AN: I forgot to add that my girlfriend read over this and helped iron out the issues. Also, I just wanted to talk more in my author's note at the end. I'm doing it to practice how I present myself on the internet. I mean, there will always be people who will take what I say out of context or get the wrong idea. Hell, I definitely can see how Hinochi got the idea that I am celebrating another mass shooting.

I don't owe them anything, and they can say that I'm walking back or trying to cover my behind. Go ahead. However, this is something that is important to me. I don't want anyone to attack them because they don't deserve it, and they make a good point. Celebrating an assassination attempt isn't something that should be done. I also want to tackle heavy topics within my stories. It's mainly race because I think the Fanus stuff is interesting. So I think to myself, if I can't do that in my author notes. Then how should I do that in an overarching story? Anyway…

Hey we go baby.

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Beat Reader: My girlfriend

Chapter 14: The Duel

The students filled into Beacon's second-largest auditorium. Pyrrha and her team scanned the room, observing their peers. Students from all different years were attending, and they all seemed just as confused about what they were doing here. A message was sent to the school-issued scrolls that told all the students they had to attend this meeting. Yang had said something about not attending a 'boring normal ass meeting.'

The announcement from Glynda Goodwitch over the school intercom promptly changed her mind. It changed the mindset of students of similar disciplines. Once everyone settled in, Glynda Goodwitch took center stage with her co-workers dotted around the room. "The purpose of this gathering today is to address a problem that is plaguing our school. A pupil of Beacon Academy is being harassed by a select section of the student body."

Most of the younger students shifted in their seats. A second-year student rose from their seat and shouted down to his teacher. "He hasn't put in the work to be here. He has spent countless days just to be a little faster or stronger. Why does he get a pass when plenty of qualified hunters are in training that would give their right arm to be here?" A few students found momentum behind the brave souls who stood and voiced their opinions. Glynda snapped her weapon into her hand.

"At Beacon, we are short on teaching staff. Look around you; we're the only teachers within these halls." She gestured to the hall at large, and the students saw all their 5 teachers. The students of Beacon could number 144 strong. All they had was 5 teachers to show the way of a Huntsman. "The rest of the staff is custodial. Jaune's presence is to alleviate some of the pressure that falls on the teaching staff. His training is stalled compared to all of you. He has to learn how to perform administrative duties within the school. Do any of you wish to bring your training to a grinding crawl to file papers away so your fellow students can go on missions?"

Most students quailed into their seats, but Cardin and a few brave souls still stood. "However, there is one undeniable truth in our lives. Fighting is part of our lives. So, out of the first years, who wishes to test the strength of our least experienced combatant?"

Hands shot up; some from the second-years and even one third-year student wanted to test their mettle. "Cardin Winchester, dawn your armor." she selected. The ginger fist-pumped in the air as he rushed out for his weapons. When Cardin disappeared into the halls of Beacon for his quest, Glynda turned to the crowd. "The fight's outcome will require a video report on what the fighters can improve upon and why the winner was victorious. It will have to be 2 minutes long, and any shorter will be a failing grade." Cardin jogged back inside with his armor in place, as she had stated the rules.

Gray metal with gold trim covered his arms, shoulders, and chest. He even had metal boots that were slightly cut off before his knee. A giant golden Cardinal fanned its wings across the entire chest. His family crest was her guess. He swung his birdcage mace onto his shoulder and stood like he had already won. Jaune emerged from the changing room, which was connected to the fighting hall by the double doors.

With his armor, sword, and pistol in place, he almost looked like a Huntsman. While a hoodie still persisted, it slowly became the recognizable style of Jaune Arc. He rose to the fighting platform, and the lighting dimmed. It carried the fighters a foot into the air, and the overhead screens displayed photos of them with green bars beneath them. "Are both fighters ready?"

Cardin snorted and swung his mace back and forth, "Ready, teach."

Jaune unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards his opponent. One hand rested on the sheath. "I'm ready, Professor Goodwitch."

"Begin!"

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Jaune stood there with his stance wide. He took in Cardin for all he was worth, his tarnished armor and birdcage mace sitting in place. Cardin had the air that he belonged here, but Jaune didn't. The smug ginger didn't take him seriously as he sauntered his way forward. His sword pointed towards his opponent from behind his shield. He wasn't going to give ground if he had to. When Cardin was only a few steps away, he lifted his weapon off his shoulder and swung for the ground with the red gem glowing. Jaune stepped back in surprise.

At the last second, the mace changed direction and went for Jaune's shield. It almost seemed as if he deflected the attack for a second, but the red dust crystal exploded. It rocketed the young man into the mat and slid across it. Cardin rushed Jaune with his prideful spirit in tow. He raised his mace to make Jaune's new home the ground beneath them. With a simple roll and a scramble of his limbs, Jaune rose.

Cardin rushed again, but Jaune dodged the swing of the glorified club. His weapon explodes on contact. There has to be a limit. Jaune's thoughts brought his eyes to the Aura gauge, and he had a tenth of the bar gone. His opponent was sitting pretty at a full tank. Okay, maybe he improved his cloak to tank the blast. He swung overhead, and Jaune yelped out of the way as another explosion went off at his feet.

Jaune looked at the overhead screen again and saw that Cardin's bar was hovering higher than Jaune's. "Okay, so a semblance is out, and probably his cloak is too. It had to been made that it's far enough that-" A swing into his abdomen tossed him into the center of the ring as his thoughts were cut short.

"Maybe you should stop thinking and focus on not making such a disgrace of yourself." Jaune huffed and pushed himself to his feet. He saw the rage building within Cardin as he continued. "You don't fuckin belong here! These halls were made from the blood, sweat, and strength of men and women you will never reach."

"Mister Winchester, that is uncalled for!" Glynda called out to the student. "Another one of those you will reprimanded accordingly."

"It's just banter, Professor. Anything to get the leg up on your opponent." Under his breath, Cardin added, "Not like I need it." Jaune stared at Cardin; he stared hard and bore a hole into his armor. His Stance became a little more open until he finally relaxed. Cardin stopped his march towards Jaune with a hint of surprise. "What, giving up already?"

The young knight's brow creased, and he looked down on the ginger. "Maybe you're right." He told Cardin. "Maybe I won't ever reach the strength of a single person here!" He shouted to the room at large. From the stands, Jaune's team and friends looked at the boy with sympathy. They knew strength could be created and built upon. However, it can only be done with one's own drive.

"But I am here! Willing to risk my life just like the rest of you. I'm sick of this. I am signing years of my life. I can and could do anything else, but I chose the job with one of the lowest life expectancies. Why, you might ask?" His combat form fell into the same stance he had in the beginning. "Because I want to save lives. I want to help people and be a hero. Call me naive or whatever. But I will not be tossed by an overgrown ginger ogre!"

Cardin rushed forward with a torrent of fury. "You're dead, Arc!" He shouted and swung his mace wide, the gem shining furiously. Jaune weaved under the shining maul and stabbed forward into Cardin's midsection. His ginger Aura barked back. Cardin took a step back, but Jaune tackled him with the aim of taking him to the ground. Unfortunately, Cardin was still a massive ginger orge. His muscles backed him up and allowed him to resit Jaune's attempt.

Cardin reserved his grip and brought his weapon down on the blonde. The strike landed and shook Jaune to his core. Another, and Jaune's grip shook. As Cardin went for another smash on the poor apprentice's back, he dropped and rolled to the side. Cardin looked at the floor and saw his sword and shield left behind. "You idiot, you left your weapon behind."

"And you need to learn not to have one weapon." As Jaune got back onto his feet, the pistol was in hand. He was a bit rough in form but aimed for the center of mass and fired live rounds into Cardin. Cardin's feet pounded off the floor, and he kept his weapon close to his side. "Okay, time for a risk." Jaune started firing, and the shots either missed his target or pinged off the vambrace.

Cardin was only a foot away, and Jaune fired one last time. In the time frame of a second, Cardin's Arua shot down the metal shaft and into the gem. Within the next half-second, the projectile fired from Jaune's weapon flew into one of the metal arches that made Cardin's birdcage mace. It pinged off the fine craftsmanship and into the red gem. The protective casing around it cracked. Within the next half-second, flames burst into the world that latched onto their wielder.

Then, the flames engulfed its wielder, and panic set in within the young hunter-in-training. Cardin tossed the weapon to the ground and tried to pat the flames out on him. Thankfully, with Cardin putting out the small flame, Jaune landed a blow squarely in his face. Cardin staggered back and blinked away the hit.

Focused on the present, he saw Jaune getting into an amateur boxing stance. The ginger marched up with his fist raised and swung wide. Jaune ducked under it and scored hits in the chest. He couldn't produce enough power in his punch, so the attack didn't faze his opponent much.

Cardin swung his fist like a hammer, and his arm narrowly missed Jaune. Okay. Jaune thought to himself. He isn't a pushover but barely knows how to fight with his body. Jaune looked at his surroundings and saw that Cardin stood between his weapons. He had ammunition, but he doubted Cardin would allow him to get the chance to reload. Jaune was slowly getting closer to the edge and guessed that was his plan. He wasn't going to win in a contest of strength. But if he could get Cardin to overextend, the young Arc might have a chance.

"I'm going to crush you, Arc. This isn't pretend. Even in something like this." Cardin raised his fist as well and squared off with Jaune. They both stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Sneers plastered on their faces, and each with the want to make their smile a little imperfect. A half step backward from Jaune and Cardin's evolving sneer jump two stages in the tree of ugly. It became a teeth-bearing scowl aimed at the blonde knight. "That's it!" Cardin took a full step forward. Whether it was pride or contempt for his opponent, Cardin threw his everything into hitting Jaune.

Jaune sidestepped and stuck again at Cardin's side. He dodged another, and this time, Cardin was the one on the edge of the platform. The young apprentice had one shot at this and doubted it would work again. So he stepped forward as if he was going to throw a punch. Cardin went to block the incoming blow. They both knew Cardin would win in the Arua gauge department.

While the ginger hovered around eighty percent, the blond had about forty percent left. After another solid hit, Jaune would be finished. The best way to finish the fight is to use the environment. He fainted his haymaker and shot out his leg for Cardin's unprotected crotch. With understandable worry, the big ginger stepped backward, heels hanging off the edge.

Jaune snapped his leg back as quickly as he could and gave Cardin a shoulder check. He fell off the fighting arena, and a buzzer rang out. Cardin's head shot up as he looked around like a crazed dog. "Wa, wait," Cardin said meekly.

"Winner, Jaune Arc," Glynda announced to the room. The students sat in dazed confusion as they processed the latest sequence of events. Cardin Winchester lost by being pushed off the fighting arena. A fashionable brunette cheered and whooped at the young man's win. She started a fervent clap, joined in by Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Ruby, and Yang. Slowly, the whole crowd made it a tsunami of cheers.

Jaune, caked in sweat, looked around at the cheering crowd, his eyes the size of dinner plates at the reaction. He had won a fight against someone. He had taken the win from his opponent through his strength and ideas. Tears welled in his eyes, and Jaune shot his fist up as they continued to cheer. "Wait!" Cardin shouted over the cheers. They died down as the room's occupants turned to the embrassbed ginger. "He, he cheated! My aura is still pretty high." He pointed to the aura gauge screen for all to see. Sure enough, Cardin barely reached the yellow range, which was 60%.

"The rules of every basic sparing match are always the same, Mister Winchester. The match ends when a person forfeits, when either or both combatants reach the red, the timer runs out, or when they leave the ring." She walked over to Cardin, who finally clambered onto the stage. "So, you have lost. Fair and square. In every sense of the word, you have died. Your opponent has tossed you off the cliff, and you have succumbed to gravity. Thus, you have lost this bout."

She raised her voice so that the entire room could hear her. "Learn from your mistake, or you will fail outside these halls. Your mistake will affect you and the people around you." She looked around at the students, letting her gaze linger on the first —and second-year students. "Your future missions rely on you learning from your mistakes. Your skills, strength, and mind will aid you against opponents that are well more experienced than you, like you saw here today."

She turned to Cardin. "I don't need to explain what you did wrong. Or do you need my criticism?"

Cardin stood at attention next to Jaune, and through bared teeth, he responded."No, ma'am."

Her gaze passively went over Cardin. "Very well, Mister Winchester, and what of you, Mister Arc?"

"I do wish to hear what I could've done better," Jaune said through excitement and sweat.

As Jaune nodded along with the litany of improvements, Cardin stared at him from the corner of his eye. Each head nod made him flinch minutely. His muscle didn't sting from the piss poor workout that was this spar. His mind wasn't tired from anything challenging. It was his pride. It was his pride that stung. His pride was tired.

He couldn't just stand the thought that Jaune Arc, of all people, had beaten him. Someone who only joined his world, their world, for a couple of months. He beat him, and it was something he had to live with because the entire school wouldn't forget. He wasn't supposed to be able to defeat him, the faker.

He was clinging to his civilian life while wearing the colors of a Huntsman. Jaune Arc was playing as two people, and it baffled him. How did no one else see this?

"Mister Winchester!" Glynda half shouted.

"Oh, uh, yes, ma'am?"

"Get back to your seat," she said, her hand pointing to the fact that he should leave the stage. He saw that Jaune had already left, and he hurriedly made his way back to the stands. The whispers and the looks soured his bad mood further. His teammates tried to say something, but they were ignored. "Now, there is an announcement that has to be made to the student body. An email will be sent to you all about the change in the student handbook, but I will inform you all so there is no excuse for anyone's ignorance." The rest of the teaching staff left their post around the room and joined Glynda on the stage. They stood next to each other with passive faces. The older students were stunned at the display their teachers were putting on. They rarely saw all of them in the same together that didn't include their meetings. They were always running around doing whatever they needed to keep the school running.

While it was a common joke that Glynda ran the school, and yes, they would admit that she did the most work of all the teachers. Anyone could see that because she had the added work of being Vice-Headmistress. They barely stayed stood still, and rarely more than 3 of them were in a group."It has come to our attention that we have failed you all. But especially, we have failed all the victims of bullying and the fanus population in the school." Glynda was the first to bow her head from her waist. It was low, and then Oobleck followed suit. Peter and Peach were next to bow, but their jaws dropped from the doors that swung wide open. Ozpin, sweating in his suit and leaning on his cane.

"Am I late?" He looked at the teachers, and the worry on his sweat-covered face dissolved into something they couldn't place. "Ah, good. I was worried I wouldn't make it." He slowly made his way to the stage with exhaustion lighting each step. The doors to the dressing room opened, and Jaune's head looked around like a child entering his parent's room. His eyebrows rose, and he rushed over to help Ozpin. "Thank you, Jaune."

"Please, stand over there, Jaune." Ozpin motioned to in front of the bowing teachers. He looked between the spot and Ozpin. The Headmaster only insisted further, and Jaune stood with the students. "I'm sure Glynda has already said it, but we apologize for our failure as teachers on behalf of all the teaching staff. We allowed bullying and untold harm to befell those that were affected." Ozpin bowed the best he could with a cane, and Jaune joined the rest of the stunned students.

Ozpin rose first and began. " In response, our bullying policy has been revised. You will be notified when it is fully revised, but we won't tolerate it any longer. Especially the targeted bullying of the fanus population on school grounds. While White Fang activity has increased, it does not mean you aim to hurt your fellow students. Any bullying found in general will be met with appropriate punishment. We are raising you all to be Huntsmen. To be defenders of all life, regardless of one's genetic makeup."

"We will not continue the failings of the past. We shall improve upon them and mold them into something better. You are all dismissed." Ozpin looked at Jaune and smiled at the victorious young man. "Go celebrate, Jaune. After all, you just won a spare for the first time." Jaune's shocked form was tackled by Nora.

"TIME FOR ANOTHER MOVIE MARATHON!" Nora shouted.

"That does seem warranted. What do you say, Ren?" Pyrrha looked at their solemn teammate.

"Well, I doubt I could get my precious sleep with Nora's shouting. So I might as well join in the fun."

"Hey, can we join you guys?" Ruby and her team joined the ball of rising excitement.

They looked to Jaune, and he shrugged, "Why not."

"We should definitely watch the Die Tough Movies," Yang said as she swung an arm around Juane. "Nice movie at the end there, Lady Killer. Did Nora teach you that one?"

"Actually, got the idea from Peter." The group of teens looked to the door the teachers went through and then back to the winner of the match. He laughed gingerly. "Yeah, one of the first lessons he taught me was that enemies are always stronger than me. There are Grimms who are older than anyone alive. So he teaches me to always go after the weak point."

"There's a meaning to his lesson," they all said in unison with general shock. Jaune slipped from Yang's grasp and ran for the doors.

"The last one to Team Prawn Jam's dorm has to get popcorn for everyone!" He shouted back, and after a second, the other seven ran forward with laughter.

AN: Oh boy, crazy things happened last you guys saw me. Trump almost gets assassinated. So many things had to happen for him to get shot in the first place, and the guy missed. If he was just a little bit closer. We could've had another president dead. I just felt like the most impossible things had to happen for him to get on the roof. Then someone dies! I abhor gun violence. Day after day, people die, and no one with real power doesn't do anything. Whether you hate or love the guy, and I hate the guy. He shouldn't be assassinated. It was a major failure of the Secret Service that the guy got close enough.

Ugh, just living through historical event after historical event. Kinda tired of it you know? Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed that fight. My dog died and I just didn't work on this. Sorry eveyone. See you next time.

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Next Chapter: August 17th