A/N: I'm back!

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Chapter 8

Beacon dance hall: Day before the dance (Saturday)

Seeing as how it was Yang and Weiss who were "cooperating" in planning the dance, Joshua noticed a few odd things strewn around the room as he was setting up the music for the dance. There was an odd mix of fog-making equipment, ribbons, doilies, and what looked like a confetti cannon. Although he wouldn't be the DJ, Joshua was elected to arrange the music that was to be played at the dance. I guess that's fortunate for Jaune. Now I can put in that "special song" he wants. Jaune had requested Joshua to sneak in a dance piece and promised that the stunt he would pull off "would make it worth it". While he had no idea what this meant, Joshua was intrigued and agreed to help. Looking up from his scroll, he saw Ruby and Weiss talking about something he couldn't understand. Yang was using her super strength to lift a gigantic speaker. After the speaker went down with a crash, Yang dusted her hands off.

"Whew! That's the last of it. Hey Josh, how's the music coming?", she asked.

Joshua pointed to a pile of small boxes in the corner and replied, "I got all the pieces downloaded. There are some boxes you missed, I think they have the doilies." Yang's expression became one of surprise.

"Doilies?! Weiss! I thought we agreed on no doilies!"

"If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines!"

The doors suddenly opened. "Your dance is going to have fog machines?" It was Neptune and Sun. Weiss' expression changed from annoyed to please the instant she heard Neptune. It was almost like night and day.

"We were thinking about it…", the heiress replied sweetly. It was obvious to Joshua and hopefully everyone else that Weiss had a thing for the blue-haired dude. Poor Jaune.

Sun jumped into the conversation. "Ready to play dress up?"

Flipping her golden hair, Yang said, "With my dress, I'll be turning heads tomorrow night. Just you watch. Ruby, have you picked out a dress yet?" Ruby had her head on her arms with a gloomy expression.

"Who cares? It doesn't matter if Blake isn't going." Sun's face became one of concern.

"So Blake is still being, you know, 'Blakey'?"

"Unfortunately", Joshua replied. It seemed that the White Fang activity was messing with Blake which caused her to be even more of an introvert than usual. At this, he unplugged his scroll from the stereo setup. "I'm done organizing the music, so I'll be leaving now."

"And where are you going?", asked Weiss.

"I still need to get a suit for the dance. If you do need me, just call." Joshua then left the hall to go to the Bullhead docks.

Team RRWBY dorm: A few hours later

Joshua was sitting in the team dorm, tinkering with parts of Tulip Eclipse. His tuxedo was hanging in the closet, still wrapped up from the tailor. Everyone else was off doing their own thing. Tulip Eclipse's barrel was taken apart and Joshua was doing maintenance on the nine rings that controlled the magic runes which let him cast spells. He put down some towels to make sure that the oil he was using wouldn't get on anything. As he was lubricating the rune system, Ruby entered the room. She had a depressed look on her face and was holding Crescent Rose like a baby.

"Eh? What's wrong Ruby?", asked Joshua, raising an eyebrow. "Are you still sad that Blake doesn't wanna go to the dance?"

"No that's not it. I was practicing with Crescent Rose when I just remembered that I needed to do some maintenance and then part of the firing system broke!" Ruby looked as if she was about to burst into tears. Joshua need to stop this. Fast.

"Don't worry, I have some spare parts if it's the gun that needs fixing. Let's just go to the forge. Tulip Eclipse also needs some work." Ruby's face lit up.

"Really?! Then, let's go!" She rushed out the door and before Joshua could tell her to wait for him, the sound of people bumping into each other was heard. When Joshua went out to see what happened, he saw Ruby apologizing to three people in Haven uniforms. They were a girl with green hair, a silver-haired boy, and another girl with eyes that Joshua could have sworn were glowing like embers.

"If you're here for the tournament, you dorm should be east of here", Joshua said while helping Ruby up.

The girl with burning eyes replied, "Sorry, we must have taken a wrong turn. See ya around." At that, the Haven trio went in the direction of the guest dorm. Something seemed off about them.

"Yeesh. Didn't even say 'thank you'", said Joshua. "C'mon Ruby, let's get our stuff and go to the forge."

Beacon forgery

After reaching the forge, Joshua and Ruby set up their things and grabbed some protective clothing that was provided by the school. To be completely honest, she looked adorable in a blacksmith's apron and a bandana to cover her hair. They went to two work stations that were right next to each other and spread out their materials. While Joshua only had to lubricate and do minor repairs on Tulip Eclipse, Ruby needed to replace entire bolt mechanisms and remake the acceleration rune system that fired Crescent Rose's bullets. Now that the weapons were disassembled, Joshua took out his repair kit and Ruby brought some spare parts. They started with the easiest repairs such as lubricating and fixing worn-out parts. While they were doing this, Ruby spoke up.

"Hey Joshua, I was wondering. How do you know Torchwick?" Joshua's eyes perked up. Of all topics Ruby wanted to talk about, she just had to pick this one.

"Um… let's see. Oh! He was on the same huntsmen team as my parents. Team ARTS: Alexander Remington and Rebecca Enfield, my parents, Roman Torchwick, and Sierra Ruger." Ruby had already met Joshua's parents while Joshua and she attended Signal but she didn't know much about his parent's past.

"He was a Huntsman?! So did they do anything special?"

"Not really, they were just a good team until they all settled down when my mom became pregnant. But when I was young, Sierra became very sick. I believe she and Roman were very close like my parents. After a while, she died and the man I knew as my uncle fell into depression. Eventually, he started leading organized crime and although my parents keep in contact with him, he's smart enough to not get himself tracked."

"If he was like an uncle to you, what did he teach you? Uncle Qrow taught me lots!"

Joshua chuckled. "Well, he taught me how to pickpocket, forge documents, hide my fingerprints, and talk my way out of trouble. Speaking of family, I know that your mom, dad, and Qrow were on a team. Who was the fourth member?" He saw Ruby's eyes darken and she stopped preparing the bolt lock in her hand for installation. Did he bring up a bad subject?

"The last member of Team STRQ was Raven Branwen, Uncle Qrow's sister. She was Yang's mom. You see, we're half sisters. She suddenly disappeared and my dad became depressed. Eventually, he moved on and married my mom and I was born. But Dad never really got over Raven. She's the reason Dad is depressed and Qrow drinks so Yang wants to become a Huntress so she can look for her." Joshua never thought that Ruby, the adorable reaper that all cookies feared, would have such a depressing family. "Anyway, I think we should make the new rune for my baby." And just like that she bounced back. Typical Ruby.

"Sure, I'll get the materials out." From his kit, Joshua took out some adhesive paper, a vial of Dust, and syringe to apply the Dust to the paper. Months of studying and experimenting made him a professional in making runes. He put in Dust on the paper in a specific pattern that he had memorized. Then, Joshua inserted the paper into the spare bolt Ruby had with the Dust between the metal and the paper. After that, he put the bolt into the forge and flash-heated it for a few seconds. The Dust activated and carved a pattern into the metal. After the bolt cooled, it was reinstalled into Crescent Rose. A few test transformations and mock shots made sure that it was a perfect fit.

"Thanks for fixing my sweetheart!" Exclaimed Ruby. "Now I need to… oh! The newest Weapons Weekly should be out! See ya!" And with that Ruby was off to Vale. Joshua looked back at his weapon which was still in pieces.

"Oh yeah. I should probably finish that…"

RWBY dorm: Day and time of the dance

Joshua had just finished putting on the finishing touches for his dress for the dance. The girls had changed before him and they made sure not to see each other before the dance. He did learn though that Yang had convinced Blake to attend. He put a purple tulip in his pocket, styled his hair a bit, and walked to the dance hall. As Joshua got closer, he started getting a little nervous. Formal parties were never really his thing. At least Ruby and probably Jaune would be in the same boat as him.

At the entrance of the hall greeting guests was Yang. She was wearing a simple white dress that still looked elegant on her. She saw Joshua and waved.

"Hey Joshua, lookin' good!" She exclaimed.

"Likewise. Where's Ruby?"

"Ruby? She's right over there." Yang pointed towards the far corner where Joshua saw Ruby trying to get used to walking in high heels. They both chuckled.

"Haha. Well, thanks Yang. Have a good time." Joshua walked through the crowd towards Ruby. She was wearing a (Insert description of Ruby's dress. I have no idea how to describe clothing well). Joshua had never seen Ruby in formal wear and it did look nice on her.

"Hi Ruby." Ruby turned around in surprise.

"Oh! Hi Joshua! How are you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine. You look like you're bored out of your mind. By the way you, uh, look stunning."

"Thanks, I'm just not really the fancy-dancy kind of girl. Besides, it's stupid that I don't get to wear my hood."

"As I said, you look good. Anyway, if you don't know how to dance, would you like me to teach you? You know, as a friend." Ruby's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?! Joshua, are you asking me for a dance?" Joshua pulled out the tulip from his pocket, offering it to Ruby.

"Well Ruby, may I have this dance?"

25 minutes later

After a lot of tripping and having Joshua's feet stepped on, he and Ruby were finally able to dance properly. It was kind of awkward since Ruby's heels made her an inch taller than Joshua. They soon started getting tired and decided to take a break. Joshua offered to get some fruit punch. When he got to the punch bowl, Jaune was there too.

"Hey Jaune, how's it going?"

"Hi Josh. Are you hanging around the punch bowl too?"

Joshua shook his head as he poured a cup for himself. "Nah, I'm just getting some for me and Ruby. We were just dancing." Jaune almost did a spit take.

"You were dancing with Ruby?!"

"Relax, it was nothing romantic, just a friend thing. I was teaching her. Uh, sorry for your luck with Weiss."

"Ehh, it's fine. Neptune's pretty cool. I get why she went with him." Joshua raised his eyebrow. Weiss came alone, right?

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, not many people can pull of blue hair."

"No, I mean Weiss didn't come with anyone." Joshua pointed at Weiss, who was trying to make one of the flowers stand up with the others. "She mentioned something about not wanting to focus on guys." Jaune then looked at Neptune talking with Blake and Sun. His face then showed a little anger, probably wanting to have a "talk" with Neptune.

"Hold my punch." And with that, Jaune started to head towards Neptune. Good luck buddy. Joshua went back to Ruby in the balcony overlooking the first floor, two cups in hand. "Want some?" Ruby graciously took one cup and quickly gulped down most of its contents.

"Yeah, thanks. Whew that was tiring." Said Ruby.

"Well when you think about it, fighting and dancing are pretty similar."

"Ehh?"

"You have two partners interlocked, moving to respond to the other's movements, getting tired… Of course dancing isn't as deadly." They then saw Yang walking over to them.

"Hi you two! Had fun dancing?" Asked Yang. Joshua quickly realized the meaning behind her words.

"Don't tell me you-"

"Yep! I recorded some of it!" The blonde held up her scroll, which was currently playing one of the many trip-ups Ruby and Joshua had. They both blushed a little. Yang laughed.

"Oh relax! I won't share it! You two just look cute together!"

"We are not a couple Yang!" Joshua and Ruby shouted, though not loud enough to draw attention.

"Suuuuure. Anyway, I think we all needed this."

"Yeah! You did a really good job planning it." Said Ruby. Yang then hugged her sister tightly, Ruby struggling to escape.

"Aw thanks! It wasn't all me though. Weiss did a lot too. *Sigh* Tomorrow, it's back to work, isn't it?"

"We can handle whatever's thrown at us, right?" Joshua responded. Laughing suddenly started throughout the hall. The cause was Jaune, who was wearing a dress. "Except for that." Jaune moved through the crowd, people laughing at him. Though to Joshua, wearing a dress in front of a crowd proudly demanded pretty good respect. Once Team JNPR had assembled, Jaune's "special song" started playing. For a guy labeled as an awkward loner, Jaune was really good at dancing. After JNPR's epic start, everyone started dancing. It was getting a bit too loud for Joshua's liking, so he turned to Ruby.

"Do you want to go for a stroll?"

5 minutes later

As Ruby and Joshua were walking outside the hall, Joshua thought he saw something move along the rooftops but put it under his imagination.

"So Joshua, what do you, uh, want to talk about?" Asked Ruby.

"Well I have been thinking about the White Fang and how Torchwick is related."

"Blake said that she learned there was a White Fang base in the southeast."

"Southeast? You mean near Mountain Glenn?" If Joshua recalled correctly, his parent were doing a minor investigation near the region when he went to Beacon but they could be gone now.

"Yeah, I think we shou- ah! What happened?" Ruby had a shocked expression and was pointing ahead. Joshua looked in the same direction and saw a trail of unconscious security guards leading to the CCT. They immediately took out their scrolls and summoned their weapons via rocket locker.

"Let's check it out."

After trying and failing to wake up one of the soldiers, Ruby and Joshua decided to investigate to CCT itself. There were more unconscious guards.

Ruby asked, "What do you think happened?" Joshua remembered what he saw on the roof.

"I think I saw someone on the roof. Maybe they're stealing something from the tower." The pair then went into the elevator to go to the top floor. When the doors opened, they saw a woman in a black body suit walking around the communication computers.

"You know, this isn't a masquerade party," said Ruby. "So why don't you take off the mask and leave?" The woman turned around.

She was wearing a mask, showing off eyes that seemed to burn. Just like that Haven transfer.

Joshua's thought were interrupted when the woman spun around, embers appearing out of thin air and forming into a bow and three arrows. She shot the arrows towards Joshua and Ruby. Joshua pushed Ruby out of the way and tried to dodge himself but an arrow grazed him in his right shoulder.

"Arrrgh!" This pain was incredible, especially since his Psycho Cables were trying to repair him only to be destroyed by the fire. He tried to fire Tulip Eclipse with his left hand but the woman somehow blocked his bullets as well as the ones fired from Crescent Rose. The embers around her then condensed into crystal shards which flew towards him. Luckily Ruby used Crescent Rose to destroy the shards. Activate Aura Impact. Another salvo of shards appeared and Joshua was about to fire when the sound of the elevator doors opening was heard. It was General Ironwood. Joshua and Ruby turned to look at him but when they looked back, the woman was gone. Ironwood had a stern expression and looked at them, their weapons out, Joshua wounded, and some debris scattered throughout the communication room.

"Explain now…"

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A/N: Whew! Okay, it's been a while and sorry for the wait! I was busy getting ready for finals and forgot to get back to this story (and I was feeling really lazy). But that doesn't matter. I'm back and ready to write more chapters! Also, I hope you liked this chapter although I think the pacing is a bit sketchy. Hopefully, the other chapters will slowly get longer. See ya!