That, went surprisingly well. Jaune thought as he exited a shop called 'Suits, Suits, and more Suits' with a large black bag tucked under his arm. Maybe Neo did pray for him. Coco exited with him, also carrying a black bag. Apparently she was going to wear a suit to the dance. When Jaune asked, she told him her reasoning.
"If I wear a dress, I might distract other guys from their dates, that'd be a bit mean don'tcha think?" Jaune just chuckled, finding the idea of Coco in a tuxedo to be very humorous. Then, his mind wandered to what he would look like in a dress. He would totally rock a dress. Totally.
"Well, I'm certain you'll look great either way." Jaune told her, making his way back to the airbus. Coco laughed at his statement.
"Make sure Neo doesn't hear you say that, she might get jealous." Jaune would have joined in with Coco laughing, but the idea of Neo with her skill at fighting being annoyed at Jaune was not a topic he would take lightly.
"Uhh, yeah." Jaune murmured, his mind focusing on ways he could not die if it turned out Neo had a protective streak as well as a sadistic one. Coco seemed to notice his head not being where it should, and snapped her fingers at him.
"Oh, sorry, just thinking about the dance, and whether it'll go well." This was also on Jaune's mind. "I've never been to a proper ball before." He remembered all of the times when there was some form of dance held in his home town. He'd always just stand awkwardly by the punch bowl, as he was unable to get a date for the dance.
"Don't worry about it Blondie." Coco said, patting his back. "What could go wrong at a dance? Someone decides to use it as a distraction and implant some kind of virus or something?" She laughed, and Jaune joined in.
"Yeah, I'll just focus on the most important thing at the dance. Her." Jaune stated confidently. Coco just shook her head smiling. He could be incredibly smooth when he wasn't trying. "I just hope the suit suits." Jaune cracked a small joke, causing Coco to groan.
"Hey, I'm not known as the fashionista of Beacon for nothing." Coco pointed out, jabbing a finger at Jaune. Jaune chuckled and apologised. Coco accepted it, knowing he wasn't actually making a comment at her skills, but rather his own insecurities.
"Jaune, you'll be fine. You'll have a good time with Neo, and who knows, the night is always young." She elbowed Jaune lightly in the ribs, causing him to blush and start spouting excuses and accusations. Coco just smiled, glad that she had gotten Jaune out of his slump.
Jaune eventually ran out of things to exclaim about how that wasn't going to happen. He settled for just sighing, and focusing on trying not to throw up on the way back. "Why does Beacon have to be in the air, why?" Jaune complained, his hand rubbing his stomach. Coco felt pity for the Knight's plight. He handled air travel almost as well as Yatsuhashi.
For such a tough looking guy, Yatsu got motion sickness in cars, planes, and boats pretty easily. Coco was almost certain he threw up after landing during their initiation. Due to hanging around someone who gets sick from a little bit of movement that wasn't thanks to his feet, she constantly carried pills to help with motion sickness.
She tossed one to him and he took it gratefully. He swallowed it dry and relaxed. "Ah, I wish I knew these things existed when I first came here. That would have saved me from a very annoying nickname." He remembered his first time flying here, he had accidentally thrown up on Yang's shoes, an action that she would never let him forget.
Coco just laughed, having heard of this story off Jaune himself when she was helping him cover up. "Well, at least you threw up on hers and not mine." She said calmly, prompting Jaune to glance at her. "Because if you got barf on any of my clothes you wouldn't have made it to Beacon." Coco stared at him, glasses completely off to show how serious she was.
Jaune laughed nervously, knowing full well that Coco was telling the truth. He was happy to be alive right now, and he didn't want to end it because of the fact he couldn't fly without getting sick. He was thankful that he didn't vomit the last time he and Coco were in an airship together, although that was probably because he hadn't eaten anything yet.
"R-Right." Jaune nodded. "Wouldn't want that now would we." Coco just smiled and leaned back in her seat. Jaune did his best to not throw up during the flight, and also not worry about the dance. Maybe Coco was right. Maybe this would just go how a dance should go, provided no one spiked the punch.
He made a mental note to keep Yang and Nora away from the punch bowl. As long as they stayed away, nothing could go wrong.
"Is he going to be a problem?" A green haired girl asked. "I've seen him fight, he's nothing special, but he's not really someone to underestimate." She finished, looking at her boss.
A boy who was doing push ups decided to give his own two cents. "I'm not as concerned about him as I am about his team mates. Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie. Each of their fighting abilities are way above that of his, and I don't think they'd be too happy if anything were to happen to him."
Mercury and Emerald stared at their employer, who was finishing up on her sowing. "No," She began. "I do not think he will be a problem. Torchwick got captured thanks to him, but he was just a small piece of the plan. If anything, we should thank him. Now the White Fang won't have to put up with his asinine attitude."
She frowned slightly. "Granted, the loss of Torchwicks partner is a big one, but like I said with Torchwick, she's only a small part." Mercury and Emerald shared a glance.
"But, doesn't she know our plans? What we're planning to do during the dance?" Emerald asked, concerned that everything may not go as well as they hoped.
"Oh yes, she does, but she's smart enough to know not to cross us. Plus, I think she'll have her hands full with her date." Cinder smirked, knowing something the others didn't.
"And who's her date?" Mercury decided to ask, knowing that they wouldn't be told otherwise.
"Why, it's Mr. Arc of course." She smiled. "He will be too busy trying to make sure she has a perfect night to worry about any of us. And she'll be too concerned with keeping him from getting in danger if she notices us."
"Alright, but that still leaves one problem." Mercury said. Cinder just looked at him, waiting for him to speak. "Who will be our fourth member for the tournament?" Cinder blinked. He had a point. They would need another person if they were to qualify for Vytal festival and go through with their plans.
"Don't worry, I'll just get Adam to send some Faunus or other our way and we can pretend that they're our last member." Cinder explained, trying to think of any way the plan could go wrong. Emerald apparently saw a flaw.
"But, wouldn't they be recognised by that Belladonna girl? The one that Adam is always going on about." She stated, remembering the few times she'd seen the Bull-Faunus, and each time he had mentioned her as a traitor.
"No way, they all wear masks remember," Mercury butted in. "None of them actually know what the others look like. That was the whole point of them."
Cinder nodded in agreement. "Besides, even if they do know her, we'll be sure to, persuade them not to do anything rash." Both Emerald and Mercury knew that Cinder's methods of 'persuasion' would mean that the person would probably flinch if they even thought about harming Blake.
They would almost feel sorry for them, if they could even feel sympathy. The two decided not to ask any more questions, not wanting to annoy Cinder or distract her from finishing her outfit for their mission.
"We'll keep you informed of anything they do." Emerald told her, hoping to lift Cinder's mood. Cinder simply nodded, not saying anything, choosing instead to focus on embedding the dust into her clothing. Emerald's face held a small frown at her failed attempt, one that didn't go unnoticed by Mercury, who just rolled his eyes.
"I'm going out, see if I can't find someone who isn't filled with oestrogen." Mercury informed them, getting up and grabbing a comic book before exiting the room. He held the latest copy of 'X-Ray and Vav' in his hands. He had grabbed a few of them after 'dealing' with Tucson, but he hadn't had that much time to read them all.
Emerald would always complain that he cared more about the comics than he did his mission. He just shrugged her off. It wasn't his fault that other books don't appeal to him. He liked the pictures. As he was walking through the halls, reading about a new character that was introduced called 'Mogar', something caught his attention.
The boy that he was just having a discussion about with his partners in crime, leaning against a wall, reading the same comic he was. He came to a halt as he stared at Jaune. Jaune turned to see what the noise was, having heard someone approaching him. They made eye contact, and then their eyes fell to the others comic.
Jaune's face broke into a grin as he recognised it. Mercury put on a fake one, hopeful that it would fool the blonde. "Hey." Jaune said, walking over to Mercury. "Nice to see someone who appreciates good literature." He joked, sticking out a hand. "Names Jaune."
Mercury grabbed the hand and shook it firmly. "Mercury. And I get what you mean, my partner is always complaining that I should read an 'actual book'." Mercury was actually telling the truth there, surprisingly. The amount of times Emerald could complain was probably more than there were stars in the sky.
Jaune laughed at the statement. "I know right, my friend Blake is always saying how I should read 'real books'. I tried to take her up on it, but when I asked to borrow one of hers she dropped the subject." Jaune just shrugged at her actions. He then decided to bring the topic back to what originally made him talk to the new guy.
"So, what do you think of Mogar?" Jaune asked, wanting another person's opinion on the bear themed warrior that wielded the giant sword.
Mercury sighed for a moment, thinking of his opinion. "Guy's too cliché, and overpowered. I mean, sudden new superhero that shows up and saves everyone, then goes away with some ominous line. Real Gary Stew I think." Wait why was he actually discussing this? Mercury thought.
Jaune just nodded, taking in the information. "Well he's only been here for one chapter, we don't know if he's OP yet. Although, it doesn't help that he broke through Vav's Slow-Mo time. The 'Goo goo gah gah' thing was pretty funny though." Jaune let out a chuckle. Mercury did too, then realised that he had and got annoyed at himself.
"He'll probably get some character development or something in a later comic." Jaune mused, putting a hand to his chin. Mercury had to agree with him there.
"Yeah, I mean, he practically said he was looking for someone, what with the whole 'You are not the one' thing." Jaune nodded at this, wondering who it could be he's looking for.
"Who could a guy who's that ripped be searching for?" He asked. It was rhetorical, but it got Mercury thinking too.
"I don't know, maybe he has a family, or a lover or something?" Mercury's money was on 'or something'. Jaune put his money on family.
"Speaking of lovers, kind of a weird time for them to bring in a love interest for Vav." Jaune thought back to the 'Ash Samaya' character that was introduced. Mercury crossed his arms.
"Really, start of the second volume is too soon? I figured they would have made Hilda into one eventually." The introduction of a main female protagonist would always lead to a relationship between them and the main male protagonist usually. Although, seeing as there were two, he could understand why Hilda didn't become a love interest.
"I don't know, I mean, I doubt he's gonna get with her anytime soon." Jaune concluded. "He's awkward as all hell around her, he could barely tell her he was annoyed with the paper without looking like a mess." Jaune suddenly felt like he was insulting himself.
Mercury let out a light laugh. "Yeah, you're right there. The only girl he could probably talk to is his mother." Jaune and Mercury shared a quick series of chuckles. "I liked the fourth-wall break though." Mercury thought aloud.
"Fourth-wall?" Jaune asked. He hadn't heard the term before.
"Oh," Mercury began to explain. "You know when X-Ray said 'The comic's about us.'?" Jaune nodded. "That was breaking the fourth wall. It's when a character talks directly to the reader. I know there's some other comic book that does it all the time. DeathWater? SkullPoopL? Something like that anyway."
Jaune realised what he had meant by fourth wall now, and tried to think back to other instances where it had happened in things he had read or seen. "I can't think of any other time I've seen it." Jaune suddenly remembered something. "Oh wait no, I know one. There's this fighting game where a characters special move is to beat the other opponent down with their own health bar."
Mercury blinked at the words. "That is so brutal. It sounds awesome." Mercury could not help but say the last part. He kicked himself inwardly. Dammit, he was supposed to be an assassin, not make goody goody friends over comic books and video games.
Jaune just chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. I think it's a crossover fighter or something, I can't remember the name properly." 'And that's definitely not the author not wanting to come up with a RWBY substitute for Marvel Vs Capcom'. Jaune thought. Wait, was that a fourth wall break? No, this is real life, there are no walls here. Right?
"Sounds cool anyway, I'll probably look it up later and see if there's anywhere I can get it." Mercury said, actually contemplating doing it.
Jaune just smiled. "I actually have the game back in my dorm room, I'd invite you to play but," He checked his scroll "I think it is way too late for either of us to be out right now."
"You would be correct Mr. Arc." Came a voice that made both males freeze up. They turned slowly and found Ms. Goodwitch glaring at the two of them over her glasses. Now, Mercury was an assassin, he killed people, he ruined organisations, and he hung around with Cinder. You would think nothing could possibly scare him, but the look that the teacher was giving him made him want to crawl into a hole and hide there until she left.
"Uh, right Ms. Goodwitch, I guess I kept Mercury here longer than I meant to, I'll be sure to get going now." Jaune said as he inched away from the teacher, giving a wave to Mercury. Mercury wisely decided to go back to his own dorm, thanking Jaune inwardly for taking the blame and not wanting to incur the wrath of that woman.
Mercury was surprised at Jaune. From how Emerald described him, he figured he'd be a pretty scrawny guy with glasses or something, but he looked like he could actually give Roman a run for his ill-gotten money. Oh wait, he had, and he ran him all the way to jail.
Mercury crossed his arms behind his head as he walked. Jaune was actually a pretty cool dude now that he thought about it. That game he was going on about seemed pretty good too. Maybe he'd take him up on his offer of playing it.
Mercury's eyes suddenly shot open. 'Oh shit, did I just become friends with him? Dammit, that's not supposed to happen. Oh this is going to make so much harder if I have to kill him.' He brought a hand to his face and dragged it down. 'Well, Cinder said he wasn't a threat, so he probably wouldn't need to be killed.'
Mercury sighed and entered his room, which was separate to Cinders. He and Emerald had originally been sharing a room, but ever since losing Neo, Emerald slept with Cinder. Mercury realised what he just thought. 'Hah, she wishes.' Point being, he had a room to himself, and he liked it.
He should probably thank Jaune for getting rid of Emerald for him. She was so god damn annoying. And especially when she thought he was asleep, and read 'those' books under her covers. That, was one of the few reasons he stayed away from pure words. They would always bring back memories of him trying to sleep while ignoring any, noises, Emerald was making.
Casting these thoughts out of his mind, he lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He really hoped Jaune didn't do anything that would mess up the plans on the dance. Cinder would probably want him dead for that. And he'd probably get him to do it. Mercury really didn't want to kill him, he just a guy trying to make his way, and just so happened to end up dating a sadistic killer with ties to Cinder. Mercury just realised what he thought. "God dammit," He sighed. "I thought I got rid of sympathy long ago."
Evil plans are underway in Beacon, and PROM IS TOMORROW! Literally. Next chapter will be the dance. So be sure to get you're tissues ready and dancing shoes on. It'll be a swinger ;)
-Friday