Chapter 17

Ballroom

Jaune woved his way through the crowd of students, trying to get to Neptune. The night before, he saw himself that Weiss had asked him to the dance, and seeing as to how Weiss came to him first, Jaune knew he must have turned her down.

Jaune walked towards him, eager for answers, until Pyrrha walked past him. Jaune stopped and looked her way. She walked slowly, with a hunched back. Jaune hadn't seen Pyrrha with a more miserable look on her face before.

Curious, he followed her to the balcony, where she gazed over the view of the campus with a melancholic look on her face. Taking a deep breath, he called out to her. "Hey, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha turned around to see Jaune, and returned his greeting. "Hello, Jaune."

"A-are you okay? I hadn't seen you tonight." Jaune asked his partner.

"Arrived late, I'm afraid." Pyrrha answered him, turning to rest her hands atop the balcony.

"W-well, you look very nice." Jaune said, gesturing to the beautiful dress she wore, exposing her bare back and colored a rich crimson matching her hair.

"Thank you…" Pyrrha said, feeling her heart flutter slightly as he complimented her.

"Your… date isn't gonna beat me up for saying that, is he?" Jaune asked her.

"I… think you're safe for tonight." Pyrrha said, her face not changing.

"So… where is the guy?" Jaune asked, looking left and right.

Pyrrha finally sighed and told him, "There is no 'guy'."

Jaune stood in surprise at her answer. "W-what?"

"Nobody asked me."

Jaune was at loss for words. How on Remnant could someone as popular as her show up alone? "B-but that's- you're Pyrrha Nikos! How could nobody ask you?!"

Pyrrha sighed and let it out. "I've been blessed… with incredible talents and opportunities. I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise…. But when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people who put you there in the first place."

"Everyone assumes that I'm too good for them, that I'm on a level they simply can't attain. It's been impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with anyone!" Pyrrha practically yelled out, Jaune listening, almost connecting the dots.

Pyrrha then turned to look him in the eye. "That's what I like about you."

Wait… what?

"When we met, you didn't even know my name! You treated me just like everybody else. And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess… you were the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me." Pyrrha turned to leave, leaving a stunned Jaune standing there. Once Jaune turned to say something to Pyrrha, she was already gone, and a different person was at the doorway.

"Hey, uh- Jaune, right?" Neptune asked him.

Jaune sighed. "Yeah."

"This party's pretty lame, huh? I mean, ballroom dancing! Pfft…" Neptune said.

"Yeah." Jaune said, keeping his emotions in check.

"Cute girls though, huh?" Neptune asked him, but that was the last straw for Jaune.

"Is that all you think about?" Jaune angrily asked him.

"Huh?"

"Do you even care about the girls you're hitting on? How they feel about you?!" Jaune asked him.

"Whoa! Where's all this coming from?" Neptune asked, confused.

"How could you just turn her down like that?" Jaune asked him.

"Who?"

"Weiss!"

Neptune's eyes widened, then his face began to shrink as he stuttered awkwardly. "I- uh… It- err… It just… I-it just didn't work out, you know?"

"What? You think you're too cool?! Too many other 'options?' Weiss Schnee asked you to the dance. What in the world could possibly keep y-"

"I can't dance!"

Jaune blinked once. "Beg your pardon?"

"I can't dance, man!" Neptune said, his voice cracking as he turned his head in embarrassment.

Jaune was at a loss for words when he heard this. "B-but you're… so cool…"

"Thank you. I try really hard." Neptune said.

"So… you'd rather break a girl's heart and go to a dance alone rather than admit to everyone that you can't move in rhythm to music?" Jaune asked him.

"That… pretty much sums it up, yeah." Neptune answered him.

"Well, I certainly feel a lot better about myself." Jaune said sarcastically.

"Please don't tell anyone. Look, if you want Weiss, she's all yours. I don't wanna get in your way." Neptune pleaded to Jaune.

Jaune sighed and turned to look at the young man, leaning against the balcony. "Do you like her?"

"Well… I don't know her that well, but she seems pretty cool."

"Then just… talk to her, man. No pickup lines, no suave moves, just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go. I've come to know her date's a pretty cool guy. I'm sure he'll understand." Jaune told him, remembering what Pyrrha and Kung Lao had told him the past few days.

Neptune raised his finger to protest, but Jaune stopped him. "Hey, you don't have to be cool all the time! In all honesty, if you were a little less cool, I'd really appreciate it. Go talk to her, man. I'm sure it'll make her night."

"Thanks. You're a pretty cool guy, Jaune." Neptune said as he moved forward to hug him.

"Alright, don't lie to my face." Jaune joked as he returned Neptune's gesture.

As Neptune left Jaune sighed deeply and put on a determined smirk on his face. "Alright, now only one thing left to do."

Jaune re-entered the ballroom, his eyes scanning the room and looking for a certain person. Then he found his target who was dancing with Ruby and tapped him on the shoulder, getting his attention.

"Jaune?" Ruby

"Seems you got yourself a date. Mind if I borrow him?" Jaune asked

"Sure." Ruby said

"Hey, Kung Lao." Jaune greeted .

"Is this about Weiss?" Kung Lao asked him

Jaune shook his head. "No, it isn't that. I messed up. I should've known about Pyrrha."

"Wait, you just realized that? Never thought I'd see someone denser than Liu Kang" Kung Lao said to him.

"Huh?"

"Jaune, the entire school's known for quite a while!" Kung Lao told Jaune.

"Wait, what?" Jaune asked him.

"Throughout the years, I've come to tell whether a woman likes you or not, and Pyrrha could not have been more obvious. The strangest part was how you were completely oblivious."

Jaune laughed embarrassedly, with cheeks flushed red. "Yeah, kinda know that now"

"So what do you want?." Kung Lao asked him.

"If you don't mind, I have a request for you."

"I'm all ears." Kung Lao said as he leaned in closer.

"I need you to…" Jaune began as he whispered the rest in Kung Lao's ear. His grin grew as he heard the rest.

"You my man, are a man of your word. Come, let's get started!" Kung Lao said as he ran off, dragging Jaune with him.

Meanwhile

"Y'know, I think we really needed this." Yang said to her sister.

The two of them stood on the second floor, overlooking the scene of the party. Blake and Sub Zero were dancing with one another, Ren and Nora doing the same, although Nora was a bit clumsier than her partner. They even caught sight of Penny dancing by herself in the corner.

Ruby looked down and smiled. "Yeah, and you did a great job planning it, too." Ruby agreed.

"Aww, thanks!' Yang squealed, bringing Ruby in for a bone-crushing hug, much to her discomfort.

"It wasn't all me, though. Weiss did a lot, as well as the boys." Yang said, looking down to see Weiss seated by herself, until Neptune walked past and began to talk to her. A smile formed on the heiress' face as she offered him a seat next to her.

But then, Yang sighed. "Tomorrow, it's back to work, y'know?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure we can handle whatever gets thrown at us!" Ruby said confidently.

Then, they started hearing laughing from the students. It kept getting louder as a particular student, in a Dress walked towards the middle of the dance floor with Kung Lao throwing flower petals on the path like flowers girls from a wedding. Pyrrha turned her head and could not believe her eyes when she saw it.

"Jaune what are you wearing." Pyrrha said trying to hold back her laughter

"Well, we made a deal yesterday, and an Arc never goes back on his word." Jaune said tossing the flower he was holding in the crowd of students

"But how did you pull it off?" She asked

"Benefits of growing up with seven sisters." Jaune said

And that was the final straw as Pyrrha began laughing almost none stop. Stretching his hand towards her he said

"Pyrrha Nikos, would you do me the honour of dancing with me."

"Yes." She said taking his hand while smiling as they started busting the moves.

In the seats at the far end of the room, Weiss and Neptune were chatting. "So… what made you change your mind?"

"Huh?" Neptune asked.

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

Neptune smiled and turned his head to Jaune . "You're looking at him."

Weiss looked with surprise at Jaune dancing in the center of the room, as happy as he could be.

"You got some good friends looking out for you." Neptune told Weiss.

"Yeah." Weiss said and after a moment she got up "Speaking of friends, I've got to find someone." Shs said waving to Neptune as she left the ballroom

MMM

"It seems all the dancers have partners" Emerald noted, gazing down at the dance floor below them.

"How long do I have?" Cinder asked over the scroll.

"You should probably be home by midnight, just to be safe." Mercury told her.

"I'll keep my eye on the clock." Cinder said, hanging up. She then took a vial of glass dust from her pocket and used it to craft a mask over her face.

"Security should be a bit tighter tonight." Mercury voice added from the scroll.

"I'll be fine." Cinder snarled.

Meanwhile, inside the ballroom, Ruby decided to leave the scene of the party, away from the loud, bustling scene inside. As she stepped outside the building, she caught sight of a dark figure sprinting across the rooftops.

Cinder traversed the rooftops with ease, moving with finesse and speed with her skintight stealth suit. Ruby watched the unknown figure leap off a building, then frowned, determined to investigate.

Beacon Cross-Communications Tower, Vale

Cinder hid behind a corner analyzing the scene to make her move. A lone guard stood outside the front door, keeping watch.

The guard's eye caught a quick blur, raising his gun. Moving forward slowly, trying to get his eye around the corner, he failed to notice Cinder right behind him. Without a sound, Cinder snuck up behind the soldier and quickly delivered a chop to the back of his head, knocking him out instantly. After incapacitating the guard, She then began pulling the unconscious man by his shoulders, moving to hide the body behind a bush.

Cinder then ran to the door and entered. Walking down the entrance hall, she entered the elevator room, where five soldiers stood, keeping guard. Nonetheless, she strode in, confident in her ability.

One soldier noticed Cinder enter the room and raised his hand, the other reaching for his pistol. "Excuse me? No one's allowed in this area. Stop!"

Cinder only smiled sinisterly, running at the guard. The soldier unholstered his pistol and opened fire, but Cinder easily evaded his shots and hooked his arm with hers, punching him across the face.

A second guard ran towards her yelling, carrying an energy blade, but Cinder drove a quick heel into his stomach, stunning the man. The soldier Cinder had grabbed tried to fire, but Cinder raised his arm, shooting the man and sending him tumbling across the floor.

Cinder then kicked the first guard in the shin, sending him on his knees, and then flipped him over her back, throwing him across the room.

The two remaining guards ran towards her, wielding their blades. Cinder's clothing then began to glow orange, glass blades forming at her hands. She swung both blades across one soldier's face, parrying his strike and slashing him in the face. Then she moved forward, slashing horizontally across the other soldier's stomach before sweeping him off the ground with a low kick.

Parrying another guard's strikes and blocking a kick, she returned with a quick elbow thrust to his back and a double-handed strike to his chest, pushing him back. As he was about to rise up, Cinder quickly delivered a flip kick to the back of his head, knocking him down.

The last soldier urgently reached for his comms as Cinder moved his way. "Commander! We have an intruder at the CCT!"

Cinder quickly silenced him with an arrow, hitting him straight in the neck and killing the man.

Putting away her weapons, she then moved to the elevator.

Outside

Outside the building, Ruby kept walking as she followed the mysterious figure. Tracing her target to the CCT, she walked toward the front entrance and gasped to see a soldier's body amongst the bushes, unconscious.

Ruby then hurriedly reached for her scroll and punched in numbers, cueing the loud woosh of a rocket. Just then, her locker flew down and drove itself into the stone path, opening to reveal Crescent Rose.

Looks like she would need to get her dress dirty tonight.

Communications Room, Beacon CCT

Entering the room, Cinder walked over to the receptionist's desk, booting up the monitor. She then took out her scroll and plugged it into the computer, transferring data into the system.

But then, she heard Emerald's voice over her comms. " A party guest is leaving."

Cinder sighed. "Which one?"

"Ironwood." Emerald told her as she danced with Mercury.

"Looks like the General's had enough fun for tonight." Mercury added.

"Should we intervene?" Emerald asked her.

Cinder paused, and then the monitor flashed on with a white screen, before the image of a black queen chess piece popped up onscreen, the other terminals in the room mirroring the same image.

"No. We're done here." Cinder said with a smirk, turning to leave the building, until she heard the elevator coming back up.

Ruby exited the elevator, gripping her scythe with both hands. "Hello?"

Narrowing her eyes, she treaded cautiously, but growled as she stumbled over her heels, trying to keep her balance. "Is anyone there? Hello?"

Cinder hid behind the terminal silently, but realized she was not going to leave. Rising from her position with a grin, she turned to face the girl.

"Excuse me? You know, it's not a masquerade party, so why don't you take o-" Ruby began, only for Cinder to unclip a vial of glass dust from her hip, summoning a row of glass shards and throwing them towards Ruby.

Spinning her scythe in front of her, Ruby blocked the sudden attack, then proceeding to unload her clip on her. But Cinder easily blocked each round with her palm, then summoning her own blades.

Flipping her scythe behind her, Ruby fired, launching herself towards Cinder for a downwards slam, only for her to flip backwards, quickly drawing three arrows, aiming them at Ruby.

Ruby staggered backwards, dodging the blasts of flame, but tripped as she stumbled on her heels, using her scythe to support herself. Cinder grinned, but just then the door behind Ruby opened revealing Iroonwood. Turning around to see the general, as Ruby looked back to face her opponent she was already gone

Meanwhile

Cinder rushed into a dark hallway, casting glyphs on her suit, altering its appearance rapidly, before entering the next room.

The soldiers barged in after her, but stood surprised as they entered the ballroom, the dance still in full swing.

Emerald and Mercury were still dancing with each other, until Emerald felt a tap on her shoulder, turning around to see Cinder dressed in a beautiful glittering black dress, her back exposed to reveal her tattoo.

"May I cut in?"

"Of course." Emerald said as she moved aside.

"And how's your night been?" Mercury asked Cinder as the two danced in each other's arms.

"Hmm, a little more… exciting than expected."

"Should we be worried?" Mercury asked her.

"Hardly. They'll be scratching their heads long after we finish what we came here for." Cinder replied, her eyes glowing with her grin.

"So what now?" Mercury asked her.

"Enjoy the rest of the night. After all, it is a party." Cinder replied, the party continuing into the night as the chimes of the twelfth hour rang from the clock tower.

Beacon Rooftop Balcony

Standing by the balcony, Scorpion is gazing into the night sky. Taking in the beauty of the night, he doesn't turn around as a figure approaches him.

"Enjoying the view?" Weiss asked joining him

"Shouldn't you be at the Dance?" Scorpion said

"Shouldn't you?" Weiss threw back at him

"It would be a waste of my time." Scorpion said

"Tell me something that isn't a waste of your time?" She asked sarcasm dripping from her voice

"Why did you come here?" Scorpion said dodging her question

"So I'm not allowed to check up on a friend?"

"I was unaware we were friends." Scorpion

"Seriously? Of course we're friends. Team RWBY, JKHL, JNPR, TSKK…we're all your friends." Weiss said throwing her hands up clearly getting frustrated

After an awkward moment of silence Scorpion spoke

"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, I'm just not use to all of this." He admitted

"Kinda noticed. Sorry for snapping at you." She said

"So how was the Dance?" Scorpion asked

"Well for one Jaune wore a dress."

"Seriously?" Scorpion asked

"It was actually funny seeing him in one." She said

"I guess the Dance wouldn't have been a complete waste of time." Scorpion said

"That means you were wrong and now you owe me." Weiss said

Rolling his eyes he asked "Do tell how you want me to pay you back."

"You, Mister Hanzo Hasashi will be taking me out for dinner after our first mission." Weiss said with a grin

Signing at his luck he just stare blankly at her for a minute all the while Weiss's smile didn't disappear.

"As you wish." Scorpion said walking away

"Where are you going?"

"Confirming if Jaune's dress is worth taking you to dinner." He said as Weiss began following him. (P.S Scorpion found his dress funny)