Yang Xiao Long was a girl on several missions that, in the end, could be counted as one complex mission. Her goal? Simple, get all her friends some dates to the dance, of course!

Ren and Nora would be easy enough to set up. The two were basically already engaged, and the only thing they needed was a little push. That is, if they hadn't already asked each other out and be done with that. She wouldn't put it past them to be all so dense and oblivious and then go to the dance as each other's date.

Speaking of the dance, she was still appalled that the organization had gone as well as it had. Apparently they had been the only team to volunteer, whatever the reason. Weiss had stopped by a couple of times, but otherwise Yang had been the organizer. The only complaint she had about that was that despite her authority regarding the dance, Goodwitch had still thrown her fog machines out of the window. Of course, her dear teammates should've helped her, but since when those four knew anything about having fun at a party?

Anyway, returning to speak about the pairs for the dance, she had also seen Weiss being somewhat infatuated with some coolness-obsessed azure-haired tomboy. She guessed that pair had no need for her helping hand, but being careful was always better than leaving things to chance.

Pyrrha… she honestly didn't know who to pair her up with. She'd come up with something when she had the need to.

For Blake, she'd seen a monkey Faunus called Sun, a friend of Weiss's crush, looking at her with longing. Now, while she usually would punch a stranger's teeth right off for staring at her friends, she somewhat knew the guy, since the blue-haired guy sometimes dropped by the ballroom to see how the preparations for the dance were going, and Sun went with him. Also, Sun was ripped, which made him slightly more okay in her books. And he was a Faunus. If there was anyone better suited than him to ask Blake to the dance, well, Yang didn't know them.

And finally, Ruby and Jaune. Those two wouldn't really be a problem. They had already gone on their first date, and despite still being awkward around each other whenever the topic came up, they were close friends and even if they didn't go to the dance as each other's date, they'd probably spend the whole event with each other as friends. Yang somewhat envied them. Usually, being so awkward dating someone would result in that awkwardness spreading to all their interactions, but it seemed like Jaune and Ruby weren't like that – and who knew why or how, since they were pretty much always awkward.

As for the dance itself, she had already gotten prepared. Some slow songs for those who wanted them, not overly difficult to follow the rhythm of but romantic, and some more upbeat ones to get the adrenaline starting. Despite being blonde, Yang wasn't stupid. She knew what a party needed and she knew what couples needed, so that no matter if the participants were with friends or dates, they could have a great time.

There were of course other couples in the school who would go to the dance together, but they weren't her business. So what if Coco and Velvet might go to the dance together? They weren't on her list of friends, so she didn't have time to play matchmaker – and besides, they didn't need any outside help. Same went for all the other couples. After all, despite all her awesomeness, Yang was still just one person, she didn't have nearly enough time to send every couple in Beacon to the dance together.

Anyway, first order of business for the day were Ren and Nora.

Years and years of carefully built denial versus incredibly powerful love. She had devised a devilish plan. Which could be summed up as 'let Fate run its course'. Yeah, she didn't really know how to handle childhood-friends romance. So she'd just taken Nora aside for a few minutes to explain everything to her and tell her to just go for it. Who knew if that plan had succeeded.

Second came Weiss and Neptune. Both had shown interest toward each other and no moral issues like long-time friendship, which was a very good sign. She barely had to tell Weiss to ask him out, since the heiress already wanted to do so. She couldn't exactly call it a plan at all.

Blake and Sun had been quite different. After what had happened at the docks, Blake was torn between feeling guilty for what she'd done, and frustrated no one had been looking for the White Fang any more. She would've liked to say she'd talked her into learning how to relax, but unfortunately that had not been the case. What had happened had just been Yang shamelessly guilt-tripping Blake into going to the dance, and suggesting to ask Sun to be her date just to make it a little less lonely. Who knew if that girl would actually go through that.

Last but surely not least was her masterpiece, Ruby and Jaune. True, the two of them had already gone on a date, but who cared? If she had the chance to play matchmaker, she'd use it! Besides, it wasn't like she actually had any plan for any of couples. It was mainly just telling them to do it and hope it would work. Not the best part, in hindsight, but she had never been one to think her plans through. Straightforward was better.

However, Ruby and Jaune were technically dating, or at least they'd been on a date, so they had to go to the dance together. The only problem was that Yang had absolutely no idea what to do with them. If she were to tell them directly, they'd chicken out as soon as they saw the other. If she tried to force them in an embarrassingly close situation, three things would happen. One, they'd be awkward as hell for a while. Two, they'd just free themselves without considering the -wink wink- other options, like talking or even kissing. And three, it might put a strain on their relationship, since it was so new still.

She could try to annoy them into asking each other out by pestering them all day long, but it probably wouldn't work. Besides, she wasn't stupid – she knew that if she forced them to go to the dance together, they wouldn't enjoy the party and things would get awkward between the two of them.

It was a real mess. Thankfully not all her friends were so hard to figure out.

She glanced down at the Scroll in her hands.

Yang Xiao Long, 30 min ago: you. me. dance.

Sky Lark, 30 min ago: I yield.

Good boy.

/-/

Cinder Fall was feeling content as she rapped her knuckles on the door, a stark contrast to how she'd been feeling recently, with everything going wrong for Roman and, most importantly, that stupid videogame-programming hobby Watts had taken up.

Her plans were going smoothly – or as smoothly as plans could go with all those problems. She wasn't worried about the children, but mostly at how quickly and efficiently Ozpin had diverted the media's attention from his own shortcomings to a mere prison break. Oh, sooner or later he'd have to suffer another interview, but it wouldn't be so hard now that the students knew just how easily media could tear into people.

Salem wouldn't be disappointed in what she'd done thus far. So why not take it a notch further?

The door swung open to reveal Roman Torchwick himself, glowering at her but knowing better than to annoy her. He didn't have any cigar in sight – good, because that smell was so annoying last time she'd burned it to a crisp.

He groaned. "What now? Do I need to storm Vacuo and grab as much sand and silver as I can so you can melt it and make yourself a thousand mirrors? Or maybe I should just steal a yacht and a piece of the ocean for you to use as pool?"

And there went her good mood. However, she didn't scowl. She was above such pettiness. Instead, she just barely narrowed her eyes as she stared at the exasperated thief. "My, my, my, how much anger… you should learn how to relax, Roman. We wouldn't want the Grimm to come after you, now, would we?"

She could easily see that Torchwick was doing everything he could not to snap at her and scream in frustration. "Angry? Jeez, I wonder how that could've happened. After all, I'm not running ragged for a plan not my own where my own benefit is my own survival – and that's honestly a bit optimistic, given how risky the plan is and how much you love threatening me and my employees."

A brief flash of annoyance passed through her eyes, but she ignored it in favour of the man before her. "Roman, I wouldn't have to threaten you if you just behaved and stopped failing so much…"

"Failing? Failing?" he repeated, incredulous. "I am a thief, not a warrior nor a murderer or an assassin, even if sometimes people get killed during my heists. I steal, I don't fight. It's not my fault if those kids showed up and wrecked everything. If you wanted me to fight, you should've taught me like you've taught those two ass-kissers of yours."

Her anger flared for a second. Teach them? She'd never lower herself to teach those two failures. They had already known how to fight without her having to do anything. She had just taken some ripe fighters to use as her pawns. She didn't teach, she used. "Mercury and Emerald have not been trained by me, Roman. And neither will you."

Torchwick huffed, irritated, but didn't comment on that any further. Instead, he addressed the elephant in the room – the fact she'd sought him out at all. "What's the occasion anyway? You usually meet me while I'm working or call me."

Cinder smiled as her irritation slowly disappeared, like a dying fire. "Roman, I thought you'd know better than most – calls are not secure. And you're always so serious and fretting over your deadlines when we meet at work…"

"For a reason," he grumbled. "Your deadlines really live up to their name!"

Her lips curled up even more. He hadn't meant it as a compliment, but to her it surely was. It meant she could make him squirm like the pathetic worm he was as he hurried to try and satisfy her every whim because he was too afraid of her to protest. How heartwarming. "Now, Roman, is that any way to treat your employer? It's thanks to me you've had such an increase in fame."

"One, you're not my employer since I'm not being paid a single Lien," the thief rebutted angrily, still somehow having the guts not to step aside and let her enter, which she found really annoying. "And two, I'm a damn thief, if you haven't noticed. The spotlight is not good for me."

"You claim to be the best – it shouldn't be a problem," she retorted sweetly, flaring up a hand to scare him into letting her enter, which he did.

His office was just like she remembered. Plain, unassuming, with a couple of black couches and a coffee table – perfect to fool cops. Who would ever think Roman flipping Torchwick conducted business in such a boringly normal place?

She sat on a couch and extinguished the flame in her hand. "Anyway, Roman, I have news for you – it's time to start moving onto Phase Two."

The criminal shut the door and very angrily stomped over to the other couch, dropping unceremoniously onto it. "Finally! I was starting to wonder if you even had a Phase Two in your plan."

Again, her anger flared. How dared he make such assumptions?! She was a yet-to-be-recognized Goddess descented upon Remnant to wreathe it in flames and watch it burn before subjugating the surviving vermins and let herself be worshipped like she so rightfully deserved! And that- that- that lowly scumbag back-stabbing lying good-for-nothing petty thief thought he could just casually insult her as such?!

Her eyes blazed. Torchwick had just turned his chances of surviving her plan to ashes. She'd kill him herself if he were to come out alive after Beacon fell.

However, for the time being, she couldn't bother to do menial work such as organizing and making sure everything went smoothly, too busy fooling Ozpin at Beacon – where she'd be headed as soon as she was done with that criminal. So she'd have to keep him alive – just to complete her plan, and nothing else.

Fighting down her fury, she managed to continue. "My plan is complete already. I just didn't want to worry that small brain of yours with the whole, complicated scheme. Now, are you going to comment more, or are you going to listen?" She summoned a small fireball to point out how the correct answer was the second.

Predictably enough, the man stayed silent.

Cinder wanted to scoff. People. They were worms that needed to be put in their place – under her heel. He didn't even have enough backbone to talk back and retort, did he? What a pathetic piece of trash. And then he called her lackey 'kiss-ass'? When he couldn't even find it in himself to even just stare at her in the eyes and make a cheeky comment?

He disgusted her. So weak, so feeble-willed. A Goddess such as her shouldn't have had to interact with an insect like him, but unfortunately Salem had told her to stick to the plan and not kill him unless strictly necessary, and she respected Salem too much to disobey just out of disgust.

Of course, Salem was below her as well – but the knowledge that the woman had stood up to Gods, rallied people against them, and found both immortality and power over the Grimm as reward for her tenacity… well, she could say that Salem was the only one worthy of speaking with her, Cinder Fall, the Goddess of Fire and future Supreme Queen of Remnant!

"Good to know we agree on something," Cinder hid her contempt as she stopped the fire in her hand – though she'd probably set his office on fire when she exited. He had to be punished somehow. "The plan is simple. You have to load a train with Dust, under Mt Glenn, and then send it hurtling into the walled railways under Vale. As you go, you'll decouple the bombed wagons and make them blow up, so to attract the Grimm into the tunnels and eventually into Vale – causing mass panic and mass slaughter. Then you'll allow Ironwood and his stupid army to capture you. And you will wait until I'll send Neo with the final part of the plan. Is that clear?"

"It's also stupid, moronic, inane, asinine, imbecilic, demented and idiotic," he grumbled to himself, so softly even she couldn't hear – though she had a good hunch as to what he'd said either way. Then he looked at her. "Cinder, this is never going to work. And why would you even want mass panic and mass slaughter in Vale anyway?!"

"Because I told you to do it, so you will do it!" Her patience finally boiling over, Cinder stood up, towering over the still seated criminal. Oh, how she wished she could just torch him alongside his stupid office, his stupid hideout, his stupid fucking entire city! She'd gladly burn Vale to the ground, and she planned to… but she forced herself to wait.

Glaring at him, she stomped out of the room, not deigning him of another glance, as she flicked her hand and set the couch on fire. It was disgusting anyway, so she was even doing him a favour.

That pathetic, ungrateful son of a bitch.

/-/

Ozpin considered all he knew about his enemies, which was pretty much nothing. How had he allowed them to get away with so much? They knew everything about him, while he knew nothing about them.

Of course, most of that was to blame on his choice to be Headmaster of Beacon, a well-known and respected figure in the world's politics, while Salem's pawns worked in the shadows, unknown and unseen.

Sure, he had a few agents as well… but pathetically well-known as well. The Deputy Headmistress of Beacon, Atlas's General and Headmaster, Shade's Headmaster, Haven's Headmaster, and one of the most skilled and famous Hunters in the world. Not exactly people who could stay under the radar for long.

Vale's most wanted was surely a known figure, but one who could easily stay under the radar if so he wished. The White Fang were a bit more complicated – and he still didn't know how in the world the police couldn't find such a huge terrorist organization, or even just a cell or two. Were they so incompetent?

He sighed. So much to do, so little information.

Ding.

Looking up, Ozpin immediately wished for a cup of his personal coffee and hid a grimace. James Ironwood strode into the room with his usual strict and disciplined pace, though he offered the Headmaster a small smile in greeting.

A smile he forced himself to return even though he didn't want to. James wasn't a bad person by any mean, but he didn't fancy telling him 'we got nothing to work on'. The General never took well such news. "James. I hope you had a pleasant journey."

"Nothing to worry about," he replied, shaking the older man's hand. "It's good to see you again. How are things here in Beacon? I've heard… rumours… about a certain team who got into trouble."

Ozpin sighed. Of course he'd know about that. "Yes. Team ARBYL. I am more than certain that our enemies organized this. That team has not one but two Silver Eyed warriors, James. I would normally expel a team with such a scandal pending over their heads, but if we were to expel them, the Queen's pawns would track them down and kill them immediately."

Ironwood seemed doubtful, but didn't question his arguments, and it was a good thing since he had no other argument. And besides, with James, one always had to be strict and quick to the point.

"Still, how are you planning to solve the scandal?" Ironwood asked, exasperated. "It won't die down unless they are punished. You distracted them, but not for long."

"Soon after the dance, the students will receive their first missions," Ozpin confided with a slight smirk. "And while they are busy, Glynda and I will take on this problem ourselves – and since when Glynda can't solve any problem?"

"A solid plan, I see," nodded the General. "Oh, and about Glynda-"

"We weren't aware of your coming," he lied smoothly. "She and I are going together. Though as far as I'm aware, Bart still has not companion. Would you like to accompany him?"

Ironwood's glare was more than worth it. "It's not the time for jokes, Ozpin. What are you planning to do with our enemies?"

And there it was. The dreaded question. Ozpin sighed. "You were right, James. Salem rules discretion. If we act, we need to act and use our advantages, not play her game and lose because of our weaknesses. Have you brought your army with you?"

Normally, such a question would've sent the General on a proud rant on how he always brought his army with him, but he knew Ozpin, and Ozpin would've never asked him such a question. "Where does my army fit in this, Ozpin?"

The Headmaster rose to look his friend in the eyes. "You were right. Discreet isn't working. We can't work in the shadows if Salem already rules there. We need to use our strengths – connections, power, wealth, influence, troops. Even if it means proving there is something people should worry about." It was a hard decision and he knew many would never forgive him for it, but he had to act. "I want to ask you to hunt down the White Fang. Use lethal force if needed. After what happened at the docks, I cannot turn a blind eye to it any longer. All the Dust thefts must've had a reason to happen. And the White Fang is clearly involved. If we take out their main troop force, we can cripple them long enough to come up with another counter-action."

If Ironwood was surprised by his order, he didn't show it. "What made you change your mind?"

Ozpin could only give a small, helpless shrug. "Several reasons. But the most important was the realization that my students had done a better job than me at fighting the White Fang. I dismissed it as a mere terrorist organization, and instead they were on Salem's side. I had to do something, especially since it's clear they have fed the information to the media to discredit them and make them more vulnerable."

Again, blunt honesty was sometimes the best way to go with the cyborg-like man. "If you declare the peace over, Ozpin, you know you won't be able to stop until the war ends, right?"

"The war has already started – I just didn't want to see it until now," confessed the Headmaster. "And we can't continue to do nothing, or we'll be tricked and then defeated before we can even realize what's going on. It has to be done."

"How should I justify the intervention?" asked the General, knowing that even he couldn't just start moving his army around Vale without a reason.

"Current charges are theft, destruction of public and private property, terrorism, kidnapping, murder, attempt of mass murder, unprovoked assault and unauthorized occupation," Ozpin replied gravely. "They should be enough to justify their capture and imprisonment."

"The Faunus community won't like this," Ironwood warned him, even though he was already aware of that.

"The Faunus community has been okay with part of them committing horrid crimes against petty racists but they will always speak up against fighting the White Fang, calling us oppressors and human supremacists," he gritted his teeth, knowing fully well just how messed up minds were regarding the racism. "I don't see how doing this would change anything."

Funny thing was, the White Fang never tried a direct approach against the SDC. Apparently, for all their claims and shouts, they didn't really want to fight their oppressors – just everyone else and be the biggest fish in a pond of tadpoles, instead of facing the crocodiles next door.

Nodding, Ironwood farewelled him and turned to leave, his Scroll already up to call his Specialists. "I won't fail you, Ozpin. I'll keep you informed."

"Thank you," replied the Headmaster, not even sure if the man had heard him.

/-/

Ruby Rose was having a good day, especially since she was currently watching an anime she really liked. It was about a group of teenagers called Garnet Rouge, River Freeze, Nero Belluomo and Taichi Solong. The four boys made up Team GRNT, Garnet, with said person as leader. It was funny to see just how crazy all their shenanigans were, especially if one counted their bitter enemies, the team right across the hall from them, Team STRN -Saturn-, composed of Sunny Bend, Thor Bonecrusher, Roy Al Athena and Deceive Ner.

The opening and closing of the door shook her from the epic food battle that was going on between the two teams and look at who had just entered. As it turned out, it was Yang, and she didn't look very pleased either. Pausing the video on her Scroll, she sat up on her bed. "Something's wrong, sis?"

"Aside from the fact I've spent the last hour basically strong-arming and guilt-tripping Blake into going to the dance because she thought that relaxing was below her?" the blonde snorted, sarcastically of course. "Other than that, nothing's wrong. It's just perfect! Also, next time I see Neptune I'm strangling him until he turns the same colour as his hair."

"What did he do?" Ruby asked, though she knew Yang needed very little to start trying to murder people – not like she'd actually kill them, only seriously rough them up.

"He rejected Weiss, that's what he did!" she growled.

Ruby just shrugged. "Yeah, and? People can have their opinions and if he didn't want to go with Weiss, what's the problem?"

"That's not the point, he should've let her down gently, not just blow her off without a care in the world," she retorted, obviously very angry. "You don't do that to someone who just had the courage to ask you out!"

"Well, honestly, Weiss kind of had it coming," Ruby replied, still not seeing what the big deal was. Yang started at her, incredulous. "I mean, Weiss had people ask her to the dance and one of her kindest responses was to slam the door in their face. She kind of deserves that after being so harsh."

"It's not about Weiss, it's about Neptune!" Yang protested heatedly. "He shouldn't have done that!"

"Weiss can complain about that once she starts being more gentle to strangers herself," Ruby continued, unaware of how merciless she sounded. "I'm not saying Neptune should have done that, I'm just saying it's not so surprising that the 'Ice Queen' found out not everyone was ready to kiss the ground where she walked."

Still incredulous and angry, Yang shook her head at her. "I'm seriously gonna need to teach you how not to be so socially awkward, because that's bordering on socially stumped," she grumbled. "Anyway, where are the others?"

"Sky said something about his doom having arrived at last and went out to enjoy his last days on Remnant," Ruby relied flatly, returning to lay on her bed and de-pausing the video. "Blake's in the library, obviously. Jaune said he was going to train a little."

"Good, because I'd like to have a word with you," nodded Yang, acting serious for once.

Confused, Ruby paused the video once again, not even ten seconds after starting it, and turned to look at Yang. "What about?"

Knowing it would be a hard topic to broach, Yang took a deep breath. "Look, I know this may sound really confusing for you, but I wanted to know if you wanted to ask Jaune to the dance or not, since you two have been on a date – and it went well for all I've been told. So I've been wondering if you two were up to take it a step further – like a date to the dance."

Ruby's eyebrows rose slightly. "Yang…"

"No, please, don't interrupt me," Yang stopped her, thrusting out an open hand. "I need to finish this. Ruby, I know I've always been against you dating and this is why Jaune had to give you The Talk instead of me. I never wanted you to have anything to do with romance until you were much older, because I've committed some mistakes and I know that your first dating experiences are often the ones you'll remember the most. So I wanted you to have good experiences instead of… well, you know… jerks as boyfriends or girlfriends – I'm not judging your preferences."

"Yang…" Ruby tried again, blushing.

"So I know that this must be extremely confusing for you, but I want to help you, and I will help you. I want to give you advice and I want to give Jaune advice on how to treat you, since you're so inexperienced. Not that he isn't, but he is a bit more socially aware than you are, even if no less awkward," the blonde continued. "I'm gonna help you understand what things are okay, how to react to certain feelings, and even how to cope with jealousy in case some other student takes a liking to Jaune. I just really don't want you to-What is this?"

Keeping her Scroll pressed against her sister's face, Ruby snorted. "Read it."

Blinking, Yang took the Scroll from her hands and looked at it. The video's tab had been either closed or minimized to make space for her Call Unified Network for Trainees, or CUNT for short – yeah, once again Beacon's horrible naming habits had made the acronym a common joke among the students. She glanced at the messages.

Ruby Rose, 2h ago: By the way, are you taking anyone to the dance?

Jaune Arc Rose Xiao Long, 2h ago: I was thinking on asking you, since, you know…

Ruby Rose, 2h ago: Good, I wanted to go with you anyway. No one else understands what it is to be socially awkward…

Jaune Arc Rose Xiao Long, 2h ago: Okay, but beware because I actually like to dance. You don't have to if you don't want, but I'm most probably going to dance if I get the chance.

Yang blinked. All her worries… and then those two had actually already asked each other out. While she was happy she didn't have to come up with any harebrained idea to get them to ask each other to the dance, Yang was also quite irritated by the fact she hadn't even been told, like…

She glanced at Ruby. "Ruby, this is your first relationship, right?"

"Of course it is, you never allowed anyone near me!" protested Ruby, pouting at the injustice.

Damn, her sister was a natural at dating! …except for her awkwardness, of course. She'd have to beg Jaune not to ever let her go because that little missy was ready to become a gentlemen's woman – in her mind, the female version of a ladies' man.

Rolling her eyes, she wiped the screen to continue reading the chat before Ruby violently impacted her midriff, throwing herself at her sister. "No! Don't read further!"

Okay, that was probably the wrong thing to say to an older sibling such as Yang. With a grin, the blonde held the Scroll up where Ruby couldn't reach it. "What? What is there that you don't want me to know?" She faked a little gasp. "You haven't been sending each other pics in state of undress, have you?"

"What?! No!" Ruby almost faltered in her assault at the accusation, blushing right to the roots of her hair.

Yang chuckled and stole a glance at the actual contents of the chat before she froze, allowing Ruby to snatch the Scroll and run out of the door, trying to put as much space as she could between her and her sister.

Rage slowly built up within the blonde as her eyes turned red and her hair caught fire. That was far worse than naked pics. That confirmed her worst fears, fears she'd never wanted to see confirmed. And worse still, Ruby had been the one to initiate it! She'd been the one to convince Jaune to perform such an immoral act!

"RUBY!" she bellowed, chasing after her not-so-innocent sister. "YOU ASKED JAUNE TO TEACH YOU HOW TO CHEAT AT VIDEOGAMES!?"