Chapter 20

Opening Moves

Jaune set his lunch tray onto the large table between Pyrrha and Nora's typical seat, unceremoniously plopping his butt into his own as the rest of the two sister teams took their places. Everyone was mentally drained from the first morning's classes, though to varying degrees. Weiss was wearing a haughty smile, the group having just left her favorite professor's classroom, while even Nora and Ruby looked half-dead.

"I want Professor Port back," Yang moaned, stabbing at her grilled chicken with a fork.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I agree, Yang," Jaune echoed, flipping his school uniform tie over his shoulder before breaking soda crackers into his soup.

"I don't see what the problem is," Weiss replied, spearing a piece of steamed broccoli on her fork. "Professor Peach is thorough and precise in her instruction. While I mourn Port, you can't argue that this isn't an improvement."

"Yeah, well at least you could fall asleep in Port's class. Peach's voice ish like nailsh on a chalkboard!" Nora countered, gnawing on a chicken leg.

"That's not her fault, Nora," Pyrrha reminded her, her lips latching onto the straw connected to her high protein pineapple smoothie.

"Yeah, well it's still a downgrade," Ruby grumbled, gnawing on a cookie.

"At least I know someone else did their summer reading," Weiss needled her partner while glancing at Jaune.

"Hey, I only knew that about Cacklers because I've actually fought them. It was pure luck. I really need to catch up on that."

"We can stop by the library after class, Jaune," Pyrrha said warmly.

"Yeah, I guess. Hopefully they'll have a copy...available?" he trailed off, his Scroll going off at the same time as Ruby's. "Huh. From...combat arts prof at Beacon dot ACA. Says...all teams scheduled for sparring class at two need to show up in full gear. Guess that's us. You too, right Ruby?"

"Looks like it," she replied with a shrug. "Goodwitch probably wants to inspect our combat gear before the new year starts."

"I hope she doesn't want everything spit and polished, I still haven't repainted my shield," Jaune said, popping a chicken nugget into his mouth before tossing one into Ruby's open mouth from across the table.

"I bet that's not all he wants to feed you," Yang teased, getting a grape bounced off her head from her little sister. "Worth it," she said with a shrug.

"We are not doing this again!" Weiss shrieked in protest. "It took me three hours to get that junk out of my hair!"

"Yeah, come on, guys," Jaune chided the sisters.

"You just don't wanna lose again," Ruby countered, sticking her tongue out like the mature nearly-sixteen-year-old she was.

"Keep telling yourself that, Ruby," Nora replied, holding up a high five for Jaune to complete.

"There you are, Blondie!" came an energetic, unfamiliar voice before a weight crashed down on Jaune from behind. Two slender arms squeezed down on him in an enthusiastic hug, even as the rest of the table jumped at the sudden intrusion. Jaune turned his head to identify his new friend, coming eye to eye with a grinning Neon Katt. His nose was poking into the heart tattooed below her left eye before she leaned back a bit, keeping her arms draped around his neck..

"Oh hey, Neon. Almost didn't recognize you Sunday," Jaune said, cutting his eyes up to see her hair, the short ginger coif done up in tastefully-gelled spikes most would term 'engineered messy'.

"Yeahhhh, only got to grow my hair back a couple months ago. Drug allergies are a total drag," she said, rolling her eyes for emphasis.

"But you're good to go now, right? Coco said something about your legs yesterday."

"Yeah, I'd forgotten to reinstall some of the gaskets, got some mud in there. Got 'em all cleaned out now, can't wait for combat class!" she added, clicking her heels together with a metallic clang, her tail flicking excitedly behind her.

"That's good to hear," Jaune replied with a smile. "Umm, not to be rude, but what's this for?" he asked, nodding to the embrace, looking past it briefly to see Pyrrha's eye twitching a bit, matching the wooden smile on her face.

"Well, I…" she began before a familiar, but unwelcome, voice rang out from behind them.

"Hey now, little kitten, I wouldn't touch that. You don't know where it's been," Cardin Winchester mocked, a smirk plastered smugly on his face. "You don't want to catch terminal dorkinoma."

"What the hell do you want, you…" Yang began angrily.

"Schmoopsie-poo!" Neon squeaked in delight, hopping up and wrapping her arms around Cardin's neck, along with her legs around his hips. She immediately planted a very affectionate, passionate kiss on his lips, her content humming the only sound in the vicinity of the JNPR/RWBY table. To his credit, Cardin maintained his balance, and his grip on two lunch trays with his prosthetic left hand, his right palming Neon's backside with blatant familiarity. She transitioned from a hum to a purring moan quickly enough, her tail lashing excitedly before breaking the kiss with a salacious grin.

"Later, stud," she said quietly, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes as she dropped back to her feet. "And to answer your question, I just wanted to thank you for being Jauney-on-the-spot last year. You were literally a life saver."

"Well, you're welcome, I guess. I'm just glad I was able to do what I could," Jaune said with a shrug.

"Yeah, same here, man. You're all right for a total dork," Cardin added helpfully.

"Thanks?" Jaune asked, only slightly confused rather than dumbstruck like the rest of the table.

"Hey, kitten, I'm gonna find us a table. Don't take too long, okay?" Cardin said in probably the warmest tone any of them had ever heard from the boy.

"You bet, sugardoll," She replied as he strode off to the other side of the dining hall. "So yeah, Jauney, you're my hero!" she said exuberantly, capping it off with a cheerful smooch of Jaune's cheek. Stepping back between and behind Jaune and Nora, Neon regarded the slight blush on his cheeks with a sense of accomplishment before she took in the stunned mood of the rest of the table. "What?" she asked, cocking her head quizzically.

"You're...dating him," Yang said, pointing first to her and then the distant Cardin.

"Yeahhhhh?" she replied, still not seeing the disconnect.

"The biggest racist bully in Beacon?" Weiss clarified, Ruby's mouth still trying to form words.

"Reformed," Neon shot back coolly, a slight edge in her voice now to match the slight narrowing of her eyes.

"Are you sure about that?" Blake asked, an eyebrow raised skeptically.

"Yup!" she said, her smile returning.

"And if he slips up? Backslides? What happens if...when he yanks on your tail for fun?" Blake continued, not willing to let a fellow Faunus suffer if she could help it.

Neon chuckled softly, a mischievous grin blooming on her lips. "Ohhh, Blake. BlakeBlakeBlakeBlakeBlake. Can I call you Blake?" she asked as an afterthought, getting an owlish blink in response before Neon leaned across the table to whisper in her cat ear. "When he yanks on my tail, then I just scream 'harder, Daddy'. Rrrreally gets him going." she finished with a sultry purr.

The fact that Blake was now the palest face at the table wasn't lost on anyone as Neon twirled in place briefly. "Toodles, guys!" she chirped before trotting off to find her boyfriend, her glossy white prosthetics thudding softly on the polished wood floors.

"Blake?" Ruby asked hesitantly.

"I did not need to know that," she whispered, her face fixed in a thousand yard stare.

"Well, that was a thing," Yang stated the obvious.

"For once I agree with you," Weiss added.

"Perhaps she'll keep him occupied enough to not be a problem?" Pyrrha said hopefully, getting noncommittal shrugs from most of the table.

"Was she not wearing panties?" Nora asked.

"I wasn't looking," Jaune and Ren said simultaneously, finding their food infinitely fascinating all of a sudden.

The Beacon combat arena was a familiar sight to nearly everyone present, being that this was a second-year class, but there was still a soft buzz of excitement in the air. Their first full day of school was coming to a close, with but one class left to complete.

Jaune strode through the door confidently, though he did have to pivot his torso slightly to avoid bumping into another student obliviously conversing with a newly-remet friend with his new armor, and cast his gaze about. The rest of his team was already here, with an open spot next to his partner, his own battle gear taking the longest to change into of the four members of JNPR. He offered casual waves to a few of the other students who gave him token greetings before returning to their conversations, making his way down to his spot. Taking his seat, he dropped his gauntlets on the desk in front of him and adjusted Crocea Corax to be as comfortable as possible in that position before turning to Pyrrha beside him.

"Hey, Pyrrha," he said, his voice bright and sunny, offering his right forearm up, a gesture she accepted eagerly, pressing the inside of her wrist to his, their matching tattoos superimposed for a long moment before she pulled back with a smile.

"Hello, Jaune!" she replied warmly, a greeting like she hadn't seen him a mere ten minutes ago.

"Aww, you guys are ridiculously sweet together," they heard from over their shoulder. "When's the wedding?" Yang asked them, getting Pyrrha blushing hard enough to rival her tresses.

"I know your heart's set on it, but you're going to have to fight Ren for the Best Man spot," Jaune retorted quickly enough to snap Yang's head back. "Ruby does say you're her favorite brother, after all."

Her facial reaction never registered with Jaune, as he was instead paffed in the face with a long, undulating cat tail, covered in alternating stripes of light blue and brilliant purple fur, a pair of small, colorful bangles worn near the end. "Sorry," he heard before he turned to his right and saw the brightly-dressed Faunus it was attached to, thankful he was tall enough that even while seated, her scandalously short magenta skirt was still below eye level for him. Her short hair was striped identically, blue and purple running front to back over her scalp, her halter top matching the skirt. A pair of nunchaku dangled from a small hook on her beltline, the deceptively lethal weapon swaying slightly with her movements.

"Oh, hey, Neon." Jaune greeted her pleasantly. "Wait, are we in the wrong class? We're only second years," he asked, slightly worried now.

"Naw, man, we've got remedial training because we're a reconstituted team," her partner said as he took the seat to Jaune's immediate right as Neon was waving excitedly across the seating area to another student. "Team tactics are a big part of second year combat training," he added in his smooth voice, offering Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina a fist bump in their seats behind him, Team CFVN already settling into a warm camaraderie it seemed.

"Hey, Flynt. Nice tie," he said with a smirk.

"I know, right?" Neon Katt said, her hair and fur matching the lone spot of color in Flynt Coal's stylish ensemble.

"Hey, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked innocently.

"I'm not dying my hair, Jaune," she immediately replied, a playful smirk on her lips.

"Neither are you, Nora," Ren added preemptively.

"Ehh, green wouldn't go with my eyes. Buuuuut…"

"And neither am I," he said, concluding his partner's train of thought.

"Don't need to. You've already got the pink and black thing going on," Nora reminded him. "One more reason we were meant to be together-together!"

"I…" Ren began.

"She's got a point, Ren," Jaune thoughtfully interjected.

"As I was saying, Nora, before I was interrupted, I don't need any more reasons."

"Oh?" Nora queried.

"I don't need any reasons beyond the fact that you're the most wonderful person in my life, Nora," he stated simply, the slightest hint of a smile curling his lips. That Nora went as pink as her combat skirt at her boyfriend's understated praise wasn't missed by anyone paying attention to the exchange, most of the team behind them gasping in delight.

"Pay up, Yang," Weiss huffed with a weapons-grade smile, her delicate hand extended through Blake's sightline to her ever present book, earning her an annoyedly raised eyebrow, Blake's ears twitching slightly in irritation.

"Ugh, fine," Yang groused, fishing in her cleavage for a slightly damp fifty lien card and handing it over to Weiss who gingerly pinched it between thumb and forefinger before it was dropped onto her desk with a barely suppressed gag and a disgusted sneer on her face.

"Did I miss something?" Jaune queried.

"Yeah, I bet Weiss that a certain couple would get together before those two," Yang admitted sheepishly. "I'm not gonna say who, so don't ask," she added with a mischievous glint in her lilac eyes.

"And I knew that one half of that couple was a dunce who couldn't take a hint if their life depended on it," Weiss pronounced imperiously.

"Don't you think that's a little mean, Weiss?" Pyrrha asked, a dark edge to her voice.

Weiss immediately balked at the subtext there, her smile vanishing like smoke on the wind. "I still won," she muttered through her pout.

"And you can use that to buy Team RWBY cookies and ice cream to celebrate our first day of school!" Ruby excitedly piped up next to her.

"No."

"Awwww."

Before anyone else could continue the conversation, a metallic hammering sound rang out across the arena at two p.m. sharp. The class turned as one to the lectern, the figure there knocking firmly twice more on its surface with only a white-gloved hand, yet the sound was akin to a battering ram hammering at the gates of Vale itself.

"Aww, hell no," Flynt muttered in disbelieving dread next to Jaune.

Those words could only fill anyone who heard them with apprehension, as the person at Glynda Goodwitch's podium was decidedly not Glynda Goodwitch. Instead stood a man, nearly seven feet tall and ramrod straight, garbed in an impeccable Atlesian Army dress uniform. Greys and whites were crowned by a black beret perched on his head bearing a small unit insignia on the leading edge. A myriad of scars were a topographical map of pain and battle, including the shorn scalp visible around the beret. Several pips of bright steel were visible against his weathered skin above the eyebrows, his face tanned from long hours outdoors. Crow's feet bled into the deep amber of his left eye, his right replaced with a military-grade prosthetic, the irised lens glowing with a pale blue light. The soldier's broad shoulders paired well with his height, and the aura of cool, confident power he gave off was both intimidating and inspiring. His voice, a low, booming baritone honed through years of military life, did nothing but enhance this image, even with the slightly synthetic twinge the PA system provided.

"Good afternoon, class. My name is Colonel…" he hesitated briefly, correcting himself after a moment. "Apologies, old habits. Professor Obsidian Shaw. As some of you may already know, and the rest have no doubt deduced, I am not Professor Goodwitch," he deadpanned, getting a small chorus of chuckles from the class. "Professor Goodwitch will not be teaching at Beacon Academy for the foreseeable future, as she is currently serving as interim Headmistress of Haven Academy following the untimely death of Headmaster Lionheart. As a personal favor to Headmaster Ozpin, General Ironwood has seen fit to assign me to the Beacon staff until replacements can be found. As such, I will be serving as the interim Professor of Combat Arts until the new faculty are in place," he concluded.

"Now, I know most of you will be accustomed to Professor Goodwitch's methods of instruction, and thus I will be forgiving, for a short while, of the ground rules I will be giving you, and hopefully we can transition… MISS SCHNEE!" his voice suddenly blasted across the classroom, the girl in question flinching back from where she had been whispering in Ruby's ear as if she'd been slapped.

"Sir?" she spoke up nervously, eyes wide in fear.

"Do you have something you wish to share with the rest of the class?" he asked with the precise amount of scorn that conveyed that he already knew the answer.

"No, sir," Weiss replied, cowed.

"A question, perhaps?"

"No, sir," She repeated, just audible enough to be heard, her head bowed low.

"Then kindly do yourself and your classmates a favor and do not deprive anyone of instruction by trying to talk over what I have to tell you," Shaw chided.

"Yes, sir," Weiss said with a little more backbone, her classroom habits from her time learning under her sister Winter returning to her with ease.

"As I was saying, there are a few standard procedures I will be implementing for the coming semester. First, for the few of you who either didn't check, or ignored their Scrollmail," He began, addressing the handful of students still in their Beacon uniforms, "you will show up to class combat ready every day. I've already checked the schedules of every student in here, and none of you have a class ending later than noon, leaving more than sufficient time for everyone to be in full battle gear when you walk through that door. You're going to be wearing your kit for weeks at a time in the field, so you'd best get used to it. I also refuse to waste time sending you out of class to get ready, and miss out on training time in the process. And yes, I could formulate a schedule beforehand, but I like to adapt and change my student matches on the fly to address any lessons that need reinforcement," he concluded, several raised hands lowering as he made each point.

"Secondly, as we do not have a Vytal Festival tournament this year, we will be altering the base rules for all spars. There will be no ring out, as such a thing doesn't exist in the real world, especially not when fighting the creatures of Grimm. Unless otherwise specified, there are no restrictions on weapons, Dust or other equipment. Defeat will, unless otherwise specified, be at ten percent of base Aura levels. If I feel that a student would be injured beyond Aura break through continued combat before reaching that threshold, I will sound the buzzer and call the match. If you feel that those conditions exist, you may also call 'endex' to end the match, regardless of which side you're on. If you do so, be prepared to defend your decision to me. I have a keen eye, but there may be things about you or your opponent not immediately visible, so I am more than willing to listen. If you continue to fight past the buzzer, there will be...consequences," Professor Shaw added ominously.

"All matches will be recorded with the new media suite I've had installed in the arena. Twenty-seven cameras capturing every angle possible, including five overheads and four drone cams. These recordings will be available for study, as well as being part of your classwork. Each of you will be critiquing designated matches, answering questions given by me in regards to errant strikes, points of improvement, and missed opportunities," he clarified, Velvet's ears perked excitedly behind Neon at the sheer amount of visual information she'd be able to feed into Anesidora and her own photographic memory.

"All matches will be graded according to student performance, weighted for competency. Thusly, you will not necessarily be fighting against your current level of ability in every match. Maximum grade for victory will be a full hundred, while the best the losing side can attain is a ninety."

"Finally, there is but one principle that prevails in this classroom. Honesty," he said, pausing for effect. "You will give an honest effort in everything you do, whether it is your classwork, homework, special projects, or down on the arena floor. You will be honest with each other in feedback when it is asked for. You will be honest with yourself, and accept criticism as a tool for self-improvement. We check our egos at the door, ladies and gentlemen. You will ask honest questions. If you do not understand a concept, you will ask for clarification. There is no such thing as a stupid question. There is merely knowledge and the lack thereof, only one of which can get you killed. Now, do I have any questions?" he asked, yielding the floor to the largely stunned class.

"I will admit that this is a lot to take in, but you'll live. I'll see to it. Isn't that right, Mr. Coal?" Shaw asked with a mischievous grin.

"Yes, sir." he replied with a bit of swagger, offering a two fingered salute from the brim of his hat and a knowing smirk on his lips.

"Now then, we'll start off the school year with inventory matches. I've watched all available recordings of each of your spars last year, as well as tournament fights for those of you who had them, and have paired you up accordingly. You'll all have matches running through the end of this week, at which point I will determine the initial class rankings, which will be updated biweekly. If you disagree with your ranking, or indeed have any question or concern you do not wish to bring up in front of your peers, my office door is always open. I will be there from zero seven to eighteen hundred hours, outside of classroom hours of course," he added, several students scribbling that into their notebooks or typing it into their scroll.

"All right, on to the fun part of class. First match of the day. Mister Arc," he said, reading from the large scroll panel built into the lectern.

"Must be working up from the bottom," Jaune grumbled in resignation.

Jaune slipped on his gauntlets, moving to rise before he froze halfway out of his seat.

"Versus Miss Rose," Shaw announced, dropping the low murmur of the class to dead silence. Jaune chanced a glance over his left shoulder, seeing that Ruby looked exactly like he felt, while Weiss had the barest smirk of amusement at the matchup. Closer in, he could see Pyrrha was intrigued more than anything, but did not seem to be regarding him like a mother hen for once. Swinging his gaze back to the lectern, he saw Shaw with his head cocked slightly, impatient at the delay.

"Umm, sir?" Jaune began hesitantly.

"You're questioning the matchup," Shaw stated more than asked.

"Kind of...maybe?" he answered uncertainly.

"Then I'll break it down potato level for you."

"Sir?"

"So simple that even a potato could understand," the Professor clarified, garnering a short burst of laughter from the rest of the class.

"Ah."

"You're both team leaders, thus central to the success of your respective teams, correct?"

"I guess so," Jaune conceded.

"Both RWBY and JNPR have excellent academic and combat records."

"With you so far."

"And you were the two highest placed Beacon teams in the last Vytal Festival tournament."

"Oh," Jaune said, at last understanding. He'd have to forgive Pyrrha for inadvertently setting him up like this, but then he remembered she was responsible for a lot of his training, and Jaune resolved to try regardless. Thusly, he stepped into the aisle and made his way to the arena floor, Ruby following close on his heels. Once they cleared the gap in the physical wall, a hardlight Dust barrier flickered up behind them, reaching vertically for twenty feet before it curved inward to form a protective dome over the arena floor.

"Ready to get your butt whipped, Vomit Boy?" Ruby called out cheerfully from her starting position, having bolted there in a shower of rose petals.

"Bring it, Crater Face," Jaune answered back with a smile from his own mark, twenty yards away.

(Page break)

"Well, at least he shouldn't feel too bad about this one," Yang said mirthfully as soon as the pair was out of earshot.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pyrrha asked darkly, looking over her shoulder with an eyebrow cocked.

"I mean, you know, when Ruby beats him like a drum. Let's be honest here…" she replied, wary of Pyrrha's dangerous tone.

"Yes. Let's," she concurred, a predatory grin showing just how much she intended to punish Yang during their next spar.

"Yang?" Blake chimed in, trying to calm her partner down before they had the second fight of the school year right there in the stands.

"What?!" she barked back in irritation. "You seriously think the Knight of Dorkshire there can take my little sister?" she spluttered, wasting the premiere of a new nickname in her anger.

"Well…you don't have to be so mean about it," she demurred, trying to stay neutral, but managing to irk both sides of the argument instead.

"Fine. P-money, put your lien where your mouth is," Yang replied irritably. "A ten spot says Vomit Boy's on his back in under sixty seconds," she clarified, extending her hand. Pyrrha eagerly accepted it, shaking it firmly before another voice cut in, one they weren't expecting in the slightest.

"Fifty," Weiss Schnee stated confidently.

"And I thought I was the one who doubted him," Yang fired back with a little swagger in her voice now that she wasn't the sole focus of Pyrrha's ire.

"Lien," she clarified.

This brought the conversation to a standstill for several moments, Yang's mouth agape in astonishment. "I thought you were all 'betting on fights is so barbaric'?" she quoted, twinging her voice up an octave to mock her oftimes cantankerous teammate. "So what gives? You don't believe in your partner?" she added, as loaded a question as any.

"It's simple, you hooligan. If you lose, it's another fifty lien out of your bar fund, thus leaving you less excuse to stay away from your studies. You win? You get this note back, and I don't have to spend Gods know how long decontaminating a class three biohazard. I win either way," Weiss concluded with a smug grin.

"Deal! Easy money," Yang replied, her grin growing wider.

"Quiet, you guys, they're about to start," Blake cut in, before her amber eyes flicked wide as she saw the far too familiar stance Jaune had adopted. She knew he'd trained over the summer, but that… There's no way… she thought, bewildered and a little frightened of just who she'd been reminded of.

(Page break)

"Fighters ready?" Shaw asked over the lone speaker still inside the protective field.

"Locked aaaaand loaded!" Ruby shouted enthusiastically, spinning Crescent Rose into its fully extended scythe form, her chosen rifle magazine already loaded into place. She dropped the head of her scythe low and behind her, angling the spiked pommel upwards before she racked the charging handle to chamber a round.

Jaune took a moment to contemplate what her options were to begin combat, and remembered just how quickly she could move to close or open range. Knowing her tactics and paying attention to everyone's spars last year had given him some insight, but he needed to know what she was committed to before he reacted. Thus, he simply reached down with his left hand, grasping the sheath of Crocea Corax at the mouth and tilting it nearly horizontal as his gauntleted right closed firmly on the hilt. His left foot stepped forward, and he dropped his weight lower, gaining a decent bend at the knees, and he leaned forward slightly on the wider base this stance provided. Taking a deep breath and letting it slowly go, the thumb of his left hand extended, pushing against the curved crossguard of his sword to break it free an inch and making sure it hadn't bound from rust or frost, the blue Tigan braid swinging slightly with the movement, twirling the handful of black feathers woven into it.

"Ready," Jaune said firmly, deep blue eyes narrowing slightly as he awaited what was to be the first, and hopefully not last, attack from his opponent.

"On the buzzer!" came Shaw's booming voice over the PA, followed by a piercing klaxon blast.

Without a moment of hesitation, Ruby dashed forward, firing off her first round of ammunition with a burst of dark purple smoke. The recoil management system in the rifle was set to augment rather than dampen the energy, and thus the blast of gravity dust further accelerated her to a frankly ludicrous speed, nearly catching Jaune at the knees as he desperately dove forward to avoid the strike. Jaune sprung quickly to his feet, for him at least, pivoting back to find a dust-propelled Ruby already headed back towards him, weapon held for an overhead slash that came down like a ton of bricks.

Knowing he couldn't brace against it, Jaune detached his sheath from its baldric, unsheathing the perforated blade for two thirds of its length before using it and the collapsed shield like a staff, raising his arms and deflecting Ruby's attack to his left side. The point of Crescent Rose embedded itself four inches into the arena floor, of little concern to a Huntress prodigy such as herself.

What was concerning to her was the blunt end of Jaune's scabbard, as he took two quick, short steps toward her before swinging it, using his grip on the hilt of his sword to add leverage to the strike which she easily ducked, in spite of her surprise at the tactic. She was also nearly caught by an incoming snap kick to the gut that she only evaded through raw reflex and flexibility before opening up the distance again with a rifle blast.

Ruby halted her momentum with another round of gravity dust, quickly dropping the magazine and inserting a fresh one from her belt pouch before cycling the bolt, chambering a far more conventional ammunition and planting the point of her blade in the floor again. Jaune saw the large caliber muzzle come to bear on his position, and he quickly drew his sword completely free of its scabbard before unfolding it into its heater shield form. The first impact of bullet on shield came as he willed his feet into motion, charging at his opponent at the pace and agility of a drunken hippo, closing the distance far slower than he knew her capable of expanding it. The third round caught him in the shin, glancing off the ballistic weave underlying his boot, the fifth grazing his temple and leaving behind a burning sensation as Jaune's aura dipped slightly and began to work at healing the wound. Rounds six and seven were nearly simultaneous impacts on his shield again, scrubbing off flecks of paint and the barest fraction of the large knight's speed.

The eighth and final round in the magazine was another gravity dust round, which Ruby used to propel herself away again, planting her feet against the hardlight barrier before launching herself forward with the aid of her semblance. A shower of rose petals trailed behind her before she translated that momentum into a whirling vertical spin that could bisect an Ursa Major with its ferocity.

Angling his shield slightly less than vertically, Jaune deflected the first three impacts, sparks flying from the speed at which Crescent Rose spun against his defenses. Each of these hits forced his guard lower a few inches, his shield arm rotating at the shoulder and pivoting the top edge of his shield forward until the fourth hit came not on the face of the shield but instead just behind it. Jaune's eyes went wide as Ruby's scythe broke through his defense, the top edge narrowly missing his nose as she again drove the point of her blade into the arena floor, taking his shield, arm and torso to the ground along with it. For a brief moment, they both contemplated their next moves, Ruby electing to reload and fire a dust round into Jaune's breastplate at point blank range, taking a sizable chunk out of his aura. Jaune's response was, much like his very presence at Beacon, unexpected.

Jaune brought his sword around point-first, slamming it back into its scabbard before lifting both weapons up off the ground. The inner curvature of Crescent Rose's blade was stuck against the back of Jaune's shield, the cutting edge barely managing to graze his armored forearm. Ruby's eyes grew wide as she attempted to extricate her weapon, finding that the large, curved crossguard of Crocea Corax had trapped the shaft of her baby firmly against the top edge of the heater shield. Jaune had reduced a free-wheeling melee into a tug-of-war that she was ill-equipped to win, and they both knew it. Ruby attempted to yank and lever her way out of the stalemate, while Jaune was trying to pull her close enough to lay into the girl with an armored boot, both of his arms involved in keeping her greatest asset bound in place. But for the dire combat situation, Ruby's grunts of effort might even have been considered cute. She wasn't about to lose to Vomit Boy of all people, but the best option for her was to drop Crescent Rose, which was a nightmare scenario on its own.

She knew her hand to hand skills stunk. Jaune likely knew it too, given his tactical acumen.

Thus they ended up stumbling back towards the center of the arena, struggling with each other, strength matched against leverage as they fought for control over Crescent Rose. Ruby changed tactics, beginning to angle for another rifle blast into her opponent, Jaune's maneuvering now focused on keeping the large bore pointed anywhere but at him. In increasing desperation, Ruby fired off a couple rounds when she thought she had at least a chance of striking Jaune. Neither hit home, but the second had been fired with the muzzle inches from his left ear. He cried out in pain, his ear ringing from proximity to the explosion. His concentration broken, Ruby was able to pivot away from him, bringing both hands in front of her, pulling downward and levering Crescent Rose over her right shoulder.

This proved to be the final straw, the mechanical advantage she had created ripping Crocea Corax from Jaune's grasp, her swing sending the broadsword flying twenty yards away, where its newly-improved blade easily sunk six inches into the arena floor, angled nearly vertically. Her relief was short lived, however, as she felt the edge of Jaune's shield hammer into her spine, knocking her forward and consuming a disconcerting amount of her Aura. On instinct, she manipulated Crescent Rose into a whirling horizontal slash with the blunt back end of the scythe, Jaune dodging back to avoid the hit. What he failed to avoid, however, was the impact on the inside of his overextended shield, Ruby's prowess with her scythe sufficient to generate the force necessary to knock it clear off his arm. The heater shield clattered to the ground a fair distance away, and Ruby continued to spin her weapon for a second strike to finally begin wearing down her now-defenseless opponent.

Knowing his best chance lay in keeping her close, Jaune rushed forward to intercept Ruby's strike by grabbing the shaft of her scythe, reducing the match to a contest of strength once again. Dropping into a low, broad base, Jaune shoved with all the strength he could muster, nearly dislodging her grip before she pushed back with a determined grunt of effort. This effort was seemingly rewarded as the shaft of her scythe moved forward easily, until she realized that Jaune had planned for her counter, yanking back into himself with even more force. Ruby was dragged along for the ride, until her momentum was halted with a vicious headbutt landing on the bridge of her nose. She saw white for the briefest moment, unable to react in time to avoid a knee to the gut, Jaune's strike thankfully not having the proper range to really follow through and drive the wind out of her lungs.

It still hurt like hell.

Desperate now, she kicked off with her feet, using her arms to swing her lower body around over the top of Crescent Rose's shaft, treating the weapon like a pommel horse. Her left knee caromed off the top of the Jaune's skull as she quickly switched hands to walk herself down her weapon in two rotations. Dropping her feet to the ground, Ruby again put her shoulder to work as a fulcrum, freeing her baby from Jaune's tenacious grasp, but paying for it with a brutal, gauntleted punch to the kidneys. She rolled with the impact, just like her sister had taught her, somersaulting forward before she spun about to face her adversary once again.

To her mild relief, Jaune hadn't pressed the attack, but was instead bolting straight for his sword, knowing full well that a newly mobile Ruby Rose was a death sentence for an unarmed Arc. Affording herself a quick glance at the scoreboard closest her line of sight, she was shocked to find her aura hovering just below sixty percent, her opponent a few percentage points lower. Given that he was the tankiest person she knew, and that her archetype was far closer to 'glass cannon', Ruby knew she needed to end this match now. Two steps accelerated her to full speed before she augmented this with another blast from Crescent Rose. She smiled inwardly as adrenaline slowed time to a crawl, Jaune's blond hair bouncing slowly with every movement. By her estimation, she would drop him just after he had retrieved his sword, but long before he could turn and mount an effective defense with it, if he could even extricate the blade from its prison.

She could not have been more wrong.

Jaune's hands closed over the hilt of Crocea Corax, but rather than trying to pull, he used it as a pivot point, swinging his body around it like a gymnast, reversing direction into an attempt at a drop kick that due to mistiming resulted instead in an awkward mid-air collision with a wide-eyed Ruby. The both of them tumbled away from the impact, disoriented in the extreme. Jaune wound up on his back, shaking his head to loosen the cobwebs, while the nimble Ruby, adept at dealing with vertigo due to her erratic, whirling combat style, got to her feet far more quickly, leaping back into the fray. With the most adorable battle cry one could imagine, she landed next to Jaune's waist, her bootsoles pinning his sword and hand to the arena floor just before the blunt end of Crescent Rose slammed into his breastplate, its muzzle now pointing directly under his chin.

"Gotcha!" Ruby said with a breathy grin.

"Nope," Jaune favored her with a wry smirk of his own.

Her face immediately fell, confused and slightly offended. "Prof…" she managed to get out before the world exploded.

(Page break)

"Buh-REW-tal!" Nora cheered enthusiastically as Ruby's head snapped back from Jaune's head butt, Blake and Yang cringing in sympathy behind her as the rest of the class gave a collective oof at the impact.

Ren leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing at the visible flash of light the strike had generated. "Are you seeing this, Pyrrha?" he asked quietly, the veteran arena fighter taking in everything that was going on.

"He's certainly improved," she replied with a burgeoning smile, her emerald green eyes still watching the Aura scoreboard, processing the flow of the match through that lens. "Suchīrumirā?" she wondered aloud.

"It appears so," Ren concurred.

"What's that?" Nora asked.

"Aura technique, only rarely taught outside Anima," he said simply, opting to watch the match more closely rather than explain further at the moment.

"I am sooooo gonna get her back in the ring," Yang added in irritation at her sister having to tank a kidney punch rather than fight for even a moment without her weapon.

"He's definitely gotten better," Blake added, her previous apprehension forgotten for the moment.

They watched as Jaune reversed direction with the aid of his sword, the collision with Ruby drawing a grunt of discomfort from nearly the entire audience at how chaotic the match had gotten. As Ruby moved to finally end the match in the anticipated outcome, several students had begun to cheer, if for no other reason than seeing Jaune actually doing well for once.

"And that's ballgame, people!" Yang shouted proudly, already contemplating where and how to spend her sixty lien. Her smile faltered as her sister's did, a brief moment of confusion reigning over her as the match somehow wasn't called then and there.

Then, their friends disappeared.

(page break)

Red and orange flames blasted outward from the ground at her feet, punctuated by Ruby Rose being launched vertically upward from the fireball. Her limp body tumbled in midair like a ragdoll, arcs of electricity sparking over her form as she reached her apex forty feet above the arena floor. She stirred as she went weightless, hands desperately flailing about until she found a likewise airborne Crescent Rose, clamping down and trying to regain her bearings.

Silver eyes saw Jaune clamber to his feet, staggered by the blast as well, and estimated where she would land. Panic began to creep into her thoughts, and she tamped it down as she saw Jaune set for his next attack, both hands on the hilt of his sword. If she could get the distance right, she'd be able to take down the unshielded Jaune without having to take another hit to her aura, which she could tell without looking was strained at best.

A miniscule use of her semblance later, and she had landed seven feet away from her opponent, four feet further than she otherwise would have. She began her strike as Jaune was already spinning about, his sword describing a wide arc behind him as it accelerated. Adrenaline again distorted Ruby's perception of time, her eyes going wide as Crocea Corax came back into view. The perforated blade was a blaze of color; a nimbus of purple energy sheathed the blade which trailed a plume of fire along its length, sparks popping off like fireworks. That blade was moving a lot faster than she anticipated, but it mattered not, as the Jaune was still too far away for her to be in danger before her own weapon took him off his feet.

She would have sworn so, at least.

(page break)

The audience was, for a brief moment, entirely silent. Most, and especially Ruby's older sister, had come to their feet, wide-eyed at the dramatic reversal they were witnessing. Most of the class didn't notice the girl's Semblance use for its brevity, but Yang did, and she began to smile as she recognized her sister's ploy. Crescent Rose began whirling about quickly and ducking low, aiming to put Jaune off balance or knock him down entirely. Jaune's attack seemed reckless by comparison, but was, frankly, visually stunning. The light show it provided almost obscured the fact that Crocea Corax was somehow… bigger?

Almost.

The flame-wreathed blade, now nearly six feet in length, plowed into Ruby's midsection like a runaway train, a discharge of purple energy accenting the impact as she flew backwards twenty yards into the safety barrier, her weapon falling from her grasp as she crumpled to the ground. Jaune was just as stunned as everyone else, and he stared for a full second before the angrily buzzing klaxon broke him out of his reverie.

"Victory, Arc!" Shaw announced, the safety field flickering out of existence.

Everyone outside of Teams JNPR and RWBY were stunned to near silence. Within the two sister teams, emotions ran the gamut.

Nora's grin could power the entertainment district of Vale and then some. Her partner's own smile was subtle, but still a massive show of emotion for the normally placid Ren. Pyrrha could only beam with pride at her first and most important student's success, her green eyes misting over slightly. Behind them, Yang and Blake were likewise stunned, with a healthy dose of terrified for the brutal hits Ruby had taken. Weiss…

Weiss was positively seething.

-page break

End of Volume Music

Smash Mouth - Defeat You

A/N

So yeah, I've touched the third rail of RWBY fanfiction: original characters.

CMLN were, as I stated, supposed to occupy their own space within the Summer School AU, but ultimately, I couldn't get enough put together for their story to be worth your time reading. They were going to be dealing with smaller things and threats, with an escaped Roman Torchwick as their Big Bad, only having occasional intersections with the main cast. The problem with that approach is that it would have essentially mandated me to write them concurrently, and release those chapters only when everything was ready for both to be shown, lest I spoil one story with the other since they'd share a timeline.

I will concede that their integration was a bit of an odd chapter, and took focus from what is truly a Jaune-centric fic. However, abandoning what work I had completed, as well as the outlining of both stories being intertwined would have been a bigger problem than just integrating CMLN into the main story. Plus I enjoy the characters themselves.

Shaw, on the other hand… we'll be seeing him as a secondary character going forward, something that was absolutely planned beforehand.

On Yang: A lot of people have commented in reviews that she seems a little out of character, and they're correct. Beneath the bubbly party girl is someone who nearly lost their sister/borderline daughter, and still hasn't come to terms with that. She also hasn't hit her rock bottom like she did by the end of volume 3, and thus hasn't had to spend the time and effort picking herself up and rebuilding her body and mind into something better and stronger. This fic is going to have a lot of character development for a lot of characters, and I only wish I had the output of some other writers so that this didn't feel like it was dragging.