Chapter Thirty Nine

Set Up For Armageddon

"Alright Neo, here's the plan." Amethyst's tone was curt and professional as Neo eyed her movements with wariness. "First, point out any- oh, just get over here. I'm not going to hurt you, even though I admit I'd find some pleasure in it."

A light scowl graced Neo's face as she twirled her parasol and sauntered over to stand beside the Summer Maiden. Jeez, just saying it in her head gave her the chills. Amethyst stood by a holographic map laid upon the left wall in the cockpit. The blue glow illuminated them both with an eerie light. The Maiden herself showed her true self to her, no more Rai Panther disguise to hide her, and her carefully glossed lips held a near permanent lemon-sucking position.

Not that Neo blamed her. Cinder never made it easy.

"Point out any camp locations you can remember. We'll hit them as we come across them, or if you know one of them is the main encampment, we can hit there first. Scramble them." She held up the tracking trip Neo had helpfully handed over to her with a lengthy explanation, and dropped the chip into Neo's palm. "You hold onto this. Boa was able to direct the signal to my own scroll, so I'll be able to see your location too. Just in case we get separated, or if we want to try and lure Cinder out."

Neo nodded. She raised her hands and signed a response.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "The chip wasn't set up to ping Cinder if tampered with. Odds are, this was something thrown together real quick by a novice."

A slight smile edged at Neo's face. Yeah, sure, Amethyst didn't like her, but it was nice to have someone to sign to. Team SSSN tried their best, but sign language with them was often trial and error.

:Main encampment was in that densely wooded area to the west of Vale. There. They might have moved by now, but we can use the Grimm to our advantage:

"Oh?"

:Lynae told me they use the Grimm to mask their movements a while back. Larger concentrations of Grimm likely means the camp is just far enough away to be masked but not alert the Grimm:

"Hm. Smart." Amethyst tapped the area Neo indicated and ran a thumb along her mouth. "Brilliant. Should be straightforward. It'll be a little hike, but the Bullhead can touch down here, Boa can lock up, and we'll be on our way." She swiveled around and addressed the floating autobot behind them. "Boa, set a course to those coordinates, yeah?"

"Of course, Lady Laverna."

Amethyst's stony expression softened as Boa dipped in the air, like it was bowing to her. She placed her hand on top of one of the autobot's shifting mechanical plates for a moment. Neo frowned in contemplation. It was almost like Amethyst viewed Boa as a pet. Weird.

As Boa floated over to the controls, Amethyst walked to the open doorway and waved her hand for Neo to follow her out. Neo strolled after as she swung her parasol idly at her side, treating it like a cane. Outside the cockpit was the living quarters, which was surprisingly well furnished for a Bullhead, though she supposed since it was Amethyst's personal Bullhead there had to be some perks. The space had a retro-modern feel to it, with the entire space colored in white, purple, and a smidge of black. In the center of the area was a "smart table," as Amethyst dubbed it, which apparently served as both a dinner table and a three-dimensional tactical map when it was turned on. Surrounding it were two white retro couches made of faux-leather with black and purple throw pillows littering them, as well as a few cushioned purple chairs. She knew there was more to the Bullhead, but the living space also held the entrance, and Amethyst wasn't too keen on giving her a tour.

"I was told you suffered from semblance-overexertion due to our little spat," Amethyst commented as she lounged back in one of the chairs. She threw one leg over the other and brushed her hair from her face. "Are you recovered enough to use your semblance?"

:I'll be fine:

Neo felt the slightest shift. The Bullhead was en route. She had to wonder what type of dampeners this thing had installed to make the lift off that smooth.

"Hmm. You know, I expected more resistance from a defector."

:And why is that?:

Amethyst rolled her head around as Neo hopped to sit on one of the couches. "Considering I nearly melted you like an ice cream cone, I anticipated bad blood."

:There's already bad blood on your end:

She stared deep into Neo's eyes. "Were you involved in the attack on Amber?"

:I joined Cinder after that happened:

"Then there's no bad blood on my end." Amethyst picked at her nails. "I think you're a loose end that should be tied up, but, well, that's not my decision. Nothing personal, love."

Neo's smile turned cutting while her fingers twitched at 'love.' It reminded her too much of Scarlet, and she didn't want to think about him right now. It didn't help that Amethyst had a similar accent. She needed to focus.

:If you ever tried it, you wouldn't be able to catch me:

"Oh really?"

:Escaped you once already, didn't I?:

"I suppose you did." Amethyst scowled at the thought. "That aside. Ozpin has made it crystal clear that I am not to harm you in any way, and to use any means necessary to protect you. So, that's what's going to happen. You ping me on that scroll of yours, I'll come running. Do we need to clear anything up before we land?"

Neo felt a tension in her shoulders relax at Amethyst's words, even if her intention wasn't to soothe. She liked being out in the field again, free from the stares and able to move about in her true colors. But she hated what she knew waited for her back at Beacon. She felt bits of her relationship with Ruby were slowly mending, especially when Ruby clung to her when meeting with the others, but the others were a big unknown. Blake was surprisingly supportive even though they never interacted much, and most of the others were cautiously accepting, but Weiss's assault and the obvious wariness from her SSSN-y boys hurt.

She withheld a sigh. She deserved it, really. All those times she could have shed the illusion, and she didn't. What was the saying? Reap what you sow?

Regardless, she had worries beyond Ruby's circle. One was still jailed.

:What will happen with Roman?:

Amethyst pursed her lips in thought. "Well, he isn't being held under the charge of murder or manslaughter of any degree. Technically, I suppose he would be released and placed into a witness protection program, though right now Ironwood still has him as a jailbird."

:When will I get to see him?:

"I would worry more about trying to take down your old boss before that," Amethyst chided. "Odds are, she doesn't know he defected yet since she only knows you and Mercury went against her. She doesn't know about Ruby's talks with Roman unless Ironwood logged her visit in the system, which I doubt he did. Right now, releasing him would make things worse for him."

Neo felt herself deflate. She felt alone all over again. No SSSN to pick her up when she felt down, no Emerald to pester, and Mercury and Ruby have their own problems to work out. And Roman was still jailed.

She wanted so bad to see him. And not through a scroll screen, though it did help.

"Try not to think about it," Amethyst advised as she stood from her chair. "This process is tricky, but your info has helped. With any luck, we'll put a cap on these operations quickly."

Behind her, Neo watched as the door slid open to reveal browning leaves as far as she could see. She stood, trotted to the door, and placed one hand on the Bullhead's wall as she peered down at the trees.

The camp would be a short walk away, but by the slight rustle in the trees on a pretty windless day she could see, it would be eventful. She chanced a look at Amethyst from over her shoulder. The Summer Maiden flicked open her twin purple fans and closed them just as fast. She then reverted them to the revolver and blade combo, and placed the revolver in a holster as she gripped the knife tight. She turned with an excited gleam in her eye and a savage smile.

"Time to spray some blood."

Neo blinked, more than a little shocked by the declaration, but a bloodthirsty grin soon spread across her face. Oh, how long it's been since she went on the hunt.

When Mercury pulled his eyes open, it felt like both the best and worst day of his life.

Sleeping with Ruby in his arms was an experience he didn't know he was missing. He couldn't help but grin at her sleeping face, but reality crashed down and he felt his chest constrict as he maneuvered out of her koala grip on him. While he rubbed his eyes, he swiped his scroll from the table and stumbled to the bathroom to make himself somewhat presentable.

He wasn't surprised that a rift had formed between him and Ruby, despite how familiar with each other they still were. He didn't expect much, but Ruby still gave him more than he thought. He expected a tearful break up, Ruby's shattered trust in him, and a potential beat down by one Yang Xiao Long. Not Ruby's tearful stubbornness to try and just keep going like all was fine. In a way, it was worse than outright rejection. It made him sick to think Ruby would have been uncomfortable but tough it out to try and stay with him.

At the same time… Mercury drummed his fingers on the sink and tapped his foot at the thought of their break. Ruby could think it'd be better if they stayed separate. Breaks could go either way. She loved him, but Ruby could just be misunderstanding the type of love, couldn't she? And he still hadn't said it back. She didn't know he loved her, wasn't even sure that he liked her now because of her paranoia, born because of his actions. Should he tell her he loved her? Mercury immediately backpedaled with a head shake. Ruby wanted a break, and telling her he loved her was very unbreak-like. Wasn't it? Hell.

He suddenly wished Emerald was here. She would know how to detangle the jungle that was his thoughts.

Emerald… did she know what would happen? By what Ruby described, the attack was disturbingly orchestrated, and as far as he knew, Cinder still had a few fingers in Ironwood's military network. And that virus… he doubted Ironwood was able to scrub it from all his systems. He barely knew anything about computers, but from what Cinder said about it, it was no joke.

Mercury unraveled the chest bandages to see the damage. Right in the center of his chest, the sealed wound edged out diagonally a couple inches to create a macabre four-pointed star. It was… weirdly symmetrical. He grimaced, no doubt it would scar. He undid the bandages on his arms as well. They looked near fully scabbed over, and the cuts were shallow, so at least he wouldn't have extra scar tissue on his arms.

He narrowed his eyes at his reflection. It didn't matter if Emerald knew of Cinder's new plan. She was on one side, he was on the other. If she couldn't see reason… he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Before he could fall further into his musings, he realized his scroll had a new message. He picked it up, surprised Ozpin didn't cut off all signal to it. He blinked. A message from Yang. He felt a slight grin find his face at the contents.

Yang: {Thanks for the save, Pretty Boy}

Mercury: {Anytime, Sun Dragon}

He set his scroll down to wipe at his face. It buzzed almost immediately after, and once he dried his hands, he eyed the display of the message.

Yang: {How are you? Not injured too bad? Is Ruby with you?}

Mercury: {I'm okay, just a minor gaping hole in my chest, nothing I can't walk off. And yeah}

Yang: {Smartass… how's everything going with you two?}

Mercury: {Wouldn't it be better if Ruby told you?}

Yang took some time to reply.

Yang: {I trust that you would tell me the truth}

Hoo boy.

Well. That was the absolute opposite reaction he expected from Yang. He huffed, thought hard on how to reply, and sent a message after some deliberation.

Mercury: {On a break. I want to be with her, but I think this is for the best. I don't want Ruby to stick with me for the wrong reasons}

Yang: {Thank you}

Mercury: {?}

Yang: {For being there for her. I failed on that}

Mercury: {You could be there for her now}

Yang: {...Does she want me there?}

Mercury rolled his eyes and didn't address her question. He sent her his room number, closed his scroll, and finished up in the bathroom. He couldn't exactly put the soiled bandages back on, so he walked out bare-chested and fell into the chair beside the cot.

He couldn't get trapped in his own head. Ruby was here, with him, instead of her own team, and while she needed to distance herself, she still wanted to stay the night with him. By what Neo told him before Blake and Ruby came out of the bathroom, she rarely left his side when he was laid out too. While it worried him that she ran herself dry, it was touching. Really, actively coordinating with the Headmaster of Beacon, nonchalantly overriding the General of the Atlas Military to speak on a one on one basis with Roman Torchwick (both in person AND over scroll), and helping negotiate a deal to keep him, Neo, and Torchwick safe? She went way above and beyond, and damn if he wasn't impressed. He was surprised Ozpin even took her seriously, since she was just a student, after all.

"Kicking you in the stomach was, weirdly, the best thing I ever did," Mercury said out loud with a laugh as he leaned forward and brushed some hair from her face. She murmured, shifted in her sleep, and latched onto one of his arms. Mercury's grin turned into a soft smile. "Cuddly sleeper, aren't you?"

Time, surprisingly, was unknown to him. Because of his semblance, he normally had a good grasp on the very minute. But aside from Doctor Delphine checking in (stuffy bastard), and Penny eventually bringing breakfast (while keeping blissfully quiet, he might add, when she noticed Ruby still out cold), he had absolutely no clue what time it was.

Eventually, he laid his head on the mattress, arm still captive in Ruby's arms, and closed his eyes. He felt his muscles relax for the first time in a while.

A sudden smack on the back of his head made that relaxation very short lived.

"Ack, what the—"

"Haven't you slept enough?" Ah. Weiss. Lovely.

"Weiss, he's recovering from a damn chest wound." And Yang, who sounded irritated at the princess. At least someone was on his side.

Mercury sat upright and rubbed at his eyes. Weiss had some bags in her arms, and her glacier eyes latched onto his bare torso before she spluttered and dug through one of the bags with haste. "Really, Mercury? Oh Oum, put this on."

A black, short-sleeved shirt was shoved under his nose. He scowled at it, but snatched it from her claws and yanked it over his head. "Ready to terrorize Ruby some more, Ice Queen?" He snarled. He made sure to add bite to the Queen part, since he rarely called her by her full moniker.

Weiss, to her credit, flinched at his words. Her wounded expression hardened though, and she tried her hardest to tower over his sitting form while jabbing a finger in his face. "Mercury Black, I do not trust you, but know that I am forgiving and am extending this olive branch out of good faith." She cleared her throat, leaned back, and pulled out something square shaped and floppy, wrapped with silver, tearable paper. "I picked this up for Ruby early this morning. Your new… jacket."

Mercury narrowed his eyes. "Why did you pause."

"No spoilers. Now, chop chop! Open it!"

How on Remnant did Ruby not wake up to her high-pitched screeching? Mercury had to admit, Weiss's tone sounded oddly excited, which he couldn't understand for the life of him, so he tore at the paper and ignored her beady stare. His annoyed demeanor quickly turned into curiosity as black and grey fabric greeted him.

He stood, discarded the wrapping paper, and unfolded the garment to hold it in front of him so he could see it. It wasn't a jacket, but more so a sleeveless duster. It was mainly the same grey his old jacket was, and had similar asymmetrical black decals to his old jacket on the upper chest. The duster also had a collar that he could pop like his old jacket. The fabric went to just below his knees, but the front portion of the duster's fabric was cut off so he could freely kick without the threat of getting tangled in the tail of the duster.

"Ruby's idea. She got a tailor in Vale to make an express order. I, when realizing the bill, paid for it, because wow," Weiss said in a haughty, yet somehow desperate tone. Yang was silent behind her. "No sleeves, so you can still use your vambraces and rerebraces. Oh, I have them here, by the way." Weiss jostled another bag in her grip. "Clean of, well, your blood. She also had your emblem embroidered on the back."

Mercury turned the duster around, and sure enough, there was his emblem, bold, black, and spanning the entirety of the back with the winged portion crawling over the right shoulder and taking up some of the chest space. He felt himself grinning, and with a quick motion, pulled it on and popped the collar similar to how his old jacket was popped. He didn't bother to do up the buttons.

"She really outdid herself," Mercury commented as he finally looked Weiss in the eye. The heiress was noticeably uncomfortable, with her eyes darting every which way and not daring to look back at the overprotective sister behind her. "Uh. Thanks for delivering it."

Weiss focused on him, squared her shoulders, and cleared her throat. "You are welcome. And I am - um. I'm glad you're not dead." She blinked rapidly, then stuttered, "I-I meant that as a good thing. Genuinely. Glad you're alive. Um."

"You're really selling it to me."

"I mean it, you dolt! I—" Weiss snapped her mouth shut, pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed. "No no, calm. Okay. Mercury, this is weird. As I'm sure you know, I… overreacted yesterday. But, I'd like to say, if Ruby has vouched for you, I am willing to give you a chance and put aside my grievances."

Her hands flopped at her sides, limp and awkward. Behind her, Yang rolled her eyes. One glance at her and she was still noticeably shaken from whatever happened after he was down for the count, but despite that, a devious gleam entered her eyes as she peered over Weiss's head to lock eyes with Mercury. She spread her arms out wide and smirked maliciously.

"Good to see you, Merc! Group hug!"

Before Weiss could retreat, Yang surged forward, latched her arms around Mercury, and effectively sandwiched Weiss between them. Mercury, also shocked by the turn of events, blinked at the top of Yang's unruly blonde head as he surprisingly didn't tense up, though he supposed bear hugging her in an attempt to stop Emerald's illusions from influencing her helped with that. An equally evil grin amassed on his face and he wrapped his arms around Yang, effectively trapping Weiss between them.

"Aw, really feeling the love here, girls."

"MmmmmrrrFFFF! YYYRRRRNNN!"

From the cot, Mercury heard Ruby groan. "Wha'wus'wha?"

"Morning, Sis!" Yang hummed. "What was that, Weiss?"

What Mercury could only describe as a muffled Nevermore screech emitted from Weiss's mouth.

"Oh, fine."

Weiss wasted no time squirming out from between them. Her face was a splotchy red and he was certain there was a throbbing pinch in her forehead. "I hate both of you."

"Weiss…?"

Within seconds, the heiress snapped back to her urgent yet sheepish demeanor as Ruby groggily called out to her. Weiss muscled past Mercury as she shoved the bag into his chest and grabbed at Ruby's hands. "Ruby! How are you feeling? Did you like Blake's gift? Happy Birthday!"

Mercury blinked at the back of Weiss's head as Ruby sleepily murmured a response, likely too tired to comprehend what was going on around her. As he fished his rerebraces and vambraces out of the bag, he looked over at Yang. Her arm looked almost fully healed, with merely bandage wrap on, but her eyes were latched to the windows.

He stepped forward and tapped her shoulder. She startled and faced him. "Yang?"

"Are those one way?"

"I think so…?"

"Oh. Good." Yang visibly relaxed.

Mercury narrowed his eyes. He put both braces on one arm, and went to the other. "Why are you asking?"

Yang shuffled her feet and avoided his eye. She was fidgety, nervous. A complete one-eighty from her devious demeanor before."I'm– Lynae, the sniper. She can't see."

"Yang…" Mercury's sentence hung in the air. Comfort wasn't his forté. "She's not out there."

"I– Yeah. Yeah. I knew that. Just, yknow."

"Uh. Sure. Totally."

He tilted his head and stared at her. Her hair was wild, but more mussed than usual, like it was wild from lack of care rather than Yang's careful attentiveness. Her eyes were tired, slight circles underneath them, but not to the extent that Blake's were before, and the color on her face was more pale and drained. He consciously ignored Weiss and Ruby, half because Ruby was still pretty incoherent and half because Yang was off.

Before he could lift a hand, Yang blurted, "I- thanks. For the save, I mean."

He nodded slowly. "You mentioned that."

"Yeah. I know, I just-" Some frustration peeked through her expression, which was loads better than the dead fish stare. "How are you normal?"

"What?"

"I didn't mean it like- how are you acting so normal? After that?"

Oh. Mercury felt his shoulders tense. "I'm just used to it."

"To near death situations?"

His gaze was flat but not unkind. "Yes."

"O-Oh." Yang's frustration turned into this lost, vacant look. "I don't think I'll ever get used to it."

Mercury pursed his lips. He may want to help her, but he wasn't about to start lying again. "Yang, you're training to be a huntress. You have to get used to it."

She seemed to shrink. She stared at the ground between them as she murmured, "Oh. Okay."

Well. He didn't know how to deal with this Yang. He grabbed the wrist of her good arm and pulled her to stand in front of him. "Come on, Ruby will want to see you."

At that, he edged her closer as Ruby and Weiss exchanged a frenzied and apologetic back and forth. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the conversation.

"Weiss, I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to yell at you, I just couldn't explain it right and I needed you to understand, but I don't think I did it, um, right-"

"I'm sorry too! I shouldn't have hurled accusations at you, it wasn't right." Weiss gripped Ruby's hands. "I was letting how I felt about the situation influence what I thought of you, well, defending them, and I just reacted, and I'm so sorry."

"But, but you were right! I should have gone to you first - my team first! I-I didn't want to worry you all but I ended up doing the opposite."

Weiss hugged Ruby tight then. It was a bit awkward, full of elbows and unsure grins, but when she pulled back she kept hold of Ruby's shoulders. "I'm not mad about that, I was worried. As a team, please confide in us. We won't judge you, and we'll try to help. We'll always be here for you, no matter what."

Ruby's eyes teared up. "Aw, Weiss…"

A warm smile graced Weiss's face, and she turned to pick up and place a box on Ruby's lap. "Now, I think we've stalled long enough. Happy birthday, Ruby!"

Mercury pushed Yang forward again. She stumbled into the cot, which caught Ruby's attention. Yang managed a smile. "Ready for presents, Sis?"

Ruby smiled, but she chanced a glance over her shoulder at Mercury. He gestured to Yang, and made an overexaggerated concerned face. Ruby got the hint and reached out to grasp Yang's hand. "Heh, I guess. But, how are you feeling?"

Yang gripped Ruby's hand just as tight. "I'm- I'm recovering. I'll be okay. It's been a wild week." Yang frowned then, pinched the edge of Ruby's sleeve with her other arm, and pulled the wrist back to show the bracelet Mercury gave her. "This is new."

"Mercury gave it to me," Ruby replied with a shy smile.

As Weiss made a noise of surprise and looked in his direction, Mercury felt his face heat up. Is- Is he blushing? No, no way. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he felt Weiss's eyes scrutinize him.

"Oh. It's pretty!" Yang smiled through her words. "Not something I expected from Merc. But hey, he's got some good tastes under the smirks."

Mercury snorted under his breath as Yang without a doubt aimed the comment toward him. "I smirk in good taste."

"Pfft. Alright, Merc." Yang shook her head with a small chuckle as she placed some objects in front of Ruby. "But anyway, they're not expensive jewelry, but I've got those parts for Crescent Rose you wanted."

Ruby gasped and grabbed at the items. "You found it?!"

Yang's grin burst with sunshine. "Marigold Mechanisms just restocked them. Got the last one off the shelf."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Ruby surged forward and hugged Yang tightly to her. "Oh, I have to fit Crescent Rose with her new scope! And you found extended magazines?!"

An endearing smile edged across Mercury's face as Ruby squealed in delight. The pure joy that broke across her face as she carefully examined the dimensions of the red-painted scope and the red ammo magazines with black-cross symbols on the sides cleared any doubts he had over his decision to turn sides (not that he had any doubt in the first place). Even though they were apart right now, seeing her smile was enough for him.

"Here, Ruby. Open this."

"Weiss, what's- oh. You got me boots? And cute little stockings!"

"Your old ones were falling apart! I saw the soles starting to tear a while ago. And I figured stockings would be better for the warmer months. The rest of the ensemble should be on its way from Atlas."

"Oh, you didn't have to do all that-"

"I wanted to! I designed it as combat gear so it's not too fancy, I promise."

The team leader blinked back thankful tears. "These are… wow. The roses stitched on the stocking are really cute too."

"I'm glad you like them. The heel is slightly taller than the last ones, but I'm sure you can handle it."

"Oh, right. Heels. Yes, I… yes."

Mercury snickered. "Ruby, it's a wedge. I doubt you'll need to stand on my toes."

Ruby snapped her gaze up to him and shook her finger at him. "Shut your mouth, mister!"

As Yang chuckled, he merely smirked and raised his hands in surrender.

"Good to know your wit hasn't diminished," Weiss said with a heavy eye roll, though the side of her mouth twitched up for a millisecond. "But that aside, we also brought your combat gear, Ruby. I managed to get the, uh… your cape is clean, but there was too much on the corset. So, we brought the outfit you wore back when we first went after Torchwick."

"Thanks guys, really." Ruby gathered the red, black and grey clothing Weiss passed to her in her arms with a big smile. "I'm - I'm glad you two came here to talk. And, um, I'm sorry for running, y'know, before. I just… I felt bad that I yelled and-"

"Don't." Yang reached forward and tucked some of Ruby's hair behind her ear. "What matters is we're all on the same page, and that we're together. And we are."

"Exactly. What's done is done. All we can do now is move on, better and stronger." Weiss stood from her position slouched over the cot. "Now, I assume you'll want to fit those parts onto your scythe, so we'll leave you to do that. Sound fair?"

Ruby grinned and nodded. "What are you two doing?"

Weiss and Yang shared a look. "Considering the situation, and that Yang's finally out of the sling, we're going to patrol the grounds. Make sure Cinder and Emerald don't show their faces."

"Stay together if you do that."

All three girls looked to Mercury. He stared down Yang and Weiss seriously.

"We were intending to, but why?" Weiss asked.

Mercury instead addressed Yang. "What did you see after our match? Before I was shot."

"Uh." Yang squinted as she thought back. "I- I heard you say 'there won't be a next time, Blondie,' and you… you leapt forward to kick me. But, but then all of a sudden you were hugging me?"

He nodded. "Emerald was using her semblance to make you see that. She's an illusionist like Neo, but her illusions are different from Neo's. While Neo's are tangible, everyone can see them, Emerald can make people hallucinate. See things, hear things. It's taxing on her to use it on more than one person, so stay together."

Any joviality faded at his warning. Weiss nodded slowly, guarded thankfulness in her eyes. "We will. Thank you for telling us."

Mercury dipped his head in response. A part of him recoiled, crippled with guilt. Emerald's semblance wasn't widely known for good reason: it was her trump card. It kept her safe. But Cinder directed her to use it for her own plans, and while it made him feel guilty to reveal Emerald's semblance, he couldn't let Emerald potentially hurt any of Ruby's— any of his friends. He always referred to them as Ruby's group, or Ruby's friends, but at this point, regardless of his rocky position in the group, he was still a part of it and, while he didn't consider it until now, they were his friends.

"We should get going." Yang stood slowly, her bubbly self now suddenly reserved. "But call me if you need me, okay Sis?"

"Okay. Thanks, Yang. And, um." Ruby tugged at Yang's hand when the girl tried to walk away. "I'll be back in the dorm tonight. C-Can we…"

"You… want a Sister Chat?" Yang asked as a sliver of excitement peeked through her expression. She squeezed Ruby in a tight hug one last time and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "That sounds great! I can't wait! I'll- I'll see you then!"

Ruby giggled. "See you then, Sis."

Yang couldn't quite contain the happiness that ebbed off her, it made her glow. She turned around and pat Mercury's arm with an amicable nod before heading to the door. Weiss flicked her hand in a wave to both Ruby and Mercury and followed after her.

The pair went quiet as Yang and Weiss disappeared around the corner. Mercury shifted on his feet while Ruby picked at a few threads on her folded up cape. He cleared his throat.

"Did you sleep well?"

Ruby visibly looked flustered. "U-Uh, mhm. Did you?"

"Yeah." He drummed his fingers against his thighs. "Better than usual, actually."

"That's good!" Ruby's gaze trailed down to his torso. "Oh. Do - um - do you like it? I-I tried to design it in a way that wouldn't get in the way of your fighting style, so."

"I do. I like it a lot. Thanks." Mercury kept his puzzled expression carefully hidden. Ruby looked visibly shaken, and he wasn't sure if it was his fault or not. "You designed it well."

Her cheeks flushed with color. "Th-Thank you."

She still looked like an easily spooked mouse. He sighed, hung his head, and perched himself on the side of the bed, plenty of distance between them. "Ruby, what's wrong?"

"Oh, um, it's noth- urgh. I don't know why I bother. You can see through me anyway," Ruby said with a huff. Mercury cracked a humorless grin. "It's just- I've never… I've never slept in the same bed with someone. Well, aside from Yang. But that's different."

Mercury blinked. "Did I make you uncomfortable? I- it's just, you asked and-"

"N-No, you didn't, it - it was nice." Ruby fiddled with one of the buckles on her new boots. "I wanted to. And if we weren't, um, on a break, I would-" Her face went entirely crimson. "I would ask if we could sleep in the same bed from now on."

"Oh."

"B-But, um, we are. On a break."

"Yep."

"Yeah."

A long, unbearably uncomfortable silence settled between them. Mercury stared down at his lap, thoughtful. Then he sat up straight.

Ruby caught his fast movement. "What?"

"You're going to modify your weapon, right?" Ruby nodded. "Can I come with you?"

"Sure! Um. But why?"

Mercury cocked his head, raised a brow at her perplexed expression, and laughed. "I distinctly remember you telling me that knowing someone's weapon helps you know the person better." He withheld a smirk as her face began to clear and a smile twisted at her face. "So, I figure, we're on a break, why don't we start over and get to know each other again? As friends?"

Ruby hid her face behind a curtain of bangs, but he could just barely hear a happy hmm from her. "Let me change into my gear, and we can go."

His smirk bled into a toothy-smile.

Neo, with her parasol open on her shoulder and a skip in her step, sauntered through the forest with deadened leaves falling around her. She thumbed the cestus still on her knuckles, her last remnant of Nyx Peridot, and a lopsided, toothy smirk edged at her mouth.

As she bumped away red bushes and low branches, she broke from the treeline and into the clearing. Her mismatched eyes scanned the clearing. Multiple tents were still pitched, but a few patches of flattened grass that indicated where other, removed tents were scattered across the area. The main tent, Adam Taurus's tent, stood tall.

So obviously a trap, Neo thought. But they aren't expecting a Maiden.

With a deep breath and oozing confidence, Neo marched through the eerily empty encampment. The sky was a haze of orange and red as the sun began to set behind the trees of Forever Fall, and a gentle, cooling breeze ran across her cheeks and through her neapolitan hair.

Neo stopped short at a peculiar stretch of grass. It was five meters from the tent entrance, slightly uneven compared to the rest. She toed it with her heel, and it curled up. Turf. Underneath was a sheet of metal, tinged with green and roughened to give it a gritty, more natural texture. She smirked. Sloppy.

With a playful step around the pressure plate, she placed herself before the opening of the tent. She brought her parasol off her shoulder, closed it, and used the end to push back the flap of the tent so she could peer inside. It was set up as it normally was, with a large table in the center and a large map marked with multiple red circles and x's. Neo stepped inside, hyper alert, and peered down at the map.

Only the map wasn't a map of the region like she expected. It was a map of the city.

Her eyes scanned every mark, every tally, every written note. Her gloved hand shuffled through the small stack of papers at the end of the table. Her confident smirk drained into a horrified open mouth and widely-blown eyes.

Her free hand snatched her scroll within seconds, fingers flying to tap Amethyst's contact. A golden ring of an all too familiar glyph formed around her scroll and her hand began to burn.

She hissed and dropped her scroll. Neo watched helplessly as Cinder's semblance heated her scroll until it sparked and melted. Her lungs suddenly were without air.

"Do you think you're clever?"

Neo whirled around to stare into the eyes of her former employer. They were alight with hidden embers and her face held only smug satisfaction.

"I expected you would find that little chip. I expected you would try your play at being a hero, lure me out. You've become woefully predictable." Cinder spread her arms out and leaned forward. "Here I am, Neo. How is Mercury?"

Neo felt her knees shake. She clenched her parasol with both hands.

"Now, I wonder…" Cinder put one finger to her bottom lip in mock thought. "Will you be able to warn your little Maiden friend before Armageddon hits?"

Outside, Amethyst's lightning struck the ground. Cinder disappeared from view with a smooth cackle.

Neo never wished so badly that she could scream.

I'm bringing back Cinder's glyphs from the first episode! the glyphs are basically just her using her semblance, so it's nothing magical. Also, if my responses to reviews are weirdly bubbly, it's because I'm super hyper right now and I have no clue why.

Astray-Tech: Thanks!

Dragon Lord Draco: Yeah, I felt sad writing the 'break' scene. But I couldn't write them as just being fine and not feel a bit icky about it. :(

The Night Whisperer: Indeed! Our boy has come so far! And yeah, I think Ruby will come around eventually ;)

The Baz: I can understand why! It's surreal looking back at the first chapter and rehashing those events.

Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: LOL IM SORRY BUT ALSO NOT SORRY! Also, glad you liked the PJs! Designing it was so much fun!

ravensep: Aw thank you so much, I was smiling the entire time reading your review! It really made me day, so thank you. I'm so happy you're enjoying Adam and Blake in particular, I've been waiting to delve into their characters more for so long. We'll definitely be seeing more of Adam than we did in the show!

Stalwart Shield: Lmao first time I've been flattered by being cussed out! Glad you like it so far :)

PoofyOhio: Nonsense, you are deserving. Us writers have gotta stand together, lol!

Servos New Head: When you have a character like Yang, puns are just gonna happen, I am sorry XD. Though if I recall correctly that's the only 'pun war,' any other puns are just one off and few and far between.

Next chapter: Stripped Shadows

I'm... very nervous about this next chapter. It'll be out next week. Lonessa out.