Mercury woke up to the slap of his face by Emerald's cold thin hand.

"You have a job to do, remember?" she said with impatience, almost shouting in his ear.

"I remember... just one more minute..." he rolled over to face away from her and pull his pillow over his head.

He closed his eyes to sleep, but he could still hear plenty, and the ruckus Emerald was making kept him from embracing sweet sleep once more. The door opened from what he could tell, and he heard some was being tossed into the hallway, Emerald muttering something angry to herself. Still holding onto the pillow, Emerald dragged Mercury from his bed into the hallway and shut the door on him. Mercury laid stark naked on the floor grasping his pillow for another minute before the chilly breeze forced him up. He let go of his pillow and stood up, arching his back with satisfying pops tracing his spine. Two girls turned the corner to see him stretching there and froze in their tracks.

"Morning" he said as a yawn found it's way to him.

The two girls turned around and sped off with their heads down, leaving Mercury disappointed at their lack of proper communications skills. Emerald had thrown out his clothes he realized, not any boxers or socks but everything else.

"Can I change in there? It's cold out here..." he cranked his head both ways, more delicious popping followed.

"No, we're changing right now. Oh yeah, here... remember, two grams."

The door squeaked open with just a sliver. Emerald handed him a small vial of clear dust then locked him out for good this time. Mercury went to put it in his pocket when he realized he was still naked. He slipped on his pants, shoes, shirt and vest, and headed off to the cafeteria, letting loose another yawn.

Walking through Beacon, hands in his pocket and slouched over, he saw through the windows that it was still early in the day, probably eight o'clock he thought. When passing by some more identical dorms, Jack Vorst left his and started walking side by side with Mercury.

"Morning" Jack said with vigor.

"Morning..." Mercury said with sleep still in his eyes and voice. A shiver went down his spine, the morning air still chilly.

"What are you doing on this fine day, sir?" Jack asked.

"I'm just going to poison Papa November, maybe catch a nap, then take Emerald's place in the three way match." Mercury yawned again.

"Oh that sounds fun. Yes sir, I'm doing something similar. I'm going to uproot a certain Romeo Romeo." Jack walked with a spring in his step.

"Do you even know what that is?" Mercury asked, disappointed his walking partner was a man and not some pretty girl. More of a boy really he thought to himself, saying man is giving him too much credit.

"Romeo and Juliet, of the world of old, I know. What do you take me for, a little sheep?" fake dismay resounding in his voice.

"Well I will have the great honor and joy of being the Casca to Papa November's Caesar" Mercury knew his old world tales well, but just knowing about some of the tales behind the names people walk around with puts him into a minority of about 0.001%, most don't even realize there was once a different world humans once lived in.

"Et tu, Brute?" Jack spun in place, containing more energy then he knew how to deal with.

"Achilles heel is gonna get pierced..." Mercury raised an eyebrow.

"Not until after he first cross dresses." Jack was into it now.

"And Joan is going to weep."

"Not until after she first cross dresses."

"You're going to be watching right? Make it snow will ya. Bring some reindeer."

"But I'll be busy, after all, little red riding hood's going to be gobbled up by the wolf."

"You know, I never thought of it like that! You're right!"

"Don't worry, you're still marvelouuuuss..." Jack drawled his vowels, then danced off down another hallway to where ever.

"Stay classy Frost." Mercury felt awake now.

He walked into the cafeteria and looked around, not spotting his target. There were a decent amount of early birds eating breakfast, but none of them mattered to him a the moment. He looked at the clock on the far wall.

"8:27, another thirteen minutes..." he rubbed his face, giving one last yawn.

He stood by the entrance by the window, keeping an eye out for his objective. To pass the time, he took out the small vial in his pocket and dumped out some of the clear dust into his pocket, leaving only about two grams left in the vial. He winked at every pretty girl that walked through the entrance door, going out of his mind in his waiting game.

He checked the clock again. It read 9:12.

"Son a bitch" he whispered to himself.

Mercury began to panic. 'What if she didn't show up? What if he messed up his mission? What if Cinder was going to kill him?' The last thought came as a joke to him, but then it's reality struck hard, sweat forming on Mercury's forehead. He started to pace back and forth ready to leave and find Emerald, but all worries dissipated when his target walked through the door.

"O' hey Pyrrha! Ready for today's fight?!" he glued himself to her Jaune-less side. Rage towards Jaune boiled in his blood, Mercury seeing that Jaune was in a sling with Pyrrha walking him to the cafeteria, meaning it was his fault she was off schedule for breakfast.

"So it's you whose fighting?"

"Yep, Emerald wasn't to interested in fighting to begin with, she's a bit of a stickler sometimes. But me, man, after seeing you fight yesterday, I just felt I had to redeem myself and try my best!" He talked all giddy like and shook his hands in innocent excitement. He was glad Emerald and Cinder weren't here to see him act like this.

"Well what you did was impressive, you made it to the final eight of the first years. I'm sure you won't disappoint." She made her way to the food stand, picking up two trays; one for her, one for Jaune. Mercury needed to make time.

"Oh shucks, you really think so?" Mercury rubbed the back of his head in faux bashfulness. Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other with dubious looks, confused with his less than totally confident attitude they have seen him with thus far. Pyrrha placed soup on both trays. 'Not good enough' thought Mercury, starting a solid line of eye contact with Pyrrha.

"No doubt" Jaune said, giving neither sarcasm nor sincerity in his tone. Pyrrha poured two cups of orange juice.

"Well I don't want to grow an ego or anything, so I gotta keep myself in check, ya know?" His voice deepened and become confident as he spoke, the tone betraying his words and his stare betraying his supposed nervousness. Pyrrha put down the cups of Juice on the trays. Her fingers itched, and she rested her hand on her hip, right next to her sword.

"I'm sure thats not a problem, you seem to keep it under wraps just fine." Her now monotone voice betrayed her words. She grabbed two apples with her off hand and laid them on the trays, not moving her main hand from her hip.

"You'd be surprised- Ohmydust is that Spruce Willis?!" Mercury's straight face broke into that of a small child's as he pointed with excitement towards the entrance in the opposite direction from where the other two were looking. They turned their heads in reaction, and in a moment with his other hand, Mercury dumped the vial into Pyrrha's cup in one fluid motion. The crystal dust dissolved into the orange juice instantly, and not a person saw.

"I don't think so..." Jaune said turning his head back. Mercury froze.

"I don't see him, but I'm sure he'll be at the tournament actually" Pyrrha added coldly.

"Well darn, I thought maybe I could ask for an autograph, but I guess I'll have to settle with just seeing him later then. Well, thanks for the encouragement, I'll see ya later." He turned slowly and seductively, that is if he was a woman, and made way waving behind him as he went.

"Okay..." Pyrrha and Jaune said in unison.

They found a table to sit down at, and began to eat, still perturbed by Mercury's odd behavior.

-End Chapter 14-