The room stared dumbfounded, wondering what the heck just happened in the last episode. Yang wrongfully accused of attacking someone?! And that someone is the real villain here?!
Another question is how they were able to do that in the first place? What really happened was a lot more different than what happened on the screens. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that Emerald was involved, but how?
Blake felt like she was being pulled two ways: one way was telling that Yang was innocent and that she would never do that, to hurt someone so recklessly, but the other one was telling her that she's seen this before, and it's just all too familiar.
Blake no doubt wanted to believe the first one, she knew Yang, and yang would never do this. But a small part of her couldn't ignore the second, it just felt too painstakingly familiar.
Blake was zoned out to the point she hadn't noticed that her friends decided to begin the next episode, eager, and hoping, to know that Yang was going to come out innocent to the others.
(Volume 3 Intro)
"I want to be strong," Spoke a female's voice as nothing but darkness was shown.
"A beautiful ring, for a beautiful woman," A man responded. The energy he gave off was eerie and unsettling. The conversation went back and forth between the two, the woman wanted to be feared, and the man exclaimed out in shock. They were obviously from different moments, but which moments? We weren't sure.
The man yelled, "She went that way!" The voice was more recognizable, it was Cinder's.
The group were surprised, and intrigued. They were getting a glimpse of Cinder's past? Well as much as it will give them seeing as nothing but voices were being projected. And the most it was was Cinder wishing to be strong and powerful.
Is that all there was to her motives? To just be powerful?
Another woman yells for the police to be called, and a man asking how she was able to do a certain ability.
"How did you do that?" Cinder asks a younger Emerald. Cinder has her trapped and cornered in an alleyway, asking for the answer of a simple question. Emerald doesn't say a word as she reaches for her guns, ready to fight, but Cinder tells her to stop. "Unless, of course, you want them to hear you."
So this is how the two first met, it was the collective thought no one said aloud.
Emerald asks what Cinder wants as she pulls away her hands. "I already told you. And I don't like repeating myself."
"I didn't do anything, just leave me alone!"
"I know my fair share of liars and thieves, stealing is an art of patience, coordination, and in a pinch, sleight of hand. But you didn't steal that ring in your pocket." Emerald immediately reaches for said pocket, her surprise clear as day. "You took it right before the jeweler's eyes, and he smiled."
"Who are you?" Emerald asks, the screening fading to black. The growls of grimm are evident in the background as Cinder's voice echoes, telling Emerald that she will question everything she knows.
Emerald comments that what they're doing is impossible.
Cinder says to someone that she wishes to take on an apprentice.
The timeline of these thoughts were what was most interesting to the Beacon kids. They really wished to know the context behind them, and see the moments that lead up to them as well.
But sadly, they weren't allowed that, as all there was was a black screen.
A man must have informed Cinder that a certain man resides in the mountains. Cinder was directing someone to follow her, so they'll never be hungry again.
It might have only been two minutes into the episode, but this felt like a more Cinder focused one.
The words 'take you' were mumbled by Emerald, the beginning of the sentence wasn't eligible.
A bruised and beat up Mercury stood before Cinder and Emerald, panting for breath. Both of his knees were wrapped in bloodied bandages as well as a small trail of blood dripping from the right corner of his mouth. "What are you looking at?" He demands the two.
So this is the story of how all three of them banded together.
"I'm looking for Marcus Black." Cinder doesn't beat around the bush. Behind Mercury is a burning house, the flames being the only thing that's illuminating the area around them. Mercury spits to the ground next him, gestring to a lifeless body that was his father.
"He killed his own dad?!" Ruby shouts as she stares horrified at the motionless corpse on the screen. This new knowledge chilled everyone's spine.
"That's the assassin?" Emerald questions, disbelief in her tone. Cinder adds that Mercury is his son.
"We saw your fight from the treeline, he's taught you well." Mercury doesn't say much, just agrees with Cinder. "What's your name?"
"Mercury."
"Mercury. Tell me, are you anything like your father?" Cinder asks with an evil smirk.
The screen goes back to black and the echoed voices continue. Mercury wonders what he gets out of all this. Emerald tells Cinder that the two of them don't need Cinder, all was going well with just the two of them. The sound of slap resounds in the darkness; Cinder tells her to not mistake her place.
"My dad always said, if you need to know a city, ask the rats," Mercury states, more than likely Cinder.
"Well, hello gorgeous," Roman complimented the woman.
The group knew Roman was talking about Cinder, making all of them let out something close to disgusted sounds; they didn't know Cinder's real age, but based on appearances she seems young.
They didn't relax until Raider told them that the two's age differences weren't that far off and that Cinder was, in fact, in her early twenties. This small piece of information startled them as Cinder looked to be about 18 or 19.
"So, let me get this straight, you could have gone to anyone for help, you could have made a deal with a gang leader, paid off some huntsman that had strayed from their…righteous path." The three stand in a White Fang tent, wanting to make a deal with Adam.
Ren pulled out his notebook, prepared to take notes as this was going to give them something if they were showing Cinder's side of things.
Blake's gaze hardened the moment she heard… his voice.
"But instead, you seek to choose an audience with me," Adam finishes, stopping in front of Cinder.
"You're the one we need, your skill, your ability to lead those beneath you, you're an exceptionally valuable man Adam, and we we've put a lot of thought into-"
Adam harshly cut her off, "Then you're clearly not thinking straight. If you truly understood me, then you would know that coming here was a mistake, the White Fang is not an organization for hire, we're a force of revolution."
Emerald and Mercury turned and gave the other a look. "I believe our plan will be beneficial for all parties involved." Adam doesn't say anything, so Cinder takes that as her cue to continue, "I have, and associate in Vale, he and I are working on a revolution of our own, but we can't do it without your forces."
Though the White Fang have actually helped them, Blake knew it would take major convincing to get Adam on board with a human, and she was slightly intrigued on how they did it.
Cinder was cut off by Adam, telling them they need to leave as he picks up Wilt and Blush. "You're asking my men to die for your cause, a human cause. That is not an idea I'm willing to entertain." Cinder accepts his answer albeit with a frown, and he sees them leave.
"What was that about?" Blake walks up to the man, stopping with a hand on her hip.
"Nothing, we need to finish preparing, the train will be here at dawn."
So that must have been the night before Blake had left.
Mercury asks what they're going to do now, but Cinder reminds him there's another task they must attend to.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for a friend of mine," Emerald says to a man. The man kindly tells Emerald that her 'friend' was just here yesterday.
The group had a sneaking suspicion they knew who they were trying to find. They just really hoped their suspicions were wrong, because if not, they knew what was going to happen to poor Amber.
"Remember the plan, exactly as discussed, not a foot out of place," Cinder reminds the two.
The sky was overcast and gloomy, looking like it's about to rain and the dirt road is desolate and deserted.
"Just like how that day is going to turn out, dark and depressing," Nora murmured. It wasn't the best thing to say out loud, but she didn't want it to continue residing in her thoughts.
Slowly trekking down the path on her white horse is Amber, a hood covering her face. A disturbing sound flashes for a second just as a small girl is seen on the road by herself, her bike tipped over.
In the small girl's place is Emerald, standing as Amber dismounted off her horse.
This brought some confusion and high alert as that's where the child just was.
Grabbing something from the saddle's pouch, Amber makes her way over to the child. Kneeling down, she gives the small girl a gentle smile. In response, the girl brings up her arms, scared that Amber was going to hurt her.
From her pocket, Amber hands out an apple for her to take.
Not far away stands Emerald, standing about 5 feet in front of Amber as she's giving an apple to no one.
It hit them, cold chills running down their spine. A hallucination. That's what Cinder meant when she said Emerald didn't steal it as she was right in front of the jeweler.
"The screens…" Pyrrha gasped as that must have been Emerald's doing as well.
"And Yatsuhashi during his and Coco's fight…" It was all coming together.
Emerald's semblance is far more dangerous than they realized, she has the ability to make hallucinations, tricking the minds of her targets with false mental images.
Emerald slowly reaches behind her, changing her stance. She kicks up dust in the process, grabbing Amber's attention as the girl faded away into nothing. Amber's clock was thrown off as she immediately brought out her staff for combat.
Emerald shot from both of her rifles, but Amber blocked each one with her maiden powers. Swinging her staff, Amber created a gust of wind that blew Emerald back. From somewhere else, Mercury comes and joins the fight.
Stopping his attack, Amber threw him back with her staff, and repeated her same tactic with Emerald. Mercury used a wooden post to bounce back. As Mercury comes flying, Amber releases a massive blast of fire from her staff, using the dust crystal attached to the top.
The bottom of Mercury's pants burned away, revealing his mechanical legs.
"So we were right!" Weiss shouts while pointing at the screen.
So this means I can break his legs with no serious consequences? Nora's thoughts were hopeful but held dark intent.
Mercury wasn't phased by the fire. Amber was kicked to the ground by him and was brought down even harder by Emerald who came crashing down from the air.
Mercury and Emerald stood side by side and watched as Amber revealed her maiden powers, a massive amount of wind kicking up all around them. She lifted herself into the air, creating a thunderstorm to rain down on the two.
The students were amazed at the Fall Maiden's power, and this more than likely wasn't even her full potential, just a small part.
So for Cinder to get a part of this power…
Bolts of lightning never ceased as Mercury and Emerald moved quickly to avoid each attack. In the distance, Cinder awaited her moment.
Mercury shot from his boot while Emerald fired from her rifles, though none of the bullets hit.
Hundreds of leaves levitated into the air, circling around them in a storm. Amber froze them all, sending them down to her assailants. Emerald cried out in pain while Mercury used his metal legs to block the attack.
Down the dirt path comes Cinder, running at full speed. Amber creates a large fireball to send her way, but Cinder dodges it, using the remains to make shards.
Amber crashes into the ground, finding Emerald and them to be gone. Amber gasps as Emerald appears, using her semblance to cover Cinder's movements as she's sprinting forward.
Come on Amber… Everyone hoped, but they sadly knew how it was going to turn out. She wasn't going to make it, and they were just silently watching the woman's own demise.
It's really twisted to be honest.
For a few moments Amber and Cinder go head to head, Cinder dual wielding. She was thrown back but Emerald and Mercury quickly took her place. Bounding around and kicking the two, Amber was holding her own.
Cinder made her weapon into a bow, three arrows pulled on the string as Amber is distracted with Mercury and Emerald.
Amber turns around with wide eyes. Three arrows surround her, exploding, completely destroying her aura; Amber lets out a scream of agony.
Cinder smirks as she, Emerald, and Mercury slowly walk to the kneeling maiden.
The hearts' of the students dropped.
It wasn't over as Amber sent a blast of wind at three. Blasting a bolt of lighting at Mercury and multiple fireballs at Emerald, all three of them lay in the dirt.
Amber picked up her staff and slowly made her way over to Emerald, holding her right hip. Emerald looked up at Amber as she raised her staff, but she froze as a gruesome noise was the noise, like that of flesh being ripped.
The woman fell, the reason being Cinder who had shot an arrow into her back. Mercury and Emerald held Amber up by her arms, making sure she's looking at Cinder.
Cinder's right sleeve was removed showing a grimm symbol on the back of her right hand.
The group observed the mark with terrified curiosity. They were about to find out the hard way of what that simple mark entailed.
Putting her palm in front of Amber, a small bug like grimm began to form. "Please don't…" Amber begged, those being her final words as the grimm shot black bile onto her face. Amber let out a scream as Cinder began to suck the power out of her.
Both Jaune, Ruby, and Nora ran out of their seats as they felt like their previous meals were about to come up.
They were gone for more than a few moments until they all came back, their faces more pale than they were just a couple of minutes ago.
Yang rubbed her sister's back in slow motions, Ren and Pyrrha doing the same with their respective partners.
When they finally gave their friends the 'okay' to continue, the episode resumed.
Sprinting down the path was Qrow, weapon ready as he sliced the grimm connection between Amber and Cinder and keeping all three of them away from her as she went limp in his arms.
Qrow saw them during the Vytal Festival, he must have come over the moment he saw them on the tv.
Cinder's sleeve returned, as did the mark on her upper back below her nape. She began charging power, aimed at where Qrow stood. He was able to avoid it, but it was only a diversion for the three to escape.
It was a damn good thing Qrow arrived when he did, that much power being at Cinder's disposal might be one of the greatest threats they'd ever have to face.
"The huntsman severed the connection before it was complete," Cinder informed another as the dark screen returned. "Yes, it is…an emptiness, it burns, like hunger. I like it."
Masochistic bitch… A few of the students groaned with disturbed grimaces.
"Yes, I will claim what is ours, thank you," Cinder continued.
The students wondered who she was talking to in the first place.
"We'll find her sir, I swear on my life," One of Adam's men promises. Adam tells him to forget it, adding that it's about time he returned to Mistral- He was cut off as the camp outside was being attacked.
"What is this?!" Adam demands, his weapon out. He comes out of the tent to all the members of the camp defeated, Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury waiting for him.
"We could have gone to anyone for help, but we chose you Adam Taurus." Cinder throws down her weapon to show she doesn't want a fight with him, "Our plan will be beneficial for both of us–or one of us."
She sets the grass in front of them on fire. Emerald and Mercury open their respective cases; one full of dust, and the other, lien. "So, which one will it be?"
Their discussion fades as Dr. Oobleck shouts that Yang Xiao Long is the winner of the first single's round. Each moment fades in and out. Mercury telling Yang that there won't be a next time, him hurriedly coming at her, Yang punching Mercury in the leg, and one he Atlesian Knights demanding Yang to stand down.
Oh, now we're going back to this. This was just making the episode worse after seeing how Amber lost most of her maiden powers and how Cinder 'convinced' Adam to join them and her 'cause'.
Mercury shouts for his leg as medics rush over. "Please, somebody help him! Can you do something?" Emerald pleads as the medics put down the stretcher.
"His leg is nonexistent! He's fine!" Nora shouts, crossing her arms.
One medic turns to the other, "We need to get this boy to a hospital, grab a blanket." The other nods.
Yang watches with horror in her as she watches the four leave. "You don't understand, he attacked me, I swear!" A knight tells her to keep quiet as she's already caused enough of a scene.
"Here, we got an ambulance ready to go!" Another shouts from afar. They load Mercury up, the medic hoping the boy will be okay and adding that Emerald won't leave his side.
The other medic is Cinder in disguise, "We'll take good care of both of them."
The medical airship took its leave from the stadium, "Ah, doc, will I ever walk again?" Mercury asks dramatically, to which Emerald punches him in the arm.
It might have come from Emerald, but no one could deny they felt a small piece of satisfaction as she hit him.
Mercury asks Emerald what her deal even is. "Ugh, one mind I can handle but two is a stretch." Cinder tells the two that they performed marvelously, the driver included. Neo gives a silent nod of appreciation as they head to the city.
"So, you think it worked?" Mercury asked.
"A terrible tragedy took place this afternoon during the one on one rounds of the Vytal Festival Tournament," Lisa Lavender announces on tv.
Whatever they had planned and wanted, it really seemed to work.
"I don't know what Beacon's headmaster is teaching his students but that was disgraceful, completely uncalled for," A Haven tourist commented.
Yang sunk into her seat, arms crossed with a frown.
"Despite Atlas reinforcements, local authorities are still calling on any available huntsman to aid in suppressing the spike in grimm activity." Emerald turned off the tv, Mercury complaining that he was watching that while fixing his leg.
Emerald demands that he shut up. "Is this how you treat a patient?" Emerald responded by screwing his leg too tight for comfort.
"Enough, our Mercury put on a wonderful show, he was quite brave," Cinder compliments proudly. Mercury reminds Emerald that his legs aren't exactly cheap.
"Then maybe we could continue to break his legs until he's broke!" Nora exclaims, hoping to get vengeance on the people who put her friend in this situation.
"I wouldn't mind being a part of that." Sun punches both of his fists together with a mischievous smile.
"Don't forget about me!" Yang joins in, now having a score to settle with more than one person.
Emerald asks Cinder what their next move is. "You and I will ensure our next match goes just as smoothly." Emerald begins to join Cinder and Mercury wonders what he's going to do. "You get to lay low until the end, we wouldn't want people to see you on your feet and have this all be for naught now would we?"
Mercury smirks, getting the picture as he returns to his previous task. The screen fades to black one last time before the end credits begin to roll in.
There wasn't much to say except anger at the three and wondering what their endgame was. And who was Cinder talking to?