A/N:

Hi friends!

Welcome back to RWBY: the Selection. Ooh, the rose ceremony! Who's going to get eliminated?

Once again, please review with any thoughts/comments/questions/concerns/anything else that strikes your fancy!

Without further ado, enjoy!

Chapter 46: Neon

There were few things that Neon liked better than roller skating. Cotton candy was up there, bright colors, flashing lights, and annoying Weiss were all close seconds, but roller skating took the prize. Growing up in Atlas, she had been to her fair share of flashy parties, where most girls wore tight dresses and heels. Not Neon. She had learned from an early age, when kids in her uppity Atlas prep school had pulled her tail daily, that having a quick getaway was important. For Neon, roller skates were that getaway.

She zoomed through the halls, screeching to a stop at Reese's room and knocking a playful melody on her door. She and Reese had become friends early in the Selection, both out of shared love for bright colors, loud noises, and skating, and out of shared experience as Fours: middle castes, not too low to be oppressed nor too high to be valued. Unimportant. Nobodies. Fours were expected to be factory workers. Wherever they were in the kingdom of Remnant, Fours were guaranteed a stable, boring job, with a stable, boring wage, and a stable, boring life. That was another thing Neon and Reese had in common. They both were desperate to leave their stable lives behind.

"You ready for the Rose Ceremony?" Reese grinned as she opened the door. She had put on makeup -football stripes across her face- after a fan had called her out for not wearing any last night. That was another thing the two Fours had in common: neither minded drawing attention to themselves.

"Am I ever!" Neon exclaimed. Reese hopped on her skateboard and Neon pushed on her rollerblades, and the two zoomed downstairs, rattling the entire castle as they did so. "I can't wait to see which of these girls gets sent home. I hope it's not Weiss."

"You hate Weiss," Reese reminded.

"Yeah, but she's always fun to make fun of," Neon pointed out. "It'll probably be Yang who gets sent home."

"Why? She's so pun-ny!"

"She is," Neon explained, "but, I mean, come on. Don't you think she's a bit… top-heavy?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask her where she got her implants," Reese chortled.

"And where she gets her hair extensions," giggled Neon.

The two girls flew into the Great Hall, the location of the first Rose Ceremony. A few contestants were already there, standing on the bleachers. Pyrrha was laughing on the top row with Nora. Ruby was comforting a panic-stricken Weiss. Penny stood in the very front row, bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Salutations, Neon! Salutations, Reese!" she exclaimed when the girls entered. "Are you excited to get a rose?"

"For sure," Neon winked. She didn't know for sure that she was getting a rose, but she was pretty confident. Last night, the audience had really taken a liking to her, cheering when she came on stage, adoring her rainbow outfit, and chanting her catchphrase 'never miss a beat' as she left. The only contestants who came close to her as a fan favorites were Nora, because everyone found her hilarious, and Coco, because everyone loved her sense of style.

Ruby had choked on her interview, she might be going home. Weiss had been nothing but bratty this whole time, she might be going home. Ciel was great, but she was so quiet, so she might be going home too. But Neon? Neon was here to stay.

More girls had entered the room now. Velvet seemed just as nervous as Weiss, and Neon gave her an encouraging thumbs-up. Faunus had to stick together.

Ruby sped in a few minutes later, followed by Yang (who was still in her pajamas), and Blake, whose eyes were red and puffy under all that makeup. Soon, all the girls had filed into the stands. They had a few minutes of chatting before the doors swung open once more. Prince Jaune stood in the doorframe, wearing a tuxedo and looking anxious.

The Queen came behind him, settling into the back right corner and giving them all a small smile. Oscar came as well, the cute, small boy that tagged along everywhere with Jaune. He had not been the best at mini-golf, and he looked anxious, even now.

No one looked more nervous than Jaune, however. He shuffled his feet as he approached the pedestal in front of them, where thirteen red roses sat. "I just want to say, I really enjoyed meeting you all. You're all great, competent, talented, lovely people, and, while this is difficult, I'm sure that, whether you leave here as a Princess or a Huntress, you will leave here and do great things,"

Neon smirked and made eye contact with Weiss, "You'll do great things," she mouthed. Weiss glared at her and she snapped back around to face Prince Jaune.

Jaune picked up the first rose of the night. "Lady Ruby,"

Ruby hopped off the bleachers, grinning, and collected her rose.

"Lady Pyrrha,"

Pyrrha smiled and made her way through rows of girls to get to Jaune. She too collected her rose and returned to her spot.

"Lady Nora," was next, followed by "Lady Blake,". Lady Penny beamed upon grabbing her rose. Lady Velvet went for a hug after getting hers, while Lady Yang offered an aggressive fist bump. Lady Coco got one, as did Lady Ciel, Lady Emerald, and Lady Ilia. Finally, there were just two roses and three contestants left: Reese, Weiss, and Neon.

"Lady Reese," Jaune said, and Reese gave Neon a hidden high-five as she went to collect her rose.

"Well I'll be damned," Neon thought, watching Weiss wring her hands in the front row. "Did Weiss have a nervous breakdown last night? Or does Jaune just really not like heiresses?"

"Lady Weiss,"

Neon blinked, bewildered, as Weiss stepped up to grab her rose. There were tears in Weiss's eyes, and Jaune pulled her into a hug. He whispered something to her, but Neon was too shocked to hear. She had lost? How had she lost?

"Neon," Jaune seemed to be in physical pain when he said her name. "I'm sorry. Can I walk you out?"

It took Neon a few seconds to register what had just happened, but once the shock wore off, she shrugged and nodded. "Don't have too many skating raves without me," she said to the group as Jaune led her away. She winked at Reese as he escorted her to the door, and mimed a scroll by her ear. "Call me," she mouthed.

Her belongings had been packed since last night, at Professor Goodwitch's orders, but she hadn't expected to see her suitcase already by the front door.

"I'm sorry," Jaune said again. "I heard you were being rude to the other girls, and I… I couldn't let that keep happening."

Neon shrugged. She was sad to be going home, but it had been an adventure. A break from routine was all she'd really been looking for when she applied, and now she was a Huntress, with friends from all over the kingdom. It was disappointing, but it could be a lot worse. In the week that she had been here, she had been 100% honest with him and with herself. She was a snarky, chatty cat, and she had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Hey, that's who I am: loud and proud. If you can't handle it," she shrugged again, "you can't handle it."

Jaune nodded. "I wish you the best of luck as a Huntress,"

"Thanks, but I don't need it," Neon said with a wink. "I've got skill."