Challenging the Expectations

Blake sat silently in the cafe, watching the monkey faunus across from her drink his coffee with his tail as she sipped her own tea. He was looking at her expectantly, not saying anything.

"So," Blake said as she set down her teacup, "You want to know more about me."

The blond threw his hands up in the air. "Finally she speaks. Nearly two days and you've given me nothing but small talk and weird looks." Blake glared at him. "Like that."

Blake rolled her eyes, a small smile showing on her face, before disappearing just as quick as it came. "Sun… are you familiar with the White Fang?"

"Of course," Sun's voice became condescending, "I don't think there's a faunus on the planet that hasn't heard of them. Bunch of stupid 'holier than thou' creeps that use force to get whatever they want. A bunch of freaks if you ask me."

Blake calmly took another sip of her beverage. "I was once a member of the White Fang."

Sun's reaction was quick. His eyes widened and he briefly choked on his drink before coughing madly for a couple seconds. "Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?"

Blake nodded. "That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could say I was born into it. Back then, things were different. The White Fang was different. After the ashes of war, the White Fang was supposed to be a symbol of peace and unity between faunus and humans. Of course, despite the best efforts of most, despite the promises made to them, the faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up to protect us."

Blake sighed. "But, it didn't work. The boycotts, rallies, none of it made a large enough difference in the end. Five years ago, the first leader of the White Fang stepped down, and a new, younger leader took their place. And with a new leader, came a new way of thinking. Gone were the signs, replaced with weapons. Peaceful protests turned into organized attacks. Setting fire to stores that refused to serve us, and stealing cargo from companies that used faunus labor."

"And the worst part of it all? It was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect. Out of fear."

Blake shakily set down her cup, which she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and stared into the liquid, it's still surface showing her reflection. "And so, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. I decided I would instead dedicate my life to becoming a huntress." Bryce's words echoed in her mind.

'Too powerful to have anyone do anything to us, and yet too different and unknown for people to think of as normal and not discriminate against.'

"But now… even my reasons for doing that are in question." Blake's voice was soft, scared even. "So here I am. A criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little, black bow."

"So," Sun said, "Have you told your friends any of this."

…

"BLAKE!" Ruby's voice echoed across the weirdly empty streets of Vale as she walked along with Weiss, Yang, and Bryce, looking for Blake.

"Blake!" Yang's voice now joined in the shouting. This had been going on as soon as they had gotten off the bull head.

"BLAKE!" Ruby shouted again. She looked to Weiss, who had her arms crossed and wasn't saying a word. Bryce was in deep thought, walking behind them distractedly.

"Weiss, you're not helping," Ruby whined, before wheeling around to look at Bryce, "And neither are you!"

Weiss merely scoffed, as Bryce didn't respond, still concentrating on whatever he was thinking about.

"Oh, You know who might be able to help? The police." Ruby merely frowned.

"Weiss."

"It was just an idea." Weiss said.

"Yeah, a bad one."

"Bad one or not, I have been helping more than him so far." Weiss pointed directly to the Septonian that still had yet to look at them. Yang shook her head.

"She's got a point, Bryce. You have been rather despondent today."

Bryce didn't make any move to show he'd realized he was being spoken to. Ruby, despite herself, began to grow more irritated before blowing up.

"BRYCE PAY ATTENTION OR I WILL NEVER SHARE MY COOKIES WITH YOU!" Well, as much as an adorable fifteen-year-old with little social experience and not a single bad bone in her body can.

Bryce made no move to look up from his own thoughts. His eyes were closed tightly, and he wasn't paying any attention to the surrounding area. It wasn't until Yang noticed the expression Bryce wore that she moved to stop Ruby from making further moves to gain the teens attention.

"Bryce? What's up?" Yang layed a single hand on Bryce's shoulder. It took a couple seconds before Bryce finally exited his mind and looked at Yang. It took him another few seconds to realize what was going on around him.

"Sorry… run that by me again, I was a bit… distracted."

Weiss scoffed at the comment. "Distracted is putting it very lightly."

Bryce gave a quick glare in the direction of the heiress. He didn't respond to Weiss, instead choosing to look at the ground with a thousand yard stare. "I've been attempting to locate Blake using my soul sense, but… I'm struggling to find anyone here with how everyone's soul is broadcast like a beacon. And… it's been really off putting to not feel-" Bryce couldn't continue, gripping his chest tightly.

Bryce shook his head before any of them could say anything. "Either way, I'll try and focus on finding Blake normally. My usual method is getting me nowhere."

"That doesn't change that Blake ran away. We should consider getting the help of the police."

"Why are you so adamant on arresting Blake!?" Yang threw her arms up in the air as she continued to walk down the street looking for Blake.

"The innocent don't run, Yang." Weiss said.

"They do when they've been attacked for something they can't control." Bryce glared directly at Weiss. The heiress flinched a little bit, but didn't back down.

"I still think when we find Blake we won't like what she has to say."

"And I think Weiss' hair looks great today." Penny said, smiling.

It took three seconds for people to fully comprehend what had happened and who had spoken. After that time, there was a comical amount of flailing, and Bryce, who Penny had just appeared standing next to, stumbled backwards arms flailing around.

"What the Frick! When did you get here!?"

"I've been here the whole time."

"WHAT!"

"I've been standing in this spot since this morning, waiting for you to arrive."

Bryce just stared and the orange haired girl. "And you were waiting here why?"

"Because for the past two days, you always come by this spot. So logically, this was the best place to wait to meet best friend Ruby and Nobody Important."

Bryce sighed as his palm quickly acquainted itself with his forehead. "This is getting really old, really quickly."

"So what are you doing friend Ruby that has caused you to follow this route the past few days."

"Well, we're looking for our friend, Blake."

"Oh, you mean the Cat faunus."

"How'd you know that?" Yang looked at Penny in disbelief.

"The cat ears," Penny pointed to her own head and bow as she spoke.

"What do you mean, cat ears?" Yang started. "She wears… a… bow."

The three girls stared at Penny in a mix of shock and… no, shock was really the only real expression present in that moment. Bryce could only feel like something out there was influencing the universe itself to make this as insane as possible as a tumbleweed rolled by. And they were in the middle of a city… next to the ocean… nowhere near a desert. His brain was beginning to hurt.

"No wonder she likes Tuna so much." Ruby muttered under her breath.

"So where is friend Blake?"

"We… don't know. She's been gone since Friday."

"OH. That's terrible." Penny rushed up to Ruby, grabbing her briefly before putting her hands on her hips as she continued on as enthusiastically as ever. "Well don't you worry, Ruby my friend. I won't rest until we find your teammate."

"Wow, that's really nice Penny," Ruby's smile was forced, as she began to feel uncomfortable with how Penny was acting. "But we were planning on really doing this as a team, right guys?"

Ruby looked to the side where here teammates and Bryce gone. Another tumbleweed rolled by where they had previously been standing.

"My it's windy today."

"Aaaaaaahhhhoooooooo."

…

Bryce had run off with Yang and Weiss the moment they saw the chance to escape from Penny's gaze. Now, he was following behind the two as they continued to argue about Blake and walk. He wasn't worried about it too much at the moment. No, he was more worried about the terrifying fact his Oroma's hadn't stopped. They should've only lasted a few days after the incident, but instead they'd been continuing at a steady pace for weeks now, haunting his dreams. Even with Alpha's help it was getting difficult to cope with it. The screams of his family, his friends, Natalie. It shook him every time. And without fail, the final one he'd see killed would be Natalie, and in some way, before she finally succumbed to whatever injury she'd received, she'd say something about it being all his fault.

He just wanted it to stop. He wanted all the terrible visions and dreams to stop, but it seems that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. It was scary.

'Still thinking about the Oromas?' Alpha spoke into his mind as to not alert Yang and Weiss of Bryce's internal struggle.

'Why wouldn't I be. This isn't normal Alpha. And it scares me. I'm… I'm honestly not sure how much longer I can hold out against this.' Bryce felt fear grip his heart as a particularly bad image from last night's Oroma flashed through his mind.

'Just hang in there a bit longer. They should end soon enough. Just remember, none of it is real. It's just trying to hurt you as much as it can.'

'Yeah, well, it's succeeding. I'm in a whole lot of pain right now. I… I can't… I can't take much more of this.'

Alpha was quiet for a moment. 'Just stay strong a little bit longer. I can't promise you anything, but you need to hold out. For their sakes. You can't leave them without giving them a proper goodbye.'

Bryce didn't respond to Alpha. Instead he took a deep, calming breath, before beginning to help Yang and Weiss ask around if anyone had seen Blake. He'd worry about it later. For now, he needed to focus on finding Blake.

…

Blake watched the shipping yard silently from atop her perch. Sun had told her about the shipment of dust from the Schnee Dust Company, and because she wanted to prove the White Fang's innocence. She knew deep down that it probably was the White Fang… but she wanted to be wrong. She wanted to believe that the White Fang wouldn't stoop so low.

"Did I miss anything?" Sun's voice shook her concentration. She turned to the monkey faunus before shaking her head.

"Not really. They offloaded all the crates from the boat… now they're just sitting there."

"Cool." Sun offered an apple to Blake. "I stole you some food."

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?"

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?"

"..."

"Okay, too soon."

Before Blake could reply, the wind picked up quickly as a Bullhead flew over their heads. They both watched silently as it shot spotlights all around the containers, doing a quick search of the area, before landing. Almost immediately, White Fang members began to walk out of the machine, All of them wearing white masks, and white vests with a very telltale symbol on the back. The red image of the head of a tiger with three slash marks right through it.

"Is that them?"

Blake didn't want to say it. She wanted her eyes to be wrong.

"Yes. It's them."

But they weren't wrong.

Down at the shipping yard, one of the more important looking White Fang members motioned to the others and began barking orders. The two huntsman and huntress-in-training watched silently as they began to hook up tow cables to the shipping crates.

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?"

Blake couldn't lie to herself anymore. It wasn't going to stand. "No. I knew. Deep down, I knew. I just… didn't want to be right."

Then, Blake heard a voice she never expected to hear. And it shocked her beyond all belief. "Hey! What's the hold up?" Both Sun and Blake watched silently as Roman Torchwick stepped out from the bullhead, cane in hand. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace."

Blake held back a growl as she stared at the ginger-haired criminal. "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like that." Blake drew her blade as she stood up. Before Sun could stop her, she took off, sticking to the shadows, trying to sneak up on the thief as he continued to boss around the White Fang members.

"No you idiot, this isn't a leash."

Blake readied herself to grab Torchwick. Only to feel a small hand grab her throat and a blade be pushed against her neck. She froze. Turning slightly, she could see a small woman grabbing her, an umbrella in her hand with a blade protruding from the top of it. Her brown and white hair offset by her pink clothes and pink and brown eyes. She smiled at Blake, and the cat faunus felt fear grip her heart. This girl wasn't normal.

Roman sighed in frustration as he sent off… whoever it was he'd been talking to. Honestly, the only one of these animals he could deal with was Perry, and sadly he'd been needed elsewhere today by that… 'witch' Cinder.

Roman heard the tapping of a familiar set of heels accompanied by another pair of footsteps. He turned to see the smiling face of his favorite person and partner, holding someone at blade point.

"Neo. Glad to see you're doing your job. What have you brought me?"

Neo didn't say anything, but tapped her feet, as she motioned her head to the girl she'd captured. He looked at the black-haired cat faunus, who was silently glaring at him. No doubt, she was angry at his presence, but he wasn't sure why. Not that he really cared, but it was interesting to wonder why.

"Well, hello there little lady." Roman smiled down at he held her face in one hand. She didn't respond. Instead choosing to spit directly into face. Roman just smirked, wiping the substance off his face. "Well aren't you feisty."

"Why are you working with White Fang? They hate people like you."

Roman laughed. "Well, aren't we misinformed. You see, me and the White Fang are working together for a sort of business venture." He let go of the girls face. She struggled to get out of Neo's grasp. "So Neo found you sneaking around, did she?" The cat faunus looked at Roman surprised. Roman ignored her expression. "I'll be honest, Kitty-Cat. Normally, you would've had the drop on me. But thanks to a certain new threat that we've identified, our security's been a little… tighter." He laughed as he leered at Blake. "And I'm so glad we did, Blake Belladonna."

Blake looked at the man in a mix of fear and shock. He laughed at her as he reached into his suit coat. "Don't look so surprised. It's getting old at this point." Out of his suit coat, Roman pulled an image of Blake, holding a White Fang mask, standing next to… Adam. Blake paled.

"You're little boyfriend was so desperate to get you back. It seems he even went so far as to ask our dear associate to give him any information on your whereabouts." Roman smiled as he pulled out a scroll, taking a snapshot of Neo holding Blake hostage. "It seems I get the rare opportunity to gain some favors from the White Fang."

"No." Blake could barely speak. This had gone downhill so quickly. This isn't what she'd expected to happen. She should've been able to talk some sense into her fellow White Fang members. She should've been able to take on Roman. It shouldn't have ended like this. Where had she gone wrong?

A shadow above her head caught her attention. She watched as Sun dropped from above, slamming his Bo Staff into the ground as Neo separated herself from Blake. Neo smiled playfully at the monkey faunus as he put himself between Blake and the two criminals.

"Oh, you went and got a new boytoy? Wow, Kitty-Cat, Adam will be disappointed that you move on so fast." Roman smirked, as he raised his cane at the two of them. "I hope he doesn't hate me too much for bringing you back in a body bag. Neo, if you would."

Before Sun or Blake could even move, the pink and brown eyed criminal shattered into a million pieces. Blake stood slowly, looking around wildly, trying to spot the mysterious female. Only to scream as she felt something stab through her aura and pierce her shoulder.

…

Bryce was about ready to give up. He couldn't sense anything in this convoluted mess of souls. They all mixed together, making it nye impossible to know where someone was unless you were close to them. It was pretty frustrating. He was starting to give up at this point.

He started to head towards the bullport that would take him back to Beacon. He might as well head back at this point. It was getting quite late at this point. He could continue searching tomorrow. Maybe by then, he'd have enough Omni-energy to expend for a soul-scan. Maybe that'd clear up all the confusion in his sensing abilities. It sure would make this a lot easier.

He froze in an instant. Blake's soul. He could sense it clearly. But why? Why now of all times? Why was it so clear when it had been so blurry earlier? And why did it feel off? What was going-

Pain. Blake was in pain. And her aura had activated to heal the injury. And aura's were directly linked with souls, which meant...

Bryce grabbed onto the location of Blake's soul. No time to think. It was time to act. Bryce felt the location, then pulled with his creation energy. The world blurred as he teleported.

…

Blake grasped her shoulder, leaning against a crate. That girl, Neo, had stabbed her shoulder. She could've killed her, but instead she chose to cause her pain. Why? If the look on her face was anything to go by, it was because the girl was toying with her. The instant Neo had withdrawn her blade from Blake's body, Sun and attacked her, only for the female criminal to shatter into pieces once again. Sun wasted no time grabbing Blake and running. She'd heard Roman shouting orders at the White Fang to get them. Bullets had whizzed by, some rebounding off of Sun's aura.

She looked up at Sun as he fought two White Fang grunts. While they would normally be easy to handle, their determination to get to Blake was causing Sun to have to change tactics. She didn't have her weapon. Neo had confiscated it from the moment she'd been captured by the heterochromatic woman. She was useless in this fight. She had to rely on Sun to get them out alive.

Blake almost felt her worries disappear as Sun began to beat down the two White Fang members. That is, until a familiar looking cane cracked against the back of his head, knocking him out in an instant.

"Whew," Roman sighed, wiping a non existent bead of sweat from his forehead. "Huntsmen are always hard to knock out. Aura makes it so much more difficult to take 'em out it one hit." Roman turned to the fearful Blake, smiling gleefully. "Now, where were we Kitty-Cat?" He looked to the two grunts Sun had been fighting as more approached them, Blakes heart dropping as more joined them. "Grab her."

The White Fang members nodded, silently walking towards her. Before they could really get close to her, however, something appeared between them and their target. Or rather someone. It happened so suddenly, she wasn't sure if she was seeing things or not. But upon a second look, she realized that her eyes weren't deceiving her. Bryce was standing there, Alpha in his hand. She couldn't see his face, but the fact that he was here settled her nerves. She knew for a fact that Roman could never dream of beating Bryce. If Bryce could take on all those hordes of Grimm and treat it like a game, Roman would be a literal cake walk for the teen.

"So, we leave you alone for two days Blake, and this is what you get into?" Bryce asked, looking over his shoulder at her. He had a playful smile on his face.

"Sorry," she tried to smile, but the pain in her shoulder made it rather hard. Bryce saw it, and grimaced.

"It's fine. Just sit tight." Bryce turned back to the White Fang, his eyes gaining a sharpness and cold feeling as he walked towards them. "This will only take a moment."

"Would you idiots stop standing there and get him!" Roman roared, as he backed up from Bryce. "He's the threat Cinder informed us about. Take him out!"

Blake felt a small bit of worry. He was the threat Roman had been warned about? Who knew about Bryce? Who was so worried about him that they'd increase security just because of him?

Bryce let his face grow cold as he turned away from Blake. They'd chosen their path. And this was the consequence of their actions. It was necessary after all.

What happened next was something Blake would never forget. Before any of the goons could get within 10ft of Bryce, his blade shot forth in whip form and literally tore the White Fang members in half. Blake felt sick as she heard the sound of blood and guts hit the ground. Despite the enemy hesitating, Bryce didn't stop. His blade, covered in his bright aura with tinges of a black mist at the edge, retracted back into the hilt as Bryce moved to the next enemy. The White Fang member tried to back away, only to fall headless in the next second.

Roman was the first to recover and shouted at the other seven White Fang. "Get him! Get him, now!"

The rest of the White Fang began to charge towards Bryce, and Blake wanted to scream as she watched the fight. The first one to reach Bryce lost his arm then was kicked into a nearby crate, splattering against it. The next was disarmed, literally, before taking a bullet from Bryce's pistol from point blank range. As the five remaining White Fang gathered together, Bryce gathered a large amount of energy around his blade, and swung.

Intense heat, light, and the acrid smell of burning flesh filled the air as Bryce's blade extended out a great distance, covered in Fiery energy. The poor faunus soldiers were cut in half and burned alive, their screams echoing off the metal boxes. Roman escaped the majority of the attack, but his arm was cut clean off. Roman was writing on the ground, struggling to stand from the pain. Bryce tsked and Blake heard him mutter disappointedly under his breath.

"Dang it, I missed."

Roman scrambled to his feet as Bryce prepared his energy again, calling out in a pained, near broken voice.

"Neo! Now!" Neo appeared in front of Roman, her own face looking scared as Bryce swung again, the blade extending with the almost burning energy. When it hit where Roman and Neo were, their images shattered, showing they were gone. He shook his head in disappointment and turned back to look at the previous scene. Blake sat there, completely still. Her whole body was fighting against itself to keep from vomiting or passing out. The gruesome scene of blood and gore was wrenching, and the smell of fresh blood and charred skin burned her nose.

Bryce scanned the area visually, before taking to the sky, and looking for any sign of the criminals and their escape. He found nothing. And because of the beacons that were Remnant's inhabitants souls, he couldn't locate the two of them, even with Roman's active aura. He was long gone as far as Bryce could tell.

"Tch." Bryce scowled as he fell to the ground. "They got away."

Bryce looked to Blake, who was still sitting perfectly still, staring at the bodies before her. Bryce simply ignored her for a moment to take care of her fallen ally. Bryce walked up to the Monkey Faunus before pumping a small amount of creation energy into the man, healing his wounds faster than his aura could. The man slowly groaned as he came to consciousness seconds later.

"Ow. My head feels like a bullhead decided to practice crash landings on it." Sun sat up slowly. Once he looked at Bryce he jumped, instantly reaching for his absent weapon.

"Hey, calm down." Bryce said, raising his hands. "I'm friendly. I promise."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Sun asked accusingly.

"Blake, do you know me?" Bryce looked over his shoulder at the silent cat faunus. Blake just looked on blankly, nodding her head. "See?"

Sun just narrowed his eyes in distrust. Instead of pushing the issue, Sun turned to walk over to Blake. "Hey, Blake. You okay? You look like you've see-" Sun can't finish what he's saying as soon as he sees the bodies. The ashen remains of what had once been living, breathing people. He felt vile substances rise up in his throat as he began to vomit out the apple he'd previously eaten. Bryce just smiled sadly, standing next to the teen, patting his back.

"Let it all out, bud. Let it ALL out."

"why…"

Blake's voice had been so quiet, Bryce wasn't sure for a moment if she had really spoken or if he was just imagining it.

"Pardon?"

"Why? Why would you do that?" Blake's voice began to rise as she rounded on Bryce. "Why did you kill them?"

"It needed to be done Blake." Bryce said, his eyes not betraying his emotions. "They were the enemy."

"How does that make this okay, Bryce!?" Blake screamed, gesturing to the dead bodies as she advanced towards the Septonian. "You didn't have to kill them! You could've just as easily knocked them out. I know it wouldn't have been that hard for you. What did they do to deserve… deserve this!"

"You know exactly what they've done to deserve this, Blake. You've seen it first hand."

Blake took a step back. "W-what."

"I know what you are, or more specifically, what you were. It's not hard to see, especially when one has access to all of Ozpin's files." Bryce paused to let that sink in before continuing. "You've seen what the White Fang do, Blake. They don't care anymore about innocents. They don't care for equality. They're just a machine for vengeance and war. These people were not good people, you know this."

"That doesn't mean they deserve this!"

"YES IT DOES!"

Blake looked on quietly in fear as Bryce's eyes were filled with anger and malice, not unlike the times when he talked about how his own species is treated. "I've seen what people like them do, Blake. I've LIVED through what they do. I've FOUGHT what they do. I can understand why they want to fight, the desire to not be discriminated against is a good reason to fight, but this is TOO FAR! Look me in the eyes and tell me that the White Fang hasn't become a terrorist group in recent years. Look me in the eyes and tell me how they can change. Because no matter what you say, I've seen the damage people like them have caused. Families murdered, torn apart, among other terrible things. Homes, towns, cities, destroyed. Entire countries, burned because they sided with those being treated poorly. ALL OF IT because of people like them! People who decide that hurting others with senseless violence is the solution don't get a second chance."

"That doesn't give you the right to kill them!"

"Oh, and what? Leave them alive so that their buddies can break them out and continue their rampage? Let them go to prison where they'll never change and adamantly avoid changing for the better? They'll always try and hurt people, Blake. No arrest is going to change that. So it's either let them wait for their next chance, either out on the streets or in prison, or make sure they can never hurt someone again."

"You're just continuing the violence."

"I'M PROTECTING PEOPLE THE WAY I KNOW HOW!"

Neither of them spoke. They just stared at each other. The only sound was their heavy breathes, and a still puking Sun.

"No." Blake shook her head, refusing to look at Bryce. "No. What you did was wrong. You shouldn't have killed them, Bryce. That wasn't your choice to make."

"Then whose choice was it, Blake." Bryce's voice was low, almost growling. "It certainly wasn't theirs, because they sure weren't going to kill themselves. Should I have just let them kill us? Because that's what they were intending to do. This isn't just a street brawl. It's terrorism, and its war. In war, you kill the enemy so that they don't get a second chance to hurt people you care about. Whether you like it or not, it was necessary to keep people safe in the future."

"No. There had to be another option. There's always another option!"

"THERE NEVER WAS ANOTHER OPTION, BLAKE! THERE NEVER IS!"

Blake just shook her head. "No, there always is. You just chose not to take it."

Bryce glared at the shaking figure of the cat faunus. Sirens could be heard in the distance. The police would be here soon. Neither person tried to argue their side anymore. Instead, Bryce just scoffed, before turning around. "I'm going to go gather up anything they left or any remaining White Fang members. Call me when the police get here."

He moved to leave, only for someone to grab his arm. He looked to see Blake holding his arm. She had tears in her eyes, but wouldn't look at him.

"Don't… don't kill them. Please."

Bryce didn't respond, instead choosing to pull his arm from Blake's grasp. As he turned the corner leading to where the criminals had originally landed, he looked directly at her. "I make no promises."

Blake didn't say anything. She just let Bryce walk away before falling to the ground, crying. She slowly reached forward, barely wanting to touch the bodies in front of her, but she felt she needed to. She grabbed one of the burnt hands, still hot to the touch. She didn't draw away as it began to burn her hand.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered. "It didn't have to be like this."

…

"Let me see if I understand this correctly, Mr. Anderson." Ms. Goodwitch started, staring at him from over the screen of her large scroll, as she typed down their conversation within this interrogation room.. "You killed nine White Fang members and burned away the arm of Roman Torchwick to protect Ms. Belladonna, after finally locating her position and teleporting to it?"

"Yes."

"Why? Surely you could've let them live."

"And let them continue to hurt people? I don't think so, Ms. Goodwitch."

"I understand that, but still. Was killing them necessary?"

"One thing that I learned early on, Ms. Goodwitch, is that when something threatens to harm the ones you love, you can't simply just stop it and push it in the other direction. Sometimes, you need to stop it from moving ever again."

"Really?" Ms. Goodwitch looked at the young man in surprise, not expecting to hear such words from the young man. "And pray tell why that would be?"

Bryce looked at her blankly. "When I was five, the town me and my family were living in, Katasadoa, was attacked by a group of terrorists. Everyone who could fight was called to defend the village. And I mean everyone."

Ms. Goodwitch felt her eyes widened as she realized the implication of what Bryce was saying. "I fought for my life for the first time that day. That day, I defeated one of them in combat. When he begged for mercy, instead of killing him, I let him go. I let him live, hoping he had learned his lesson. I was only five at the time, after all. I was naive. I hoped it could be like all the comic books and fictional stories I'd read. The hero comes and fights the villain, only for the villain to realize their mistakes." Bryce laughed bitterly. "That didn't happen.

"Two years later, we were attacked again. This time, they took us by surprise. Bailey, one of my closest friends, was nearly killed in the attack. I watched from down the street as a man shot her through the stomach with an assault rifle. He laughed as he smashed his foot into her broken dying body." Bryce's fist clenched. "It was the same man I'd let live, who'd begged me for mercy." Bryce's face went dark. "I didn't show him mercy the second time around."

Bryce didn't look up at Ms. Goodwitch. "That day, I promised myself and my family something. I would no longer hesitate. To hesitate is to die. To hesitate is to let your loved ones die. I wouldn't let those who decided to harm others for the sake of it live. I couldn't let them endanger any more people just because I couldn't finish the job. That day, I promised I'd kill whenever it was necessary."