Authors Note: Disturbing Content. mentions of torture, rape, NonCon, mutilation, body horror, horror, death, violence, language, and suggestive content. Viewers Discretion Advised.
James Ironwood read over the report from Captain Sidian again. He'd probably read it more than two dozen times at this point.
'Kill.' The voice beckoned. 'Kill. She Must pay for her crimes. Kill. Kill! KILL!'
Ironwood shook his head and walked over to the chest where he kept 'Nature's Domain'. He wanted to open it. To destroy the weapon, but all of his previous attempts had failed.
Burning it hadn't worked. The metal wasn't even hot to the touch.
Crushing it hadn't worked. The crusher had broken without even scratching the crossbow.
He'd called a priest from the Brothers' Church, and the damn thing killed the priest, leaving her...him a pile of leaves.
What did it take to destroy this... thing?
"KILL!" It shouted.
"NO!" Ironwood shouted back, kicking the chest with his mechanical foot, cracking the wood.
That presence filled the room. Ironwood felt himself begin slipping, but he bolted for the door, running out of his office before the presence could overtake him.
Winter Schnee was walking towards General Ironwood's office, when she saw him leave, hurrying away from his office.
She picked up the pace to follow him. "General." She spoke.
"What is it Schnee?" He asked.
"I just wanted to let you know that everything is going according to plan. When she dies, I'll be able to take on the mantle."
"Excellent. What about Patrick?"
"It's only been a month of his two month recovery period sir."
"I see. Go check on how he's doing. I expect your report within the hour."
"Sir." Winter saluted and began walking the other way.
Jason was walking through the Frozen streets of Atlas and Mantle, Winter seemed to have snuck up on them during the night, and it wasn't looking good. He was looking for any metal and Dust that he could find to forge the weapons they would need to wage war against the people of Atlas and Mantle. Fortunately for them, the Atlesians and Mantlese wouldn't stand a chance.
His time living on the streets had given him the skills he needed to slink around the streets undetected as he picked up any and all scrap metal, spare metal, loose Dust crystals. It had also given him another skill... pick pocketing.
He would feel bad, but the people he stole from were the ones who believed that the Faunus were nothing more than slaves, servants, or property they could use as they saw fit.
He looked across the street and saw Loki doing the same. They nodded at each other and went back to business.
They had just covered the last inch of Mantle and were heading back when they heard a commotion.
They looked up to see the group grabbing and fighting over a dirty and naked Faunus. How had she survived the frigid Solitas Winter?
Loki glowed black and caught the attention of the crowd who began screaming in torment while Jason grabbed the Faunus and carried her back to the Manor.
Geoff and Viridian were sitting around. They couldn't do much of anything until Jason and Loki got back with the metal and Dust they found. The armory was practically devoid of anything. An odd sight for an armory.
Over the last month Jason, Viridian, and Geoff had made weapons. Jason predicted that they would be going to war soon, and they were going to need weapons.
They crafted weapons throughout the day and at night moved them down to the armory aboard Beacon II.
They had crafted hundreds of swords, spears, shields, and dozens of Mecha-shifting weapons for those who were able to use them.
They were brought out of the musings when the door opened and Jason and Loki ran in, Jason carrying a Faunus with what had once been horns on its head.
Loki dropped the bag with the metal and Dust that she'd gathered and took the Faunus from Jason, and ran through the house, looking for Tyra.
"I'll prep th' Bullhead ta get them ta Pietro on Beacon II." Geoff said, running down the steps of the secret tunnel in the armory towards the launch bay.
Jason began emptying his Shadow of all the spare metal he'd scavenged.
"Yer pretty quiet lad." Viridian said.
"I thought we'd rescued all the Faunus." Jason said.
"Ye can't rescue everyone lad. It's not tha' i's not possible, i's jus' tha' there are so many people in th' world. Wha're ya gonna do, travel th' world'n become a savior o' th' world?"
"I don't know." Jason said. "I JUST DONT KNOW!" He slammed his fist into the wall, cracking the wall. "I'm just so fucking tired of people treating other people like property! Hurting them! Using them! It has to stop!"
"Maybe it can." Weiss's voice carried into the armory.
Jason looked at Weiss. She was wearing a baggy hoodie, but he could smell the pheromones she was giving off. They calmed him.
They walked over to each other and hugged. Weiss could feel some of the tension leave Jason's body at the contact.
Loki carried the Faunus through the Manor and laid them on a table in the medical room and covered them with a blanket.
She ran through the house looking for Tyra. She found her and Coco taking care of Pico. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I need your help. We found a Faunus and all the healers are aboard Beacon II."
Tyra followed Loki to the medical room, meeting Coral on the way.
"What's wrong?" Coral asked.
"Faunus, a Bull Faunus with its horns mostly cut off. Not going to assume gender based on body structure until they can tell us."
"Okay," Coral said. She knew how a person's identity was sometimes the only thing some people had. It was often the most important thing. Having people recognize you as who you were was often the only thing someone would want... just to be understood.
They arrived at the medical room and saw the Faunus covered with the blanket.
Tyra looked over the Faunus. "They appear to be dehydrated and malnourished. I could take a guess at other injuries, but..."
The Faunus bolted up right and gasped before trying to roll off the table.
Tyra and Coral caught them from rolling onto the floor.
"NO!" The Faunus yelled. "NO! Let me go!"
"Shh, Shh," Tyra cooed. "You're Safe. No one will hurt you here. Shh."
The Faunus struggled until they calmed down. Looking at them with terror filled eyes. "Please don't send me back." They begged.
"We won't, but where were you being held?"
Jason was in the armory, he had just quenched a Kodachi when he heard Loki call his name. He sent a Shadow Clone to see what she wanted.
Scott and Yang had just gotten out of the shower when Jason knocked on the door.
"What?" Scott asked.
"We need to go." Jason said, his tone offering no room for argument.
"Where?" Scott asked, pulling on his pants and a muscle shirt.
A door exploded and Jason and Scott walked into a building with a dense fog inside and the smell or death. They were flanked by Yang, Loki, Coral, Whitley, Logan, Creed, and Fred.
"There had better be a good explanation for this!" A male voice called.
"Make it quick!" A female voice snapped. "You're letting all the warm air out!"
"You'll be letting all of the Faunus go." Jason said in a voice so cold it could freeze the blood in a person's veins.
The building erupted in laughter. "And let go of our product?" The feminine Voice asked.
"Or what?!" The male voice laughed. "You'll kill us!?"
"No. You won't be leaving this building alive," Jason's voice was silent, but carried throughout the building like an arctic wind through a body.
The building fell silent, and Jason surged forward, driving a Kodachi through a body.
The others followed suite, killing all the workers in the building.
Scott punched someone hard enough to impale them on a rod sticking out of the wall.
Yang landed and punched the ground in front of a group letting her Semblance create a shockwave that scattered them before she picked them off one by one.
Logan and Creed ran through the building, Creed breaking the workers backs while Logan impaled them with 'Mob Mentality' and tore them to ribbons with his claws.
Loki and Coral also ran through the building, killing workers without mercy or discretion.
Fred ran through the building, swinging his machete, dismembering, disemboweling, and decapitating as he went along.
Whitley snuck through the building to find the Faunus. He found rows and rows of cages the deeper he went in. How big was this place?
He looked inside a cage and gagged at the site. A malnourished Faunus that looked more like a skeleton with its flesh wrapped around their bones.
He looked into another cage and saw someone, a human maybe? He couldn't see a trait, but that didn't mean they weren't a Faunus. This person looked to be overweight but had a tube sticking down their throat. Were they being force fed?
In another cage he lost the contents of his stomach when he looked inside. Whatever it was wasn't alive anymore, at least he hopes it wasn't. He hoped that the mass was dead, and no longer in agony.
"Who goes there!?" a voice demanded.
"What are you doing to these people!" Whitley demanded from under the cover of his Semblance.
"Where are you!?"
"I am everywhere and nowhere!" Whitley's voice reverberated throughout the prison.
"Who are you!?"
"Your Angel of Death! Tell me what this place is!"
"Some of us are scientists, others business people. We are studying, creating, and understanding."
"By doing what!"
"Some of us study the effects science has on our subjects to know how it will affect humans. Some of us are creating subjects for clients, and others are understanding questions that have plagued humanity for years."
"BY TORTURING PEOPLE!"
"Faunus aren't people. The only "people" we study are Humans who try to interfere."
"Humans with a Conscience you mean!"
"What is a Conscience besides something that holds one back from understanding the things we were meant to know?"
Whitley felt cold surge through him. This person wasn't human. They had lost the right to be called that whenever they began thinking like that.
"Besides you can't take any of them. Some of them have been infected with various diseases so we could make antibodies for Humans. It's not like Faunus needs them. We're the superior race. We're going to eradicate them sooner or later."
Whitley's insides froze and he drew 'Night's Blade'. He walked towards the person and in one slice decapitated them.
He continued through the building killing everyone who got in his path.
Jason and the others looked at the cages. What they saw sickened and enraged them.
"Here!" Coral called out.
They ran down the hall of cages until they found Coral. Whitley was cradled in her arms, shivering.
"What happened?" Jason asked.
"I-I ki-killed them." Whitley shuddered. "I ki-killed them all."
"HERE!" Loki shouted.
They ran towards Loki's voice, finding her in a room that made them all sick.
In the room was Human and Faunus alike.
Humans had animal parts fused to their bodies through cruel and violent means. Horns screwed onto their heads, tails stapled to their tailbones, claws fused to their fingers and toes.
Faunus we're being turned into the very animals their traits said they were. Cat Faunus' with their fingers removed and their hands turned into actual cat paws. Their legs inverted, toes removed, and their feet turned into actual paws. Tails grafted into their tailbones or ears grafted into their heads. Whiskers forced into their cheeks.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Yang said; covering her mouth.
"How deep does this go?" Logan asked harshly.
Jason let out dozens of Shadow Clones and sent them throughout the building. When the information came back his eyes widened in pure, unadulterated rage. "This isn't even the worst thing that they did." he said in a voice that burned with molten metal.
"I don't Even want to know what could be worse than this place." Coral said.
"Imagine the Brothel, the Bunker, the Mine, Mantle, Loki's, my, and your past all rolled into one place," Jason seethed. "Then multiply them by one hundred."
Loki and Coral went silent at that. Jason could sense their turmoil. He sent out more Shadow Clones and had them bring back everyone before leading them outside.
"How did no one notice so many people going missing?" Yang asked.
"Want me to make a list?" Creed asked. "Or do you just want me to give you a blanket statement? If it's the latter, then it's because these guys are mostly Faunus and the Humans who were either with them or tried stopping them from being taken and tortured."
They knew He was telling the truth, even if they didn't want to believe it.
"Were there any survivors?" Coral asked. "If so, I'd like to interrogate them."
"A few." Yang said. "Unless you guys killed them all."
A Shadow Clone threw a human in a lab coat at Coral's feet.
Coral picked up the human and slammed them into the wall. "Why were you doing this?" she asked in a tone that offered no room for anything but the truth. "Tell me or I'll start cutting pieces off."
"Okay, okay. Just don't hurt me."
Coral slammed the Human into the wall. "Like the way you didn't hurt the Faunus and other humans?"
"Look! I was just paid to do a job! Life sucks. It was good money. Some asshole destroyed my System after I trolled some bitch on "Kingdom Warfare 3"! I needed the money for a new system. Not everyone can live in Atlas."
"I'm going to take your thumbs now."
"NO! PLEASE! NO! DON'T DO THAT!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Coral slammed him into the wall again. "Now. Tell me what and why you were doing this."
"You told me to shut up."
"Answer me!"
"Okay! Jeez! There are people in Atlas who want pets. So, we made them pets."
"Explain!" Coral hissed.
"We get an order for a pet cat, we make the cat, let it heal, then send it off. The entire process takes about a year, but they are willing to wait and pay the outrageous price for a cat. Some people want dogs, others want Faunus and sometimes we had to improvise."
Coral held up a hand to keep the other from killing the human. "Where are your records!" she demanded.
"In the records room. Duh."
Coral punched him in the stomach. "Get Flippant with me again, and I'll let him do what's the fuck he wants to you." She nodded over to Jason and Creed.
"Which One?"
"Yes."
"That didn't answer my question."
"You are really okay with the fact that you are not leaving this building alive." Coral said, causing the human's face to drop.
"I'm what?"
"You heard me. You are not leaving this place alive. You are not leaving this building at all. You are either going to be killed by one of us, or we are going to collapse this building on top of you."
"You can't do that! It's illegal!"
Coral punched him in the stomach again. "Suddenly you care about the law?!"
"The law only applies to humans!" He gagged.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
"There we're other departments!" The Human Said, hoping to buy himself his life, not knowing his die had already been cast.
"What other departments?"
"Tons of them! I can take you to them!"
"No thanks!" Coral said, punching him, and stabbing her claws into him before gutting him.
"He could have stood trial." Scott said. "For all of this," he waved around them. "We have the evidence."
"Trial?" Loki asked. "Do you honestly think that he would have stood trial? If so you're dumber than a load of shit bricks! The fucking Atlesians or Mistraileans would have given him a fucking medal! Didn't you hear? He SOLD Faunus as pets! He wasn't going to stand trial! That's the problem with this world! Faunus will ALWAYS be second class citizens! Not even that! Faunus aren't seen as people! They are seen as slaves, servants, and PETS! You get to live a comfortable life because you're a fucking human! Meanwhile, Jason, Coral, Logan, Creed, Fred! They have to hide who they are to be treated half as well as you! YOU JUST DON'T SEE IT!"
Scott looked around and saw the others looking at him or away from him. Yang was looking away from him, rubbing her arm. "Fuck." He rubbed the back of his head, realizing he'd fucked up big time. The one time he tries using his parents morals, and it bites him in the ass.
"Now. Let's get the fuck out of here." Coral said.
"My Clones Are Ready to destroy this place." Jason said. "They'll destroy it once I'm outside."
"Is that everyone?"
"Yes," Logan said.
"And I've got the records." Jason pointed at his shadow. They had a lot of work to do.
They made their way outside, into the snow and ice, Jason being the final one out, and as soon as they were outside the ground began shaking. They watched as the ground collapsed leaving a massive sinkhole where the building had been.
"We need to get them to Beacon II." Jason Said, cutting a Portal in the Air to Geoff. Poking his head inside he found Geoff getting ready to head back to Atlas. "Hey Geoff. Don't go back to Atlas yet. I need to use you as an Anchor."
"Sure. Come on through," Geoff sidestepped and was horrified when people, Human and Faunus alike were led through, all of them in horrifying states walked in from a frigid Solitas blizzard. He nearly gagged and ran for a trash can that he emptied the contents of his stomach into until he was puking up stomach acid.
When he looked up people were still being brought aboard. Some of them were in such horrible condition that he wondered how they were still alive, especially after spending any amount of time in a blizzard. It reminded him of the pictures and stories his dad told him about World War II when the Allies raided the Nazi Death Camps... especially. He gulped. The experimentation camps. The thought made him want to vomit, but he had nothing left to lose. He drank some water, hoping that would calm him down, but he lost that too.
"You Good?" Scott asked, walking over to Geoff.
"Th' feck happened out there?"
"Хелл он Еартг(Hell on earth). That's the only way I can describe it. World War II level shit."
"I noticed."
"I've been Naïve."
"What do ya mean?"
"I've been living my life trying to follow my parents moral code but look at where we live! We live in a place that makes Earth like a fucking paradise! We have to literally fight to survive, every. Damn. Day. We live in a world that makes racism back in earth look like your bullies from school. This place! It's... it's corrupt man!"
"Yer not feeling corrupted, are ye?"
"If you're asking if I'm feeling different now than I did when we got here, then yeah. I'm feeling different."
"Scott! Stop quotin' John Wick! Jus' tell me if'n yer feelin' corrupted!"
"Yes. The guy I was when I got here... that guys gone. I've turned into Jason."
"Yeah, and it's not a good look," Jason said. "Only one of us can pull off Gun slinging vigilante, and it ain't you. You're More of the honorable type. It's not your fault, just the way you were raised."
"Is there a reason ya came over here?" Geoff asked.
"Yeah. I'm heading back up to Atlas. I've neglected something that I ought not to have, and I'm kind of pissed off at myself for it."
"What?"
"Faunus who've been captured and held prisoner."
"What are you going to do?" Scott asked.
"I'm going to go back to basics. Listen for them, and free them."
"Need some back up?"
"No. You need to detox yourself, maybe have Jaune purify you or something. I need to do what I do best."
"And that is?"
"Put the fear of the Alpha into some fuckers."
"Good luck." Geoff said.
"Thanks." Jason Said as He cut a Portal Open to Ruby in the mansion.
"Come on." Geoff said. "I've got somethin' ta show ya," Geoff motioned Scott to follow him.
Todd Manor.
Jason jumped out of the portal in front of Ruby and Oscar and ran outside the Manor. He grabbed the grapnel gauntlet and pulled himself up to the roof where he sat down in the Lotus position, the cold reminding him of the people he needed to help.
He calmed his breathing, a steady stream of steam rising from his mouth, and began meditating, listening to the sounds around the Manor. He heard arctic birds calling out to each other but needed to go lower. He listened even lower than that until he heard the buzzing of arctic insects that thrived in an arctic wasteland that only they could thrive in, but that still wasn't low enough. He listened until he could hear people talking and could hear each conversation as if he were standing next to the people.
He needed to go even lower though. He listened until he could hear the conversations going on inside The Atlesians houses as if he were in the room, but it still wasn't enough. He went even lower and heard it. A cry to the Alpha for deliverance. A cry he wasn't going to ignore. Not this time. He listened and sent a Shadow Clone to every house that he heard a cry from, but decided to send a Clone to every house, just to be safe.
At the same time, he had each of his clones disappear into each and every house in Atlas. Together they scoured the houses from the shadows looking for the Faunus and humans held as pets and slaves.
Jason disappeared into his shadow and reappeared out of Weiss's shadow... "Oh. Hey Weiss." he said, shaking the snow and ice from his nearly freezing body. "That color looks great on you. Sorry," he said walking out of the bathroom.
Weiss looked at Jason as he left before going back to her business, dyeing her hair the color of freshly fallen snow.
Jason ran down to the foyer and let his Shadow clones run out of his Shadow into the Foyer, down the secret passage of the armory and into the secret hanger.
Once all of his Shadow Clones had run from his shadow to the hanger he followed, cutting a portal to Geoff when he was in the Hangar.
Sticking his head through the portal he saw Geoff and Presumably Scott.
Scott was wearing a bulky green suit of armor that looked like it could survive a Grimm Apocalypse without taking any damage other than scratches.
"Hey," he said. "Nice armor. I'm about to bring some more people in. Probably should prepare yourself. It's pretty fucked up."
"Okay." Scott and Geoff said in unison.
Jason started ushering his clones onto Beacon II. When they let the Faunus out of their shadows Geoff and Scott were taken aback. The Faunus had completely broken, taking on the attitudes of animals they were forced to portray.
A cat Faunus hissed at them, trying to poof up its hair to look more threatening. It was heartbreaking to see.
Scott dropped to his knees with a *CLANG!*. He looked at Jason when he came through.
A dog Faunus ran up to him on all fours and began lapping at the helmet, acting exactly like a dog ought to.
"They've been completely changed through behavioral modification to be the animals they were created to be," Jason said. "Someone broke them."
Geoff looked at Jason. He wanted to be sick, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to be sick. He'd seen too much now. Too much pain, too much suffering, too much... too much... "I need to talk to Ironwood," he said, leaving.
"Hey," Jason Said. "Scott! Get your ass up! We can't stop these bastards if you break like this!" He picked up Scott and threw him across the room before stalking towards him. "Your brother has broken more than you and seeing this! This breaks you! Pathetic! Your morals are so fucking weak! What! Without your parents guiding you by the hand you don't know what to do, is that it!" He kicked Scott into a wall that dented. "You have no reason to be this weak! You always claim how strong you are, but what I'm looking at!" He picked Scott up and lifted him into the air. "I'm looking at a pathetic weakling!" He shouted into the helmets faceplate. "Where's the guy who fought me in the Vytal Festival! Where's that guy! Are you telling me that seeing this was enough to break you! Shit like this happens all the time! Get up and let your righteous fury guide you into seeing these people protected! Protect them with the strength that I know you have! You are the strongest fighter I know, and I know Tai and Yang! Now! Fight! Fight! FIGHT!"
Something stirred inside Scott and Sapphire light burst from his chest. Black ooze leaked from the gaps in the armor, and he strained as of being pulled from six different directions.
Jason let go of Scott and he stayed hovering in the air until all the black ooze evaporated before he was dropped to his feet. He swayed for a second before he pulled his helmet off and looked at Jason. "I know who I am now."
"Really?" Jason asked.
"Yes," he said in an accent that changed from British to Russian, and back again. "My name is Scotland Woodrow Allen. Son of..."
Jason slammed his elbow into Scott, knocking him on his ass. "Now," Jason offered his hand to Scott. "Get up. We have people to help." He nodded at the Faunus and humans that had run away while they were fighting.
Scott took Jason's hand and pulled himself up.
Jason could see that Scott was back to his old, boring, Justice driven self, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
Geoff walked up to Ironwood's office and knocked.
"Come." Ironwood said.
As soon as Geoff walked in, he could feel the oppressive Aura, as if a Forests uncertainty pressed down on him.
'KILL! Kill all humans! Kill all Faunus! Kill them all!' A voice yelled in his head. 'Call me Natures Domain! All must die! Humans! Faunus! They kill this world! They must die!'
"What is it Mister Patrick?" Ironwood asked.
Geoff could sense the difference. Ironwood was fighting Natures Domain and seemed to be fighting it back. Maybe there was a chance he could win that fight. He wondered how Jason and Scott were doing. "Sir," he said.
"I was told that you were under a medical emergency for the next month."
"I was feelin' well enough ta come visit ya taday General. I was also feelin' pretty guilty about Harriet."
"Why were you feeling guilty about former Operative Brie?"
"Sir? Didn't th' Ace Ops Tell Ya?"
"What Mister Patrick?!What Are you trying to tell me?!"
"I killed Harriet. She burned down th' Clinic, killed Awena an' Fox, an' was goin' ta force Awena ta Force Awena ta pleasure her if she'd lived."
"Are you sure?"
"wit' da broders as my Witnesses I'm not lyin' ta ya General! I have oders dat'll Tell ya wha' happened, and it'll nearly be an identical story! Harriet Brie was a Menace, not ta speak ill o' da dead, but I'm not sorry she's gone! Sorry I was da one dat killed 'er, but not sorry she's gone!"
"I understand Mr. Patrick," Ironwood Said in a calm Even Voice that made the hair on Geoff's skin stand on end. "Is there anything else you wish to discuss?"
Geoff took a breath, remembered how to talk in a less stressed accent, and began. "General. We found an underground building. Full o' Humans an' Faunus who were brutalized, tortured, an' experimented on."
"Do you have proof or just your word, because I'm sorry, without proof I can't..."
Geoff's Scroll chimed and she showed Ironwood the picture. Ironwood looked down at a Cat Faunus who had been mutilated into looking like an actual cat... a naked cat. "Is this enough proof General?" Geoff asked.
Ironwood swallowed. "Yes. That is sufficient evidence. What about humans?"
Geoff's Scroll chimed and he looked at it. He showed the scroll to Ironwood whose eyes widened. It was several pictures of humans who had been mutilated. It had horns screwed into its head and a tail grafted onto the tailbone.
"That is more than enough. Where is this building?"
Geoff's Scroll chimed again, and he saw another message.
JT: It collapsed.
"It collapsed."
"Then I'm afraid that we don't have any evidence we can use against them.
JT: They're dead. Here's the evidence you need.
A Book appeared out of Geoff's shadow, and he placed it on the desk. "Here's your evidence."
Ironwood looked through the book. He found names, dates, lien transfers, addresses. Everything he needed to arrest the people who were in this ledger.
JT: Umm... we've got a problem."
GP: What?
JT: Ya know those Faunus I took from those homes?
GP: Yeah.
JT: want to know how many of them have been spayed and Neutered? Want to know how many of them show signs of sexual assault and abuse? Want to know how many of them are pregnant, or have been pregnant? Want to know how many of them have an STD or STI? How about HIV or AIDS? Want to know how many of them show signs of other kinds of abuse? Want to know how many of them are suffering from some kind of malnourishment and malnutrition? Want to know how many of them want to die? Want to know who's going hunting?
Geoff showed the texts to Ironwood. "I thin' ye'll want ta see this." He spoke.
Ironwood read through the texts three times, trying to wrap his head around it. "I... I had no idea. Effective immediately every house will be searched!"
"But, Jason already took them from their tormentors. What're ya hopin' ta accomplish by searchin' th' houses."
"I'm arresting everyone on this list! Then we will see what they have to say."
"How are ye goin' ta enforce tha'? We're in Atlas?"
"I am General James Ironwood. I will invoke Martial Law if I need to."
Geoff looked at Ironwood in horror. He wouldn't invoke Martial Law, would he?
Jason and Scott were waiting outside Pietro's office. They were waiting to hear news about the Faunus.
"Thanks," Scott Said. "For helping me come back. I was in a Dark Place After the Fall, and you brought me back."
"Eh, don't mention it," Jason replied. "We all need a kick in the ass sometimes."
"Yeah, we do."
The door opened a moment later and Pietro walked out, his face solemn.
"What's your diagnosis?" Jason asked.
"It's not Good. We're looking at Prosthetics for them all, but that's not even the worst part."
"What is?" Scott asked.
"Some of them have been forever to endure their mistreatment for so long that their minds shattered in order to survive. They are, and likely will remain the animals that were forced to portray."
"And the others?" Jason asked.
"The ones that weren't as far gone... well..." Pietro wiped his face. "They want to die, to be put out of their misery."
Scott spun around and punched a hole into a panel. "Damn the ones who did this to them! Damn them to hell!"
Jason sighed and began working tension out of his muscles. "I'll do it." He spoke. "I'll put them out of their misery."
"Whoa!" Scott said. "NO!"
"As a doctor I'm inclined to agree," Pietro agreed
"So, you want us to leave them in pain, suffering?!"
"They are people and have the right to live!" Scott snapped.
"THEY ARE IN PAIN! NOT ONLY PHYSICAL PAIN, BUT THEY HAVE TO LIVE WITH WHAT THEY'VE BECOME! I'm not saying it's right, but it's a burden that I will bear."
"There was a time that you wanted to die," Scott reminded him. "But you didn't and look at you. You're healthier now than you were a year ago. Give them a year."
Jason thought about that before sighing. "Fine. One year." He held up a finger. "But, in one years' time, if they ask to be put out of their misery, I'll honor their request."
"Thank you."
"We've removed all the invasive materials from their bodies," Pietro said. "I'll start the process of getting the ones who are coherent Prosthetics. That should help out. I'll even make it so that they can transition easier from how they were forced to live to how they are supposed to live."
"Thank you," Jason and Scott said in unison.
"Do you need any Prosthetics?" Jason asked. We can put weapons on the back burner for now, but we'll have to Acquire a lot more metal."
"Too bad that we can't Salvage the metal from that Hell Hole," Scott sighed.
"Who says we can't?" Jason asked, slapping Scott's shoulder. "I'm going to call Viridian." He ran outside.
Scott watched after Jason before nodding at Pietro with a nod.
Pietro waved the two off before sighing and walked back into the room.
