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Chapter 18 - Burning the Candle

We see a glum Ruby resting her head on her hand and staring into the distance, with Nick sitting next to her, before they are startled by someone slamming their palms on the table they is at. This "someone" being Weiss.

Weiss: (smiling) "I need you two to pick a tablecloth."

She then slides two squares over to Nick and Ruby, both seeming to be similar shades of white.

Ruby: (confused) "Aren't they both the same?"

Nick: "Yeah, I'm not seeing much of a difference either. And does it really matter?"

Weiss: (sighs) "I don't know why I even asked."

Weiss walks out of the scene as Yang comes in carrying a massive sound speaker on her shoulder, which bounces her sister, their shared boyfriend and the table their on again to jump in the air when she drops it on the ground.

Nick: "Isn't that one of the speakers from the Halloween party?"

Yang: (brushing her hands as she approaches Ruby and Nick) "Uh, yeah. So, Rubes, have you picked out a dress yet?"

Ruby: "What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?"

Nick: "Oh, don't worry, Strawberry; she's going."

Yang: (looks over off-screen, exasperated) "Weiss! I thought we agreed: No doilies!"

Weiss: (walks up to Yang, pointing in her face) "If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines!"

The girls are interrupted by the sound of doors opening. This being Sun and Neptune.

Neptune: "Your dance is gonna have fog machines?"

Nick: "They are thinking about it..."

Neptune: "That's pretty cool."

Sun: "So, you ladies all excited for dress-up?"

Ruby: "Pfft...yeah, right!"

Yang: "Laugh all you want. I'll be turning heads tomorrow night! And not just Nick's~"

Nick just rolls his eyes at this.

Weiss: (addressing Sun and Neptune) "What are you two wearing?"

Sun: "Uuhhh...this?" (gestures to his current shirtless outfit)

Neptune: (steps up and holds a hand in front of his friend's face.) "Ignore him, for he knows not what he says."

Sun: (knocks Neptune's hand away) "Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kind of place."

Yang: (mirroring Nick's, Ruby's and Weiss' looks of being told something extremely obvious) "Yeah, we noticed."

Sun: (rubbing the back of his head) "Soooo...what does Blake think of all this? She still being all, y'know...Blake-y?"

Weiss: "Obviously." (turns and crosses her arms in disapproval)

Ruby: "I still can't think of a way to change her mind."

Nick: "Guys. (everyone looks at him as he starts walking out) Trust me; Blake will be at the dance tomorrow."

Time Skip...

We see the Black Cat Faunus herself sitting at one of the library tables with a holographic screen in front of her. She is obviously more sleep-deprived than ever, barely focusing on what she's seeing...until a small, bright red light appears on the screen. Moving up and down, Blake's eyes follow it down to her hand, then disappears entirely. She looks behind herself, obviously irritated, but no one walking among the tables is her culprit. Turning back to the computer, she starts typing on the beeping keyboard before the laser dot appears on her hand briefly, prompting her to look around again and still find no one. The red point shows up on the screen, moving around in circles until Blake scowls and pounds her fists on the table. She stands up from her chair and finds the light on the floor, following it blindly through shelves of books until both the dot and its pursuer turn the corner, only for Blake to bump, shocked and shaken out of her more "animal" instincts, into...Nick...who is holding a crossbow, which is a weapon called the Plasma Striker from "Ratchet & Clank", with him using the laser sight as a laser pointer.

Nick: "Hey, how's it going, Kitten?"

Blake: "Why do you have a crossbow?"

Nick: "It's actually a sniper crossbow. And it's called the Plasma Striker."

Blake: "Okay...but why do you have it?"

Nick: "Honestly, I don't know. I probably could've just used a normal laser pointer to get you over here, but my Autism makes me do stuff like using a sniper crossbow's laser sight instead. Even I think I'm weird sometimes."

Nick then tosses the Plasma Striker behind him, as the sound of the weapon crashing into glass is heard in the background.

Blake: "...Okay...what are you..."

Nick: (grabs Blake's arm) "We need to talk, Kitten. Vámonos!"

And with that, amid Blake's single cry of surprise, Nick whisks his Black Cat girlfriend out of the scene.

Meanwhile...

Emerging from the steaming bathroom in nothing but a pink towel wrapped around his lower body, Ren sighs in contentedness and starts walking away, only to be stopped by Jaune suddenly appearing in front of him.

Jaune: "We need to talk!"

And with that, amid Ren's single cry of surprise, Jaune pulls his teammate away, leaving his bottle of "Samurai Shampoo" to spin in the air before dropping to the ground.

Jaune: (sits on his bed in the dorm room, talking to Ren off-screen) "Ren...I'm just gonna say it. You are one of my best friends. These past few months, I feel like we've really bonded, even though you don't say much. I mean, you're really quiet. To be perfectly honest, I don't know that much about you, personally, but darnit, I consider you to be the brother I never had!"

The camera pans out enough to see that he is still only wearing his towel and looking extremely uncomfortable, but he still nods and smiles to Jaune when he's done

Ren: "And I you."

Ren tries to be attentive from then on, but keeps glancing at his usual outfit hanging by the door.

Jaune: "Which is why I wanted to get your advice on...girls."

Ren: "Girls?"

Ren sounds surprised, but starts reaching out for his clothes while Jaune is looking away.

Jaune: (tries to find the right words) "I just...don't know...how to...girls. Um, I-I guess what I'm asking is...well, how did you and Nora...y'know..."

Ren puts his hand down after almost touching the green robe, but looks even more awkward now.

Ren: "Uh...uh...uh..."

We then hear Nora, as she clears her throat to get the boys' attention on her, wearing nothing but her emblazoned headphones, a "BOOP" T-shirt, and pink lightning bolt shorts as she reads a book resting on her knees, before she laughs nervously.

Nora: "We're actually not "together-together...""

Jaune: "NORA I SAID HEADPHONES ON!"

Nora does so quickly under her leader's command.

Ren: (focusing on his friend fully) "Jaune, what is this all about?"

Jaune: (sighs deeply before speaking, obviously depressed by staring at the floor as he talks) "It's just...I'm completely head-over-heels for this girl, and I'm worried that she doesn't feel the same way about me. She's nice, and she's also incredible. She's smart, and graceful, and talented. I mean, have you heard her sing? I've been friends with her for a few years, and...I-I just wish that I could tell her how I feel without messing it all up, and risk destroying my friendship with her."

Pyrrha: (off-screen) "Then do it."

Jaune looks up to see Pyrrha in the doorway, with Ren and Nora doing the same.

Jaune: "Uh, wha?"

Pyrrha: (walks into the room) "Tell her exactly what you said. No ridiculous schemes, no pick-up lines. Just...be honest."

Jaune: "But what if I-"

Pyrrha: "Jaune. (smiles) You can't get it wrong if it's the truth."

Jaune: (looks up with a new confidence) "You're right. (stands up) Thanks, Pyrrha! (looks back to his bed as he goes out) Good talk, Ren!

Ren smiles and waves his thanks while Jaune closes the door. Upon doing so, Pyrrha becomes noticeably less cheerful as she walks over to her desk, with a concerned Nora watching her with sad eyes.

Nora: (sighs) "Practice what you preach, Pyrrha."

Back with Nick and Blake...

Blake: "Nick, if you're going to tell me to stop, you may as well save your breath."

We see that Nick is sitting cross-legged on the central desk of the empty classroom they're in, orange light shining across him calm features. 

Nick: "I don't want you to stop; I want you to slow down. The same goes with the others."

Blake: (continuing to pace with arms crossed, still irritated) "I don't have the luxury to slow down."

Nick: "It's not a luxury; it's a necessity."

Blake: "The "necessity" is stopping Torchwick."

Nick: "And we're going to. But first you have to sit down and listen to what I have to say." (pats the part of the desk across from him)

Blake: (looks away for a moment until she relents and drapes her legs over the desk's edge) "Fine."

Nick: "Look...as you know, I'm from another dimension...one where there's not a single Grimm, and there aren't any other kinds of monsters anymore, for thousands of years. So...I'm admittedly a laid-back guy. I never really hung out with friends from school. Or...whatever friends I had a school who didn't betray my trust...but that's not the point. I would do normal, laid-back stuff, like read comics, watch tv, mostly anime, and play video games. But I also know that everyone needs to take breaks. Not just Huntsmen...but also people with jobs like the police, or even office workers...because they know that it's important to take breaks. It's even the same for Kamen Riders, and other superheroes. If you're not in good condition, mentally, physically, or even emotionally, you won't get the job done. Same with being stubborn. Those who are stubborn...are always trying to reject any form of help from others...even those they care about. Like I said...I'm kind of a laid-back guy...so I'd take advantage of any chance I'd get to take it easy...so that way...I'm good to go when I need to.

Blake: "Nick...I understand what you're trying to tell me, but this is different. I'm not a child, and this isn't just a search for answers! I can't just-"

Nick: (still facing the board, fists clenching) "I told you: we're going to find the answers we're looking for, Blake. But if we destroy ourselves in the process, what good are we?"

Blake: "You don't understand! I'm the only one who can do this!"

Nick: "No, you don't understand! (turns around sharply to reveal red eyes and the sound of flames) If Roman Torchwick walked through that door, what would you do?"

Blake: "I'd fight him!"

Nick: "You'd lose, and you'd die!" (pushes Blake away)

Blake: "I can stop him!" (tiredly tries to do the same to Nick, but he doesn't even budge)

Nick: "The way you are right now...you couldn't even stop me, while I'm not even transformed! Heck...you couldn't even stop me while I'm transformed into weaker forms, like Kamen Rider Kuuga Growing form, or as a Galvan like Grey Matter, or even as a Splixson like Ditto!"

He pushes Blake again, knocking her to land on the desk. Nick, still angry-eyed, walks toward Blake as she gets up, but then does the unexpected and embraces her in a hug, his eyes going back to their "normal" silver.

Nick: "I'm not asking you to stop. Just please, get some rest. (pulls back to look at his girlfriend) Not just for you, but for the people you care about. Like me, and the others. (steps away and starts walking past the startled Blake, who turns when he says over his shoulder:) And if you do feel like coming out tomorrow, I'll save you a dance. And I wouldn't be bothered if you gave Wukong at least one dance."

Nick winks down at Blake, and Blake stares at her boyfriend as he leaves before sighing heavily and walking away, leaving the all-seeing eye on the board. We later see Jaune, as he is at the usual spot where he and Pyrrha train, as a, still sad, Pyrrha then walk over to him.

Pyrrha: "Hello, Jaune...you wanted to talk to me...?"

Jaune: "Y-Yeah...I did..."

Pyrrha: "Did you...ask the girl you like to the dance yet?"

Jaune: "N-No...not yet...I'm going to though."

Pyrrha: (still sad) "Well...why haven't you yet? And...why did you ask me to meet you here...instead of asking the girl you like?"

Jaune: "Well...it's just that..."

Pyrrha: "Jaune...if you're still worried that she'll reject you...don't...it's clear you like this girl very much...I'm sure she'll say yes..."

Juane: "it's just that...well...you see...the girl I wanted to ask to the dance is...you..."

Pyrrha: (taken back by this) "...W-What?"

Jaune: "The girl I plan to ask to the dance is you, Pyrrha. Admittingly...I've always liked you...more, then just a friend. But...I understand if you do-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted...by Pyrrha kissing him...on the lips.

Pyrrha: "I'm sorry...is that a good enough answer for you, Jaune?"

Jaune: (recovered from the kiss) "Wasn't really the answer I was expecting. But I can't say I didn't like it, or not happy about it. So...does this mean...?"

Pyrrha: "Yes, Jaune...I'd love to go to the dance with you. And...I feel the same way about you."

The two then look at each other happily, before kissing again.

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