So first things first. I will apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but it is mostly for the purpose of some lead-in to the events of Volume 3. I felt like a confrontation like this was going to happen at some point, and this seemed as good an opportunity. Otherwise I intend for the chapters to gradually return to the longer lengths they have been as of recent posts. Some may be short like this one considering that they feed off the events of certain episodes given what I saw as relevant events to my story.

On that note, I am now going to quiver in a corner as I figure out what my response to Ruby's confrontation to Torchwick/Neo is going to be like tomorrow, as well as the fight against Captain Edgelord Adam. The airship confrontation is going to seriously affect how I write stuff in that section of the season given that I'll have to change some scenes slightly, ideally with minimal impact to the way things progress on their own.

"It's the heiress and the bimbo." Emerald stated with a small smirk as she and Mercury continued to walk in the opposite direction of Team RWBY. Mercury paused for a moment as he hummed in thought.

"Alright, at least now we know who we're working with."

The two of them casually strolled through the fairgrounds to pass the time, completely unaware of a figure following them from a distance. Once or twice the pair would pause to comment on some of the students they saw and what they remembered from their recon on how most of them fought. It wasn't until the two were reaching the edge of the grounds and beginning to head towards the floating stadium that they were stopped by a hand placed on each of their shoulders. They both whipped about in surprise, arms raised in defense considering the silence of the approach. Their faces were both adorned with displeased frowns as they came face to face with the person that had stopped them.

"And how are my two favorite Cinder fans doing?" Frost stated with a smirk on his face, the smile not quite reaching his eyes. Anyone able to see his eyes would only notice the seething rage floating behind them, lying dormant for the time being.

"What do you care?" Emerald stated with a wave of her hand as she crossed arms in front of her while Mercury shuffled his feet a bit with a smirk of his own. "Besides, what exactly did you expect to happen with this? That we'd just magically give up Neo and be on our merry way?" She scoffed as she took a step closer to Frost, her face gaining a malicious grin as she stared at his hate-filled eyes.

Frost rolled his eyes as he took a small step backwards to distance himself from the green-haired girl, refusing to let her block his view of Mercury in case they attempted to try anything, even in a public area like this. "Clearly the two of you still think I'm a fool. Guess I was hoping for too much to think that maybe after I managed to escape all three of you that you'd have a bit more respect for someone more evasive than a common thief."

Emerald's eyes narrowed as Mercury elected to lean against a nearby tree to enjoy the fireworks. "I'd watch what I say if I were you, dust-for-brains." Mercury stated as Emerald's hands balled into fists a few times. "Em doesn't exactly appreciate being called a 'common thief' as you put it. It hurts her pride."

"Stay out of this, Mercury." Emerald spat with a slight turn of her head before focusing on Frost once more. "Besides, we still have Neo with us after all. I'd watch my tone and attitude if I were you unless you're okay with her getting roughed up a bit." The two were surprised to notice that Frost didn't even flinch at this threat, as he normally would have in weeks past if they ever crossed paths.

Frost faked a yawn as he patted his open mouth for a moment. "If you had told me this a few days ago, I might have believed that you'd go ahead and do something like that. But then I noticed something rather interesting in your match that took me a little while to find out." Frost looked at the two of them casually as they tried to puzzle out what he was referring to. "Want me to spoil it for you?"

"What are you even talking about, you idiot?" Emerald snapped as she gave Mercury a look to see if he knew, her only response being a shrug of his shoulders. "What exactly did you piece together?"

Frost turned and starting pacing back and forth if front of the two of them, his eyes never leaving them as he walked about like someone giving a lecture. "Well, I couldn't help but wonder who the three of you could possibly rope into fighting with you during the tournament so that you'd have a legitimate four-man team. So I got to thinking about the different goons that work for you guys- be it the White Fang or Junior's goons. Then I realized that unless you took the guy with the big-ass chainsaw sword- who was both way too big and I still don't know what happened to that guy- or someone new. But if it were someone new, there's no way you would trust a greenhorn to something so pivotal for Cinder to be acting on the frontlines, herself. So it would have to be someone working for you that was obedient, small, and able to blend in well. Wonder who I came up with?"

"Neo…" Emerald sighed in disgust. "…So now what? You gonna rat us out?" Emerald's face gained a predatory gleam as she put together two and two. "Because I doubt Cinder would be willing to just let Neo go quietly if she finds out you rushed off to go tell Ironwood and Ozpin and us hiding in their midst."

"Then it's a good thing I didn't then, huh?" Frost continued to smirk as both Emerald and Mercury stumbled a bit from their current positions at this statement. Both looked at each other with perplexed expressions before turning back to face the calm white-haired boy in front of them.

"You expect us to believe that?" Mercury asked as he raised a hand in disbelief. "You hate us as much as we hate you, so why would you NOT just go screaming as soon as you figured it out?"

"Because then it becomes harder to rescue Neo unharmed, now doesn't it?" Frost replied as he crossed his arms with a smug look on his face.

Emerald and Mercury both looked back and forth between each other and Frost for a few moments…right before both bending over in fits of laughter that left tears in their eyes.

"Glad to see that the two of you find this so amusing."

Mercury sighed as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Y-you're kidding right? You're gonna try and take her back on your own?" His smile was filled with mirth as he took a deep breath with one final chuckle.

"You really are just as much of an idiot as you ever were." Emerald stated as she and Mercury turned to start walking away towards the colosseum for the fight with Team JNPR. "Let us know when you're coming to get her, maybe we'll leave the door open for you."

Frost smirked as he replied to their departing backs. "Oh, don't worry about that. I'll just let myself in when the time comes." His legs began to glow slightly before he left his parting words. "Besides, I want to see the surprise on your faces when I actually pull it off."

Emerald and Mercury both turned to leave a parting quip, only to find some now-settling leaves and a small cloud of dust as their only companions. The two gave each other a brief look before Mercury opened his mouth. "Gotta give him credit, it was a good exit."

"Oh, shut up."

"Let's give the crowd a good fight." Cinder stated as she manipulated the scroll in front of her. Emerald and Mercury were moments away from the door before Emerald stopped and turned towards the brunette with a sudden look of remembrance.

"There's…something else as well." She started, reluctantly.

Cinder turned to eye her briefly before returning her attention to the scroll as he moved to rest it on the desktop. "I see…and is there any reason you didn't think to mention this sooner?" Cinder slowly got up from her reclining position at the table before walking towards the window to the room as she looked out towards the night sky.

"I only just remember now but…it's Frost. He knows Neo's here with us." Emerald paused for a moment, though Cinder never showed any sort of response to this statement. "What should we do about that? He claims he won't rat us out since he plans to get Neo before doing anything like that, but I don't buy it."

"Well you should." Cinder stated with a turn as she gave a smirk to the other two present. "He's obviously telling the truth. His bleeding heart wouldn't let him take the risk for his dear friend even if it meant keeping everyone else in the dark about our presence. Why do you think I was so pleased with his decision to leave without her?" Emerald and Mercury both gave each other a look before shrugging in Cinder's direction. She sighed for a moment before continuing.

"Because she is an obedient bargaining chip. Her abilities with illusions will prove to be quite useful in the days to come, and having her in our grasp will keep his lips sealed. As soon as her effectiveness is at an end, we dispose of her and watch as his spirit crumbles into despair before dealing with him as well. No sooner than that will we be done with the two of them. For now however, we sit tight, and wait for the games to play out in our favor."