-Your pov-

Your team sits in your room, with Velvet and Weiss as guests. All six of you look on different computer screens, investigating the fight from several different angles, and trying to find anything you can on Mercury. Every so often, you turn to Weiss, and she confirms for you repeatedly that setting Mercury on fire is not a viable option. " Dammit all," you mutter, before she would plant a kiss on your cheek. The six of you sit in silence again, before Leliana looks up from her screen. 

" Hey guys, we are going to watch Phyrra fight right? Juane wants us all to come and cheer her on. It's super important to him," she says in a way that indicates some tension. All of you confirm that you'll go when it's time for the match to start. She nods at this, and then goes right back to working hard. 

" I've watched this clip a million times by now," states John, and knowing how hard he's been working this, it isn't an exaggeration at all. " And, there's no blood when Yang shoots him. Which would mean the shot missed and he's faking it, or the shot didn't pierce his skin. Both of which I doubt."

" Velvet and I searched the arena," adds Gideon. " There was no bullet there, or dent. Which would mean the bullet either disappeared, or did hit him. I didn't smell any blood at the scene of the crime, but that isn't definitive proof. They could have just cleaned the arena really well."

" I asked Fox to come down with me. He may be blind, but the rest of his senses are enhanced, and he can see aura as different color. We looked it up and down, but there was no evidence of any blood there," mentions Velvet. " And I don't mean just that day. According to him, there never could have been."

" Here's what I don't get," Leliana chimes in. " He had complete control of the fight early on. And then, he just stopped completely. When Yang got the upper hand, he still had the same damn smirk on his face, like he was in control still, like this was exactly what he wanted. Which at the very least would mean he must have been up to something."

Velvet and Gideon begin to text someone rapidly, before Gideon looks up. " Yeah. According to Coco and Yatsu ,Mercury was holding back the entire time against Yang. And they both confirmed it looked like they were up to something." This makes you let out a sigh of relief, knowing you weren't crazy for thinking that. 

All of a sudden, Velvet's eyes get really big. " Guys, get this! Coco mentioned when she was fighting Emerald, she was seeing things, and could have sworn Yatsu was right there with her. It might be crazy, but what if Emerald can manipulate people's minds, and she and Mercury had planned this?"

The six of you get  excited at this news, and then you go to typing rapidly. Everyone looks at you, and asks what you're doing. " All students at academies have to register what their Semblance is for the reference of headmasters. If I can find Emerald's record, I can see what her Semblance is. She probably lied of course, but it's worth a shot." They nod at this, and then all start researching the same angle as you. 

A solid amount of time passes. You sit back, and run your hands through your hair, having pulled a dead end. Her Semblance doesn't say anything about illusions. Giving a defeated sigh everyone turns to look at Gideon as he happily shouts, " Yipee-Ki-Yay MotherFuckers!"

He notices everyone staring at him. " So, I looked through all four service academies. Yeah, Mercury Black and Emerald do exist. But, check this out." He hits some more keys, and new images pop on screen. " I didn't find a grade record for them, which I thought was weird. I did some more digging, and then came across this. Every team has to qualify for the tournament, and if you look hard enough, you can see everyone's qualification match. And yet, their team has no footage of it."

Everyone lets out a shocked gasp. " Not to mention, I looked for their match with all four members of their team. Doesn't exist. So, I did some probably illegal hacking, and broke into the records for the tournament. Their team match? Never happened. They just entered starting in the doubles round."

The room erupts into chatter, until Gideon holds up his hand. " It gets worse. I found the hospital the news said Mercury was sent to. Hospital records show he never checked in. I asked Coco to go down just now, and see if she could visit? According to the nurse, Mercury Black isn't a patient there." You expect this to be it, and that on it's own would be proof. However, Gideon gets a bigger and bigger smile. 

" But wait ladies and gentleman. There's more. There are no medical records for Mercury or Emerald at all. I thought this was weird, so I did some digging. No information on them exists anywhere. So, I sent an email to the teachers at every academy, and they all told me the same thing. Mercury and Emerald were added to their roster, but only recently, and they never attended class."

" Pardon the shit outta my goddamned French," you say. " But holy fucking shit. Gideon, this is amazing!" His smile becomes somewhat smug, even more so when Velvet nervously kisses his cheek. Then, John stands up and turns to Gideon. 

" I could kiss you right now man," he says. " I mean, I won't, but I could. Thank you so much for this. I cannot wait to shove this in that smug assholes face." You have no idea if he means Mercury or General Ironwood, but either way, you can't help but agree with him. Then, he pulls out his scroll, and calls Yang. 

" Babe, we did it! We found proof that Mercury is guilty of something. The entire goddamned world is gonna know you aren't guilty."

( let me know what you thought. things start to happen a little bit differently from the show here.)