The dance continues to go off smoothly, and all around the room people were enjoying themselves, talking and dancing with each other, including the teachers. Oobleck and Port were standing to the side, Oobleck listening intently while Port laughed at something he said. Ozpin was standing off to the side along with Glynda, but then General Ironwood tapped her shoulder, getting her attention as he offered his hand for her to dance with him which, after an eye roll, she actually accepted.

At one table, Ruby and (YN) hide out by the punch bowl, drinks in their hands after they confessed their love to one another while watching their friends and enjoying each other's company. A moment later, Jaune, in his own tux, approaches them with a drink in his hand.

Jaune: "I see you two are hiding out at the punch bowl, too." He said, leaning to them.

Ruby: "Yep." She replied, popping the "p". "After (YN) and I danced, there was nothing else to do."

Jaune: "To the socially awkward." He joked, gesturing for them to touch their cups together, to which Ruby giggled while (YN) chuckled as they clank their glasses together. He then quickly noticed Ruby standing extremely close to (YN) and that they were holding hands. He blinked at this before his eyes widened in realization and stepped back with a look of surprise on his face. "No way!"

(YN)/Ruby: "What?" They asked, tilting their heads in confusion. Jaune then pointed a finger between them.

Jaune: "Are you two...?" He trailed off, wiggling his pinky finger. Ruby blushed lightly at how blunt he was being.

(YN): "That's right!" He grinned, pulling Ruby closer. "Ruby's my girlfriend now." He then planted a kiss on her cheek, causing to her blush to brightly. Jaune chuckled at the scene.

Jaune: "Congraulations, you two." He praised as he held up his glass.

Ruby: "Sorry things didn't work out with Weiss." She apologized.

Jaune: "Neh, it's fine." He played it off. "Neptune's pretty 'cool.' I get why she went with him."

(YN): "What do you mean?" He inquired, looking at Jaune confused.

Jaune: "Well, come on, not many people can pull off BLUE hair." He commented as he started drinking his punch.

Ruby: "No, I mean, Weiss came to the dance alone." She pointed out. Jaune coughed down his drink, wiping his mouth with his sleeve,

Jaune: "Uh, what?" He asked, shocked, and then looked to Weiss who is busy trying to fix a flower that is falling in one of the flower vases in the ballroom and failing.

(YN): "Yeah, she said she had too much to focus on to worry about boys." He explained.

Weiss then looked over to see Blake, Sun, and Neptune, who was wearing the same kind of black tux as him, but with gold lining, a gold bowtie, and his signature goggles on his head, talking and laughing at something Neptune said. This made Jaune growl in slight anger a bit.

(YN): "You alright there, bud?" He asked, concerned about his change of attitude.

Jaune: "Hold. My. Punch." He handing his drink to Ruby and started walking to where Neptune is.

After Jaune was out of sight, Ruby choose to take a sip out of his drink that he handed to her.

(YN): "You did not just drink Jaune's drink, did you?" He deadpanned, seeing what she did.

|—————————|—————————|

Jaune walked through the crowd of people in the ballroom, brushing them aside if needed as he gets closer to Neptune, but stopped when Pyrrha walked by him, wearing her signature headdress, but also a long red sleeveless dress that has a slit down the right side and wraps around her neck, exposing her back, and black pumps.

He sees her walking up some stairs, looking a little sad, and thought for a moment before deciding to follow her. He finds her standing in an outside balcony, resting an arm against the stone railing at the edge with several potted-pants situated around it.

Jaune: "Hey, Pyrrha." He greeted her. Pyrrha turned around to face him.

Pyrrha: "Hello, Jaune." She greeted back, but without her usual vigor.

Jaune: "You okay?" He asked as he walked up to her. "I haven't seen you tonight."

Pyrrha: "Arrived late, I'm afraid." She replied, turning back to the balcony.

Jaune: "Well, you look really nice." He complimented her.

Pyrrha: "Thank you." She thanked, raising her hand near her mouth, then falls away.

Jaune: "Your, uh," He put his hands behind his back. "date isn't going to beat me up for saying that, is he?" He asked nervously, tipping on his toes.

Pyrrha: "I think you're safe for tonight." She assured Jaune.

Jaune: "So, where is the guy?" He asked, clasping his hands together as he looks around. Pyrrha turned back towards him.

Pyrrha: "There is no guy." She revealed, a frown on her face as she sank her head in melancholy.

Jaune: "What?" He chuffed, baffled at this.

Pyrrha: "Nobody asked me." She continued, shaking her head glumly.

Jaune: "But that's... You're PYRRHA NIKOS!" He exclaimed, gesturing towards Pyrrha, dumbfounded that no one asked her. "H-How could nobody ask you?" Pyrrha turned towards the balcony.

Pyrrha: "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 that put you there in the first place." She explained, then turned back to Jaune. "Everyone assumes I'm too good for them. That I'm on a level they simply can't attain. It's become impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people. That's what I like about you. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else." She noted. "And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with." She concluded. "Someone who just saw me for me." She looked at Jaune one more time before she walked away, leaving Jaune alone on the balcony as he simply stared in astonishment.

Jaune looked down for moment, processing the fact that, out of every single guy at Beacon, Pyrrha apparently wanted to go to the dance with him.

Jaune: "Uh, w-wait-" He began, turning back at Pyrrha as she turned a corner, but stopped when Neptune walked onto the balcony.

Neptune: "Hey, uh, Jaune right?" He greeted, gesturing towards Jaune. Jaune let out a sigh.

Jaune: "Yeah." He nodded in confirmation, looking away.

Neptune: "This party's pretty lame, huh? I mean, ballroom dancing, psst."

Jaune: "Yeah." He agreed reluctantly, turning away from him and looked back out over the balcony.

Neptune: "Cute girls though, huh?" He commented, gesturing back to the dance. Jaune growled, getting angry before turning to him.

Jaune: "Is that ALL you think about?" He questioned, having had enough of Neptune's behavior.

Neptune: "Huh?" Was all he can reply, a little confused when he raised his palms to his waist level.

Jaune: "Do you even CARE about the girls you're hitting on? How they feel about YOU?" He practically interrogated him.

Neptune: "Woah!" He exclaimed, throwing his palms up in defense. "Where's THIS coming from?" He asked.

Jaune: "How could you just turn her down like that?" He continued, opening his arms wide.

Neptune: "Wait, h-who?" He asked, still confused.

Jaune: "WEISS!" He blurted out.

Neptune: "I, uh..." He rubbed his head. "it uh, it just didn't work out, you know." He responded sheepishly.

Jaune: "What? You think you're too cool? Too many other options?" He questioned, still fuming. "Weiss Schnee asked YOU to the dance. What in the world could POSSIBLY keep you from goin-"

Neptune: "I can't dance." He interrupted him, turning his head away in shame.

Jaune: "Beg your pardon?" He asked calmly, both shocked and confused.

Neptune: "I can't dance, man!" He admitted more clearly in more shame.

Jaune: "But, you're... so... COOL!" He gestured to Neptune.

Neptune: "Thank you." He thanked, looking back at him. "I try really, really hard."

Jaune: "...You would rather break a girl's heart and go to a dance alone than... just admit to everyone that you can't move in rhythm to music?" He questioned him.

Neptune: "That about sums it up, yeah." He confessed.

Jaune: "Well, I certainly feel a lot better about myself." He said, turning back to the balcony.

Neptune: "Please don't tell anybody." He pleaded, raising his palms. "Look, if you want Weiss, she's all yours. I don't want to get in your way." Jaune thought before turning back around to him and sighed, and leaned against the railing.

Jaune: "Do you like her?" He asked.

Neptune: "Yeah, I mean, I don't know her too well yet, but she seems pretty cool." He answered.

Jaune: "Then just go... talk to her. No pickup lines, no suave moves. Just be yourself." He advised him, then crossed his arms. "I've heard that's the way to go."

Neptune: "Yeah, but-" He began, raising a finger.

???: "He's right, you know." Spoke a familiar voice from behind Neptune.

Jaune and Neptune startled, and they looked to see (YN) walking up to the balcony.

Jaune: "(YN)?!" He yelped in surprise.

Neptune: "Where'd you come from?" He asked, still startled.

(YN): "I couldn't overhear your conversation." He answered. "That, and I needed some fresh air for a little while." He turned to Neptune. "But, Neptune, you DON'T have to look cool ALL the time. Just relax."

Jaune: "He's right." He agreed with (YN). "In all honesty, if you could be a little less cool, I'd REALLY appreciate it." Neptune considered their advice.

Neptune: "...Yeah, okay." He agreed.

Jaune: "Go talk to her. I guarantee it'll make her night." He suggested.

Neptune: "Thanks. You're a really cool guy, Jaune." Neptune says and walks up to fist bump him.

Jaune: "Alright, don't lie to my face." He, but fist bumps him back and then watches as Neptune walks away. Jaune then sighs,

Jaune: "Alright, only one thing left to do," Jaune says, smiling as he makes his leave.

(YN): "And what's that?" He inquired curiously.

Jaune: "You'll see." Was he answered, and left.

(YN) was now all alone as he walked up to the balcony. He rested his arms on the railing, and looked up the night sky. It was so peaceful. But then, his Scroll rang out, and pulled out it out from his pocket and held it to his ear.

(YN): "Hello?" He answered, turning away from the balcony.

Rowena(on Scroll): "Hey, (YN)!" She greeted.

(YN): "Oh, hi, Mom." He greeted back. "What's up?"

Rowena(on Scroll): "Just wanted to let you know that me and Lionel have finished our mission and will be returning home sometime next Tuesday." She informed him.

(YN): "Oh, okay! That's great!" He smiled.

Rowena(on Scroll): "So, how was your first semester?" She asked. "And how are things with Ruby?"

(YN): "It was good." He replied. "And Ruby, well, I'm at the dance with her."

Rowena(on Scroll): "Oh, are you?" She inquired.

(YN): "Yeah." He nodded. "We hanged out, dance, and even..." He paused a little. "We confessed our feelings and we kissed, and we became a couple."

Rowena(on Scroll): "Awwww." She cooed. "My baby boy has grown up."

(YN): "Mom." He groaned with a blush.

Rowena(on Scroll): "I'm so proud of you confessing your love to Ruby." She congratulated.

(YN): "You're welcome." He smiled.

Rowena(on Scroll): "So, when are you going to introduce her to me?" She inquired.

(YN): "Well, I was planning on doing that by the time you get back, but my team are going out on our first mission tomorrow." He answered. "I don't know when we'll be gone, but hopefully, sometime this week."

Rowena(on Scroll): "I see. Well, good luck on your first mission tomorrow!" She cheered. "I'll see you later, and I can't wait to meet your girlfriend." (YN) blushed a little more. "I love you."

(YN): "Love too, too." He replied back, and the call ended. He put his Scroll back in his pocket. "Well, better head back." He said to himself. "Ruby is probably waiting for me." And with that, he went back inside.

|—————————|—————————|

Soon, he found Ruby leaning on a wooden railing on the second floor of the ballroom, watching over the other students enjoying the night, and walked up to her. Ruby noticed him walking towards her, and gives him a quick hug, and they watched the dance. Soon, Yang walked up them as she wrapped her arms around their shoulders.

Yang: "You know, I think we really needed this." She commented.

They watched Blake dancing with Sun, and Ren dancing with Nora, Ren wearing a tux like Jaune's, and Nora wearing a pink and white dress with the pink section looking like a heart over her chest.

(YN) then looked to see Penny, wearing a short, light green, short-sleeved dress with a narrow black detailing around her waist, white collar alongside a pair of light green heels, dancing alone in between two Atlas soldiers guarding her.

Ruby: "Yeah, and you did a great job planning it, too." She praised her, smiling.

Yang: "Aw, thanks." She thanked Ruby, wrapping her right arm around her in a strong headlock, making Ruby groan and flail her arms around. "It wasn't all me though. Weiss and (YN) did a lot too."

(YN): "Uh, Yang, I think you're choking Ruby." He pointed at Ruby, who was still flailing.

Yang: "Ohhh, does (YN) want his little Ruby back?" She cooed teasingly.

(YN): "Yes please." He replied, and Yang released Ruby and she hugged herself to him.

Ruby: "(YN)! Yang's bullying me again!" She whined and (YN) chuckled before kissing her forehead.

(YN): "It's okay, Ruby." He soothed in comfort.

Yang: "Congrats on becoming a couple, you two." She congratulated them. "You two are soo cute together. Wait till dad see the pictures." She showed them the picture of the two of them dancing together.

(YN): "Hehehe, are you sure Tai can handle the news well." He asked nervously.

Ruby: "Don't worry (YN). I'm sure Dad will understand." She assured (YN).

They then look down to see Weiss sitting on one of the chairs off to the side of the room, before Neptune walked up to her, rubbing his head before Weiss motioned for him to sit in an empty chair next to her. He takes her offer, and sits down and they begin to talk, making Weiss smile.

Yang: "Tomorrow, it's back to work." She sighed with less vigor.

Ruby: "Well, I'm sure we can handle whatever gets thrown at us." She stated, shrugging her shoulders, before she started hearing the students below them laughing for some reason and looked down to see what it is. "...Except for that."

(YN): "What is it?" He and Yang looked down at where Ruby was gesturing too. Yang instantly laughed as she puts a fist covering his mouth while he stared with a dumbstruck expression of surprise. "No... way..."

The students continue to laugh and giggle as they step aside. Pyrrha wasn't sure why is everyone laughing until she heard footsteps of someone approaching behind her, and turned around and stared in disbelief at...

Pyrrha: "...Jaune?" The corners of her lips curving up slightly in amusement that she was trying and failing miserably to keep her laughter contained.

Jaune now stands in front of Pyrrha, no longer wearing his tux, but rather a white strapless dress with a blue ribbon wrapped around the waist, and wearing thigh-high light stockings and regular shoes.

Jaune: "Eh, a promise is a promise." He shrugged simply, smiling even in his situation.

Pyrrha tried her best to keep her amusement contained, but she was faltering. First she smiled... then giggled... and then she was laughing out loud, feeling happy for the first time tonight.

Pyrrha: "...Jaune, you didn't have to!" She said in between laughs as she regained control of herself.

Jaune: "Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word." He stated before extending his hand to Pyrrha. "Now do you wanna stand there and laugh at me, or do you wanna dance?" He asked as a more upbeat tune begins.

Pyrrha: "I would LOVE to dance." She accepted, offering her own arm.

Jaune then pulled her close to him, much to her surprise but liking, and they start dancing as they pass by Ren and Nora.

Nora: "Ren. This. Is. HAPPENING!" She exclaimed, failing her arms in excitement.

Ren: "Wait. What is happening?" He asked, not understanding her before Nora pulled him with her to the dance floor.

The members of Team JNPR start dancing to the music, with Jaune and Pyrrha up front while Ren and Nora are behind them. They step, spin, and move their arms to the rhythm, while the other students in the room all cheer and clap at their performance. The. the group separated and Jaune is seen twirling Pyrrha under his arm.

Pyrrha: "I had no idea you were a dancer." She remarked in amazement as they keep dancing.

Jaune: "Yeah, well, these things tend to happen when you grow up with seven sisters." He replied before dipping Pyrrha and then spinning her again and then followed her.

To the side, Weiss and Neptune were watching the dancers before she turned to Neptune.

Weiss: "So, what made you change your mind?" She asked Neptune.

Neptune: "Huh?" He turned to Weiss, slightly confused.

Weiss: "You said you were embarrassed at first." She recalled. "What made you come talk to me?"

Neptune: "...You're looking at him." He answered, gesturing to Jaune who is still dancing with Pyrrha. "You've got some good friends looking out for you." He commented and they just watch the dancing continue, with smiles on their faces.

As the couples continue their dancing, Mercury and Emerald watch over them from the second floor balcony.

Emerald: "It appears all the dancers have partners." She informed.

Cinder(via Earbud): "How long do I have?" She inquired from their communicator.

Mercury: "We should probably be home by midnight to be safe." He suggested.

|—————————|—————————|

Cinder: "I'll keep my eye on the clock." She her right hand on her ear, wearing a black masks while waiting outside the ballroom.

|—————————|—————————|

Meanwhile, Ruby is standing around, feeling out of place, and decided to walk out the main entrance for some fresh air. (YN) noticed her leaving the ballroom and followed her.

(YN): "Mind if I join you?" He requested.

Ruby: "Sure." She nodded.

While they walked outside of the ballroom, they see a figure running along the dorm rooftops beyond her. The figure was a woman, wearing a sleeveless black jacket, long gloves, stiletto heel boots, a black glass mask, and several straps of containers of powered Dust lined across her pants.

They watched as she jumped across a few rooftops before she disappeared over another rooftop, heading towards the CCT tower.

(YN): "You saw a woman too, right?" He asked, making sure he wasn't seeing things.

Ruby: "I did." She nodded. "Come on, let's investigate." They ran after her thinking it was better to let their friends enjoy the night.

|—————————|—————————|

Meanwhile, Cinder is approaching the CCT tower not too far away. As she stealthy moved closer, she sees one Atlas soldier guarding the front entrance. She moves to another position, gaining his attention. As he slowly walked forward to see what is going on, Cinder sneaked up behind him and deals a karate chop on his head, knocking him out with a goofy smile on his face. She catches him and dragged his body behind some bushes before moving inside.

When she leisurely walked in, she takes note of four guards in the main room. One of them noticed her.

Atlas Soldier 1: "Excuse me, no one's allowed in this area." He declared, reaching for his pistol in warning. But Cinder continued her approach. "Stop!" he ordered, just as Cinder rushed at him as he pulled out his pistol and aimed it at her.

The first guard fired a couple of warning shots, but Cinder runs by the bullets as they hit the ground, grabs his arm and punches him in the face with her left arm, and applied a grapple to his right arm. She then looked behind her to see a second guard running at her with a sword drawn. She back kicked him in the stomach and bends the first guard's arm, forcing him to shoot the second guard away before kicking at the first guard's right leg, making him kneel, and then flips over him before throwing him to the railing on the steps. The two other guards by the terminals jump over the steps and run at Cinder.

The designs on Cinder's gloves and boots glow a bright orange as she spins, conjuring up flames that dissipate and are replaced with a pair of broad, single-handed blades with multiple cutting edges in her hands.

She swings her swords at one guard, blocking his sword and landing a strike, before doing the same thing to the other guard, and then leg sweeps him off his feet. The third guard makes three swings at her, but she blocks them, and then tries to kick her legs, but gets blocked again. She then elbowed him in the face before thrusting her blades sideways, shoving the guard to the floor. He tried to get back up but Cinder finished him off with a front flip downward kick. She looks around a moment before she moved to the elevator.

|—————————|—————————|

Two guards await inside the elevator on their down to the main room, unaware of what happened.

Atlas Soldier 2: "Hey man, do you know the Wi-Fi password?" He asked the other.

Atlas Soldier 3: "It's 'Beacon,' but replace the 'e' with a '3' and add a pound symbol to the end." He answered.

The elevator doors open and the get spooked when they see Cinder standing in front of them. One guard looked behind her to see the other guards laying on the ground unconscious. Cinder just smiled and calmly walked into the elevator in between the two guards as the door closes and fighting sounds can be heard behind them.

|—————————|—————————|

Outside the CCT tower, Ruby and (YN) approached main entrance and looked around. Ruby gasped when she sees the unconscious guard in the bushes. Ruby pulled out her scroll and hits a few buttons, and a moment later, her rocket propelled locker shows up, crashing into the ground behind her. It opens up to reveal her weapon, Crescent Rose, inside. (YN) does so as well, with Protect and Defend. Once they equipped their weapons, they both ran towards the main entrance.

But, unknown to (YN) and Ruby, the mysterious hooded figure watched them enter the tower on top of a left buttress at the main entrance.

???: "Time to test him out." He smirked.

|—————————|—————————|

Back inside the CCT, the elevator stopped at the terminal room. The elevator doors open to show Cinder with her scroll and the two guards on the floor, unconscious.

Cinder: "Hm, that's handy." She mused before walking inside.

Cinder walked up and sits at the terminal at the reception desk, and plugged in a flashdrive into the side of the terminal as she started typing something onto the terminal. While on the terminal, she gets a call on her communicator.

Emerald(via Earbud): "A party guest is leaving." She reported. Cinder let out a sigh.

Cinder: "Which one?" She inquired.

|—————————|—————————|

Emerald: "...Ironwood." She whispered as she and Mercury are dancing. They look to see Ironwood leaving the ballroom with Ozpin seeing him off.

Mercury: "I guess the general's had enough fun for one night." He noted. "Should we intervene?"

|—————————|—————————|

Cinder uploads something onto the terminal, showing a symbol in the form of a queen chess piece on the screen before it faded away. Suddenly, all the other terminals in the room light up, showing the queen chess piece symbol on them.

Cinder: "No... we're done here." She smiled and took out the flashdrive before she goes to leave, until she heard the elevator stop on her floor, and hid behind the reception desk, just as the elevator doors opened.

Out of the elevator comes Ruby and (YN), Ruby with her sniper-scythe fully extended, and (YN) with his sword and blaster cannon, cocking it.

(YN): "Be on guard, Ruby." He cautioned, aiming his cannon. "We don't know for certain if the intruder is in here." Ruby nodded as they walked into the room, looking around for anyone.

Ruby: "Hello?" She called out before stumbled due to her high-heel shoes, still having trouble walking in them. She then continued looking. "Is anyone there?" She called out again called out again.

Cinder smirked confidently and then decided to stand up and reveal herself, but she keeps her mask on to hide her identity.

Ruby: "Excuse me. You know, it's not a masquerade party." She spoke to her. "So why don't you take off that-"

However, (YN)'s main Semblance spiked hard as Cinder pulled out one of her containers, swinging it in front of her as the dust inside comes out and hardens into floating glass spikes.

She waved her right hand, causing them to blast towards Ruby. (YN) jumped in front of Ruby, spinning his sword to block the shards and retaliate by firing some laser bolts from his blaster cannon at Cinder. Cinder's clothes glow again as she blocked the shots with her left palm and then spins her body while forming her swords again.

(YN) dashed at Cinder with his sword outstretched. She dodged a stab attempt as she kicked (YN) in the back of the head, causing him to stumble forward. Ruby tried to retaliate by shooting at her with her scythe. Cinder blocked the first few shots before dodging the last three, causing them to hit (YN) instead. Thankfully, he transformed his cannon into shield form, switching it to diagonal mode to block the shots. Ruby twirled her scythe and shoots herself forward to attack. But Cinder jumps back and produces another container of Dust and sends shards of glass flying at Ruby, who twirls her scythe to block them.

(YN) charged in with Ruby opening fire on Cinder. She avoided the bullets and created a single glass sword, catching (YN) sword on her own. His sword began to glow blue and he started slashing at Cinder. She blocked, but (YN) eventually jumped back. Ruby had moved into a more advantageous position. (YN) started to slashed at Cinder, who dodged a few stab and slash motions from him before she was sent skidding along the ground.

Ruby then pulled out her scythe and points it behind her, pulling the trigger, and propelling her into the air above Cinder. Cinder backflipped out of the way as Ruby slams her scythe into the floor. Next, Cinder jumped into the air, her eyes and outfit glowing again as she combined her swords into a bow and conjures up three arrows, all pointed at them.

She fired all three arrows at them, just as (YN) and Ruby jumped back as the arrows hit the floor, resulting a fiery explosion erupted. (YN) growled as Ruby aimed her scythe at her. Cinder soon smirked wildly, and (YN) energetically speeds towards her to land a flying knee strike to her abdomen as she stumbled backwards a bit trying to catch her breath. (YN) quickly switched his shield into horizontal mode and shoulder-bashed Cinder hard with it as she fell to the floor. Cinder was about to get, but stopped when (YN) pointed his sword at her throat.

(YN): "Who are you?" He demanded her identity. "And why are you here?" Cinder didn't answer, she only smirked.

Suddenly, they all hear the sound of a window shattering, and (YN) looked ahead to see a hooded figure crashing through the window. (YN) jumped back to Ruby just as the figure landed on one knee in front of Cinder, (YN) and Ruby readied themselves as they got into their fighting stances.

The figure slowly stood to his height, and showing under his hood was a Grimm mask that bear a resembles to a human skull, covering his whole face with red markings on the jawline and sides, and a pair of eyeslits. His black robe covered his whole body with dark red highlights on the sleeves, and has white armored gauntlets that look like Grimm bones with red markings.

???: "I'll deal with them. You did your part." He told her, and Cinder nodded as she stood up.

(YN): "Oh, no, you don't." He grunted, swiftly transforming his shield into cannon form and aimed at Cinder and fired a single charge laser bolt.

The figure saw it coming, and quickly draws out his weapon, a sword lance with a broaded double-edge blade with a black line in the middle of the blade, and a dark red two-handed hilt with the black crossguard that curved slightly downward.

???: "Go." He urged, looking over his right shoulder at her, and Cinder sprinted backwards towards the window that he came through and jumped out, disappearing out of sight. He then looked back at (YN) and Ruby.

(YN): "Get behind me." He told Ruby, and Ruby did. He transformed his cannon into shield form and switched into horizontal mode as got into his stance. The figure began to pace back and forth.

???: "So you're Godred's little wonder boy." He mused, pointing his lance at (YN). (YN) was surprised that he knew his father while Ruby looked at him confused. "Oh, yes, I know who your father was." He then examined him. "Mmmm, you look so much like him."

(YN): "Who are you?" He demanded from the figure.

???: "My name is not important." He responded. "At least not right now." He then paced to the left.

Ruby: "Is he one of Roman's henchmen?" She whispered to (YN).

(YN): "I don't think so." He whispered back to Ruby. "He doesn't look like one."

???: "Correct." He spoke, overheard their conversation. "When I learned from my associates that you'd enrolled in Beacon, they decided I should drop by and test you myself." He stated, and stopped his pace. "But when I learned that you're Godred's son, I knew I would finally get my revenge on you." He smirked darkly beheld the mask.

(YN): "Revenge?" He repeated, confused at what he is talking about.

???: "Since I never got the chance to kill your father, but you're the next best thing!" He exclaimed sinisterly, dashing straight forward.

(YN) did the same. They clashed their weapons together in a lock for a short moment, until parried their strikes. (YN) attack the figure with four executive slashes, then spinning his body from the swing to make a strike with his shield. The figure jumped over his attack, twisting in 180 degree turn and landing on his feet before slashing his lance down as (YN) blocked it with his shield and throw a roundhouse kick, but the figure jumped away before jumping straight back and thrusting his lance at him. (YN) side stepped, deactivating his shield as he throws a spinning backfist, but the figure caught it with his free hand and throws a quick left jab to (YN)'s face before the figure thrusted his lance again, but jumped back to avoid the attack.

Ruby decided to help (YN), and spins her scythe around, before she charged in. However, the figure parried Ruby's attack, and performed a spinning thrust kick to her midsection, sending her back as she hit the elevator door, and fell down to the floor. (YN) transformed his sword into pistol form and fired laser bots at the figure, but the figure twirled his lance to deflect the bolts.

???: "This that really all you got?" He taunted, smirking.

(YN): "Not quite!" He answered, and throws a straight left punch, launching an energy blast at the figure.

The figure simply tilted his head left to avoid the blast. Then (YN) performed three spinning kicks, launching three more energy blasts, just as the figure casually leaned his body to dodge them. (YN) conjured an energy while he reeled his left arm back to throw it.

???: "Ahh, so it's true. You've inherited your father's Hero power." He commented. (YN) halted his arm when he said that. "How fascinating."

(YN): "Hero... power?" He repeated, even more confused. "What are-" He was to asked the figure when Ruby fired multiple shots from her scythe at the figure.

The figure spun and twirled his lance around, blocking the shots. While the figure was distracted, (YN) threw the energy ball at the figure. The figure looked back and spun his lance before he made an upward slash, slicing the energy ball in two as they dispersed. (YN) lunged at the figure as he transformed his pistol into sword form, attempting to make a horizontal slash. The figure dropped to his knees and leaned back as (YN)'s sword missed as he rolled to the floor and skidded next to Ruby, and the figure performed a 180 degree kip-up, facing (YN) and Ruby.

???: "I would love to keep playing with you kids, but unfortunately, this fight is over." He declared. (YN) and Ruby looked at him confused. "Oh, don't worry," He pointed at (YN). "your time is not now, but soon, it will be..."

(YN): "What are you talking about." He questioned.

???: "You'll understand soon enough." He smirked.

Suddenly the elevator beep behind both of them, and the doors open again and (YN) and Ruby look back to see Ironwood show up. Ironwood noticed them, and Ruby was glad to see him before she and (YN) look back, only to see that the figure had already escaped when they were distracted.

(YN): "Dammit." He cursed. "He got away."

Ironwood: "What is going on here?" He inquired to them. Ruby and (YN) deactivate their weapons.

(YN): "That's what I'd like to know." Was all he muttered.

|—————————|—————————|

In the hallway leading to the ballroom, Cinder quickly discarded her mask and two bracelets, throwing them to the ground before multiple yellow glyphs engulfed her body, changing her stealth outfit as she entered the ballroom, two armed guards followed her through the hallway, with one of them stepping on and crushing Cinder's bracelets.

Pushing open the doors to the ballroom, both guards were visibly confused at the sight of the rather crowded ballroom. But in the thick of it all, they couldn't find the woman they had been chasing. Eventually, they gave up and walked out of the ballroom.

Meanwhile, Emerald and Mercury are still dancing together, until Emerald felt a tap on her right shoulder. She looked back and sees Cinder wearing a black evening gown with black glass designs on it.

Cinder: "Oh, may I cut in?" She requested.

Emerald: "Of course." She replied, stepping aside, allowing Cinder to dance with Mercury before she walked away.

Mercury: "And how's your night been?" He asked Cinder as they both danced.

Cinder: "Mmm . . . a little more exciting than expected." She replied amusingly.

Mercury: "Should we be worried?" He queried.

Cinder: "Hardly..." She chuckled softly while shaking her head. "They'll be scratching their heads long after we finished what we came here for."

Mercury: "So then what now?" He asked.

Cinder: "Enjoy the rest of the night." She replied simply. "After all, it is a party."

All around them, everyone had no clue of what transpired at the CCT.

Blake and Sun were casually dancing together on the dance floor. Pyrrha and Jaune were taking a little break, sitting at a nearby table. All in all, they seemed to just be enjoying themselves.

|—————————|—————————|

Meanwhile, (YN) was explaining what had happened here to Ironwood the best he can while Ruby was currently sitting down at an empty terminal. Ironwood seemed angered by this information. Soon, (YN) and Ruby walked out of the tower after they were told by Ironwood to come by Ozpin's office tomorrow morning. As they are walking back to the ballroom, Ruby stopped walking and grabbed the back of (YN)'s jacket stopping him from walking as he turned around and looked at Ruby.

(YN): "What's wrong, Ruby?" He asked as Ruby let go of his jacket.

Ruby: "Do you think we did the right thing tonight?" She asked in a saddened voice.

(YN): "Of course we did, Ruby." He replied reassuringly. "Thanks to us, we may have just stopped them from getting data."

Ruby: "But they got away." She frowned sadly. "That's the third time someone got away from me."

(YN): "Ruby." He cupped her cheek to make her look at him. "It's okay. That's the same for me, but hey, we may have struck out, but we did injure her so I think she won't be trying anything like that again for a while."

Ruby: "Yeah, I guess that counts as something." She smiled.

(YN): "Yup!" He nodded in agreement, but slightly frowned. "But that guy fought after, well, he's gonna be a problem. I'm not sure why he's after me, but we'll find out later." He quickly smiled. "So stop being sad and show your smile, Ruby. There's no need for a beautiful girl like you to be sad." Ruby blushed a little before giggling as she looked up at him and smiled brightly. "There you go." He chuckled. "So..." He then hold out his hand to Ruby. "Care for one more dance before we go to bed?" He offered.

Ruby: "Alright." She nodded, still smiling brightly as she took his hand, and they went to the ballroom.

(YN) and Ruby danced for a little while longer. There were only a few students in the ballroom, most of them left for the night. After a slow dance, they went to their dorm for bed. The dorm was empty as they changed into their nightwear, and (YN) unfolded his futon. He was about lay on the futon when Ruby grabbed his right wrist. He looked at her as she had a small blush on her face.

(YN): "What it is, Ruby?" He asked.

Ruby: "Since we are now a couple, can we, uh..." She paused for a short moment. "Can we... sleep together?" She asked. (YN) was surprised at her boldness before he smiled softly.

(YN): "Sure." He nodded.

And so, (YN) and Ruby both laid down on the futon, facing each other as they held into each other's arms. (YN) pulled the blanket over them as Ruby snuggled into his chest. (YN) gave a kiss on her forehead, and before long, they drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

|—————————|—————————|

Once the guards searched the entire communications room, they have found nothing, and left. However, no one noticed one of the screens on the main terminal changed to show a black queen chess piece for a few seconds before it faded away as the clock chimed midnight.

To Be Continued...