Finally, I present you with the chapter you've all been waiting for! Though I won't tell you why you've been waiting for it just yet, you'll just have to read it for yourselves!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Speech

Thoughts


Chapter Eight: Dreams And Nightmares

Slade watched the fight between Mercury and Pyrrha with great interest, ever strike, every move that he made. Mercury's attacks were all being redirected by Pyrrha's semblance, she used it subtly as to avoid everyone from seeing it blatantly.

"You're friend is pretty good" Ruby said kind heartedly to Emerald who smiled back at her with a fake smile before quickly turning back around.

"I forfeit" Mercury said as Pyrrha charged at him, causing her to stumble as she stopped herself from hurting him.

"You... don't even want to try?" she asked in shock.

"What's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart" he shrugged.

"In that case... Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match... again" Glynda announced.

That certainly doesn't match the attitude he started the match with

"Next time, you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent" Glynda chastised. Slade shook his head in disappointment at her statement.

"I'll be sure to do that" Mercury replied walking away.

"Where did you say you guys were from?" Slade asked Emerald.

"Haven" Emerald answered without looking at him.

"Really?" he asked again looking at her closely as she finally turned to look at him.

"Yes. Do you not believe me?" she asked feigning surprise.

"I think you should tell your friend Cinder to leave before she hurts herself" he warned.

"I'll... be sure to tell her what you've said" she said in genuine shock.

"Good, I would hate for her to think she can get away with anything here while I'm watching"

"Slade!" Yang called from behind him as the classroom was emptying "What's taking you so long!" she yelled waving her hand in his direction.

"We have places to be!" Weiss added her hands on her hips.

"Think on what I have said before doing anything brash" he said standing and walking over to them "Sorry, I must've been daydreaming" he sheepishly said rubbing the nape of his neck.

"That's okay, you excited for the dance this weekend?" Yang asked as the exited.

"Dance? What dance?" he asked confused.

"The one this weekend! I told you about it this morning!" Weiss yelled exasperatedly.

"I don't recall you telling me anything this morning" he replied.

"That's probably because you fell back asleep as she droned on and on about the boring stuff about the dance" Ruby offered with a laugh at Weiss's pout.

"Hey, Blake!" Sun yelled running over to her "You uh, doing okay?" he asked placing his hand onto her shoulder.

"I'm fine" she replies closing her book in an annoyed tone.

"So I hear there's this dance going on this weekend... ah, sounds pretty lame, but you and me, I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?"

"What?"

"The dance! This weekend! You wanna go, or what?"

"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you of all people would get that"

Sun dropped down onto his knees from the rejection. Slade placed his hand onto his shoulder "Don't worry about it, she's just concerned about Torchwick and the White Fang. I'm sure she'd love to go with you" he said cheering him up a bit.

"Thanks, Slade. But how is she going to go with me if she refuses to go at all"

"Leave that to us" Yang confidently announced.


"You what?" Blake asked in surprise.

"We want you to go to the dance" Ruby answered.

"That's ridiculous"

"Blake, we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess with your head" Yang explained.

"You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering" Weiss listed off on her fingers.

"You think I care about grades?" She shrugs and then gestures out the window "People's lives are at stake!" Yang puts her hand on Blake's, lowering it.

"We know, and we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to" Yang assured.

"Thanks to you and Sun, we know they're operating somewhere outside of southeast Vale" Ruby offered.

"And, the Schnee company records singled out Vale as the primary target for Dust robberies over the last few months" Weiss continued.

"Don't forget about their missing military tech too" Yang added.

"But there's still unanswered questions!" Blake protested.

"Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open!" Ruby insisted.

"Killing yourself over this isn't going to help anyone, not you, not us. The only people you're helping by acting like this is Torchwick and whoever he's working for" Slade explained.

"All we're asking is that you take it easy for one day"

"It will be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it" Weiss offered

"Yeah! We're planning the whole event!" Yang pumps her fists which causes the bed to bounce Blake.

"Excuse me?" Blake asked confused.

"Team CFVY's away mission lasted longer than expected" Weiss explained.

"So, Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off. And now we can make sure you have the perfect night" Yang added.

"And once it's all over, we'll return for our search, rested and ready" Weiss finished explaining.

"So what do ya think?" Ruby asked with a smile.

"I think this is a colossal waste of time" Blake walks away from the group and opens the dorm door "I'll be in the library" She walks out of the room.

"Great" Yang sighed.

"She can't keep going on like this" Weiss concluded.

"She's going to get herself killed if she does" Slade added shaking his head.

There's a knock at the door and Weiss approaches and opens it. Jaune appears at the door with a guitar. "Weiss!" he sang as Weiss slams the door in his face.

"Oh, come on, open the door... I promise not to sing" Weiss opens the door with a roll of her eyes.

"I lied! Weiss Schu-nee, will you accompany me, to the dance on... Sunday!?" he sang.

"Are you done?" she asked in a bored tone.

"Yes?" he shrugged.

"No" She shuts the door in his face. Turning around, she sees the others staring at her "What?" Both girls are standing precariously.

"And that is why they call you the Ice Queen" Yang laughed as Ruby finally collapsed

"All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name. Besides, I already have a date in mind" she explained.

"Date or no date, none of this will matter if we can't get Blake to go" Ruby sighed.

"She's going to the dance" Yang assured.

"How do you know?" Slade asked raising his eyebrow.

"Just leave it to me" Yang answered pointing her thumb at herself.


"And finally, Pyrrha Nikos" Emerald said pulling up her picture on her scroll.

"Ah, the invincible girl" Cinder mused.

"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible" Mercury sighed from his place on the floor.

"Do tell" Cinder said deeply interested.

"Her semblance is Polarity, but you'd never know by just watching" Emerald explained.

"After she made contact with my boots she could move them around however she wanted, though she only made slight adjustments" Mercury added.

"Just enough to look like she's invincible, she doesn't broadcast her power, so it puts her opponent at a disadvantage" Emerald finished.

"Hmm... People assume that she's fated for victory, when she's really taking fate into her own hands. Interesting. Add her to the list" Cinder ordered.

"You should be able to take her no problem" Mercury chuckled.

"It's not about overpowering the enemy, it's about taking away the power they already have. And we will... in time" Cinder explained.

"I hate waiting" Mercury groaned.

"Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us"

"We have another problem, Cinder" Emerald said handing her the scroll with a picture of Slade on it.

"Slade Stroud... how many times am I going to hear his name?" she asked.

"He knows we're not from Haven" Emerald said nervously.

"What?" Mercury asked in surprise.

"I know"

"You know?" Emerald asked confused.

"I will tell you if it becomes necessary, for now... keep to yourselves and keep an eye on him. He knows we aren't students from Haven, and may even be aware of our plans here. We cannot allow him to stand in our way... add him to the list"

"Yes, ma'am" Emerald nodded in understanding.

"Why don't we just kill him now? If he knows about us he'll be a problem" Mercury suggested.

"If he were to disappear right now, we would all be right under a microscope. We need to remain unrestricted to have a chance to move forward with the plan"

"What if he tells someone like General Ironwood?" Mercury pointed out.

"Ironwood would rather lock him away than actually listen to him, and Ozpin refuses to act on information without proof, unless he proves anything about what we're doing we should be fine, keep our activities to a minimum to avoid detection. Slade is too observant for his own good"

"What will we be doing about him then?" Emerald asked curiously. Cinder smiled wickedly.

"There're plenty of students here to pit against him very soon, before then we can just leave things to the White Fang and Roman. They should be able to handle anything he can throw at them"

"The tournament" Mercury grinned.

"Indeed... The Vytal Festival is going to be quite interesting this year" Cinder grinned menacingly.


"I need you to pick out a table cloth" Weiss said with a smile sliding two sheets of white to Ruby who stared at them confused.

"Aren't they both the same?"

"I don't even know why I asked!" she sighed in frustration.

"You picked out a dress yet?" Yang asked Ruby as she sat down at the table with her.

"What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going"

"Oh don't worry, she's going- Weiss I thought we agreed: No doilies!" she yelled.

"If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines!" she yelled back pointing accusingly.

"You're dance is going to have fog machines?" Neptune asked entering the room with Sun.

"We were thinking about it" Weiss said looking at him dreamily.

"That's pretty cool"

"You ladies ready to play dress up?" Sun asked with a smirk.

"Pfft, yeah right" Ruby laughed.

"Laugh all you want, I will be turning heads tomorrow night"

"What're you two wearing?" Weiss asked looking at Sun and Neptune.

"Uh... this?" Sun gesturing to himself.

"Ignore him for he knows not what he says" Neptune cut in stepping in front of him and placing his hand up in his face.

"Blake still being all... Blake-y?" Sun asked cautiously.

"Obviously" Weiss answered turning away disapprovingly.

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind" Ruby sighed.

"Guys, trust me. Blake will be at the dance tomorrow" Yang assured walking out of the room.

"What about you, Ruby. Ask out you know who yet?" Sun asked slumping down next to her.

Ruby blushed furiously "Of course not! He's too busy being fawned over by the other girls here at school, he probably already has a date" she sighed sadly.

"Well from what I've heard he isn't going to the dance"

"Why not?" Ruby asked confused.

"Why don't you ask him yourself? You might be surprised" Sun offered getting up to leave. Ruby sat in thought for a moment before shooting up from her chair and running after him.


"How'd it go?" Slade asked Yang approaching her from behind as he watched Blake leaving the empty classroom.

"Blake finally listened to me. She's going to the dance" she answered with a bright smile.

"That's good to hear" he sighed in relief with a small smile on his face.

"What about you?" she asked as they walked out of the classroom together.

"Excuse me?" he asked confused.

"Are you going to the dance tomorrow?"

"I'd love to go... but I don't have anyone to go with" he answered lowering his head.

"Neither do I or Ruby and we're both still going" she replied.

"It's not that I have no one to go with that's stopping me from going... it's because-"

"Slade!" multiple voices screeched through the hallway causing him to jump in surprise.

"What the hell?" Yang asked turning to see a large group of girls rushing toward him pushing her out of the way.

"Slade! Who're you going to the dance with?" one asked.

"You should go with me, I'm the smartest in our year!" another yelled pushing the first girl out of her way.

"Why don't you go with me, I'm available" asked another.

"Ladies, please. I can't even understand you, you're all talking at once" Slade interrupted loud enough for them to hear as he backed up a few steps.

All the girls were silenced by the sound of his voice and followed him as he backed away, they all eagerly awaited his next statement.

"What's going on here?" Ruby asked entering the hallway with Weiss.

"All those girls are throwing themselves at Slade" Yang answered. Weiss laughed lightly.

"I wasn't aware he was so popular with the ladies" she laughed elbowing Ruby playfully.

"Neither was I" Yang winked back at them.

"What is it exactly that you all wanted?" Slade asked raising an eyebrow curiously.

"We want you to pick one of us to go to the dance with tomorrow night" answered the girl in front of the group.

"I'm not picking any of you to go with" he answered honestly gaining an uproar from the girls asking things like "Why not?" and "Who're you going with then?"

Slade sighed shaking his head in annoyance "Enough... how about instead of me picking one of you, we make it a contest. I'm going to go hide somewhere in the school, and the fist one of you to find me will be who I go with" he proposed calming them down. They talked amongst themselves momentarily before they all nodded emphatically, Slade smirked in response.

"Excellent... all of you count for two minutes and I will be hidden by then" he answered quickly running out of the hallway afterwards. The group all began to count aloud.

"Ruby?" Yang asked looking around, she couldn't find her sister who mysteriously disappeared.

"Where'd she go?" Weiss asked noticing her absence as well.


"He has a group of about twenty girls trying to ask him to the dance right now" Ruby sighed dejectedly, slumping down onto the floor her back against the dresser under the window.

"Did he say yes to any of them?" Blake asked sitting on her bed next to her.

"I didn't stay long enough to find out"

"Ruby!" Yang's voice could be heard from the hallway.

"In here!" Blake called back, the door opened as Yang and Weiss entered quickly shutting the door behind them.

"What do you want, Yang?" Ruby asked in a depressed tone.

"Why did you run back here so quickly?" Weiss asked.

"I wasn't going to sit around and watch Slade pick one of those girls to go to the dance with-"

"He didn't pick any of them" Yang interjected.

"What?" Ruby asked confused "There was like twenty of them, how could he say no to all of them?"

"They wouldn't really take no for an answer, so he told them he would hide somewhere in the school and the first one to find him would be who he goes to the dance with" Weiss answered.

"So one of them is still going to go with him"

"Ruby, don't you understand what this means?" Yang asked "If you're the first person to find him, you'll go to the dance with him" she explained. Ruby stared up at her in confusion, he expression slowly changing to one of realization she stood up in shock and began to panic.

"How could I be so dense! I need to go find him! Where would he hide?" she ranted aloud.

"Go already!" Blake implored pushing her out the door "Don't forget to tell him how you feel about him" she added as she pushed her out the door.

"I'm coming!" Ruby yelled sprinting down the hallway.


Slade sat on the bench of the school balcony watching all the girls below him scurrying around the courtyard looking for him. He shook his head sighing deeply then continued to read the book in his hand.

"Found you!" Ruby yelled panting for breath.

"Ruby?" he asked turning around to face her "Did you need something?"

"I found you" she repeated sitting down on the bench trying to catch her breath.

Slade looked at her in slight amusement as he realized what she meant "You want to go to the dance with me then?" he asked.

Ruby nodded enthusiastically "Yes, I do. I've been trying to ask you for the past few days, I just couldn't find a good time to ask" she explained "When I saw all those girls flirting with you and drooling over you... I don't know, it was weird for me. I guess I was jealous"

"Don't worry, Ruby. No other girl in the world can turn my head like you do" he answered with a warm smile.

"Really? I don't get it. I'm nothing special, just a normal girl..."

"So?"

"So, you're a super powerful huntsman who could have anything he wants. I'm a nerdy girl who's obsessed with weapons and you chose me? Seriously?" she asked in disbelief.

"You're beautiful, charming, sometimes crazy and always exciting. What man wouldn't choose you?" he asked with a smirk. Ruby grabbed him by the back of his head and smashed her lips onto his, Slade froze, he slowly responded to her movements, cupping her face with his right hand and placing his left hand on her back allowing them to deepen the kiss. They continued to kiss passionately until they broke apart for air, they remained inches away from each other as they caught their breath.

"That was my first kiss" Ruby admitted with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks "How'd I do?" she asked nervously

"You were fantastic" he answered with a smile "It was my first kiss as well" he added with a wink.

"Really? You've never dated anyone else before?" she asked.

"I was always too busy keeping myself from getting killed or arrested"

"Arrested?" she asked with a laugh "What'd you do?"

"It's illegal in Atlas to assault one of their robots when they're arresting you" he answered with a small laugh.

"Isn't General Ironwood from Atlas?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, Ozpin has already assured me I will not be arrested for any crimes I technically committed while surviving on my own"

"Awful nice of him"

"I'm an awful nice guy" Slade winked earning a laugh from Ruby.


"Oh you look beautiful!" Yang yelled seeing Ruby enter the room in her dress and heels, she was fidgeting uncomfortably in her outfit.

"Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" she asked wobbling her way over to the podium, much to Yang's amusement laughing at her sister's issues.

"Stupid neck trap" Slade's voice came from behind her, she turned around to see him wearing a full black suit and tie he was pulling lightly on the tie. Slade stopped as his eyes settled on Ruby, he stared in awe his jaw dropping open slightly. Ruby began blushing furiously noticing his gaze.

"You look amazing" he breathed out regaining his composure.

"Don't get any funny ideas" Yang joked causing them both to blush lightly.

"Yang" Ruby groaned. Yang slung her arm around Slade's neck bringing him closer to her.

"If you break my sister's heart, I promise: You're going to wish you were dead by the time I'm done with you" Yang whispered threateningly.

"Noted" he whispered back.

"Care to dance, milady?" Slade asked bowing as he extended his hand out for her to accept. Ruby smiled placing her hand in his own.

"I do believe I shall, milord" she answered with a slight curtsy.

"They really do go well together don't they?" Weiss asked watching them walk toward the dance floor, Ruby struggled with the dancing constantly stepping on his toes, much to Nora's amusement.

"They really do" Yang agreed with a content smile on her face.

"Sorry" Ruby apologized again stepping on his toes.

"It's fine, Ruby" he laughed hiding the pain as she stepped on his again.

"That's Slade Stroud?" Ironwood asked Ozpin as they watched the two dancing together.

"Indeed, that is my son as well"

"You adopted him?"

"Indeed I did"

"Honestly, I was expecting someone more... rugged" he replied "Someone who so often destroys Atlas property I was expecting a delinquent or someone downright criminal" he continued.

"Slade has had a rough upbringing on account of his fathers lifestyle, and the loss of both his parents so early in his life. I'd give him a chance before labeling him anything... he's still a child after all"

"A child capable of matching some of our best huntsmen without a semblance. I'd have thought he have a semblance like Ms. Nikos giving him an advantage over his opponents"

"Not everyone needs a trick up their sleeve to be able to succeed" Ozpin explained "Sometimes you just need to use your head"

"Pardon?" Ironwood asked raising an eyebrow.

"Slade isn't a strong fighter because of his physical skills alone. He plans twelve steps ahead in every match calculating every possibility down to the smallest detail. Slade knows his opponent's next move before they do themselves"

"A tactical genius" Ironwood smirked.

"He gets it from his mother, she was one of our best strategist and tactical analyzer since she was your student"

"Slade seems to embody many traits from both his parents then" Ironwood laughed.

"He is the spitting image of his father" Ozpin agreed "But his personality is his mother through and through" he added with a grin. Ruby and Slade walked off the dance floor toward the punchbowl hand in hand.

"I hope things continue to look up for the boy" Ironwood said before turning to leave "He needs to be ready to fight against our enemies should it come to that"

"I hope he never needs to" Ozpin replied solemnly.

"Don't we all"


"I see you're hiding by the punchbowl too" Jaune said sliding over to Ruby and Slade.

"Yup" Ruby said popping the p on the end.

"To the socially awkward" he toasted, gaining a laugh from them both as they clinked their glasses together.

"I'm going to get some fresh air" Slade finished his punch placing the glass back onto the table before walking out.

"I'll be out in a minute" Ruby called after him as he left.

Slade walked out into the dark night and sat upon a small bench outside leaning his head back as he clasped his hands together behind it. Slade waited patiently for Ruby looking up at the moon shining brightly down on him. Ruby sat down next to him silently not wishing to disturb him.

"I've had fun tonight" Slade spoke breaking the silence "Thank you for coming with me tonight"

"You're thanking me? I should be thanking you, I have been stepping on your toes all night long" she laughed.

"Well, you got the dancing down afterward" he chuckled in response.

"Only because you were so patient with me, thank you" she leaned in toward him, he followed suit bringing their lips together once more. They kissed passionately each pulling the other closer, Slade suddenly pulled back slightly, confusing Ruby.

"What's wrong?" she asked, following his gaze. Ruby saw a figure dressed completely in black running across the rooftops.

"Does that seem suspicious to you?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm thinking we should follow" Ruby answered standing up from the bench.

"Glad we're on the same page"


Slade and Ruby followed the mysterious figure until they reached the CCT Tower. They lost sight of the figure as they reached the front of the tower.

"Where did you think he went?" Ruby asked looking around.

Slade removed his pistol from beneath his suit jacket "I'd say that's a bad sign" he answered gesturing to the guard laying in the bushes near the building entrance.

"Let me call in Crescent Rose" she pressed her fingers into the keypad on her scroll then waited as her rocket propelled locker soared through the sky crashing into the ground next to them, she removed Crescent Rose from it opening it into scythe form.

"We're going to want to be careful, our mysterious assailant probably heard that" Slade warned as they entered the building.

"You've got it"

They walked warily through the halls of the building arriving at the elevator to the top of the tower. Multiple guards were lay sprawled across the floor of the building.

"Elevator is already at the top" Slade noted as Ruby pressed the button to call it back down.

"Then we need to get up there fast"

"He'll be expecting us" Slade sighed cocking his gun as the elevator arrived "Expect the worst"

"We've got this"

"Hopefully we'll have some backup" Slade said pressing to activate the distress beacon on his scroll as the elevator took them up. The doors opened to an empty room as Slade rolled out behind the nearest wall pressing his back into it, looking around the wall as Ruby awkwardly stepped out of the elevator he saw the assailant hiding behind one of the terminals.

"Come out where I can see you, with your hands up" Slade ordered pointing his gun toward him. The assailant stood up with his hands in the air revealing himself to be a woman.

"I knew you were behind this" Slade growled.

"Excuse me? You know, it's not a masquerade party. So why don't you take off that-" Ruby was interrupted by having ice shards produced by a dust bottle thrown at her, she deflects them with Crescent Rose struggling in the clothing she's wearing.

Slade and Ruby fired their weapons at Cinder as she blocked them all with the palm of her hand easily. Cinder created a bow in her hand jumping over Ruby's strike as she launched herself with Crescent Rose, embedding it into the floor where Cinder previously stood. Loosing three arrows from her bow into the ground in front of Ruby the explosion knocked her back several feet, she embedded her scythe into the ground as she slid to a stop beside Slade.

Slade stepped forward firing his pistol at her, Cinder blocked the bullets and loosed three more arrows one after the other. Slade sidestepped the first arrow, then deflected the second with a pistol whip, shifting his head to the right slightly he avoided the final arrow aimed at his head. Cinder imbued her hands in flame preparing to fire a powerful blast of energy.

The elevator opened behind them revealing General Ironwood with his pistol in hand, Ruby turned to see him and grinned in response. Cinder used this opportunity to fire the at Ruby. Slade grabbed Ruby and threw her out of the blast's path, ensuring he would be hit.

"Slade!" she yelled in terror as he vanished into thin air, leaving behind some sort of black mist that quickly vanished after him. The blast hit the wall next to Ironwood causing him to duck behind the terminals behind Ruby. Looking around frantically, Ruby found Slade standing in shock at the opposite end of the room. Cinder escaped while the group's attention was elsewhere.

"Slade? How did you do that?" Ruby asked curiously.

"I'm not even sure what I did" he answered looking down at his hands in confusion.

"I do" Ironwood stood from his place behind the computer terminals "You just unlocked your semblance" he explained holstering his pistol.

"My semblance?" Slade asked in surprise "But what did I do?"

"What exactly did you do after you threw Ms. Rose out of harms way?" Ironwood asked.

"I realized I couldn't avoid the blast and focused on trying to use my aura to protect myself from any damage I might sustain"

"That's it? Nothing else?"

"Well, I was planning my next move if I could still move. I only thought about getting behind her so I could catch her in close quarters"

"Whatever you did is something you're going to have to hold onto for future use. Young man, I believe your semblance is teleportation" he explained with a smirk.

"Teleportation?" he asked in shock.

"Tele-what now?" Ruby asked.

"Teleportation: The ability to transport yourself from one place to the next instantaneously. An ability that has never been seen before"

"I know what it is... I was just surprised" Ruby admitted sheepishly.

"I'm just as shocked as you are" Slade said looking back at her with a small smile.

"Do you know who she was? What she was here for?" Ironwood asked gesturing toward where Cinder had previously stood. Slade stood looking back at where Cinder had been previously before sighing with a shake of his head.

"Any questions you have can be answered when Ozpin is present" Slade replied turning for the elevator.

"If you know something, you need to tell me" Ironwood demanded grabbing him by the shoulder.

"Anything I have to say to you I will need to repeat to Ozpin anyway, she's not going to be leaving Beacon anytime soon" he replied removing his hand from his shoulder as he continued walking.

"Slade..." Ruby breathed out concerned. Slade stopped and looked toward her with a frown on his face, sighing he walked over to her and pulled her into a reassuring hug.

"I promise you everything is going to be okay, no one is going to hurt you or our friends. I promise"