Chapter 10:
Jaune, was not having a good time right now. At this moment, he was assigned to fight Cardin in Ms. Goodwitch's class, and he was doing poorly.
Despite being out of breath, Jaune charges forward in an attempt to land a strike on Cardin. But Cardin dodges to the side and swings his mace at Jaune, sending him flying a few feet away, dropping his shield.
Jaune then gets up, and tries to charge at Cardin again, but fails as Cardin just blocked his attack and began to over power him in strength.
"This is the part where you lose." Cardin says as he looks down at Jaune.
"Over my dead bo-" but Jaune doesn't finish that sentence as Cardin knees him in the guy, sending Jaune falling to the ground.
Cardin then raises his mace, preparing to land a devastating hit on the fallen blonde, but was stopped at the sound of a alarm buzzing, ending the fight.
"We do not like that sound, the vibrations are unpleasant." Venom comments, despite buzzing of the alarm not being that loud.
"Well, be glad that when you are just watching, my body protects you from said vibrations. But it would be a good idea to worry about anyone with a sound semblance." Peter replied, the symbiote internally nodding in response.
"That's enough." Glynda says, signaling for Cardin to stop. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura, has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match."
As Jaune sit's up, Glynda then tells him, "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 is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more…. Defensive strategy." She says as Jaune looks at his scroll.
"We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?"
"Speak for yourself." Cardin says, looking at Jaune with a smug look.
"Remember everyone, the Vital Festival is only a few months away, it won't be long before students from the other Kingdom's start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing. Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament, will be representing all of Vale." Glynda finished as the bell ring.
"Oh come on, again!"
Peter internally chuckles at the symbiote's frustration, which is something it didn't like at all. Peter than looks over to see Pyrrha looking sadly at Jaune, who had his head down in defeat.
"Two things, one Jaune is looking like he doubts his self, and two I think Pyrrha likes him." Peter thought.
"And what makes you believe that? Can you prove it?" Venom asked, slightly skeptical on what Peter was on about.
"From personal experience, I can see history is repeating itself, but instead of me it's Jaune. Instead of Gwen it's Pyrrha, and instead of Liz it's Weiss. Although she is closer to Sally, but unlike Sally, Weiss at least isn't a total….you know." Peter replied.
"Total scum. What? You want something more mature? Because we have an entire least of words for her." Venom answers.
"Please keep it family friendly, I don't want to hear any foul language." Peter pleaded.
"Ok we won't, maybe, no promises." Venom joked, it liked messing with Peter this way.
Peter just sighs, he did not want to hear the symbiote yell any form of profanity like it did one time before. It somehow knew every slur in existence, which should not be possible for an alien that has only been on Earth for around a year.
Peter snaps out of his thoughts as Yang calls out to him, "Hey Pete come on, we're going to the cafeteria for lunch, you coming or what?"
"Oh! Yeah, I'll be there in a bit, just going to the bathroom." Peter replied, heading to the nearest bathroom.
Yang just shrugs and heads to the cafeteria with the others. Peter quickly walks away and heads towards the nearest bathroom. Once he believes he's alone in there, he takes out a couple of chocolate bars and hands it to the symbiote, who had come out his back to snatch the chocolate so he could digest it.
After the symbiote swallows it's meal, it then asks, "So, are you going to do something about the Arc situation, or are you going to let him live out your failure?"
"Okay, ouch, you didn't have to do me like that, but yeah. I just don't want to see Jaune making the same mistake I did." Peter responded.
"Hmph, you do what you think needs to be done. For the record, we don't understand why you want to help that boy. He is even more dense than you, and that's saying something." Venom mocked.
"He kind of reminds me of myself, except without the powers. And he's my friend, I don't want to see him get his heart broken by Weiss, she keeps rejecting him every time he asks her out. Which I got to give props, he has more confidence with girls than me, but eventually he's going to get rejected extremely badly by ice queen soon. So maybe I can help him find someone else." Peter explained.
"And you believe Nikos is the girl to pair Arc with?" Venom asked curiously.
"Yup, she seems to show signs of attraction towards the guy, signs that I have finally learned existed. God I'm such a loser." Peter said, disappointed in himself.
"Heh, clever, using your own failure to help him. And yes, you are a loser." Venom chuckles.
Peter just looks at the symbiote with a deadpanned expression. "Thanks, you are so making me feel confident about myself." Peter says sarcastically.
"Thank you, we try our best." Venom says, taking it as a compliment.
"Sure…. Anyways, if your done with digesting that chocolate, I got to go eat lunch myself." Peter says, wanting to end this conversation.
"We are done, go and get your nutrition." Venom replied, retracting it's head.
Peter leaves the bathroom and heads towards the cafeteria to get lunch. As he walks towards the location, Peter thinks about how Jaune must have felt after that sparring session. The look on his face was something Peter felt before he got his powers, the feeling of helplessness and failure was something he was familiar with. Determined to help Jaune, Peter began to come up with some way of helping Jaune with his dilemma.
"Don't worry Jaune, I may not have been able to help myself, but hopefully I can help you."
/
"So there we were, in the middle of the night."
"It was day."
"We were surrounded by Ursai.."
"They were Beowolfs."
"Dozens of them!" Nora shouts, trying to make her story as dramatic as possible, although Ren wasn't making it easy.
"Two of them." Ren continues to correct.
"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!" Nora finished.
Ren sighs and says, "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."
After listening to Nora's story, Pyrrha looks towards Jaune, who was just picking at his food and asks, "Jaune, are you okay?"
"Uh? Oh! Yeah, why?" Jaune responds, snapping out of his brooding.
"It's just that, you seem a little… not okay." Ruby explained.
"Uh, guys I'm fine, seriously. Look, heh heh heh." Jaune says, trying to look confident.
Before anyone could say anything else, they all hear Cardin laughing as he harassed Velvet.
Looking back at Jaune, Pyrrha then says, "Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school."
"Who? Cardin Winchester? Ah, he just likes to mess around, practical jokes." Jaune tried to play it cool.
"He's a bully." Ruby pointed out the obvious.
"Oh please, name ONE time he's "bullied" me." Jaune said.
"He knocked your books out of your hands"
"He activated your shield getting you stuck in the doorway."
"He stuck you in a locker and pressed a bunch of buttons. Launching you into the air."
After listening to each example, Jaune just laughs it off and says, "I didn't land that far from the school."
"Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask." Pyrrha offered.
"Oh! We can break his legs!" Nora shouts in excitement.
/
Meanwhile at the cafeteria line
"Oh! Someone wants to break legs! Can we join them?!" Venom shouts in excitement, hearing the shout from Nora.
"….No."
"Damn it!"
/
"Guys really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone." Jaune replied.
Proving his point, Cardin was grabbing Velvet's ears violently. "Ow that hurts!" Velvet shouts, she then asked politely, "Please stop."
"I told you it was real." Cardin says, not letting go.
"What a freak."
Cardin and his team continues to laugh, at that moment, a random ball of trash comes out of nowhere at an alarming speed, hitting Cardin's hand, forcing him to let go.
"What the heck! Who did that?!" Cardin angrily shouts, rubbing his hand.
"Sorry dude, but you were hurting someone so I thought I'd intervene."
Everyone looks to see Peter approaching Team CRDL, carrying a tray of food. HE also had one tendril sprouted from his back which could be where the ball came from, it then retracts as Peter walks over to Cardin and quips, "Look Cardinal right? No wait, your not a small red bird."
"Small?! Watch how you speak to me Puny Parker! Or I will squash you like a bug!" Cardin threatened.
"Oh I'm so scared." Peter says sarcastically. "Please, talk to me when you come up with something original little red birdy." Peter insults
Cardin gets angry at Peter, seeing how Peter showed no fear at his intimidation. Everyone watches as Cardin stares at Peter in anger, as Peter sets his food on the table next to him to check on Velvet.
"You okay?"
"Yes, thank you." Velvet responds, getting up so she could leave.
Peter then turned to Cardin and sees the angry look on his face. "So, I know you guys don't have a father to teach you how to talk to girls, but that doesn't mean that you should be harassing them. Or maybe you guys are just stupid " Peter mocked.
"Watch what you say or your dead meat!" Cardin threatened once again, feeling even more angry at Peter's insult. But it doesn't work as Peter just fake yawns.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, you brain dead, average, fatherless goons always say the same thing. Now, how about you all just go do whatever it is you knuckleheads do on your free time. Maybe learn some ballerina dances." Peter quipped, resulting in even more angry stares from Team CRDL.
Team RWBY and JNPR watch in shock at the insults Peter was landing at Cardin. Yang then whispers to Weiss, "I think you got extremely lucky Peter held back on any insults on you."
"I think you may be right." Weiss says, glad that Peter didn't do the same to her during the first time they meet.
"Now if you excuse me, I got a lunch to e-" But Peter doesn't get to finish his sentence as Cardin snatched his lunch and threw it at Peter, spilling it all over. Everyone just watches this unfold, waiting to see what happens next.
"They are screwed." Weiss points out, looking at an all too familiar angry expression on Peter's face.
"No! Our chocolate pudding! Kill him!" Venom shouts angrily.
"I won't, but I got an idea." Peter responded.
"Ha! Everyone looks at the shivering rat here, all covered in his food." Cardin laughed along with his team.
Unfortunately for them, this action pissed Peter off, a very hungry Peter. Right then and there, all four tendrils sprouts from his back, grabbing each member of Team CRDL.
"Hey! What the hell!"
"Ah! This stuffs gross, get it off!"
"Put us down you freak!"
"I've seen enough Internet to know where this is going!"
Peter ignores the shouting as he walks towards the nearest garbage can, and dunks all for of them in there. "There, now you guys can get to know the rest of your peers." Peter insults them, referring to them as trash.
"Did he just… call them trash?" Jaune asked.
"I think he did." Ren responds.
"Aw man, I was hoping he would break their legs." Nora pouts.
"Don't you guys think that may have been too much?" Ruby asked.
"Nope." Both Yang and Blake answered.
They all continue to watch from a distance, watching as Peter turned around to leave. As Peter was walking away, Cardin crawled out of the garbage can and shouts, "You freak! You only got us because of your freaky semblance! Your even more of a freak then those animals!" insulting both Peter and Faunus alike, something that irritated Blake.
"Whatever, enjoy your trash." Peter simply says as he continued to walk away.
"I bet without that stupid semblance of yours your nothing!" Cardin continued to shout, trying to get Peter to take the bait.
Everyone watches as Peter stops, standing there, deep in thought. Pyrrha the asks, "Should we intervene before anything worse happens?"
"Break his legs!"
"Nora!"
Meanwhile, within Peter's head, the symbiote was on the verge of letting loose. "That's it! Let us loose, we will shred those insignificant multicellular creatures to shreds and spread them across the entire planet!"
"Don't, they are not worth both our time. Besides, there's more than one way to mess with someone." Peter suggested.
"Ah, break their egos, use physiological warfare? We love it." Venom replied.
"Something like that. Normally I would not do anything and just leave, but the racism coming from the guy is seriously pissing me off. Not even Flash was like this, so I think I will indulge Cardin a bit before teaching him he's nothing special." Peter explained.
"We love it when you finally give in to your darker side. This will be fun." Venom chuckles.
"I'm just going to ignore that."
"Well, what do you have to say to that Parker?!" Cardin asked.
"I'd say your team wouldn't last even five minutes." Peter replied.
"Oh yeah?! Prove it! All of us versus you! And you don't get to use your semblance!" Cardin proposed.
"….Sure, one hour, Ms. Goodwitch's classroom. Later trash." Peter accepts insulting them once again, angering Cardin even more.
Peter then walks towards both Team RWBY and JNPR, shocked at what just transpired. Before any of them could get a word in, Peter says "Welp I'm an all you can eat buffet right now. Can I get your help real quick Jaune, thanks." Taking Jaune with him.
"Wait what? Um, Peter where are we going? Hello?" Jaune says as Peter drags him away.
"What just happened?" Ruby asked in confusion.
"Peter agreed to fight the entirety of team CRDL without his semblance." Weiss replies in frustration, "This is not going to end well."
"All I know is that we are going to watch a fight! Pete is definitely going to kick their butts!" Yang cheered.
"Shouldn't we stop that from happening before things escalate even further?" Ren asked.
"But if we do then Peter won't be able to kick their ass! Let them fight!" Nora yelled, getting Ren to sigh once more.
"I just hope Peter doesn't get in over his head. We should probably see if we can talk him out of it." Pyrrha suggests.
"I don't think we can change Peter's mind, he seemed pretty determined to put them in their place." Blake explained.
"Well, I for one do not approve this idiotic fight that he will have between those four. Come on, we should probably be there if things go wrong quickly." Weiss says as she began to leave.
Everyone just silent nods as they wrapped up their lunch and went on their way.
While everyone was still curious about Peter's decision to fight Team CRDL, Pyrrha was still worried about Jaune.
"I should talk to him later, he doesn't seem himself lately." Pyrrha thought to herself.
/
Meanwhile, Jaune was with Peter in the bathroom of team JNPR, he was helping Peter out by giving him some of his spare clothes to wear until Peter could wash his.
While Peter was finishing up, he spoke to Jaune, saying "Thanks a lot Jaune, I'll be sure to give them back after I get my own cleaned, and don't worry I'll wash them before giving your clothes back."
"No problem Pete, anything for my friends." Jaune said nervously.
Seeing an all to familiar state of nervousness, Peter then asked, "Okay what's wrong Jaune, you don't seem yourself."
"What? Pfft, I'm fine, you don't have to wo-"
"Jaune, I know your lying. I know all too familiar what those emotions your trying to suppress really feels like." Peter interrupted.
"Uh…I…you do?" Jaune asked with curiosity.
"Let me guess, self doubt, feeling like no matter what you do you won't ever be good enough. Being picked on just because you're not as big or strong like the others and feeling like you don't belong. Yes, I do know what it feels like and how badly you try to hide that from others." Peter began. "Am I right?"
"Yeah, you got that so spot on…. How do you know what that feels like?" Jaune asked in surprise.
"Isn't that obvious, I wasn't exactly treated well back home. I was bullied just like you. However instead of just one guy it was the entirety my class." Peter answered.
Jaune just stood there in surprise, he did not expect someone like Peter to be bullied at all.
"But why, you're so confident and cool and awesome, why would an entire class pick on you at all?" Jaune asked.
"I wasn't always like this, believe it or not I was used to be a wallflower. I was always in my own shell, afraid to socialize with anybody." Peter began, "But mostly, it's because of something I had that most didn't…" Peter said as he pointed at his brain.
"A head?"
"….. Intelligence. Believe it or not, I was the biggest nerd at home, one of the smartest students in my school." Peter explained.
"But you don't look like a nerd, you look like a cool guy. How did you get be like this now?" Jaune asked, hoping for an answer.
"A lot of things happened to change me, but mostly it was to stop doubting myself and to stop trying to prove to others you could be like them, you need to be you." Peter answered. "You know, you remind me of myself when I was Ruby's age, it hurts me to see history repeat it's self with you dude."
"So you want to help me? But I don't need help, I want to do this on my own. I don't want to be a damsel in distress" Jaune replied.
"And that is what you are doing wrong, you are trying to do everything by yourself, you need a foundation, people to lean on when you need help. If you try to do everything on your own not only will you hurt yourself, but you will hurt your team." Peter remarks.
"But how can I ask for help when I don't even belong here." Jaune further doubts himself.
"And why do you say that? You are just as capable as everyone else here as well. You deserve to have a chance to show everyone what you are capable." Peter countered.
"But I'm not, I…I…I lied! I got fake transcripts, I lied to get in here!" Jaune shouts.
"…Can you elaborate on why you did that." Peter asked.
"Because this is what I always wanted to be. My father, my grandfather, and his father before were all warriors, all heroes, I want to be one too. I was just never good enough." Jaune replied.
"Heh, another thing we have in common. You want to be just like your dad and I want to be just like my Uncle." Peter chuckles.
"Your Uncle?"
"My Uncle taught me a lot of things, he was basically my dad. But one thing that stuck with me was that with great power comes great responsibility. I have tried to live by those words for as long, heck sometimes I still feel like I haven't lived up to his words. But despite everything, I still keep going because it's who I am." Peter explained.
"And does that advice work? Did it help you become better?" Jaune asks.
"It, has its ups and downs, but what matters most is that it has help me become the best version of myself I could be." Peter began, "Look, I don't expect you to follow this advice or ask for help from anyone else. You probably want to show everyone you can do this yourself, I'm I right?"
"Yeah… I want to show everyone that I don't need help, if I can't do this on my own, then what good am I?" Jaune confirmed.
"You're a good leader, like I told Ruby before, it's not about strength, it's not about skill, it's about being able to lead your team. You are smart, strategic, you know how to lead, I've seen how you lead the others when you all fought together on initiation day. The only problem is that you are holding yourself back with this way of thinking. Now you have two choices, either you continue to deny yourself that you belong here, or you show everyone what you are capable of." Peter tried to tell Jaune.
"But what if I really not good enough, what if I-"
"Nope, no more self doubt. I don't care if you faked your way into Beacon. And let's be honest, do you really think Ozpin doesn't know that you're transcripts are fake? Oz is a smart guy, he would have found out by now." Peter points out.
"If he does know, then why hasn't he kicked me out of Beacon yet?" Jaune asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Ozpin sees potential in you, and so do I. Like I said, you remind me of myself. Now, whether you ask for help or not, it's your choice. But just know, everyone needs help every once in a while, you just have to accept that. But if you want to prove yourself first go ahead, just don't let it eat away at you ok?" Peter replied.
"I'll think about it…" Jaune quietly answers.
"I'll leave you be, but before I go, I suggest you talk with Pyrrha, she is your partner, and she is really worried about you." Peter suggested.
"To be honest, I was thinking about telling her what I told you, it's just… I'm not sure how to go about it." Jaune told Peter.
"I see, well I'm sure she would understand. And for the record, remember how I said that you seemed to have better luck with girls than me." Peter reminds him.
"Yeah, you told me that before initiation." Jaune replied.
"Well, now it's the same. Want to know what I mean?" Peter asked, Jaune nodded in response. "I myself was trying so hard with someone I was into that I didn't pay attention to the girl next to me who loved me ever since the day we meet. And now it's too late and I may never get that chance again." Peter finished in a somber tone.
"Especially now, for obvious reasons." Venom reminded Peter, saddening the hidden vigilante even more.
"Are you talking about me and Weiss? And what other girl would be into me? I would have noticed by now." Jaune obliviously asked.
"God, it's like looking into a painful mirror. I'll give you a hint, she's always been there for you, no matter what has or will ever happen between you two." Peter simply answered, still leaving Jaune confused. "Be vigilant bro, you'll find out soon enough." Peter says as he left.
Jaune just stands there thinking about what Peter said. Jaune liked Weiss, for who she was, however he himself knew that she has no interest in him. While he would keep trying to show her that he really likes her for who she is, Peter's comment about another girl having a crush on him got him thinking.
"Is there actually someone who likes me that way? Who? All I know is that I apparently know her. Aw man, now I'm torn, I really like Weiss, do I keep trying to with her or do I try to find this mystery girl. I don't know what to do now, should I listen to Peter, he is trying to help me after all. I need more time to think about that, for now I should talk to Pyrrha about how I got in here, she deserves to know, she is my partner after all."
/
Many of Beacon's students had gathered in Ms. Goodwitch's classroom, waiting to see the upcoming battle between Peter and Team CRDL. Both team RWBY and JNPR were both excited and worried about how this fight would go.
"Think Peter will win? I mean his strong, but I don't think he can take on an entire team." Jaune comments.
"Have a bit of faith Jaune, I'm sure Pete's got this." Yang replied. "He's going to kick their butts."
"Yeah, and their legs!" Nora cheered.
"What's with you and leg breaking?" Blake asked.
"What? It's awesome, I really want to see some action!" Nora answered, Yang agreeing with a cheer.
"Well, whatever happens next, it can't be good." Weiss says, sighing in frustration.
"Why do you say that, you don't think Peter will have a chance?" Pyrrha asked.
"Oh no, those knuckle heads are as good as dead. The only thing we should worry about is if Peter doesn't go too far. He might get himself into trouble." Weiss explained.
"I'm surprised you think that Weiss. He won't be using his semblance so I'm not sure what you mean." Ruby told her partner.
"Peter knocked out two full grown men in a matter of seconds, without his semblance. Sure they were regular people, but the way he did was so sudden." Weiss explained. "I think he has been holding back." Weiss finished, getting Pyrrha's attention.
"Wait, holding back? Huh, how do you know that ice queen, have you been spying on him?" Yang teased.
Weiss just gives her a angry look before yelling at her. While the two squabble, Jaune noticed Pyrrha deep in thought, he then asked her "Hey Pyrrha, is something the matter?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry! It's just what Weiss said got me thinking. If Peter is holding back, then maybe he could be a new challenge for me to face. I want to see what he is capable of." Pyrrha answered.
Jaune nods, agreeing with her. He was always curious on how good his best friend was. He actually admired how confident and capable Peter was, which made him a bit self-conscious about his own skills. However he tried to remember what Peter said about him, if Peter believed he was capable then maybe he was. However he still has that feeling he wasn't.
Pyrrha noticed Jaune was feeling down again and was about ask him what was wrong, but she was interrupted by doors opening, revealing Team CRDL with their gear, ready to be at up the hidden vigilante.
"Where is that joker? Did he chicken out, bet he was afraid of fighting us." Cardin mocked.
"Oh I'm right here, I was wondering when you guys would show up to be honest." A voice come from the corner of the room.
Everyone looked towards the direction of the voice, and saw Peter just leaning there, eating a chocolate bar. "You guys took so long I got hungry for a snack. Did Dove forget to show you the way here? I thought doves knew there way around their homes. Actually scratch that, those are pigeons." Peter quipped.
Everyone, except Weiss and Ren, began laughing at the joke, infuriating the bullies.
"Real funny Puny Parker, now are you going to face us alone or are you chicken?" Cardin tried to insult Peter.
"Again with the generic insults, dude can you come up with something original or are you really just an idiot?" Peter mocked, walking into the Arena with team CRDL.
Once all combatants were in the arena, Cardin immediately commanded Russel and Sky to rush at Peter to distract him. Peter dodges by jumping back as both of them swing their weapons at him.
"Hey! You didn't even wait for a count down that's cheating!" Ruby yelled.
"Does it looks like we care pipsqueak, stay out of this or I squash you too!" Cardin yelled, which angered Yang, her eyes turning red.
"Oh hell no! It's one thing to attack us, but to threaten innocents, that's crossing a line!" Venom yelled.
"I didn't know you cared about innocent people, when did you start caring?" Peter asked in surprise.
"When we started spending too much time with you, your morals have rubbed off on us. Besides I like her, she is like a mini you that isn't annoying." Venom replied, getting a slight jab at Peter.
"Break their legs Peter!" Yang shouts, getting a look from the others, "What?! He threatened my little sister!" Yang defended herself.
"Really? Threatening cute little girls? Man you are trash aren't you Winchester?" Peter asked rhetorically as he continued dodging melee attack from Russel and Sky, and dust rounds from Dove.
"Just got him already, he isn't even fighting back you idiots!" Cardin yelled, frustrated that some clown that wasn't using his semblance and with no weapons was just toying with them.
"Nope, Nu-uh, dodge! Man, you little birdies suck at fighting! I haven't even done anything yet, maybe you all should just join clown university instead, you certainly are making yourselves look like clowns!" Peter quipped.
Team CRDL continue to attempt to strike Peter, only failing with every swing of their weapons. Getting frustrated, the entire team then lunge at Peter from all four sides, thinking that the small amount of space would make it impossible for Peter to dodge all of their attacks.
Peter's friends watch with worry as they think they got him cornered. But to everyone surprise, Peter is able to his bend body in to avoid every strike.
"Damn, who would have thought Pete was that flexibility. I wonder how else he could bend his body like that." Yang purred.
Both Blake and Weiss blush heavily as they think about what Yang was implying, Ruby was just confused on what Yang meant.
Back with Peter, he continued to just dodge every attack, bending his body in ways that impressed a lot of people, mostly with girls.
"You know, all of you have bird related names, makes sense since you all are baby birds who can't do even a little bit of damage." Peter quipped.
"As much fun as this is watching them fail miserably, shouldn't you wrap this up already?" Venom asked.
"Yeah, I probably should, running out of quips and getting bored here. How about I give them a bit of hope before crushing it completely?" Peter suggested.
"Go ahead, just don't take too long because we are slowly getting tired of watching those pathetic excuses of warriors over here." Venom responds.
Peter then jumps back one last time before standing in place, not moving an inch. Seeing this as an opportunity, Sky went in to swing his weapon at him, but much to his and many others surprise, Peter caught the axe with his hand.
"What? Did you really think I would leave myself open for a free strike? Come on dude that's just sad." Peter jabbed.
Before Sky could say anything in response, Peter sweeps his legs, and kicks him to the side. Sky is sent flying to the wall and hits it face first. He then falls down to the ground, his aura breaking leaving him unconscious.
"Whoa! Did you see that! That was awesome!" Nora and Ruby shout at the same time.
"One down three to go, you got this Peter!" Yang cheered.
Peter just gives his teammates a two finger salute in response. He then turns towards the rest of his opponents and says, "What are you waiting for? I'm wide open! Come and get me!"
Falling for this ruse, Russel then runs towards Peter and attempted to slash him with his daggers. Peter blocks and swats away each attack with one arm. Frustrated, Russel attempted to sweep Peter just like he did to Sky. But unfortunately for him, Peter jumps up, grabs his head, flips mid-air and kicks him with both his feet, sending Russel crashing into the wall on the other side, knocking him out as well.
Terrified, Dove then began shooting at Peter while his back was turned, hoping to land a hit on him. Ruby was about to yell in order to warn him, but Peter quickly moves out of the way without looking, dodging the dust round.
Peter then turns around to face Dove and look at him in his eyes. Getting even more terrified, Dove began shooting even more in attempt to hit him. After he was done shooting, he couldn't see Peter anywhere. Before Dove could ask where he went, he feels a sharp pain on his neck, knocking him out cold. This turned out to be Peter, who had gotten behind Dove so quickly that only Ruby, Pyrrha, and Blake were able to see him move.
"Wow! He's so fast!" Ruby said with her familiar starry-eyed look.
"He is….." Blake simply says, "Is he really not using his semblance? How is he this quick and powerful?" Blake wondered.
Peter just stood there and looked at Cardin, "Aw what's wrong? All your friends are down and your all alone. Here, I'll give myself a handicap." Peter says as he takes out a piece of cloth and wraps it around his eyes, blocking his vision.
"What is that dolt doing?! He is going to get himself hurt with such a stupid stunt!" Weiss shouts.
"Um Pete, are sure that's a good idea? Maybe you should take that off." Jaune yells out to Peter, but doesn't get a response in return.
The others call out to him to take the cloth off, but Peter doesn't listen and just stands there waiting for Cardin to make a move.
Cardin just chuckles, thinking that Peter was being an idiot to allow him to get an easy win. Cardin then rushes at Peter, his mace ready to swing at him.
Just then everything slows down for Peter, all the shouts and yelling, everyone's movement moving at such a slow pace. During this very small time frame, Peter just chuckles and steps to the side. Everything then speeds back up, and Peter is suddenly standing next to Cardin, surprising him.
"What the- hold still twerp!" Cardin yells as he widely swings his mace.
"What's wrong tall and ugly, can't keep up?" Peter taunts.
"Do you ever shut up!"
"Nope, my fans expect a certain amount of quipage from every battle." Peter joked.
"Haven't you already used that joke before? That's just lazy." Venom jabbed.
"Not if I use it in another world." Peter continued to joke, getting a grunt of disapproval from the symbiote.
Frustrated that he couldn't hit some, who was blindfolded, Cardin tried to land one last swing at full force by swing his mace over his head. But Peter just catches it with his hand. Peter then uses his other hand to punch Cardin in stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs.
"H…h….how…"
"Your predictable, you use the same moves every single time. And when you get angry you just swing widely all you. It's so easy to get in your head you know?" Peter began, "Another thing you do is wait for your team to whittle down your opponents and swoop in to deal the final blow. You just like to command people you can control and use them so you don't get your hands dirty. Your pathetic, easy to take out, all see I see is a begot pretending to be a big deal. In reality, your nothing but common scum I dealt with everyday back were I'm from."
Cardin couldn't say anything, mostly because he still felt pain from the hit Peter dealt to him on his stomach, he couldn't even think about a way to belittle Peter.
Peter then head-butts Cardin, sending falling on his back, knocked out from the hit on his head.
Peter then takes off his blindfold and see's everyone just staring at him in shock. Team RWBY and JNPR were just stunned at the battle that happened right in front of them.
"Sup guys, did you enjoy the show?" Peter quipped.
"That….was…"
"Awesome!" Ruby cheered, interrupting Yang.
"Indeed, that was quite impressive." Pyrrha agreed.
"Thanks, I try my best you know." Peter responds.
"It doesn't seem like you had trouble at all. Where did you learn to do all that?" Ren asked, curious about Peter's abilities.
"Yes, I was also curious about your abilities as well." Blake added.
"Good luck explaining that Parker. We told you the blindfold was a bad idea. Although it was hilarious to see that brainless idiot get frustrated." Venom chuckles.
Everyone waits for a response from Peter, as he stands there quite for a moment. Snapping back to reality, Peter than replied, "Oh! Um you know what they say, experience is the best teacher you know. I've had my fair share of fights from time to time. I had to learn pretty quickly how to defend myself."
Ruby than got a feeling of déjà vu, she could have sworn she heard that somewhere before. But she set those thoughts aside, still awestruck from Peter's display of strength and agility.
"But how did you know how to dodge with your eyes closed? You were zooming all over Cardin like it was nothing!" Yang asked.
"Um, well, that's something I practiced for a while now. It took a lot of trial and error to be able to do that like it was my second nature. That and Cardin is predictable." Peter nervously responds.
Blake was skeptical about this response, Peter seemed to be slightly nervous, acting as if he was hiding something. Blake wondered what that could be. Then a thought accrued to her, was he a Faunus? It could explain how much more agile he was then most others. But he doesn't appear to have any faunas traits at all. This was something she would have to investigate later.
"So in other words, you learned by being reckless then." Weiss says, giving Peter a deadpanned expression. "He did mention getting hurt by others before, of course that's how he learned." Weiss thought, feeling slightly concerned for Peter.
"Pretty much." Peter simply responds.
"Well either way that was the best fight I have ever seen, kind of wish you broke their legs." Nora comments.
"She gets it!"
"I should keep you away from her. I don't want to imagine the chaos the both of you would bring." Peter told the symbiote, he had already gotten to know Nora well enough to know that she was a bit unhinged.
Ren just face palms at this, he then says, "Well, I believe we should head to class, we still have Professor Oobleck's class next."
"Cool, I like the guy he's my favorite teacher here. He actually makes me want to learn history." Peter quipped.
"How do you even understand him? I swear he seems like he is always on caffeine." Jaune asked.
"Believe it or not, I have had my fair share of late nights where I drank A LOT of coffee. So I have experience with dealing with things, or people, going pretty fast." Peter told a half truth.
"You do realize drinking too much coffee can be bad for you, right?" Pyrrha asked Peter.
"Yep."
"So you stopped drinking coffee?"
"Nope. Come on guys, to class!" Peter shouts, leaving them in his dust.
"Hey, that's my line!" Ruby chuckles as she quickly follows Peter's lead, with Yang and Team JNPR following her.
Blake and Weiss stand there, Weiss groaning in frustration. "I swear, that dolt acts more childish than Ruby sometimes."
Blake just stands there thinking for a moment before Weiss snaps her fingers to get her attention.
"Are you in there? Please don't tell me your spacing out like Parker now too."
"Uh? Oh, no, it's just… what Peter said got me curious now. I doubt he could do all that by just learning from trial and error."
Weiss then thinks for a moment before replying, "You have a point, he seems more skilled than he looks. And I really hate to admit, but he might be smarter than me after all. Just where could he have learned all of that?"
"I'm not sure, I have a few ideas, but I want to test them out later. For now I believe we should go before we are late." Blake tells Weiss as the both of them leave.
/
"Yes, Yes, prior to the Faunus rights revolution, more popular known as the Faunus war, human kind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing finest population in menagerie." Professor Oobleck began. He then took a moment to drink some coffee and continued to speak as he zoomed all of the place. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events."
"Why those it feels like we are looking at an adult version of you?" Venom questions.
"Probably because this could have been me in the future if I never got bit by the spider." Peter replied.
"Probably, especially the caffeine part, which you are lucky your increased metabolism helps you drink it more efficiently. If not, then you would mostly like be dead." Venom points out.
Peter just internally nods as he continued to take notes, being one of the very few people who could actually keep up with Oobleck's speedy lectures thanks to his enhanced senses.
"Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day." Taking another sip of coffee he then asked. "Now, have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your faunus heritage?"
The class stays silent as a few students raise there hands in response to his question. With Velvet raising her hand in hesitation. Something Peter noticed.
"Poor Vel, I remember being like that before I might Gwen and Harry. Hopefully her team has her back and look out for her." Peter sadly thought.
"Yes you were…..not in a good place at that time from what we saw in your memories. Any longer like that or if you hadn't found anyone for friendship then you may not have turned out the way you did. You could have ended like Brock." Venom points out.
"Yeah…like Eddie…..maybe if I had done more he wouldn't have become…you know…"
"Vengeful, we know….we…gave him the opportunity to destroy after all. We know everything about him just like we know everything about you." Venom says calmly.
"Yeah, deep down I wished you were controlling him. But I know now he willing accepted what he had become." Peter says, remembering what happened after he and the symbiote separated for the first time.
Deciding to avoid more about this conversation, Venom says "The feline hasn't raised her hand."
"Well, she is hiding her true self. Kind of like what I'm doing right know, although for different reasons." Peter replied, the symbiote deciding to stay silent in response.
"Dreadful, simply dreadful. Remember students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence." Oobleck states. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang. Now! Which one of you young scholars could tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?"
Weiss raised her hand, getting Oobleck's attention. "The battle at Fort Castle." Weiss answered.
"Precisely! And who can tell me the advantage the faunus had over General Legume's forces?" Oobleck asked.
Cardin, who had a couple bandages on his faces thanks to Peter, flips a piece of paper at Jaune, who had fallen asleep from listening to the Professor.
"Hey!"
"Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class, this is excellent, excellent! What is the answer?"
"Uh….the….answer….the advantage of the faunus…..over that guy's stuff…." Jaune looks around and sees Pyrrha making circles over her hands, he then says, "….Uh! Binoculars!"
Everyone laughs as Pyrrha face palms and Peter slams his head on the desk at seeing his best friend fail the question.
"We still fail to see any potential in him, although we do sense some power hidden in him. But intelligence does not seem to be his strong suit." Venom chuckles.
"Was I this dense too?"
"You already know the answer to that question."
"Very funny Mr. Arc, Cardin? Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!" Oobleck directed the question to Cardin.
"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." Cardin replied.
"Cardin…" Peter began, getting his attention, "Two things, first you better watch yourself cause what I showed you earlier wasn't even me trying. And two you are only proving to be the classes biggest god damn idiot." Peter said, slowly losing his optimistic demeanor once more.
Cardin just growls, his ego had been broken and he was humiliated in front of everyone by Peter. "Just you wait Parker! I'll get you one day!" Cardin shouts.
"Both of you! Enough of this behavior or I will assign you both detention!" Oobleck says, getting both Peter and Cardin to sit back down. "Now, how about you Mr. Parker, what do you believe was the faunus advantage in the battle?"
"Evolution. The way I see it, the faunus are more evolved then us humans. Their variety in faunus traits from night vision, sense of smell, and enhanced hearing gave them a hug advantage in the battle of Fort castle." Peter answered.
While slightly surprised at Peter's answer, Blake then added, "General Legume 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." Blake then turned around to Cardin and said, "Perhaps if he'd attention in class he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."
Cardin stands up ready to give a piece of her mind, but Oobleck interrupted him and says, "Mr. Winchester, sit back down. I warned you if you did that again I would give you detention! You have earned yourself a weeks detention!"
"Feels like that's light punishment for his behavior, especially the racism." Peter thought.
"Guess the education system is flawed no matter what universe it is in." Venom states, Peter internally agreeing
Jaune chuckles at the sight of Cardin getting in trouble. At that moment, Oobleck zooms right in front of him, and says, "You and Mr. Arc could both see me after class for additional readings."
"Oh…"
"Now! Moving on!" Professor Oobleck says continuing his lecture. Peter looks at Jaune, sad to see his friend in trouble. He then looks at Cardin, looking at how the bully isn't even paying attention and continues to fold more pieces of paper. Peter just silently stares at him, anger in his eyes as they turn completely black.
Weiss noticed this when she looked at Peter, which slightly startled her for a bit. She closes and reopened her eyes to see his has gone back to normal.
"Maybe I'm just seeing things, I need to get some rest." Weiss simply thinks.
/
"You go on ahead, I'll wait for Jaune." Pyrrha told her teammates as they left.
"I'll wait here with you then as well, if that's alright with you." Peter said standing next to her.
"Oh! Sure, I don't mind." Pyrrha responds. She then asks, "Are you worried about him too?"
"Yup, Cardin as been giving him nothing but trouble lately. It's as if he likes torturing the guy." Peter told the Spartan.
"Yes, Cardin does not seem like an open minded individual. He is quite a trouble maker." Pyrrha says, although she wanted to say something more mature about the guys.
"You're trying to be pg-13 right now aren't?" Peter asked.
"Oh yes, I really want to say something less…polite. But I want to stay calm and focused at the moment and focus more on Jaune's well being." Pyrrha sighed.
"Yeah, I haven't been doing too much of that. I have been letting my anger get the better of me lately." Peter told her.
"You have been, more aggressive lately, no offense." Pyrrha responds.
"None taken."
Pyrrha chuckles, she then then says, "You know, I was wondering if you could show me how skilled you were."
"How, like in a spar?" Peter asked.
"Yes, I was hoping if I could test out your abilities. And I don't want you holding back. I want to see you at your fullest potential." Pyrrha explained.
"Oh boy, this isn't good. I should have not shown off." Peter thought. "Um, are you sure? I mean what if I hurt you by accident?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure I can handle it. Besides, I want to push myself even further. I want to see if there is more I could learn by fighting you." Pyrrha reassures Peter.
"Alright, when we have the time I think we can arrange a friendly sparring session." Peter responds.
"Wonderful, I can't wait to see you at your fullest." Pyrrha smiled.
"You are aware what would happen if you did go all out right? We doubt you can keep that promise." Venom points out.
"I know, if I use my full strength I'll end up killing her. So I have to hold back, hopefully she understands. But unfortunately for me, I'll have even more questions about my strength. Hopefully I can find a solution to that problem later." Peter told the symbiote.
Pete and Pyrrha continued to wait in silence for Jaune. After a few moments, Peter bodily asks, "So, you like Jaune right?"
"Uh? Oh! Um, yes, he is my friend after all, and partner. Of course I like him." Pyrrha says, flustered from the question.
"Not what I meant, I meant do you like Jaune." Peter corrected her.
"I..I…. I do. How did you know?" Pyrrha asked.
"Believe it or not, I have literally been in Jaune's exact situation with love. I focused on another girl I was pursuing, unaware of the girl right next to me who loved me since we meet." Peter told her.
"How did it go?" Pyrrha asked, hoping for an answer that could help her.
"I screwed up. I would rather not explain how, but I did. And now I regret never being able to speak to her ever again." Peter answered.
"I'm sorry that happened to you. It must have been heartbreaking to go through something like that." Pyrrha comforted the hidden vigilante.
"Thanks. But I have tried to move on from that experience. While I still have a while until I do, I want to make sure Jaune doesn't go through the same thing I did." Peter says, "So I gave him a hint of a girl with a crush on him. Don't worry I didn't tell him it was you. I'm hoping that knowledge of the anonymous girl could help him with his love life and maybe get you two lovebirds together."
"I…..I….." Pyrrha began, blushing a bit at the continuous thought of her being with Jaune. "Do you really think he will figure it out that I like him." Pyrrha asked, still blushing."
"I hope so. You two deserve a chance to be happy. If I can't help myself, then at least I can help you two. I hope you don't mind me interfering a bit." Peter replied.
"I'm not sure if I okay with that, I am grateful for your help. Too be honest, I have no idea how to go on about telling Jaune how I feel. This is the first time I have had a crush." Pyrrha admits.
"Well, if there's some advice I can give you, it's don't wait too long. If it seems he won't figure it out on his own, then make the first move. And expect him to be dense about stuff like this. Because let me tell you, us boys are extremely dense when it comes to girls trying to show the like us." Peter quipped.
"I'll take your advice into consideration, thank you." Pyrrha says, getting a thumbs up from Peter.
The both of them wait for a few more moments for Jaune to come out. A few minutes later, Oobleck zooms out, going who knows where. Jaune follows suit, Cardin right behind him. Cardin was about to push him the floor, but Peter grabs his arms and says this.
"I warned you."
Before Cardin could do anything, Peter punches Cardin in the gut so hard, he sends him flying down the hall, crashing into the wall. Cardin then falls to the ground, barley conscious.
Jaune and Pyrrha stare at him, slightly scared at the tone of his voice. "Um Peter, yo- you good?" Jaune asked nervously.
"…..No. I need time to calm down. Don't follow me." Peter replied. Refusing to elaborate.
Peter walks away, still feeling rage in his mind. "I need to control myself, I think I should find some Grimm in the nearby forest." Peter thought.
"We are surprised you aren't blaming us for you recent displays of anger. Why is that?" Venom asked.
"Because I know it wasn't you. This is me, maybe I'm reaching my limit, who knows. All I know is I need to let off that steam." Peter said as they left.
The symbiote decided to let Peter do what he wants to do. While it is pleased to see it's host embrace his more, aggressive side. It felt like something was off. Peter was always calm and collective with scum like Cardin. The symbiote began to wonder if it has unintentionally made Peter more aggressive again, although it has controlled that ability well enough as to not make that mistake again. Maybe Cardin was just that bad, questions for later. Right now, it will enjoy seeing Peter rip the knock-offs to shreds.
"Hopefully I can keep myself in control, I don't want to drive my friends away. Hopefully Jaune is able to get a break from that assholes tricks." Peter thought.
/
Unfortunately for Jaune, things did not get better for the guy. Jaune had started to hang around Cardin, somehow the bully had gotten Jaune to do whatever he wanted. This angered Peter, he hated how Cardin was treating Jaune, making Peter more aggressive than usual, something his friends noticed.
Team RWBY was in their dorm, studying, and as usual, Peter was not with them. Similar to Jaune, he had distance himself from the team, albeit for different reasons.
Deciding to speak about the current Peter and Jaune situation, Ruby said, "So do any of you know what exactly is going on with Peter? He is acting quite, scary recently."
"Not sure Rubes, I tried to talk to him about it, but he gave me a look that pretty much said "leave me alone." To be honest, he actually scares me, and I'm usually the scary one when I'm angry so that's saying something!" Yang replied.
Everyone shivers at the thought of an angry Peter, no one expected the optimistic, care free lad to have such a rageful side to him.
"Well, he has been acting like this ever since Cardin started targeting Jaune as his personal punching bag, and now he has Jaune around him at all times. I think Cardin must have found something to blackmail Jaune and Peter knows it." Blake assumed.
"That may be what could be going on here. Those two dolts are best friends after all." Weiss agreed. "Hopefully things get resolved soon before things get out of hand. From what I heard , Peter got a two weeks detention for what he did to Cardin the other day after Professor Oobleck's class."
"Oh yeah, I heard Cardin ended up with broken ribs from that. That's not the Peter we know, he wouldn't go that far, right?" Ruby asked, concerned for Peter's mental state.
"Definitely not, he never seemed to show any kind of behavior like that since recently. Maybe he's going through puberty a bit late?" Yang joked, "You know, mood swings."
"That is a stupid idea, I highly doubt he hasn't gone through, changes this late." Weiss told Yang with a deadpanned expression.
"It was just an idea."
"Not a good one, I believe we should ask Peter what is wrong later. When he isn't so angry." Blake suggests.
Everyone just silently agreed and returned to their studies. While studying, Ruby couldn't help but think about Peter and how different he seemed. Over the few weeks, she began to look up to him, he always had advice that helped her when she needed it. Now Peter seemed like he needed help and she didn't know what to do. Maybe if she can help Jaune, it could result in Peter going back to normal.
"Hey guys, I'll be right back, I'm just going to get some fresh air." Ruby says, leaving the room.
As she exits, she sees Jaune standing in front of his team's dorm room, looking sadly at the ground.
"Okay, here's my chance to help." Ruby thought to herself. "Hey Jaune." She greeted, startling him. "Long time no see. Did you lock yourself out again?"
"Oh! Uh, nope! Got it!" Jaune replied.
"So, where have you been lately?" Ruby asked.
"I uh…ugh, I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin's got me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me. I'm starting to think coming to this school is a bad idea." Jaune says as he slumps towards the ground. " I'm a failure."
"Nope."
"Nope?"
"Nope. You're a leader now Jaune, you're not allowed to be a failure." Ruby told him.
"But, what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" Jaune asked.
"Hm, Nope." Ruby simply says.
"You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this stuff." Jaune states.
"Nope." Ruby then sat down next to Jaune and says, "Jaune maybe you were a failure when you were a kid. You might have even been a failure the first day we meet." Getting Jaune to sulk even more. " But you can't be one now, you know why?"
"Uh…because…"
"Because it's not just about you anymore. You got a team now Jaune, we both do, and if we fail then we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have the power as leader to lead our teams, so it's our responsibility to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader Jaune, and I think that can be you." Ruby finished.
"Huh, you kind of sound like Peter there, he sort of gave me his own pep talk similar to this, although with less nopes." Jaune says, comparing the two.
"I do? Huh, cool…Hey, do you know exactly why Peter is acting more angry lately? He hasn't been the same since Cardin….you know…" Ruby told the blonde.
"You know how I said Cardin has me on a leash, Peter must have figured that out and is probably angry at Cardin. I think he is angry that he doesn't know how to help." Jaune guessed.
"Maybe. Well good night Jaune, see you tomorrow." Ruby says as she enters her dorm.
"Yeah, night…" Jaune says weakly. He stays there thinking to himself for a while. He wishes he didn't mess up so badly and for driving Pyrrha away the other day. "What do I do…Pyrrha is angry at me and Peter is angry at Cardin to the point he might actually kill him." Jaune thought.
Just then he gets a message on his scroll from Cardin reading, "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 get me a bag of rapier wasps. And make sure they've got some really big stingers, it's important so don't screw this up."
Jaune sighs as he leaves to do what Cardin asks of him, he wasn't sure what to do, but all he knows is that whatever comes next can't be good.
/
The next the day, the class was taken to Forever Fall for their next assignment. Everyone was being guided by Glynda, who was instructing the students on their task.
"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 that none of you die while doing so." Glynda began, she then stopped as she turned to face the students, "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. While I would say this forest is full of creatures of grimm, recently there has been a decline of Grimm in the area. While I am not sure why that is, I still suggest you all be careful as there could still be some lurking around."
In reality, both her and Ozpin know why exactly that was the case. The creature hiding inside Peter had somehow eradicated a majority of Grimm in the forest. While more Grimm would appear later on, it was still both impressive and concerning how the symbiote was able to accomplish this. Glynda then noticed Peter had continued walking past everyone, seemingly ignoring everything she just said. "Mr. Parker are you listening?"
"….Yes, one jar, red sap." Peter just repeated. He then continued to walk further into the forest.
Glynda sighs, she couldn't understand why he has acted so differently before. She actually grew quite concerned at his recent change in behavior, was this the creatures fault? Unfortunately, she has no way of knowing, and any attempt to do anything to the symbiote could end up making things worse. For now, it was better to supervise the students to make sure nothing happens while they are all there.
"Well, everyone stick by your teammates, and we will rendezvous back here at 4'o'clock, have fun." Glynda finished, letting the students roam the forest.
Jaune, carrying a crate full of jars, was about to go with his teammates, but was grabbed by Cardin, "Come on buddy let's go."
Jaune looks sadly at his team, Pyrrha looking back at him before turning away. He then looks at Peter, who was still walking deep within the forest. Jaune wished he could do something, but was dragged away by Cardin in a different part of the forest.
A little while later, Jaune places down multiple jars full of red sap down onto the ground, with Team CRDL just lazily lying down on the ground.
"Hey, great work Jauney boy, now that wasn't too hard, wasn't it?" Cardin says as Jaune falls to the ground in exhaustion.
"I think I'm allergic to this stuff." Jaune replied with a stuffed nose.
"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?" Cardin says.
"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today yes." Jaune confirmed.
"Well, come with me and you'll find out." Cardin told Jaune.
Jaune and team CRDL then go to a hilltop, looking for a certain individual around the area. Looking around, the see everyone collecting sap for themselves, with Nora occasionally eating the sap that Ren collects, forcing him to get more.
"Cardin, what's going on?" Jaune asked.
"Grr, where is he? Ah! There he is!" Cardin just says, smiling deviously. "Payback." Cardin says, pointing towards Peter, who was just standing still, his back turned away from everyone else.
"Pete?" Jaune asked, worried about what was going to happen next.
"There he is, stupid comedian who thinks he's better than me. Humiliated me in front of everyone and broke my ribs." Cardin says wincing in pain as his injury flares up again. His wounds should have healed by now but for some reason his aura hasn't done anything to help him.
"All right boys, last night old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box full of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put him to work." Cardin says, pulling out a box full of wasps.
"Now, according to one of the essays he wrote for me last week, this nasty things love sweets. I'm thinking, it's time we teach Parker a lesson." Cardin says, growing much more malicious.
Deep within Peter's mind, the symbiote senses this feeling of negativity. Using it's own spider-sense, more known as it's symbiote-sense, it noticed Cardin from afar, now aware of both his location and intent to harm.
"Now what is this scum planning to do now? Hmph, if he tries something there is guarantee that Parker may actually cause too much harm this time. Great, we have to be the responsible one here and make sure Parker doesn't screw up." The symbiote thought, then it turned it's attention to Jaune. "Hm, Parker expects you to be a great warrior, well let's see if you can prove it Arc."
Back with the others on the hilltop, "And you're gonna do it." Cardin says, shoving the jar full of red sap in Jaune's hands.
"Do what?" Jaune asked nervously.
"Hit him with the sap." Cardin demands. "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon."
Jaune looks at the jar in his hands, contemplating what to do next. Peter was his best friend, the only one who actually understood what he was going through. All Peter ever did was try to motivate him into being the best version of himself he could ever be. He then remembered what Peter told him the other day back before all of this ever happened.
" The only problem is that you are holding yourself back with this way of thinking. Now you have two choices, either you continue to deny yourself that you belong here, or you show everyone what you are capable of."
Jaune then looks at Cardin, who was waiting for him to throw the jar, slowly getting impatient the more Jaune hesitates.
Jaune takes a moment to breath and finally says, "No."
"What did you say?"
"I said, No!" Jaune yells, throwing the jar at Cardin instead.
Cardin takes a moment to look at the mess on his chest plate. He then looks at Jaune and says, "Oh, you've done it now."
"Ah crapbaskets." Jaune says as Russel and Dove grab Jaune.
Cardin then proceeded to beat the crap out of Jaune, furious at his defiance.
As he continued to beat him, Cardin then began to monologue, "You know that wasn't very smart Jauney boy. I'm going to make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces." Cardin says with murderous intent, something the symbiote noticed well.
"This is the so cold future Huntsmen the old man was training? Disgusting." Venom thought. While it didn't care much about being a hero, it found it repulsing that Ozpin would allow some one like this into his school. "Huh, here we are being hypocritical when we tried to do the same to Parker. Heh, we really are inheriting his morals."
Peter then began to sense danger from where he is standing. He quickly jumps to a tree to look from above to see what was going on. When he finally gets close enough, he spots Cardin beating Jaune to a pulp.
Peter was about to intervene, but was stopped by the symbiote, preventing him from moving.
"Hey! What are you doing! I have to help him!" Peter shouts internally.
"Don't, let Arc deal with his problems alone. If you truly believe he has potential then let him prove it. Besides you are in no state of mind to do anything, you may actually do something you will regret." Venom instructed.
"I-I…. damnit, your right. To be honest I think I'm this close to ripping his arms off. But I can't just look the other way, I can't." Peter replied.
"We promise to intervene if it appears he will die. We promise." Venom told him.
Peter just watches from the foliage, he wasn't sure if he should really just let this go on. But the symbiote was surprisingly right, this is Jaune's chance to stand up for himself. If he intervened then Jaune may never grow as a person.
As the hidden vigilante watched, Jaune began to laugh. Infuriated, Cardin asks, "What's so funny?! Why are you laughing?!"
"You really are pathetic. I see now, you're afraid of Peter because he is better then you. Heck I bet your afraid I'm better then you." Jaune taunted.
"Oh yeah? Then how about I break every bonded in your body then huh?" Cardin threatened.
"I don't care what you do to me, but you are not touching my friends." Jaune says with a stern face.
"What, you think talking like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?!" Cardin yelled.
"More of a man then you will ever be little birdy." Jaune quipped with a smirk on his face.
Angry that Jaune was starting to remind him of Peter, Cardin then lands one more punch on Jaune. But just as his fist lands, a bright light envelopes the area. Surprising both Peter and Cardin.
"Holy crapbaskets! Was that Jaune!" Peter asked in surprise.
"Well, we did say we sensed a hidden power in the boy. Guess he finally unlocked it." Venom replied.
In response, Cardin drops Jaune, who's wounds have suddenly healed, and rubs his arms in pain.
"Huh?" Jaune says, as he looks at his hands.
Before he could ask himself what just happened, Cardin kicks him to ground, ready to be at him once again.
"Let's see how much of a man you really are when I end your insignificant existence." Cardin threatened, his team standing by him.
But before he could do anything, they hear a roar from behind them. Turning around, and spot an Ursa Major covered in bony spikes on its back.
The large grimm then sniffs the air, and smells the scent of the red sap on Cardin's chest. It then roared once more, ready to attack the bully.
All of Cardin's team just run in fear, not even thinking about defending their leader. Cardin is then hit by the Ursa's paw, sending him to the ground. Still following the scent, it approached Cardin, ready to attack.
Cardin tries to defend himself his mace, but the Ursa just swiped it's paw at him, knocking his mace towards Jaune's feet.
Seeing Cardin in Danger, Jaune contemplates running, but instead he chose to fight the Ursa to save Cardin.
Jaune then rushes to Cardin's aid, using his shield to block the Ursa from striking Cardin. "Hey there, I would over you some honey but I'm out at the moment." Jaune quipped.
"…..God damnit it Parker."
"I may be responsible for that."
"Oh you think!"
At that moment, team RWBY and the rest of Team JNPR come to see what was going on. Seeing the large grimm, Weiss was about to step in but was stopped by Pyrrha, "Wait."
"Why is she stopping her? Aren't they going to help?" Peter asked.
"The same reason we stopped you, giving Arc a chance to prove himself." Venom replied.
Jaune then pushes the Ursa's paw away and slashes his sword on its stomach. In response, the Ursa swings at Jaune, but misses as Jaune rolls out of the way of the attack. Then swung again, forcing Jaune to jump up to avoid the attack. Unfortunately, the Grimm uses it's other arm to hit Jaune mid-air, sending him crashing next to Cardin.
Undeterred, Jaune gets back up and rushes at bear-like grimm, and lunges at it, attempting to swing his sword only to be smacked towards the ground.
Jaune slowly gets back up to check his aura meter is in the red. He then sees the Ursa charge straight for him, so he dashes forward ready to meet it head on.
As he is about to swing his sword, Pyrrha sees that he left himself wide open for the Ursa to attack. So she uses her semblance to slightly move Jaune's shield, blocking the Ursa's attack. Jaune then lands one final slash, decapitating the Ursa.
Noticing this action, Ruby just says "Uh, what?"
"How did you…."
"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs, Peter has his…… tendrils?" Pyrrha says, looking up to see Peter on a tree branch, smiling nervously as she doesn't know how to address it.
"I think she see's us."
"Looks like your back to normal. That's good." Venom slightly mocked.
Peter just chuckles, seeing Jaune finally stand up for himself seemed to have made Peter feel better. Although it is strange how quickly this behavior gone and went, something the symbiote was trying to figure out.
Continuing with her explanation, Pyrrha then says, "And my semblance is polarity."
"Oh, you can control poles." Ruby gasps.
"Wrong thing Rubes."
"No you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism." Weiss corrected.
"Magnets are cool too…"
"Wait, where are you going?" Weiss asked as Pyrrha turns around.
"Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby agreed.
"We could, or perhaps we could just keep it out little secret." Pyrrha responds, as she turns around, she sees Peter still up in the trees. He then just gives her a two finger salute in response, signaling that he agreed.
Jaune the approached Cardin and offers him his hand to help him back up. Cardin accepts the offer, and says, "Holy crap Jaune."
"Don't you ever mess with my team, my friends ever again. Got it?" Jaune tells him in a stern tone.
Cardin just looks at Jaune, looking defeated since Jaune no longer fears him anymore. Jaune leaves, leaving Cardin alone to think about everything that just happened.
"Think he learned his lesson?" Peter asked.
"Most likely, the boy has no power over anyone anymore. If not, then he is doomed to fail." Venom answered.
Peter just nods, agreeing with the symbiote. He was glad that Jaune finally stood up for himself and showed that arse what he was truly capable of. Now all that's left is for him to face his team. He was definitely in the dog house now for his aggressive behavior, hopefully he can make up to them and apologize.
/
It was late at night, Jaune was standing on the rooftop where he spoke with Pyrrha the other day.
"No Cardin tonight?" Jaune heard Pyrrha say as she approaches. "I thought you two were best buds."
"Pyrrha, I'm sorry. I was a jerk, you were only try to be nice and I….I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head. Peter tried to help me and I didn't listen and I ended up making him mad." Jaune replied.
"Jaune, it's ok. And I'm sure Peter isn't mad at you, if anything he was, or maybe still is, mad at Cardin, not you." Pyrrha says with a smile. "Your team really misses their leader you know. And Peter misses his best friend."
"Yeah, I want to thank him for helping me with his advice. To be honest it's thanks to him that I was able to stand up to Cardin. I owe him." Jaune replied.
"Yeah, we do. Anyways when your done, you should come down, Ren made pancakes." Pyrrha says as she leaves. "No syrup though, you can thank Nora for that, although there wass gonna be chocolate chip pancakes but the chocolate went missing."
/
"Heh heh heh heh, fools. It was Us! We stole all the chocolate!" Venom cheered as it consumed the chocolate and any other related items.
"What the heck are you babbling about?"
"Nothing you can prove!"
/
"Wait!" Jaune called out for Pyrrha to stop. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but would you still be willing to help me? To help me become a better fight!" Jaune asked.
Pyrrha stops for a moment and stands there, she then walks towards Jaune and pushes him to the ground.
"Hey!"
"Your stance is all wrong, you need to be wider and lower to the ground." Pyrrha says as she then offers Jaune her hand to help him back up. "Let's try that again."
"Thank you Pyrrha." Jaune thanked her.
"No problem Jaune, I'm always here for you no matter what." Pyrrha says with a smile.
Jaune smiles in response, then another thing Peter said to him came to mind.
"I'll give you a hint, she's always been there for you, no matter what has or will ever happen between you two."
Jaune thinks about those words for a moment, "Huh, that sort of sounds like he's talking about PyrrhaaaaaAAAAAAAA!" Jaune internally screamed. "Wait a minute, did Peter mean the girl that has a crush on me is Pyrrha! But we're just friends! There's no way she's into me like that right? Oh god, things just got more complicated, didn't they?"
/
Back with Peter, he had stopped in front of Team RWBY's dorm room. He was hesitating to go back in there after how aggressive he acted lately.
"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to go in there?" Venom asked.
"I am, it's just, I acted just like I did to my friends back home during the time Aunt May was in the hospital. To be honest, sometimes I think I would have acted like that regardless if you were bonded toe or not." Peter replied.
"Hmph, well if you apologize we are sure they will forgive you, the mini-you will definitely forgive you." Venom told it's host.
"Heh, yeah, Ruby is very forgiving and understanding. I kind of envy that, if only I still had a bit of that trait left in me." Peter responds.
"From what we could tell, you did. It was the environment that you grew in that made you who you are. Besides, if it makes you feel better, we believe we may have unintentionally made you more aggressive." Venom lied. "We guess that this ability of ours is something we have yet to control, we will try and do better to prevent the same mistake from last time."
"Huh, I don't know how to react to that. Thanks? But maybe I must have tapped into your ability by accident? I don't know, all I know is that I have some apologizing to do." Peter says, the symbiote just slightly grunting in response.
As Peter opens the door, he sees team RWBY all sitting in their beds, taking to themselves. All four of them notice him standing there, everyone being awkwardly silent.
"So….. Hi gals, I'm ba-"
"Peter! Your back and not scary anymore!" Ruby cheered, immediately giving him a tight hug.
"Your squishing me! Oxygen being deprived from lungs!" Peter tried to speak.
"Sorry!" Ruby says, letting go. "Its just we are all glad your back to your normal self."
"Yeah, for the record, you are one scary dude when your angry. That's my thing by the way." Yang quipped, slightly chuckling.
"Yeah, you can have that title back. After looking at myself, I did not like what I was becoming. No more angry Parker, I'm back to my quippy self." Peter joked.
"Ugh, maybe you can tone down the jokes at least. But other than that I'm glad you have come to your sense. Do you know how worried you made all of us! Next time don't just push us away you dolt!" Weiss scolds.
"I got it, I didn't know you actually cared snow princess." Peter replied.
"J-Just shut up!" Weiss says looking away, her face turning slightly red.
"Well, it's good to have you back Peter. I assume your behavior had something to do with Jaune?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, he was in a tight spot with Cardin, and I didn't know how to help him. He's my best friend, I should have been able to help him." Peter admits.
"Fortunately, Jaune showed Cardin who's boss so now you don't have to worry anymore!" Ruby told Peter. "Now you don't have to be upset anymore. But next time can you talk to us when you feel angry like that again? We can help you too, you know?"
"I will, don't worry Rubes. Now then, I'm going to sleep, I'm really tired right now and I may or may have not actually slept the last few days." Peter quipped.
"That better be a joke."
"You will never know ice queen."
Weiss just stares at him in frustration while the other laugh at the little quarrel these two were having. After a while, everyone had fallen asleep, everything going back to normal again.
But, deep within Peter's body, unbeknownst to both Peter and the symbiote as they slept, small pieces of the symbiote began to gather on their own. The pieces slowly come together, bit by bit, forming into something else entirely.
Something new was coming, but was it good or bad? Only time will tell.