Victoria came briefly to sit in her "break" room, where Watts was still sitting with his cup of tea.
She sat down and rubbed her forehead. "Kip is still missing. One of the prisoners is dead... This operation has been one big mess."
"Oh?" Watts said dryly.
She hit her head on table.
"Don't damage your brain; it's worth too much," Watts said.
"Shut up..." Victoria mumbled half heartedly.
"Perhaps Kip is with your friends," Watts said. "They could have found him."
"If so, why haven't they called me?" Victoria snapped.
"We're underground..." Watts said. "Only my special enhanced signal allows us to call at all...remember?"
"Right...I should go up top," Victoria muttered.
"Well, don't be so hard on yourself," Watts said. "It's not as if any of this is your fault."
"Do shut up," she said again.
"Hmm." Watts leaned back in deep thought, then he said, "I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer it honestly without some wisecrack--and don't act shocked."
"If it's about anything off-color--"
"No," Watts said. "Well, yes, in a way."
"Not in the mood for this."
"No, you'll like this one," Watts said. "In your honest assessment, would you say there is any potential similarity between how I handle failure and how that...half-baked witch, Fall, handles it?"
Victoria looked up.
"What?"
"Yes, exactly," Watts said. "I know it's unthinkable."
"This was news to you?" Victoria was unabashedly brutal.
Watts gave her a look of offended horror. "I beg your pardon?"
"I mean, let's look at the track record, shall we?" Victoria held up her hands. "Exhibit A, both of you feel people don't take you seriously enough, so you run away from home. Exhibit B, you both join Salem in order to get what you want. Exhibit C, you try to take down anyone who ever insulted you. And if I could add as a sidebar: Neither of you seem to like the other, ironically enough. And you're both trying to get the other person killed or punished for crossing you. You should just get married instead--that would be punishment."
"Don't even joke about that," Watts said. "I'm Sapiosexual." [This means attracted to smart people.]
"Me too, which is why I'm still single," Victoria said.
"There are other people besides Derek out there," Watts said.
"Not if you and your master blow up the world," Victoria said. "Besides, that's not what we're talking about. Now that you've had this crushing revelation, may I ask why you even brought it up?"
"Well, something that woman said," Watts said.
"Fall?"
"No...Likstar." Watts rubbed his chin. "She's such a b---h...but if she has a point, it would be foolish not to consider it."
"She's got a mouth," Victoria said. "Just like you said. She tried to mess with my head. I admit, though...for a second it almost worked. She's something else. I can easily believe she outsmarted you."
"And yet here I am," Watts said. "And there she is...unless, of course, she's right that Salem is going to destroy us all."
"My opinion on that is unchanged," Victoria said.
"Then why are you helping us?" Watts said.
"Because we have a common goal," Victoria said, distantly. "For now. After this, we won't work together anymore."
"Personally, I think after seeing this, you have nearly as much a shot at world domination as Salem does," Watts said. "Except not being immortal does throw a wrench in it."
"Who knows? Someday maybe I'll unlock that also," Victoria said offhandedly. "Problem solved, then."
She got up. "No time to waste."
"But that's why you detest me, isn't it?" Watts said as she was turning.
"Pardon?"
"Before, because I faked my death and vowed revenge instead of slinking into a hole like you and just working in secret," Watts said.
"Arthur, who am I to say if someone should fake their death?" Victoria said. "Mayhaps it would have been easier if I did that--but the one thing I can't fathom is why anyone would use their talents to help tear down what's left of civilization, which is our only accomplishment as a race that means anything in the long run, in the hopes that the immortal being who's been fighting humanity for centuries is suddenly going to turn around and start helping them once she gets her way--instead of finding a new career or goal in life that's actually constructive. So yes, I despise you. I loathe wasted potential."
She left the room.
[Everything Machine--half alive]
* * *
"When are we getting out of here?" Cinder asked Shine, after they'd heard Victoria's news to Winter and Raven--it really wasn't that far away, and the girls were loud.
"Excuse me?" Shine asked.
"Well, there's no hostage now, so there's no reason to stay," Cinder said. "And you can, so why aren't you?"
"Because I think farther ahead than that," Shine said. "And that is no way to speak. Weiss is..." She paused. "No, she's not dead." She rubbed her temples. "I would know. The magic here isn't that strong. Maybe I can't see into this place, but that doesn't mean I can't see out of it."
Her eyes flickered. "I think I would know. I always know."
"Great, you know." Cinder didn't buy it. "Or you failed."
"If I failed--" Shine looked up at her. "--what would your rubbing it in do for you?"
Cinder pursed her lips.
"Just proves my point," she said.
"At this stage, Cinder, your chances of escaping this place are dependent on me believing what I believe in," Shine said, "so you could at least pretend to encourage it until we're out of here. I don't trust you, but some effort would be nice."
"Oh, wow, I bet everyone is all right," Cinder said sarcastically. "Happy?"
"No."
"Good."
"Right." Shine rolled her eyes. "Well, it could be worse. I could have been stuck with Tyrian."
Cinder grimaced.
"Right, the only thing we have in common is our distaste for him," Shine recalled. "Honestly, though, you're not that different."
"Don't say that," Cinder said.
"I've been thinking, though," Shine changed the topic, "about what you told me. About your one friend that you killed. Love doesn't mean much to you, does it?"
"No," Cinder said flatly. "It's not real anyway."
"It is," Shine contradicted her. "But I've been having this thought ever since we got here, which is that, perhaps, it does look pretty stupid to believe in what we believe in. I mean, this world would take the faith out of anyone, if they let it. But this passage from one book keeps coming back to me. That it's odd, 'the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones', [Puddleglum, The Silver Chair] that people can believe in a lie so adamantly that it's more real to them than what's around them. Granted, that's also the mark of insanity. But insanity makes you withdraw into yourself, while what we believe pushes us to go out there, and we often deal with hardship better than people like you, who live for yourself. And it annoys you. Because you can't understand why we keep going. But the thing is, whether or not Faith, Love, God, and Hope are true--they are more worth believing in than nothing at all. And if I had to go out believing in one thing, I'd rather it be my Savior, and be happy believing that, than give up and be miserable because I just couldn't stand it anymore. If you cannot be sure of anything in this life, you might as well believe what gives you the most strength."
Cinder just looked at her like she'd lost her mind.
"I'd rather have my faith than nothing at all," Shine replied, firmly. "That's where it is. I don't think you could say that."
Silence.
"That said, if you want power, you'll get it--maybe, for a while--but you'll be left emptier in the end. We become full by giving, not by taking," Shine said slowly. "As I said before. I'd like to tell that to Victoria."
"Tell me what?" Victoria came up.
As if this was normal, Shine looked at her. "That power does not satisfy," she said.
"I agree," Victoria said. "Power does not, but trying to help humanity push itself forward, that is the greatest thrill I know of. To really do something for the world."
"And I ask, what have you done for the world?" Shine stood up. "All this suffering you've caused, and for what? You won't beat Salem this way. Is that what you want? Or are you becoming like her?"
"Watch your mouth," Victoria said. "This stopped being cute a long time ago."
"Good," Shine said. "And I mean it. Toying with Grimm, experimenting on people sounds just like her. Wake up, Victoria. You must have been a kinder woman at one time. I've heard about your husband, and your son."
"Don't," Vic said tightly.
"And it's very sad," Shine said. "Sure, you loved them. But would you have done to them what you're doing to us? Does it occur to you that we have people we love also? I daresay you'd never have let anything hurt your family. What should we do to you for hurting ours?"
"I'm trying to help you idiots," Victoria cried. "If I succeed, we could have a fighting chance against Salem. We have no other option!"
"We do," Shine said, firmly. "And I'd teach it to you, if you wanted. But it means going back on all this. You're not quite too far gone yet, Victoria, I think. If you stop now. But you need to stop now. If you go further than this, it's going to be too late. You can't keep selling your soul like this and hoping to be human anymore. There's more than one way to become a monster."
[Love the reference to the Frankenstein story.]
"I'm not a monster!" Victoria said. "You don't know what I've done for people."
"I've heard of some of it," Shine said.
"I've worked for years trying to save humanity," Victoria said. "Can you say the same?"
"Yes," Shine said, without hesitation.
Pause.
"Well then, you should understand," Victoria said.
"We don't agree on what saves them," Shine said. "And one of us will have to win. I'm warning you, if you don't call this off yourself, let us go, give up on this magic before it kills you and the rest of us, then we're going to have to do it for you. I don't want to have to, but if we have to tear this whole place down in order to stop you, so that you have nothing left, we will."
"You couldn't do that," Victoria said.
"Maybe I could." Shine's eyes were intense.
Victoria laughed at her, nervously. "You really are persuasive, I'll give you that...but I'm not falling for it. I'm not Watts."
"That might be true, sadly," Shine said. "At least he has an instinct for self preservation...though your motives are more noble than his. What happened to all of you?"
"You and your high talk," Victoria said. "You know, if I were a different kind of woman, this would be enough to anger me. Is that wise?"
"Are you different?" Shine said, relentlessly. "I've been hearing you punish my companions out there. What illusion do you have that you are above this?"
Victoria began to answer and then stopped.
She walked away.
"Two for two," Cinder said. "If I hated you less, that would be impressive. But it's not getting us out of here."
"Oh, don't be coy with me. That's worse than your scorn." Shine made a face.
* * *
Kip led Vara to the door--only to find it was locked.
"Our security system is up?" he said. "But why?"
"She knows we're here!" Vara said, horrified. "This was a terrible idea--I knew it."
"Mother!" Kip called, pressing a button in the wall that allowed him to speak over the intercom.
About two seconds later, the door opened, and Victoria was there with her scroll out.
"I was literally just going to call you," she said, grabbing Kip. "Where have you been? It's way past your bedtime."
"At least call it a curfew, helicopter," Vara muttered to herself.
"Vara?" Victoria looked at her strangely. "What are you doing here?"
"She brought me back." Kip looked away nervously--but luckily, Victoria interpreted that as guilt for staying out.
"Yeah, figured he wasn't supposed to be out," Vara said coolly. "Am I barging in?"
"Oh...well..." Victoria faltered.
"Nice place. Didn't know you had another one," Vara added.
Vic tilted her head.
"Yeah, well, I haven't used it in a long time," she said. "You would not believe what I've been through... Where have you been anyway? Theo's not even been in touch. Did they catch him?"
"I think he is lying low," Vara said. "I can't explain it, but he seemed to feel they might be extra suspicious for some reason. Didn't he tell you?"
"No," Vic said, not making eye contact carefully. "You know this tunnel isn't safe though... You'd better come in."
She didn't want Watts or Mercury to see Vara--but she didn't like her chances if she just walked out either.
Vara knew this was the plan, but her skin was still crawling--and not from her Semblance.
Still, she walked in.
"You are grounded," Victoria said to Kip.
"Oh, don't blame the kid," Vara said. "He ran into some punks."
"Yes..." Kip said. "But...I got away."
With some help from Penny.
"Oh, you poor baby," Vic said. "This is why I've told you not to go out! Did you go to get those stupid cats?"
"Yes...but...I didn't," Kip said.
"Maybe I could pick them up," Vara said, trying to cover his clear nerves.
"You? With cats? That's like asking for something to happen," Vic scoffed. "They bite and scratch all the time."
"They don't mean it..." Kip said.
"Neither do I, sometimes," Vara said, flexing her fingers.
"Yes..." Vic said. "But this was really not a good time, Vara. You shouldn't be here."
"What are you working on?" Vara looked at the catwalk and walked forward.
"Wait!" Victoria said.
Vara looked down, and her eyes widened... What a sight.
Raven was the only one who bothered to even look up--and she narrowed her eyes at her.
"Is that Branwen?" Vara said. "You caught her after all?"
"Yes." Vic came up. "But actually, I think you'll be interested to know my other big catch. Kip, go to your room."
[Mother Knows Best--Because I had to at some point.]
"Yes, Mother," Kip said, flying over the catwalk.
But he was going to try to disable the alarms as soon as Vara had Vic distracted.
"What could be better than that b---h?" she said. She sounded pretty convincing. She still didn't like Raven.
"Come this way." Vic led her to one stair of the catwalk, carefully avoiding Winter, who had hardly moved since the news of earlier.
Victoria didn't like to think about it.
She led Vara to Cinder's cell.
Cinder was leaning on the wall, looking bored.
Shine was still singing to herself.
"You know better than I. You know the way. I've let go the need to know why, for you know better than I..."
"Who is that?" Vara honestly had no clue.
"Oh...that..." Victoria said, like it was an odd specimen. "That is...a problem. Long story short, she was in my way. But I assure you, this is only till I'm finished with the Maidens."
"You're keeping someone here who's not a Maiden?" Vara asked.
Cinder looked behind her.
"Who is this?" she demanded.
"You fool." Shine got up and looked at Victoria. "What do you mean by bringing her here?"
"I'm sorry...do you know her?" Victoria said.
Shine jerked her head at Cinder.
"Oh...right." Victoria rubbed her head. "But it won't matter anyway. I've found a way to take care of that arm. Actually, it's pretty vulnerable, considering. Took a few tries, but I've learned a lot about Grimm in the last decade. So no need to worry. She won't be siphoning anyone's power."
"This is the Summer Maiden?" Cinder was at least smart when it came to this. "This woman? How pathetic."
Vara frowned at her. "And this is the parasite? Honestly...I expected more."
But seeing someone who'd tried to suck the life out of so many Maidens made her feel uneasy.
"Take a good look," Victoria said. "I'm going to kill her after this. I already have what I need from her. Though, it would be more poetic to let someone who's actually lost someone personally because of her be the one to do it. But somehow I don't think Likstar is going to take the offer."
"You're going to regret this," Shine said. "What were you thinking? And you think killing Cinder is going to work?"
"You can't really think that keeping her alive is a good idea?" Victoria scoffed at Shine.
"Not like this," Shine said. "In combat is one thing, but this is sick and twisted. If you can't see that, there is something wrong with your brain... Dust exposure, maybe? I heard it can make you a little crazy."
"That is true," Vara said.
Victoria shot her a hurt look.
"In some cases," Vara added. "What? It is."
"I'm very careful, I assure you," Vic said.
"Don't you ingest that stuff?" Shine asked. "I heard plenty from Yang. I doubt it's not messing with your brain. It's not safe to put magic in your body."
"I'm getting tired of your superior attitude, Likstar," Victoria said. "It was irritating before, but it's getting to be quite grating now. You're not going to stop me either way. You're only embarrassing yourself with all that talk from before."
"Oh, Victoria," Shine said oddly, "your destruction is at the door even now. If you could just see it."
Vara looked at Shine strangely. Did she know? No...no way she could have if she'd been locked in here.
But her 6th sense was going off like crazy. What was this woman? A Seer? [Not the Grimm kind, obviously.]
Shine winked at her right then. Like she knew something.
"Nevermind her," Victoria dismissed it. "I need to check my lab results right now. Vara, come to the back room. This is no place for plebeians."
"Sure, not like it was pleasant to look at her anyway." Vara made a face.
But she cast a look back at Shine once Victoria's back was turned and made some motion like "wait!" and pointed upward.
Then she followed.
"So that's her," Cinder said. "That's who all this fuss was about? She's not much. I could beat her."
"That will be irrelevant before long," Shine said. "Can you focus on anything other than your power lust for a moment, woman? This must be a sign. Four Maidens here...I don't like it."
"I'm also sick of your bossing," Cinder said. "You've gotten no results with it."
"Oh, patience," Shine said. "And shut up. I will escape when I know it's the right moment. But if Wally doesn't know Vara is here...this could be a problem."
* * *
Wally and Ruby heard Vara and Victoria pass them by.
After a moment of thinking about it, Wally said, "That has to be Vara. What other woman would she let in here freely?"
"That's her?" Ruby pressed her ear to the door. "She sounds normal..."
"What else would she sound like?" Wally said.
"She sounded kind of chaotic in the stories..." Ruby said.
* * *
"What is this?" Vara looked at the test tubes and sample containers of the back room.
"I've been taking their magic samples and trying to control them," Victoria said. "But I had a theory about Cinder... Did you notice those marks on her back? They're magic."
"She has magic tattoos?..." Vara said.
"They indicate magic," Vic said. "And I figured something else out because of what Ar--what I learned about Salem. She gave Cinder magic powers--that's how she took the Fall Maiden's powers, before she had that arm. But they aren't inherent to her the same way. They're borrowed. I think the...strange bug thing Theo told me about, they channeled Salem's powers, from a distance, without Salem having to give them up. Thus she is not diminished, but she can still lend her subjects magic. Handy, isn't it?"
"Why didn't Ozpin think of that?" was Vara's first response.
"I know, right?" Vic rolled her eyes. "The incompetence of the people we're dealing with astounds me."
"Great... I don't suppose you can stop her from using it?" Vara said.
"I could, but that's not the point. The point is, she still has some of Salem's power in her...in her arm. It's running through it," Vic said. "I picked up on it, and I was right--it reads differently from the Maidens...the first being Salem and Ozpin's magic... It's really like a genetic signature. All my theories seem to have been confirmed. From what I understand, they should be compatible. Otherwise why could that arm take Maiden powers at all?"
Vara shivered. "So what does it prove?" she asked. "I thought we were taking the powers."
"I may know how to do that," Vic said. "But even better, I think I may have..."
She peered at something under a microscope...then she got very excited. "Yes...yes!"
She looked up, looking ecstatic.
"What is it?" Watts came in.
He stopped and stared at Vara...not sure who she was, but he had a guess.
Vara remembered in time not to act like she knew him.
"Who's this?" she asked.
"A friend," Victoria said, though that was pushing it. "He's in on some of this... By the gods...I think I've done it."
She put a hand to her head. "The two magics, they combined... They linked together. Once I took the Grimm element out of it, it happened almost instantly."
"What does that mean?" Watts asked. "That your theory of reproduction is correct?"
"I believe it is," Vic said. "If I was to give someone both these magics at the same time...it's conceivable that it would be able to sustain itself...and be passed on. It might take several tests to nail it, but all of the data seems to line up with what I thought. The secret was needing two different people's magic."
"Magic works by rules like that?" Watts said. "Fascinating."
"I know, it's... This is a breakthrough I've worked for for so many years..." Victoria sank down in a swivel chair. "I almost don't know how to feel... I'm so close."
Vara went pale.
Oh no...oh no, no, no, no!
Were they too late?
But, forcing herself to at least look calm-ish, she rubbed her forehead. "I thought you were trying to mitigate the powers, not reproduce them."
"Of course both. I haven't forgotten you," Vic said, kindly. As if this wasn't horrifying. "But I think that will be easy now. Oh..."
In her enthusiasm, she'd forgotten that Watts shouldn't know who Vara was. He was still on her no-trust list.
Watts pretended not to have heard. "So, you need Cinder alive?"
"No." Vic brushed her error under the rug, thinking he hadn't caught it(he had.) "I don't need that much from her. I think just the amount of magic I can get out of that arm now...and then it's done... It seems it renews more when Salem wants it to. I'll take it all now. Use it sparingly... Anyway, I can't leave her alive."
"On the other hand, if you need her magic, that's your only chance." Watts rubbed his chin some more. "I hate to say it, but isn't it too much of a risk?..."
"I'm destroying her arm either way." Vic picked up some device off a table. "If I need her alive, there's always the other markings. The arm is too dangerous."
"This I have to see," Watts said.
"Var?" Vic asked her.
"I'm not sure I have the stomach for it," Vara said. "I'm a little dehydrated right now...you know how it is... Do you have a fridge down here?"
"The kitchen is that way." Victoria pointed.
Vara promptly moved that way.
"You're really buying that she's not here for a reason?" Watts said. "This is too convenient."
"What do you mean?" Victoria said.
"I'll make you a deal, Victoria," Watts said. "Salem doesn't find out who the Summer Maiden is...if you can get the Relic for us--or transfer those powers to someone else. We still need the Fall Maiden, and we still need the Summer one. But I don't care who is who."
Victoria went quiet. "I should've known you'd notice..."
"Oh please, I guessed it already," Watts said. "I'm not stupid."
"Yes...unfortunately," Vic said.
Suddenly she pulled something out of her belt and zapped him with it.
Watts, stunned, fell to the floor, immobilized.
"I'm not that foolish, Arthur." Victoria looked down at him dryly. "You'll get your new Fall Maiden, but I do this on my terms. You won't get a chance to contact Salem until I'm sure that Vara is nowhere near here and no longer needs to be a target. Understand?"
She pulled him up and shoved him into one of her other holding rooms, closing the door behind him.
[Well, he should have seen that one coming.]
* * *
"I don't hear anything." Theo was waiting outside the tunnel entrance. There seemed to be two entrances into this bunker also. Made sense--why have only one exit?
Somehow they'd got here without getting killed by traps--though a few had been a bit of a close call.
"It's cold down here," Emerald said.
"I'm sure Kip is working on it," Pyrrha said. "They must be in by now."
"I don't like it," Theo said. "Something has gone wrong already, I'm sure of it."
"Can we try to stay calm?" Jaune asked. "We don't know for sure."
"I hope the others are all right," Blake said.
"What's gonna happen at that school? It's a fortress," Sun said.
[🎤 Oh, sweet, summer child...]
"I think we should be more worried about ourselves." Neptune hadn't liked the waterways they'd passed on the way here.
"Shh," Hazel said. "We don't know what could be watching us."
He was so much more right than he knew, because it was only about 3 minutes after that they heard a scraping sound of a Seer, sliding its tentacles along the stone wall.
"What was that?" Blake's ears were all alert.
They turned their lights on the tunnel behind them...and saw at least 5 Seers coming along the passage.
"What the...?!" Theo said.
"Seers!" Emerald screamed.
"Look out for the spikes," Hazel said.
One of them slashed out at the closest person, which was Neptune.
"Ah!" He jumped back in time.
"The claws are so nasty!" Sun whipped out his gunchucks/staff.
They heard skittering sounds.
Suddenly, behind the Seers came some huge, beetle-looking Grimm--they looked like rhinoceros beetles, but they were, of course, about 2000 times the normal size. [That would be a dangerous Grimm.]
"AHHH!" Sun didn't like bugs.
"We're too cornered here. Spread out and destroy them," Theo yelled, putting his hand into his belt.
The beetles charged them anyway, so they didn't have much choice.
Emerald used her Semblance to blind them and the Seers--she found Grimm easier than humans; they were more simple minded. She could do a few at a time.
Even with that, though, there were too many of them.
They chased the group back into the tunnel--but then some of them went one way, and some went another.
Emerald and Hazel went the same way at first, but then three Grimm, one Seer and two beetles, latched on to him as a primary target. Perhaps they could sense he had wounds underneath the toughness.
Hazel injected some dust, but he still got separated from Emerald.
Using her scroll to pick her way over it, Emerald hoped somehow she'd find another door to the outside. This was like a nightmare for her.
She finally stopped, trying to get her bearings...and, turning her scroll light up, she saw...what looked like the remnants of old dust rocks.
Reddish ones, from the look of it. There wasn't enough to really detonate anymore, but if you hit it hard enough you might set up a fire for a few minutes.
But Grimm at least might not come in here so easily, she hoped.
"I might have known you'd go off alone," Mercury's voice said behind her.
Emerald whirled around, holding out Thieve's Respite. [That is the name of her weapons. Wiki has so many fun facts.]
Mercury was standing there, not looking happy.
"You." Emerald glared at him. "I can't believe you! This whole time, you were setting us up, weren't you? I... You lied to me."
"And you're surprised?" Mercury sounded callous enough to her. Though he wasn't meeting her eyes exactly. "I tried to tell you, Emerald. I told you I wasn't going to leave Salem. You believed it because you wanted to, admit it."
"I did want to," Emerald said, sadly. "I wanted to believe you were smarter than this...but it's not too late right now. I know you screwed us over pretty bad, but if you help us fix it, the others will understand. Salem made you do it, right? They threatened you? That's not so bad."
Mercury looked at her incredulously.
"I really don't believe you, Em," he said. "After all that, you're still not angry? You still don't get it? This isn't some game where you can just switch sides because you want to. This is life and death, and you fools aren't going to win. I don't care about any of you--I'm in this for me. I told you what would happen."
"But you knew I'd leave anyway." Emerald frowned at him. "And you didn't stop me."
"I knew I couldn't stop you, but I thought I told you to leave me out of this," Mercury said. "You knew where this was going. And now, we're on different sides."
He put his hands up. "Salem doesn't like that."
It took Emerald a second to get it, even after that, but then she swallowed and stepped back.
"She sent you to kill me," she said, in a horrible tone. "Didn't she? I knew she'd come after me, but I never thought it would be you."
The hurt in her tone came out even though she was trying to sound angry. "And you're just going to do it, aren't you?"
"Oh, don't try to act surprised, Emerald," Mercury said. "If Cinder had told you to off me at one point, you'd have done it. Let's not pretend we're not both still working for people--we just switched people. I tried to tell you to stop. You didn't. This isn't on me."
"You can say that," Emerald said, holding her weapon up tighter, "but I wouldn't have done it."
"You would have," Mercury said.
"I don't know what I would have done before," Emerald said. "But knowing what I do now, I wouldn't do this. And you know the same as me. So out of the two of us, that still makes you more heartless."
Mercury frowned at her. "Well, you should have known that already."
"You don't really want to do this," Emerald said, a little more scared sounding. "Do you? Come on..."
"What I want has nothing to do with orders," Mercury said. "I don't have a choice about this, and neither do you--so, are you going to fight back?"
[That callback was so brutal in so many ways.]
Emerald choked down her fear. "Yes," she said, looking more determined.
[I found this the other day as a happy accident, since I needed more Mercury-themed AMVS. Thank you yet again, Apotheosis. The song is "Love The Way You Hate Me".]