Chapter 20: Dance Dance Revolution

Afterwards, Miles Luna separated from the twins and exchanged contacts, then left to buy his own suit and meet up with the guys at the Arcade, back as Jaune Arc.

Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias were playing against each other on a dance machine and a girl with short, curly orange hair with a bow was watching them animatedly.

"Salutations!" The girl noticed him approaching. "I am Penny Polendina. Nice to meet you, Jaune Arc."

"Ah," Jaune was caught a bit flat-footed. "Nice to meet you too?"

"Hey, Jaune." Ren greeted him as he got closer. "Was Sun always a good dancer?"

"Even better than me." Jaune replied before motioning the orangette. "Who's she?"

"Sun recognized her from the 'Blake Incident'." Ren said. "Apparently she was there at the docks the night it got robbed."

'Ah. The 'Penny' Ruby asked for.' Jaune noted as Neptune lost his match and came to sulk.

"Please, please. No autographs." Sun gloated to the applause of the small crowd around them. "I'm a busy man."

"Free drinks to anyone who can knock the {Monkey King} off his throne." Neptune growled as he stood next to them.

Penny perked up at his words. "I see no throne, but I believe that I can defeat Friend Sun in a Dance Battle."

The three boys turned to Penny in surprise.

"You know how to dance?" Ren asked.

"I have been called a quick study." Penny replied.

Due to Penny's high voice, everyone heard of her challenge and parted way respectfully as she approached.

"Alright." Sun crossed his arms as Penny stepped under the stage, raising an eyebrow as the floor creaked a bit from her weight. "I hope you're a good loser."

"I say the same to you, Friend Sun." Penny replied with a bright smile, causing a wave of 'oohs' to resonate through their audience.

"She... wasn't actually taunting him, was she?" Jaune stated rather than asked.

"Nope." Neptune replied. "She's a bit... socially lacking but in an adorable kind of way."

"Adorable how?" Jaune asked.

"Adorable in the sense that she couldn't even realize that Neptune was flirting with her in the slightest." Ren replied.

"...Yeah." Neptune slumped. "I think she's a bit aware of it though 'cause she was really into 'having friends'."

Dance!

They started off strong, with Penny messing up some of the moves wrong. Sun laughed at her instability and then suggested that Penny copy him if she wanted an idea of how to move.

It was apparently a huge mistake as Penny proceeded to copy him exactly, move for move. It had the weird effect of causing the audience to see two separate people moving with such resonance that it could be believed that it was a single brain controlling them both.

It eventually ended after a whooping twenty six minutes that Sun's legs gave out on him. The crowd applauded while Sun limped down and rested on Jaune's available shoulder, leaving Penny on the stage, who... didn't even appear to be sweating a bit.

"Hmm. Studies show that I must declare a short statement emphasizing my victory." Penny appeared to be genuflecting before announcing in a hammy voice. "I have dethroned the {Monkey King}! Long live Queen Penny!"

The applause burst even higher.

"Penny!" Neptune cheered. "I've got a cold drink with your name on it!"

"I wanna go crawl and hide under my bed in shame." Sun mumbled in depression as he buried his face in Jaune's shoulder. Jaune just laughed as he patted his little brother's back.

It was the night of the dance, with various students already mingling about.

"Stupid... dumb... neck trap!" Sun struggled with his tie, dressed in a similar suit to his brother next to him.

"They're not that bad." Jaune replied. "Why are you complaining so much?"

"Well I'm not used to it, okay!" Sun complained. "Besides, it's wrong for a person to feel so constricted."

"I knew you'd look better in a tie."

The two blondes stopped to notice Blake Belladonna, who looked a lot more healthier than before thanks to her recently sleepless nights.

For her dress, Blake wore a short, purple, asymmetrical, halter neck dress that was split up the right side and had a black collar. Translucent black mesh covered her shoulders and back, and decorative black swirls covered the left side of the dress and continued up the left strap. The outfit was completed with black pumps, and she wore a golden bow on her head as opposed to her usual black one.

Sun stopped his struggling and stared as Blake stepped forward and took him by the arm.

"So, does this mean we're going... together?" Sun asked.

"Technically. Although my first dance is spoken for." Blake replied.

Jaune waved them away, happy for the both of them. He didn't know what happened to Blake, but they must have been responsible for getting her to relax on the 'Torchwick' matter.

"Now then," Jaune sighed, putting his fists on his hips. "Where's my attractive dance partner?"

"Um. Here?"

Jaune turned around to see Pyrrha in her dressed up glory.

Pyrrha Nikos had let down her hair from it's usual ponytail and was dressed in a turtleneck sleeveless red dress with her back exposed and a long slit reaching her right hip and exposing a long creamy leg whenever she stepped forward with it. Jaune really loved the way it clung to her form, showing off her statuesque curves.

"H-How do I look?" Pyrrha asked with an adorable blush.

"You look gorgeous, Pyr."

Pyrrha suddenly blushed red enough to match her hair, secretly glad that something good had come from having both Nora and Yang help her with dress hunting. She took his arm in hers, a cute combination of nervousness and happiness as they walked in to face a smirking Yang.

"Welcome, you two!" Yang Xiao Long, dressed in a simple white, halter neck dress, that really didn't add much to an already attractive girl like her, especially with her confidence. "Glad to see that my efforts with both you and Blake paid off."

"Er, thank you!" Pyrrha hastily pulled Jaune away before he could ask for details.

"What was that about?" Jaune asked.

"Nothing!" Pyrrha hastily replied. "S-Shall we dance?"

"Sure." And with that, Jaune led her into a slow waltz.

After a while, he then spied Neptune goofing off with Sun and Blake... with Weiss nowhere near him.

"Excuse me, Pyrrha." Jaune disengaged from her. "Sorry, but I'm feeling a bit thirsty right now. Do you wanna get some punch?"

"That'd be lovely." The two walked over to the punch bowl, which had Ruby Rose standing by it and balefully watching the crowd.

"Hello, Ruby." Pyrrha greeted.

"Hey guys." Ruby replied, sipping her drink.

"Where's Weiss?" Jaune cut straight to it as he took a glass for himself. "I thought she'd be with Neptune."

"What do you mean?" Ruby turned to properly face Jaune. "Weiss came to the dance alone."

"Uh, what?!" Jaune choked out in surprise.

"Is that true?" Pyrrha asked as she patted Jaune's back.

"Yeah, she said that she had too much to focus on to worry about boys." Ruby recounted as she pointed towards her partner.

Weiss Schnee, dressed in a short, sleeveless, white dress with cutouts on each sides of her waist, was desperately trying to coax life out of a wilting white rose. When she failed, she looked visibly upset. Her sadness grew as her attention was drawn to Neptune's laughter.

"Hold my punch." Jaune spoke in a low growl. He handed Pyrrha his cup and stalked towards Neptune and shoving other students out of the way.

"Hey, Jaune. How's it goin-" Neptune's greeting was cut off as Jaune grabbed his arm, nodded to Sun and Blake and promptly dragged him to the nearest balcony.

"So er, this party's pretty lame, huh? I mean, ballroom dancing. Pfft." Neptune kept up his cool appearance against Jaune's obvious annoyance. "Cute girls, though, huh?"

"Speaking of cute girls," Jaune growled as he turned back to Neptune. "Is that all you think about?"

"Huh?" Neptune responded in confusion.

"Do you even care about the girls you're hitting on?" Jaune asked in a serious tone. "How they feel about you? Or are you just constantly aiming for one time flings?"

"Whoa!" Neptune threw his palms up. "Where's this coming from?"

"How could you just turn Weiss down like that?" Jaune accused, opening his arms wide.

"I, uh... it, uh... it just didn't work out, you know?" Neptune rubbed the back of his head, trying and failing to hide his nervousness from the protective Knight in front of him.

"My friend is in there, trying her best not to let her sadness show and ruin the effort she put into this dance." Jaune growled. "Do not lie to me so casually about this."

The balcony trembled as Jaune's Will washed over Neptune, shaking the nearby window as It forced him back a step and left him sweating.

"I can't dance!" Neptune confessed in an almost pitiful voice, looking shamefully at the ground as Jaune's Conqueror Haki suddenly waned off.

"...What." Jaune mumbled. It wasn't easy to audibly pronounce the absence of a question mark, but somehow, Jaune had just managed it.

"I can't dance, man!" Neptune repeated in a strained voice.

"But... but... you're so cool!" Jaune gestured to Neptune.

"Thank you. I try really, really hard." Jaune could really hear the appreciation in Neptune's voice.

"So let me get this straight." Jaune clarified, thinking that this was one of the most outrageous things imaginable. "You would rather break a girl's heart and go to a dance alone than just admit to everyone that you can't move in rhythm to music?"

"That about sums it up, yeah." Neptune admitted, avoiding eye contact.

'And to think I was worried of slowly becoming a douchebag with how much sex I've been having away from Virgo while thinking of Pyrrha's feelings?' Jaune thought as he turned away to look over the balcony edge. 'Well, Virgo actually told me that she was okay with it but still...'

"Please don't tell anybody." Neptune raised his palms. "Look, if you want Weiss, she's all yours. I don't wanna get in your way."

Jaune turned back towards Neptune and placed his palms on the stone banister. "Do you like her?"

"Yeah, I mean I don't know her too well yet, but she seems pretty cool." Neptune answered.

"Then just go talk to her. No pickup lines, no suave moves, just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go." Jaune crossed his arms. "Considering that it was my happily married, lesbian big sister who told me this, I'm pretty sure it's legit, at least."

Neptune raised his hand in protest. "Yeah, but then…"

"Hey! You don't have to look cool all the time." Jaune interrupted. "I'm pretty sure you aren't constantly cool around Sun but he's never stopped being your friend, has he?"

Neptune considered Jaune's advice for a moment, then replied. "No, he hasn't."

"Go talk to her." Jaune said. "I guarantee it'll make her night."

"Thanks. You're a really cool guy, Jaune." Neptune approached Jaune, holding his fist out.

"Alright, don't butter me up." Jaune closed the rest of the distance and they fist bump.

Jaune went back to his date, nodding approvingly as he saw Neptune approaching Weiss as he rubbed his neck nervously. Weiss invited him to sit with her and as he took a seat, the Heiress budged slightly nearer to him.

"Where did Ruby go?" Jaune said, sidling up to Pyrrha's side. "And how the hell are guys not coming up to you for a dance?"

"Well, Ruby went to meet Yang, presumably to ask to excuse herself." Pyrrha answered, entering into another dance with him. "Professor Ozpin actually joined us for a bit. As for the guys asking me to dance, no one did."

"Eh?" Jaune replied. "But you're Pyrrha! Ignoring your fame, you're still a ridiculously beautiful girl! How could no one get attracted to this?!"

The Spartan only blushed harder at his words but before she could reply, the music suddenly changed to something more upbeat. Something very familiar to Jaune...

Hit it

Nah, na na na nah, na na na nah, na na nah, na na nah, na na na nah

Here comes the hotstepper, murderer

I'm the lyrical gangster, murderer

Pick up the crew in-a de area, murderer

Still love you like that, murderer

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Jaune yelled as he turned to face a smirking Yang at the DJ stand.

"Do it!" Yang yelled back as an excited Nora Valkyrie dragged a confused Lie Ren to Jaune's side. "The 'Hotstepper' meme was never gonna die!"

Jaune groaned as JNPR proceeded to perform a short but elaborately choreographed dance, culminating in Jaune spinning Pyrrha. The music bleared loudly as JNPR danced to it and their fellow teenagers spectated and cheered in excitement.

"I knew you were a good dancer, but not this good." Pyrrha commented.

"Yeah, well, these things tend to happen when you grow up with seven sisters." Jaune replied as he dipped Pyrrha and then spun her away.

"So, what made you change your mind?" Weiss asked as she and Neptune watched from their seats.

"Huh?" Neptune responded.

"You said you were embarrassed at first. What made you come talk to me?" Weiss elaborated.

"You're looking at him." Neptune nodded towards Jaune. "You got some good friends looking out for ya, Snow Angel."

After some minutes, the dance had slowed down a bit and Pyrrha had just excused herself, feeling tired.

Just as Jaune was about to leave himself, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hello there." It was Cinder Fall. She was dressed in a formal black evening gown that had black glass designs on it. "I saw your earlier moves. Would you mind going for a spin with me?"

"Of course." Jaune replied, looking over at Mercury Black dancing with Emerald Sustrai. Mercury waved at him while Emerald just looked confused.

"You see," Cinder started, drawing back Jaune's attention. "I've always had an interest in meeting you. When you defeated my teammate without even using your weapon, I just knew you were someone to take note of."

'Shit.' "Mercury won that fight."

"Please." Cinder smirked. "Even though you surrendered, we both know who truly won that fight. Your protectiveness isn't surprising but your perceptiveness is."

Jaune grimaced. Roman and Neo's description of their new boss didn't seem so farfetched anymore. The first time they'd met they had simply bumped into him and Ruby. Now, with her attention fully focused on him, Jaune felt a bit stupid for considering Mercury the leader of their group. Maybe the second-in-charge then.

'Holy crap… she's dangerous alright.' Jaune could already feel his pulse racing so hard he feared he might keel over. She smiled coyly at him, even as she flicked her black locks behind her, revealing two amber eyes that seemed locked onto his own.

Being this close to each other, with her ample breasts even pressing against his chest, Jaune could only pray to his Ancestors and the Celestial Spirit King for help.

'Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.' Cinder smiled once more, as some thick locks fell across one eye. Her tongue flicked out a little, but it caught his eye. 'Don't be aroused. Don't be aroused.'

"Tell me, Jaune." Cinder purred, liking the small blush that appeared against his will. "What kind of man are you? What was it that cultivated that perceptiveness?"

"That's personal, Miss Fall." Jaune replied, slipping into his 'Miles Luna' persona for comfort. "I don't feel like sharing and I'm not just protective. I've been told that I am flat out territorial."

Cinder smirked, apparently entertained at him.

*DING*

"Ah. The midnight bell." Cinder fully pressed her form against him, just enough that a little bit more would go into blatantly lewd territory before disengaging. "Good night to you, Jaune. I do hope we can be good friends."

She walked away, putting a bit more sway in her hips that just drew his eyes.

Jaune sighed, very well aware of how rigid and hard he was, before heading for his dorm. He needed a really cold shower.

Hunter Profile

Name: Lie Ren

Age: 17

Title: The Lotus Ninja

Aura: Pink

Color Motif: Green, White, Black

Semblance: Tranquility. This allows him to mask the negative emotions of himself and anyone he touches at the time. It also has the effect of calming down excited people and causing all colors on them and himself to turn into a black-grey-white tone.

Sex: Male

Alignment: Lawful Good

Likes: Nora Valkyrie, sleep.

Dislikes: The mysterious Grimm which attacked his home and killed his parents.

Bio: Orphaned at an early age, He and Nora have been together(but not together-together) for years. He now aims to become a Huntsman so that none may suffer like he did. He knows nothing of Nora's past before he met her.