Reloaded: Fuel

Ruby Rose stood on the stage in front of their entire year of students at Beacon. She held the microphone in her hand up to her mouth to speak. She had prepared a speech as she was one of the top students in their year. She'd been chosen to hand out the commendations. She had no idea what she was doing.

"Yes, yes! Wow! Thank you! Thank you all! What a wonderful crowd! Nice to see everybody out there today!" The polite applause that she'd walked on stage to died down. "Eh… Hi, how are you, hope you're having a good night. My name is Ruby Rose and… hmm, I don't think I've ever eaten a fish."

The only laugh in the crowd sounded like Yang.

"Well, I'm here to tell you all what a wonderful job we've all done this year. We have two more years of Beacon ahead of us, and I hope things go just as smoothly as they have so far. Various actual villains messing around with our dreams to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, the occasional Grimm incursion into Vale, and our excellent performances at the Vytal Festival. We're all still here. None the worse for wear. What a bunch of heroes we're gonna be, am I right?"

Nora shouted from the back. "Stop telling us we're awesome and prove it!"

"Okay! Here we go!" Ruby took the microphone over to a table set up with ten awards. She picked up a stack of envelopes that contained the names of the various award winners. She opened the first one and read off the name. "First award, for excessive damage to things no one has to pay to replace, like trees and rocks and stuff, is Dave Mustard of team JADE."

The redheaded boy got up on stage amongst much cheering and clapping. He accepted the award that Ruby handed to him. She held out the mic for him. "Thank you so much. All I can say is that it was more fun than it was work. Thank you!"

Ruby grabbed his sleeve before he could return to the crowd. "You gotta introduce the next person. I'll hold the mic."

She opened the next envelope and held it up for him. "For top marks in Grimm identification, Russel Thrush of team CRDL!"

And so it continued, with Ruby getting each winner to announce the next. Russel read off. "The next award is for, uh, excellence in team leadership. The award goes to Jaune Arc of team JNPR."

Jaune waved at the cameras that were in the back, recording the event. "Hi Mom!" Ruby shoved the paper in his face. "Oh, um… for investigative brilliance in the field, bringing justice to wrongdoers, none other than our own Ruby Rose of team RWBY!"

Ruby checked the paper. "Woah, really? Um… I guess I'm handing it off." As Jaune departed from the stage, Ruby opened the next envelope. "Okay, for pure mastery of your weapon, the award is for Gary Blue of team TANG."

Gary jumped onto the stage from the crowd, slamming his giant tube-like weapon onto the floor. It was taller than him. "Myself and Corridors Of Power accept!" Ruby, who had placed her award back on the table, held out the next paper for him to read. "For unarmed combative capability, the next award goes to Lie Ren of team JNPR."

Ren, on the stage, only bowed to his classmates. He took the next envelope and opened it himself. "For Grimm kill count, the next award is for Nora Valkyrie of team JNPR."

Nora wouldn't let Ren leave until she was done. "An award for tournament performance! The winner is none other than Yang Xiao Long!"

Yang pumped her fist into the air. "Alright, everybody, hold onto your butts! Here's our second to last award! For highest grades in the classroom, confirmed by every one of our teachers, it's my teammate Weiss Schnee! You did it, Ice Queen!"

Weiss rolled her eyes at the special attention, but joined Ruby and Yang up on stage. The three of them opened the final envelope and read it together. Ruby smiled. "This award is for overall excellence."

Yang grinned. "For standing by your team and friends and defending the innocent against the evils of the world!"

Weiss picked up the award. "Our most esteemed classmate and all around greatest student in our year, Pyrrha Nikos!"

Pyrrha was practically thrown onto the stage by her team. She accepted the award and took the microphone from Weiss. "Thank you. Thank you very much. To all of you out there and to our wonderful teachers and professors-"

"And Doctor!" Doctor Oobleck's voice came from nowhere, echoing around the room.

Pyrrha smiled. "Yes, to all the faculty at Beacon and to all our families. Thank you so very much. You all know me and know where I'm coming from, a place where I was always the winner, so it might not seem like so much of a surprise that I was given this award, but I can tell you all one thing for sure. It has never been so close. Every single one of you is at the top of the game, and I'm sure it was no easy feat for the judges to select only ten of us for the awards. I don't believe in participation awards, but believe me when I say every last one of you deserves recognition for all your hard work. And, truth be told, no award should be the reason for our striving to better ourselves. It should only ever be with the thought that there are people out there we can help with our training. With our strength and our power. We are the defenders of this world. Not for glory, but for peace."

She was met with thunderous applause.

With one last bow, the four girls left the stage. Then, without any warning, two others appeared on stage. Melanie and Miltia.

"Prepare for troub-BLECK!"

Melanie put away the fan she'd used to smack her twin and stepped up to the mic. "Most of you don't know me and my sister very well, but we know every one of you has met us. We went around and got your votes for this next award! That's right, a popular vote! You all remember taking part."

Miltia leaned in. "The two of us have been staying here for the past week, and when we learned that this party was going to take place, we knew we had to do something for it."

Melanie produced a tiara. "And so we shall crown the queen of the party, by most popular vote. The party queen!"

Miltia pointed into the crowd. "The winner is the beautiful and elegant dark beau Blake Belladonna!"

Blake's ears went flat. "WHAT?!"

Yang patted her back. "We can't leave you without a victory tonight, can we? Go get it! We all voted for you!"

Nora looked at Ren. "Did we all vote for her?"

Ren looked away, blushing. "I exercise my right to remain silent on the grounds it may incriminate me."

Jaune watched as Yang practically carried Blake to the stage. He leaned over to Cardin. "Who did you guys vote for?"

Cardin shrugged. "My team didn't coordinate our votes, so I only know mine. My vote was for Yang."

"Huh… interesting."

Melanie and Miltia squeezed Blake in a hug between them. The tiara was placed on her head. The entire crowd cheered. Blake didn't know how to act in the light of this revelation. She wasn't sure what being the party queen meant. All she knew was that she'd voted for Nora. She hadn't anticipated any of this happening. It was wholly beyond her ability to properly comprehend.

Weiss and Ruby started chanting from the crowd. "Speech! Speech! Speech!"

Melanie and Miltia stepped aside, letting Blake have the microphone to herself. The rest of the crowd followed her teammates' example and began chanting along with them. She was expected to say something… what? Profound? They knew better than to think this would end well, didn't they? They should have known how embarrassing this was for her. She didn't know where to start.

"This is… certainly not the award I thought I'd be getting tonight. I don't know who all voted for me and I definitely don't know why. I guess… I guess I didn't realize just how much this place, this school, had become my home. In just two years, I found a new family, and that's all of-" Her eyes landed on Cardin. "Most. Most of you. Well… okay, I guess we all have that brother or uncle that we don't like."

Ruby shouted up at her. "Speak for yourself! My uncle is awesome!"

"Well, whatever. I suppose you could say that every one of us earned our place here, in this family. It wasn't always easy, but when the time came we stood together. I think I speak for all of us when I say I wouldn't think twice about trusting any one of you with my life."

The twins, having determined she was finished, grabbed her and hauled her off the stage. The DJ put on the first song, and the dance began. Blake found herself gravitating towards the back of the room. She'd been the center of attention enough for one night. Or one year. She wanted to tear the tiara off her head, but she resisted. She didn't want to pull any of her hair out, and it felt like it was clinging on pretty tight.

She was standing next to one of the smaller doors at the side when the door opened and Velvet Scarlatina stepped in. She smiled at Blake. "Hey, having fun?" She saw the tiara. "Oh, you are!"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Ugh. This wasn't my idea. What are you doing here?"

"Well," Velvet explained, "Coco and Yatsuhashi went home after our year's party. They'll be back for the start of our final year at Beacon. Fox is reading that book you suggested."

Nora appeared beside them. "Hey, what are you two up to? Wait, Velvet, you're not in our year." She gasped. "Is our senpai here to congratulate us?"

"Senpai?" Velvet shook her head. "No, actually, I'm glad you asked. I thought I saw someone… let's say 'questionable' come in here."

Blake looked around, peering through the crowd for anything unusual. "What do you mean by 'questionable'?"

Yang was so focused on the party and having fun that it had slipped her mind, but now she was taking a second look. The songs had stopped for a break, and people had started doing karaoke. She followed the DJ out to the hallway and caught up with them.

"Hey, I know you, don't I?" They turned around to face her, not saying a thing. "Ah, I knew it! Melanie and Militia called in a favor from Junior, didn't they! You're the DJ from his club! I have to go thank them."

The bear-masked DJ spoke. "Actually, Yang… I'm not his usual DJ. I'm here on my own account."

Yang blinked, surprised. She remembered Junior's DJ being distinctly male, but the voice she was hearing was absolutely not. She looked a bit lower than the mask to see the size and shape of a chest one would expect from a woman. She did recognize the voice, though. "Who are you?"

She reached up and pulled the bear mask off with a popping sound. Long red hair settled around her shoulders. She smiled back with silver eyes. "Take a guess, Goldilocks."

"Mo- …Summer? But… I… how… why are you a DJ?"

And as Winter ends, Spring comes. A new year for us, a new beginning. Why, this will be incredible, won't it? New friends, new faces, and a new adventure.

Say it with me.

Next: Carpe Diem Baby