In no way am I connected to Rooster Teeth

Weiss had met with Winter shortly after leaving her friends at the fairgrounds.

Winter had not been as disappointed as Weiss expected. She pointed out that Weiss only missed one strike and missing turned out to be more beneficial than if she actually hit. She and Melody had managed to take out one opponent when it was four on two.

When that didn't do much, Winter then showed her the current statistics. There were only two first year teams that had made it through to the doubles round: Burgundy and Remedy. That made her feel much better; those two teams had had two extra years of training she had not, though most didn't know that.

It was remarkably rare for first years to win against any team other than first year. Qualifying alone was an achievement; only her group of friends had from Beacon and only one from Vacuo had from the other schools. With eight teams from each school, qualifying was something to be proud of. Places normally went to fourth and third years. With the exception of CFVY, the other teams from Beacon were three fourth years and one third year.

Not wanting to talk about the tournament anymore, Weiss asked something that had been on her mind since that morning.

"Why are most of the ships leaving? Does that mean you're leaving too?"

Weiss knew there was something going on in the shadows. The White Fang were too quiet and so was whoever Zephyr had been working for. Blake only knew a name for that and that wasn't really who she was interested in. Weiss wasn't sure about anything anymore.

"I won't be leaving, no. White Fang activity has been high in recent months, so it was thought necessary."

"But not anymore?"

"The benefits of leaving were greater than the benefits of staying, so the numbers were reduced. Those that remain are only precautionary."

"But you're staying?"

"I am staying."

Weiss smiled. She followed Winter, who took her to Emerald Forest. Weiss had only been here once, during Initiation. That was the case for all the first years, save when Cardin shoved Jaune in a locker and he landed here, along with Mercury who had been sent to find him.

We should have put Cardin in his place then and not two weeks later.

"I am pleased to see you are not neglecting your fencing, but how are your Semblance abilities?"

Weiss preened. "Platform is going well. I've started Time Dilation and even Force."

"Very good. What of your Summoning?"

Her shoulders slumped a little. "That's not going well. I'm practicing and I can get the glyph, but nothing comes."

"What do you want to come? What are you visualizing?"

"A Beowulf."

Winter took a moment to consider. "Why a Beowulf?"

"It is the Grimm I am most familiar with."

"Perhaps." Winter studied Weiss calmly. "However, that may be your problem. It does not matter what you are most physically aware of. It is what you are most emotionally aware of. Do you have any connection to the Beowulf?"

That was easy to answer. "No."

"Our Semblance may be hereditary Weiss, but it is still unique to you. Our ancestors were all different; where one excelled, another struggled. Practice and experience overcomes this."

Weiss listened as she thought. What would be suitable to try Summoning?

"Let's start with what you are comfortable with." She gestured to a clearing. "In your own time."

Weiss took a deep breath to relax, easily finding the centre of the mostly circular clearing. She chose time dilation first, allowing her speed to increase. She positioned the platforms carefully and at different angles. Rather than plan what she was 'drawing', she allowed emotion and instinct to guide her. When she landed, she found she had an apple in her hand that she had pulled from a tree using another aspect of her Semblance.

"Very impressive." Winter walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Was the Boarbatusk intentional?"

Boarbatusk? Weiss had only fought them once, during her first Grimm Studies class.

"It was not a conscious choice."

"A wise choice then. Don't concern yourself with physical appearance. Will your enemy to come to your aid."

Even knowing what was the best thing to try to Summon, Weiss couldn't do it. The glyphs were clearer and sharper, but still nothing came. After a few more moments and still nothing, Weiss growled and ended the attempt.

"You still doubt yourself." Winter sounded so sure.

"I'm not!" Weiss was in denial and she knew it.

"Then you need to try harder. Is your problem that you are in denial or that you cannot accept the truth?"

Weiss tried again and again.

It didn't work.

Winter silently returned her to her dorm when she was too exhausted to continue.

Clang. Clang. Swish, clunk.

"When exactly are you going to tell me what the point of this is?" Mercury had nothing against training or learning new skills.

He just couldn't understand why Qrow was so insistent.

"And I told you you're going to have to wait." Qrow found his annoyance amusing.

Yang, Ruby and Emerald had gone to a concert in Vale tonight along with most of their friends. The resulting headache would be incredible for Mercury, so he opted not to go. He had initially been planning to spend the time judging a friendly match between Pyrrha and Jaune with a possible view on Jaune's unknown Semblance, before returning to his dorm to meditate.

He has gotten better, I will say that. It would be very impressive if he hadn't. Nothing on the Semblance though.

Qrow had watched the matches as well, provided some constructive criticism and had taken Mercury for his own sword training. Jaune had lent Mercury his heirloom and had been watching the match with great enjoyment.

Probably because I've lost every round.

Mercury knew the basics of sword fighting in case he had to improvise if he picked a blade up. In other words, he could beat Jaune in a fair fight, but not Weiss. Against an experienced sword master, he needed to be more creative and that was not what these sessions were about.

For some reason Qrow refused to tell him, he wanted Mercury to learn how to use a sword as smoothly as his favourite fighting style. He had gotten a lot better since they started, but there was a lot of room for improvement.

At least he's not going into kill or be killed mode…

Mercury stood up again, ignoring Jaune's chuckling. To be fair, he did have every right to enjoy the best fighter in their class being taken down a few pegs.

"Until when?" Mercury held the blade up, ready for another round.

"Until I'm happy about it." Qrow didn't hold back his speed, even if he did hold back his power.

Mercury didn't try to focus on one style. He learned many and adapted them. His normal style was a mix of capoeira, taekwondo and muay thai (which he only knew the names of because Marcus knew them). He didn't know the names of forms in sword fighting, but he knew what was comfortable and was quickly learning which complimented each other.

Mercury was a fast learner and he never made the same mistake twice. As such, he could no longer be called an amateur and it was easy to see he was good.

Just nowhere near as good as Qrow.

Jaune winced when Mercury narrowly avoided getting smashed through a brick wall. "Are your training sessions usually like this?"

"No," Mercury replied flippantly as he dodged under the next strike. "They're usually painful." One on one, Mercury vs Qrow; those usually ended in exhaustion, but no injuries. Spars with the girls and Tai didn't go that far.

Zwei barked happily, wagging his tail when Mercury finally got the upper hand.

For about three seconds before that spar ended in a loss too.

Another ten minutes and Qrow called for a break. Jaune gave Zwei a final pet (those two had become fast friends) and took Crocea Mors back. His next match against Pyrrha was much better. He had at least been learning, so Mercury wasn't too annoyed about his laughing. It was deserved.

"Move your feet more Jaune," Qrow commented as he sat next to Mercury.

Talaria crooned and hopped onto Mercury's lap, giving him a good sniff. Satisfied there was no blood and he wasn't sweating so badly to suggest stress, she settled calmly. Zwei bumped his head against Mercury's leg, who absentmindedly gave him a pat.

Jaune was getting pretty good. With no known Semblance to use, all his aura was used for defence. The main problem he was having was that he was sacrificing speed for strength. While one being higher than the other wasn't unusual, there was no point being powerful if none of your attacks connected.

Mercury hadn't made obvious mistakes, but Qrow had jumped on them with enthusiasm. Jaune had obviously been paying attention and was avoiding those.

If Mercury didn't know Pyrrha was going easy on him (even without her Semblance), it would look quite equal. While Pyrrha was certainly faster, Jaune was definitely stronger and so pushed her back farther.

Give it a few years (and more years of practice), Jaune might actually become a decent Huntsman. Eventually.

If he ever learns to block low hits. And that one he should have seen coming a mile away.

[Your friend seems to learning from your mistakes better than he is learning from his own.] Qrow found that fact very funny.

So did Mercury. [So I noticed.]

[He also doesn't seem to be qualified for Beacon if this is what you think of as improvement.]

[I'm 99% convinced he lied to get in.] The other 1% was due to the fact he was almost on par with most of his class now. [Where would you say he was if he attended Signal?]

Qrow seemed to think about that. Zwei had given up trying to get Mercury's full attention and trotted over to bother Qrow. [I would give him another year before he was ready for Beacon. At least. He must have nearly gotten killed during Initiation.]

Mercury shrugged. He only saw them against the Death Stalker and he had been a little preoccupied with a Beringal at the time. No doubt Jaune had been dead weight, but he had been Pyrrha's dead weight and not Mercury's problem.

[So you never thought he worked for Cinder?]

[No. Just a very stupid boy that was very out of depth. At least he realised that before he got killed.] Why Jaune thought attending Beacon without his aura unlocked was a good idea, Mercury would never know.

Still, if he's starting to catch up with the others now, he might yet be a worthy opponent.

[What time are the girls back from wherever they've gone?]

[Concert and no idea. How long do concerts usually last?]

[Until the early hours of the morning, depending on when it starts.]

Mercury was now very glad he hadn't gone. [Have a good experience with concerts? By the sound of it, you didn't enjoy them too much.]

[I had no problem with concerts. I just had a problem with Tai's taste in music.]

[Yours isn't any better.] Emerald and Mercury had gotten very bored when all four of the others had to be in Signal, so among many things they fiddled with, they played around with the stereo. They couldn't agree on who was the worst.

[My taste in music is brilliant.]

Mercury scoffed. [Keep telling yourself that, old man.]

Jaune was on the ground. Again. Pyrrha chuckled and offered him a hand up. "I think that's enough for tonight."

"Yeah." Jaune gave a wave to Mercury. "See you tomorrow."

"See you."

Watching the two walk away made him think. They went to the dance together, but Pyrrha left early. It seemed as if nothing had happened when they got back from Mountain Glenn. Jaune had always dodged the question whenever someone asked him what happened at the dance. Mercury suspected Pyrrha had been too.

It then occurred to Mercury that there had been fewer spars with Pyrrha on that rooftop. Weiss had been training him recently. Even Melody was up there more than Pyrrha now, who used a completely different style and was out most nights with her boyfriend. He also seemed relieved to see Qrow with Mercury when he asked for a second opinion.

"Did they used to date?" Qrow asked when they were out of sight.

"I don't think so. She's fancied him since they met before Initiation, he was a blind idiot until we pointed out the obvious just before the dance and then I have no idea. No one does."

"Probably ended badly then."

Mercury tried to think back. Pyrrha had left the dance just before Ruby spotted Cinder while Jaune had stayed in and no one seemed to think anyone was off. Then again, the pair-

Mercury just stopped thinking about it. Easier that way.

"Seriously, why sword fighting?"

"And I told you: later."

"There is a point to this then? Other than the obvious." Quite a few months (arguably years) of being the top dog can make people more lax. He wasn't dealing with idiots or weaklings anymore and one misstep can cost a life, most likely his.

"There is a point. Maybe after the Vytal Festival."

"'Maybe'? So never."

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Maybe means maybe."

"Uh huh."

"No faith in me Silvertongue?"

"Just a little suspicious."

"Only a little? I must be doing something wrong."

Mercury rolled his eye with a smile. A survival skill was a survival skill. He couldn't image why sword fighting would help him, but Felix seemed to think so and Mercury trusted him.

For now, they had better go and find Zwei as he seemed determined to play hide and seek. Last time they left him when he did that, he managed to stumble upon a bunch of robbers holding up a bank and then almost caused a pile up on the highway. The kid with a broken leg on the road ahead may or may not be the reason for that.

Day 2.

32 teams meant 16 matches for the whole team round. To make this easier, it had been split over several days. Many of the people Ruby knew happened to be on the first day.

However, first ones up on the second day were SSSN. They were up against SQLL.

Ruby didn't directly know anyone in Squall. She did know they were a third year team from Vacuo and they preferred far reaching weapons. She also knew their leader, Sandra, liked to party as much as Yang.

Sun, Scarlet, Sage and Neptune vs Sandra, Quill, Lance and Lily.

Scarlet has recently been spending a lot of time with Yang. Best not mention that to Dad just yet. Or Uncle Qrow.

The battlefield was buildings on one side and volcano like on the other. That water was literally steaming.

"Okay guys, let's set something straight," Lance opened with a grin. "What are you guys like with cheap shots?"

"Nothing below the belt," Scarlet replied casually. "Otherwise, anything's fair game."

"Terms accepted," Sandra nodded and brought the gun of some kind up.

The first part of the match was around the buildings. Quill leapt up onto the top of a building with a push from Lance that also scattered SSSN. Sage and Scarlet stuck together while Sun and Neptune found themselves being outmanoeuvred by Lily.

The major problem came when Sandra's highly explosive rounds took out the second building. The crumbling debris put the fight on hold as they got out of the way. Neptune was having a few problems.

Next to Yang, Blake had her head in her hands. Yang was shaking her head.

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

"Neptune really doesn't like water," Yang replied with a chuckle. "So trying to get him onto that half of the battlefield is going to be tricky."

With all the noise from the crowd, Ruby couldn't hear what Sun and Neptune were arguing about. Sage eventually had enough and literally threw Neptune towards Quill, who was still in sniping position with his rapid fire weapon. With strong determination, Quill was quickly knocked off the roof.

Neptune then refused to come down from the top of the building.

"But that's ankle deep at best," Emerald commented from Yang's other side.

"Doesn't matter," Blake muttered in response.

Scarlet remained in the middle where there was no natural battlefield. Lance joined him in the middle. The others stayed in the 'volcano' area.

Until it erupted.

"Ooh…That burn's going to need some serious attention!"

Lily and Sun had managed to get out of the way of the boiling stream. Sage and Sandra had not been so lucky. Their aura dropped into the red.

Sandra had a parting gift though. Before her buzzer sounded, her weapon discharged and blasted through at least two walls of the building Neptune was on top of. It immediately tilted and came down.

Ruby winced a little, but saw Neptune now next to Scarlet, perfectly fine.

Scarlet himself wasn't doing too well. His aura was only at 32. Sun wasn't much better; his was at 40.

All of the combatants found themselves in the building area again quickly. Both teams tried to get someone in sniping position, but they weren't allowed. So different plans were used. Each had varying success. Lance in particular employed a hit and run tactic, which really annoyed Neptune.

Ruby knew the feeling.

What decided the match was who was paying the most attention to their surroundings. All the wild rounds ended up in the final building. It wasn't long until that destabilised too.

Unfortunately for Scarlet and Lily, they were inside the building when it fell. Their aura ended up in the red. Sun saw it coming and immediately headed into the centre. Neptune and Lance both saw it, but it was too late for Lance to alter his path and he ended up underneath debris. Neptune managed to roll out the way with 16 aura left, accidentally knocking Quill into a heavy piece that landed on his head.

"And the failure in construction has bulldozed most of the competitors! Team Sun wins! Could someone go dig the others out of the rubble?"

Ruby glanced at the screen and let out a sigh of relief. No one had their aura shattered, so they were okay. Or as okay as they could be when buried alive.

That wasn't a feeling Ruby ever wanted to experience.

Yang, Blake and Weiss left their seats and headed towards the exit, no doubt to go celebrate their victory. Ruby stayed behind with her Emery. Jaune, Pyrrha, Melody and Nyall took the now empty seats.

"Smiles all around then," Jaune laughed.

Ruby nodded gleefully. "Awesome match and an awesome result." SSSN may have won, but SQLL had put up an incredible fight. They should be proud of themselves.

Most matches didn't last anywhere near as long as Ruby would like. They lasted longer than real fights would, but still not long enough.

The following match was over in three minutes.

NDGO vs PLCN.

It wasn't that Team Pelican were bad. It was that Gayle kept using that tornadoes to throw them out of the arena. The rocky terrain made that easier. She managed to get two in the first tornado and their panic in avoiding her left them easier prey for the rest of her team.

As Dr Oobleck said: "They were blown away."

There were a few boos mixed in with the cheers there. Ruby thought that was a little harsh. This was a competition and PLCN had a year over NDGO. There was nothing wrong with winning by ring out. It just meant their next opponents needed a way to counter it if they put Gayle in the doubles round.

"That's one way to win," Mercury commented idly. He was almost laughing.

Jaune winced. "All of a sudden, I don't feel so bad about losing."

Ruby nodded sadly. That wasn't a way she would want to lose. It wasn't a way she really wanted to win either. They didn't get much of a chance to fight back.

With that depressing thought, Ruby pushed herself up. The next match was after lunch, so there wasn't much point in hanging around. Maybe the fairgrounds would cheer her up.

If it didn't, she had Penny's match to look forward to.

Emerald returned to their dorm room. There may be plenty to do in the fairgrounds, but things were getting a bit too crowded for her. Mercury noticed this and roped Jaune and Nyall into distracting their current company to allow her to slip away. The problem with so many friendly teams was that it wasn't always easy to find time to herself.

The dorm was somewhere she knew she wouldn't be disturbed. Without a very good reason at least.

Talaria chittered a hello as Zwei barked, wagging his tail.

Her hand slipped into her pocket to pull out the red key needed to unlock the aura suppressing wristband. It was a security measure she understood and could agree with, but it was still irritating.

They let me have a key. I wonder if that argument ever happened.

The wristband dropped on the cabinet between the beds, she collapsed on the double. Zwei joined her soon enough, though Talaria flew onto the desk near the door, her stance attentive.

A guard dragon.

Emerald yawned. She had not gotten a good night's sleep last night. Well, she had but it was far too short. They had gotten back to the dorm at five in the morning and had gotten up at eight. Three hours of sleep normally wasn't too bad, if it wasn't for the fact she had only a few hours more sleep the night before.

That time, we were waiting up for Mercury and he was back before two. To be fair, he waited up for us last night. How he and Nyall got along the second they met is something I'll never know.

Then again, she thought the same thing about Mercury and Jaune at the beginning of the year. After a rocky start, they had been pretty good.

Stretching happily, Emerald relaxed all her muscles. She may be tired, but not yet enough to sleep. That didn't mean she couldn't just rest and let the world pass her by.

Let's see. Qrow swore revenge after some trick involving white paint was used on him by Tai. Ruby owes Yang from when she made fruit salad and deliberately fed the strawberries to Talaria. Mercury owes her as well for pushing him into the hamster ball on water.

At the moment, Emerald and Yang were even.

Blake had a bet going with Melody about those rubber duck games. Jaune and Ren had a bet going about that. Weiss owes Blake a cup of tea or coffee and Jaune is paying for his team's meals for some reason or other. Pyrrha agreed to go shopping with Melody tomorrow and…somehow Nora managed to organise a singing competition for everyone starting tonight. Why did Coco and Violet have to help with that?

Zwei was already sleeping next to her. With a smile, Emerald drifted off as well.

How do I keep getting roped into these things?

Okay, Mercury should have seen the changed script coming. He did know a lot better. He didn't have to worry about that this time. He was a lot of things, but a singer he was not. Still, he didn't mind helping out if it meant he wasn't paying for the meal out for the rest of the week.

When you had a Semblance like Pyrrha's, it didn't take very long to set up the stage, as long as she was careful. She had since returned to the colosseum. Most of the audio stuff hadn't been fully disassembled from their play, so it didn't take long to put that back into place. Coco had been quite specific with what she wanted, so that was easy enough.

He had flat out refused to be a judge when offered. He was also glad he didn't have Weiss' job; organising this many kids (from all the schools) in less than eight hours was going to be a major hassle.

Well, the tournament matches for the day finish in four hours, so most of them are going to be there until then. The stage itself will be done and it's not like we're choreographing this thing. All we need is a good connection to get the song they want.

Why they couldn't have planned these things weeks in advance, Mercury would never know. In this case, the idea was only a few hours old and it was too popular an idea for it to be dismissed so fast.

Sometimes, Mercury cursed how competent they were. He also cursed the fact Nora knew exactly which students to go to in order to get her ideas approved.

At least this time I'm staying backstage.

"Mercury."

Mercury glanced up from where he was fiddling with some wires. He was the only other one helping to set this up. "Good news or bad news Weiss?"

"As long as there aren't too many students changing their minds, then it is good news. There is only one problem left. What do you think needs doing?"

"Well, the stage is almost done. The lights are in place, though we haven't tested that yet. Half the songs are done with the rest to follow in the next two hours." He hadn't even heard of half of them. "Audience size?"

"The same as the play, so easier to organise them. That's done as much as it can be before the night."

"Order of the competitors?"

"Done. Alternated so there won't be someone from Beacon immediately following someone from Beacon."

"Host?"

"Yang and possibly Ruby. What do you think?"

He thought about it. "I honestly think, in this case, Ruby would be happier in the audience than on the stage." The play was something she had more of a hand in and she was proud of it (for good reason). She wouldn't enjoy this so much. Nothing else sprung to mind. "So what's the problem?"

"The judges."

Mercury groaned. He had honestly thought that had been sorted. "Is that a 'we need volunteers' or 'they have agreed but nothing further'?"

"Both." She seemed just as tired as he was.

"Okay. So who have we got?"

"Coco for Beacon. Ghita for Haven. Either Harley or Kai from Shade. They're working that out between them. Atlas has no one so far."

Mercury ran through the teams he had seen in his head. One stuck out to him. "What about someone from FNKI?"

Seriously, did Ironwood call them that or did they pick it themselves? Probably the latter.

"FNKI?" Weiss considered. "A good idea. Do you still have that list?"

Mercury reached into his pocket for his scroll. He had a list for everyone from each school. The few that knew about it thought it was for the tournament. They weren't wrong, but it wasn't for the competition. He unlocked it and handed it to her.

"No…No…Definitely not…" Weiss flicked the screen. "Maybe…What do you know about Team Concrete?"

"That they're about as fun as their name. Remember Camellia's response to that film night?"

Weiss thought back. "I don't remember her attending one."

"The musical night." And boy had that had been unpleasant.

Weiss winced. She remembered now. "I see your point." She read over the rest. "From the ones I have seen anything of, FNKI would be the ones to ask. If they don't want to, they may know someone who does."

"I saw Neon in the audience this morning. She might still be there."

Weiss returned his scroll, which he slipped into his pocket, and she sent a message on hers. Blake was in the fairgrounds and had been willing to act as their informant there. If unregistered people wanted to register, they spoke to her. If FNKI were there, she would be able to find them easily.

Neon sticks out like a sore thumb.

"Aside from the four judges, anything else?"

"I was thinking five judges. How else are we going to decide if it's a tie?"

That was a fair point. But that brought a problem. "Good luck finding someone that is not connected to a school in some way."

"That is the issue."

Mercury tapped his pocket. Then he glanced at the monitors backstage. "Let me see someone. There might be a…very slightly fairer way of doing it." Sort of. "I'll get back to you by an hour, news or not."

"Thank you." Weiss' scroll went off as someone called her. With an apology, she left.

Mercury rubbed his temples. He really didn't want to do this. However, there were some benefits and he had invested too much time in setting this up. After placing the wires where he needed them, he took a glance around to ensure there were no hazards and left.

Speaking of bad music, Ozpin needs some for his lift.

Exactly why Ironwood insisted on spending so much time in the Headmaster's Office, Mercury didn't really want to know. It did make finding him easier.

"Mercury?" Ozpin asked. Only he and Ironwood were in.

"Long story short, someone had an idea and now we have another competition starting tonight. Ozpin, your students need to stop having ideas." Ozpin gave him an amused smile. Even Ironwood looked interested. "Singing competition. Judges from all the schools, but are we allowed to do a public vote?"

Ironwood considered. "Is it going on the website?"

"Yeah."

Beacon had its own website that was mostly used by students which included posting video blogs, new clubs and, Mercury's personal favourite, "Top tips for surviving Beacon'. Vale had one of its own and now had a page for the Vytal Festival. The Tournament alone ensured it was checked often and there was short notice for quite a few things.

"Then it's doable."

"Great." Another thing to do. Still, it was a good way to fill seats.

"Where is the money going?"

Mercury fought back a laugh. "I told Weiss it was going into a savings account for when one of Ruby's and Yang's ill thought out pranks end up blowing up Beacon. She agreed with that quite easily. Either way, it's for when Beacon explodes." Whether the sisters or Cinder were responsible was up in the air. "If all goes well, no idea."

Ironwood looked at Mercury. "You need not worry as that is not going to happen." Then he looked at Ozpin. "However, it is a fair idea and we can agree on what else we can do with the money. Do we need another possibility?"

Ozpin shook his head; that amused smile still there. "I believe that my students have a betting pool over when Beacon gets destroyed and whether it will be JWMP, BRN or RMEY responsible. The most popular vote appears to be second year and RMEY is the favourite."

Mercury did chuckle there. "Thanks."

Ironwood was obviously confused, but maybe he was reassured by the fact that they took it as a joke. "What times are you looking at?"

"Seven tonight and, though it shouldn't, if it drags on until the finals, it'll switch to the day. Then again, there were more people interested than we expected."

"You will find that will often be the case," Ozpin commented. "If they wish, I can think of a few people in Vale that they would be interested in talking to if they enjoy it."

"The same in Atlas," Ironwood agreed.

"Then mention it to Weiss before five," Mercury commented as he turned to leave. "She's the one working on that part."

"Mr Black."

Swallowing back a retort as the voice wasn't aggressive, he turned and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Yes?"

"What do you get out of this?" Ironwood didn't seem angry, but there was some disbelief in that question.

"Honestly? The tournament's getting on my nerves. Most of the matches aren't realistic. Most of the audience came for a show, not a spar and it's annoying. Helping out with these things gives me a good reason to stay out of the colosseum."

Mercury didn't wait to see how Ironwood would take that. In the lift, he sent the message to Weiss and headed back to the stage. There were a few things he needed to go over and Velvet should be there in about half an hour to test the cameras.

This time, he was definitely not getting on that stage.