The next few days went by relatively smoothly. Sera and her team undertook simple missions every day to control the number of Grimm in Mantle and outside its walls.

After Sera fought the Ace Ops and Grimm, she slept for nearly the entire next day. Ruby had to lure her out of bed with a bottle of People Like Grapes soda.

They and JNPR woke up every morning at five sharp to get ready for their day. By six, they were all waiting for their briefing from Clover. Sera and her friends carried out their assignments during the day and did whatever they wished to during the night.

Tensions continued to rise as election day for chairman on the Council creeped drew nearer by the hour. Robyn Hill was in the lead by a lot, especially after a video Jacques Schnee put out. The CEO promised many things to the good people of Mantle, and Sera wasn't quite sure what to make of it. She dislikes the man, of course, but she wasn't into politics.

Just the day after Sera's combat testing, Ruby, Qrow, Clover, and Penny had a run-in with Robyn Hill. She and her "Happy Huntresses" had tried to steal the supply trucks they were protecting. Fortunately, Penny and Clover had convinced them to stand down. Still, though, the people of Mantle knew something was going on with Amity Arena, and now Robyn was likely determined to find out what.

But after Sera was back at full strength and ready to fight again, she was pleased to see Neon and her team in Atlas Academy. Apparently, the Faunus had ditched her job as a DJ back in Argus and returned home with Flynt and their other teammates. JNPR and Oscar has been sparring with them in the training room.

Things were starting to feel normal again for Sera. She had a daily routine and orders to carry out with her friends. With her B-level license, she could go just about anywhere in the academy except for the top-level clearance. She frequently did training fights against bots and sparring matches with other huntsmen to train herself. Out of all the Atlas students in the academy, few could match team RWBYS in direct combat.

Sera even found herself visiting the library to find out what she could about Shade Academy and different types of Grimm. Weiss even volunteered to give her a lesson on Dust and ways to use it more effectively. She'd told Sera that if she'd remember to use it with her weapons more often, she'd be more efficient in combat.

"I kind of forget that it can do stuff with Dust," Sera had said to her, holding up her weapon for emphasis.

"Typical." Weiss rolled her eyes. "You'd probably be a better huntress if you'd just use your head, you know."

Even with Weiss's ever-present heiress-like snark towards the amnesiac, Sera still enjoyed her time in Atlas. And it only got better whenever Clover had given her team and JNPR the rest of the day off to do whatever they want.

The sun was barely down, and the night was full of possibilities.

"What do you guys wanna do?" Ruby asked enthusiastically.

"Aren't you going to that thing for Robyn Hill?" Blake asked.

"Oh, right."

"Team FNKI said something about going to a dance club." Yang shrugged. Sera remembered the last club she went to with Neon.

"I dunno." She admitted. "Those places are too loud and crowded. And people get a little crazy."

"That's the point!" Yang countered.

Sera crossed her arms. "I thought FNKI annoyed you."

"That's why a club is perfect! I can't hear them," Yang insisted.

The amnesiac rolled her eyes. The door to their room creaked open, and RWBYS turned to see Ren and Nora standing there. "Uh, you coming Ruby?" Nora asked.

"I still can't believe you're going to that," Weiss said.

"Just because Ironwood hates Robyn doesn't mean we all have to," said Nora.

"But going to a victory party?"

"You can still go if you wanna." Ruby shrugged as she went to join Ren and Nora.

"Gonna pass on that one," Weiss said. Ruby, Ren, and Nora left them to go to Robyn Hill's victory party.

"Dance clubs aren't a safe place to be!" Sera continued to berate Yang.

"We're huntresses!"

Jaune peeked his head around the doorway. "Oh, they're arguing now. Pyrrha, Oscar, and I are going to catch a movie if you wanna—"

"Yup!" Weiss said.

"Oh, okay." Jaune scratched his head, apparently surprised that Weiss actually agreed. The four of them left the room, leaving Blake, Yang, and Sera.

"Why don't you like night clubs?" Blake asked the amnesiac.

"Like I said, loud, crowded, and crazy people."

Yang and Blake glanced at each other. "Blake, you mind waiting outside for a moment?"

The Faunus nodded and wordlessly stepped outside. Sera quirked an eyebrow at Yang as she stepped up to her. With a sly grin, the brawler draped her arms around Sera's neck and met her eyes.

"You don't wanna come spend time with me?" she asked innocently. Sera hesitated.

"You're making it out to be worse than it actually is," she told Yang.

"We're supposed to go out and do stuff together, you know."

"Yeah," Sera shifted on her heels. "But stuff we're both supposed to enjoy. And I particularly do not want and would not enjoy a nightclub."

Yang smiled mischievously as she pressed further against Sera. "And what would it take for you to want to go with us?"

Sera cast her eyes to the side momentarily to avoid Yang's gaze. When she returned her eyes to the blonde, she was scanning Sera's face with a strange look in her eyes that the amnesiac had never seen before. Sera took in the brawler's form, starting from her boots and working her way up.

After a moment, she relented.

"Fine," she sighed. Sera drew her face in close to Yang's, a smirk on her lips. "Maybe there is one thing you can do that'll convince me."

Yang grinned as her cheeks flushed.

. . .

"This was the best thing that could have possibly happened," Sera announced.

"Speak for yourself," Yang grumbled.

"What, you didn't enjoy it?" Sera asked.

"No, no. It just didn't go how I expected."

"Same," Blake said.

"Yeah, you just kind of jumped in at the end there with that wiener thing." Yang looked over at the Faunus.

"That's not what that was." Blake's cat ears flattened against her head.

"All in all, that was a very successful trip to the store." Sera held aloft the six-pack of People Like Grapes soda that Yang bought for her.

Sera's one condition for going to the nightclub was that she wanted her most favorite drink for the walk over. So, the three of them stopped at a little store in Atlas to pick it up. Of course, while they were checking out, Blake plopped a narrow stick of tubed salmon jerky onto the counter. Sera didn't even know they made salmon jerky, much less in that form.

Now, the three of them were walking to the nightclub that Neon told Yang and Blake about.

"Did you have to get a whole box?" Yang eyed the cardboard carton that held the glass bottles of deep purple liquid.

"If I'm going to this thing, I need something to hold me over." Sera said as she popped the top on her third bottle.

"You do know they have, ahem, stronger drinks inside." Blake glanced at her.

"Stronger drinks that I want neither of you touching." Sera pointed at each of them with her bottle.

"Aw, what?" Yang whined.

"I mean it," Sera affirmed. "None."

"It's our night off!"

"And Clover told us that he wanted us rested and ready for whatever may happen tomorrow."

"Since when do you like Clover so much?" Yang quirked an eyebrow.

"Since he gave me this shiny new huntress license." Sera grinned as she held up her scroll, her license on-screen.

"Show off," Yang grumbled.

"I try." Sera shrugged.

"You two are ridiculous," Blake chuckled. "You're too much alike."

"And that's a bad thing?" Yang asked with a grin.

"Not necessarily." She responded. "People like that are usually the worst of enemies because they're always butting heads, or the best of friends."

"How do you know that?" Sera asked as she placed her now empty bottle back in its carton. She was a lot of things, but a litterer was not one of them.

Blake shrugged. "A book."

"Figures. Was this one of your 'romance' books?"

The Faunus's cheeks colored. "No," she responded stiffly.

"What ever happened to those books? I've noticed you're doing a lot less reading since Beacon—" Yang asked.

"Oh look, the nightclub!" Blake pointed. Sure enough, a large building with brightly colored lights flashing through the windows and onto the dark street. A long line was winding down the street and a giant bouncer stood by the door with his beefy arms crossed.

"Are we supposed to wait in line?" Blake asked.

"I hope not," Yang said.

"Pfft, watch this. We can just do what I did in Argus," Sera handed Yang her soda, cracked her knuckles, then marched right up to the bouncer. She intended to just walk right past him, but the bouncer stuck his arm out and blocked her. "Hey!"

"Back of the line. "He jabbed his thumb towards the line. Sera could see her reflection in his sunglasses he wore, despite it now being nighttime.

She narrowed her eyes at the much taller man, and Blake and Yang appeared at her sides.

"We have friends inside," Blake told him. "So, if you could just—"

"Back of the line," the bouncer repeated, more sternly.

"But—" Yang said.

"You on the VIP list?" he interrupted.

"Maybe?" Yang said hopefully.

"Names?"

"Yang Xiao Lo—"

"Back of the line."

"But you didn't even let her finish!" Sera protested.

"Because she's not on the list." The bouncer glowered down at them. "Now, back of the line."

Sera's fists clenched in anger at the man. Sure, he was just doing his job, but she did not feel like waiting several hours just to get inside. "Oh, yeah?" Well you—"

"It's fine." Blake put a hand on her shoulder. Sera and the bouncer continued to glare at each other until Blake pulled her away. "Come on."

"Fine." Sera turned away from him and marched towards the end of the line. Her friends hurried to catch up. She could tell because she heard the soda bottles quickly clinking together.

"What was your plan? To just walk past him?" Yang asked rhetorically. "In hindsight, that was a pretty shitty plan."

"Shut it, Xiao Long."

"Then what? He or some guards inside would've just got you."

"Don't, Yang," Sera warned.

"What were you gonna do if that happened? Fight them all off? In the middle of Atlas? A huntress attacking people doesn't send a very good message, Snowball."

The amnesiac whirled around to Yang and sent her hand towards her. Yang, being a brave huntress who stares death in the face every day, flinched and held up the carton of bottles in her hands to shield herself.

Sera snatched an unopen bottle and popped the cap.

"What the-?" Yang asked.

"What did you think my plan was?" Sera asked in a mocking tone. "To just hit you for no good reason? In hindsight, that was pretty shitty on your part if you think I'd hit you, Blondie."

"Oh, shut up," Yang told her. Blake cracked a smile as they went down the sidewalk.

"What do we do now?" Blake asked. As they reached the back of the line and stood behind the group of people at the end. "Just wait in line?"

"What else? It's not like someone's just going to just take us to the front and let us—"

"Guys?" a familiar voice said. They turned to see Neon and Flynt standing a few feet away. "What're you doing?"

"Waiting in line?" Blake said.

"Why would you do that?" Flynt asked.

"Because we have to?" Yang blinked.

"The bouncer wouldn't let us in," Sera added.

Neon laughed. "No, silly. Come on, follow us."

Sera and her friends looked at each other with questioning glances before trailing after Neon and Flynt. Neon walked right up to the bouncer, and the large man stepped aside. His expression softened and Neon gave him a fist bump before she went in. Flynt Coal tipped his fedora at him and followed his teammate. When it was Yang's turn, the bouncer's face hardened.

"It's cool, Maurice." Neon told him. The bouncer, presumably Maurice, grumbled and waved for them to go in. Yang smirked and waltzed right in. Blake silently followed her, then Sera stuck her tongue out at Maurice before following her friends.

"Really?" Blake asked her.

"Eh, it was worth it." Sera shrugged.

Bass boosted music blasted from giant speakers and drowned out all other noise in the large club. A large dance floor with flashing tiles dominated the room. There was a long liquor bar on the far wall. A tall DJ podium sat just behind the dance floor with equipment taking up most of the small stage. On top of all that, the place was filled with people. The dance floor had bodies packed together so tightly, Sera wondered how they were dancing at all.

"Well, now what?" Blake asked, her volume raised to be heard over the music.

"We enjoy ourselves!" Yang replied.

Neon saluted at them before heading in a different direction.

"Where are you going?" Sera asked her. Neon only grinned and pointed at the DJ's podium. Sera rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, then Neon took off. Flynt tapped her shoulder, and she turned to see him hook a thumb towards the bar. Sera shook her head. He shrugged and went in that direction.

"What do you wanna do?" Yang asked her. Sera noticed that she got rid of the bottles she was holding, so her arms were now empty. Sera shrugged, and Blake looked just as lost. The only one out of them with any real experience in this sort of setting is Yang

"I dunno," Sera shrugged. "You're Miss Dance Club, aren't you?"

Yang rolled her lilac eyes and grabbed Sera's and Blake's hands and hauled them to the center of the dance floor. Whenever Yang let go and started dancing, Sera and Blake glanced at each other uncomfortably.

Their blonde teammate was dancing by standing in place and kicking in a way that imitated walking. She smiled at them like she was already having fun, but Sera and Blake still didn't know what to do. After a moment, Blake tried to imitate Yang's dance and semi-pulled it off. Yang laughed at her attempt good naturedly and kept dancing. When she turned her eyes to Sera, the amnesiac only shrugged.

Yang made a show of sighing, then took Sera's hand again and pulled her into a dance. The amnesiac's eyes went wide as Yang took both of her hands and did a more exaggerated version of the dance she was doing before. Only now, Sera had to do it too if the blonde was to move smoothly.

She tried to move in sync with Yang and mimic her moves, but she just didn't seem able to do it. She stepped on Yang's toes and bumped into other partygoers, but Yang didn't seem to mind. The brawler laughed at her, and Sera couldn't help but feel embarrassed as she made a fool of herself.

"Calm down," Yang smiled. "You're doing fine."

"Easy for you to say," Sera said, her eyes never leaving her feet so she didn't accidentally kick someone. She managed to look up quick enough to see Blake trying not to laugh. "You are in so much trouble when we get out of here."

"We'll see, Snowball." Yang grinned.

After a few minutes, Sera finally got the hang of the dance. She and Yang grinned at each other as they became the center of attention. Blake joined in where she could, and Neon even changed the song to a more energetic and upbeat one match their attitude.

"You're getting good at this!" Yang laughed.

"Yeah, well, give me fifteen minutes to do just about anything and I'll get better at it." Sera grinned.

"If you say so."

"Is that a challenge, Xiao Long?"

"Only if you can back up half the nonsense that you come up with."

"Oh, yeah, you're so dead." Sera squeezed her hands tightly.

A brightly lit screen suddenly drew everyone's attention to the left wall. Sera realized that it was the current status of the voting for chairman. It was neck and neck, with Robyn just barely in the lead.

"Oh, no," Blake said. Sera and Yang let go of each other and turned their attention to the screen. The timer had less than a minute left, and Jacques Schnee's percentage was getting higher.

Neon stopped the music and the flashing lights flickered out.

"What happens if he wins?" Sera murmured.

"I have no idea," Yang admitted.

"Nothing good. That much is certain," Blake said.

"Weiss isn't going to be happy," Sera noted.

"Mantle isn't going to be happy," Yang corrected.

Twenty seconds left. Jacques was at forty-nine percent while Robyn barely led with fifty-one. The crowd became uneasy with how close it was getting, and Sera didn't blame them.

Sera's eyes widened, and when she met her friends' eyes, they had formed the same conclusion.

"If Jacques wins, and everyone is leaning towards Robyn to solve everyone's problems…" Sera said.

"And Jacques is as hated by everyone as much as his own daughters hate him…" Yang added.

"Then him winning the election is going to cause everyone in Mantle much grief," Blake continued.

"And a whole city of people being thatupset is going to attract a lot of Grimm." Sera finished.

A video of Jacques suddenly appeared on the screen. He sat with his fingers interlaced on top of a desk. A smug aura surrounded him as he spoke. Everyone in the nightclub erupted with outrage at the white-haired man.

Sera glanced at the bottom of the screen. Damn it! While we were talking, he won the election!

"Oh, great," Sera sighed.

"That's not good." Blake's fists tightened.

Sirens blared from the street, soon followed by distant roars of Grimm.

"That's not good, either." Yang thrusted her arm to activate her prosthetic arm's weaponized form. "Let's get out there."

"Right," Blake nodded.

"The one day I don't bring my sword," Sera grumbled. She didn't see the point in carrying a large sword into a nightclub. She couldn't compact it into a smaller form like Ruby can with Crescent Rose. But she still had Silver Linings and the half of Ember Celica that Yang had given her.

The three of them pushed through the slightly panicking crowd to get outside and onto the street. Atlesian Knights and soldiers rushed down the sidewalk with rifles at the ready. Flying Grimm soared over the streets. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be too many of them.

Sphinxes and Manticores attacked various soldiers while sirens sounded through the streets. Blake pulled out Gambol Shroud in its pistol form and fired at the monsters.

Sera drew Silver Linings and fired at whatever Grimm she could. Yang couldn't do much while the Grimm were in the air, but she provided moral support by cheering them on.

After they managed to help take down a few of the Sphinxes, the Atlas air force finally arrived. The fight was over much sooner than it would've been when the airships started cutting the Grimm out of the air with their bullets. When the final Manticore disintegrated into black ash, the sirens stopped abruptly, and the red warning lights dimmed. The normal streetlights covered the dark streets.

"Well," Sera said as she holstered Silver Linings. "That was anticlimactic."

"Not every fight is as over the top as you think, Snowball." Yang put a hand on her hip.

"Yeah, but that was boring." Blake put away Gambol Shroud.

"See? Even Blake agrees with me." Sera smirked at Yang.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Just come on, let's get back to the academy."

"Tired?" Sera asked cheekily.

"Of you, yes."

"Oh, you're dead."

"That's what you said inside, and I'm still here," Yang retorted.

"Guys, can we just go back now?" Blake asked.

"What about Neon and Flynt?" Sera asked.

"They'll be fine if we leave. There was that Grimm attack, after all." Yang waved the thought away.

"But it might not be the last one," Blake said.

"True."