Mercury was practicing his skills with his prosthetic legs and Emerald hugged her knees in fear, but she was also bored.
"I hate being kept in the dark like this" She sighed, making Mercury stop practicing.
"Yeah, Cinder was a pain, but at least she kept us fills in" Mercury added, instantly going back to his practicing.
"Can I ask you something?" Emerald asked, making Mercury have a pause in his practicing again. He knew that she was going to ask a question anyway.
"You're gonna" Mercury said.
"Why did you come with us, the night Cinder and I found you?" Emerald asked her question.
"Why are you-"
"Just answer the question" Emerald interrupted, making Mercury groan a bit. But, he knew that Emerald would bug him if he didn't.
"Just made sense" Mercury simply answered.
"It made sense?" Emerald repeated. In what way of 'sense' was Mercury talking about? In fact, it made NO sense at all.
"All my life, my father trained me to be a killer, an assassin like him" Mercury started. "And then moments after I killed him, you two showed up looking for someone with my exact skills. Just felt like it was meant to be"
"That's it?" Emerald still did not understand. There had to be more that Mercury was desiring.
"Hey, what's your problem?" Mercury asked.
"I mean, there has to be something you want from this, right?" Emerald questioned.
"Salem's promised us everything" Mercury explained. "We win this thing for her, we'll be top dogs in her new world. What more do you want?"
"I just... Cinder was the only family I ever had. She cared about me, taught me things. But... after what Amity said at Haven, I don't know if what we're doing-"
"Wake up, already" Mercury huffed, making Emerald look at him in confusion. "Cinder doesn't care about you. She doesn't care about either of us."
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Emerald shouted.
"You're in denial. And if you think of having some crisis of identity or some crap, keep me out of it" That pushed Emerald over the line. She went to attack Mercury, who blocked her attacks, and soon grabbed her right arm. "I'm sorry you didn't have a mommy that loved you, but I had a father who hated me. He never went easy on me. Every day of training was a beating. And when I unlocked my semblance, he stole it with his. 'This is a crutch', 'This makes you weak'. He told me I could have it back when I was strong. So I got strong, but I never got it back. I've had to work harder than anyone to get where I am. You may not like it here without Cinder, but I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be"
The two then heard laughing coming from the hallway. It was revealed to be Tyrian with his new prosthetic tail, since Ruby cut off his real one.
"Oh yes, the world is mean, and I'm a big, bad man now just like the others" Tyrian laughed.
"How long have you been standing there?" Mercury growled, storming up to Tyrian with an angry expression
"All you ever learned was pain and violence, and now you're too afraid to even leave it" Tyrian grinned. "Such a tragedy"
"You don't know me" Mercury grit his teeth at the scorpion Faunus. Mercury had never been this angry before to anyone else other than his father. Mercury then tried to attack Tyrian, but he proved faster and kicked Mercury onto his back. Tyrian then got on top of him as his stinger was threatening to poison him.
