At last, I was finally able to get this chapter up. You may have noticed that there's no author response up top to comments. Due to my time being very limited coming up, I did not have time to respond here. If I waited until I did have time, this chapter would be delayed even longer, and it's always been too long. Don't think it's not because I don't read the comments and appreciate them. I really do. I read every one of them, even the ones that are less then pleasant that show up occasionally. You all give me lots of ideas and see where I need improvement. So thank you all for reading. I wanted to get this out this weekend and it took a while, but here it is. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or RWBY.


The dance was in full swing. The DJ of the dance was putting on whatever it was the attendees asked, along with many of the most popular hits of the decade. The students were enjoying themselves dancing and socializing, and even the strict Glynda Goodwitch had, in a sense, let her hair down. Not literally, but when General Ironwood asked her for a dance, she obliged, albeit grudgingly. That caused quite a rumor to circulate around the student body. Mostly spearheaded by the gossip duo of Yang and Coco.

Accelerator was a popular topic of conversation among many of the people present. His incredible power and all around unapproachable attitude made him out to be some kind of loner, but to actually have come to the dance with Weiss Schnee was something that completely caught most people off guard. Yet one topic still dominated 90% of the night's conversations.

Pyrrha and Jaune were dating.

Well, some of their close friends didn't make a big deal out of it after their initial surprise reactions, but others did. Especially those who were fans of Pyrrha Nikos, the star student of Beacon Academy.

"I can't believe it," Gwen gasped, after finally meeting up with the rest of her team. All of NDGO managed to grab some dates but were taking a break from the boys so that they could talk. The boys were also hanging out a bit and socializing. Going as friends rather than dates made this easy for them. "Jaune's actually dating Pyrrha."

"No wonder he kicked Octavia to the curb," Dew commented, an amused expression on her face. "He would have traded down."

"I'm going to drop ice water on your bed tonight," Octavia huffed and eyed Jaune and Pyrrha grooving to the music on the dancefloor. "First time I've seen Pyrrha smile like that. When she met Gwen, her smile seemed a little forced the first time they met."

"I figured out why," Nebula replied, happy to meet up with her teammates and friends again. "Took a little bit to understand, but Pyrrha really values her friends. She likes her fans but too many people try to snooze up to her for her fame."

"Kind of like how some of the guys back home do with us?" Gwen asked. "Pretend to like us then brag they got to date a member of our team?"

"Yes, but it's a lot worse for her." Nebula confirmed. "Imagine when even girls come up to you and pretend to like you for you, but just crave the perks of being with a famous person. Team JNPR is really tight-knit and they understand each other waaaaaay better than you think they should." She rubbed her forehead. "Jaune's really straight forward though. If he tells you something and his tone is serious, regardless of how stupid it sounds, you should believe him."

Her three teammates looked at her as she shivered this least few words out. The poor girl remembered the consequences of disregarding his words of warning, especially when it concerned Nora and her pancake addiction.

Meanwhile, the pair in question just finished dancing and were heading to the refreshment table to get some punch. With everyone in one building, it was rather warm, plus all the physical activity worked up a thirst.

"You're a really amazing dancer," Pyrrha told Jaune, giving him a sincere smile, something she'd been doing a lot of that night. It was not a fake smile she often used for business, but a truly genuine one that beamed ever so bright. "Where did you learn those moves?"

"My sisters needed someone to practice with before they would go to dances." Jaune laughed. "So as the only guy in the house around their age, I was somewhat forced to help them out." That got a giggle from the redhead. "What about you?"

"I had to attend a few formal dances for some photoshoots and PR stunts." Pyrrha sighed, remembering how boring and tasteless those were. "Learning a couple of popular dances and slow dances was required. They were rather dull though. People only wanted to dance with me because I was fam-.."

"Hey!" Jaune raised his voice slightly as he leaned into her with a finger to her lips. "Don't talk about that. We already had that depressing heart-to-heart. Now, we are a couple, enjoying a dance with our friends and classmates. Let's focus on having fun now."

"You're right," Pyrrha agreed instantly. "This is our first date. Let's make it something special."

"It already is," Jaune told her, causing her to blush.

"It's so sweet here, I think I'm going to get diabetes."

Both of them turned to see Mercury, holding up a glass of punch toward them.

"Congratulations you two," The silver-haired boy continued. "Knew you had it in you, Jaune."

"Thanks for kicking me into shape." Jaune told him. "I would have continued being an oblivious idiot for way too long."

"It wasn't that," Pyrrha assured him. "I also didn't make my feelings known." Jaune had admitted on their way to the ball that Touma and Mercury had helped him sort out his feelings and gave him courage. She was eternally grateful to those two. "I appreciate all your help though, Mercury."

He wasn't as bad as some of the other students made him out to be. He was a lot like Yang with his jokes and mischievous attitude.

"It was fun for me too." Mercury slapped Jaune on the back. "Okay love birds, I got to go find Emerald before she misses me too much."

"I think she ran away." Jaune joked.

"Probably," Mercury laughed loudly. "There's only so much one can take of all this." He gestured to himself. "She doesn't want to throw herself at me too hard, playing hard to get and all that y'know?"

"Definitely that." Jaune rolled his eyes as Pyrrha giggled.

"Thanks again for your help," Pyrrha told Mercury. "I like this song coming up, so I'll be needing Jaune." She grabbed the blonde's arm and dragged him back to the dance floor.

"That redhead must have been thirsty for Arc," Mercury muttered. "She doesn't want to leave him alone. Did not expect Pyrrha to be the needy type." He turned and walked toward the punch bowl. No one was near it right now and Mercury made a big show of spooning out a cup. "Let's liven up this boring party, otherwise I'm going to fall asleep."

He pulled out a flask from his pocket and poured the clear, odorless liquid into the punch bowl quickly, stashing it away before anyone noticed.

"That should shake things up."

Mercury strutted away before anyone could notice what he did.

Out on the dance floor, Blake was unenthusiastically partaking in an obligatory dance with her 'date.'

"You seem a little stiff." Sun pointed out.

"It's just I'm not really used to dancing," Blake muttered, her voice barely audible above the music. "Never been a big fan of loud parties." She pointed to her bow and Sun nodded in understanding.

"If it helps, you still move pretty well to the rhythm."

Blake could say the same thing about the monkey Faunus in front of her. That guy was literally a party animal. Regardless of the pop music that played, he always knew exactly how to move. A lot of people cheered him on in his solo performance and Blake was glad he was having a good time. When he had asked her to the dance, she had initially refused. It wasn't until she thought about it after Yang told her she really needed to go that she agreed to go with Sun as friends.

Friends.

Blake made sure to emphasize that word. Sun said he understood but was still excited to go with her.

"My mother taught me a few things back home," Blake admitted wistfully, looking at the ground. "Can't say I was that interested, but it was a nice mother-daughter activity."

"Cool." Sun didn't pick up the fact Blake was reminiscing about that memory. "Well, I'm glad you came. You always seem to hide away reading in a corner of Beacon."

"I happen to enjoy reading," Blake replied sternly, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Which isn't bad at all," Sun added quickly. "It's just you should also get out and have fun with friends. You know, socialize. I figured with Yang as your partner, you would be invited to all the best parties."

Blake had to admit that was kind of true. Yang would constantly try to drag her along to all sorts of parties. Most, if not nearly all the time, she said no. Once in a blue moon she would go and hang out with Yang and, even if it was noisy, the girl had to admit it had been enjoyable in its own way.

"What's this about me?"

Sun and Blake turned to see Yang and Ilia grooving to the music next to them. Ilia kept glancing at Yang, specifically, at her dress. Yang meanwhile seemed to notice and shook her body just enough to keep the Faunus girl entertained. It had been obvious Ilia was into girls and Yang was not one to disappoint her partner if she enjoyed the view.

"Just that you're a troublemaker." Blake answered with a smirk.

"The best kind." Sun added, high-fiving Yang. "Great party, by the way."

"Thanks," Yang grinned at him. "Took us ages to get the place set up. Should have used Ruby to spruce things up quicker."

The blonde glanced over her shoulder and Blake noticed her expression changed. Those lilac eyes glinted in amusement. Curious, Blake shifted to notice what her friend was looking at. It only took a single moment to zero in on the target.

It was Weiss and Accelerator.

Weiss was elegant as always, even if the music was more party rock than classical. Accelerator was… not bad, but inexperienced. His moves were limited and it looked like he was copying others around him. His eyes kept glancing at other guys while his perpetual grimace twisted with every curse he threw under his breath trying to replicate them. Blake considered that to be accurate. The boy would copy those he thought didn't look too stupid. This was probably his first dance ever since his usual attitude didn't leave much of a party air to him. Weiss didn't seem to mind and just seemed happy to be here.

"One sec, Ilia." Yang told her date and swiftly walked over to the DJ.

"This can't be good." Ilia moaned.

"You said it." Blake agreed, her mouth dry. Amber eyes noticed Yang slipping a few Lien into the man's hand. "This is going to be bad, isn't it?"

"What's she doing?" Sun asked. "Requesting a song?"

"That, or making a speech announcing Weiss and Accelerator the King and Queen of the dance." Blake hung her head dejectedly.

"Huh, but we didn't even vote?" Curiously questioned Sun.

Both Faunus girls facepalmed.

Once the current song finished, it quickly became obvious what Yang did.

"Oh, sweet!" Sun exclaimed. "A slow dance!"

"I'm going to get some punch," Blake said immediately, turning around and quickly strutting away. Sun chased after her, begging for a dance.

'Serves him right.' Ilia laughed silently. There was no way Blake was going to slow dance with someone like him.

"Care to dance?"

Ilia spun around on the spot. Distracted by Blake and Sun, she had completely forgotten about her own date. The blonde had already returned and looked pleased with herself. A huge smile was plastered on her face. Ilia turned a light shade of pink, the outfit her partner had on and her own thoughts of how close she'll be with the attractive girl caused a stir in her emotions. The ever mischief prone Yang noticed and wrapped an arm around her waist, purposefully bringing herself as close to the red faced girl as possible.

"If you don't know how, just follow my lead."

"Er… O-okay." Ilia gave up the thoughts of Blake for a while and went along with the blonde bombshell.

The dance floor cleared out a bit as the couples took the stage. Or in the case of Team CFVY, Coco and Velvet were dancing with their teammates. Yang meanwhile was focused on two specific pairs as she danced with Ilia. The first was obviously Weiss and Accelerator. That albino boy always pretended to be perfect and that he could do anything. Seeing him dance proved to make that statement false. His feet were often clumsy and his arms were wrapped awkwardly around Weiss' waist. He pretended he knew what he was going, but it was obviously Weiss who was leading.

Something that girl was fine with, as her hands were together behind Accelerator's neck.

The second pair that gathered Yang's attention was of course Touma and the shrimp.

Neo was leading naturally, but Touma didn't seem to be clueless. That surprised Yang. That misfortunate boy didn't seem the type to go to dances but from watching him she found he wasn't as clueless as the apathetic Accelerator. Their positions were similar to Weiss and Accelerator, as the boy's hands were on the girl's waist and the girl's arms wrapped around the boy's neck. It was the footwork which differentiated the two pairs. Touma was actually moving a little more naturally, though it was still noticeably unpolished. He had practice at least. His white-haired friend didn't.

Yang had to ask and slowly steered Ilia over near them, the Faunus girl just going along. She already learned it was impossible to stop the blonde.

"Nice dancing." Her voice was low, so as to not disturb others. "Practice much?"

"Neo had me watch some dance videos beforehand," Touma muttered back. "We did some test runs."

Neo's smug face explained it all. She wanted to look good and that meant Touma had to dance a little. Like hell, she was going to deal with getting her feet stepped on in front of others. No, she was going to dazzle. The way a lot of boys looked at her form-fitting dress, her goal had been achieved.

Getting her toes stepped on was also not something that the multicolored girl desired.

"Better than Accelerator over there, Weiss is leading him along." Yang snickered. "Good luck and I'm sure Blakey will want a dance after this. She's just too shy to ask."

If looks could kill, Neo's glare would be burning a hole in Yang's back as she slowly waltzed away with Ilia.

"What are you planning?" Ilia whispered as they continued to slow dance. "You can't be doing this just for your amusement."

"Little drama spices things up," Yang whispered and for one brief moment, Ilia began to understand people's warnings about being the blonde's date. "Besides, I'm sure you can tell Blake has a crush on that boy, right?"

"She does?!" Ilia nearly screeched.

"Oh, right. New here." Yang coughed. "He helped her out of some sticky situations so she kind of has a crush on him, yet Blake is very reserved about it. You know that right."

Indeed she did, the dark haired girl rarely spoke up about anything. Unless it had something to do with the White Fang, then she got really passionate.

"I figured if she continued to stay back and watch, it would hurt her in the long run," Yang continued. "At least if I push her to try to form a relationship with him and it fails, she'd at least have tried. I didn't have to do that with Weiss and Accelerator because the Ice Queen there kept pursuing."

"Would you have pushed them to be together?" Ilia asked curiously.

Ilia was actually divided between admiring Yang's friendship with Blake and being jealous of it. Ilia might have pretended to support Blake going after someone she liked, but wouldn't actively help. Since Blake was supposed to be with her. Yang on the other hand was pushing Blake, but in the end, leaving it up to the Faunus to decide how things would end.

"Maybe?" Yang shrugged and Ilia just stared at her. "Okay, fine. I would have. They make a cute couple. Plus, lots of good ice puns between the two now."

"You do good things for the wrong reasons." Ilia commented. "I now know why everyone has complicated feelings about you."

"What have they been saying?" Yang raised an eyebrow. Ilia quickly snapped her mouth shut, but that wasn't good enough for the blonde. "Nope, you're not getting away. You're going to tell me everything after we liven this party up."

"W-what!" Ilia pleaded, but they quickly left the dance floor with only half the song left. "Where are we going?"

"Getting some punch," Yang told her with a huge grin. "Got something special instore."

With most of the students talking or watching the couples on the dance floor with varying emotions from jealousy to amusement, Yang and Ilia were able to reach the punchbowl. A couple of students were already walking away from it, drinks in hand. Yang blocked the bowl from view and secretly removed a hidden bottle strapped to her thigh.

Ilia's eyes widened.

"That's not poison, right?" Ilia whispered anxiously. It wasn't like this was a White Fang mission to wipe out some of the wealthy slave drivers in Atlas.

"It's just something to help people loosen up," Yang assured her, pouring the contents of the bottle into the punch bowl. "Everyone's drinking age here… except Ruby, but she got some punch a minute ago. I checked. She won't get much since she's not dancing and working up a sweat."

"You can't be serious!" Ilia snapped. "I'll tell Goodwitch." The last thing she wanted was a bunch of intoxicated teens around her. It would be so annoying.

"Nah, you won't." Yang's tone was confident, which disarmed the chameleon girl for a moment.

"Why won't I?"

"Because, don't you want to see Blake tipsy? Relaxed and open?"

Those words caused Ilia to freeze up. This would be wrong and there would be a lot of innocent people mixed up. Ilia should just say no and stop this before it gets out of hand. That would be the right thing to do.

"So?" Yang pushed. "Are you telling on me?"

"Telling on what?" Ilia asked, her skin changing to green for a moment. "Did you do something?"

"That's my girl." Yang gave her a quick one-armed hug and then got four drinks. "Follow my lead." The two of them walked over to where Blake and Sun were chatting at a table. Well, Sun was chatting, Blake was just responding with a word now and then while her amber eyes scanned the dance floor. "Hey, you two. Not going to dance?"

"We're just here as friends," Sun replied, not looking that depressed over sitting the dance out. He wasn't really a slow dance kind of guy. He liked to move around when dancing. "So we're just waiting for the music to pick up."

"Here, have some punch," Yang told them, pushing two glasses toward them. Sun took his and drained it quickly, but Blake just sipped at hers. "You seemed focused on the dance floor, Blake. Something out there you want? We could go and have a slow dance."

The disguised cat girl rolled her eyes, but her bow twitched ever so slightly.

"There's another slow dance after this one," Yang pushed, not getting a response. "If you don't take the chance, you might never get it."

Ilia forced herself to remain silent as she watched. Pining for a boy after Adam seemed weird to her, but as Yang said, this was Blake's choice. It was important for her to realize boys weren't for her and she needed a cute female Faunus by her side. Someone who will stick with her and help her realize the White Fang has an important purpose.

"It's obvious you want to dance with him," Sun added, surprising all three girls. "Just go, Blake. I'm not the jealous type."

"I haven't said what I wanted." Blake protested at last.

All three of her friends stared at her exasperatedly, even Ilia. It wasn't hard to spot now that she knew.

"Get a dance, talk to him, and have some fun," Yang pushed. "Look at Ilia. She just arrived at Beacon and she's already out partying with me."

"I made a horrible mistake." Ilia moaned, earning a laugh from Sun and Yang. Blake actually had a shadow of a smile form on her lips.

"Thanks," Blake muttered to them, as the song was nearing its end. "I think I'm going to intrude." The song ended and she stood up. The next song was about to start when she sauntered up to Neo and Touma and began to talk. They were too far away for Yang and the others to hear, but they had an idea how things were playing out.

"Neo does not look happy." Ilia commented.

"Well, she's always fawning over Touma," Sun pointed out. "Cool dude, but half the time it feels like he doesn't realize Neo likes him."

"It's easy to confuse affection and teasing when it involves Neo," Yang sighed and then grinned as Neo slunk away. Touma had gestured to her and she seemed to have given up. "Nice one, Blake. I knew you had it in you." She high-fived Sun. "When the music picks up, I'll give you a dance for helping me out."

"Sure, if you think you can keep up with me." Sun challenged.

"Oh, I think I can," Yang crossed her arms and looked defiant. "Blondes have to stick together. I would have Jaune join us, but I think Pyrrha's the jealous type." The three of them turned toward the two dancing like professionals out on the dance floor. Jaune really knew how to dance and Pyrrha was just going along with him. "Pretty sure she'll secretly murder me if I try to dance with Vomit Boy tonight. Anyways, us blondes have more fun."

"Yeah, we do!"

Ilia coughed.

"Oh," Yang's face turned a slight shade of pink as she turned to her 'date.' "You don't mind if I dance with Sun, right?"

"I suppose I can let you have one," Ilia replied, rolling her eyes in a grandiose manner. "I want to chat with Mercury and Emerald when they get off the dance floor anyways. Besides, I'm not really a good dancer. I've just done a slow dance or two for school dances."

"I'll teach you later then," Yang promised.

"I… thank you?"

Ilia was conflicted. Having a human be this nice to a Faunus, actually going out of her way to teach her something the human didn't have to, was a new experience. Plenty of humans just ignore Faunus' plights, or just help out when something happens right in front of them. Actually going above and beyond what was considered proper in society was rare. It explained why Blake liked her team at least. Ilia had to admit they weren't bad people.

Shame they would be casualties because of Vale.

Her gaze turned back to the dance floor as she sipped her alcoholic laden drink.

"Thanks for this," Blake whispered, as she and the boy spun around to the music. More and more people were joining as couples gained courage after the first slow dance. "I didn't think Neo would let me."

"I warned her ahead of time that I may need to dance with someone else once or twice," Touma admitted. "Ruby wanted a dance as well."

"Ruby did?"

Blake was actually quite shocked. Her team leader wasn't known for being socially adept and also hated dances. It took Yang and Weiss weeks to get her to even buy shoes. To have her ask someone out was one thing, Blake did hear she tried to ask Touma out, but to then ask for a dance from the boy going with Neo? That took guts. Ruby was really coming out of her shell.

'Maybe she would be a threat.'

The second those words crossed her mind, Blake felt guilty again. Thinking that way about Ruby wasn't nice.

"Yeah, I was surprised too," Touma admitted, trying not to think about the fact his hands were wrapped around the waist of a very cute girl. Not only that, she was a catgirl. If his friends back home found that out they would be trying to kill him out of jealousy. This wasn't his normal luck. Something bad was bound to happen to him soon and he was already dreading it. "Though, it's nice to do normal stuff like school dances. I think I prefer this over fighting monsters."

"Don't tell that to Ruby," Blake suggested with a small smile. "She loves killing Grimm and protecting people."

"I won't ruin her fun," Touma promised. "Besides, I guess I shouldn't be talking about someone else when dancing with you?"

"You are learning," Blake teased. "Let's just enjoy it for now. The song will be over soon."

Touma nodded, still a little stunned at dancing with not one, but two, insanely attractive girls. It didn't go unnoticed though. Plenty of people off the dance floor noticed Touma had swapped out one model with another. This drew ire from a number of his male classmates and fellow hunters-in-training, many of whom cursed his good luck. Neo stood out due to her bombastic display of sex appeal, but Blake was a refined beauty in her own right, as many of the students fawned over the black haired girl already.

"Already swapped out one girl with another," One boy whispered to his friend. "Lucky bastard, what'd he do to get them all over him?"

"I don't know, but I have an urge to kill him." His friend agreed.

"Don't be stupid," A girl told them. "He's probably just willing to dance with anyone who asks." She brushed a strand of hair back over her ear. "Maybe he'll dance with me if I ask."

'DIE!' Both boys thought, trying to will Touma's head to explode with their thoughts.

Near those idiots, Neo debated stabbing that girl to make sure she didn't try what she suggested. There was just a major problem with that idea and having a hidden knife wasn't one of them. If the girl freaked out over being stabbed, there would be a big fuss and the dance would be canceled. Plus, more importantly, Touma would be upset with her. That had to be avoided for now.

Grumbling to herself, she grudgingly turned away from the dancefloor and made her way to the refreshment stands.

'Being good is so boring! Time to liven up this party. Maybe being drunk will make things better.'

Walking near the punch bowl, Neo covered herself with an illusion as she passed through a crowd of people, morphing herself just enough to fool whomever didn't know her. Then as she pulled out a small vial hidden between her breasts, she dumped its contents into the punch bowl before disposing of the evidence. She might have been overly cautious, but you don't become a first-rate thief by being stupid. It's possible the strict blonde professor could be watching, but unless she conjures up some evidence it's her word against Neo's.

"Umm… hey, Neo."

Turning around, the multicolored girl came face to face with Ruby.

"Are… you enjoying the dance?"

Neo almost burst out laughing at how awkward that girl was making things. She obviously had little to no social skills. Take into account that she had a huge crush on Touma and now was talking to his date only made it even more so. Tilting her head, Neo thought about it, shrugged, and then nodded.

"Oh, that's good." Ruby looked relieved. "I don't know if Touma told you already, but he… sort of promised… me a dance?" The girl's face flushed slightly as she squeaked the words out.

Amusement quickly turned to disdain as Neo heard each word.

'Must not stab her.'

The hidden knife in her dress needed to stay hidden. Inside she was fuming though. Why did all those sluts think they could take her belongings? And they had the audacity to call her a thief. Quickly putting on a passive expression, Neo turned around and poured two cups of punch. Smiling sweetly, she handed one over to Ruby.

"For me?" That act shocked Ruby. She wasn't that thirsty, but the fact Neo was being nice to her was a surprise. Taking it in order to be polite, Ruby smiled. "Thank you."

'Maybe Touma's changing her at last. He's so amazing.'

Neo patted her arm and took her drink. Watching Ruby gulp down her spiked punch filled the small girl with glee. Ruby probably never had alcohol before, so she wouldn't know what it tasted like. Just to be sure, Neo made sure to use a strong, but subtle flavor. The longer it took people to realize the punch was alcoholic, the better. The lightweight students would most likely make fools out of themselves.

Better yet, Little Red might do something stupid to get in trouble.

Ah, a girl could dream.

Neo tilted her head as Ruby filled her cup again, wondering if she was trying to drown her fear of dancing. The alcohol wouldn't take effect that fast. Though, the more she drank, the funnier it would be, so Neo wasn't going to stop her.

"Well… if you really don't mind, I'm going to wait over there when they finish," Ruby informed her. "Hopefully, there will be… faster music?"

The ice cream girl shrugged and let Ruby leave, though keeping an eye on her. If she tried anything, drunk or not, Neo would make her regret it. Touma was hers after all and all she promised was that they could dance. Nothing more. A couple of girls were giggling and pointing to the boy in question dancing along with Blake, which only continued to annoy her. Neo couldn't do anything right now to them but after the dance? Touma only said before and during.

Now, what should she do to them?

"Hello, Neo! MISAKA greets."

With the music being so loud, Neo didn't hear the small girl sneak up on her. In all fairness, most people wouldn't notice someone coming right behind you in the middle of a dance. Neo wasn't most people though. She was a trained thief and assassin. Someone sneaking up on her should never have happened. Last Order of course didn't have any threatening presence, which would have alerted her normally. The young girl in a blue dress was standing next to the ginger girl, Penny, who was wearing an olive green one.

That girl needed a better fashion sense. At least Last Order had the Schnee to help her out.

"Hello!" Penny greeted weirdly enthusiastically.

"Are you having fun? MISAKA asks curiously as MISAKA notices you letting the Savior dance with Blake."

All the response she got to the innocent question was Neo tilting her head. Last Order didn't seem to mind as she gestured to Penny.

"This is my friend and date, Penny. Misaka introduces as MISAKA believes you two have not been formally introduced. Neo is on MISAKA's team."

Neo almost laughed at that. The girl wasn't on their team. Team TAN consisted of three people and Ozpin was only letting her stay because Accelerator had to watch her.

"Sensational!" Penny told her, shaking Neo's hand and causing the former thief to feel her entire body shake. That ginger was unusually strong. "It's a pleasure to meet Last Order's teammate and friend."

Friend was a strong word, but there was no reason to deny it. Instead, all Neo did was gesture to the two of them and then the dance floor.

"We are waiting for the couple's dance to end, MISAKA explains. Penny and MISAKA are just friends so we didn't join, MISAKA adds as MISAKA fidgets."

"I do hope that music picks up," Penny agreed. "The fast-paced music is very pleasing to dance to."

"Would you like some punch? MISAKA offers as MISAKA pours herself some."

The heart in Neo's chest stopped for a moment as the little girl was ladling the drink into her plastic cup. A conundrum had appeared and it wasn't good. Spiking the punch was one thing, most of the students here could handle some alcohol. Last Order? With Accelerator being over-protective of that girl? If Neo was discovered to have gotten that young girl drunk or even if he just thought she was involved, there would be trouble. Accelerator wasn't above causing pain and he was the one guy she couldn't beat.

The problem was how could she stop Last Order from drinking the punch without giving anything away?

If she did anything, that would instantly make her the target of suspicion. Last Order wasn't someone Neo particularly liked or disliked. That child was simply there. No one saw her spike the punch, so if Neo didn't do anything to reveal herself, no one would pin it on her. Time for the old standby.

Lie.

One of the things she was best at. If anyone asked, she would pretend she had no idea what happened. Of course, that comes after she makes a big show of getting soft and not thinking of doing such a nefarious deed. Maybe she'll prank the blondie and the kitty extra hard for a bit to regain her reputation from it. Touma did say it was fair game after the dance. Well, close enough. She might have been paraphrasing.

She waved bye to Last Order before she got dragged into pointless chatter, Neo slipped away to get closer to Touma and Blake, watching them.

Blake actually seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Thanks for the dance," Blake whispered, the music preventing them from being overheard. "I know it must have been difficult to convince Neo."

"Probably not as hard as it was for Weiss to convince Accelerator to go with her," Touma muttered, causing Blake to laugh lightly. "How she got him to agree, I have no idea."

"She fretted over it for a while," Blake admitted. "I think perseverance was the biggest factor." The music ended and they separated. She pushed a strand of hair back over her ear. "I'm having fun. More so than I expected."

"Same," Touma agreed. "I was worried Neo would cause trouble, but she's been on her best behav-…ah!"

Speak of the devil. The girl in question appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his arm. Pulling him after her, Neo looked over her shoulder at Blake and stuck out her tongue.

"Should have seen that coming," Blake sighed, watching the multicolored girl take Touma over to the refreshment table. "One dance was her limit."

Enjoying the dance more than she originally thought, getting one up on Neo was pretty great, Blake looked around for her official 'date,' Sun. Didn't take long to find him. The music was already starting with some fast pace pop song that wasn't to her fancy. It was to Sun though. He was already on the dance floor with several people cheering him on. Blake didn't want to get in his way. His version of fun was a lot different than hers. Buying some time, she decided to get some more punch. Dancing with Touma had been mentally tiring. Actually going out and dancing in public was nerve-wracking.

Being in such a revealing dress didn't help.

Downing a drink helped relieve some of the tension and made her relax. Blake actually felt a little better. Noticing Weiss and Accelerator getting off the dance floor, she figured talking to them was better than most other choices here.

If she tried to leave this early, Yang would have something to say about it.

For a month.

"Done already?" Blake asked, approaching them.

"I'm not a big fan of this kind of music," Weiss answered instantly. "Besides, we already had several dances. Taking a break is fine."

"And blondie is occupied so I don't have to deal with her." Accelerator huffed, his eyes darting over to where Yang was. The girl was chatting with Coco, both laughing, while Velvet and Ilia stayed back and looked like they would rather be anywhere else. "She hasn't been annoying us too much today."

"Which means she's saving up," Weiss groaned. "But I'll worry about that another time." Her eyes twinkled. "Did you enjoy your dance?"

"It was… nice," Blake admitted, staring off onto the dance floor. "We got to talk a bit without being overheard. Plus, it was kind of amusing knowing how upset Neo was and couldn't do anything. I might see if he's interested in another dance."

"You do know that Neo will want revenge, right?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow. "Kind of like what she does to Yang?"

Blake let out a light laugh and brushed off Weiss' worries with a wave of her hand.

Which only caused the heiress to grow concerned.

"Are… are you feeling alright, Blake?"

"Huh, why wouldn't I be?" Blake tilted her head. "I'm just trying to enjoy myself."

"You seem… off?" Weiss struggled to find the words. "More relaxed than I would have guessed you would be in this situation?"

"I'm just trying to have a good time like Yang keeps pushin' me to." Blake answered. "The dance has been fun and speaking of Yang. I'm going to go sche 'er." She smiled at them and strutted off.

Weiss may not have noticed the slight slur near the end of Blake's words, but Accelerator did. Having alcoholic guardians back home made him used to see drunken antics. It would explain why the normally quiet bookworm was acting so confident. That or her love of trashy romantic books caused her brain to become mush around the hero. The girl didn't seem like the type to drink, so maybe it was the latter.

"What's gotten into her?" Weiss huffed, crossing her arms.

"She's your teammate," Accelerator responded. "I'm not someone you should be talking to about people's personalities."

"You can be quite insightful when you want to be," Weiss informed him. "It's just that you don't ever want to talk about these kinds of things. Or you never had someone to talk about them with."

"If you were anyone else…" Accelerator muttered.

"But I'm not." The smugness oozed from her tone. "Feel free to knock some sense into Yang if she tries anything."

There was no good response to Weiss he could give without sounding petty, so all he did was grunt and cross his arms. A few people eyed them as they passed, but none of them bothered him. A couple of guys eyed Weiss, but she didn't even pay those losers a glance. Weirdly, one girl actually approached him. She seemed a little shy, but before she could even open her mouth, her eyes traveled to Weiss. The next moment, she backed away and headed back to her friends.

Accelerator turned his head and raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? She didn't even say anything."

"Uh-huh."

Weiss was possessive and the boy wasn't sure how to handle that. It was his first relationship of this caliber, which meant he didn't know much about it. Being social wasn't his strong suit. Weiss didn't seem like the type to really act out against others. Maybe he was her first true relationship too? It was best not to think about it too much. If things got too bad and became a problem, telling her so wouldn't be an issue. Blunt and direct was his forte.

"There's no way!" Weiss suddenly spoke up, garnering Accelerator's attention. "What is Velvet doing?"

Curious as to what made his date suddenly pay attention to others, he scanned the crowd to find Velvet. Since he had met the bunny Faunus before and her ears were quite noticeable, it wasn't hard to locate that girl. Velvet was currently talking to one of the idiots of Team CRDL, the one with the green Mohawk.

"She can't be asking him to dance, can she?" Weiss muttered. Accelerator noted she was talking more to herself than him. Still, he couldn't figure out why it was such a big deal. Yes, that Mohawk idiot was a terrible choice for anyone, but it was just a stupid dance.

"What's the big deal?" He couldn't resist asking.

"Oh, right!" Weiss facepalmed. "You know Team CRDL are a bunch of morons." The boy nodded in agreement. "They are also racist bullies. Velvet's been bullied by them constantly. That's why none of them have dates..."

Accelerator's eyes followed her hand gesture to see the other three guys standing near the wall, looking annoyed, as they watched Russel chat with Velvet.

"…So it doesn't make sense why she could talk to them out of her own free will." Weiss finished bluntly.

Not like the white-haired boy could answer with any real information to that. He may be a genius, but human relationships were still unknown territory to him. Observing Velvet talking to the shocked Russel, it ended with Russel following her to the dance floor. Looking further past them, Accelerator noticed Coco and Yang also watching those two. Suspicion ran through him as they didn't look shocked like Weiss. Their expression was more mildly curious and amused.

Then, on the dance floor, as Russel passed Touma he fist-bumped him.

"Oh, that explains it," Accelerator muttered, causing Weiss to look at him.

"Explains it how?"

Mentally cursing himself at accidentally talking out loud, the boy really didn't want to explain it. The problem was Weiss had the ability to drag stuff out of him, or never stop prying until he gave in.

"The damn hero oversaw their team this week, so he probably convinced them all to not be complete trash."

As the words left his mouth, Accelerator could feel Weiss' eyes bore into him.

"Really?" Her expression was full of disbelief. "You're telling me that after one week, that boy made three racists denounce their ways? That's preposterous."

Without a single word, all the albino had to do was point to the girl Touma was dancing with. The song that was playing just ended and while it hadn't been a slow dance, Neo made sure they were always unnecessarily close.

"I… er… hmph. That's debatable."

Watching the normally composed girl pout like Ruby did when she was in the wrong, amused Accelerator more than it should have.

"You don't know him like I do."

Weiss stopped pouting and looked at him curiously. Again, words escaped his mouth that should have remained silent.

"That bastard has the ability to save people who everyone else gave up on," Accelerator continued. "He doesn't know the meaning of giving up."

"You can protect people too though," Weiss pointed out. "We all can."

"Protecting people in front of you isn't the same thing as saving them."

"What's the difference?"

"It's best you never find out."

From the tone of his voice, Weiss decided to drop the subject. They brought up some dark things from his past and now wasn't the time to discuss it. The mood was soured by the thought though and Weiss looked around for something to distract them.

"Want to get some punch?"

All she got back was a noncommittal shrug, but he did follow her to the refreshment table. Weiss poured them both a cup and started sipping her drink. Her mind was focused on trying to figure out how to liven up the current atmosphere. Ruby or Yang were actually better at this sort of thing, so she was stumped.

Accelerator sipped his drink once, blinked, and frowned.

"So they serve alcoholic drinks at Beacon?"

The cup almost fell from Weiss' hand.

"W-what? No! Of course not!"

Accelerator gestured to his drink and the girl looked down at her own cup.

"Someone must have spiked the punch," Weiss realized. "I need to let Professor Goodwitch know."

"Hang on!" Accelerator grabbed her arm.

"You want me to just ignore this and let people get drunk?" Weiss couldn't believe him.

"No, help me find the brat first." Red eyes were already scanning the packed dance room. "She probably had some of this punch."

The blood in Weiss' face vanished as her pale skin grew even whiter if that was possible. Instantly, she joined her boyfriend's search for the small girl.

"There!" Weiss pointed.

In the corner of the dance floor, Last Order was dancing next to Penny. Her dancing was sloppy, so it was hard to tell if she was drunk, but when she slipped and almost fell down, that was a clean sign. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Weiss might have commented on the fact Penny's dance was similar to the robot based on what she now knew. The two white-haired teens rushed over, pushing their way past the other party-goers, some of who were also showing clear signs of being tipsy. When Last Order noticed them, she laughed and waved happily.

"Hi! MISHAKA greets ash MISHAKA shtawps dancing… hehe."

Weiss and Accelerator turned to face each other, sharing a knowing look.

"She has been slurring words and has nearly fallen several times over the last ten minutes," Penny told them. "When I inquired about Last Order's health, fearing she might be sick, she assured me that she was fine."

"She's not," Accelerator reached down and grabbed Last Order's wrist. "Come on, brat. We're leaving."

"But MISHAKA wantsh to shaayyyy, MISHAKA whinesh as MISHAKA fightsh back."

Accelerator was having none of that and the small drunk girl's tantrum didn't faze him in the least. Her struggle was useless against him, even if he was forced to use his power a little to pull her along. They got a few confused stares from random people, but no one bothered to stop them. First, it was Accelerator. The students knew how strong he was. Second, the party had been in full swing for a while and Last Order was a child. They might have just thought it was getting close to her bedtime or she misbehaved.

Weiss had to admit she could see the parental authority in the way Accelerator handled Last Order.

"Will Last Order be alright?" Penny asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine," Weiss replied, not wanting to cause any unnecessary worry. Inside, there was uncertainty because they had no idea how much Last Order drank. It could interfere with her development. At the very least, she'll have a terrible hangover. "It was just something she ate. Accelerator will make sure she's taken care of."

"Oh," Penny still looked worried. "Are you upset that your date had to leave early?"

Weiss blinked and was surprised at the question.

"It's not that," The heiress replied slowly. Actually, she was pissed at whoever spiked the punch, but more so for Last Order's safety than her own date. "I'm a little disappointed I suppose, but Last Order is more important than a single dance."

"Would you like to dance since our dates are no longer here?"

It was hard to ignore the hope in Penny's voice and Weiss felt a little bad for her. Penny was only strange because she was an android and didn't have much human interaction. That wasn't her fault. Ruby really wanted to help, so maybe Weiss could be a team player too. Still, there was an important matter at hand. The alcohol in the punch was being drunk by students with each passing minute.

"I have to talk to a couple of people first," Weiss replied. "Afterwards, we can share a dance I suppose."

"I shall be looking forward to it!" Penny exclaimed, full of happiness.

Weiss waved goodbye and started looking for Glynda to inform her of the punch. She didn't see the woman standing near the wall, so she had to be on the dance floor. Ironwood had asked her to dance a couple of times and she eventually went with him. A lot of rumors sprung up from that. Weiss finally saw her and started to walk around the dancing students to get near her, when she saw something that made her stop.

Ruby was dancing with Touma.

That would have been strange in itself, as Ruby hated dances. However, Weiss knew that Ruby had been promised at least one dance with the boy. She wasn't sure if her team leader understood her feelings for Touma yet or was still working them out. Either way, she must have figured them out. Because her action on the dance floor was completely out of character for her. So much so that Weiss could only stare at her, mouth falling open.

Ruby had her arms wrapped around Touma and her lips locked with his.


Ruby was not having a good time at the dance.

It might have been better than she was expecting, but loud music, tons of strangers, and touching was not her idea of fun. That was Yang's thing. All of her other friends seemed to be having fun. Weiss got Accelerator to go with her, Sun convinced Blake, and Blake's friend went with Yang. There was only one reason she was even here now, besides Yang forcing her. Silver eyes fell on the spiky-haired boy who was currently dancing with Neo again.

Ruby began to pout.

'It wasn't fair! I told her I was up next!'

The girl was not good with conflict, so when Neo appeared next to Touma the moment the music stopped, Ruby hadn't even processed going up yet. Blake at least seemed satisfied and left to talk to others. Ruby continued to gulp down her large cup of punch as her eyes were fixed on Touma and Neo. He always made her feel funny when they talked, laughed, or accidentally touched. Seeing Neo with him also made her feel irritated. Like when Yang woke her up in the middle of the night.

"When is it my turn?" Ruby muttered to herself, her words drowned by the music.

The music thudded in her head and she just wanted to curl up in her bed with a bag of cookies and a warm glass of milk. Again, this was not her idea of a good time. If she had asked Touma earlier, maybe the dance would have been more fun.

But Neo beat her.

She always beat them. The train, combat class, and now asking Touma to the dance? Ruby couldn't understand how that multicolored girl was so strong and smart. It was like Yang fused with Weiss and added some Nora to the mix. Neo was also pretty and outgoing, the opposite of herself. Ruby knew she wasn't that attractive, not like the rest of her team. Usually, she didn't care. She was happy with her own appearance and guys didn't interest her. Weapons were cooler and would never be mean.

Yet her stomach churned uncomfortably.

Touma deserved someone nicer than Neo. Neo may have all these awesome qualities, but that girl wasn't nice. Ruby was afraid he was being used by her, no matter how many times she told herself Neo was trying to turn over a new leaf. Maybe she knew Roman Torchwick was a bad partner and decided to cut her losses as Weiss suggested once? Touma was just an easy target. Ruby's hands tightened on the empty cup in her hands.

"It's my turn to dance with him." The young leader whispered to herself, pumping up her confidence. "Blake and Neo both got a turn. It's my turn." Throwing the cup away, she positioned herself at the edge of the dance floor. Her head felt a little fuzzy, but nothing bad. Her eyes laser focused on the target.

The second the song ended, she pounced.

Neo separated from Touma for a second and that brief moment was all the girl needed.

"Excuse me!" Ruby cut between them. "Touma, you promised me a dance, right?"

Her sudden appearance surprised not only the boy but the multicolored ex-criminal. Both of them were looking at her in shock. Touma seemed to snap to his senses first.

"I did," A smile formed on his face and he looked up as the song changed. "Do you like this song?"

"Er… yep! Of course, I do!"

Ruby was an awful liar. Anyone should have been able to tell her words were full of it. Touma didn't seem to notice or just didn't worry about such things. Instead, he turned to Neo, who was still gaping at Ruby slightly. Unknown to the others, she was considering if the alcohol got to Ruby already. There's no way it should have, right? Unless the girl had absolutely no resistance to it. That might actually be the case if this was her first sip ever. Still, even children shouldn't get drunk off what she put into that bowl that fast.

"You don't mind if I dance with Ruby this time, do you?" Touma asked Neo cautiously. "I did promise her."

Slowly, Neo felt her head nod as she still tried to process things. As Ruby and Touma moved further onto the dance floor, the girl resigned herself to join the other onlookers. Of course, Ruby would be punished for this. How? That was to be determined, but Neo figured she'll spike her cookies somehow.

"Thanks for this," Ruby told Touma as they began to dance. She tried not to think about how silly she looked and just tried to imitate a few moves other people did. Nothing complicated. "I didn't expect Neo to agree so easily."

"Blake said the same thing," the boy admitted. "Neo's… rough around the edges, but I feel like she is changing. It's thanks to you and the others giving her a chance that she can change in the first place."

"Y-yeah… hehe." Ruby giggled nervously, not letting him know most of her team doesn't believe that. "So… I'm not much of a dancer, sorry If I look shilly."

"You're doing fine," Touma reassured her, not noticing her slight slur. "I'm not much of a dancer either. Neo made me learn." Ruby giggled again and scooted a little closer. It just felt natural. "Are you doing okay? Yang mentioned you weren't much of a partier though."

"It's just a school dance," Ruby muttered, not wanting to admit her sister was right. "It'sh not like it's a club or something with real strangers."

"I suppose not." Touma looked her up and down as the music continued. Eventually, he decided a compliment might help her with her confidence. "You look nice. That dress suits you."

"Thank you…" Ruby's cheeks burned from the simple words the boy directed at her.

Why did he make her feel like this? Her head throbbed and the music was thumping. Sweat formed on her palms as she tried to act natural while they danced. Yet her eyes kept glancing at Touma's face, which made her blush harder. She prayed he didn't notice her expression. If he knew what she was thinking, Ruby would die from embarrassment. Then the unthinkable happened.

Those stupid lady stilts.

"Woah!"

Ruby tripped on her feet and fell forward. Her mind raced as she realized what was about to happen. Everyone would see her spiral on the dance floor and laugh. Any chance at a social life would be over. Mean people like Cardin would never let her live it down. She closed her eyes, but the pain never came.

Instead, she felt strong arms catch her.

"Are you okay?"

Silver eyes looked up into Touma's storm grey ones. Instead of hitting the dance floor he had caught her in his outstretched arm, looking down at the girl with his concerned gaze.

"Y-Yeah…" Ruby felt so stupid and clumsy. Why would she trip now of all times?

"Are you sure you're okay?" Touma pressed. "Your face is red and you're staggering a little." He helped her stand up straight, gracing her forehead with his palm before running it down to her cheek as well. "You're a little warm too."

He was so kind. Ruby's mouth went dry as the spiky-haired boy focused on her and made sure she was okay. Not Neo, not Blake, her! For the first time, it felt like she was winning his affection. A normal girl like her compared to all those really attractive girls. Her head was fuzzy and thinking was getting difficult. There seemed to be only one logical course of action in this situation. One where his hand laid on her cheek so tenderly, his eyes looked down at her so full of care and concern, one where her arms instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck...

...and planted her lips firmly on the pair in front of her.

Warmth coursed through the point of contact as Ruby held herself in place. Then slowly her eyes opened to peer into the shocked eyes looking at her. Blood began to rush from her face and her skin became deathly pale. It finally dawned on her what she just did, the haze on her mind clearing instantly. Jerking back, she broke contact and the boy's full look of disbelief was completely visible.

"…Ruby?" The boy choked out with his face mirroring her own red complexion a moment ago.

"S-Sorry!"

That was all Ruby could say before she turned around and darted away through the crowd, trying to escape out the doors.

"Ruby!" This time the boy's voice was louder. He was aware of several people staring at him and whispering to their friends. He began to chase after her before a hand grabbed him.

"Stop!" Weiss ordered. "I'll talk to her. She probably doesn't want to be seen by you yet."

"Why-…?" Touma began to ask. Ruby was like a little sister to him, so why would she suddenly kiss him like that? The heiress knew what he wanted to know and cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"Someone spiked the punch. Now, while I talk to Ruby. You go and let Professor Goodwitch know, okay? So no one else gets drunk."

"Ah, right. I can do that." Touma nodded, though as he turned to leave Weiss took note of the scowl on his face. "When I find out who did that to her… Just, make sure she's okay."

"I always do." Weiss huffed, heading off in the direction Ruby disappeared.


Ruby felt like crying.

'Why did I do that?'

That was so unlike her. Her head had gone foggy and her heart had been beating wildly. It just felt like the right thing to do at the time. But she shouldn't have. Randomly kissing people wasn't right. Yang might do that in all honesty, but Yang was so outgoing. Ruby had never done something like that. Touma was nice like Jaune, but Ruby never had the urge to kiss Jaune. He was her best male friend. Touma was… different, but why? How was he different that made her act stupid and filthy?

Her eyes watered as she felt so bad.

She had forced herself on Touma and it wouldn't surprise her if their friendship ended after that.

"I'm a terrible person," Ruby muttered. Her ears twitched as she thought she heard someone call her name. Not wanting to talk to anyone, she quickly took off as fast as those deathtraps on her feet would let her go. "Please don't find me…"

The embarrassed girl didn't want to be seen by anyone, so she turned a corner around a building and what she saw quickly pushed her humiliation to the back of her mind. Ruby slid to a stop and stared. Laying on the ground was an unconscious Atlas soldier, partially concealed by bushes. If she hadn't run this way, no one would have seen him. Glancing ahead, the door to the CCT tower was open. Inside, there was another unconscious soldier propped against the wall.

Without thinking, Ruby pulled out her Scroll and hit a button. Something was going on and it wasn't good. People were being hurt so there had to be some kind of criminal running amok inside. The next moment, there was a crash as her rocket launcher hit the ground behind her, opening up automatically. Ruby reached out and grabbed her beloved weapon, before racing into the building.

Things were quiet, too quiet. All the guards had been knocked out and when Ruby took the elevator, two more unconscious guards were found. The fact they weren't dead relieved Ruby if only a fraction. This intruder didn't want to draw attention to themselves. With deaths, the entire area would be locked down. If she had been thinking clearly, Ruby probably would have recognized this person was a professional and called for backup. Still slightly inebriated and not wanting to see anyone she knew right now, the girl just took the elevator and headed up.

The elevator door opened into the CCT computer room. The monitors were on, but no one was there. Ruby cautiously stepped inside, her heels clicking on the floor while her eyes darted around. Stumbling slightly, she growled but kept her footing.

"Anyone there?" Ruby called out stupidly. Of course, there was no response and she continued forward. "Hello?"

Then someone stood up from behind a desk.

"Who are you…?" Ruby posed, attempting to slip into her best battle stance.

The fuzziness at the forefront of her mind, as well as the uncomfortable footwear, made for some amount of difficulty even in the most mundane of actions. The masked individual wearing a tight black leather catsuit only smirked, saying nothing. She wouldn't be as dumb as to give away her voice like that if she even was a "she" to begin with. After all, many Semblances possessed the ability to change the user's appearance. For now, it did look like an attractive young woman with long dark hair.

However, Ruby had no time to think of things like that, as the masked intruder went on the offensive. In a flash, a clear dagger appeared in her hand as she leaped forward at speeds that would trounce a normal Huntsman. Crescent Rose leapt up to block the blow, the crystal blade snapping at the impact. Looking equal parts surprised and impressed at the young Huntress's reflexes, her opponent smirked as she seemed to will the dagger back into existence, the broken end reformed on the hilt like a baker applying icing to a cake. With her weapon repaired, she attacked again.

Ruby silently cursed the fact that she was wearing heels. These types of shoes limited movement. Ruby was far from stupid, especially concerning the ins and outs of combat. She knew that this could be a factor that could cost her more than just a limb, but her life as well. Doing her best to duck in and out of the enemy's shimmering strikes, she attempted a half-hearted counterattack with a rising slash of her scythe. Utilizing the long reach of her weapon, she attempted to buy herself some breathing room by following up with a wide arc that reached several feet in front of her, the recurved blade carving jagged marks into nearby consoles like a spoon through mousse.

Yet her moves were slower than they should have been. Unknown to the young girl, she had drunk a bit of alcohol, which hindered her reflexes. An arrow formed from a bow made from thin air almost cut her eye and she just managed to avoid it by a hair. Several more arrows followed, forcing Ruby to backtrack and use Crescent Rose as a shield.

Unfortunately for Ruby, the attacks left her more open than she would've liked, her heels preventing her from truly taking advantage of the easy power that Crescent Rose provided. Her opponent saw this as well, opening a vial and dispersing its contents into the air. Ruby's eyes widened as the dust, as fine as cigarette smoke, soon crystalized into jagged pikes of clear material, all of them pointed towards her. Indiscriminately dashing to the side, she careened into a ruined CCT access console as the projectiles turned the back wall into a dartboard before fading back into dust.

She scrambled to her feet once more, the aching in the back of her head doing her as many favors as her accursed footwear. She would have gladly kicked them off, had the masked woman not rushed forward once again, forcing Ruby to retaliate by emptying her weapon's magazine in her general direction. It seemed to deter the attacker, the high-caliber bullets smashing the windows behind her into smithereens. But to Ruby's dismay, her adversary appeared to redouble her efforts by seemingly controlling the shards of the ruined windows. The clear debris rising behind her and sharpening into stakes.

The previous daggers and arrows were about the length of her hand. These were as big as her forearm. She would be able to block a few of them, but she wouldn't get them all. And she knew for a fact that one of these wouldn't just be a needle prick. She instinctively tried to buy herself some time with a ranged attack, but as she squeezed the trigger, it clacked empty. It dawned on her that she hadn't been able to reload, and reaching for a spare mag now would surely be the end of her. She had no more time to think, as the shards of glass were sent hurtling at her at breakneck speeds. Impossible to dodge due to her current situation. Tightening her grip on her weapon, she braced herself for the inevitable.

But she wouldn't need to.

At the last moment, a black glyph appeared beneath her feet, sending her shooting back towards the elevator. Skidding across the floor and to a grinding halt, she landed behind her savior. Standing in front of her was Weiss, Myrtenaster brought to bear. There was no time to exchange formalities, as the intruder merely curled an eyebrow in what appeared to be irritation. Raising her hand again, the shards of glass reformed behind her, and with a wave, another maelstrom of crystal bombarded the two girls.

Rather than dodge, Weiss responded in kind. Channeling her semblance, a conical array of pulsing black glyphs appeared before her. The shards of glass made a vicious impact… before shooting away at random angles, shredding the room with brutal power. Some of them even forced the assailant to wave her hands, dispelling the projectiles into harmless flakes. She seemed more than irritated now but quickly regained her composure.

"Weiss… that was…!" Ruby managed to get out.

"I tried taking a page out of Accelerator's book with his vector reflection. I'm still not good enough to direct my vectors yet, but still…" Weiss smirked. "That trick won't work on us again. Looks like you'll have to come to us now."

"Yes, to all three of us."

The elevator door opened. Both Ruby and Weiss didn't have to turn their heads to know who it was. Standing behind them, illuminated by the light of the elevator carriage, stood General James Ironwood. No doubt he had seen the chaos from outside and came to investigate. In his hand was a large, acid-etched officer's sidearm, the barrel trained right between the intruder's eyes.

She seemed to snarl, but the grim expression softened into an amused grin. Ironwood narrowed his eyes. The masked woman knew she was outnumbered, and despite the mild-mannered looks of the good general, it appeared as if she knew he was stronger than he let on. Backing away, Ironwood pressed forward with increasing intensity. But as his finger tightened around the trigger, the woman slammed her hand back into one of the remaining window panes. It burst into a bright puff of smoke, flooding the room and taking up their vision.

"Girls, close your eyes and hold your breath! It's glass dust, so it could very well cause permanent damage!" Ironwood barked, but both Weiss and Ruby got the memo, squeezing their eyes and mouths shut as the particulates passed right through them. Moving forward and past the deadly cloud, they opened their eyes as they scanned the room. It was no use, though.

The intruder was gone.


"This wasn't a coincidence!" Ironwood slammed his hand on Ozpin's desk as both headmasters, along with Qrow and Glynda were discussing the intruder's presence. "She specifically targeted the CCT during the dance. As all transports to Beacon ended earlier, she has to be someone within the schools."

"We are checking with every student who wasn't accounted for," Glynda assured him, holding up the list Yang and Ilia had checked off. It goes without saying the dance was canceled after the fight and discovering the punch had been tampered with. "All had alibis. We are most likely dealing with a professional who was after something and needed our communication array."

"I'm proud of the Squirt," Qrow held up his flask. "Thanks to her, the bitch was forced to flee."

"Yes, she would have done even better if she wasn't partially intoxicated by several students spiking the punch bowl." Glynda's eyes glinted. "At least Atlas and Vacuo students had some common sense. Miss Xiao-Long, Mr. Black, and Miss Adel will be punished."

She was sure a certain multicolored criminal was also involved, but the security camera didn't catch her. It had been set up because, in previous years students would sneak alcohol in. Qrow himself was responsible once during his school dance. With Neo there and her desire to antagonize others, Glynda had been trying to keep an eye on her. Besides getting herself and some others punch, nothing unusual happened with her.

"Did the intruder steal anything?" Ozpin asked Ironwood, letting Glynda handle the discipline of the students.

"Not that we discovered yet," Ironwood admitted. "She destroyed a good chunk of the electronics there in her escape, so it's taking time to account for things."

"It seems that she is on the move," Ozpin muttered, tapping his desk and looking at a pile of paper. "We have been receiving reports of increased Grimm activity in the border towns. The lines are holding, but we may need to send in some backup. Next week the first years will start their missions following a Huntsman. With Team RWBY and JNPR already completing theirs early, we might be able to send them on their own."

"Think that's wise?" Qrow asked.

"No, but they are training to be Huntsmen and Huntresses," the man answered. "This is part of the job." Ozpin turned to Ironwood. "Would you be willing to allow part of your forces to help with some of the more heavily populated Grimm infestations?"

"I can lend some," Ironwood agreed. "Most of the forces need to be here in Vale though, protecting the city and the coliseum. Beacon too now, as it was already attacked."

"I see…" Ozpin leaned back in his chair. "It's going to be a busy year then."

Eyeing his desk, he glanced over at a map. The towns that were going to be the target of the student's missions were marked. Most of them were heavily populated Faunus communities. This was no accident. Ozpin purposely planned this out and the first thing he needed to do was show the White Fang that Beacon supported the cause, just not the violence. Prove to them that they were willing to protect Faunus as much as humans. Maybe then, they would finally reach out.

Ironwood wouldn't be happy once he knew.


Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish to ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two.

UrsaMJR: Three students casually committing felonies relating to a certain punch bowl. Truly, kids these days are more daring than ever.

Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoyed Ruby's big moment as a direct result of the alcohol she drank. It surely surprised me, I had my bets on Blake for the unexpected kiss scene. Now the aftermath of her drunken love needs to be explored, and I cannot wait to spice it up for you all when I get to edit it.