I DO NOT OWN RWBY (that honor belongs to Rooster Teeth). I only own most of the OC's. Please support the official series

Shade could see it as plainly as anybody else. Jaune was getting his butt kicked. His aura was in the

yellow while Cardin's wasn't even touched. Jaune charged and Cardin knocked him to the side with his

mace, and got his aura knocked into the red. Cardin would have brought his mace down onto Jaune's

head had it not been for the intervention of professor Goodwitch. "At this point an official may call the

match. Mr. Arc you have been in this class for a while now, please refer to your scroll and use it to

determine if you need to change to a more defensive strategy."

Jaune and Cardin walked out of the arena as Goodwitch called the next fighters. "Yang Xiao Long and

Shade Lancaster, get your equipment and come down to the arena." At one end of the small arena Yang

stood in her boxing stance with her gauntlets ready. At the other, Shade stood in his heavy armor with

his tower shield forward and his greatsword ready to strike. Stein looked at Ruby "Hey Ruby, what's

Yang's semblance?"

"Promise you won't tell Shade?"

"Promise"

Ruby looked back at the fighters and answered "She can take hits and make her attacks stronger."

Stein looked up in thought "Interesting."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I know Shade's semblance. The same thing won't affect him twice, same can be said with

anything less effective. He has an adaptive defense. Meaning we may finally have an answer to the age

old conflict. Unstoppable force versus an immovable object."

"Are both of you ready?" Professor Goodwitch asked.

Yang shouted "Ready!" with a grin on her face and Shade nodded.

"BEGIN!"

Yang began unloading into Shade's shield as he slowly made his way towards her. As Yang threw a belt

of shotgun shells into the air Shade transformed the shield into a dragon skull with flaming eyes. The

moment yang finished reloading, a stream of fire released from the dragon's mouth. The brawler got out

of the way with minimal damage and charged Shade. The dragon skull clamped its mouth onto Yang's

arm as she threw a punch and was head-butted before being thrown. As Yang got up the skull returned

to its tower shield form and Shade braced for an attack. Yang once again charged and punched the

shield, forcing it and the knight behind it backwards. Shade swung his sword downward and his sword

was knocked to the side with a parry and punched Shade in the head, firing a shell for good measure.

Both meters where in the yellow. Shade shifted his shield to skull mode again before swinging his sword

at the brawler who ducked under the blade and attempted to punch him in the gut. Her punch didn't

seem to harm him at all. She was stunned long enough for shade to get an uppercut on the brawler to

launch her into the air. The skulls eyes had green wind looking wisps in and around the sockets. He

jumped and released a stream of wind that propelled him above Yang as he slammed his sword onto his

opponent. As she fell, the eyes began glowing red with fire around them and she was forced down faster

by the dragon's fire.

Yang got her bearings quickly enough to roll of the way from Shade's plunging attack. Yang's eyes

change to red instead of Shade's shield this time. She rushed him as he removed his sword from the

arena floor and she uppercut the knight. He was surprised that she surpassed his defense and she took

advantage by unleashing a barrage of attacks. Eventually Shade reactivated his semblance and her hits

no longer had such an effect on him. He swung his word and hit Yang's abdomen, and led up with an

uppercut, finishing off the brawler for the fight.

Professor Goodwitch called the match and stepped into the arena and said "The winner is Shade

Lancaster. Shade, you need to learn how far you up you can push in a battle, it won't always be

successful like it was this time. Yang, you relied on your anger and semblance a lot during this fight. Try

to calm yourself and be less predictable." The bell rang "Class Dismissed." Shade came out and met with

his teammates when Pyrrha walked up. "Shade, can I speak with you for a moment?" Shade nodded and

told his teammates they would meet at lunch.

… At lunch…

Shade and Pyrrha walked up to the group while Nora was talking about her dream and Ren corrected

her. It was kind of funny, yet also creepy. "Do I want to know?" Shade asked. Ren looked at him and

said "It's about this dream Nora's been having for a month now." They heard a yelp and Renge looked

over to see Cardin pulling a rabbit faunus's ears. Shade, Renge, and Lyle almost acted when Stein got in

their way. "Hold on, hold on gentlemen. You are all used to fighting to accomplish your goals, like here.

Time for me to show you the varyingly subtle art of intimidation." He gave Renge some lien and said

"Renge go buy the biggest hunk of meat you can eat and go to town on that thing. The rest of you,

watch and learn."

Renge went and bought the meat and sat down while Stein walked over to Cardins team. "Please stop"

The rabbit begged, but the bullies didn't relent. Stein tapped on Cardin's shoulder and the bully looked

at him. "Cardin isn't it?" Stein asked with a smile. Cardin smiled back and said "Yeah, what do you

want?"

"I know it that it's not my business, but I recommend that you stop."

"Why?"

Stein's smile grew bigger "You see, in terms of the food chain the rabbit is rather low once we reach the

animals. At about the top we have a wolf in its forest. Like him." He gestured to Renge who was

devouring his meal without any restraint. "That's why I'm here Cardin. Me and the wolf over there hate

racism and you are ticking us off." Stein slowly got closer to Cardin with a madman's smile. "If you

continue to pull these kind of acts, my friend will tear you apart like the predator he is and I will then

proceed to sew you back together piece by piece. We will then see how many volts it will take to keep

your decaying corpse going." He leaned Cardin to where he could whisper in his ear. "This is where you

let her go. ZAP!"

The bully and his thugs jumped and ran as Stein held in a laugh. Once they were gone, the scientist

laughed and said "That is how it is done. You okay?" He extended his hand to the rabbit faunus. She

nodded and took his hand. "Allow me to introduce myself, Frank N Stein. My friend over there is

Renge." She replied "My name is Velvet Scarletina. Thanks for your help."

"Anytime, I hate men like him. Well, I must be getting back to lunch, but by all means please tell me

when he bothers you again. "

"I will, should I thank him too?"

"Yes, but not yet. I don't trust him not to make a mistake with how he's eating that thing… what did they

give him?"

…That night…

Jaune, Shade, and Pyrrha arrived on the roof of the dorm. Jaune walked to the edge and said "Um…

guys? I know things aren't going too well, but I'm not that depressed."

"NO!" Pyrrha shouted and pulled Jaune away from the edge.

"That's not why I brought you up here. I know you haven't been doing too well in classes and that you're

not the strongest of fighters. So, we want to help you."

"What?" Jaune asked.

"We can train up here where nobody can bother us."

"You think I need help?"

"No. No, that's not what I meant."

"But that's what you just said."

"Jaune everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest

of us. You made it to Beacon! That says a lot about what you're capable of."

"You're wrong. I don't belong here."

Shade finally spoke up. "If you don't belong here then what are you still doing here. You made it this far,

why not push onwards."

"Because I faked it all." Jaune replied.

"Pardon?" The knight leaned in

"I didn't get any formal training, I didn't do anything impressive, I never went to combat school, I didn't

earn my spot at this academy. I lied. I got ahold of some fake transcripts and used them to get here."

Jaunes said.

"Why?" Pyrrha asked. "Why would you do that?"

"This academy represents everything I dreamed of. My family, all generations, were great warriors. I

wanted to do this so that I could accomplish that."

Pyrrha reached out to Jaune and Jaune moved it. "I don't want to be the damsel in distress… I wanna be

the hero. I'm tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in a tree, while his friends fight for their lives. Do you

understand?! If I can't do this on my own, what good am I? Just… leave me alone. Okay."

"As you wish." Pyrrha responded as she left.

Shade now approached the blonde. Jaune asked "You think I need help too?"

The black knight responded. "Not only did you do something as dishonorable as lying your way into this academy, but you have the gall to deny the help offered by a good friend in such a shameful manner. I needed help once , she needed help once, we all need it eventually. You may be upset, but that does not justify any of your words. Think of what I said. Maybe you'll benefit from it."

Shade left and met Pyrrha in the hallway. "I warned you this would happen Pyrrha." Shade said.

… After Goodwitch's Class Earlier…

"Shade, you seem to be good with your sword and shield." Pyrrha asked.

"I'm not perfect but I like to think I am proficient with my weapons."

"You saw Jaune's fight against Cardin. I think he needs help."

"And you want my assistance because?"

"Jaune uses a sword and shield like we do. His shield is like both of ours combined with less effectiveness. It has your shields stability and defense and my shields ability to deflect."

"Even if that is the case, this is not something you should take lightly."

"What do you mean?"

"Men have a sort of pride about them. Especially ones who feel they have to prove something to others

or themselves. Offering help could hurt his pride more than it already has been. It works better when

they come to you for help."

"I'm still going to offer. Maybe he'll know he needs it."

"I'll help, but you're going to be doing most of the talking. Just remember, this is something to be dealt

with delicately."

… Present …

"I'm going get some rest." Shade said stretching. "That fight took a lot out of me. Night Pyrrha."

"Good night Shade." Pyrrha replied. Shade walked off and she returned to her own dorm.

Over the next few days things seemed to change. Jaune spent more time with Cardin and hung out with

his team less and less. The forever falls trip soon came up and team SLFR went off to collect the sap.

Renge was curious about something and left after letting his team know he was heading out. The wolf

faunus creeped through the forest until he came to Cardin's team and Jaune.

"So Jaune, you may be asking yourself, why did my good buddy Cardin ask for seven jars of sap when

there's only five of us?" Cardin asked.

A tried Jaune replied "That is one of many questions I have asked myself today, yes."

"Well, look over there."

Jaune looked over to see Stein and Pyrrha talking. Cardin took the knights silence as a signal to continue.

"Now last night my good pal Jaune got ahold of a box of rapier wasps and according to a research paper

you wrote me last week, these little critters love sweets."

Jaune paled when two and two came together. "Oh no"

"Oh yes, and you're going to be the one to do it."

"Look I know you think Pyrrha is a wise guy, but I don't know why Stein is a target."

"That freak embarrassed me and scared my team."

Jaune raised the jar and Fenrir hoped that he wouldn't go through with it. The jar went from a throwing

position to simply being in a grip.

"No"

"What was that?" Cardin asked with an annoyed tone.

"I said NO!" Jaune threw one of the jars and hit cardin.

"Oh, you just made the terrible mistake. Hold him."

Cardin's team gabbed Jaune "I'm going to make sure they send your pieces home in a box."

Renge would have acted had it not been for an Ursa suddenly appearing. Cardin readied his mace and

Renge rushed to his team for backup. He arrived the same time as Cardin's thugs and everyone was

made aware of the situation.

All the teams split up. Yang, Blake, Ren, Nora, Lyle, and Stein all went to inform professor Goodwitch

while the rest ran to back up their friend. They arrived to find that Cardin lost his weapon. He would

have died if not for Jaunes interference with his shield. The huntsman-in-training managed to deflect the

attack and kept on even footing with the bear grimm.

Ruby prepared her scythe and said "We should help."

A greatsword blocked her and Shade responded with "Hold on just a minute."

The scythe wielder looked to find Jaune holding his own. The white knight swung his sword and the ursa

attempted to swing. If the attacks had connected both beings would not be alive. Instead Pyrrha

extended her hand and enveloped Jaune's shield in a black aura. The shield rose to defend its user

making Jaune the victor with a final decapitating blow.

Ruby looked at Pyrrha and asked "How did you do that?"

Pyrrha lowered her hand and responded" Well you have your speed, Weiss has her glyphs, I have

polarity."

"Woah, you can control poles."

Weiss chimed in "It means she can control gravity you dunce!"

Ruby looked awestruck "That's cool too."

"We should tell the teacher what happened."

"Or" Pyrrha began "we could keep it our little secret."

Shade sheathed his weapon and spoke up "I didn't see anything.

…That night…

Pyrrha and Shade were sparring on the roof of the dorm and Jaune walked over. "Look guys I have to

apologize. I was acting like a jerk and was diesrespectul. I'm sorry. I was wondering if you two would still

be willing to help me with fighting?"

Pyrrha and Shade looked at each other and the Spartan pushed Jaune off the ground. Shade spoke up

and said "Your stance is all wrong."

…Warehouse…

It wasn't common to wear just a vest, pants, and boots. It also wasn't common for a deer faunus to have

a broken antler and have a partially burned arm. Common was not a word used to describe Wen

Miskwa. The tan deer faunus drove into the warehouse in his old brown rv and stepped out. Not a few

minutes Roman Torchwick walked up to Wen and shouted "So, how did the dust work?"

Wen threw a half empty vial of red dust at Roman and responded "It went well, I just prefer my meals a

bit more… rare. I got something for you." The deer faunus pulled out a case and opened it to reveal vials

of dust.

"This is more than I asked for friend, what's the catch? You wanting a larger cut or something." Asked

the skeptical crook.

"Your time is valuable torchwick, the extra dust is payment for what I'm going to ask."

"And that is?"

"Join me on a drive. Hear what I have to say. Doing so may give you more profit in the long run."

"Let's ride Deery." Roman handed the dust to a grunt and climbed into the vehicle.

A/N: So I would like to start off with saying that I am sorry. I've been dealing with a lot of crap for the

past 8 months. 2 funerals, a wedding, car accident, surgery, writers block. The usual. I will try and be

more frequent though in terms of uploads for both stories. Fear not, for I have no intention of giving

up on team SLFR. So I tried to make this one longer than my other uploads and added a little bit of a

section for one of my villains. Mwahaha. One more chapter and we will get into volume two where I

expect things to pick up a bit. So, as usual please relax and review, don't forget to send me any

suggestions you have and I will see you all in the next chapter.