Pre-Chapter Author's Notes – In response to a review of last chapter:

When I said…

"Begun, the ship wars have. Take sides, we must all. Yang or Weiss - there can only be one,"

…that was a joke. I assumed from the Yoda speech that it was apparent, but let me say it here and now: the line was facetious.

This is just a fanfic with a love triangle (no poly, just to clarify), not a call to action. You're welcome to discuss in the comments respectfully, but remember to keep things civil – unless you're insulting me, in which case go ahead and roast my bitch ass, I welcome it all.

To each their own – Bumbleby, Checkmate, -̶E̶n̶a̶b̶l̶e̶r̶ fuck you, Ladybug, each is valid. I have ship preferences and may mention them or write them into my stories from time to time, but these will just be opinions, and you're welcome to disregard them.

I have taken a solemn vow to try out each and every ship and vary the pairings as much as I can in my fics. You can expect one of every ship between the characters in Team RWBY in one of my fics ('K' has Ladybug, I'm currently writing a Whiterose, and I have an idea for Freezerburn that I'll eventually get around to). There will also be many other ships in my stories, as evidenced by this very chapter which includes Arkos, Ren/Sky, and [Data Expunged].

Chapter 34: Ruby Rose's Humungous Balls

In which Pyrrha has the perfect night, and Ruby has the perfect fight.

Ruby Rose hated balls. They were too big, they made her get all sweaty, and people always acted weird when balls came.

Unfortunately, it was mandatory to attend the Beacon ball, so there was no escape from this torment.

To be fair, this particular ball wasn't so bad. Velvet and Team Coffee had made it underwater themed, and all the cute little sea critters toys were just so gosh darned lovable. Ruby was currently wrapping her arms around a plush marine turtle while Dove catered to her every whim. She didn't know how dates, be they real or fake, were supposed to go, but Dove seemed to be content with doing whatever she said. Ruby didn't want to dance, so they didn't dance. Ruby wanted to take off her high heels, so he carried them for her. Ruby wanted a continuous stream of deliciousness crammed into her mouth, so Dove hand fed her cookies (and looked at her weird).

Who knew? Maybe balls could be Ruby's thing after all.

Jaune Arc was dancing with the Invincible Girl, and the two were truly power couple, by every definition of the term. Hunter teams were an outdated concept – a single supreme individual (or, on the rare occasion, pair) could accomplish more alone than four incompetent oafs waddling around hand-in-hand like 'the power of friendship' made them mean something. Cinder was proof of that.

Let it be known that Cinder didn't need help, ever. She could've managed any one of the assignments she'd had Emerald delegate by herself, but even she couldn't be everywhere at once. Em, the only one on her team that she could truly rely on, was handling the entire unit hosting the ball by herself. The stupid mohawk boy was long gone, so Mercury was currently observing the blind stocky kid from a distance as he catered to every whim of the fatass in the hood – two for one, he'd called it.

Neo was taking the night off. Apparently, they were saying that the poor darling had been more seriously hurt by that big Winchester brute than the doctors initially though.

Hmm. What a pity.

Power was absolute. Power was the end of all things, but it was also the beginning. Jaune Arc seemed to possess some way to control her powers, so Cinder was just slightly pissed the fuck off about that. Emerald had filled her in on what she'd seen during the fight with the blond boy, explaining how he'd lost aura before burning Cinder with her own semblance. Neither fully understood the extent of his abilities, and he was unlikely to reveal them again in such an obvious manner. Cinder had seen their spar for what it was – a declaration of war.

Of course, wars did not exclusively take place on the battlefield. Some could be fought in the ballroom. Perhaps Cinder could win this one without ever having to lift a blade. Placing a hand on Jaune's shoulder as the music wound down, she pulled his attention away from Nikos.

"Hello, Jaune. Pyrrha."

Nikos flinched, but Arc disengaged from his partner and smiled. "Cinder. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I was wondering if I perhaps might be able to whisk you away from your date for the next dance. It would be simply splendid if we could spend some time getting to know one another."

"How kind, but I'm only dancing with Pyrrha tonight."

Nikos smiled and tilted her head. "That's alright, Jaune. I was going to head to the restrooms anyways. We can meet up after your dance. How about I grab you another drink? All that strumming must've made you work up a thirst."

Cinder couldn't help but smirk as the Invincible Girl ran away to literally go piss herself in fear. Perhaps she's realized just who she's dealing with. Cinder wrapped her arms around Jaune's neck and tried to pull him closer, but the boy grabbed her wrist.

"Just one dance, nothing more. For politeness' sake."

"Why, Jaune. I'd never dream of getting in between your sweet little romance with Miss Nikos. That would be downright cruel."

"Good."

The classical music restarted with the chance of song, and the pair waltzed.

Cinder stepped in time to the tune perfectly, the skill having been instilled into her from a young age. "I did have a question for you, though."

"I had a feeling you might. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to answer it the way you want."

"Oh my." Cinder covered her mouth with her palm and batted her eyelashes. "You knew I was going to ask you to sleep with me? Jaune, you dog!"

He went beet red. "That's not – I didn't – I thought you were going to ask about our fight!"

How adorable. He was playing at being the big, brave huntsman, but he was still just a garden variety horny teenager. This was going to be easier than she'd thought.

"I jest. You are correct – I was quite interested by our duel and its unexpected outcome. Would you care to share some light on just how you got the upper hand?"

Cinder leaned in closer. This time, Jaune didn't push her away.

"I suppose I could, but it would have to be a quid pro quo."

"Is there something I have to offer that you desire?" Cinder shifted her shoulders, allowing Arc a tantalizing view of that which was still covered by her dress, but now less so.

"There is. But it's nothing untoward, Cinder. As I said, I'm with Pyrrha. I just have a question or two of my own."

"I asked first."

"Fine. As you've probably figured out, I was able to use my semblance on you when we fought. I have the ability to enter an aura user's mind when I come into contact with them physically, allowing me limited control of their aura usage. My control expires a few seconds after I use it up, and then I need a second touch to do it again."

Cinder recalled their battle. He'd only been able to control her fires after he'd grabbed her wrist.

"I didn't see you touch Miss Rose or the other one…"

"I've been sure to high five everyone at Beacon at least once. It only costs me aura when I activate my mind traps, not when I place them or let them sit dormant."

Cinder felt herself gain a new respect for the young man. If what he said were true, that meant he'd been planning this all along. Hiding his power, pretending to make friends while poisoning his enemies from within…he was a true fighter after her own heart.

He was also currently holding her hand as they danced, she noted.

"How long can it last in someone's mind?"

"Ah ah ah." Jaune removed his other hand from her waist and waggled a finger. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I believe our agreement was a mutual exchange of information."

"I suppose it must take two to tango, or waltz in this case. What do you wish to know? Ask quickly; the song is soon to end."

"During the Beacon initiation, there was a Grimm. Beowolf variety."

"I'd expect there to be many."

"This one was different. It spoke. It had aura."

"Hah! That's prepost…"

Cinder was ready to laugh Arc's wild claims away until she looked into his eyes. This was a man who'd come closer than any other to besting her in combat. He'd probably trained since birth to become the strongest warrior in Beacon. His eyes were hard as granite right now.

She could tell he was not lying.

Cinder chose her next words very careful. "What did you wish to ask me about this…unique Grimm?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure if it's unique. That's what I wanted to know. You're one of Haven's most decorated huntresses-in-training. Have you ever seen a mutated Grimm while practicing? Any unique powers – speech, aura, intelligence?"

"No. Never."

"It had sludge pouring out of its eyes."

"I've never seen any Grimm with such traits. Their eyes are always glowing red with yellow centers."

Cinder was speaking honestly. She had never born witness to a creature of Grimm sporting traits even resembling what Jaune had described in all the time she'd spent around the monsters. And that amounted to a lot of time.

The tempo of the music was slowing down. Pushing Jaune's mystical beastie out of mind, Cinder focused instead on the task at hand.

"It's been lovely dancing with you, Jaune. You certainly know how to waltz."

"Yeah, well, these things happen when you grow up with seven sisters."

Jaune twirled Cinder around, and she caught a glimpse of Nikos returning from the bathroom, two cups in hand. Now was her chance. If Team Adventure was busy infighting, her two biggest threats would take care of each other. All she had to do was plant the seed; overactive imaginations and youthful insecurity would do the rest.

The music ended, and Cinder struck, pretending not to have seen the red-haired girl. She combed her fingers through Jaune's hair, obscuring the Invincible Girl's view of her snaking arm by angling her body and moving closer to her dance partner. Pushing Jaune's head forward by the back, Cinder forced him to initiate a kiss which she pretended to be surprised by. To Nikos, it looked like Jaune had initiated it. When Arc pulled away, his lips were coated in her dark red lipstick, a side effect Cinder had not foreseen but was most glad for.

"That was…most pleasurable, Jaune," Cinder said. "We must do this again sometime."

When Arc pulled away, he locked eyes with his distraught partner. Cinder smiled at Nikos, scooped one of the punch cups out of her hands, and took a sip. It was overly sweet for Cinder's taste, with little candies floating around in the cup, and yet starkly bitter in its aftertaste, like watered down wine with a hint of pickle brine mixed in. Whatever member of Team Coffee had purchased this ought to have their fingers cut off. Cinder had half a mind to spit it back out, but she couldn't afford to show any weakness in front of her foes, so she swallowed. The now quite vincible girl's eyes shot back and forth between Cinder and Jaune, the naked hurt within them only increasing as Jaune desperately tried to explain himself. Cinder drank that up too, and it was far sweeter than the subpar beverage.

"Jaune? W-W-W…"

"Pyrrha! Wait, you don't understand!"

"Jaune, how could you? This was our night!

Cinder disentangled her arms from the mess she'd made and strode away. Now that the business was taken care of, it was time for pleasure. This party was to be enjoyed, after all, and the night was still young enough for her to get up to a little more…naughtiness…

Qrow refused to call the swill those third-years gave him punch.

Maybe it's because they're called Team Coffee, so they don't know what alcohol is.

Maybe it's because they just suck and should die.

Punch was either spiked, or it wasn't punch. This juice-box trash was spiked with tic-tacs or something. He considered adding some liquor out of his flask to it, but to do so would be to defile his precious alcohol, and such a profane act of violation to the dear inebriating substance would be unforgiveable.

His own first prom had been far less sanitary than this little underwater cutesy fest, and so much more fun…

Summer had bitch-slapped some second-year for dancing with a guy she wanted, going as far as to call her a 'hoe-tress,' even though the guy in question had never agreed to be Summer's date and was actually on the same team as said hoe-tress. The ensuing catfight was so epic and so one-sided that Qrow lamented for years to come that his bandit tribe hadn't furnished him a stolen scroll on which he would have been able to film it.

Taiyang had been accompanied by three different transfer girls, each from a different kingdom. Amazingly enough, they had all gotten along, and Qrow actually recalled seeing two of the girls at a later date doing the walk of shame away from his dorm room. Maybe he got it on with the third one too, and I just wasn't around to see it.

Qrow sipped the bog-water punch.

Wouldn't surprise me.

Raven had still been on her guard at the time, fearful of being exposed as a bandit and failing to acquire the sought-after hunter skills she'd come to the school for. In her fear of anyone and everyone around her, she'd been unwilling to dance with anyone other than her twin brother. She did, however, bring her sword to the dance and briefly dueled a male teacher when he tried to confiscate it. While most stories like that ended in a resounding victory for Raven, this was before she'd gone through her decades of intense workout regimes, and she'd actually been forced to surrender her blade in shame.

Qrow had decided to make a name for himself and had knocked out the DJ, taken over his booth by force, and proceeded to play the more jarring, ear-splitting, loathsome collection of musical trash that had even been heard by human or Faunus ears. He was in his grunge phase, and his taste was limited by a lack of culture that social isolation within the Branwen tribe had brought him.

Good times, good times.

Yeah, okay, that night had been a blazing disaster.

Summer had kicked the hoe-tress' ass, but the guy she wanted was scared off by her brusqueness (and rightfully so, Qrow would admit, looking back on it). As a result, she faced the unfortunate prospect of being completely along at her first school function – a social apocalypse for the rare species known as the teenage girl.

Raven was publicly humiliated by losing the fight, and she nearly cried her eyes out without her emotional support weapon. The teacher had no doubt retired and forgotten all it, but that loss had probably been one of the factors that galvanized Raven to become the strength obsessed nutjob she was. Rather, that she used to be.

Qrow was ejected from the DJ booth before he even got to the third song on his mixtape, and several of the school's resident bullies had tricked him into thinking that the punch was poisoned. And then he'd awakened his semblance for the first time, and his tuxedo caught on fire.

Tai probably got an STD or something. His prom night actually went over fine, Qrow just like to imagine that it sucked for all four of them.

They had all been kids, and they had done stupid stuff. It was a wild time, but in spite of all that, the night had actually been one of his best memories with the team.

No, not with the team. Because of the team.

Team Stark had salvaged the situation by coming together and improving each other's situations. Qrow had danced with Summer, staving off her loneliness for that brief moment, and she, in exchanged, gave wedgies to all of his bullies. Tai convinced one-third of his collective date to summon their rocket locker and grab out their katana, which he loaned to Raven for the evening.

And, Qrow would never admit it aloud for fear of someone thinking he actually approved of something his sister had ever done, but Raven really made the night perfect for Team Stark by putting in a request to the original DJ, who'd been restored to his post, for a song that full teams of four could dance to. Twirling their butts off together as the stars spread out across the endless sky had cemented that whole evening's place in Qrow's mind as his top memory from Beacon.

As he sipped punch and recalled those good old days when things had been so much simpler, Qrow couldn't help but feel a bit melancholy about just the immense toll the years had extracted on Team Stark.

Raven was on death row. Her own daughter had devoted the majority of her life to finding and executing her, and somehow Qrow couldn't blame her.

Tai was a broken man. His daughters had grown up and left him behind, two years earlier than scheduled in Ruby's case. He was twice burned on romance, and all the only one who wasn't going to leave him was the damn dog.

Qrow himself was a high-functioning alcoholic with no chance of recovery. He'd be lucky if the alcohol killed him before the Grimm. And still, despite all that, he was the best off out of the quartet.

Summer…

Qrow held up his cup of shitty punch.

"To Team Stark. Rest in Peace."

Four lives wasted, if they had ever been alive at all.

Four sips to finish the punch.

"Geeeuh!" Qrow coughed up one of the tic-tacs and spit it into his hand. It was shaped like some weird T-shaped fish. "The heck is this?"

A noise caught his attention from across the room.

"Jaune?"

Looking up, he caught the tail end of the Arc brat, Oz's new favorite, smooching some girl in front of his partner.

Damn, kid, you're a bold one. If Tai weren't still alive, I'd think you were him reincarnated. Actually, I have called Tai in a while. If he's gone and offed himself while I was busy, I swear I'm going to fly straight to the afterlife and give him a piece of my mind.

Hold on a second, was that girl Jaune had just locked lips with…Fall?

"Pyrrha! Wait, you don't understand!"

Oh.

Ohhhhhh…

Oh.

"Jaune, how could you? This was our night!"

Forget Tai, Qrow decided that Oz was the one he was going to give a piece of his mind. This was why they didn't bring people into the secret circle. Jaune had just lost his girlfriend because he was busy playing superspy for Oz, and Qrow knew from experience that this life only led to more and more loss. Case in point, his depressed toast and his lonely cup of cruddy fish punch.

I'm so sorry, kid. I shouldn't have let him do this to you.

Pyrrha was now tearing into Jaune as Cinder carried her smug ass away from the duo, tickled pink at having ruined something wholesome in the world. Perhaps Jaune had gotten some vital intel from her, but if he had, it had come at a steep price.

Qrow stalked off, unwilling to bum himself out even further. For a fun night of jubilation, this was turning into quite the blue affair. To take his mind off of it, Qrow tried to spy a happy couple on their sad little team, hoping that at least one of the Adventures was going to enjoy tonight.

The bronze boy, Dove, was off getting his fill of cookies at the refreshment bar and loading them onto a plate to carry out the door. Guess he's alone, too. I wonder where the mohawk is?

Qrow looked around. No bright green spikes to be seen. There was Cinder's lackey, but her emerald hair fell flat down to her shoulders.

Qrow rotated his empty cup in his hand. I'm sure I saw that guy's hair earlier. Maybe he turned in early? That's…I dunno. For some reason, it feels odd.

Shaking his head, he stepped out of the ballroom. When no one was looking, he flapped off into the night to be alone.

"I trusted you, Jaune, with everything! I told you my secrets, I poured out my heart, and this is how you repay me?"

"Pyrrha, please!"

"And what was she saying about doing that…again…"

Pyrrha kept it up until the skank sauntered out of earshot.

"Dust, she wasn't even subtle. How could she honestly believe she fooled us with that?"

Jaune shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn you. You gonna drink that punch?"

"No, but neither should you." Pyrrha dumped it into a potted plant. "I had no idea which cup she was going to take, so I went into both. How do you know she was going to try and get between us?"

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "Let's just say that she's not exactly one of the good guys. I asked her about the mutated Grimm, but she didn't know…or wouldn't say. Right now, I'm just throwing around wild guesses and seeing what sticks."

"More of the 'something big' you warned me about?"

"Mm-hmm. I can't tell you everything, but I promised I'd…"

"You'd tell me whatever you could. Thank you, Jaune."

"So, what's next?"

Jaune stretched out his arms and rotated them in their sockets. "Well, I'm a little tired of dancing."

"Spent all your energy planning secret trysts with your Mistralian lover?"

"Hush, you. I've got the only Mistrilian who matters right here. How about we go check up on the guys?"

They found Dove holding a platter of cookies, inserting the disk-shaped biscuits one by one into Ruby's mouth. The little girl was building a fort out of small plastic pirate chests.

Pyrrha waved. "Hey, lovebirds."

Ruby threw her arms into the air. "Pyrrha! Jaune!"

"Prosperity, Nikos. Prosperity, Arc. I hope you two have been enjoying your time. Rose and I have been–"

"I flippin' love balls! Balls are great!"

Several other students quieted down at the sound of Ruby's sudden declaration, but they returned to their chatter after a moment.

"I can't walk around in these heels, but Dove's the nicest BFF ever! That's short for boy friend forever. He's sweeter than chocolate chips and is treating me like a princess."

"Anything for my delicate little flower."

"Aww, my lovey-dovey doves me! I mean, loves me!"

Dove looked away, but he didn't refute it. Maybe he'd actually stumbled upon a good match with Ruby. If so, Pyrrha was happy for him. Pyrrha sneakily winked at the blind huntsman. He'd been integral to Operation Arkos, so she felt like he deserved to know the night had gone well. Dove's eyes were always closed so he couldn't wink back, but Pyrrha saw him nod ever so slightly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Pyrrha saw Jaune wink at Ruby. She idly wondered why, but the thought breezed away when Jaune spoke.

"Have you guys seen Russel? Er…I mean, seen or semblanced Russel?"

"No. Rose and I have not interacted with the other patrons much, as her heels limit her mobility. I believe I sensed Schnee head upstairs, but Thrush was not with her."

Ruby popped out of existence, leaving only her heels behind. Sometimes, she moved so fast that Pyrrha literally would blink and miss it. And I thought I had a strong semblance…

Reappearing in a flash of rose petals, Ruby shook her head. "I'm not finding him in the crowd. He musta got tired."

More likely he got restless without his fake date and went to mess with some poor couple. But, for appearances sake, Pyrrha assumed a puzzled look and shrugged. "You're probably right, Rhubarb."

"Dang it, Yang! Did she tell the entire school?"

She honestly hadn't meant it to be teasing or anything, but the giggle that snuck out probably was.

Jaune yawned. "Russel probably turned in early. It's almost midnight. I was also thinking of heading out…" He extended a hand to Pyrrha. "…if you'll join me."

"That sounds grand. Bye, Ruby, Dove!"

Ruby waved with her entire arm as Jaune led Pyrrha out the front doors of the hall. Pyrrha made sure to soak in the atmosphere around her as she walked back to their room.

Once indoors in the dormitory building, she wrapped her arm around Jaune and leaned her head onto his shoulder. She'd needed tonight. Beacon was a welcome respite from Mistral. If you'd told Pyrrha that Vale held a blind wingman, an amicable mohawked teammate, a sweet little bestie with a giant sniper rifle, and a partner who complemented Pyrrha like Pumpkin Pete's complemented…uh, milk? She'd never actually eaten the sugar-rich cereal. The point was, Vale had everything she'd ever been looking for.

"Boop!"

What was that?

Pyrrha looked around but couldn't locate the source of the noise.

"Boop!"

She glanced at Jaune, hoping that he might know, but her partner shrugged with equal confusion.

"Boop!"

It seemed to be emanating from…Team Castle's room? Pyrrha put her ear to the door.

"Awwwwhaha, boop! Boop me harder! Keep booping!"

"Yes, my Queen!"

Oh. Oh my.

Jaune walked over and listened in. "Is that…Nora? I thought she and Cardin were skipping the dance in favor of a quiet night. What–"

Pyrrha pulled Jaune away from the door. "Training exercise."

"What?"

"It's a training exercise. Good for team building. We did them all the time in Sanctum Combat School. Wait, shit, no, I never did them. I'm not that kind of girl."

"I don't–"

"We should go try it. The training exercise."

"Pyrrha, you're not making any–"

Pyrrha put both hands on Jaune's shoulders and stared into his eyes. "Jaune. It's for Team Adventure. We need to be a close partnership so that the team can depend on us."

"Uhhh, okay? Odd timing, but if it's for the team, I'll do it. Let's do it together! For Team Adventure!"

For Team Adventure.

"Well done, lovey-dovey. As Penny would say, you've been a sensational boyfriend tonight. Why don't you head on over to the snack bar and grab yourself something to eat? My treat."

"Rose, the snack bar is free."

"In that case, grab yourself two somethings. You've earned it."

With a bow, Dove left to navigate through the crowds. Ruby usually didn't stay up this late (even though she was a team leader, Yang still set her bedtime at 9:30pm sharp), so she wasn't wasting a minute of it. She had watched a late night talk show on her scroll, counted down to midnight, and asked Dove to point out the constellations when they went outside. Her constellation favorite had to be Ursa Major, because go fuck yourself. (Author's note: It was me who said fuck. Ruby doesn't swear.)

It was kinda chilly outside in just her dress, but she couldn't go back inside without being accompanied by her boyfriend. Not due to any social convention – she literally couldn't. It was hard to walk on her heels without someone to catch her when she tripped. Her semblance was tiring, and she didn't really have any spare Dust to reload the guns, since Dust prices were going up. They weren't skyrocketing or anything, thanks to Ruby putting away that thief fellow, but robberies were still higher than normal. Ruby didn't bring up the topic with her team, but it looked like the White Fang was targeting Weiss' company.

What was that stealy guy's name again…Reuben Sandwich? Rumple Stiltskin? Giovanni Massiccio? Eh, it didn't matter. That weirdo was in the big house now, and he'd taken his weird cane and weird clothes and weird makeup with him.

Ruby looked away from the party, and a brief flash of black caught her eye. Dark black hair, that sorta looked like – was that Blake, maybe? Why was she jumping from rooftop to rooftop? Was this ninja training or something? Blake was supposed to be hanging with Yang. The two of them had arranged some sort of friendship date so that Weiss could come separately but Blake wouldn't have some rando for her dance partner.

This warranted further investigation. Ruby took off her stupid stilts and dashed after her wayward teammate. Dove was a clever boy; he should be fine without her supervision for a little while.

Ruby followed Blake all the way to the CCT tower. The ginormous structure was located the heart of Beacon, and it was quite the beacon in and off itself. Even closed for the night, the massive spire jutted out of the ground like an enormous flagpole, managing to give the mountain ranges that kept Vale safe a run for their money in terms of height. Four smaller satellite towers were placed around the main building, each connected to the tower prime by a slanted archway. A luminous green glow hummed from the peak, just above the headmaster's office.

Ruby caught up just in time to see the door close behind the black haired figure. A growing sense of dread balled up in her cookie filled stomach as she saw the unconscious body of a guard just barely hidden out of sight behind a bush.

Ruby reached for her scroll to call for help, but her hands brushed the fabric of her dress. Aw, poop. No pockets, no scroll. Dresses were the worst – combat skirts were just as stylish and would never leave you high and dry. They had pockets and didn't suck butt. Ruby braced herself and stepped through the open door.

The floor inside the CCT was covered in broken glass. Her aura would protect her feet, but she felt like she might need to conserve it, just in case. Something weird was happening here, and Ruby had every intention of getting to the bottom of it. Er, top of it, assuming it was happening in the tower.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Ruby slipped on her heels and filled them with a Dust cartridge she'd been keeping wrapped up in her hair bun.

I'm sure it's just Blake, probably making a late night call or something. She knocked out the guard because…because…uh…privacy?

She kept telling herself not to worry, but her bones were telling her that something sinister was afoot. A fight was coming.

Ruby gracefully and explosively rocketed to the elevator, verified the pulse of the two guards within, and pressed the button for the upper floor. On a whim, she checked her own pulse. 140 beats per minute. Ruby had fought tough opponents before – Yang, Uncle Qrow, that cheating cheaty Grimm from Forever Fall that talked as it cheated – but every instinct in her body told her than now was the time to turn around and retreat. She felt like a coward just for thinking it. A real huntress like Mom would have never let the thought of backing down pass through their mind, even fleetingly. There was just enough time to steady herself and wipe the sweat from her brow before the elevator dinged in arrival. She'd reach the top floor.

The door slid open, filling the space with green light from several idle computer monitors' screensavers. A figure with raven hair and a dark outfit stood at the center of the cylindrical room with her back turned to Ruby. She was facing a terminal, plugging something into the output port.

"B-Blake? Is that you?"

The figure turned. She wore a black mask, but Ruby could barely see it. The woman's eyes had shimmering waves of fire pouring out of them, so bright that her face was obscured. Kind of made the mask redundant, if you asked Ruby.

She raised a hand, and a flame appeared.

"Sorry. I mistook you for someone else. Carry on."

The terminal's screen changed, and a black chess piece blinked into view.

Ruby pivoted around on one heel. She started walking to the elevator, then kicked her leg backwards. Hoping to catch the adversary off guard, Ruby fired off several Dust rounds at her. The mysterious woman raised one hand as a faint red glow appeared around her. The shots bounced off the wall of energy, ricocheting into the surrounding computers.

Okay. Her opponent had a force field semblance – useful and super cool, but purely defensive. Without any visible weapons, the enemy was toast for sure. This fight was as good as Ruby's.

"You're unarmed. Surrender now and…uh…"

Shoot! How do I negotiate with a criminal?

"…you'll go to a fancier jail?"

Instead of surrendering, the woman's fingers formed a fist, and three red-hot spheres materialized between her and Ruby. She made a punching motion outwards, and the fireballs shot toward Ruby.

A well timed Dust shot from the gun heels propelled Ruby out of the way, but used up too much of her reserves. Darn, she needed to start budgeting her ammo before she ran out. This woman didn't seem to be using Dust, though…

Okay. Her opponent had two semblances. Fireballs and force fields – a good combo, nice balance of offense and defense. Ruby would still win this, though.

A sudden gust of wind blew into the building from the outside, breaking the windows. Shards of glass filled the air, but none fell to the ground. Ruby now stared down a perfectly even wall of floating fragments of razor sharp glass.

Okay. Her opponent had three semblances. With a little luck, maybe Ruby could manage to…

The villain clapped her hands, and the floating shards of glass crackled with electricity. The bits and pieces merged into a spear of what could only be described as molten glass held together by raw, elemental energy. Metal creaked from beneath Ruby's feet, and the pipes burst out of the floorboards. Cooling water for the computers somehow poured upwards and froze in spirals around Ruby's legs.

O…kay. Her opponent had infinity semblances. Ruby was missing Crescent Rose, her gun heels were both frozen solid, no one was coming to help, and she was immobilized.

Yeah, she wasn't winning this one.

I'm going to…

Ruby's heart screamed as panic overtook her when the sparking glass spear shot towards her. She struggled as hard as she could, hoping to break free of the ice, but it wouldn't budge.

I'm going to die. I'm actually going to die.

The simplicity of that notion washed over Ruby's fears as the spear pierced the air. It was inevitable, so there was no need to worry. She'd done her best against some kind of super huntress. Her life was over. It was no fault of her own. Just a fact.

She would now die.

Just like Mom.

The spear stopped just short of Ruby's heart. It remained there, levitating in the air. Ruby stared at it for a second or two until it disintegrated into sparkles.

WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Rage replaced the calm that had itself just replaced the fear. She'd overcome all that dread and panic and accepted her death, and now her opponent wasn't even going to kill her? Was she just playing games with Ruby's emotions? Toying with her? Urgh, that motherfu– that motherf– urgh, that bad person!

No more giving up. Ruby may not have had Crescent Rose, but she was still a huntress. She'd fight like a huntress to the bitter end. Mom may be dead, but she must have gone down swinging, and if Ruby had to look up to some part of her mother's memory, then that was the part she would honor from here on out.

Ruby crunched her heel down to ignite all the remaining Dust in her shoes. The ice fractured from the blast, taking her shoe with it. Her semblance let her boost forward midair, and she grappled her opponent. A stream of fire shot past Ruby's face, so close she could feel the searing heat, but Ruby and her rose petals slipped behind the opponent and wrapped both arms around her neck. Her enemy flailed around, lightning shooting out in random direction, but Ruby kept her in a headlock. Semblances only worked if you could get a good hit in, no matter how many of them you had.

Ruby slammed her knee into the dark adversary's back once, twice, thrice, until she gasped in pain. Perfect.

One of Ruby's hands seized the woman's jaw, holding it open through her attempts to bite it back down. The other blindly clutched at the floor, reaching for anything it could. A few shards of glass found themselves in Ruby's grip, and she reached past her opponent's cheeks and shoved the glass into her gasping mouth-hole. Ruby pushed the woman's entire body forward, causing her face to slam into a nearby table.

"Flipping choke on it and go to heck, you big ugly meanie!"

She must have swallowed the glass, for she began to cough violently, blood seeping past her lips. Ruby still couldn't clearly make out a face past the flames pouring out of her eyes, but seeing the bitc– the bit– seeing that bad woman choke on fragments of glass brought her pleasure to no end. It was almost funny: Ruby had no qualms about killing her opponent, but she still couldn't overcome her mental roadblock against cussing.

The coughing stopped, and the masked woman's throat started to glow orange. After a gag or two, she vomited up a mixture of punch and molten glass.

Uh oh, time to go. This was a losing battle if even death by dying wasn't effective. Right now, the best course of action was a tactical retreat to get some backup. Weiss, Blake, and Yang could help her curb stomp this slu– promiscuous woman of ill repute. Adrenaline coursed through Ruby's veins, and she dove out the closest partially shattered window.

The ground wasn't beneath her.

Oh, right. Top floor of a multi-story tower. Well, technically, the ground was beneath her – just several hundred feet beneath her. The air flowed through Ruby's hair as she plummeted towards Remnant, making it flap about wildly above her brain.

No more giving up, remember? I'm not going to die.

Something changed, and she shifted her trajectory to rotate so that she was diving down headfirst. Instinct told her to spread her arms out, and her body obeyed. Ruby pulled in her legs, and she began to stabilize. A slight tilt up, and she glided forward at a growing angle. The ground was rapidly approaching. Just a little bit further…

Ruby managed to level out just before she fell to her death. She couldn't have been more than ten feet away from the cobblestone streets as she soared forward, now parallel to the ground. Lowering herself slowly and carefully, she descended until her feet brushed the ground. Suddenly, she felt her weight shift around, and she collapsed to the ground in a forward roll. Her aura prevented any major injuries as she tumbled around, but it still stung.

Ruby tried to sit up, but her arms hurt. She glanced back up at the CCT tower, but there was no noise or light coming out of the broken window.

"Rose!" Dove came running towards her. "Where were you? I was unable to locate you after returning from the dance's refreshment section. And where did you just come from? I couldn't feel you with my semblance until just a moment ago!"

"Argh…I just came from the top of the CCT."

"But that must be hundreds of feet above ground level. How did you endure the fall?"

How had she survived? It was like she'd just known the right things to do, and then the wind was carrying her, and she'd…

"I think…I think I just…."

"What?"

"…I'm not sure. I guess, uhhhh, it must have been my semblance? But my semblance can't – never mind. Dove, please, we need to find the headmaster, or maybe General Ironwood. Any authority figure. The CCT was just attacked." Ruby stood up, wincing in pain as she did so.

"Rose, are you okay?"

"Let me tell you something, Dove. Balls suck balls."

Omake

Nora, holding Goodwitch's riding crop: Okay, remember, if things get out of hand, the safeword is 'Faunus Rights.'

Cardin: *visibly nervous*

Next Chapter: Trust – In which the Beacon Ball draws to a close, but its fallout endures.

Author's Notes

Jaune has mastered a rare, mythical Remnant-exclusive concept called a work life balance. If only Qrow knew of such phenomenal power's existence…

Questions abound! Through what mysterious means did our protagonist Ruby survive the fall from the top of the CCT with certain death at the bottom? For what nefarious purpose was she spared from death via magical-glass-spear? For what strange reason did Pyrrha make Cinder drink her piss?

I don't know. I'm only writing this.