A.N. Alrighty, I'm so sorry that this chapter has taken so long to write. Finals and then family stuff and then starting school again really makes it hard to get anything done. But hey! It's time for the next chapter! It's time for some fun! I tried to follow along the style of suits in the show (Red edges on suits?) so that Michael was similar to the others, though he has his own flair, obviously. Anyway, please read and review.
Blake watched as Sun fiddled with his tie, muttering about a "stupid neck trap". With a quiet chuckle, she walked towards him. Sun paused and looked back to see Blake in a beautiful purple dress with a matching purple bow on her head. As she walked towards him and grabbed his arm, he found himself doubting if he was actually this lucky. "So, are we going together?" he asked.
"Technically," Blake replied. "Though my first dance is taken, and if Michael manages to show up, he owes me a dance as well."
"Ah," Sun answered. "Fucking dammit. Of course I'm not that lucky," he thought. "Who's the first dance for though, if not Michael?"
Yang stood at the podium at the front of the podium. The doors opened, drawing her attention. "Oh you look beautiful!" She squealed. Ruby rubbed the back of her head nervously as Yang took in her cute red dress.
"We need to have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these," Ruby complained. She took a few steps forward and stumbled. Yang laughed gently at her sister as she watched. Her dress was a white dress that resembled Ruby's. A simple yet beautiful garment to wear.
As the two talked, the door opened again, revealing Blake and Sun to be at the door. Yang waved to the pair and Ruby tried to keep her balance. Blake gave Ruby a reassuring smile at her plight while Sun snickered. "You look beautiful," Yang gushed as she extended her hand.
"Thank you. You do as well," Blake replied as she took her hand. The two walked off to the dance floor and began to waltz to the music, leaving a confused Sun and a stumbling Ruby.
"What just happened?" Sun asked.
"Yang claimed Blake's first dance," Ruby answered as she stood up straight with visible strain towards keeping her balance.
As such watched the two girls dance, he couldn't deny that Yang was also very beautiful. "Y'know, I'm not even mad," he finally answered.
"Mind out of the gutter, Sun," Ruby drawled as she tried to walk towards the punch bowl.
Jaune waited at the Bullhead docks, nervously rocking on his heels. He heard laughing behind him and turned to see Cardin and his team laughing. "Hey Jauney boy! You get stood up?" The others laughed with Cardin while Jaune rolled his eyes and looked back out into the distance. He had carefully cleaned his suit and made sure to do his best to make it immaculate in appearance. His black suit was embellished with red edges with a nice clean gray waistcoat that held his white shirt that he had carefully ironed free of all wrinkles. A red bow tie completed the look making his clothing look clean and professional, while his hair was still unruly, though not too bad. He tuned out the laughter behind him and heard the dull hum of the Bullhead approaching with guests. At least, they should be approaching with guests. There seemed to be only a few others there waiting for a guest. Where was Ren? He was going to help him out.
As the bullhead approached, he looked at his scroll for the hundredth time in the last hour. A message dinged on the scroll and Jaune saw it was from Ren.
R- Hey Jaune, I'm going to be late to the docks. Nora couldn't find her other shoe. And kept getting distracted. We found it so we're on our way.
Jaune groaned and gave an amused smile. Of course Nora would lose a shoe. His train of thought was distracted as the bullhead touched down, letting the engines power down as the ramp down was extended. As the doors opened, Jaune saw two beautiful women begin walking down the ramp, one in a beautiful blood red dress while the other wore a dress such a faint blue it was almost white. Their faces twin images of each other, their hair carefully done to perfection and makeup accenting their beauty. Jaune's mouth fell open as he found himself unable to speak. Behind him, muttering and whisperings could be heard from others who had seen the two. Questions about who they were going with, compliments to their appearance, self deprecating comments in comparison, all of these could be heard to all except Jaune, who couldn't focus on anything except for the twins who walked straight up to him and gave him a smile.
"C'mon Jaune, don't tell me we broke you," Melanie said with a smile as she fiddled with her blue dress.
When Jaune didn't answer, Miltia laughed. "Well, we definitely did well to get that reaction."
"Well now," the arrogant voice of Cardin cut in. "What are you two beauties doing with a loser like Jauney boy?" He gave the two of them a lecherous smile. "Especially when you could be with someone like me?"
Jaune snapped out of his thoughts and glared at Cardin. He opened his mouth to argue but was stopped by Miltia's hand on his hand out of Cardin's sight. "Oh really?" Melanie asked with a dazzling smile. "Someone like you?" She stepped forwards and placed her hand on his chest seductively before her smile turned dark. "You have such arrogance." She slammed her heel down onto Cardin's foot eliciting a shout of pain as the sharp heel dug into his foot. Cardin stumbled back and leaned up against a lightpost holding his foot.
Miltia then left Jaune's side and walked over to Cardin, adopting a false sorrowful look. "I'm sorry about my sister. She's a bit rough." She then circled around the light post in a slow stroll. "But she's right. You're an arrogant prick." She then walked away and went back to Jaune and Melanie.
Cardin groaned in pain. "You two are bitches," he snarled.
"I'd watch your mouth," Melanie said with a smirk. "Especially one who's dressed like you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cardin snarled as he stood straight up. He was promptly answered by his pant's falling around his legs, his belt completely missing from his waist. He shrieked in embarrassment and hurriedly pulled up his pants. Others laughed at his plight as Cardin fearfully looked around for his belt. He then took a step and fell to the ground, his legs entangled in his own belt. As Cardin fell, there was an audible sound of the ripping of fabric as a huge tear opened in the seat of his pants and all the way down the leg of his pants.
Jaune watched in awe as the usual confident Cardin was completely replaced by a flustered, embarrassed Cardin. Cardin ran from the docks, trying to hold his destroyed pants in some way to preserve a modicum of modesty. Jaune then noticed the stealthy blade in the bottom of Melanie's heel and another small one held by Miltia. "How did you manage that?" Jaune asked.
The twins winked at him and both kissed his cheeks. "Trade secret," they laughed. "When assholes try to hit on you, you learn ways to make their lives hell."
Jaune laughed at the statement. "Well then, I know not to get on your bad side." He offered an arm to each of the twins. "Shall we head to the dance?" Melanie hooked her arm around his right while Miltia took his left. The trio walked towards the dance hall, unheeding of the glares and awe filled looks sent their way.
Michael devoured another chicken whole and looked down at his legs, or rather, lack thereof. He had barely enough muscle tissue to make the legs, but he was without enough bone material unfortunately. If he were to go as he was, he'd end up being a foot shorter than normal and that would not be ideal. With a sigh, he reached over and pressed the call button on his bedside. He drained another gallon of milk and waited for the elderly nurse to come.
"Yes?" the elderly nurse asked as she walked into the room.
"Could I possibly have some crutches?" Michael asked.
The nurse blinked. "Crutches?" She shook her head. "If you think for one moment you're going to the dance, you're sadly mistaken. You're missing your legs. What kind of nurse would I be if I just let you try and crawl out of here, crutches or no." She shuffled off muttering about blasted teenagers.
Michael sighed with frustration. He looked down at his legs again and tried to stretch the bone farther. He already knew it wouldn't hold. Idly he looked around and saw the metal chair in the corner. It had sturdy metal legs. He got an idea and a smirk grew on his face. As his arm darkened and elongated, the fingers formed together into a blade of bone. "Well, let's see how my metalworking is."
Jane walked into the dance hall with both the twins. Ren and Nora were both late to the dance, but he did see several team RWBY members having fun. Blake was dancing with Sun, Ruby was drinking punch and talking with her sister, and Weiss was… sitting alone. "I thought Weiss had someone she was going to ask," Jaune wondered to himself. He then shrugged. Weiss was a very capable person. If she didn't have a date, she must have not wanted one. More likely odds were that her date was in the bathroom or something.
As a slow waltz played, Melanie gently pushed him towards Miltia. "I have to take off these blades before we dance, I don't want to cause any accidents. Miltia can have the first dance." Jaune nodded, glad he wasn't being forced to choose between them. As Miltia and Jaune danced, he saw Yang giving him two thumbs up with a surprised yet happy smile on her face.
A shout of jubilation distracted him for a moment, allowing him a glance at Ren and Nora as they walked into the hall, well, Nora more skipping than walking. Ren had a soft smile on his face at her excitement and was dressed in a stylish suit of his own while Nora was wearing a cute pink dress. He idly noted that he hadn't seen Pyrrha yet before Miltia caught his attention with a soft smile.
"What're you thinking about?" She asked. "Don't tell me you're thinking of my sister while I'm right here with you."
"No, of course not," Jaune answered with a chuckle. "I was just wondering about the rest of my team."
"Ah," she said in understanding. "The mark of a true leader. Caring for his team."
"I still don't really know why Ozpin thought I should be leader," he muttered.
"Well if you lead your team anything like how you lead in dance, they're in good hands," Miltia said with a smile as Jaune softly spun her in place to the music, earning him a soft laugh. "Where did you learn to dance?" Miltia asked.
"I have seven sisters," Jaune answered. "You end up being a prop for them to learn things such as dancing." He winced. "Sometimes being used as a punching bag as well."
Miltia chuckled. "Well, I'm only planning on dancing with you right now, so you're safe on that subject."
As the song finished, Jaune and Miltia walked back to the side to meet up with Melanie. When he was given another pair of kisses from the twins, he smiled. Tonight was turning out rather well already.
"Has Mr. Grimm asked for more food?" A nurse asked another. "It's been awhile since he asked for any."
"I don't know," the other said. "Honestly, the amount he's eaten already is well past what I thought possible. Perhaps he's finally full."
"Best to check anyways," the first said as they walked towards the room. As the door was opened, they were greeted by stacked empty plates, several empty gallons of milk stacked in the recycling, and a carefully made bed. "This is his room, but where'd he go?"
The second nurse eyed the open window. "Was that always open?"
Neptune stood at the balcony, mentally cursing himself for even showing up. Weiss Schnee had asked him to be her date, and he had told her no. He told Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, gifted fighter, and well known beauty from Atlas, no. And now, he was regretting it. His insecurity had reared its ugly head and he'd rejected her. "Fuck me," he muttered. He couldn't even bring himself to try to get into the ballroom, cause then he'd have to see her sitting there. Alone. Because of him. And that would be worse than him trying and failing to dance, making a mockery of himself. It didn't help that Jaune was clearly dancing with the two twins that he had met at the club, and they were obviously enjoying themselves. He was definitely skilled at dancing, that was sure.
Looking out over the balcony, he noticed a figure hanging out of the infirmary window. "The hell?" he wondered aloud as he squinted, trying to more clearly focus on the figure in the distance. The figure dropped from the window, falling three floors and landing on the ground in a crouch that was somehow relaxed, yet heavy, almost as if the body was heavier than normal. In the darkness, he couldn't quite make out who it was. A crash of broken glass distracted him for a moment as someone dropped their glass, and when he looked back out, he could no longer find the figure.
Michael straightened his suit coat and pushed open the doors to the hall. He wore a pristine white shirt with a black and red patterned vest that seemed similar to grim markings. His blood red tie was tied with a stylish eldritch knot and carefully centered at his throat. His suit was black silk with golden trim at the edges where other student's had red. On his wrist, he wore an expensive gold watch that could become a long thin knife if he needed. His belt held a similar knife hidden in the belt buckle. One never knew when a knife could come in handy. His carefully ironed suit pants and polished black dress shoes completed the ensemble. He ran his fingers through his messy hair, pushing it back as he scanned the room.
He saw Ruby and Yang at the punch bowl, Blake dancing with Sun, but didn't see Weiss. Looking for team JNPR, he saw Jaune dancing with the twins and Ren and Nora dancing together, but he couldn't see Pyrrha anywhere either. He frowned slightly at the absence of the two of them. He would have thought that Pyrrha would have a date, and while Weiss is cold to most others and would have been looking for a date close to the dance date, he would have thought her to ask Neptune to the dance if no one else.
Finally he saw Weiss sitting off to the side, looking beautiful as always, but this time in a pristine white dress instead. She was trying to look disinterested as she watched the couples dance with a small, wistful smile. Michael smiled at her and stealthily moved around the edge of the room without anyone noticing he was even in the room. Just another faceless guest in the crowd as everyone focused on themselves and their companions. As he approached Weiss, he subtly sent her a message. The ding from her scroll drew her attention as he walked towards her.
"Surprise?" Weiss muttered.
Michael extended his hand and bowed towards Weiss, who still hadn't noticed him even though he was only two feet away. "Weiss Schee," he spoke with a smile. "May I have this dance?"
"No, thank you. I-" Weiss cut off as she looked up to see the smiling face of Michael. "Michael?" She asked with wide eyes. "What are you- How are you here?" She asked as she took his hand, allowing him to lead her onto the floor where a slow waltz was playing.
As the two danced, Weiss' shock was replaced with happiness. Michael was a very good dancer, and Weiss had obviously been taught how to dance because her father would not have her lacking in any social skills that could be used in any of their upper echelon social circles. She was surprised at his skill, but was happy when he expertly led her into a turn before returning to the basic step. As they continued, the two moved on to more complicated movements, allowing Weiss to use more of her skill than she had expected to use at a school dance. Michael, in return was given beautiful smiles from Weiss as well as a few laughs as he led her through more complicated movements. As the song finally ended. The slightly flushed pair walked off the floor, heedless of the clapping that a few people gave as they had recognized and appreciated the skill the pair had.
Michael ladled two cups of punch from the bowl and handed one to Weiss. "Y'know," he began. "I'm glad that we got to have that dance, but who's the date of yours I'm going to have to worry about?"
Weiss frowned. "There is no one to worry about." She took another sip of punch. "I came alone."
Michael raised his eyebrows. Had everyone already gotten a date by that point? "I'm sorry for being late then."
Weiss scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about? You didn't even have legs a few days ago! I'm just glad that you're here." She then sighed. "However, I can imagine that the others are going to want a dance with you as well."
"Are they?" Michael asked with raised eyebrow.
"Yes," Weiss answered. "But they can only get one. You're MY date," she smiled at him with that and grabbed his tie, pulling him down to her as she kissed him on the lips before letting him go. "Got it?" She asked with a smirk.
"Yes Ma'am," Michael replied with a slightly stunned smile. "But until one of them asks, I would be amiss to leave my date unattended."
Weiss rolled her eyes as a fond smile graced her lips. "Of course, you Dunce," she answered. "But it looks like someone else is already over here to steal a dance."
Michael glanced over his shoulder to see Ruby trying and failing to walk quickly towards the two, her heels causing her to stumble every couple steps. "Michael!" She called before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "You're okay!"
"Hey Ruby," Michael answered with a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Have you ever worn heels before?" Weiss asked Ruby.
"No," Ruby whined. "And I hate them! How do you fight in these?" She asked.
"Practice," Weiss answered. "Though they do hurt after a while." She took another sip of punch. "Is that why you aren't dancing?" She asked while glancing at Michael.
"Ummmm kinda?" Ruby answered, rubbing the back of her head with a slightly embarrassed smile. "But I'm also just socially awkward. Yang never lets me forget that."
"Do you know how to dance?" Weiss asked with a face palm. Honestly, her team leader was so uncouth.
"Kinda?" Ruby replied. "I mean, I've seen it, but I'm not- I can't- I haven't really tried," she looked down at her feet. "And no one's really taught me."
Weiss sighed. "Well someone needs to teach you the basics at least." Ruby awkwardly poked her index fingers together as she blushed. "Michael, would you like to teach her? I wouldn't have the patience to try and teach her."
Michael looked at Weiss with confusion. She would just let Ruby claim a dance with him like that? No fuss, but almost handing it to her on a silver platter? "Could you, Michael?" Ruby asked him with hope.
When he didn't answer immediately Weiss scoffed. "I already told you that others would ask you for a dance. They can each have one, remember? This is hers." She looked at her nails with a haughty expression. She then looked at Ruby with a firm unspoken statement that she could have one only.
"Of course. Ruby Rose, may I have this dance?" Michael asked with a slight bow. Ruby flushed slightly and took his hand, letting herself be led onto the dancefloor. The music was playing another slow waltz and Michael took the time to help Ruby find the rhythm of the music to accompany her steps. When she stumbled on her heels for the fourth time in three measures of music, she finally just kicked her heels off in exasperation, choosing to dance in her stocking clad feet.
Weiss watched the two dance for a few seconds before walking towards the balcony that she had seen Neptune hiding on. She had a slight ulterior motive for letting Ruby have a dance with so little resistance, of that she could admit to herself. If Michael hadn't shown up, she would have just been by herself the whole dance, which was disappointing in itself, but she had also been turned down by Neptune. Why? He had clearly attempted to flirt with her, so why had he rejected her? Did he just want to play with her emotions? If so, he was getting slapped, that's for sure.
Ruby was slowly getting the hang of the waltz, or at least following Michael's instructions on how to do the waltz. They were just doing the basic steps, though he carefully led her through a turn every now and then. She hadn't thought that she'd be dancing at all, instead sitting on the sidelines and watching her friends while she drank punch. Instead, she was getting to dance with Michael. Even though it wasn't any of the elaborate moves that he had done with Weiss, she still was enjoying the dancing immensely. As the song finished and Ruby walked off the dance floor with Michael, picking up her heels from where they had been abandoned in favor of dancing.
As the two walked over, Yang moved to meet the pair. "Nice job Sis!" She laughed as she ruffled Ruby's hair, causing Ruby to squirm and attempt to get away from her sister.
"Yaaaaang!" Ruby whined. "Don't do that!"
"Aww, you're adorable," Yang cooed with a smile and a pinch of Ruby's cheeks, partially just to annoy her sister. Michael coughed to hide his snicker at the two sister's antics, mentally patting himself on the back for managing to get out of the infirmary to the dance. He would have been missing out if he hadn't.
Weiss walked out onto the balcony and saw Neptune leaning on the balcony. She mentally scoffed as she concealed her expression with a cold aloof expression that she reserved for times like these. "So," she said as she leaned against the balcony next to him. He flinched in surprise at her voice, but to his credit, did not try to leave. "You alone tonight?" She asked, the piercing comment used like a knife. "Were you turned down or something?" Just to twist the proverbial knife in the wound.
Neptune started to apologize. "Look, I'm so-"
"Why did you reject me?" She cut him off. "You seemed to have interest in me up until the day I asked you to the dance. Then after I asked, you suddenly don't hold any interest in me anymore. So, why did you reject me?" She stood up straight and poised, looking at her manicured nails with false disinterest. "I think I deserve to know the reason, don't you?"
Neptune flinched hard at that question. He didn't answer at first, but then opened his mouth as he tried, and failed, to look suave. She knew he was about to lie, but let him dig the hole deeper he was stuck in. "I wasn't planning on going at all originally," he said with a smirk that didn't reach his eyes. "I mean, it's kind of a drag, right? You know what I'm talking about." He turned around and leaned against the rail. "I mean, chaperones and school rules? Kind of boring, don't you think?"
Weiss let her mask slip a little and laughed. "You do know that I helped with organizing and preparing the dance, right?" As he froze and fear flashed across his face, she restructured her mask back to the cold indifference. "Now. Try again, but this time, the truth."
He grimaced and clenched his eyes shut as he turned away, searching his mind for any way out. Weiss was content to make him stew in his thoughts at this point. Sometimes silence was the most effective tool. "I can't dance," she heard him say quietly. It shocked her. Surely she must have misheard.
"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, her facade gone.
"I can't dance, okay?" His voice cracked as he seemed to crumble in on himself. "I've tried. I really have. I just can't okay? Even Jaune, who's known to be clumsy, is able to dance, and I can't."
Weiss just looked at him before scoffing and shaking her head. "I can't believe it. Actually, I can," he turned towards her and saw her shaking her head idly. "Honestly, you were so suave, so calm, cool as a cucumber," She laughed. "You hid behind a mask like almost everyone else. You are quite the actor, Neptune." She held her head high and walked away. "You need to get control of your insecurity, Neptune," she said before she walked out. "Before it hurts someone else who's not as even tempered as I am."
Neptune watched as Weiss walked out of the room, utterly poised and calm before he took a few steps towards the wall. He then began to knock his head on the wall. She was beautiful, smart, kind, and an all around amazing girl. But he'd rejected her because of his insecurity and now, he really doubted he'd ever get another chance with her.
As his head rested against the wall after a few knocks, he muttered. "I really fucked up."
After Yang and Ruby's good natured ribbing of each other, Michael was suddenly dragged off by Yang who wanted a dance as well, this time to a fast paced jazz which the two took to with gusto. Yang didn't know too much about ballroom dancing, and of that which she did know, only a slight amount of it was Jazz, but Michael was able to take the lead, leading her through the basic steps until she got it down, then moving on to another step.
Ruby watched with a slight amount of trepidation. Weiss had said that others could have a single dance with Michael and had even prodded him to dance with her, but she might not like having Michael snatched by Yang without her go ahead. "Looks like they're having fun," Weiss' voice said from beside her, causing her to jump slightly. Weiss gave the two a smile and took a sip of punch from her new cup.
"I'm sorry," Ruby began to babble. "I know that you said we could each have a single dance with Michael, but Yang just dragged him off to the floor-"
"Ruby," Weiss said with a reassuring smile. "It's fine. I told him that the others are probably going to want a dance too and they could each have one."
Ruby relaxed a that, taking another drink as she spied Jaune dancing with a girl in a white dress. "Wasn't Jaune somehow taking two girls?" Ruby wondered.
"Well, you can't really do ballroom with three people," Weiss answered. "The steps aren't made for that."
"I guess that makes sense," Ruby said as she took a drink. "Have you seen Pyrrha? I haven't seen her at all."
"No, I haven't," Weiss answered. "Should we look for her?"
"We should at least see if she left," Ruby answered. "If she's here by herself, then we really should stick around with her. We are her friends after all! What kind of friends would we be if we left her by herself?"
Weiss rolled her eyes at Ruby's well meaning yet slightly strange antics. "Alright. Why don't you check the front? I'll see if I can find her here."
Ruby nodded and started walking out towards the front as the song finished, with Michael and Yang walking back to Weiss, with Yang sporting a massive grin. "Sorry for snagging your date Weiss. He's a really good dancer."
"Yes he is," Weiss replied. "He's my date though, remember?"
Yang laughed. "Of course, Weiss. Though I think Blake wants to snag him for a dance too."
Weiss rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. Honestly, she had expected them to each want a dance with Michael, but all at once?
"May I steal Michael?" Blake asked Weiss quietly. "He owes me one dance."
Michael was confused. "How?"
"You made me come to the dance, so you at least owe me a dance," Blake answered. "If that's okay with you," she asked Weiss.
Weiss nodded as she gave a deadpan stare at Yang. "At least you asked," she said to Blake. "Unlike some people." Yang laughed and rubbed the back of her head nervously. Weiss turned back to Blake. "One dance."
Blake nodded and pulled Michael off towards the dance floor as a tango began to play. The two danced to the heavy beat of the tango, their bodies much closer together than a waltz. Blake moved with Michael with confidence, following as he led her through several turns and through a series of slightly complicated movements. Blake's catlike agility didn't let her down however, allowing her to keep up with little problems. The dance's sensual movements were not lost to those that recognised the dance, and Weiss mentally cursed that she had given up this dance to Blake. As the two of them continued to dance, Weiss caught sight of Pyrrha outside on the balcony, watching the night sky. She pulled out her scroll to message Ruby, quickly sending her a message that she found her. Weiss then walked out onto the balcony.
Ruby ignored the chime on her scroll in favor of checking the guard hidden in the bushes, making sure he was okay. He was breathing and she didn't see any blood anywhere, but it was concerning. She looked at the door that the guard had to have been guarding before calling her locker, getting crescent rose out of it and walking towards the door.
Weiss walked out and stood next to Pyrrha. Pyrrha gave her a glance and a soft smile before she continued watching the sky. "How is the dance?" Pyrrha asked.
"It has gone very well, thank you," Weiss answered. "And for you?"
"As to be expected," Pyrrha answered. "I saw you leave Neptune out here when I walked out. You must have really shaken him up. He was smacking his head on the wall before he left."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "I doubt he was that shaken up." She then turned to face Pyrrha. "Do you know who showed up?"
"Who?" Pyrrha asked curiously.
"Michael," Weiss answered.
Pyrrha's eyes widened slightly before she turned back to the view. "Congratulations. Where is he?"
"Dancing with Blake last I checked," Weiss answered. "And before you get confused, I told him to give her a dance. I said the others could have one, because he's still my date, so I'm going to offer you the same."
Pyrrha shook her head. "Thank you, but I know he's your date. You should dance with him."
"And I will," Weiss answered. "But I'm saying that you can have one dance with him anyway." Weiss turned and walked away. "You should come and be with your team at least."
"Nora and Ren aren't here and Jaune's dancing with those twins he brought," Pyrrha answered.
"Nora and Ren arrived late," Weiss countered. "And besides, you can still come and be with us." She looked over her shoulder. "I'm not going to force you, but you should come be with your friends."
As Michael dipped Blake at the end of the song, the pair received cheers and wolf whistles, of which a few came from Yang, though neither could tell who they were for. As the two walked off the floor, Michael felt a twinge in his leg, reminding him that he wasn't fully healed yet, relying on rods of metal to support his legs.
"How did you two dance like that?" Yang asked. "It was amazing!"
"I've picked up some things over time," Michael answered evasively while Blake stayed silent. The small group was soon joined by Ren, Nora, Jaune, and the twins, who both were holding onto one of Jaune's arms, leaning their heads on his shoulder.
"Michael, seriously," Jaune chimed in. "I've learned to dance because of my sisters. How'd you learn to dance so well?"
Michael sighed slightly. "My mother taught me."
"Your mother?" Yang asked. "Well she definitely taught you well!"
Michael gave a slight laugh. "It's one of my favorite memories of her." He got a far away look in his eyes before shaking his head. "I'm not gonna bring the mood down right now. Who's next?" He looked at Weiss.
"My turn!" Nora squealed as she grabbed Michael's hand and dragged him off to an upbeat swing dance. The others laughed at Nora's antics as the two of them danced, Nora laughing happily as Michael danced with her. As Weiss looked at Ren to gauge his reaction, she was greeted by Ren's soft smile towards Nora. Jaune soon followed the pair, taking one of the twins, she didn't know their names, and dancing with them.
"Have you seen Ruby?" Weiss asked Yang. "She went looking for Pyrrha out front, but Pyrrha was on the balcony."
Yang shook her head. "No, I haven't, but I'm sure she'll turn up soon."
Sun, tired of being shown up by Michael, extended his hand to Blake. "May I have this dance?" he asked with a bow.
"Of course," Blake answered with a soft smile as she allowed herself to be led onto the dance floor again.
Weiss saw professor Goodwitch step back from Ironwood after a few turns to many, and stiffly curtseyed before walking off towards the bathroom, a rather annoyed look on her face. Ironwood's face was disappointed, if only for a moment, but then he walked out the front doors of the hall. She noticed that before he left, he turned and gave a distrustful look towards Michael as well, but before she could think about it, the song ended and Michael came back, with Nora practically skipping behind him. Jaune finished the dance with whichever girl that was and the pair were soon joined by her sister.
"I think we're going to go sit out on the balcony," Jaun said as the trio walked towards the balcony. Nora grabbed Ren and the two went off for another dance and were soon followed by Blake and Sun.
"I'm going to see if I can find Ruby," Yang excused herself and walked away, leaving Michael and Weiss alone.
Michael looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I believe the rest of these dances are yous?" He extended his hand and Weiss gracefully took it, a smile stretching across her face as the two took to the dance floor once again, this time to a viennese waltz, the two of them quickly picking up speed as they danced across the floor, spinning and doing complicated steps to the much faster waltz. Other pairs quickly noticed and gave them room, which allowed for more people to see them, and they quickly became the center of attention. Weiss and Michael continued to dance the fast paced waltz, and as the song came to a close, they found themselves being applauded, causing Weiss to blush slightly while Michael carefully controlled his features, giving off an air of polite satisfaction with the dance.
The two walked off to the side where Weiss tried to catch her breath as she gratefully took a cup of punch from Michael. As she glanced around the room again, she caught Pyrrha looking between them and the balcony again, and Weiss was stabbed by guilt. Jaune and the twins were out on the balcony, and those two were no doubt very forward in their affections. Meanwhile, she was here with Michael, who Pyrrha had interest in, and was practically rubbing it in her face. She thought wryly that her father would be proud of her for managing to have something that such a renowned individual wanted. And she hated that. She hated that the thought had risen unbidden into her mind. Hated the carefully hidden pain on Pyrrha's face that she recognised all too well. The kind of mask that she wore all too often at home. With a sigh, she turned to Michael. "That last dance took a lot out of me."
"Do you want to sit down?" Michael asked with mild worry.
"I'll be fine," Weiss answered. "But you should take this opportunity to dance with someone else." Michael's eyes widened with surprise. "Before you ask any dumb questions," Weiss cut in sharply. "No, I'm not bored with you, I'm not hurt, I'm not trying to get rid of you, yes, I'm enjoying myself, yes, you are a fantastic partner, yes, I'm being serious you should dance with someone else, and yes, I do have someone in mind." She tilted her head in the direction of Pyrrha. "Go ask her. She's been alone all night."
"Pyrrha?" Michael asked.
"Yes, Pyrrha," Weiss rolled her eyes. "Now go ask her you dunce."
Ironwood glared at the little girl in the red dress, who obviously had left the dance, and had obviously been involved in something in this tower. He sighed in exasperation. He would have had her arrested for no other reason than to make sure she wasn't involved, but the look of happiness and relief when she saw him walk into the room was not the look a criminal gives a general. It matched his gut instinct that someone else had instigated and at the very least attempted a crime. What crime, he didn't know, but he did know that the young girl was not to blame. "I don't suppose you know what happened?"
"Not really," she said. He looked at his scroll which he had been using to identify her. Ruby Rose. Was accepted into Beacon early, at the age of 15. Half sister to Yang Xiao Long. "I saw one of the guards in the bushes, knocked out, so I got Crescent Rose and came in here to check what was happening." Ironwood nodded and began walking back towards the elevator. "You should head back to the dance. I have to check in on things." As Ms. Rose walked back towards the elevator, Ironwood moved to call Winter. She had been given leave as a result of her kidnapping and the injuries she had sustained, but she was restless and was asking to at least do desk work at the time.
"General," Winter's smooth voice came through the scroll. "How may I be of assistance?"
"We just had an attack at the CCT," Ironwood said, his voice grim. "I need you to start looking through the systems. Get some help with it. The entire system is much too large for any one person to check."
"Of course General," Winter answered. "Should we send a message to the other kingdoms to let them know the CCT will be taken down?"
"No," Ironwood answered. "Not unless we find anything truly dangerous. The CCT is too necessary to allow it to go down and disrupt communications unless absolutely necessary."
"Of course," Winter answered. "Anything else?"
Ironwood considered asking Winter to look into Michael and see if they could get any more information on him than they had, but she had enough on her plate with the CCT to ask her for more right now. "No, that'll do for now."
"Of course," Winter answered. "I'll get right on it."
Ruby walked back towards the dance, but placed Crescent Rose back in her locker that was still embedded in the ground. As she walked towards the hall again, she saw Yang walking towards her purposefully. "Where have you been?" Yang asked. "I've been looking for you for ten minutes!"
"I'm fine," Ruby answered. "Why have you been looking for me?"
"We found Pyrrha," Yang answered. "Figured someone should let you know."
"Alright," Ruby said as she sighed. "You didn't see a masked girl jump out of the CCT did you?"
"No," Yang answered with visible confusion. "Why?"
"This woman was in the CCT doing something," Ruby answered. "I tried to stop her, but she just disappeared."
Yang shrugged. "Whoever it was, I'm sure Ironwood will take care of it, if it's that big of a deal." She slung an arm around Ruby's shoulders. "Now come on, let's get back to the dance."
Michael walked over to Pyrrha as Weiss watched, finishing her punch. Pyrrha noticed his approach and raised her eyebrows questioningly. Once Michael was a few feet away, he bowed slightly and extended his hand. "Ms. Nikos," he spoke with exaggerated formality that was only betrayed by the playful smile on his face. "May I have the pleasure of this dance?"
Pyrrha was shocked. She remembered the conversation she had had with Weiss, but had not believed anything would come of it. She had stayed out on the balcony until she had seen Jaune with the twins, who had sat on either side of him on a bench, leaning into him as he slung his arm around each of their shoulders. That had hurt too. Even after having gone out with Michael once and the closeness they had shared, Jaune still allowed her to teach him, and their communication and teamwork had led them to become closer. Thus, she was held in a conundrum where two different men had caught her eye, but one was oblivious and now dating two girls, and the other was sought after by many individuals, including her friends.
"Pyrrha?" Michael asked, snapping Pyrrha out of her thoughts as she realised that she had been in her thoughts and staring at him for far too long.
"Do you really want to dance with me?" She asked.
"Of course," Michael answered, tilting his head in confusion. "Why wouldn't I?" The song that had been playing ended, having played through while Pyrrha was dealing with her mental turmoil. "Though if you would rather not…"
"No, I would love to dance," Pyrrha cut in quickly, taking his hand. Even if it was unexpected, who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Weiss sighed as she saw Michael confuse Pyrrha to the point that an entire song had played by the time that she accepted his invitation to dance. An entire song was wasted. She had been tired after their dance, but now she was ready to dance again, but she would have to wait for Michael to finish with Pyrrha after the two had missed a dance.
Weiss was then distracted by a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Ruby standing there bashfully. "Um, Weiss?" Ruby asked. "I got to dance with Michael already, and he taught me a little of how to dance, but um, could you teach me some too?" Weiss looked at her in confusion. "I'm sorry, it's just that you two danced so well, and I don't really know how. If you don't want to you don't have to."
"Ruby," Weiss said. "Don't babble. Of course I'll teach you." She took Ruby's hand and led her off to a more secluded part of the dance floor. "Honestly, you act like I'll bite you."
As Pyrrha and Michael danced, Emerald watched from the sidelines. Cinder and Mercury were dancing, as Cinder had cut in. She was both glad and angry about that. Mercury was insufferable, arrogant, and while he was passable with dancing, he was lazy, only doing the bare minimum of dancing. This led to a rather boring dance for her, which Cinder took halfway through. She was happy about that. What she was angry about was the fact that she was now standing on the sidelines, having to watch by herself as a few people also watched, one being that young Ruby girl's sister. All in all, she was bored, yet was content to hide on the sidelines. It was a pity her semblance only allowed for her to create one hallucination at a time. It would be much better for her to be able to hide out from everyone, but unfortunately she couldn't. Glancing at the orange haired girl who stood at the side with a pair of guards on either side, she acknowledged it could be worse. She didn't have to deal with being trapped under guard. And it was obvious that the orange haired girl was trapped. She kept looking towards Ruby wistfully and every now and then would try to walk her way only to glance back at the guard and stop. Yes, Emerald wasn't quite as unlucky as her.
She idly inspected her nails and contemplated pickpocketing other people hanging around the wall, but thought better of it when she saw Ironwood walk back into the dance hall. She sighed and walked towards the punch bowl. Boredom it was.
Michael smiled as Pyrrha laughed while he spun her. Pyrrha was a good dance partner, and he was for sure going to lead her as best as he could for the dance. Her earlier apprehension and sadness melted away as the two danced to the music, making up for the song that they had already missed. While the two were content to stay dancing near the side of the dance floor, and more out of the public eye, others still watched them dance. As the song came to a close, Michael dipped Pyrrha, earning a soft laugh from her. As the two straightened and moved off the dance floor, Michael saw Weiss trying to help Ruby learn how to dance. Ruby was blushing and apologizing each time she stepped on Weiss' feet and Weiss was clearly trying not to laugh or wince.
"I'm going to check with Ren," Pyrrha said to Michael. "Our team had something planned for the dance." Michael nodded and decided to check his scroll as he had nothing to do at that point. When he opened it, he saw a message from Weiss.
-W- I'm attempting to teach Ruby how to dance. Go ahead and ask someone else to dance for the next one if you would like.
Michael's eyebrows raised but as he looked over to Weiss, he saw she was still teaching Ruby. With a slight shrug, he walked towards the punch. When he reached the punch bowl, he saw Emerald standing there as well. "Hey Emerald," he spoke as he ladled himself a cup of punch.
Emerald glanced at him and smiled. "Hey Michael," she said. "What happened? Run out of partners?"
Michael laughed. "I guess you could say that." He took a swig of punch and looked at the floor where he saw Mercury and Cinder dancing. "Those two leave you by yourself?"
"Yes," Emerald answered simply. "Honestly, it's fine." She stifled a yawn. "My only complaint is that I spent so much money on this dress and I'll probably never wear it again."
"That would be irksome," Michael answered. He saw Weiss lead Ruby through a turn and helped keep her from stumbling.
"So," Emerald said. "I heard on the grapevine that you and Weiss were a couple for this dance at least. Guess rumors are just rumors?"
"Well," Michael chuckled slightly. "That was the original plan, but then with the whole explosion, I was put out of commission so to speak."
"So she came here alone," Emerald inferred.
"Yeah, though I was able to get here late," Michael answered.
"That is an impressive healing skill by the way," Emerald said. "Can you use it on others?"
"Yes," Michael answered. "I can fix physical problems and damages. Poisons not so much, but I can deal with them for myself, and to an extent, can help others."
Emerald nodded. "Nice. I also heard that you're technically working on your own team?"
"Well, more in conjunction with RWBY and JNPR," Michael answered.
"Odd number of people?" Emerald asked.
"No," Michael answered before sighing. "My partner, well, she died."
Emerald's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise."
"No, no, that's fine," Michael answered before blinking away tears.
"You two must have been close," Emerald said, noticing the tears.
"No, actually," Michael answered. "We actually had just… met…" he trailed off as he considered that fact.
"You had just met?" Emerald asked.
"Yeah," Michael answered. "But I could feel her pain, fear, and grief when she died."
"You're an empath, aren't you?" Emerald asked. "Sorry, your semblance is listed on the fighter bio."
Michael chuckled. "I mean, it's not my semblance, but it makes sense to list that."
"I'm sorry for bringing it up," Emerald said.
"It's fine," Michael answered. "I've seen people die before." Again, he considered that fact. As he considered that, a niggling sensation at the back of his mind drew his attention again. He'd seen people die before, even some close friends. He'd killed people before. He didn't even know Tyra before the initiation, and his empathy would only account for some of his reaction. Why had he been hit so hard by her death?
"Are you okay?" Emerald asked.
"What?" Michael snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine." It didn't matter, why should it matter? The song finished and he saw Weiss still attempting to teach Ruby how to dance, patiently leading Ruby through the steps as Ruby flushed with embarrassment with each misstep. He then turned to Emerald. "Would you like to dance?" He asked.
Emerald looked surprised at first, but she took his offered hand with a smile. "I would love to."
Jaune lounged on the bench, with both the twins on either side of him. The three had danced several times, and while he had always felt guilty about leaving the other by themself while he danced with one, they had always made sure that he knew that they didn't hold it against him. He sighed contently as the twins laid their heads on his shoulders. This dance was shaping up rather well.
"Jaune?" He looked over to see Pyrrha walk out onto the balcony drawing the attention of the twins as well.
"Hey Pyrrha," he greeted her. "What's up?"
"Ren says that you need to come back in for the you know what," Pyrrha answered.
"Oh!" Jaune exclaimed as he looked at his watch. "Is it that time already?"
"Time for what?" Melanie asked.
Jaune smiled. "You'll see," as he stood up, offering the twins his hands. "But I think you'll like it."
Michael danced with Emerald to a slower waltz towards the edge of the dance floor. She was a decent dancer, and she allowed him to lead her through the steps rather well, allowing her to participate in some more complicated steps. She laughed as he spun her, and would smile in a way that showed her enjoyment of the dance. As the dance finished, she curtseyed as he bowed. "That was fun," Emerald said. "Thank you for asking me to dance."
"Thank you for dancing with me," Michael replied as an upbeat song began to play. He turned towards the dance floor as laughs and cheers drew his attention. There in the center was Jaune and Pyrrha, dancing together in spectacular fashion.
"Wait," he heard Ren say from the side. "What's happening?" Before Nora dragged him to the floor as well, joining Jaune and Pyrrha in the dance.
"There is no way they didn't practice that," Michael laughed. He turned to see Emerald's reaction, but she had slipped away into the crowd. Michael shrugged and walked back towards team RWBY. "Anyone know about this beforehand?" Michael asked.
"Nope," Ruby answered.
"But it's lookin' good," Yang answered as she put two fingers in her mouth and whistled at team JNPR.
Ironwood glared at his scroll balefully. There had been something happening in the CCT. That he was sure of, but so far, diagnostic scans showed nothing, and while Winter was going through the systems individually with a group, the search would take a long time. Why would anyone attempt to compromise the CCT? It was necessary for communications across the world, so unless someone was trying to start another Great War, crippling the communications would make no sense. Perhaps a way of identity theft? It was too soon to tell, but he couldn't shake the ominous feeling that had come over him.
Jaune escorted the twins back to the bullhead after the dance while the others walked back towards the dorms. Nora was on Ren's back and dozing off while muttering about pancakes. Ruby was still stumbling in her heels and had to steady herself on the others several times. Weiss was contently holding Michael's hand and was much less short tempered with Ruby when she tripped onto her. Blake and Sun had separated as Sun walked back to his dorm while Blake continued with her friends back to their dorm. Other various students were headed towards their dorms as well, laughing and smiling as they left the dance.
As they walked into the dorms, the two teams separated, though Weiss stood out in the hall with Michael. "I'm really glad you came," Weiss said quietly.
"I am too," Michael answered. "I wasn't sure I was going to make it."
"How did you manage it?" Weiss asked. "You lost your legs."
Michael smiled. "You want to know a secret?" He asked. When Weiss looked at him with confusion, he bent down to whisper in her ear. "I'm actually using some metal bars for my bones right now."
"What?" Weiss asked in shock. "You're not healed yet?"
"I'm pretty much healed," Michael answered with a chuckle. "Nothing a few more days won't fix."
"You dunce!" Weiss harshly whispered. "You shouldn't have come if you were still hurt!"
"And miss out on the dance with you?" Michael countered.
"I can't believe you," Weiss muttered, though she blushed.
Michael chuckled. "Did you have fun?" He asked.
"I did," Weiss answered, looking up to him with a smile. "Did you?"
"Of course," Michael answered. "Though I was surprised when you wanted me to dance with the others."
"They all wanted a dance with you," Weiss answered. "And besides, I got to dance with you much more than they did."
"True," Michael answered. "But that was still very selfless of you."
"It was, wasn't it?" Weiss tilted her head and turned up her nose in a self satisfied expression.
"Hey, don't get too much of an ego," Michael said, poking Weiss in her cheek slightly.
Weiss fumed and smacked his hand. "I do not have too much of an ego," she argued. "I just have a good sense of self worth."
Michael laughed. "Of course you do." He leaned down and took her hand. "This was fun," he then kissed her hand as he bowed.
Weiss gave him an exasperated look. "Is that it?" She asked. "You dunce!" Weiss grabbed Michael by the collar and pulled him down into a kiss. Michael's eyes widened in surprise, but then they closed, feeling her soft lips on his. Then she pulled away. "Good night Michael," Weiss said with a smile and blush as she opened her dorm room door and walked in, leaving Michael in the hallway.
Michael stood there for a few seconds before shaking himself out of his stupor and walking into his room. He laid on his bed and ran the scenario through his head again. He had been trying to hold back his feelings for her, and the others, especially with what had happened before, but it was getting harder and harder to do so.
But a thought popped into his head. His conversation with Emerald. He'd only known Tyra for a little while. He'd barely even learned her name before she died. But her death had hit him so hard. Why? It didn't matter why. Wait, what? Of course it mattered. No it didn't. What? Where was this all coming from? He shook his head and picked up his scroll. He quickly dialed a number and waited.
"Hello?" the tired voice of Doc came through. "Michael?"
"Yeah, it's me," Michael answered. "I'm sorry to wake you up like this."
Doc stifled a yawn. "It's fine. It's not a problem. You always have a reason."
"Well, I'm not so sure this time," Michael said. "It's more of a thought that something's wrong."
"Okay, well then, what is it you need?" Doc asked.
"I need you to look for some information for me, could you?" Michael asked.
"Alright, what am I looking for?" Doc asked.
"A person named Tyra Royale," Michael answered.
"Is that it?" Doc asked. "Do you want Tartarus info as well?"
"If you can," Michael answered.
"Alright. I'll call you back when I find something," Doc said.
"Thank you," Michael answered. He ended the call and carefully started getting changed, hanging up his suit and vest. After pulling on a pair of sweatpants, he yawned. It was late. Doc would call him and he'd be able to wake up. No, he should stay awake and wait, right. But who knows how long it'll take. It wouldn't be too bad to sleep for a few minutes. He found himself in the bed without having thought about it. Why was he in bed again? It didn't matter, he was tired. Doc would call and wake him up again. His eyes closed and he let himself sleep.
Then his eyes opened. But this time, they weren't red, or even the eerie gold of a grimm. His eyes glowed a bright purple, ringed by gold.
A.N. Wow! That took way too long to write! I am so sorry that it took so long to write, but it's finished. School took a lot of my time, and then with this whole global pandemic, things got even more crazy, but anyway, it's up, and I'm sorry that it took so long. Also, I know some people are going to get on me about the order of events in Dance Dance Infiltration, but I put them in this order because it made more sense to me. If anyone has questions, please review, and I'll try to answer them. If you have comments, review. Please let me know what you think about this chapter. Thank you for your patience, for reading, and I hope you all have a great day.
