Vara wasn't sure if Vic was really buying this, so she had to act quickly.

As soon as she walked into the kitchen area, she grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge, because she really was dehydrated, and then she focused, thinking upward.

Her eyes blazed with fire, and the air in the room began to feel buzzed with ion charges and static electricity, which covered her arms and hair.

But the wind in the room was mild. She was focused on the space above her, in the sky above the hideout.

* * *

Outside, clouds appeared overhead, darkening and swirling around like a hurricane.

"Whoa..." Tai looked up, astounded. "This is what this looks like?"

"This is nothing," Yang said, but she was kind of freaked out too.

"That's the signal," Qrow said. "Time to go."

They opened the trapdoor and rushed down the stairs.

* * *

Kip had successfully disabled the security system. Thankfully, his mother didn't even come that direction to see if he'd gone to bed or not.

He still felt guilty--but also, seeing the state Raven and Winter were in, he was more determined than before.

Raven saw him flying with something and frowned at him. But she didn't protest, because she thought he was following orders--until she saw the lights over the doorway went out.

She was smart enough not to say anything then either, but she motioned at him.

Kip flew over nervously.

"Kid, let us out of this," Raven hissed. "Can't you turn off the Aura-blocking stuff?"

Kip shook his head. "Mother never lets me touch that part. Only she knows the right code order for each thing. I could...kill you, instead."

Raven almost wanted to flip that coin rather than lose an opportunity to escape--but realized, even if she got out, she couldn't run far. Her Aura wasn't recovering very quickly at all--also her magic wasn't working perfectly still. Victoria hadn't gotten around to fixing it yet--in fact, Raven had been shooting 🪶 🪶 feathers off with no warning at all, and she was afraid if she even tried to use magic, she'd turn into a bird, without wanting to, and then back.

She had no idea if Winter was up to a fight, but she hadn't heard a word from her since earlier, not even crying... It was just dead quiet.

"If you're helping us, then who sent you?" she hissed at Kip. "No way you're alone."

"Your friends... They're outside..." Kip said.

Those idiots!

Raven could have cried in relief.

"So let them in," she said. "Anything in that tunnel system that we should know about?"

"No, I don't think so--" Kip was cut off by a siren sounding.

"Did she do something?" Raven covered her ears.

"No, that's our Grimm alert!" Kip said.

Victoria raced into view--

Kip got farther away from Raven before she could see him.

"Oh, we needed this!" Victoria cried, turning off the siren sound.

Then she ran up to a different door...one that Raven assumed led into the maze from a different part of the bunker.

She turned to check some computers...

Then she let out a long sigh. "They're moving away from the door. Must just be passing through...but the cloak I have on the walls would mean they'd never find us anyway. They're probably going after some poor sods up top who are lost or something."

"Should we help them then?" Kip asked.

"We're not huntsmen. We couldn't," Victoria said, which was a lie, because she easily could have if that was the case. "We're safer here. Sorry for the scare... Go back to bed."

"Yes, Mother." Kip cast Raven a helpless look, before moving away.

Grimm, Raven thought. Either they were just a fluke...or they were in the tunnel, with someone who might be there to help them--unless it was Mercury, and then she didn't care. Served him right for selling them out.

But she doubted it. Grimm never seemed to attack Salem's minions.

* * *

Vara heard the sirens and stopped.

This meant the others in the tunnel must have been attacked by Grimm... She thought Theo could handle himself if there weren't too many, but what about the kids? Should she go help? But they needed to stop Vic...

Still, if they had a few minutes.

"Vic." She flew over the partitions. "That was grimm, right?"

"Yes, yes, but they aren't close." Victoria waved her off. "False alarm."

"I'm not so confident of that," Vara said. "Let me into the tunnel. I want to check."

"Vara, is that wise?" Vic said.

"They're just stupid beasts, Vic." Vara crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I'll never let them get close enough to touch me. I'll fry them. And then we don't have to worry about it. I can't relax with those things out there anyway."

Vic hesitated. "I suppose you can handle it. And then they won't harm anyone else--but don't go up top, someone could see you... Keep it under control, too. I don't need a flash flood in here."

[Flashflood is what we think Yang and Neptune's ship name should be. Their current one in the fandom is Combat Goggles, which sucks.]

"Oh, please," Vara said.

Actually, Vic was only too glad to have her out of the bunker for the next stage of her plan; she might be too squeamish for it anyway.

She didn't think of Vara having ulterior motives, because, as far as she knew, Vara knew very little about what had happened in the last week or so, other than they'd gone after Raven. So why would she even think of the rest of the team?

Vic unlocked the door to the tunnels from the inside, which saved the others having to do it themselves.

"Don't lock me out now," Vara warned, stepping outside into the tunnel.

The air was much colder out here, but it didn't bother her like usual. She still had the effects of that drink and weird pastry going.

She heard footsteps in the passageway outside.

Lighting her hand up, she saw some huge bug Grimm standing outside the door.

They weren't trying to attack it, they were just standing there, like they didn't see it but they knew they were supposed to be here anyway... Creepy.

Vara blasted them to smithereens with lightning, but she could just tell there were more around.

Then she saw Yang and Tai come around the corner, weapons ready.

"Where is everyone?" Yang demanded. "Why are you out here?"

"Grimm," Vara said. "I'm trying to vaporize them, before they eat your friends, but I might be too late. They're not here."

"They'd try to get farther away," Tai said. "They'd get boxed in here..."

He glanced at the door. "So...this is it? There was another door when we came in, but we heard something from this way, so..."

"They both entered it, from the sound of it," Vara said. "But this one is a little more out of her sight. The other one leads to a catwalk. She'd be sure to see you. Tell the others that if you see them... I can't stay out here too long. She's going to kill Cinder."

"Good," Yang said.

"Not good. She's hit on something big," Vara said. "I hate to say it, but if Cinder goes, we might all be in serious trouble... We have to take this whole place down."

Her eyes glowed as she looked at the door behind her. "I could...I could destroy it."

"What?" Tai said.

"But you'd need all your friends out first. They'd never survive it," Vara said. "Now would be the time for our little illusionist to sneak into here and warn them."

"Emerald's around," Yang said. "See? They all ran for it... We should go after them, if there's Grimm."

"But this could be our chance to get Ruby," Tai said. "And Raven."

"I saw Raven. She looks like death warmed up," Vara said. "I didn't see Schnee. Vic took me around her, I think, but she can't be much better. Your crazy friend, though, she seemed all right. She was singing."

"She would," Yang said, with a nonplussed look.

"At least she's not giving up then," Tai said.

"Oh, no, she sassed Vic. It was pretty gutsy," Vara said. "So she might be up for a fight, but the others... This is so much worse than I expected..." She put a hand to her stomach. "It's nauseating...and to think a slim claim to old friendship is all that kept me from being in the same boat as them. I allowed this to happen to them. I thought it was necessary...but it wasn't real to me till I saw this place... One big death trap...how could I have not seen it before?"

"Snap out of it." Yang shook her by her arm. "You can cry about it later, lady. We have to get them out! I'm not leaving them with her..."

But then her hand shook. "But..."

Tai looked from her to the door.

"Yang, you should go get the others," he said. "Qrow? Where are you?"

A caw and then Qrow landed in the dirt and resumed human form.

"I went down some other passages," he said. "I saw those SNNN idiots and Blake fighting some Seers, but they seemed to have it under control. I didn't see Reinhardt anywhere, or the green-haired chick. Arkos was farther away with some other beetles, but I doubt they'll have much trouble."

"Nikos's Semblance might be what we need," Vara said. "If anyone could mess up those machines, she could. But she could kill them too, if we're not careful about this. Still, she's bound to have an advantage in there that the rest of us don't. I say we send in her and Sustrai--but where's Theo?"

"Knowing him, he's fighting more of those monsters somewhere else," Qrow said. "He'll be fine, though. I say we go in there now and get Ruby and the Maidens... Did you...see them?"

"All but your Lieutenant friend," Vara said. "And I didn't see Ruby either, but she's probably just secured away from the magical stuff. She could do a number on this place. I could just sense it all in there."

"Where was Winter then?" Qrow asked.

"Oh, she's there, but Vic didn't like to let me see it, probably figured I'd be more squeamish about someone I didn't detest, even if I don't like Atlas that much." Vara crossed her arms. "You know, her lying to me, it's just icing on the cake of how fricked up this all is. She's hidden so much...and she doesn't even seem to care that I know now...like it was inevitable...like now that she got what she wanted, secrets don't matter. It was just to get me to cooperate."

"First time?" Qrow said flatly.

"Oh, shove it up yours, Branwen," Vara snapped.

"Okay, okay, can we not?" Tai said. "Sol, I'm sorry that this is so crappy for you, but it's not any better for us. Can you put it aside till later? Anything we need to know about that room?"

"I don't know. It's full of traps--you can't touch anything," Vara said. "I don't know how to get them out of those glass cages--like danged zoo animals. How does she not see that as messed up?"

"How many times are you going to say that?" Qrow said. "She crazier than you thought, deal with it. Ruby must be somewhere in there... She'd better be."

"Why? It'd be better if she wasn't," Yang said.

"Not if it means she never made it here," Tai said. "For now, we have to hope that she was brought here... Otherwise, Callows might have found her first."

True... That was even worse.

Yang swallowed and felt sick.

"We'll handle this. Go help the others," Qrow said.

"Fine," Yang said. "Don't start the fun without me though."

She raced away.

"She's not ready," Tai said. "She's tough, but I think this shook her up more than she let on...just like with Adam."

"She's a kid, and this woman is a monster," Qrow said. "What do you expect? I wouldn't go in there for a million lien if we didn't have to. She's interested in all magical people... But it is what it is."

"Maybe you shouldn't go in there, Qrow," Tai said. "We don't need to give her more ammunition."

"I'm going." Qrow gave him a look that said no argument would be brooked.

[Yes, that's a real phrase. Read Pride and Prejudice.]

"Give me a moment, I want to get rid of more Grimm first," Vara said. "I need to kill something after that."

She ran down one of the tunnels.

"She's scarier than Summer," Tai said.

"Not even close," Qrow disagreed.

* * *

Emerald used her Semblance to give Mercury the slip and run farther into the mine shaft.

She couldn't run the other way, because the Grimm were waiting back there. She couldn't fight them and him at the same time.

But she was already getting tired just using her Semblance this much without a break.

Mercury chased her.

"You can't hide forever," he called.

Emerald was on top of some of the rocks, trying not to scrape anything with metal. [I guess red dust is basically flint. That would make sense. Or Schist.]

Mercury ran right in front of her. "Come on, Sustrai, this isn't going to help you win," he said.

Emerald jumped off the rock and at him while he couldn't see her because of her Semblance.

Then she hooked the chain of her knives around his neck and yanked back, trying to get a grip by latching her legs around part of his torso.

She wasn't trying to kill him, she was trying to choke him until he passed out so she could run for it.

This move might have worked on most people, but Mercury was more agile than that.

He coughed, but he put his hands under it, using his Aura to keep from getting cut by the chains, and then he ducked and used his momentum to throw Emerald over his head onto the ground.

She groaned and looked up.

Mercury stomped on her with one boot, knocking the wind out of her.

Emerald rolled out of the way before he could hit her again. Now she was coughing, and she spat dirt out of her mouth.

"Nice try." Mercury rubbed his throat and brought one foot up. "But it's not gonna work."

He shot at her.

Emerald ducked.

"Are you crazy?" she cried. "You could hit the wall--"

The wall behind her blew up and sent fiery pebbles flying.

It wasn't a big explosion--there wasn't enough dust left for that--but it did sear her, and she jumped forward to get out of the way.

Mercury kicked her back while her Aura was down, knocking her into a different wall.

Emerald groaned again. She was getting rag-dolled here!

Mercury came at her, and she used her Semblance to hide.

"Just because I can't see you doesn't mean I don't know you're still here!" Mercury shot at her again anyway.

Emerald ducked a few shots, and fire blazed on the wall, sending her forward yet again.

She rubbed her arm and picked her weapon back up in time to catch one of his feet as he brought it down on her.

For a second she managed to hold him off, but then he pushed even harder and twisted her knife out of her hand. The chain went clattering to the ground.

Emerald ducked his next kick and tried to pick it up, while swiping with her other knife.

Mercury instead flipped back and then kicked her several feet away from it.

"I really expected better," he said. "You're not even trying, are you?"

"I don't want to do this!" Emerald said, wiping blood off her face and wondering where she was cut. "You're the one who's making it come to this! Just stop! Don't make me hurt you."

"It'd be nice to see you actually try. This is insulting me," Mercury said.

He fired upward at the ceiling.

Emerald looked up, and some rock came loose and fell toward her.

She yelped and jumped out of the way, rolling.

Mercury stayed on her tail.

Emerald tossed her other knife and hooked it around one of his feet and then yanked him off of it.

Mercury fell onto his back, and Emerald jumped on him, using her knife to hold him down.

"Just stop fighting me!" she yelled. "Now! I'm not going to kill you! But--ahh!"

She yelped in pain, as Mercury had gotten his feet under her and kicked her off of him. She flew up and then down, hitting the wall again.

Her Aura shimmered.

"That's real stupid, Em," Mercury said, getting up and raising his boot. "That's what makes you weak!"

Emerald spat blood out of her mouth from biting her own tongue because of the impact.

[Real part of fighting they don't talk about much. So not glamorous.]

"Is it weak?" she asked, looking up and yanking her weapon back towards her hand using the chain--but Mercury stepped on it suddenly.

She looked up. Oh no...

Then Mercury hooked it with his boot and yanked it out of her hand, sending it flying into the wall.

Some dust lit on fire and then petered out.

Mercury rubbed his fist into his hand.

"Yeah, it is, and it's dumb," he said. "Pulling your punches when someone is trying to kill you? I thought you knew better than that."

Emerald, stood up, leaning on the wall, looking around for anything else she could use to defend herself.

Her Aura was tapped, though...

"I guess I did go soft..." she muttered. She'd never lost this badly before except to Salem...but this time, he was right...she wasn't really trying. She knew she wasn't... She just couldn't bring herself to do it. Mercury was an ass...and he was trying to kill her...but she knew he was trapped in this. It was too much like her not that long ago...and would she have done this to someone else then?

She was pissed at him for going through with it, but she couldn't feel anything like the anger of someone who truly believes they would not have stooped this low themselves, once. That was the difference between her and the heroes. She was humbled too much.

Yet...this hurt... It hurt a lot that one of the people she'd considered a friend turned out to not...

When was she going to learn to stop trusting the wrong people?

[Every person who is attracted to toxicity ever.]

She wasn't going to get to learn, she thought faintly. She didn't think she could beat him. Not when she wasn't willing to go as far... She could have unleashed terror on his mind--but she couldn't stand the thought of doing that either. But she was throwing the fight... She couldn't do that! She needed to try harder!

She put her hands up as Mercury was coming closer.

He kicked at her, and she ducked, then ducked again.

She used her Semblance to confuse his vision just a little...to make it harder to tell where she really was, but not so far away that it wasn't obviously a trick.

He stepped a little too shallow, and she was able to kick him into the wall

More dust blew up, singing the back of his coat and his neck.

"Ow!" he cried.

Emerald yelled and jumped, knocking him into the wall again, hard.

For a second she had some ground--but then Mercury grabbed her leg and yanked her, then he flipped her over his head and slammed her into the wall instead with his foot, gun part pointing right at her face.

Emerald's Aura flickered and then broke.

She looked at him.

He looked at her.

They both knew it: She was done. She wouldn't survive it if he shot her right now.

She pushed with her hands, but she wasn't stronger than him. He didn't even budge.

Emerald gave up... Might as well just accept it.

* * *

"Oh, this is the best part," Tyrian hissed at Neo, gripping her shoulder in a vice grip. "Just keep the illusions up, you little ant."

https://youtu.be/zNckl-SRIhE

[Tyrian's attitude towards Mercury, if you ask me, and Emerald. AMV by Xerxes the Terrible]

He sounded way too excited. Neo wanted to vomit...but she didn't dare move.

* * *

Emerald wished Mercury would just get it over with. She had her eyes shut.

Mercury was standing there...

In his mind he'd already entered this surreal state for the entire fight... This is what he was trained for... This was what he knew how to do...

And...he could do it. He'd killed his own father. He'd killed lots of people. Just another job.

And Emerald was pissing him off anyway. Not even trying to win, was she crazy? She might have escaped, if she'd fought harder. It was like she was still waiting for him to stop...to snap out of it.

All this and she still didn't want to see him as an enemy. She was completely stupid...idiotic...naive...

He hated her.

But he wasn't firing...

And the fool was just closing her eyes, waiting for it! She was doing literally nothing to stop him!

It pissed him off more!

He started to click his gun into place...

Emerald flinched.

Mercury stopped.

Emerald...really didn't deserve this.

But now, what did that matter? Everyone for themselves...

He didn't have a choice... He was dead if he didn't finish this job.

A different thought came into his mind, that didn't sound like his own: Would it be better to die than to live because you killed the only person you ever thought didn't have it coming?

He knew better than to disobey Salem...but...oh...d--- it! Emerald was better than him. She always had been! She was a d--- coward who cried in the face of people like Salem and Tyrian but she still had the guts to disobey them. What did that make him? That wasn't strong!... He was a coward... She knew it. He knew it...

He was just doing this because he was too scared not to...

Shine had been right about him... He had nothing else to him other than this...

While that was not the most inspirational thought, Mercury suddenly yanked his foot away from Emerald's throat and into the wall, cracking the stone--luckily most of the dust had already blown up, so it only sparked slightly.

Emerald opened her eyes, shocked.

Mercury swore loudly.

"I can't do this s---!" He kicked the wall again, angrily.

"Mercury?" Emerald said, faintly.

"Just get the h--- out of here, Emerald," Mercury said, angrily. "Run...don't look back. Don't wait for anyone. I can't do this crap, but that doesn't mean that they won't."

"Mercury," Emerald said. "I don't know... I... You..."

"Shut up!" Mercury said. "I'm as good as dead if this--"

Before he even finished, suddenly he yelled in pain.

Emerald didn't understand till she looked up--and an illusion shattered behind Mercury.

Tyrian, holding the hapless Neo by one arm, while she looked terrified, had just stabbed Mercury with his tail.

Mercury looked back at him for a second.

"Right you are, Mr. Black," Tyrian said, looking ecstatic. "Right you are! Both of you are as good as dead!"

He struck at Emerald, who only just had time to think to duck and then cast an illusion in his mind--but her Aura was barely back, and it didn't last long.

Mercury tried to kick Tyrian, but he used his tail to knock him into the wall, and he sank to the floor.

Emerald tried to go for her weapon, but then her illusion broke and Tyrian saw her.

He charged after her.

He did let go of Neo in order to do this, though.

Emerald tried to scoop up her knife, and Tyrian knocked her aside onto her back and then pinned her down with one foot, raising his tail over her head.

"This is for our goddess!" he said. "Let this be a lesson to anyone who tries to betray us!"

Emerald gasped.

Neo, fading into the background so that it was hard to see her, charged at Tyrian and held out her umbrella to try to stab him in the back, literally.

Tyrian turned and knocked her umbrella down and then grabbed her with one hand, like it was nothing.

Neo returned to her normal form, struggling.

Tyrian jerked her arm--and he just snapped it, like it was nothing.

Neo appeared to scream without sound, then Tyrian flung her into the ground.

"I'll deal with her later," he said. "Once she's served her usefulness, but for now--"

Before he had finished, abruptly, a blast of electricity hit him, rattling him so that he fell to the floor.

Emerald looked up.

Hazel, looking slightly banged up, was around the corner of the rock formations.

"Go!" he yelled at Emerald. "I'll handle him!"

Emerald knew better than to argue.

She snatched up her knives, and then she ran up to Mercury.

Neo, wincing in pain, pushed herself up with her good hand and picked up her umbrella, then she took off also.

"Mercury, come on, get up." Emerald grabbed his arm. "We have to run, get to Jaune, someone, anyone!"

"You go on..." Mercury said.

Emerald frowned, then she slapped him.

"OW!" He sat up, more irritated.

"You can die here, with Tyrian, or you can at least try to get away!" she said. "I've had it with your s---! Now get up and start walking, or I'm going to let Hazel throw you most of the way!"

Tyrian was up already, before Hazel could really hit him again.

"So the prodigal returns!" he said. "But not to beg forgiveness, I think. Well, fine, we'll finish this now!"

"I should never have worked with someone like you, scoundrel." Hazel held out his hands. "Your death would be nothing but a mercy to the rest of the world. Allow me to enact it."

Mercury finally got to his feet, kind of unsteadily, and Emerald took his arm and ran for it. She didn't care about the Grimm now. Better them than Tyrian.

She hoped Hazel would be okay.

* * *

Vara killed a few more Grimm before she turned back.

Theo met her on the way.

"Having fun?" he asked, pulling a grenade out of his belt. 

"Oh, loads," Vara said. "I'm taking down Vic. Don't try to talk me out of it."

"If you're doing that, then you're going to need backup," Theo said. "I know I can't stop you, but you're not leaving me behind. Anyway, I haven't had a lot of fun in a while, so this is going to shake things up."

"Just don't get in my way, pansy," Vara said.

"As if I've ever," Theo said.

They found Qrow and Tai, just about tired of waiting.

"Well, isn't this nice," Theo said. "One big happy team again, minus Glynda...and James..."

"Oh, he'll be missed," Qrow said sarcastically. "Let's just go. I'm sick of waiting."

"All right," Vara said. "I'm going to fry the light fixtures... Fingers crossed that will only affect them and nothing else. She'll have backup power, so you might have a few minutes at most before she recovers. If you can find Rose and the others in that time and get them out, maybe we'll make it out of this alive--but if not...well, I'd rather die trying than allow this to happen, so...it was nice knowing you all."

"Same," Tai said.

"Yeah, whatever," Qrow said.

"And I'm sorry about Summer...again," Vara said.

"If you do the same as her, I'd just as soon you not say that," Qrow said.

Vara shrugged. "Fair."

"Well, Vara, if our oldest friend does end up killing us both, I'll just say you are owed a massive I told you so,"  Theo said. "There, I said it. And...I'm sorry, if that means anything anymore."

"If we live, I'll think about it." Vara said the most gracious thing she was willing to say.

"Enough talking." Qrow yanked the door open.

Vara stepped in and raised her hands.

Electricity surged along the walls of electric and fire dust--and they started to blow out.

The whole room became dark in about 10 seconds flat.

https://youtu.be/exK1xPqKCrE

[Couldn't believe I found this. AMV to "What's Wrong" by Half Alive, made by ArgentumAMVs]