Pyrrha Nikos, star Linebacker of Beacon Academy's Varsity football team, smiled as she watched the teams reserve Safety, Jaune Arc, bring down the Ursa Academy "Majors" Running Back. It had been the first, and probably only, game that Jaune would start all season, since the teams usual safety, Cardin Winchester, had been unable to make the game, and he hadn't wasted it. Although a little clumsy, he'd charged through both guards before Pyrrha had gotten the Fullback out of his way allowing Jaune to make a brilliant tackle.

Pyrrha beamed at her teammate's accomplishment as she thought back to a conversation the two had had a couple weeks ago.

"You've never actually played Football?!"

Jaune nodded his head back "I mean I've played a few games with friends and my sisters, but no, I've never been a part of an actual team or had a coach to actually train me. I basically just had to self-train."

"I thought this was your dream."

"It is! It's what I always wanted to do!" He looked sadly at the ground "But my parents never taught me or let me join a team. Maybe they didn't have time with me and all my sisters, maybe they were worried that I'd get hurt, I dunno."

"Then how did you get on the team?"

He winced uncomfortably "I… may have exaggerated a little bit on my application. But let's be honest here, Ozpin probably knows about that and let me on the team anyway for some reason. Maybe he thought it would be funny to watch me fail."

Pyrrha shook her head "No way, he wouldn't do that. He let you on this team and made you co-captain because he sees something in you. He must see your potential!"

She gestured to his playbook "You know the plays better than anyone! You're adaptable."

She waved to the 450 pound "Deathstalker" brand barbell he'd been benching when she first came in "You're in great shape! Even if you're a little slow, you keep pace with the rest of us, you take hits like a champ, and in the weight room you're easily the third or fourth strongest person on the team!"

She gripped his shoulder reassuringly "You wouldn't be here if the coaches didn't think you could get better!"

Pyrrha watched as Jaune began to bag his gear. It was plain and old, unlike the flashy new gear with fancy and even impractical designs the rest of the team wore (who draws farming equipment on their shoulder pads?), but it did the job.

"Hey Jaune!"

He paused from removing his pads to look at her.

"Got time for a little more practice?"

He smiled and readjusted his pads "Let's do it!"

Ruby Rose, Beacons Wide Receiver called encouragement to Jaune as he shook off his second blow to the head in their game against the Shade Academy "BRNZ". They'd sent him in for the fourth quarter after the "BRNZ" was decimated by Beacons Defensive End, Nora Valkyrie.

"He's certainly improved." Ruby turned to Weiss Schnee, the teams Tight End, and looked confused.

"Because he can shake off a couple blows to the head?"

"Well he was also pretty good when we played the Mountain Glenn 'Breach'".

Ruby thought back to that game. Jaune had been put in for one play, and taken down a Fullback. It was an okay play, but…

"That guy was clearly an amateur compared to the Running Back he took down when we played the 'Majors'. And he basically just dragged him to the ground."

Yang chimed in "He might look better if Mr. Oum hadn't suddenly pulled him out of our food fight exhibition for no reason."

Blake shrugged "That skirmish was rigged nonsense anyway. That's the only way Pyrrha could've lost."

Weiss shook her head "Look, just take my word for it Ruby. He's getting better."

Jaune gripped Pyrrha's hand as she lay in her hospital bed. Her spine had been shattered by a vicious tackle from the Salem "Witches" Right Tackle, Cinder Fall.

She would never walk again.

"You have training camp next week, right?"

He nodded "Yup. 6-8 months of hell on earth."

Pyrrha smiled "Coach Qrow said a day out there is like a week of regular training. That means you'll get better that much faster."

He smiled through his tears. Always the optimist.

"I promise I'll get better Pyrrha. I won't let your training go to waste."

Jaune looked around the bus as they headed out to training camp. A few key players were missing.

The teams Fullback, Yang, had her arm broken in the same game that ended Pyrrha's career. She needed several months to recover, both physically and emotionally.

Weiss had been pulled away by her father, who wanted her to learn more about the family business. Who knew if she'd be able to return to the Team.

And Blake, the teams Running Back, had felt really bad after Yang's injury, and decided to go home to work out some family issues. She was accompanied by another teams Quarter Back, Sun Wukong, who offered moral support, and made sure her slapping hand didn't atrophy.

Jaune refused to think less of them though; they all had their personal issues they needed to work through before they could worry about Football (yes, even Blake).

Qrow greeted the team as they marched out to a field. It quickly became clear that he was less than enthusiastic about the upcoming training camp.

"Alright team, listen up. Just… run laps around the field until you get tired, then you can turn in for the day." With that, he began to head towards the stands.

Jaune looked puzzled "Is that it coach? Aren't we gonna practice some plays, or work on fundamentals?"

Qrow looked back "I'll see if I can set up some skirmishes for you guys, but for now, just run laps."

As the confused team began jogging, Qrow joined the two school board members waiting for him in the bleachers, Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross.

"Are you really gonna make me coddle these kids?"

"Look Qrow" Miles began "you're missing three of your star players. We can't let them fall behind the rest of the team now can we?"

Kerry nodded "Especially that Jaune kid. Can you imagine how mad the audience would be if he caught up to Weiss, Blake, and Yang? Or maybe even surpassed them?"

"I stuck my neck out for that kid one time and nearly got my head bitten off." Miles added "We need to show everyone that I'm not playing favorites because he's my cousin."

"If Weiss, Blake, and Yang come back and find out that they've fallen behind Jaune, it would push them to train harder to make up for lost time." Qrow tried to reason "It would push the entire team to get better."

Kerry shook his head "Sorry Qrow, but the potential fan backlash is too risky. Just play it safe, and keep the status quo."

Yang smiled and embraced Ruby "How was camp."

Ruby gave a pained smile "We learned some important things about the world as a whole, had to process what happened to Pyrrha and Penny, and helped Ren get over some childhood trauma. And Ren and Nora are going out now, although the school board has expressly forbidden them from any form of PDA for some stupid reason."

Yang nodded "And the training?"

Ruby winced "Practically non-existent. I mean I don't want to complain too much, all that other stuff WAS important, but we just jogged a bunch of laps and played three skirmishes. Oh, and Jaune practiced to some training videos Pyrrha made him, though I'm not sure how that effected his emotional health."

Yang cringed and quickly changed the subject "Well you'll be happy to know my arms all better! I got in some pretty good training with Dad about a month ago. He helped me fix some of my weak points."

"That's great!" Weiss and Jaune strolled over to join the conversation "How did you do in those skirmishes Jaune."

Jaune shrugged "The first one was pretty easy, though I barely got to participate because my gear was being fixed."

"Couldn't you have used some spare gear?"

"Probably." Jaune nodded "Then we played a professional team, which was a good opportunity to see what pros are like, but wasn't really much of a training experience."

"The Nuckelavee game was pretty decent though!" Ruby chimed in "You broke in your new gear and actually did pretty good!"

"Yeah, but it wasn't quite as impressive as what I did against the Major's. I was mostly just giving assists." Jaune shrugged before turning to the fifth person joining the group. "You get any training in Blake?"

"I had three skirmishes with my old team and might have helped coach a community team for a month."

The group was interrupted as Principal Ozpin stepped onto the field, accompanied by a boy who looked even younger than Ruby.

"Everyone, this is my son Oscar. Say hello, Oscar."

"I am Ten Billion Percent certain that I don't want to be here."

"Oscar here is going to be your new starting Quarterback!"

"I'm literally just here because you made me come."

"And I've given him some really important secrets that will be crucial to the teams success."

"I've never even touched a football until today."

Qrow chimed in "Excuse me Oz, but couldn't you just tell me those secrets and let me share them with the team? Or maybe even share them with Jaune over there, he's the co-captain."

"No, the school board says I can only trust Oscar here."

"You haven't actually trusted me with much of anything. We'll probably have to get it from a third party source."

"And don't worry about your lack of experience or motivation Oscar, a month of training, additional training from me, and some performance enhancers and you'll be more than ready to start. You are my chosen heir after all."

"People only like me because I'm cute and have an amazing voice."

Jaune glared daggers at Cinder Fall as she met his eyes and smirked.

"I hope your sturdier than that Linebacker I crippled."

Jaune roared as the ball was hiked and rushed her.

Up in the stands, Miles turned to Kerry "Crap! Grab the doll!"

Ozpin glanced over at the two while Kerry searched his bag "What's the matter?"

"We can't let that Arc kid touch Cinder, she's a star! Even if nobody likes her, we still have to make her look good!"

"She'll be playing against Raven later on, and they're both acknowledged as two of the best. We can still let Jaune try his best, can't we? Show his improvement, even in the face of an overwhelming foe?"

Kerry looked at Ozpin as if he'd grown an extra head "No! Of course not!"

Miles shook his head "If he does too well against her, people might start thinking he's better than Pyrrha was!"

Ozpin narrowed his eyes "Pyrrha was good, but she was still just a freshman. And she's gone now. If Jaune is to move forward, he'll have to surpass her eventually."

Kerry pulled a voodoo doll and needle from his bag. A strand of Jaune's hair was wrapped around its neck.

"Not if we have anything to say about it." He jabbed the dolls leg.

Jaune's leg suddenly cramped up and he fell forward onto his face, his fingers barely grazing Cinder.

Jaune headed out to rejoin his team after being boo'd out of the stadium after that fiasco with Cinder ended with Weiss nearly taken out of the game. He couldn't blame the crowd either.

"I've been training nonstop for almost two years. How did I make such a rookie mistake?"

As he emerged, he was greeted by the two school board members.

"Hey there Jaune!" Kerry clapped a hand on his shoulder "We need you to do something for us okay.

Jaune nodded "Sure, what is it?"

The two guided Jaune past his teams bench as Miles began to explain. "There's an important position on your team that we'd like you to fill."

The two gestured forward at a water cooler. "We need you to keep your teammates good and hydrated!"

"Oh…"

"Also" Kerry added "Have you given any thought to changing up your hairstyle?"

"Why?"

"We just think it's time for a change."

"Well, I think a warrior's wolf tail might look kinda cool. And I've been thinking about growing a beard."

"Mmmmmm I dunno" Miles shook his head "What about something a little more like what I have."

Jaune looked at the mans hairstyle. It looked fine on him but… "That would look ridiculous on me."

Kerry slapped him on the shoulder "Don't worry, Nora will make it work."

In the stands, a group of fans scowled at Jaune's plight.

"They're making him a water boy?"

"What the hell? Do they even care about him anymore?"

"Well nobodies making you guys watch!"

"That's a smart way to keep an audience."

"We watch because we want to root for the guy! He has tons of potential and he's got plenty of good qualities as a person, but they keep screwing him over as a player!"

"And it feels like the only reason he ever mattered is because Pyrrha had a crush on him."

"We should write some fanfics about him."

"Sounds good! If they're not gonna do right by him someone has to."

"Let's make him a total harem king. Really piss off the haters!"

"Might as well. Especially if they're gonna make him look like a Chad."

As Miles and Kerry left the stadium, they paused as a figure in a wheelchair glared furiously at them. Pyrrha Nikos.

Kerry nodded "Hello there Pyrrha."

"Good evening Gentlemen."

"Can we help you with something?"

"No, I just wanted to thank you both for making Jaune a waterboy. I'm glad the time I spent training him in my last few months of being able to walk paid off."

"He is getting better Pyrrha." Miles insisted.

"I have yet to see proof of that, because the two of you won't give him the opportunities to show his improvement."

"Just take our word for it."

"You expect me to trust your word over my own eyes? No thank you."

"Look Pyrrha" Kerry tried changing tactics "There just isn't room for everybody."

"But there's room for Coffee themed fan service and whiny little brats who don't want to be involved."

"The team needed a water-boy." Miles insisted.

"Do you remember the 'Avatars'? The team that won nationals three years in a row? Still remembered as one of the best teams of all time?"

"The ones who wore blue-"

"No, the ones with arrows, not those blue tree-hugging hypocrites!"

She continued "They had a water-girl named Katara. She was also one of their top starters. Jaune's role as water-boy shouldn't overshadow his role as a player."

She began to wheel herself away from the two men.

"He's too polarizing!" Kerry called out his final excuse.

"So you care more about what the audience thinks than your own player's growth and development? And think that pulling the rug out from under him every time he tries to be helpful will make people like him more? Got it."

Jaune stared sullenly into the mirror as Nora finished his new hairdo.

Two Years.

He tried desperately to remind himself that the last two years hadn't been all bad for him. He'd grown as a person, learned to accept help from others, learned to be more chivalrous (ironically by wearing a dress), improved as a leader, accepted that his team was the league's long-shot, and come to terms with Pyrrha's injury. He'd even started to tolerate Oscar (who's desire to appease Ozpin had been replaced by a desire to cover up how pointless his existence actually was).

And all of that was good, and in some ways more important than football.

But he joined this team to play football. His dream was to play football. He trained with Pyrrha to play football. He'd spent the last two years training harder than anyone else on the team, to play football.

Two years. (Why did it feel more like six?)

And all he had to show for it was some new gear, a water cooler, and a bad haircut.

Ha! You guys thought it was gonna be another basic "Real World AU" but it was actually an analogy for how infuriating it is to wait six years for a character you (want to) like to get a satisfying fight scene that actually SHOWS us how he's improved as a fighter! And to still be waiting!

Seriously, if your guys' experience reading this was to start out hopeful and optimistic, only to feel totally let down and depressed by the end, that was kind of the point.

Maybe I'm a little hard on M&K. And let the record show, I think Volumes 4 & 6 are the two best Volumes of the show, and that the shows early failings (and even a few of the current ones) were just as Monty's fault as Miles and Kerry's. I'm also one of the only people in my circle of critics who thinks Miles could actually be a decent writer (in fact if the claims that Kerry does most of the writing for Jaune are true, then he's the one who screws him over most of the time). Miles gave us Locus and Felix and wrote more episodes of Camp Camp Season One than anyone else, so there's at least SOME talent in there.

But they keep screwing one of my favorite characters over, so what else am I supposed to think?! And I don't agree with people who say "well not everyone can be a fighter, he should just accept his role as a medic". Pyrrha trained him to be a fighter, not a medic. And we live in a post Avatar: The Last Airbender world. If Katara can be a bad ass first and a healer second, then so can Jaune.

Right now, these are the messages I'm getting from their handling of Jaune:

Effort and training doesn't mean anything.

Weapons are more important than the ones who use them.

The elite can take 6 months off and not have to play any catch up (pretty sure this is physically untrue).

Or they can just walk in and shoot right up to the top (even if their only motivation to be there is the voice in their head).

You have to be born to privilege and opportunity to succeed.

Butt monkey's should just know and accept their place.

I doubt M&K intended for any of that to be taken away from the show, but it's hard not to when they treat their every-man this way.

Sorry if this was a bit of a downer, I swear I'm actually pretty optimistic, and I really hope Volume 7 leads me to add a second, more uplifting chapter to this fic. Also this was just a fun thing to do while working on Volume 5 of RWBY 20-20. The next chapter of that fic should come out soon.

Also, if anyone out there knows football, let me know how my portrayal was (other than the 8 month training camp). I'm not much of a sports guy, so feel free to point out any flaws in my portrayal.