Chapter 22: Shall we Dance?

Criminals and Mentors

It had been a few days since Alan had left, and this time, he had made it clear he wasn't coming back, and Bethany really wasn't in the mood to come to this dance, in fact, she wasn't in the mood to do anything at all. But she knew that Damion and Samantha would have wanted her to come, so she had went out shopping with them, bought a dress which she thought had looked nice, and that was that. She hadn't even bothered to look for a date, to look for a cute boy, she wasn't coming here with anyone, aside from her team. Not that she looked particularly seducing, in her long sapphire blue dress and high heeled boots of the same colour.

There was a long line of people waiting to get in, as the doors hadn't opened yet. Apparently, Team JNPR had helped with preparing for the event, something about team CFVY being late back from a mission or something. But really, she couldn't care less. Alan had practically invaded her mind these past few days. Damion had just told her to forget about him, and move on, but that was proving to be rather difficult.

Why didn't I do more to help him? Why wouldn't he just talk to me? Why-

"Someone seems a bit down." Bethany looked up to see Amy standing in front of her. She was wearing a long sleeveless aqua green dress which trailed down to the ground, and a pair of black high heeled shoes. She looked really stunning.

Of course she does, this is Amy Ivankeo we're talking about here.

"Oh, uh, hey Amy."

"Where are Damion and Samantha? Not here yet?"

"No, they're still getting ready. I said I would go on and wait for them."

"Ah, okay. So, who are you coming with?"

"Nobody. I haven't got a date."

"Oh, really? I would think all the boys would be straight up your alley."

"I guess not. What about you then?"

"Nah, I haven't got a date either. Although I have had some pretty… shall we say, lingering looks thrown my way." She looked over to where a boy with blue hair, dressed in a suit was standing and looking at her. She winked at him, and he looked away again.

"Not that I would date underage boys. That would be weird."

"Is Lily coming too?"

"She most certainly is, but she said something about coming early to help them get set up. Then again, she never has been one for parties. Not a big fan of crowds. I'm not entirely sure she wants to be here."

"I'm not entirely sure I want to be here either."

"Still thinking about Alan?"

"You could say that."

"Seriously Beth, I just don't get why your still thinking about him. I mean, he slashed you along your stomach for goodness sake. It's clear he didn't care, it's clear he didn't want to be here. Just let him go."

"It's just... I feel like I could have done more to help him."

"You can't do much to help a person who didn't want to be helped."

"That's not even the worst bit. The worst bit is that Damion and Samantha just don't seem to care."

"I honestly can't blame them. If one of my teammates was moody, antisocial, and literally challenged a teacher, and then proceeded to stab my leader, I'm not sure I would care about them either."

"But... he was a Faunus."

"That doesn't excuse anything. Do people excuse Adam Taurus for killing loads of human's just because he's a Faunus? No, I don't think so."

"But maybe I could have done something! Maybe I could have got through to him!"

Any put her hand on Bethany's shoulder. "I'll say the same thing again. Alan didn't want to be helped. If we are to assume that he's been treated as badly as some other Faunus, he was already gone, there was no helping him."

"But why would he come to Beacon then, a place populated by humans?"

"Now that, I don't have a answer to. Oh, here comes Damion and Samantha." Bethany looked around her and saw her two teammates. Damion was dressed in a simple black suit and tie, while Samantha was wearing a crimson red dress, stopping just below her knee, decorated with black symbols over it, as well as a pair of matching high heels.

"Hi guys." Samantha said. "You both look really nice."

"Likewise." Amy replied. "I am telling you both, the boys are going to be flocking in numbers to both of you. I'm not so sure about Damion though." She looked him up and down. "Seems a bit boring."

"Hey, there aren't a whole lot of choices for suits!"

"Regardless, the black might be a bit boring. I'm not too sure many girls dig the brown hair black suit look."

"Literally everyone is wearing black."

"Very true. So anyway, are you two going with each other, or what's the deal there?"

"No." Samantha said before Damion could even open his mouth. "We are not going with each other."

"Ah, okay. I'm sure you could still share a dance or two though."

"I can't dance." Damion said. "I would probably injure my partner if I tried to."

"It's not that hard."

"Maybe for you, miss multi talented, but I'm afraid it's pretty hard for me."

"Seriously though, you just move yourself in a nice choreographed pattern, making sure to keep in time with the music, and you'll be grand. It's just like fighting, except in dancing, you aren't trying to hurt the person standing in front of you."

"Okay then, I understand that you are all ladies, and find dancing extremely easy, but I am a man, and men are not as capable on the dance floor as women are."

"Aw." Amy leant forward and patted him on the head. "Don't worry Damion. I'm sure you'll learn some day. Maybe your teammates can teach you how to." She motioned to Bethany and Samantha.

"Hey, I think we can go in now." Bethany said. The doors had opened and people had began to flood in.

They all began to walk towards it, entering into the hall, which was already crowded with people.

"Remember, this is the last day before your missions start." Amy said to them. "So make sure you enjoy yourselves, okay? I'm off to find Lily, I'll see you guys later." She disappeared into the crowd, leaving Bethany, Damion and Samantha standing there.

"Uh, so what do we do now?" Bethany asked.

"Well, it is a party, so let's find something to eat, then we, uh, dance?" Damion said. He shrugged and they began making their way through the crowds of people.

Criminals and Mentors

"Train carts?"

"Check."

"Weapons for the White Fang?"

"Check."

"Highly explosive bombs ready to blow?"

"Check." Daniel and Roman were counting off all the things they needed for running the train into Vale.

"I think that's everything." Daniel said as they watched the White Fang unload more stuff.

"So, do we ride this thing into Vale now?"

"Don't see why-" Roman's scroll began to buzz. He took it out and held it up to his ear. "Hello?" Daniel looked to the side and saw Lucy talking to Luna. He wasn't sure how he felt about Lucy killing Gale. On the one hand, he was a associate of Magnus, the man who caused much of the pain and suffering she had endured. On the other hand, was it really necessary?

Maybe not for you, but for her, it probably was.

But then why had he held her back? Why had he tried to stop her killing him? Was it simply adrenaline? Instinct? Did he think that she shouldn't have killed him? But why would he think that? Did he think his death was unnecessary?

Gale said it himself. He would come after you again, he needed to die.

So then why couldn't he accept that? Why was there this feeling that he should have stopped her sooner? Why did he have this feeling that Gale didn't have to die?

"So, uh, according to Cinder we have to wait a few days apparently." Roman took him out of his thoughts.

"Why exactly?"

"I don't know! She's the boss, I don't question her!"

"Maybe that's the problem. We don't ask her enough questions. I feel like we are entitled to know more about her big bad evil plan. If we did, maybe killing her wouldn't be so hard, because we would know everything."

"Speaking of which, how do you plan to get information to me about our plan to kill Cinder when I'm going to be sitting in a cell?"

"Oh, that's right, you have to get captured, don't you?"

"Yeah. Bit annoying really, I don't fancy sitting in a cell. Not my ideal way to pass the time."

"Understandable."

Daniel's scroll began to vibrate. He took it out and checked what it was. It was a message from Amy.

Hey, do you remember the Beacon dance?

Well, yes, I do.

Guess what I'm at right now?

I don't know. That clue you gave me in the first text was far too subtle. It could be anything.

There was then a picture sent, of Amy with her arm around Lily, standing in front of what appeared to be a punch bowl.

"Is that Amy and Lily?" Roman peered over his shoulder.

"Yes."

"They are two of the most gorgeous looking women I think I've ever seen. You are one lucky man Daniel. You are practically surrounded by women. I'm jealous."

"Trust me Roman. Being surrounded by women is not as great you think it is. They tend to be very…"

"Overprotective? Neo is very protective of me, so I can't even imagine what it's like for you."

"That's certainly one way of putting it. My team were very protective of me at Beacon, and Lucy is also very protective of me." Daniel put his scroll away.

"Who mentioned my name?" Lucy and Luna came striding over.

"Nothing. We were just talking about how Dan is surrounded by women who all care about him very much, and are very protective of him." Roman said.

"Oh yeah, definitely. Nobody hurts my Danny Boy and gets away with it."

"Amy and Lily would probably say the exact same thing." Daniel sighed.

"But he's very protective of his women, so it all evens out."Lucy said.

"I'm not "very" protective."

"Well, look on the bright side" Roman clapped him on the shoulder. "At least you've got… four choices for a girlfriend if your really desperate."

"Lily's my sister Roman." Daniel put his face in his hands.

"Three choices then."

"Amy wouldn't marry me, she would say something cheesy like "Your like a brother to me." And Lucy would probably say the exact same thing."

"What about Luna then?"

"Uhh" Daniel looked down at Luna, who had suddenly turned her head away from him. "Yeah, I think that's a no too."

"Okay, zero choices then. I stand corrected."

"You could always meet a new girl." Lucy suggested.

"I don't need any more girls. I have quite enough."

"Always room for one more."

"My sanity has already been deprived, I don't need it to be destroyed anymore."

Lucy smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "You're the only thing keeping my sanity intact."

Daniel looked down at her, and looked at Roman and Luna.

Oh Lucy, how could I ever be mad at you?

Criminals and Mentors

Come on, where are they?

Damion was in a predicament. He did actually want to dance, really badly. With either Samantha or Bethany. But there was a problem. Not the fact that he didn't know how to dance, but they had both gone missing on him in a desperate search for something to drink.

Where are- Oh, there they are.

Well, one of them at least. He caught a flash of pink hair at the edge of the crowd, and shoved his way through towards it.

Dear me, there are a lot of people here. Why would they pile everyone in here at the same time?

There was actually a lot of room, it's just that Damion seemed to like to put himself in a position where he was getting squashed alive. Pulling himself through, he walked over to Bethany, who was sitting at a table with a drink in her hand, staring out the window.

How can someone look so beautiful and so unbelievably miserable at the same time?

"Hey, are you alright?"

"W-What? Oh, yeah, sure, I'm fine."

"Bethany" He sat down across from her. "I know in the grand scheme of things that we haven't known each other for that long, but don't pull the "I'm fine" card on me, whenever I can clearly see that you are not fine. It's about Alan isn't it?"

"Maybe." She sniffled a bit. "I just think-"

"Don't say it. "I should have done more to help him." There is nothing you could have-"

"Don't say that! Amy said the same thing, and your both wrong!" She slammed her drink onto the table and took a shaky breath. "Your both wrong."

Damion stood up and walked around to her. He offered her a hand. "Maybe a dance would make you feel a bit better?" She stared at his open palm.

"I thought you said you couldn't dance."

"Well, in that case, you'll get a good laugh from me stumbling around." He smiled down at her. She stared up at him, and then took his hand. He lead her onto the dance floor as the music changed to a soft piano tune.

Okay Damion, just focus on not stepping on her toes, and we should be fine.

Very slowly, they began to dance. The piano continued to play as Damion focused entirely on not falling over.

You can do this, you can do this...Step left, then step right, then step left, then step right. Ah, this isn't so bad.

He looked to the side, and recognised Samantha immediately, standing there in her crimson red dress, matching her hair really nicely. He was really regretting not looking for a nicer suit.

And in that brief moment of distraction, he accidentally stumbled. Stumbled briefly, and tumbled over backwards, letting go of Bethany so she wouldn't go tumbling down with him. He hit a nearby table with the back of his head, and crashed to the floor.

That wasn't in the plan.

Now, he had just made a fool of himself.

"Oh god, Damion, are you okay?" Bethany was bent over him, and she put a hand around his back.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think." He stood back up. "Sorry."

"No, your okay. Your fine. I... I was actually kind of enjoying that. If you don't want to do it again-"

"Nah, let's try it again. I think I've got it this time." They took to the dance floor again.

Just do the same thing, but don't look at anyone else.

They began to dance again. The same piano tune was playing in the background, and he made sure that this time, he didn't stumble or trip.

This.. this is really nice.

He didn't remember ever actually dancing with a girl before, nor did he remember ever being this close to one before aside from his mum, so close that there skin was touching, so close that he could practically feel her breath on her neck, so close that-

Whoa, whoa, slow down there a bit. Your not here to try and seduce her, or confess your eternal love for her. Your just trying to make her feel a bit better. Don't get ahead of yourself.

But that didn't stop it from being a nice feeling. He was enjoying himself a lot. Dancing really wasn't as hard as he had made it out too be. Amy had been right.

They continued like that for a few minutes, bodies moving with the music, in a nice simple motion, nothing too complicated. They didn't try anything fancy, no twirls or anything like that. Just a nice simple motion...

Damon's peaceful mood was disturbed when he felt something wet on his shoulder. Confused, he looked down. He noticed what it was very quickly.

Bethany was crying. She had practically buried her face into his shoulder, and tears were running down her face.

"Beth, what's wrong?" They had stopped moving now, and he was quickly taking her away from everyone else. Samantha had noticed what was going on, and rushed over.

"Hey, what happened? Damion, what-"

"I don't know." He let go of her and she practically fell back into a chair, head in hands, crying.

"Bethany?" Samantha knelt down in front of her and put her hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I-I don't, I don't understand, why Alan just left."

"Because he didn't think he belonged here."

"That can't just be it! Why wouldn't he let me help him? Why did he, why did he..." She looked down at herself, and ran her hands along the area he had slashed her.

"Oh Bethany." Samantha drew her into a hug, and began rubbing her hand up and down her back. "You need to understand. Alan is gone and he's not coming back. There's nothing we can do about that."

"And besides" Damion said. "Maybe it's for the best that he left before he hurt someone else."

"I-I suppose. I just wish that I could have helped him become a better person. He was a Faunus, and he was so hateful and spiteful of everyone, aside from other Faunus, like when he would talk with Blake."

"Welp, he's gone now. All we can do is accept that we couldn't do anything." Damion said.

"Yeah, I guess your right." She lowered her head down, her hair falling over her face. Samantha kept her hand on her back, rubbing it gently.

Criminals and Mentors

"I am getting so nostalgic right now, it's not even funny." Amy was sitting next to Lily on one of the many chairs sitting around the place. Lily was wearing the long black dress that they had bought when they were out with Daniel and Lucy. "This reminds me so much of when we were attending here."

"Agreed. The dance was always really fun."

"I thought you weren't a fan of crowds."

"I'm… not, but you're here, so it's fine."

"Aww." Amy drew her into a friendly headlock. "Always nice to know my company is appreciated."

"You have a real effect on people, you know?"

"Of course I know that!" She ruffled her hair affectionately and let her go. "Especially on the people I care about. You want to know something?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really surprised none of the male students, especially the older ones, haven't asked me to dance with them." She looked around the hall.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm not trying to be egotistical or anything, but I reckon I look really nice. Definite crush for most seventeen to twenty one year old boys. Loads of them have been staring at me, but none of them have asked to dance."

"Maybe because a student dancing with teacher would be rather… inappropriate?"

"Maybe if it was a fifty year old something teacher, but I'm not that much older than the students. What about you?" She leaned over and put her arm around Lily. "If one of those males were to walk up to you and say "Lily Silva, may I have the honour of dancing with such a lovely women like yourself?", what would you say?"

"I would politely decline. Knowing you, you would probably accept."

"That depends."

"This is you were talking about."

"True."

Oh baby, it's time to make up your mind-

"Hey, look down there." Lily pointed. "There's a dance going on. Like, a proper team dance."

Amy looked down. "Why is that guy wearing a dress?" She was referring to Jaune Arc, who was currently pulling off a really well done synchronised dance.

"Good question."

"People are clapping for them? That's the worst dance I've ever seen."

"Reckon you could do better?"

"I think I might put my money where my mouth is." Amy stood up and set her drink down. "Don't touch that and don't look away." She grinned at Lily. "You are not going to want to miss this." Amy began to walk towards the jukebox that was set up in the corner, which was connected to the speakers, and music was blaring from them. Literally no one seemed to notice this jukebox, and just let whatever terrible songs there were play. It was a bit questionable as to why they would just leave it out for people to mess around with, but this was Beacon, the same school where you could smash the canteen up, and no one would bat a eye.

Get that stupid lovey dovey stuff off. She began to mess around with the channels, and there was several different changes in music all of a sudden, leading to a whole load of confusion in the room.

And... there we go. She switched it round to a upbeat jazz song with a pretty catchy tune. She then turned around and noticed that several people were looking at her. Smirking at them, she walked straight into the middle of the dance floor.

Time to steal this show.

Criminals and Mentors

What's she going to do? Lily was watching from the question of what Amy was going to do was a rhetorical one. She knew exactly what she was going to do. And there was a part of Lily that secretly hoped she tripped and fell on her face. That would be funny.

Amy was going to start dancing with all these people watching her. Lily admired that, the fact she was willing to do that despite the risk of public embarrassment if she did mess it up.

But you know she's not going to mess it up. This was Amy after all. She was near perfect, and Lily was extremely jealous of that. Amy was everything that Lily wasn't. Good looking, sassy, witty, and a constant drive to do the most dorky things, not caring about what anybody thought of her. The best thing about it was, she didn't even act all smarmy about it. Amy knew that she was all these things, yet, she didn't put other people down because of it. Behind that sarky, smartass attitude lay a generally kind and caring person who only wanted the best for her friends.

And her students. Lily looked to the side to see Bethany, Damion, and Samantha. Bethany had her head in her hands, and Samantha had her arm around her. Damion was standing next to them.

Poor Bethany. She must still be thinking about Alan…

That ungrateful wretch. It wasn't the fact that he had challenged her, it was the fact that he then had the nerve to literally cut his own team leader. But he was gone now, and that's all that mattered.

Casting a final glance at Amy, who was standing in the middle of a crowd of people, Lily began to make her way over to the three of them. She had hoped to just stand in her original position for basically the entire dance, but she wanted to check that Bethany was okay, and besides, it would be great to see their reactions to what Amy was about to do.

Aw man. I hate this part. She tried to shimmy her way through the crowd of people, and bumped into someone immediately.

"Sorry!" He didn't even acknowledge her. She then walked backwards into some other women.

"Oh, sorry!" This was literally so bad. She hated this so much! Luckily, she managed to pull her way through with minimal fuss. She walked over to Damion.

"Is she…okay?"

"I dunno. I guess Alan leaving effects her more than we thought it would."

"Maybe. Hey guys, look over at where Amy is." She pointed over to where Amy was standing. Samantha casted her gaze over, and Bethany raised her head. From where they were sitting, they had a pretty clear view of her.

"Why? What is she going to do?" Lily smiled at Damion.

"Your about to find out." They continued to watch as Amy started to dance.

She started off by sliding her front foot forward, and putting her other foot in front of it, and continued that motion for a few steps, albeit in a very dramatic fashion. The music continued as she threw her arms out in a very exuberant manner and spun around in a circle. It was very well choreographed and delivered in a really fancy and over the top way. Everyone seemed memorised by it. Lily sighed and put her hand on her hip.

That's my Amy.

She continued throwing her arms out in a manner of different ways, and moving about the area she was in. Her hair was flying about her face like it had taken on a life of it's own, and she ran her hand through it at one point really slowly. It was all so melodramatic, and that's what made it so enjoyable. The music really added to it, as the beat seemed to match every little move she made, even something as simple as a flick of the hand.

"Where did she learn to dance like that?" Damion was in shock and awe.

Doing a one eighty degree turn, Amy then began moonwalking. In high heels. Now that was something all together. How she did that was a whole different topic of it's own. People had begun to cheer loudly.

Spinning on her feet, she threw her arms out to the side, and then leaned over backwards, hands by her side, face pointing up to the sky, and flicked her hair so it hung all over her face. Straightening herself up, she then lifted up her arms and pointed to the side, and stayed in that position for a moment.

"Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call a dance." She announced loudly. Everyone began clapping like mad and cheering. She bowed, and then made her way through the crowd towards Lily and the others.

"That was amazing!" Damion threw his arms up in the air.

"Thanks. I've wanted to do something like that for a long time." She grinned at him and looked over to Bethany and Samantha.

"You alright Beth?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I wish I could dance like that."

"How do you moonwalk in high heels?!" Damion was simple astounded.

"Like how you would moonwalk in any other shoes?"

"But… they have that pointy bit on the bottom. I don't think it would really work."

"Are you a girl? Do you wear high heels?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Exactly. You can't say anything about how it wouldn't work because you don't wear them."

"I don't know." Samantha said. "I do think it would be extremely difficult."

"Oh yeah, no doubt. You would probably break your ankles if you try. It's taken several years, several tumbles and bruises, but I did eventually manage to learn it."

"That is some dedication." Damion commented.

"It sure is." Amy and Damion continued to talk while Lily turned to Bethany.

"Hey, are you sure your alright?"

"I…" Bethany sighed. "What's even the point in telling you? Your just going to say the same thing Damion and Amy said to me. Alan didn't care, you should just let him go, bla bla bla, there's nothing you could have done."

"Bethany, look at me." She raised her head and looked at Lily. "I know what it's like to feel as if you didn't do enough to help one of your teammates. I know what it feels like to watch them walk away and know there's nothing you can do to bring them back."

Especially when that person is your brother… But at least Lily had got Daniel back. Bethany was probably never going to get the opportunity to see Alan again, to try and understand him.

Lily gingerly reached forward and put her arms around Bethany, drawing her into a hug. She looked over to the side and saw that Damion had attempted to do the moonwalk, and Amy had to basically catch him as he failed miserably and toppled over backwards. Samantha was pointing at him and laughing.

"What is most important is that you remember that there are still people here who care about you, and I'm sure will be more than happy to help you. It's going to be hard, but in times like these, this is when you find the people who care about you the most."

The window behind them revealed the sky, the broken moon shining bright in the sky.

"The people who will keep moving forward and won't leave you behind."

Criminals and Mentors

I just noticed the other day that the Volume 7 finale will be going up on the 5th anniversary of Monty's death. Not sure whether it's a coincidence or they planned it like that, but the finale of this volume is going to be big, I can guarantee that.

Thanks for reading and have a good day!