Professor Arc

Chapter 56

Emerald clicked her scroll shut and sat back on her bed. "The orders from Cinder are in. We're to continue as planned. Nothing has changed."

"Nothing except for her absence." Mercury said. "It still feels weird for her not to be around. Was this really worth it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Getting rid of the professor. I'd have thought there were easier ways to do it, and without the boss having to exile herself." He fell back on his bed, arms wrapped behind his head. "Cinder isn't normally one to like leaving the details to other people, even us."

"It's a sign of much she trusts us," Emerald said. Or rather, it was a sign of how much Cinder trusted her. She was the one to receive instruction, after all. She was the one entrusted with keeping Mercury and the others in line. She felt a rush of elation at that, but tempered it as Cinder would have. "I won't listen to you question her decision, Mercury. If there were easier ways to remove him, then she didn't choose them because this would give her the greatest advantage. It's not always about taking the lazy option."

"Heh, you've got no idea, do you? You're just waxing wisdom because you're as in the dark as I am."

She clenched her teeth together. He wasn't wrong, but she wouldn't admit that. Besides, there was no shame in admitting to not understanding her plans. Such plans were far above them in terms of intricacy and cunning. "Don't tar me with same brush as you, Mercury. Just because you're too incompetent to grasp this, doesn't mean everyone else is."

"Oh? Then why not share it with me?"

"I'd rather not waste my time."

"Sure Emerald, sure..." He chuckled to himself for a few moments, before he kicked his robotic legs forward and pulled himself up into a seated position. "So, do you think you'll be able to find some angle for the Nikos match? You need to cause a scene, remember."

Emerald nodded. She knew the match to come; Cinder's last act had been to set it up before she had to exfiltrate, but there hadn't been much time to actively plan or even talk. It wasn't unusual for a student to visit a teacher for things such as homework, but they had to be careful. With Cinder's plan to implicate herself to take out the professor, it was even more important that they not be seen interacting with her.

Cinder had been too busy trying to deal with him, to help with the fights, which meant she hadn't been able to find anything of use. I need to do this on my own, but that's fine. This will be a chance to prove myself. It's Nikos against Polendina. That's important, since we need an incident between Vale and Atlas to preface the attack, but I'm not sure where to go with it.

If in doubt, she could just pull a repeat of how Mercury's match ended, but that might raise suspicions. Did she go for something bigger? They still didn't know the Polendina girl's Semblance, so that might be problematic. The best bet would be to influence Nikos instead, since they at least knew polarity wouldn't interfere with her hallucinations.

"I'll figure something out," she said. "Just make sure you're in position."

"Already on it, babe." Mercury lifted his scroll, which she knew contained access to the broadcast channels across Remnant. Such a small thing, yet so incredibly important for her goals.

It almost felt unreal to imagine it was about to happen. After so long, after so much hard work and sacrifice, they were finally about to begin what they'd worked on for years. It was exciting. Her hands shook and her mouth ran dry. If she failed now... no, she wouldn't fail now. She wouldn't let Cinder down.

"You look pumped," Mercury said. He grinned himself. "I can't wait to get this show on the road. I'm sick of playing the goodie-two-shoes, even worse when I had to play the gay stalker." He growled. "If I see a chance to get even with those idiots... I'll make them regret that."