The hum of overhead lights was audible in the hallway; it was so late at night that it was early morning, and even the most determined of students had succumbed to the allure of their cozy beds. Well, all save for two.

"SHHHHH" punctuated Nora, loudly hushing her silent accomplice while her own shoeless footsteps were not entirely muffled by the carpeting.

Understandably, Neopolitan replied with with a stare that bespoke several unspoken comments of incredulity.

What's that?

Incredulity means disbelief. Imagine that dead-pan look when someone says 'really?' after you say something obvious or dumb.

Ohhhhhh

Continuing on: Providing no indication of having noticed her teammate's response, Nora pressed forward, her back arched and feet rising high with each step in an exaggerated creep. This faulty impersonation of a sneaky person deepened as they neared their destination. Neo was glad, as she followed behind and stifled a laugh, and more importantly the urge to take a photo, that she was the one gingerly carrying the triple-bagged instrument of revenge.

For revenge was what this was.

After the expected retaliation from the cookie 'incident', Coco had held a team meeting. Penny, unwilling to lie to her teammates had nearly turned Coco's fury onto her partner, Nora, but had settled for a ban on further escalation. Said partner turned to Neopolitan later that day, wanting to get back at those who had done such a great injustice on the whole team, but specifically upon Coco and Neo. Nora vowed to Neopolitan that they would come up with something bad enough that team RWBY would be the ones to surrender defeat.

Neopolitan's first contribution was that they should wait, let them think they were safe, an arduous task for Nora but her fantasies of elaborate contraptions of playful torture pacified her for a few days.

It had taken quite some time to sort out that mess, too. A two pronged attack could hardly be considered fair, especially one that attacked all four team member specifically. Thankfully, clean uniforms for classes were in ample supply.

The two members of team PNNC had arrived at the door of their unfortunate targets - team RWBY. They had come from the kitchens, not their room. Nora made a grand gesture toward the scroll-reader lock, holding the ridiculous pose as she waited on her accomplice.

Taking great pains to not jostle the plastic bag much, Neopolitan carefully reached her free hand to her backpack to a sidepocket. The zipper was resistant to being opened by a single hand, but with Nora's bubbling excitement it wasn't long before she broke her pose to retrieve the peculiar item from the pouch.

Nora then held the top of the backpack for Neo so that she could slowly slide out of it, the plastic-bagged item switching hands with the utmost caution. A single finger on the bottom of the backpack was all the indication Neo needed to give for Nora to raise the pack with the pockets facing Neo instead of letting it hang low by her side; there was one last, small, item she would need.

Neo nodded to Nora who in turn held up the strange device, the innards of an outdated scroll, toward the lock in a silent question.

Maybe team RWBY had not known about the water fight, and it was merely their luck. Perhaps their elaborate prank would have gone unnoticed. Someone could had let team RWBY in on the secret of the upperclassmen but maybe it had been a precaution, so that phase two would not be permanent, and the first part was a happy accident for them.

It was predicted to be the last really warm weekend of the season and it seemed that there were fewer students inside than could fit into a single classroom. Freshman had mostly eaten in the cafeteria, with any upperclassmen that ate breakfast taking it out with them; as a result, most favorite spots were taken except for those in the lawn along the dormitories.

It all started with some water-balloons from the roof and windows. The fastest freshmen found the landscaping hoses or ran inside for supplies or shelter. The upperclassmen were ready, though, prepared with food-tray shields, cardboard umbrellas, and dust users stocked with water dust and supplied by less-adept partners. That would have been enough, unpleasant but fun and jovial, except that team PNNC's clothing turned white on contact, no, not quite turned, a white foam sprouted up from it.

Where was I? Yes, the door in the hallway.

Neopolitan nodded with a tilt of her head to the door. A deep breath steeled her resolve before she slid into the room. Nora was holding the door, closed but not able to latch, listening but unable to watch.

The bag was pushed under the first pair of bunkbeds, Yang and Blake's, with Neo sprawled on her front, her head nearly under the bed. When the bag was just short of her reach her second hand brought the small object to the plastic, the fork twice pierced the triple-bagged weapon with a quiet 'pop' utilizing a quick spin of the bag.

Neopolitan's plan was to take a week after the initial arrangements, a fact that did not please Nora but she had been convinced. They had snuck into the kitchen, collected anything that seemed useful, and placed it all in a plastic bag that they then knotted tightly. A second bag was placed around it and tied, as well as a third. The ball was no larger than an average cantaloupe in the end when they placed it outside the kitchen door in the weeds along the wall.

A third jab for good measure and Neopolitan slid back, leaving the contaminated fork behind, kicked Yang's clothing to conceal that any had moved in the operation, and exited as quickly as she could do so silently. Nora opened the door as her mental count to 15 seconds ended. Someone rolled over in bed, and in Neo's rush her socked feet slid out from under her. Nora was just in range to reach out with both arms, her hip holding the door, to catch her thankfully silent companion.

Soap in clean clothing wasn't the end of the precursor to this though. None of PNNC had yet to figure out just how RWBY had managed to do it, the dryer and sneaking into closets being the most likely of options. When the team found other contaminated clothing and set about washing all them it was striking just how blue all their clothes were out of the washer. They had yet to hear of any casualties outside of their team but it was difficult to imagine such thoroughness not stretching beyond the boundaries of a single team.

Neopolitan exhaled, then gasped, once the door clicked shut behind them, afraid to risk a single whiff. Nora grinned, a hand flying to her mouth to hush a giggle. The smile was returned and the backpack once more on Neopolitan's back, with the device hidden inside, before they entered their own room.