As Evan sat alone at the table, he observed his surroundings. The library was scarce with people, no doubt a result of everyone preparing for the upcoming dance. The room was vast with red bookshelves arranged into numerous rows on the sides that jutted outwards into a long hall. Next to each row of bookshelves, was a wide white table with brown chairs. Through the windows, the evening sun shined, revealing numerous dust particles floating in the air. Looking over to the main entrance, he saw Penny walk inside. Getting up from his seat, he approached the cheerful teen.
"Hey Penny, thanks again for coming on such short notice. There's a couple of standalone rooms further into the library that we can use. That way, we won't be disturbed while we talk." Evan said quietly.
"It's no problem Evan! Friends should always be there to support each other, no matter what. Whatever you wanted to tell me, I'm all ears." Penny replied with a grin.
Navigating around the massive space, the two opened a small door and entered the room. The space itself was also rather tiny. It consists of a single table with two chairs on each side. A singular bookshelf with a moveable ladder attached to it was at the back of the room. A large window high up on one of the walls shined light into the area. Locking the door, Evan pulled out the wooden chair, with Penny doing the same. As the two sat next to each other, Evan turned towards Penny.
"*Sigh* Listen, for a while now, I've been having these dreams. They show me in places I've never been, with people I've never spoken to. Considering how nobody knows anything about me and my strange powers, it's fairly safe to say that I'm some sort of alien. And these dreams of mine would be some of the memories that I lost. Last night, I had this one dream where me and a group of other aliens that looked similar to me destroyed this large city. We were all talking and then this one green alien attacked, and I proceeded to…to…to kill him." Evan explained as Penny's smile shifted into a worried look of concern.
"I blasted him into nothing but ashes as he screamed out in pain. Now I know I don't know the full story about why I was sent to that city, but I just have this sinking feeling in my gut that something just isn't right. I'm really worried that the person I used to be wasn't someone noble, like a huntsman. What if I was somebody horrible like Torchwick." Evan continued as he placed his hands on the cool table.
"If that is true, I'm scared that you guys wouldn't want anything to do with me. With everything that you, Ruby, your Dad, the Ace Ops, Ironwood, and everyone else has done for me, I would feel terrible if all of that was just to help some scumbag like me." Evan elaborated.
Slowly taking Evan's hands into her own, Penny asserted, "Even if all that is true, you're still my friend, Evan! You're the first friend that I ever made, and nothing can change that! The memories that we've made, I will always treasure them, regardless of who you really are!" Penny said in a comforting tone.
"But what if I'm some horrible monster. What if I'm some criminal that everyone hates!" Evan blurted out as he turned away from the orange-haired girl.
"And what if you're making a mountain out of a molehill? You said it yourself that you don't know all the details, yet. If each memory is like a puzzle piece, then you can't understand the full picture unless you have them all. And even if you were some horrible person, then you would still be the guy who was there for me when I was scared and confused in that alleyway. You would still be the person that helped me to truly feel like a real girl." Penny replied back as wrapped her arms around Evan in a warm hug.
"And regardless of what anyone says about you or what you say about yourself, I will always be there to help you, whenever you need it. I'm your friend. I care about you, now and forever! Please…never forget that. Can you promise me that?" Penny quietly stated.
Returning the gesture, Evan wrapped his arms around Penny as he whispered, "I…I promise. Thank you so much, Penny." Evan whispered back.
As the two embraced each other in silence, the teens slowly let go of each other. Standing up from her chair she chuckled to herself.
"You know it's kind of ridiculous now that I'm thinking about it…no nevermind." Penny responded as she looked away.
"What is it?" Evan inquired.
"It's nothing. *Hiccup* I'm not sure if you want to hear it. It's a little embarrassing." Penny explained.
"Come on. It can't be that bad. I won't freak out, if that's what you're thinking. Not after everything today." Evan firmly stated.
"It…It's just that…I thought…that maybe you were…going to…ask me out to the dance?" Penny replied, her face turning red from embarrassment.
"What?" Evan questioned, more surprised than confused.
"I know! It sounds so stupid now that I say it out loud! I just thought that since the dance is tomorrow, and we were going to be talking in the library, all alone with each other…forget I said anything!" Penny continued as she made a fanning gesture with her hands.
"Sure, we can go." Evan said casually.
"What?! Are…you certain?" Penny questioned hesitantly.
"Why not? It'll be fun." Evan added.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much Evan! I can't wait! Tomorrow night is going to be sensational! I'll see you then!" Penny exclaimed as she hugged the teen once more before she approached the door.
"See ya." Evan called out as Penny left the room.
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As Team JNPR relaxed in their room, they heard a rapid knocking on the door.
"I got it." Jaune said as he placed the comic he was reading on the bed. Walking over to the door, he was surprised to see Evan, who was sweating and panicking.
"Hey there Evan…is there a problem or something?" Jaune asked awkwardly.
"Yeah! Yesterday, I was talking with Penny. She asked if I wanted to go out with her to the dance. I was like, "Sure. I'll go"." Evan explained frantically.
"Good for you, dude. I don't see the problem here, though. Do you not like her?" Jaune questioned.
"No, I mean I think I do like her, but that's not it. It's just that afterwards, I went about my day and didn't really think about it. But early this morning, I realized that I don't have anything nice to wear to the dance! All I got is my uniform and a bunch of casual clothes. I've been on the library computers for a few hours, trying to figure out what I should wear. But, I don't get fashion or anything like that, so I don't know what I'm gonna do, man!" Evan finished as he held his hands up to his forehead.
"Well, there's some tailors in town that could probably make some alterations to their existing suits to match your measurements. Plus, they could also incorporate your tail with the design, but with the dance later tonight, I'm not sure if it'll be finished by then." Pyrrha added as she walked up to the two guys.
"I'll take anything at this point, Pyrrha. Penny seems super excited about this whole dance, so I don't want to disappoint her. If we catch the next Bullhead down to Vale, we can figure things out once we find a shop that'll work with our timeframe. I'll meet up with you all in 40 minutes when the Bullhead arrives." Evan finished as he walked down the hall back to his room.
Upon entering, he noticed a large garment bag on one of the beds. Attached to it was an envelope addressed to him. Opening it up, he pulled out a letter. It's contents said the following:
Greetings Evan,
It has been some time since we last saw each other. I hope you are enjoying your time at Beacon Academy and the city of Vale as a whole. While I believe Atlas Academy is a much more enriching environment, conducive to creating better huntsmen and huntresses, Beacon Academy is still a fine institution. Nevertheless, it has come to my attention that Beacon Academy will be having a dance in the coming days, from the time that I am writing this letter to you. Opportunities like this are rare to come by, especially as you mature. I hope you seize this opportunity to socialize with friends and make the most of it. Now, with your current attire, it would be unbecoming to attend such an occasion without having an appropriate outfit. As such, I have taken the liberty of ordering an outfit befitting your stature. I do hope that you appreciate this gift of mine.
Best Regards, Winter Schnee
Unzipping the bag, Evan saw multiple articles of clothing. Alongside a white dress shirt, there was a blue tuxedo with black lapels, blue dress pants, a black tie, and black dress shoes.
"Winter, you're the best!" Evan thought to himself.
Placing the clothing back in the bag, he walked down the hall to see Team JNPR door still open.
"Hey guys! I think we're going to have to cancel that trip to Vale now!" Evan called out.
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Standing in the ballroom, Evan felt so nervous in his tuxedo. The outfit, while it did fit, felt rather restrictive in its range of movements. He did appreciate the hole in the back of the pants that allowed his tail to flick and swish around behind him. The ballroom itself was packed with students, dancing in pairs. Blue and pink balloons were strung about the room alongside pink streamers that wrapped around the bottoms of the many glass chandeliers attached to the ceiling. At the edges of the room were various circular tables with white tablecloth draped over them. Orchestral music played in the background as Evan fidgeted and waited near the entrance to the ballroom.
"I'm not sure about this. Do you think she'll mind if my hair isn't all combed back and nice looking." Evan questioned.
"Well, considering how we used two whole things of styling gel and your hair still wouldn't move an inch, I'm not sure what else we could've done." Ruby admitted.
"I just hope that she likes it." Evan mumbled out.
"Hey, at least you don't have to wear these heels. It's like I'm walking on a trip rope with every step I take in these." Ruby pointed out.
"I'm going to try and maneuver my way over to the punch bowl. I'll be there if you want to chat in case things go south." Ruby continued.
"Thanks, Ruby." Evan said aloud.
Coming through the doors were four individuals. Alongside two Atlesian soldiers, one with blue and silver armor and the other wearing red and silver armor, was Penny and General Ironwood. While the General wore the same outfit that he normally wears, Penny wore a green dress in contrast to her usual outfit.
Upon seeing Evan, Penny's smile grew even bigger as gushed aloud, "Evan! Oh my, you look amazing!"
"Thanks, I like your dress as well." Evan replied.
"Come on! Let's go dance!" Penny exclaimed as she held out her hand.
"Uhhh, sure. Although, I'm not the best at-WOAH!" Evan exclaimed as he grabbed her hand and was pulled out into the crowd of dancing students. As he was dragged away, he could see a small smile cross the General's face. Stumbling and brushing past a few students, Evan and Penny stood amongst the other dancing teenagers.
"So…I'm new to this whole dancing thing. You got any ideas?"
"From what I've researched, just take my left hand with your right hand, and then wrap your left hand around my waist while I hold my right hand onto your shoulder." Penny explained as Evan followed along.
"Alright, now we just sway from side to side." Penny continued.
As the two students moved back and forth, Evan stared back at Penny as they glided along the dance floor.
"You're a really good dancer, Evan." Penny added.
"Well, I was taught by the best." Evan replied as the two began to laugh.
Twirling around, Evan turned toward the punch bowl and saw Ruby standing by it. As she looked toward him, Evan gave a quick wave as he returned to the dance. The two continued for a few minutes until Evan noticed Jaune approaching Pyrrha on the dance floor. The strangest thing was that he was wearing a white dress.
"Why is he wearing that?" Evan thought to himself as his face morphed into a confused expression.
He couldn't hear what Jaune and Pyrrha were saying as laughter came from many of the students as they pointed at Jaune. As the music began to change from a classical piece to a funky pop song, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren began to take center stage as they danced together. Throughout the room, many of the students started to cheer the four of them on. Not only that, but the other students began to freestyle along with Jaune and the others. Letting go of each other, Evan questioned, "What do we do now?"
"I'm unsure. With songs like this, I've been told to just "wing it"." Penny responded as she shrugged her shoulders. Taking a step back, she moved her arms back and forth as she stepped forward and backwards in time with the music.
"Hmmm…So like this?" Evan asked as he moved his body around, tapping his foot as the two of them began to dance. Swinging his arms about the place, Evan's face was red with embarrassment.
"I feel so ridiculous." Evan stated.
"Well I think you're wonderful." Penny replied, Evan smiling in response, as they danced on. While some of the students walked away from the two of them, the duo kept on dancing regardless. Sweat covering his brow, he wiped his hand across it as he glanced over to Penny.
"I think I need to sit down for a bit. All of this dancing is a lot more exhausting than I realized. I'll be over by the punch bowl if you want to keep going." Evan said as Penny waved goodbye.
Approaching the refreshments table, Evan noticed that Ruby was gone for some reason.
"Strange. She said that she would be over here. Where did she go?" Evan pondered as he gazed around the room as he drank a cup of fruit punch. Quickly, he found Ruby standing by the front door. Placing his cup on the table, he walked over towards the female teen, only for her to start running out the door.
"Ruby? Where are you going?!" Evan questioned as he followed after her.
Quickly he closed the distance, as he called out, "Ruby! What are you doing? The party's this way!"
Turning around, she gave a worried look to the young student.
"What's the matter?" Evan asked.
"I'm not sure. I was staring out the door and saw this person in black leaping from rooftop to rooftop. I saw them heading towards the CCT Tower. Whatever they're doing, it can't be good. Come on! We can't lose them!" Ruby explained as she marched ahead, or as best she could in her high heels.
"You got it!" Evan affirmed as the two charged through the empty streets. Passing under fluorescent street lamps, around benches, and past garbage cans, the duo continued the chase. Quickly reaching the massive structure, the two of them looked on in shock at the knocked out guards outside of the building.
"This is bad! Call your weapon over, now!" Ruby shouted out as she grabbed her scroll. Pressing a few buttons, a silver locker rocketed through the night sky before colliding near the teen as earth and pavement gave way from the impact.
"I've never used the rocket lockers before! What should I do?" Evan questioned as he pulled his scroll out.
"Just go to Beacon's website. There is a section where you can type in your locker number and the number combination that you use to unlock it. The locker does the rest of the heavy lifting!" Ruby quickly stated as she grabbed her scythe.
Following along, Evan watched as his locker landed next to Ruby's locker as his gauntlets were awaiting him. Pulling them onto his hands he felt that familiar weight tugged on his shoulders as he turned toward Ruby. As the two entered the building, they saw even more guards laid out on the floor.
"Any ideas of where they would've gone?" Evan whispered.
"Let's start with the top floor. That's where all the terminals and computers are at. After that, we'll work our way down the floors from there." Ruby decided.
"Sounds good." Evan said quietly.
Stepping around the passed out guards, the two students opened the elevator doors to find two more guards knocked out inside. Quickly dragging them out into the main floor, the duo reentered the elevator as Ruby pressed the button for the top floor. As the machine came to life and lifted them up, Evan leaned toward Ruby.
"If they're up on the top floor, they'll definitely hear us coming with the elevator. Once we see them, we need to react fast. I'll get up in their face and throw some punches at them, while you shoot them with your rifle." Evan explained.
Nodding in agreement, the doors opened as they each walked out. Fanning out they watched as the figure in black revealed themselves. Wearing a black mask, the female figure pulled out a black tube. Instantly, she created and launched numerous glass shards at the two. Spinning her scythe, Ruby destroyed most of them as Evan launched himself at his opponent. The masked figure sent a kick to his side, only for Evan to block the strike with one arm and push back against it, forcing his opponent to regain her balance. In that instant, Ruby fired off numerous rounds at her. The figure's aura shined for a moment, tanking the hit, as she deflected the remaining attacks. As Evan fired off multiple energy blasts, the figure jumped into the air and produced a glass bow.
Pulling back three glass arrows, she launched them at Evan. Powering through, Evan pushed them aside, the arrows failing to break through his skin, as he grabbed the figure by the leg and sent them crashing into the ground. Stumbling back, the figure looked on at Evan in surprise. Leaping into the air, Evan jumped forward, his left fist ready to smash into his opponent's jaw. Quickly, the figure produced another bow and only one arrow this time. For a moment, Evan saw the area behind the right eye of the mask shine with yellow fire. As it occurred, the same yellow fire spawned at the top of the arrowhead. Pulling the arrow back, she attempted to ready the arrow, but as Evan quickly closed the distance, she sent the arrow flying toward him regardless.
"A flaming arrow? What is that supposed to do? It'll break apart just like the-" Evan confidently thought to himself as the arrow pierced his shoulder with a sudden *Thunk*. As pain shot through his shoulder and spread throughout his body, the young student turned midair and collapsed in a heap on the ground. Clutching his shoulder, Evan yelled out in pain. A million different thoughts raced through his skull, but the one that kept coming back was a simple one.
"How?"
"Evan!" Ruby called out as she rushed toward him, firing bullet after bullet as the masked figure fled from the room.
In the back of the room, Ruby heard the elevator beep, as she turned her head to the doors. Emerging from the elevator was General Ironwood. Raising his head, Evan weakly raised his right arm towards the man. The General's neutral expression quickly shifted into one of concern and worry as he saw the scene before him. Sprinting over to the wounded teen's side, the General knelt down, as Ruby stepped away.
"General…I'm…I'm sorry." Evan managed to gasp out in between grunts of pain.
"Don't say that. Just stay with me, ok?" Ironwood pleaded with Evan.
"I need you to keep him stable! Make sure he doesn't move! I'll bring my top doctors over as soon as I can!" Ironwood ordered at Ruby.
Scrambling to the ground, Ruby mumbled out, "It's alright. It'll be ok. Just listen to me and stay still. Ironwood's getting help!"
Ruby gripped Evan's left hand tightly as Evan twitched and shook from the pain. Whispering words of comfort into his ear, Ruby began to tear up. Pulling out his scroll, James already had a call started.
"This is General James Ironwood. A student has been injured and needs immediate medical assistance! We are at the top floor of the CCT Tower. I repeat-" Ironwood loudly stated into the scroll, but the words began to lose their meaning as Evan began to close his eyes. The last thing he heard before passing out was the sound of a clock going off as midnight finally came.
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Ooohhh. Looks like the plot thickens once more. I wanted to get this chapter out earlier today, but I've had the worst headache for some reason. Regardless, I really enjoyed writing some of the scenes in this chapter. Let me know your thoughts in the reviews. I will have the next chapter released either Thursday or Friday. Hope everyone has a good night!