"I have trained in Atlas solely for this moment, Schnee." Perseus told Weiss. "The Atlesian Military has known about Rose since day one."
Perseus didn't let them react to this, but instead charged them, jumping into the air, and kicking Weiss on the chin. She used Weiss' face as a launchpad, landing back where she had been originally. Perseus equipped her handgun, pointing it at Weiss.
Weiss could hear Perseus' voice inside of her head, echoing through her brain, rattling her skull. "Tell them what you did, or I will blow your brains out and tell them myself. This time. They will believe me."
"No!" Weiss shouted, launching herself at the soldier, blade extended in her direction. Perseus flipped over her, landing behind her and kicking her in the spine. Weiss collided with one of the pillars in the courtyard. Perseus began to psychologically torture Weiss once more, communicating with her mentally.
"Tell them. I know you did it. You just confessed to me." She said, so that only Weiss could hear.
"I did not!" Weiss yelled. She charged Perseus again, her teammates confused as to what was happening. Perseus kicked Myrtenaster into the air and nailed Weiss in the face, next, she grabbed the heiress by her collar and slammed her back against the pavement.
"Tell them the truth!" This time, the voice screamed in Weiss' head, becoming overwhelmingly unbearable.
"I— Never!" She shouted, unaware that Perseus had picked up on her pattern of speaking aloud when she answered. Blake and Yang knew that Weiss was lying about something, but didn't make the connection.
Weiss saw Perseus' cheekbones rise above her mask in a grin that her mask concealed. "And what is the truth, Miss Schnee?" She asked.
"I–! You tricked me!" Weiss shouted, landing a hit on Perseus' face. The soldier hit her back, causing her head to slam into the pavement.
"Your life is over!" She hit her again. "You will spend the rest of your life behind bars!" Perseus picked Weiss up, holding her in the direction of Blake and Yang. "But first, you have to face them."
Blake and Yang stared at the heiress emotionlessly.
"Seven people." Perseus said to Yang. "Seven people worked together to kill your sister, and all seven of them have been brought to justice. You fought me every step of the way. I completely understand, she manipulated you."
"How?" Blake asked.
"She just confessed!" Perseus shouted defiantly. "She made you fight for her, so she wouldn't go to prison."
"She did not confess." Yang said in a matter-of-fact tone. "She just said she wouldn't tell us something. Until she says that she killed Ruby, she's innocent."
Perseus sighed. "You're so naïve." She said. "You want so badly to believe that the person you defended is innocent, so you're ignoring all facts!"
She pulled out her handgun and put a single round into Weiss' stomach, causing the heiress to fall backwards. Blake lunged forward, managing to catch her. She carefully watched her opponent.
"You're all so naïve." She repeated. "And so very ambitious! Unfortunately, the real world is so very different from a fucking fairytale!" She began to angrily storm towards the three, firing her weapon into the air. "There is never a happy ending!" Another shot fired. "I didn't have one!" WBY quickly began to realize that this was all so very personal for the soldier. "I was betrayed! Why?! Because I was better! Because I was young!" She paused and her hand moved to the hem of her mask. "Because I was childish! I've learned from my mistakes, Weiss! Have you?!" She tore the mask off, throwing it to the ground. Yang and Blake froze. Blake stood, releasing pressure from Weiss' wound. She stepped in beside her blonde partner. "I'm going to kill her!" Ruby shouted. "And if you get in my way, I'll kill you too! I don't care who you are!"
Ruby began to rapidly pull the trigger of her handgun, loading bullet after bullet into the heiress, who dissipated into mist. It was a shadow clone.
"AAAGH!" Ruby screamed in frustration and turned to Blake. "Where is she?!" The faunas was staring in shock. Ruby was now Adam. "WHERE IS SHE?!" Ruby grabbed Blake's throat, lifting her into the air. "I- I don't know!" Blake choked out. Ruby tossed the black haired faunas to the side. "I WILL FIND YOU!" She screamed, echoing throughout Beacon, scaring a few students. Jaune suddenly appeared by her side along Ren and Nora. "Fan out!" She shouted. "Find that bitch!"
Yang was shocked. This was not Ruby. It just absolutely wasn't. Ruby was happy. Ruby was forgiving. She was innocent. This wasn't her… It just wasn't.
"You're not my sister." Yang quietly told Ruby, who turned from her search, rage permanently burned into her face.
"Your sister was weak! So I killed her!" Ruby was suddenly launched across the courtyard. A familiar blonde man took her place.
"Dad?" Yang asked, worry plastered on her face. "When did you get here?"
"In time to find that Perseus killed Ruby!" Taiyang said, beginning to move towards the still form of the soldier.
"Dad..." Yang said. "It's more complicated than that!"
Taiyang turned, "How?!" He shouted. His red eyes showed his obvious rage.
"Ruby isn't dead." Yang told him. "She's… She's just pissed off."
Taiyang seemed to understand what she was saying. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
He strode towards Ruby. She had begun to stand, but he grabbed the back of her neck, and forced her onto her stomach. He quickly bound her hands with a pair of handcuffs. He pulled her to her feet, leading her back to the clock tower. Ruby hadn't seen his face or heard his voice, so she didn't realize that it was Taiyang.
She whipped her head back, bashing it into Taiyang's nose. She began to run, but he grabbed her leg, making her fall. Ruby had been unable to break the handcuffs, so her face impacted the pavement without her hands to break her fall. Her father threw her over his shoulder this time, binding her legs with another pair of handcuffs. He didn't want to arrest her, but he was a hunter, he had no choice.
The elevator opened with a ding. Qrow and Ozpin quickly turned to it, worried that it was Perseus. They were surprised to see that it Taiyang, with Perseus slung over his shoulder. Her ankles had a pair of handcuffs around them, and Taiyang's nose was slightly bleeding. He tossed his prisoner down on the couch.
"Solved the Mystery of the Angsty Teenager." He declared, looking very upset about having to arrest his daughter. The other two stood, and ran over to the struggling form of Ruby. She looked pissed.
Qrow could hear the handcuffs screeching against her strength, but showed no signs of breaking. Her flesh arm had a large, red ring where the handcuffs were.
"Let me go!" She shouted.
"It can't be her." Qrow said to Taiyang, who shook his head.
"It's her."
Ozpin so suddenly put a syringe into Ruby's neck, he pressed the plunger, and little by little, she stopped struggling. Her eyelids drooping down.
"What was that?" Taiyang asked, worrying that Ozpin had just poisoned Summer's daughter.
"It's a sedative, Tai." Ozpin said. "You and I both know I'm not stupid enough to cause one of your daughters' harm."
"Unfortunately," A voice said from the elevator. "The same cannot be said about the Schnee family."
"You!" Taiyang began to storm towards Ironwood, picking him up by his neck and slamming him against the elevator door. "You ruined her!" He shouted.
"I saved her life, Tai." James choked out. "She would have died if I hadn't have found her."
"I would rather have her raised by the Grimm!"
"Release him." Ozpin told Taiyang, who complied, dropping the General. "I've just come to pick up the rogue." He said, getting to his feet.
"The rogue?" Qrow asked, unconsciously stepping in between James and Ruby.
"Killing a Schnee is just as bad as desertion in the Atlesian Military." James explained. "She's going to be court-martialed."
"Like hell!" Taiyang shouted. "If anyone ever found out her age, you could be indicted."
"She's a minor," Qrow added. "You could sue, Tai."
"And I probably will." Taiyang said. "Maybe that way, I can afford the psychiatric treatment she needs!"
"There's nothing wrong with her, Tai." Ozpin finally entered the conversation. "What happened to her was the result of a large betrayal of trust at such a young age, alongside the traumatic experience of losing not one, but three limbs in the process. There will be no money required to help her. Just time."
"She'll have plenty of time where she's going." James added bluntly.
"You didn't let me finish." Ozpin said, stopping Taiyang from attack on the General. "But, coupled with James' manipulation, this may not be the case. It may be possible that she will never get over this betrayal."
"What do we do then?" Taiyang asked. "Do we try to help her? What?"
"Unfortunately, we're faced with two options; send her to prison for the rest of her life. I know, it seems like such a harsh punishment for a fifteen year old, but she killed people. Nine people. Or, we could initiate the Political Protocol."
Even James seemed shocked that Ozpin would suggest such an atrocity. Just months before, the headmaster had openly protested against such a punishment. They all knew what he was talking about.
"I guess I really don't have a choice. Ruby's not going to prison. Has it ever been successful?" Taiyang said. Ozpin nodded.
"It may take time to make sure she can still function afterwards. And I believe she will spend some time trying to understand." He said. Taiyang nodded.
"I have no other choice."
To Be Continued: The Political Protocol
A/N: That's it. That's the end of The General's Side. But, what is the Political Protocol? I have a sequel planned. What's it about? The Political Protocol. Thank you so much for reading and following/ favoriting. Thank you for the reviews! Be sure to check out The Political Protocol when it comes out, I'm sure you'll love it!
E/N: Hello! It's me! DemonFoxBK201! I have to say… This turned out better than I thought it would… I'm curious myself as to what Exact has planned… I hope you'll read the sequel!