Ruby was ready for the final round. This Mercury guy had screwed up her sister pretty good, but she would be too fast for that. He couldn't dodge her if she attacked everywhere.

The reaper looked into the stands for encouragement. All her friends were there to watch her succeed… Except for Jaune… And Nora, actually. Pyrrha wasn't there either, but she wasn't exactly friends with the champion. The last time Jaune missed her round it was because he was fighting terrorists in Vale. She could only hope that wasn't the case this time; she'd already missed out on more terrorist fighting than she would like.

Well, whatever adventure Jaune was on, Ruby had to deal with the here and now. And that meant getting some sweet revenge for her sister.

Outwardly, Mercury didn't seem too tough. But he clearly had a semblance that could mess with people, she just had to figure out what it was.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, for the final round of the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Professor Port cried to the cheers of the crowd. "Ruby Rose of Team Jeweler verses-"

A siren cut the teacher off before he could announce the second fighter. It was the sound that played when Grimm were very close to Vale or Beacon. But how could Grimm have gotten so close without being detected before now?

"Hello, citizens of Vale. Or more accurately: Goodbye. You see, the time has come for the once mighty city to be returned to the dust from whence it came. Some of you might be shocked to learn that Vale will soon be naught but ashes, but to you I say… Surprise, Jaune." Ruby had heard that distinctive voice only once before. It was Ash, the woman with the boy's name. But what did she have to do with the Grimm. The only woman that they knew to work for Salem was Cin- Oh.

In hindsight, it was rather obvious.

But Mercury was on Ash- Cinder's team. That would mean he was a criminal too. His current actions only backed this theory. While the rest of the crowd panicked and tried to flee the scene, Mercury stood calmly with her in the arena, as if this was an ordinary occurrence. Yeah… That wasn't going to stand.

Ruby rushed the grey haired fighter, but never made contact. An invisible force hit her from the side, throwing her to the side of the arena.

"Ruby!" She heard Yang call out in distress. Damn it! How was he able to throw her around just like he did to Yang?

The reaper held back from engaging until her friends arrived to back her up.

"Did you see how he attacked me?" She asked her partner.

"He didn't. He just stood there while you were hit." Weiss reported.

"He's with Cinder." Ruby relayed.

"Yeah, I know." Weiss responded to her partner's shock. "Jaune told me before the White Fang bust, but we sort of forgot to tell you guys." The reaper gave the heiress a stern look. "Well, I told everyone now." Weiss defended herself.

"And how exactly did Friend Jaune know about this?" Penny asked. Weiss just shook her head.

"There's no time for that. We have Grimm incoming and a common enemy to deal with. Focus on that now, and our petty crimes later."

"Affirmative. Your logic is sound." The agent nodded.

"We'll have to try and reason with him, since fighting doesn't seem to be working." The youngest huntress developed a plan. Weiss, Ruby, Yang, Blake, Ren, and Penny all started to circle Mercury, who remained calm as ever. "We know you're with Cinder Fall, so just stop fighting and you won't be hurt." She called over to him.

"I'm not fighting you." Mercury stated as if it was obvious. When they clearly refused to believe him, he elaborated. "I'm not fighting you. She is." He gestured over to Ren, who turned around just in time to dodge a stab to his back. The ninja backflipped away, but the green haired attacker made no moves to re-engage.

"Damnit, Merc! I nearly had him!" The dark skinned girl complained. Ruby believed her name was Emerald, if she was remembering correctly. Mercury shrugged as Emerald walked over to him.

"What's happening? What has Cinder done?" Blake demanded, bringing things back on track. Emerald turned to her with a wicked grin and laughed.

"Mwahaha!" Did she actually just-? "What has Cinder done? Why, she has ushered in the new age of man, destroying the old civilization starting with Vale itself!" The group moved into fighting stances. "You will all bow before her as a Queen and Goddess or you will be crushed under her heel! Now die-! Oof!" The crazed monolog was cut off when Emerald fell to the floor, unconscious. Behind her, Mercury looked on with a slight frown.

"So…" He started. "Can we go?"

"…What?" Everyone else asked, dumbfounded.

"Cinder hacked into Vale's security system and turned off their long range Grimm detectors so a giant hoard could move in. She also planned to take control of Atlas' robot army, but that earlier hack was discovered right after the Dance. That's what she's done. Can we go now?" Mercury freely gave up the information.

"Why are you telling us this? And how do we know you're not lying?" Blake demanded.

"And how were you able to beat me?" Yang added.

"Well, as to the second question, it really doesn't matter if I'm lying because the Grimm are approaching now regardless. Whether you believe what I told you about the cause or not is irrelevant." He turned to Yang. "As for how I beat you, it's Emerald's semblance. She can cause people to see illusions. She was just in the stands, changing your perception of my location. It's also how she managed to sneak up on you before. And for why I'm telling you all this… I don't like Cinder."

"Then why would you be working with her?" Weiss challenged.

"Well, I used to be into the whole 'destroy the world' motif because my father tried to kill me when I was a child and I didn't think there was anything to live for…" Mercury gazed back to Emerald. "But then I fell in love, and I realized that life does have meaning, even if it isn't always obvious." He shook his head nostalgically. "At first she drove me insane, but now I can't imagine life without her. I've had plenty of opportunities to abandon Cinder, but none that would bring Emerald with me- she's obsessed with that woman. Until now."

"You want us to just let you take her and leave?" Blake summarized. "Without any consequences for your crimes."

"I know I've done bad things in my life, and Emerald has to. But for her sake and my own, we're not going to prison for it. If you want to try and take me or her in, I'll fight you to my last breath. And I may not be the best fighter, but that will take some time- Time that you could instead be using to protect the citizens of Vale as they are overrun by the Grimm hoards. Even now, innocents are dying while you try to sort me out. So just leave me and my love be, and you'll never have to deal with us again."

"His statements have merit." Penny decided. "I am currently receiving multiple calls for backup all across Vale. His capture, while valuable, is not the current priority." With that, the agent put away her weapons. "I will capture both of you some other time, but for now, I have citizens to protect." The orange haired girl then sprinted away from the scene and out of the arena.

"Nora's out there on her own." Ren suddenly realized. "I've got to find her." And he too, ran off.

"Guys, he's right. There's no more time to waste here, we need to find Jaune and kill some Grimm." Ruby decided. Yang, Blake, and Weiss agreed. Before they left, Ruby turned back to the criminal. "But one more thing…"

"Yeah?"

"Why were you two here, cheating in the Tournament? What was that for?"

"Oh, that was for a completely different plan that got scrapped. Cinder never told Emerald not to do it, so she took it upon herself to cheat anyway. I just went along because, well, you know already."

"Right…" Cinder was certainly the oddest villain Ruby had ever dealt with. They left the two criminals alone, speeding off to more important tasks.

I had a really busy week, so I had to delay this chapter.

But now we finally have Mercury's story revealed. He was always lurking in the background, but now the truth comes out.

As well, Ruby is the POV for this chapter. We'll be seeing what Team RWBYP gets up to before the finale with Jaune.

Until next time,

-RMV