Chapter 15

Sparring Ring, Beacon Academy

Pyrrha looked in front of her to face the last member of Team CRDL, Cardin. So far the rest of his team lay unconscious on the Ring courtesy of Pyrrha.

Rushing in while yelling, Cardin starts delivering a series of strikes with his mace hoping to overpower his opponent but Pyrrha was easily able to block, parry and dodge all of his attempts. Having enough of him, Pyrrha delivers her own set of attacks all which Cardin was unable to defend against. With a final shield bash to the head Cardin is sent to his knee with the buzzer indicating his depletion of Aura.

"Lucky shot." Cardin said before falling unconscious with the rest of his team

"And that's the match." Glynda announced.

"Well done, Ms. Nikos. You should have no problem applying for the Vytal Tournament." GLynda continued.

"Thank you, Professor." Pyrrha said

"Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?" Glynda asked her class.

The teacher then turned to one particular student. "Ms. Belladonna? You've been rather docile for these past few classes. Why don't yo-"

"I'll do it." A hand popped up.

Glynda adjusted her glasses and recognized the student. "Mercury is it? Very well. Let's find you an opponent."

But Mercury stood up and interrupted her. "Actually, I wanna fight… her."

He then pointed at Pyrrha, but Glynda interjected. "I'm afraid Ms. Nikos has just finished a match. I'd recommend you choose another partner-"

"No! It's fine. I'll be happy to oblige." Pyrrha insisted.

Mercury then stepped down to the ring, his metallic boots clanking on the ground with each step. Along his ankles were shotgun shells, similar to Yang's Ember Celica. He stepped onto the ring and assumed a boxing stance, arms raised. Pyrrha stood ready, and with the sound of the buzzer, Mercury ran her way.

Pyrrha did the same, raising her shield to block a spinning double roundhouse, then sweeping him with her javelin, knocking Mercury off of his feet. Mercury flipped himself back up and Pyrrha continued forth. She used her blade to parry a kick and blocked another with her shield.

Pyrrha blocked a couple more kicks, before swiping at Mercury's boot with her javelin, using this opening to bash her shield into his chest, pushing him back, his boots grinding against the floor.

"Hey, your friend's doing pretty good!" Ruby said to Emerald.

Mercury flipped upwards with a dropkick, which Pyrrha quickly blocked with her shield, doing the same for another roundhouse, then flipping backwards to dodge Mercury's attacks.

Pyrrha held Miló in a reverse grip, and held her shield and blade in front of her face, protecting her from a set of flying kicks by Mercury, then she tossed her blade in the air, freeing her hand to block a strike from the teen.

Grabbing Miló, she used her spinning momentum to swipe at Mercury, only for her javelin to get knocked from her grip. Seeing his chance, Mercury swung a heel for Pyrrha's face, but she raised her palm, lightly shifting Mercury's foot upwards so that it missed.

Sensing the subtle move, Mercury stumbled backwards, leaving Pyrrha to grab her weapon and charge him.

"I forfeit." Mercury said, much to Pyrrha's surprise.

"You… don't even want to try?" Pyrrha asked him.

"What's the point? You're already a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart." Mercury simply stated.

"Well in that case, Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match… again. Next time you may want to think a little harder before choosing your opponent." Glynda told Mercury.

"I'll be sure to do that."

The bell then sounded, surprising Blake. "That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday! We will not accept any excuses!"

As each student exited the class, Sun ran up to Blake, who was walking with a hunched back and with bags under her eyes.

"Hey, Blake! You doing okay?" Sun asked her, his hand grabbing her shoulder.

"I'm fine." Blake answered him in a hoarse voice.

Sun then cleared his throat and asked her, "So I hear there's this dance going on this weekend. Ah, sounds pretty lame, but you and me I'm thinking not as lame, huh?"

"What?"

"The dance this weekend! Do you wanna go or what?" Sun asked her.

"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you of all people would know that." Blake coldy answered him before walking away.

Ruby noticed her behavior and looked back to Sun, who slouched over and sighed in sadness from her rejection.

Team RWBY's Dorm, Beacon Academy

"You what?!"

"We want you to come to the dance." Ruby pleaded to Blake.

"That's ridiculous!" Blake barked back.

"Blake, we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess with your head." Yang told her.

"You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering." Weiss added.

"You think I care about grades?! People's lives are at stake!" Blake insisted.

"We know, and we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to." Yang said reassuringly.

"Thanks to you, we know they're operating somewhere outside of Southeast Vale." Ruby said.

"And the Schnee company record singled out Vale as the primary target for dust robberies over the last few months." Weiss continued.

"Don't forget about their missing military tech, too." Yang added.

"But there's still unanswered questions!" Blake said.

"Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open." Ruby insisted.

"All we're asking is for you to take it easy for one day." Yang told her.

"It'll be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it." Weiss said.

"Yeah! We're planning the whole event!" Yang added.

"Excuse me?" Blake asked, confused.

"Team CFVY's away mission took longer than expected, so they asked Yang and I to continue where they left off." Weiss explained.

"Now we can make sure you have the perfect night." Yang added

"And once it's all over, we can return to our search, rested and ready." Weiss continued.

"So, what do you think?" Ruby asked Blake, only for her to frown and walk for the door.

"I think this is a colossal waste of time. I'll be in the library."

As she left, the group looked down at the floor in defeat. "She can't keep going on like this." Weiss said, before they heard knocking on the door.

Weiss walked over to the door and opened it, only to hear the strumming of a guitar and to see… Jaune.

"WEEEEIIIIISSSS!…" He sang, ignoring the light sound of Kung Lao and Johnny snickering in the background.

Of course, Weiss slammed the door in his face, facepalming. Jaune knocked on the door again. "Oh come on! Open the door! I promise not to sing!"

Weiss sighed at the last part and opened the door again. "I LIIIIIIIEEED!" Jaune sang, strumming his guitar.

"Weiss Schnee, will you accompany meeee, to the daaaaance on…. SUNDAAAAYYYY?" Jaune sang.

"Are you done?" Weiss asked once he finished.

"Y-yes?"

"No." Weiss said coldly, slamming the door in his face.

She turned behind her and saw Ruby and Yang giving her disapproving looks. "What?"

"And that is why they call you "the Ice Queen."

"All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name. Besides, I already have a couple of dates in mind!"

"Date or no date, none of this will matter if we can't convince Blake to go."

Outside, Jaune sighed and turned to his "wingmen." "Alright, what did I do wrong?"

Johnny just laughed at him heartily, but Kung Lao put a hand on his shoulder and said, "First of all, I don't think the guitar was necessary in the first place. Second of all, don't you think she's just not into you?"

Jaune scoffed. "Pshh! That's ridiculous! I really like her, you know? So could you give me some tips? I mean, you're such a hit with the girls!"

"They don't call me the Great Kung Lao for nothing." He said with a smile.

"Listen Jaune, the first thing I would do is just… talk to her. Tell her how you feel. If she doesn't seem right for you, then I know that there's plenty others out there."

"W-what? Nah! Honestly, who'd be into me? That's just silly." Jaune said.

Kung Lao stared at the boy with a questioning look. Everybody'd seen how Pyrrha acted around him, and it was just ridiculous as to how everybody in the damn school knew how she felt aside from Jaune himself.

"Jaune, just… show her how you feel. She'll warm up to you, I promise." Kung Lao said before leaving.

Jaune sighed, until he heard Pyrrha's voice. "Jaune, it's time for practice! C'mon, let's go!"

Jaune smiled. He always liked how Pyrrha was so nice to him. Huh. Was it possible that she?… NAH! Couldn't be! She's world famous! What did that make him in her eyes?

Some balcony, Beacon Academy

Jaune felt the hard clang of metal and Ice clashing as he crossed swords with Sub Zero. He swung to block each strike from the assassin, and he had to admit, he was doing much better than when he first came to Beacon.

Both fighters stood, their swords locked in place, both pushing against the other. Jaune smirked, but Sub Zero's' expression didn't change and he ducked and swung a sweeping kick at Jaune's leg, throwing him off-balance and letting Sub Zero pin him down by the neck and hold an Ice sword to Jaune throat.

Jaune tapped rapidly on the ground, signaling Sub Zero to stop. Sub Zero released his hold on him and held out a hand to pull him up. "You've done well, Jaune. Your swordplay has improved immensely."

"Thanks, couldn't have done it without both of you." Jaune said, earning smiles of pride from both Pyrrha and Sub Zero.

"So, are you ready to move on to aura?" Pyrrha asked him.

Jaune paused for a minute and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Uhh… you know what? I think I'll skip aura for tonight. Might go on a jog or something."

"Come on, I know you get frustrated, but we must keep trying. I'm sure we'll discover your semblance any day now!" Pyrrha told him.

"N-no. It's not that… It's just… *sigh* It's dumb…" He said reluctantly.

Pyrrha placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke reassuringly. "Jaune, you know you can tell me."

"It's… Weiss." Jaune said.

"Oh… what about her?" Pyrrha asked him, concealing her true feelings.

"I asked her to the dance and she shot me down. Big surprise, right?" Jaune said with a sarcastic chuckle.

"Well… I believe as the saying goes, "there's plenty of fish in the sea".

"Oh, that's easy for you to say, you've probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out!" Jaune replied, receiving a light chuckle from Pyrrha.

"You'd be surprised…"

"Oh, please, if you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress!" Jaune said on his way out the door, leaving Pyrrha alone with Sub Zero.

"Pyrrha, I know how you feel about him." He said.

"Huh?"

"From the way you look at him and act around him, it's become obvious. Why don't you just tell him?" Sub Zero asked the redhead.

Pyrrha gave no answer, as she couldn't give one. After a long silence, she said, "I've lived my whole life above everybody else, that to finally meet someone who cares for me as a friend, I don't know how to tell him without intimidating him."

Sub Zero sighed and before he walked down to his dorm he told her, "Fine, I'll leave you be, but remember this… it's best to make the first move before you lose the chance. Good night, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha stood, awestruck by his words and turned to leave for her own dorm. "Good night, Kuai Liang."

Meanwhile…

"And finally, Pyrrha Nikos."

"Ah, the Invincible Girl." Cinder noted.

"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible." Mercury added.

"Do tell…" Cinder responded, her hand weaving a black dress with a thin needle.

"Her semblance is polarity, but you'd never know it just by watching." Emerald informed them.

"After she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted. But she only made slight adjustments." Mercury said.

"Just enough to make it look like she's untouchable. She doesn't broadcast her powers, so it puts her opponents at a disadvantage." Emerald added, causing Cinder to scratch her chin curiously.

"Hmm… people assume she's fated for victory, when she's really taken fate into her own hands. Interesting… Add her to the list." Cinder instructed Emerald, who made adjustments on her scroll.

"Well, you should be able to take her out no problem." Mercury noted to Cinder.

"It isn't about overpowering the enemy. It's about taking what power they have. Leaving them with nothing left to fight with, no faith or bedrock left to stand on." Cinder told Mercury.

"And we will… in time." Cinder continued.

"Uggghhhh…. Tiiiimmme….." Mercury groaned, plopping his head down on his pillow.

"Oh, don't worry Mercury. We still have a fun weekend ahead of us." Cinder said, her golden eyes glowing with sinister anticipation.

Ballroom, Beacon, the next day

Ruby sat in the ballroom as her sister and Weiss waltzed around the room, getting the place ready for the dance this weekend.

The staff at Beacon had asked her team to take over Team CFVY's role in getting the school dance ready, but Blake wasn't very enthusiastic about helping out and Ruby had to admit, she'd prefer to leave it to the professionals. So naturally, Weiss and Yang were left to organize the event. Some members of Team TSKK and JKHL had even kindly stopped by and offered to help.

Just as Ruby was about to doze off, Kung Lao slammed his hands onto the desk, jerking Ruby back to reality. "Which tablecloth looks better? No pressure, Ruby." He said, holding out two pieces of cloth for her to pick.

One of them was a dark shade of gray, and the other one was… pretty much the same. "Aren't they both the same?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"Oh, they're different! Look at how one shade is slightly lighter?" Kung Lao said, trying to explain.

"Uhhh… no?" Ruby said, still confused.

Kung Lao sighed. "You know what, never mind, Ruby. See ya."

Ruby waved to him, before Yang and Smoke came in, hauling large speakers on their shoulders, plopping them down on the ground with a loud bang.

On the stage, Johnny was plugging in the sound system, and testing the mics.

"So, you picked out a dress yet?" Yang asked her sister, who sank lower to the table with a dejected look on her face.

"What's the point? Who cares about the dance when Blake isn't even going?"

"Oh, she's going." Yang replied with a confident smirk, only to frown when she looked to her left.

"Weiss! I thought we agreed! No doilies!"

Weiss then jabbed a finger to the blonde's chest. "If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines!"

But then, they heard the door open, and turned to see Neptune and Sun entering the room. "Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune asked.

Weiss opened her mouth to respond, but Johnny stepped in. "Oh, it's for the stage. I'm gonna be playing for the night."

"Niiice!" Neptune said, patting him on the back.

"So, you ladies and gentlemen excited to play dress-up?" Sun asked them.

"Pfft! Yeah, right." Ruby scoffed.

"Oh, laugh all you want. I'll be turning heads tomorrow night." Yang said confidently.

"Oh, I'm counting on that…" Smoke said slyly,.

"What'll you be wearing, Sun?" Kung Lao asked him.

"Uhhh, this?" Sun answered him, gesturing to the shirt he was wearing.

"Ignore him, for he knows not what he says." Neptune said.

"Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo! It's not exactly a "shirt and tie" kind of place." Sun said.

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious." Weiss noted blankly.

"So, what does Blake think of all this? She still being all… you know, Blake-y?" Sun asked.

"I'm afraid so. She won't even speak to me about it." Ruby said "I still can't think of a way to change her mind."

But Yang stood up with a determined smirk. "Guys, trust me. Blake will be at the dance tomorrow."

Library, Beacon Academy

Blake was typing furiously on her computer, her bloodshot eyes struggling to stay open, but nonetheless, she kept working. She knew her team and friends told her to take it easy, but how could they possibly say that when people are dying?!

But then Blake spotted something that caught her eye and made her take her fingers off of the keyboard. A bright red dot, zipping across her monitor. Her eyes didn't waver and followed the bright light as it went down to rest on her hand. Slapping it away, she continued to work, unwilling to let a stupid prank distract her.

But as she continued to type, the red dot turned up again, and this time, Blake gritted her teeth and got up from her chair to confront whoever was messing with her, but saw the dot in front of her feet, trailing backwards.

Sighing to herself, Blake followed, until she bumped into Yang, holding a laser pen, with Smoke looking up from his book to meet her eye.

"Hello!" Yang greeted her partner in the same bubbly voice as she first introduced herself on day one.

"Yang? Tomas? What're y-" Blake asked, frustrated.

"We need to talk, lass. In private." He said to her, grabbing her by the wrist and whisking her away with him and Yang.