Mercury was waiting for Cinder at a meeting point not far off the train.

"Vacuo is as careless as usual." Cinder came up to him without so much as a greeting. "I had the easiest time imaginable getting in here."

"Yeah, because they're all idiots." Mercury was terse. "So I don't need to debrief you on the situation, right? You know what's going on."

"You were going to direct me to where I can find the Maiden," Cinder said. "I take her powers, then I will take the other two's, and then I will get the Relic."

"You were going to get the Relic first, I thought," Mercury said.

"The order won't matter as long as it's within a 48-hour time limit," Cinder said carelessly.

She was seriously so cocky that she thought she'd get two Maiden powers, who were fully functional, in 48-hours? Mercury couldn't believe her.

Siphoning them from Vara would make her twice as strong, but it was still two opponents, and she wouldn't know how to wield the power fully yet. Didn't that make her cautious?

But not his problem. Her cockiness was going to work in their favor--really, this was almost too easy.

Only she was right about the 48-hour time limit--if they didn't get Salem that Relic in that time, she wasn't going to forgive their going off the plan a little. This was going to be one interesting 2 days.

Cinder, ever oblivious to any scheme against her, never suspected that Mercury's compliance with her whims was anything other than being afraid of her.

"The tunnel entrance is inside the school," he said. "I snatched one of the copies of the key they made earlier today."

It had been too easy. Torchwick had left his coat off to take a shower and not thought to take the keys out of its pocket. He'd never known Mercury was even there. [Yes, I assume he left his other clothes off to take a shower too, but who cares about them?]

Mercury held it up only to have Cinder grab it from him rudely. "Good," she said, slyly.

So she didn't intend to let him even get close? Whatever.

Theo was not in his office. He had been constantly searching for Vara ever since she ran, apparently never quite getting close enough to her to succeed, but no doubt he was doing that now...and he was right to be concerned. If they found her first, it wouldn't be pretty.

Mercury didn't care about Vara, but he did feel some unease when Cinder asked,

"And Emerald? She doesn't suspect a thing, right?"

"Nope," Mercury said.

The idiot.

"Good," Cinder said. "Even though I know Salem doesn't really care who finishes her off, I really had hope that it would be me after the stunt she pulled in Atlas."

Mercury was dying to say, "You mean when you got overconfident and almost screwed yourself over again?"

But he bit it back.

Watts was so right about her, but no time to let his disdain show now.

Really, though, if he cared about stuff like that, he'd say that Cinder's utter lack of regard for Emerald, the only person who'd ever given two craps about her, was really almost more nauseating than Tyrian's psychopathic tendancies...but that was the way it was. No one really cared about anyone else, they just faked it to get stuff out of them.

[I can't decide whether that makes Cinder sadder or more despicable or both.]

"Of course, I'll get those other children too, soon enough," Cinder mused to herself.

Fat chance of that, Mercury thought.

Salem would be happy to pick up her slack, though.

Sneaking Cinder of all people into Shade was kind of a bold move, but most of the group was not around; a lot of them had gone out for the evening (this was the night Oscar had his dream of Alicia, and it was about the middle of it at the time--the day before the others discussed what he'd seen).

[If you're having a hard time keeping it straight., Pyrrha and Jaune's conversation happened the morning after Oscar's dream, but her conversations with Winter and Qrow happened the same day as the team's meeting. And so did the others deciding to go out on the town. We went back in time a little to explain certain things.]

He took Cinder through Theo's office, down into the tunnels, and along the way he'd gone before.

To make this extra convincing, he used his scroll to pull up the picture he'd taken of the way, claiming he was checking it to make sure they were on track.

Cinder still didn't suspect a thing.

In all fairness, this was the most believable Mercury had been at conning someone this entire time, probably because he couldn't stand Cinder so he had absolutely no reason to not lie to her.

He took her along even the stepping stones.

"Quite the elaborate cell, isn't it?" she observed snidely.

"Theo likes his women locked in his basement," Mercury said.

Cinder smirked.

If Victoria hadn't come through with her part, Mercury was going to kill her later...

They walked up to the door--they'd found the whole place burnt after Theo had left it, but the door had still been intact, though it showed signs of damage, as even Cinder could see.

"Doesn't seem like she's so happy here," she said. "I guess I should 'liberate' her."

[Cinder liberates people the same way fascist governments do.]

She unlocked the door.

Mercury hung back.

Cinder walked into Vara's old house, hand lit up, only to find it completely trashed.

"We're too late--" she began.

The magic-tracking missiles that Victoria had left in there earlier suddenly shot out of their holders toward the magical aura Cinder was generating and stuck into her in several places.

They were small, and she yanked one out. "What is this? Some kind of securit--" She suddenly fell over.

She might have heard some of Mercury's words as he pressed a transmitter and said, "Target locked down."

* * *

https://youtu.be/U9ZlzjBRfxc

["Lightning" AMV by Illusive Men--channel name does not really reflect the male characters in the video, does it?]

Blake warmed up a bit to hanging out with Sun once they actual got into the dance club he'd had in mind.

Nora and Ren had joined them, though Ren didn't look very happy about the noise, but at least he seemed to be trying to be there for Nora.

Weiss felt like a 5th wheel and was glad that Yang was there...but Yang was not the best company for her--she was too busy looking nonplussed and then eyeing the men in the bar like she might start a fight with them.

Neptune attempted to at least make conversation with Weiss--and didn't get very far. She didn't really want to talk to him.

Neptune really thought she was sore at him for no reason whatsoever. She'd dumped him--if you could call it that when she'd just stopped speaking to him period and gone home to Atlas literally in the same week because of the Fall of Beacon--but her treatment of him since kind of confirmed it wasn't just because of that.

"Did I do something to Weiss?" he asked Yang finally...not that he thought Yang would be much help.

"I dunno." Yang was not helpful.

"Come on, you're friends--why is she acting like I did something to her?" Neptune asked.

"Maybe she just doesn't like players." Yang was rude.

"I'm not a player!" Neptune was offended by that. "That's ridiculous."

"Sure." Yang rolled her eyes.

"I'm not!" Neptune argued. "Where did she get that idea?"

"Uh...gee, I wonder." Yang gestured around. "Could it be the hitting on everything that walks?" She smiled. "Even Illea?"

Neptune still couldn't believe that Sun hadn't told him about that...

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with liking girls a lot," he said defensively. "But it's not like I did anything to Weiss anyway."

"I mean, I think I recall her getting a little mad in the festival when you hit on team SCLT." Yang really knew it the whole time, since she'd been sitting with Weiss at the time. She was just faking not knowing. "But that's just a guess."

"Oh, that? That was just a joke," Neptune said. "I mean, she can't seriously think that's like... And hey, it's not like we were actually going steady. What's her problem?"

"You could try talking to her. I'm not your mediator," Yang said.

"I've been trying, and she's giving me the cold shoulder, literally," Neptune said.

Yang would have been amused by that pun normally, but she wasn't really having it. She shrugged.

Getting nowhere with either girl from the team, Neptune wondered what Ruby was up to--not that he'd hit on her, she was too young for that, but at least she wasn't a jerk.

But Ruby was distracted with a video game machine that was in the back and not open to conversation.

"Why aren't you going around hitting on unsuspecting girls anyway?" Yang finally asked, noticing that lack of flirting happening. 

"Oh...well, you see--" Neptune was going to make up some reason that made him sound less pathetic, but Sun jumped it.

"Oh, he's kind of gotten the message from Vacuo chicks that that whole Mr. Smooth thing doesn't really fly here."

Yang started laughing. "Oh really, that approach didn't work for him?"

Neptune was put out. "They're a bunch of uptight jerks," he said.

"What did you do?" Weiss looked interested, mildly.

"Nothing," Neptune said.

"He just did what he normally does," Sun said. "I told him it was dumb. I mean, you'd think how team SCLT reacted would have warned him, but yeah, a bunch of the girls threatened to break his arm or cut off certain parts of his body if he came anywhere near them."

"They didn't like my look..." Neptune sighed.

"I told you, man, the jacket looks dumb in Vacuo," Sun said. "Who wears leather in the desert?"

Yang, who was sporting her leather jacket still, despite being told it was stupid by a few students at Shade already, frowned. "It's not that bad."

"No offense." Sun held up a hand. "I say dress how you want, but, you know, people have their own opinions. So yeah, Mr. Cool hasn't had the most luck with girls here."

"I hate this kingdom," Neptune said. "It's hot, dry, people try to pick-pocket you, and girls hate you!"

"Oh, poor baby," Yang said mockingly. "That must just be the worst. I mean, running for your life and fighting Grimm is nothing compared to that."

"That happens everywhere," Neptune said. "The rest of the time could be more pleasant."

"I'm sorry you don't like it." Sun seemed a little put out. "I really thought it would go over more. I love it here. No stupid rules."

"Like not stealing?" Blake said.

"It's not that big a deal," Sun said. "Everyone does it, so it's not like anyone cares that much."

"That is the worst logic ever for breaking the law," Weiss said.

"Oh really?" Sun said. "I bet you do stuff all the time because other people do it."

"He's got a point," Neptune rushed to defend his friend. "I mean, think about it, are speed limits really something you obey because you feel like you should, or because everyone else does?"

"I don't obey them," Yang said.

"So why is breaking that law okay, but stealing isn't?" Neptune said.

"Uh, because me ignoring the speed limit isn't hurting anyone but me," Yang said.

"Not true, if you crashed into someone because you were going too fast to stop, that would hurt them way more than stealing would," Neptune said. "So you see, you guys just think you're better than Sun, but clearly, you're worse."

"Yeah." Sun low-fived him.

Yang couldn't find a way out of that.

"That is so not right," Weiss argued.

"Really? How?" Neptune was so smug right then.

"I...it..." Weiss couldn't think of something. "Well, I don't do that anyway."

"You don't drive," Neptune shot back.

"So?" Weiss said.

"That's like saying you don't pick-pocket because you don't have hands." Neptune was on a roll now.

"Where is this coming from?" Blake had always thought Neptune was kind of a moron. "Why are you acting like Sun's attorney all of the sudden?"

"Well, my mom is a lawyer," Neptune said.

[The wiki says this is true... I find it kind of hilarious. Amazing what you can find out with a little research.]

"No way," Yang said. 

"No, really," Neptune said.

"Get out," Yang said. "She's a lawyer? And she lets you out of the house? That should be a crime in of itself."

"Is there a reason she's picking on me?" Neptune asked Sun.

"I don't know, you're an easy target?" Sun said nonchalantly...which was so much worse than what Yang said, that Neptune regretted asking.

"Don't mind her," Weiss told Neptune, more civilly--maybe the whole law argument had pacified her more. "She's been picking fights ever since we got here. Just don't talk to her and she'll leave you alone."

"Yeah, I remember that about her personality," Neptune said. "But she used to just pick fights with our actual enemies, if I recall... What happened to you guys?"

"A lot," Weiss said flatly.

"Yang," Blake hissed at her while they were distracted, "can you lay off a little? We're trying to have fun. Don't make Neptune cry."

"I haven't said anything that bad," Yang said. "Just usual banter. What, you think he can't take it?"

"I just wouldn't want to start a fight," Blake said. "We keep ending all our excursions with brawling or someone missing, and I'd like just one time where that doesn't happen."

Yang sighed. "All right, I'll lay off, but he started it."

"No, he didn't," Blake replied.

Yang rolled her eyes.

"Did I piss you off?" Neptune decided to be the bigger person and try to smooth things over first by asking her.

"No." Yang crossed her arms. "I'm just not in the mood for this."

"Oh yeah. Huh...the kidnapping thing, right?" Neptune said. "Sorry about that... Why did you come out then?"

"I mean, I wasn't going to just sit around the school moping by myself," Yang said. "Besides, I can handle it. I'm not scared--it's just stupid to think about having fun while that maniac is out there plotting the next move."

"Uh huh..." Neptune said. "So...uh...does this have something to do with the evil Grimm person behind all this?"

"Probably," Yang said offhandedly.

"Yikes," Neptune said. "Too bad we missed so much... This sure changed a lot from crashing bars and nightclubs in Vale."

Yang snorted contemptuously. "Yeah..."

Awkward pause.

Neptune thought his chances might be better of getting Weiss to talk--but found she'd run off to check on Ruby when he turned around.

And Sun ditched him because he and Blake went to go dance.

Well...awkward.

So awkward...

"At least Sun seems happy..." Neptune decided maybe a topic that wasn't him would be safer. "I thought he shouldn't have just let her go, in Mistral. I think all that distance  stuff is overrated."

Yang just shrugged.

"Is it weird to have her parents also in Vacuo?" Neptune said.

"Actually they went back to Mistral a couple days ago," Yang said.

Gira and Kali had made Blake promise to contact them more often, especially if the CCT tower finally got up--and it was coming along nicely, actually--but they knew they couldn't stay away from Haven forever and invite trouble. 

"Oh." Neptune wondered if Blake was okay with that--then again, who wanted their parents watching them while they were trying to be cool with their friends? He'd die if his were around.

"But your dad's here now, right?" he said.

"Yeah...so?" Yang said.

"Nothing, just it's weird to have so many parents around," Neptune said. "Your mom too, right?"

Bad subject. Yang glared.

"And your uncle," Neptune moved on hastily. "And Weiss' mom too, right? Isn't her dad, like, in prison?"

"Yeah," Yang said. "Scoundrel deserved it, too."

"You talking about Jacques Schnee?" someone else who was sitting on a chair by the counter looked at them warily.

Yang had heard some of what happened to Qrow and Winter in one bar--and she was 100% okay with that.

"We weren't talking to you," she said aggressively.

"Uh...Yang..." Neptune said.

"Shhh," she said.

"Aren't you from Atlas?" the person said. "Hey, nice work with that. Can't take out your own trash--you have to dump it on our lawn?"

"You want to come over and say that to my face, I'll show you how I take out the trash!" Yang made a fist.

"Oh, big talk coming from some bimbo!" The person got up.

"Yang..." Neptune said.

"What?" she said.

"Low profile?" Neptune reminded her. "Bad people... Not causing a scene."

"He started it," Yang said. "Besides, no one's going to care."

"Or we could try to settle this diplomatically so that no one gets punched," Neptune offered.

"Wimp," Yang said.

"Hey, I can hold my own in a fight, but you were the one worried about crazy people being out there." Neptune probably shouldn't have said that, but it was effective.

Yang lowered her fist, looking pissed.

"What, don't want to fight after all?" the guy jeered.

"Hey, dude--" Neptune got in front of Yang, hoping that would defuse the situation. "--it's cool, we don't have to settle this with violence."

"Are you a chickens---?" the guy said.

"No, man, I'm thinking of you," Neptune said. "Like getting clocked by a couple kids in a club who are professional huntsmen, that wouldn't look good, right?"

Professional might have been stretching it, but the guy tilted his head. "Huntsmen."

"And friends of Headmaster Theodore." That was really more true of Sun, but Neptune hoped the guy bought it.

"Theo?" The guy softened a little. "He's cool... Eh...fine, I'll let you off this time. But keep your mouth shut."

"No problem," Neptune said nervously. "Yeah, next time..."

He turned. "Walk away," he said. "Now."

"What?" Yang said.

"Just do it," Neptune said. "Trust me, I've seen enough fights in this kingdom in the last several months to know sticking around is just asking for it to get started again."

Yang sullenly walked to the other side of the club, and Neptune followed, wishing Sun would notice when he was in trouble and bail him out, but he hadn't even seen the whole thing.

"Whew." He sank into a booth. That was close.

"I could have taken him," Yang said.

"Not really the point, right?" Neptune said. "Just because you can doesn't mean you have to, right? Not when we're trying to keep it lowkey."

"I don't need people thinking I need some idiot to bail me out," Yang said.

That made Neptune just a little mad. After all, Yang almost just got him in the middle of a possible brawl and she never acted sorry.

"Hey, you were the one who was all nervous. Way to thank me for defusing the situation there," he said testily. "You know, I don't have to risk my reputation hanging around you guys, the way you keep starting it with people. You saw what just happened back there."

Yang frowned at him.

"But we're tight and all, so it's no big deal," Neptune said. "I mean, Sun and I slide by, but just...could be a little more grateful."

Yang frowned. "For what? I could have done the same thing."

"But you didn't," Neptune said.

Pause.

Yang sighed. "Whatever."

"I'm not really liking this new side of you." Neptune said what everyone had been thinking but no one had had the guts to say--and the only reason he did was because he had never seen Yang angry before.

[I mean, he hasn't.]

"What?" Yang looked up sharply.

Still blissfully ignorant, Neptune went on like he was talking to Sun and not an angry chick with shotgun gauntlets.

"This whole 'angry at the world' thing," he said. "I don't really get it. Don't know what went down at Haven or Atlas, but it must have been bad, because I never saw this at Beacon."

Neptune just meant that he thought something else had happened since then--he had no idea he'd literally just hit the nail on the head.
[Nailed it!]

Yang, not being smart enough to figure he didn't do that on purpose, was a bit stunned.

Then she was mad.

"Where do you get off?" she said. "You don't know me at all!"

"Guess not." Neptune accidentally said something pretty slick.

Yang paused, but then went on irately, "And you don't know what I've been through. You and Sun have been fricking around since Beacon, while we've been dodging Salem and her goons. So how about you not judge me when you have no idea what it's like out there."

"Are you delusional?" Neptune couldn't believe this. "Like...you think this hasn't been bad all around? We've been busy nonstop. Grimm have been everywhere. Maybe we didn't deal with the crap you guys did, but it's not been a picnic either--or how I thought my first year was going to go, so you know, it sucks for everybody. "

"Then why are you jumping on my case?" 

"Uh...I wasn't. But I'm just saying, my teammates and I aren't at each other's throats," Neptune said, like it was obvious. "I mean, being more chill is kind of the whole point of having a team."

Yang frowned

Sure...he was right.

But it still pissed her off to be told that.

"Everyone seems to have such a problem with me all of the sudden," she said. "It's not like I asked for this s--- to happen."

"I think you've got it backwards." Neptune again was unaware of the minefield he was in. "You've got a problem with everyone else. No one's starting it with you."

"Likstar does." Yang fell back on the one person she could safely say did.

"Oh, her..." Neptune actually liked Shine just fine. "Well, yeah, I could see some tension there. You guys are a lot alike."

"What?" Yang was really offended now. "Like that b---h?"

"I didn't mean--why is she a b---h?" Neptune was puzzled. "She's nice."

"Nice? How?" Yang said.

"Uh...well...she was super helpful while the Grimm attacks were still going on at the camp," Neptune listed it off. "The kids loved her, I heard. Sun said she took real good care of the team while you guys were gone too. And she and her partner have gotten the Grimm to almost stop attacking us, and they captured that Watts guy, right? Didn't he hack Atlas or something? And they worked hard to get you and your mom back... I don't get it--why is she the bad guy?"

"I... She..." Yang trailed off. "Well, she's not nice."

"Huh?" Neptune said. "Well...huntsmen aren't always nice... Not that it's not better to be nice, but...kind of surprised you're the one saying that."

"Because I'm a jerk?" Yang frowned.

"No, I just thought that you weren't the type to care that much about if people seemed nice or not."

Yang frowned. "Like I don't care about people being nice at all?"

"I don't know, it's not something we think about that much," Neptune shrugged. "I'm just glad anyone knows what they're doing around here."

"If she does," Yang muttered.

"What did she do to get on your bad side?" Neptune asked.

"She thinks I'm a brat." Yang had some nerve to say that outright and leave herself wide open--but Neptune was at least smart enough to know not to say that. "She's always telling me to shut up and that I don't know what I'm talking about. She doesn't treat anyone else like that."

That was not true, but Yang was determined to think so.

"I mean, sure, she's helped a few times..." Even Yang was not so unjust as to forget the couple times Shine had done something right--in her mind. "...but mostly, she's a jerk."

"Huh..." Neptune was surprised. "Well, I didn't peg her for the type. I mean, she's a little snarky, but I thought it was all in good fun."

"Maybe," Yang allowed. "But it's... She's...well, she's full of herself. She thinks she's always right, that no one else ever could be right. And that we're all bad at our jobs, and that we're just as bad as the people we're fighting."

"She said that?" Neptune didn't like that idea... He hoped he wasn't included in it.

"Well, basically," Yang said. "She said that if we do certain things, we're just as bad as them. I mean, come on, lady, who do you think you are?"

"I guess if those things were just as bad, that would make sense," Neptune allowed.

"Oh, don't give me that legality crap," Yang said. "She means that we're just as petty as the villains we're fighting. But if we were, why are we trying to save the world and they aren't?"

"Not sure that's all," Neptune said. "I know of huntsmen who are real jerks who justify it in the name of being huntsmen, so they're, like, automatically good guys."

"Well..." Yang could recall a few bullies herself. "Maybe a few people are like that."

"Hey, didn't one of your team almost get shanked by some students from Shade?" Neptune recalled. "Yikes, that must have sucked for her."

"I'm not sure I'd count her as one of our team," Yang grumbled. "But yeah, they went after her."

"That's kind of dark," Neptune said.

"You're telling me you wouldn't want revenge if someone got your friend killed?" Yang said.

Neptune thought. "I don't know."

He really wasn't sure.

"Well, some of us are pissed about it," Yang said.

"Okay...but that's her, not Likstar. I don't get it," Neptune said. "Did she do something wrong? I mean, we've been out of the loop for a long time..."

"It's not any one thing, it's her overall attitude--I can't stand it," Yang said.

[Yeah...the irony of everything Yang is saying is not lost on me.]

"Still, I really think it's just that you're kind of alike," Neptune declared expertly. "She sounds strong-willed, tough, and like she doesn't take any crap from anyone, right?"

Yang frowned at him.

"But maybe you kinda butt heads because of that?" Neptune suggested. "I mean, it's like how siblings fight. My brother and I did that all the time."

"You have a brother?" Yang said.

"Yeah," Neptune said. "Older... Anyway, the point is, sure, it's a pain in the butt, but I don't know if it makes anyone a bad guy to have a little friction like that. Can't you just let it go?"

"Oh, so you're on her side now," Yang said.

"Not really, I just think it's dumb to fight with your team," Neptune shrugged.

"Yeah, I knew that would be where this went," Yang said. "No one wants to hear my side. They just want to say I'm the worst." She rubbed her arm.

"Sorry," Neptune shrugged. "Not what I meant. I'm not really a good advice giver, honestly. What is your side?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Yang said.

Typical, Neptune thought. Girls...

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

But that worked, because Yang was only too eager to talk about it really.

[That is too real.]

"I'm not the bad guy just because I'm not okay with all this," she said moodily. "I didn't make the choices I did to hurt anyone. I was trying to do the right thing. But that's unacknowledged. It's like all we ever do is make mistakes in the minds of a lot of people. Well, what were we supposed to do? It's not like we knew what would happen. We tried to think for ourselves. I just don't get why that make us irresponsible morons."

"That's what she said?" Neptune found that hard to picture from Shine... True, he didn't know her that well, but she'd been cool.

"More or less," Yang said.

Neptune knew better than to get in the middle of a girl fight.

"Well, hey, it's none of my business, but you could always just try to talk it out," he said.

"Why?" Yang said. "I don't want to talk to her."

"Oh..." Neptune said. "Well, guess you're stuck."

Pause.

"Why should I anyway?" Yang said. "She started it."

"Hey, do whatever you want," Neptune said. "I mean, you're gonna anyway, whatever anyone tells you, so..."

"You're saying I can't be reasoned with?"

"I feel like whatever I say you're just going to twist it into something bad, so I plead the...whatever you plead to remain silent," Neptune said.

"Shut up," Yang said.

Neptune actually did shut up, which kind of ruined her attempt to start a fight yet again.

Neptune debated whether he should just find someone else to sit with--this was a minefield. [Now he gets it.]

But his complete silence had a good effect on Yang, in that he didn't walk on eggshells enough about it to avoid something that might almost be true--even if he had no context whatsoever.

She frowned... What if she did talk to Shine? Told her what she really thought of her? Would that work?

No, she'd never listen. That woman did not back down.

Then, on the other hand, why was she, Yang Xiao Long, letting someone intimidate her like this? Maybe the twerp had a point...

That hadn't been his point, but Yang kind of interpreted it into what she wanted.

"Maybe I should just talk to her," she said. "I should tell her not to push me around."

"Yeah, sure." Neptune wasn't really listening anymore. "Hey, is that guy over there hitting on Weiss, or is it just me?"

"What?" Yang turned to look.

[Well...who knew?

You know, in real life, I think sometimes it takes someone who's just kind of clueless to point out stuff that more sensitive people are too considerate to say to you. There are times when tiptoeing around someone's feelings just does not work.

Not that I recommend doing that to an angry person usually--in Yang's case, we can hope her better side is still under there, since I've seen some sign of it, but in many cases, I'd just say it's not going to work unless they already are working on their anger issues already.]