind as the latter cracked her knuckles.
"No, it isn't." Weiss answered evenly as she appeared by Jaune's left, followed by the rest of Team WRBY fanning out behind her. Ruby grinned as she winked at Jaune while Yang fistbumped Nora. Blake however, had an almost eager expression on her face that made Jaune wonder if she had a bone to pick with Cardin too.
"C-Cardin, what do we do?" Russell quailed at the odds being turned against them.
"Grrr…" Cardin growled and looked like he was going to attack anyway so Jaune reinforced his body just in case. However, Cardin eventually lowered his hands and turned around, "Come on boys, let's get out of here. The smell of animal lovers here is making me lose my appetite." he then walked off with his team following closely behind.
"Why yo-Mmph!" Ren quickly clamped Nora's mouth shut and held her back before she could re-escalate the situation.
After CRDL left the cafeteria, Jaune let out a sigh of relief before turning to the others, "Phew, thanks for having my back, guys. Things would have gotten ugly if you hadn't been here."
"Just doing what a good partner should do." Pyrrha said bashfully.
"Yeah! You were so cool when you made your entrance, Pyrrha." Ruby gushed, making the champion blush at the praise. She then heard a polite cough and turned to see Weiss who seemed to be disinterested as she focused on her nails though the brief sideglance gave her away, "Your entrance was pretty awesome too, Weiss. Like a true leader!"
"Thank you, Ruby." Weiss preened before turning to Jaune, "And you're welcome, Jaune though I hope you realize how much I risked by helping you with that bluff of yours. If a fight had broken out, we would have gotten detention and I do not want that on our records."
Thanks to Ozma, Jaune had been well aware of that fact which was why he had his friends intimidate Cardin into backing off in the first place. The last thing he needed was a call from his family asking why he got into a fight at school. "Yeah, I owe you."
"I'll hold you to that." Weiss said with a smile that made Ozma feel wary though Jaune remained oblivious to it, just happy to see the heiress smiling at him. "Though I suppose if a fight had broken out, the teachers would understand that we were doing it to help someone."
"Indeed, I would." a deep voice rumbled, the group turned around and were shocked to see Professor Hazel Rainart standing right behind them.
"V-Vice Headmaster! What brings you here?" Weiss greeted the man politely, doing well to hide the slight trembling in her voice at the professor's sudden appearance and Jaune could understand why as he was surprised at how the large man approached them without any of them realizing.
'You'd be surprised how stealthy one can be with the right training.' Ozma said.
"I was on my way to pick up my lunch order when I was told there was a fight so I came to stop it." Professor Rainart explained. "However, I am pleased to see that nothing came of it. Good work."
"Thank you professor, though may I ask how did you know there was a fight?" Weiss asked.
"Miss Scarlatina told me." Professor Rainart answered.
"Who?" Jaune blurted out, wincing at the sharp look Weiss gave him for the interruption.
"Umm, that would be me." a timid voice answered before the rabbit faunus from earlier stepped out from behind Professor Rainart's large frame and waved at them shyly, "H-Hi, I'm Scarlatina. Er, I mean, I'm Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina."
'Guess she ran to get help.'
"Er…hi, Velvet. Are you okay?" Jaune asked while eyeing her ears. "Cardin was pretty rough when he was pulling your ears."
"Oh! They're little sore but I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Velvet said bashfully.
'By the Brothers, not another one.' Ozma groaned.
Professor Rainart then cleared his throat, reminding them of his presence, "Sorry to interrupt but there's still the matter of the fight to discuss. I'd like to know more."
"Of course professor." Weiss said before giving Jaune a pointed look which was the same ones his sisters gave him when they wanted him to shut up and keep quiet so he mimed zipping his mouth shut to be on the safe side. Judging by the slight smile from Weiss, it had been the correct move to make and listened as Weiss recounted what happened to the Vice-Headmaster.
"Hmm, I see. So that's what happened. Again, good work defusing the situation." Professor Rainart praised, making everyone smile though it was short lived by the following, "However, should this happen again, please seek me or the other teachers first. Am I clear?"
"Yes professor, we understand. Isn't that right, everyone?" Weiss said as she gave everyone a meaningful look to which they nodded vigorously. "Good, then we won't take up anymore of your time, professor."
"Of course, you children can go back to your lunch. As for me, it appears that I need to have a word with Mr Winchester and his team about their behavior." the vice headmaster and disciplinarian stated. This made Jaune glad that Cardin won't get away with bullying Velvet.
"Actually professor, could you not do that?" Velvet spoke up hesitantly, "There's no need for you to go through all that trouble over me."
"Huh?" Jaune muttered, confused at why Velvet would let Cardin off the hook like this. He recalled Weiss' words about Cardin getting off lightly and wondered if she was worried that Cardin would bully her again later as revenge. Maybe if he offered to keep her-
Professor Rainart sighed deeply before he said just one word, "Coco?"
'Coco?' Jaune was confused, as was everyone else who were out of the loop here.
"Mhm, Coco." Velvet responded sheepishly, adding to the confusion.
"You make a sound argument here. Very well, Miss Scarlatina. I will do as you request though I'll have to-" the vice headmaster said before his scroll started ringing a cheery jingle that clashed with its owner's stoic disposition, "Ahem, if you'll excuse me." he then lifted his scroll and answered the call. "Hello, Rainart speaking."
"Hey Hazel! Have you got our food yet?" Amber's voice came from the device's speakers.
"No, not yet. I'm still on my way to pick it up." Hazel replied.
"Well, hurry up! I'm starving over here. Oh and Peach is getting lonely without you so hurry up~!" Amber added teasingly.
"Amber, no!" Professor Peach's voice cried out in the background.
"Amber, yes!" the combat instructor's voice laughed before the call ended abruptly.
'Oh my…' Ozma chuckled in bemusement.
Professor Rainart blinked at his scroll blankly for a brief moment before letting out a deep and heavy sigh. He then put his scroll away and and coughed awkwardly, "As you were, students." he said before walking away.
"Let's…get back to our lunch." Pyrrha suggested and everyone quickly agreed as they moved back to their table, eager to forget about what they just heard.
"Hey, Velvet. I noticed you left your tray behind earlier so I figure that you haven't eaten yet do you wanna eat with us?" Jaune offered.
"Sure!" Velvet eagerly accepted as she picked up her tray and followed Jaune to their table.
"Hey guys, I hope you don't mind if I invited Velvet over." Jaune greeted.
"Not at all, please join us Velvet." Pyrrha said politely.
"Thanks." Velvet said as she sat down next to Jaune.
"So…Velvet, I'm kind of curious about something and I'm wondering if I could ask-" Weiss began before Ruby interrupted her.
"So what's a Coco?" Ruby asked between mouthfuls of cookies.
"Yeah!" Nora jumped in, "Is it a secret password between you and the professors? Ooh! Is there one that let's you into a super secret vault in the basement?"
Ozma had to chuckle at how close she was.
"Indeed, I am curious about how that one word convinced the vice headmaster to listen to your request." Weiss said.
"I'm actually wondering about that too." Jaune added.
"Ehe…actually, Coco is my team leader. As for the reason why Professor Rainart listened…well, it's a long story." Velvet replied sheepishly.
'Sounds like quite the tale behind that one.' Ozma said curiously
"Well, we have time if you don't mind telling us." Jaune said on everbody's behalf.
"If you insist…Well, it all started when my team came back from a shopping trip and we ran into some new students who didn't like faunus…"
Everybody quietly ate their lunch as they listened to Velvet's story.
Authors Notes: I was this close to having Jaune knock Cardin's lights out and taking detention but I decided against it for the funnier alternative. At least I hope it's funny. My humor got broken a bit after I got sick for a while so your mileage may vary. Though even when I was sick, I still tried to write but trying to write while being loopy from meds is...interesting to say the least.
Here's one I wrote but changed it after realizing how silly it was. It's rather rough and unpolished but I think it'll work as an omake. Enjoy.
Omake:
"All four of you ganging up on my partner is hardly fair, now is it?" Pyrrha asked as she walked up and stopped to Jaune's right with Ren and Nora not far behind as the latter cracked her knuckles.
"No, it isn't." Weiss answered evenly as she appeared by Jaune's left, followed by the rest of Team WRBY fanning out behind her. Ruby grinned as she winked at Jaune while Yang fistbumped Nora. Blake however, had an almost eager expression on her face that made Jaune wonder if she had a bone to pick with Cardin too.
"C-Cardin, what do we do?" Russell quailed at the odds being turned against them.
Jaune watched Cardin's teammates backing away little by little. It wasn't long until they completely back off and leave without a fight. Maybe if he gave it just a little nudge.
"Give it up Cardin, you're outnumbered and outmatched." Jaune pointed out and waited for Cardin to tell his team to back down.
"JNPR's leader is right! Cardin is outnumbered!" a random student exclaimed as he suddenly jumped on top of the table, "Now's our chance to take our revenge on the bully!"
"Wait what? That's not what I meant." Jaune exclaimed as everybody in the cafeteria suddenly got up and surrounded Cardin who realized that things were going downhill for him as he and his team was now back to back. "Wait! Stop!" Jaune cried out but he went ignored.
"Down with Cardin! Down with tyranny!" someone shouted and the impromptu mob suddenly using as a chant.
'It appears that Cardin has targeted quite a lot of people with his bullying.' Ozma commented, 'I'm honestly impressed with how many enemies he's made.'
'Quit with the commentary and tell me how to stop this!' Jaune cried as he saw the mob closing in on Cardin.
'I'm afraid there's nothing you can do here.' Ozma lied as he had several ways to defuse the situation but he just wanted to see Cardin get his comeuppance for bullying Jaune. Was it childish of him? Yes, but nobody messes with his host!
"Down with Cardin! Break his legs!" Nora added to the chant, her eyes gleaming with delight.
"Nora! Stop that!" Jaune exclaimed in horror.
"Awww, but everybody else is doing it!" Nora whined.
"Down with Cardin! Down with tyranny! Break their legs!" the chanting increased with fervor before the first of many dived for Team CRDL who tried their best to fend off the attacks but they were quickly overwhelmed by the mob of their former victims.
It wasn't long before Vice Headmaster Rainart arrived at the scene and the mob quickly scattered at the sight of the professor. However by that point, Team CRDL had been reduced to lumps of pain and suffering and had to be sent to the Infirmary for intensive care under Doctor Kitsune.
Later that evening
Team CRDL, completely encased in full body casts due to all the sprains and broken bones (mainly their legs) they suffered at the hands of their former victims. Due to the casts, they couldn't move at all save for a finger or two that rested near a call button that would alert Doctor Kitsune if they had any issues.
Of course none of them touched it since the doctor would exacerbate the pain more often than not. So all they could do was just lay on their beds and wait for their aura to fix their bodies.
"Ugh...everything hurts…" Russell groaned.
"Shut up, Russ! We know…argh!" Cardin hissed at his own pain.
"Boss, why did you mess with so many people?" Dove grumbled.
"Especially Arc, what's your beef with him anyways?" Sky chimed in.
"I'll tell you why I got a problem with him! He's-" Cardin was interrupted when the door was kicked in and knocked off its hinges as it flew across the room and embedded itself in the wall. "What the hell?"
"Hello Team CRDL…" a girl that was the definition of a fashionista waltzed into the infirmary as if she was a runway model. She even had a handbag being held over her shoulder, "…I heard that you were bullying my precious Bun-Bun, Velvet."
Cardin's teammates instantly went pale as they realized what was happening though their leader hadn't come to the same conclusion as he scoffed, "Oh right, the animal. What are you gonna do about it, hit me with that bag of yours?"
"Not exactly." the girl grinned as she swung her bag forward and to Cardin's shock and horror, it mechashifted into a full sized minigun. She then aimed the barrel at Cardin before revving it up, "Say hello to my not so little friend!"
The infirmary was soon filled with sounds of gunfire mixed with screams of agony.
Also, I wrote a Q&A section for the story on my profile so if you got any questions about the story, I might answer them in the Q&A to solve any confusion. Anyways, cheers and have a good one!
