Doing What's Right Reloaded

by negative 97

Lisa Lavender, a close correspondent with law enforcement, was always happy to get useful information to the public whether it be warning them about breaches in the wall by Grimm, the whereabouts on Roman's Gang, or the activities of the White Fang. The situation she was about to get wrapped in, however, might prove to be too much for her, but she would endure.

2. Chapter 2 Endure

Ch.2

Endure

RWBY is the property of its respective owners, Ocs belong to me

"Blake's...I can't believe..." Yang trailed off as she slumped to her knees and stared at the ground with vacant eyes while Weiss buried her red, teary eyes in her palm and shook her head.

Ruby, on the other hand, walked over to the broken remains of Crescent Rose while reviewing the fight her team had down to the last detail. Had it just been Jin, Wilma, and Ashanti, they wouldn't have broken a sweat, assisted in the capture of a lot of White Fang soldiers along with Roman, and would have gone back to Beacon with Blake. They had their leader with them though, she fought like a seasoned, battle hardened huntress, more than enough to take down a team of first year students. With a heavy sigh, Ruby picked up the salvageable parts of Crescent Rose and walked over to Yang, extending her hand to her big sister.

"Don't worry, we'll get Blake back. We just need to know where the White Fang took her and Lisa," Ruby assured Yang who didn't seem fully convinced, but accepted the offered hand nonetheless.

Weiss, meanwhile, huffed and put her hands on her hips.

"Even if we do find her, who's to say that we won't run into that monster again!? She made us look like amateurs!" Weiss yelled while balling her hands into fists, causing Ruby to nod and hold up her hands in a placating gesture.

"I know, but I also know how she beat us," Ruby replied, causing the blonde brawler to raise a brow, while Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned before walking right up to her team leader.

"That's great, Ruby! How does that help us!?" Weiss shouted while pointing her finger directly at the scythe wielder's face.

Gently pushing the appendage away, Ruby took a moment to compose her thoughts before meeting the fencer's gaze with her own.

"Weiss, your fighting style relies heavily on speed and agility which is why Deshret targeted your midsection and legs to slow you down," Ruby explained, causing Weiss to remember not only how she felt as if the bones in her were going to snap in two if she made one wrong move, but also felt as if someone was prying apart her intestines with each step she took.

"I-I know, but maybe if I managed to outmaneuver her-"

"Weiss, she was fast and agile too in spite of her size and she wasn't getting tired either. If the fight went on any longer than it did, she would have beaten you," Ruby lightly interrupted her teammate causing the fencer to indignantly huff and open her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it when nothing came to mind.

"Yang, your fighting style relies heavily on outfighting opponents with overwhelming force, but even with your semblance, Deshret can take whatever punishment you can dish out and return it in kind," Ruby informed her big sister who sighed softly and rubbed her arm, remembered landing a particularly devastating punch on her foe which was enhanced by her semblance and a shell from Ember Celica.

Not only did Deshret tank it, she even laughed about it afterwards while Yang felt like she was going to fall over at any moment.

"Jeez sis, you're making it sound like I fight like a bum-"

"Yang, you're one of the best fighters I know, but you have tendency to get caught up in the heat of the momen which causes you to fight more aggressively, but sloppier too. I'm sorry, but she's just someone who's going to outpunch you if try to outpunch her," Ruby told the blonde brawler who blankly stared at her sister for a moment before nodding and releasing a soft breath.

"Alright, I didn't like to hear it, but I needed to hear it. How did she defeat you, sis?" Yang inquired causing Ruby to think back to her brief battle with the White Fang field leader and how she was on the back foot the whole time.

"You're going to have to learn to take hits in order to become a better warrior, young Rose," Deshret's words echoed in the young huntress' head, causing Ruby to sigh softly and spare a glance at her shattered weapon.

"It's because I can't take hits very well. The moment she got a hold of me, she floored me in one hit and broke Crescent Rose," Ruby explained while showing her broken weapon to her teammates.

Yang, knowing how important Crescent Rose was to her sister, cringed at the sight. This prompted Weiss to glance at her weapon and internally sigh in relief that it wasn't shattered as well.

"I think it's also because my combat skills without my precious baby...could use some work. I only managed to get hits in after Crescent Rose was broken through sneak attacks and once Deshret's goon grabbed me, I couldn't break free," Ruby went on, causing Yang to grit her teeth as she remembered seeing Wilma hauling her sister towards a bullhead while she was helpless to do anything about it.

Being calm enough to know that an outburst wouldn't help them now, the blonde brawler put a hand on Ruby's shoulder and prepared to speak her mind. Before she could say anything though, Weiss beat her to the punch.

"Um, aren't you two forgetting something!? Remember how she regenerated like some sort of lizard when Yang punched her!? How are we going to get around a semblance like that!?" Weiss shouted, causing Ruby to put a hand on her chin as everything she had learned about aura and semblances from Uncle Qrow never mentioned anything of an ability quite like that.

She knew it was a long shot, but Ruby considered that maybe, just maybe, if they were able to capture Deshret, they could make her tell them what her semblance was.

"At the very least, we know how she beat us so we can train to overcome our weaknesses and cover each other's in the process," Yang interjected, knocking Ruby out of her stupor.

Before the blonde brawler's teammates could say anything in response, a voice suddenly chirped "I couldn't agree more with that statement, Mrs. Xiao Long! However, Deshret is not the only adversary you should be concerned about." Jolting, the remainder of Team RWBY turned and saw that the voice belonged to Penny who was approaching with Sun right beside her.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked, prompting to Penny grab her scroll and project the holographic profiles of Lacey, the knight errant, and Ebony, the arm cannon soldier.

Upon seeing the image of Ebony, Weiss let out a small, pitiful, and barely audible gasp which she quickly hid behind a disaffected, icily calm demeanor.

"Lacey La Montagne, currently 70 years old, and now working for the White Fang. She used to be a huntress a lot of people looked up to until her descent into villainy. Now she's wanted in all four kingdoms for vigilantism and terrorism," Penny explained, which Yang and Sun nodded at, while Weiss and Ruby dejectedly stared at the ex-huntress's picture.

For Weiss, she felt foolish for telling her father that she was going to be just like Lacey when she got older even if the knight errant was a faunus. For Ruby, she remembered watching Lacey's fights in the Mistral Tournament in awe and tried to incorporate some of the former huntress's techniques into her fighting style. More importantly for the scythe wielder, however, is how her father told her that Lacey was a shining beacon of hope when racism towards the faunus and mistrust between the kingdoms was at an all time high. To see someone she used to hold in high regard having fallen so far... Shaking her head, Ruby focused on the next person Penny was talking about.

"Ebony Satsuma, currently 45 years old, and a long standing high priority target within the White Fang. She-"

"I remember her. Every time the White Fang attacked our manor, she was always the one leading the other soldiers and she was always the one who executed whoever it was they were targeting...like my aunt," Weiss explained in a voice barely above a whisper as she remembered her aunt hiding Whitley, Winter, and herself in the conference room while she went out to give herself up despite knowing full well what would happen.

"I...I'm...sorry," Weiss remembered Ebony telling her younger self while she wept over her aunt's corpse who had a large, burning hole through her head.

Ebony even went as far clasping the heiress's shoulder with a blood soaked hand to try and reassure her, but left shortly afterwards while leaving her and her siblings unharmed.

"Oh, I'm sorry for any discomfort that this information caused, Mrs. Schnee," Penny politely apologized to the heiress who waved off the android's concern and wiped away a tear forming at the corner of her eye.

"It's fine, you couldn't have known," Weiss gruffly replied, which caused Penny to tilt her head, but otherwise didn't prod the heiress for context.

Ruby placed a hand on Weiss's shoulder upon hearing this, making the heiress grunt, but didn't slap her team leader's hand off.

"What about this Deshret girl you guys mentioned earlier? Is there any info on her?" Sun asked causing Penny to search the Atlesian database for any and all information on the desert fighter, but could find almost nothing.

No Huntsman Academy or Combat School student ID, no place of residence, and no relatives from around Remnant.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wukong, but what little information we have on her most likely won't be of aid. All the database says is that she's a highly skilled combatant and with the assistance of a small group of allies, took over Tenebris Academy in Vacuo. After that, she was MIA for several years until-"

"Until she showed up today and kicked our asses," Yang interrupted with a miffed growl as the desert fighter made her look like an absolute chump which was a sentiment shared by Weiss and Ruby.

"That is correct, Mrs. Xiao Long. She did indeed kick the posterior. However, why she's working with the White Fang and her motives remain indeterminate," Penny replied, causing Yang to gaze at the holographic profile of Deshret and wondered what kind of training she underwent that she could outclass huntresses in training.

Could she have attended Shade Academy or Tenebris Academy with a different name? Maybe she was trained by a huntsman or several? She was shaken out of her thoughts when Ruby began to explain the current course of action, causing the blond brawler to push aside her curiosity for the time being.

"Weiss, Yang, we should head to the police station and ask if we can question Torchwick or some of the White Fang soldiers they captured. Once we learn where the White Fang's base is, we'll head back to Beacon and start training at the battlegrounds," Ruby suggested, which Yang found no complaints with and was eager for the inevitable rematch.

Weiss, meanwhile, nodded and went over what her team leader said with a hand on her chin.

"If we're going to be questioning the White Fang scoundrels, then we should question Deshret's ruffians. Their leader seems to hold sway so they might know more than just the location of the base," Weiss advised, causing Ruby to faintly smile and say 'Good thinking.' which the heiress smugly grinned at.

Yang, for her part, eagerly pounded her fists as she couldn't wait for wringing out the information out of either of Deshret's subordinates.

"That is a very high possibility, Mrs. Schnee. Ruby, once we acquire the location of the base, how long will you and your team need to train?" Penny inquired which was something Yang wanted to know as well as she glanced at her sister with folded arms.

"That's a good question, sis. I don't want to leave Blake or Lisa with the White Fang any longer than we should," Yang stated, causing Ruby to slowly nod as thinking of the length of how long they should train was making her head spin.

A week? No, too short. None of them would make significant progress and they would be beaten down like they were earlier. A year? No, too long. Blake and Lisa might be dead by then and while they might be able to beat Deshret, Ebony, and Lacey, it still could go either way.

"I don't know, a month maybe?" Ruby finally got out, causing Yang and Weiss to grumble while Sun scoffed.

Penny, noticing their deflated expressions, wracked her artificial brain for a solution and, sure enough, an idea occurred to her which made her break out into a grin.

"Ruby, I believe 4 weeks worth of training will enable you and your teammates to hold your own more effectively. However, I see that you're worried that you won't be able to beat Ebony, Lacey, or Deshret and to that I say you don't need to. The objective of the mission is to rescue Mrs. Belladonna and Mrs. Lavender, correct? Then all you need to do is hold them off until one of us can acquire our captured allies and then we can make our escape," Penny told her friend causing Ruby to purse her lips and glance at Yang, Weiss, and Sun.

For a moment, everything was silent as the trio contemplated this before Yang abruptly exhaled and said "It's as good a plan as any."

"I'll say, once we get some training under our belt, those White Fang goons won't know what hit em! And hey, if this all goes smoothly, Blake and Lisa will be back for the dance and the Vytal festival," Sun pointed out which made Ruby, Yang, and Weiss even more determined to rescue their friend as Ruby led her group to the police station.

All the while, Weiss, cast a wary glance at Sun who smiled sheepishly, but looked away when the heiress narrowed her eyes at him.

"I still don't know how to feel about him," Weiss thought as she remembered how he was a stowaway and evaded police, but then remembered he also kept Blake company during her absence despite not having to.

With that in mind, along with her desire to change the SDC for the better, the fencer resolved to keep an open mind about him.

---

Running a hand over his face, Asher tried to keep his cool as thus far, questioning Torchwick yielded no results. The mob boss simply wasn't fazed by whatever offers, threats, or appeals to his sense of self-preservation that the lawman put forth. Releasing a breath, the chief of police hoped that his men were having better luck interrogating the countless White Fang soldiers they captured as Asher made another attempt to make Roman talk.

"You do understand that you're facing life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, right? Cooperate with us and the judge might be more lenient which means you need to start coughing up who your employer is, why they need all this dust, and where the White Fang's current hideout is," Asher demanded while glaring at Roman from across the interrogation table, but all the mob boss did was give out a bored yawn and lean back in his chair.

"I keep telling you, Boy Scout. I'll be more than happy to share what I know...if you pay me more than what my boss is giving me. However, I won't hold my breath given what the council pays you pigs," Torchwick calmly retorted, causing the lawman to grunt as he pulled up footage from the battle of the docks and enhanced the image of Lacey, Ebony, and Deshret.

Seeing these three women made him narrow his eyes, but forced down his misgivings for the time being and played it cool.

"What do you know about these women?" Asher questioned which put the mob boss in a predicament.

On one hand, he was very tempted to throw his allies under the bus, but on the other, he didn't exactly want to earn Cinder's wrath. That in mind, he simply shrugged.

"Sorry Pig, you want answers? You're going to have to fork over the dough," Roman responded with a shit eating grin on his face.

While this may have enraged any other interrogator, Asher simply scoffed and brought up the security footage of Jin and Wilma's cell.

"We interviewed these two earlier and they've already thrown you under the bus for a lighter sentence. That means you have nothing left protecting you so tells us what you know, and we'll put in a good word for you for you," Asher offered, but all Torchwick did was laugh mockingly, clap his restrained hands, and lean forward in his chair.

"I'll admit, Boy Scout. It would have worked on any of the other children you have in lockup, but if you were going to bluff, you should have said Butterball squealed," Roman ruthlessly tore apart Asher's gambit, but the lawman, at least on the surface, wasn't fazed as he looked toward the one-way mirror and gestured at the mob boss.

Almost immediately, two officers entered the room and began removing the restraints that kept Torchwick attached to the table.

"Get this son of a bitch out of my sight," Asher growled, causing Roman to smirk and say 'I look forward to our next conversation, Chief!' while he was being led out of the room.

When he was sure the mob boss wouldn't hear him, Asher let out a long groan and pinched the bridge of his nose before exiting the room.

"Having a hard time, Chief?" one of his officers asked while handing him a cup of coffee, causing the lawman to graciously accept the offered beverage and took a long swig of it.

"Yeah, that son of bitch ain't talking. If only Ozpin didn't take the info Lisa was trying to bring to us. The interrogation would go a lot smoother if we had more to work with!" Asher shouted as he hoped that the White Fang wasn't hurting Lisa or Blake too badly though he knew he should expect the worse.

"I hear you, and it sucks we can't take any legal action against them. Didn't Ozpin threaten you a while back or something?" the officer asked, to which the lawman solemnly nodded and knew that his days working on borrowed time were coming to an end.

He just hoped he could do as much as he could before then.

"Yeah, he said if I did anything that went against his master plan, he was going to go over my head to the council and get them to strip me of my badge. Since I did just that, I'm expecting a call from the council any minute now," the chief of police replied as looked down at the brown liquid in his cup while his fellow officer widened his eyes and stared at Asher in disbelief.

"He can't do that! You served for over thirty years, and you captured Roman Torchwick of all people! The council should be on their knees thanking you for getting him off the streets!" the officer shouted in protest to which Asher gave a faint smile and clasped his cohort's shoulder.

"The council isn't going to care about that. All they're going to see is an old man causing lots of property damage to capture some foot soldiers and one dangerous criminal when there were three others as well," Asher solemnly admitted to which the officer was unable to muster a response as if right on cue, the officer manning the front desk told the lawman the council wanted to speak to him in the conference room.

Sighing heavily, Asher nodded at the man, thanked him for the coffee, and headed towards the conference room where he felt like a dead man walking. Entering the room, Asher narrowed his eyes when he saw the faces of not only the councilors, but Ozpin as well.

"Close the door, this won't take long," the councilors demanded causing the lawman to do so and stepped up to the podium where he felt like he was next in line to be executed.

"Jared Asher, you have served with distinction throughout the years, but your belligerence with us and the huntsmen has called your competence into question. These concerns were all but confirmed during your operation in which not only were you unable to apprehend Lacey La Montagne, Ebony Satsuma, or Deshret, but you also interfered with Ozpin's plan to deal with this matter more effectively as well," the councilors told the lawman who briefly glared at the headmaster out of the corner of his eye before looking back at the councilors.

"Oh really? Did Ozpin tell you his plan to deal with the matter more effectively?" Asher inquired as he thought that even the council would be against Ozpin's gambit, if only to ensure that they would have voters for the next election.

To his surprise, they nodded.

"Yes, he told us that he sent Team RWBY to help Lisa Lavender in her reconnaissance in order to better protect her should she be discovered and help her determine how many huntsmen would be needed to deal with the White Fang. However, your brazen show of force made the situation spiral out of control which led to the capture of not only Lisa Lavender, but a huntress in training as well," the councilors informed Asher who felt his blood boil and if it were possible, steam would be shooting out of his ears.

"That's not what happened and you know it, Ozpin! Did it slip your mind that we managed to nab Roman Torchwick or did you just conveniently leave that part out!?" Asher roared as he glared daggers at the seasoned huntsman who just calmly stared back at him.

Meanwhile, the councilors cleared their throats, which made the lawman turn his gaze back to them.

"While you did manage to prevent some of the dust from being stolen and captured a dangerous criminal, these acts alone are not enough to salvage the hole you dug yourself in. Jared Asher, in the power invested in us from the people of Vale, we hereby strip you of your badge indefinitely. You will be able to keep your job for today, but come tomorrow, you will state in an address to the public that you are willingly stepping down as acting police chief," the councilors ordered of the lawman who felt like someone reached into his chest, pulled his heart out, and crushed it in their hands.

"And if I don't play ball?" Asher questioned with an ever so slight growl causing Ozpin to sigh softly and shake his head as if to say 'I'm sorry it had to come to this.' while the councilors remained as stone faced as ever.

"Then you will be imprisoned for a long time for allowing two kidnappings on your watch, we will send your profile to every law enforcement agency in Vale which will prevent you from getting work in that field, and we will share the details of your failure to media outlets which will disgrace you in the eyes of the public. Additionally, once Lisa Lavender and Blake Belladonna are rescued, we will have the former be fired from her job and then placed under house arrest for seven months for vigilantism," the councilors mercilessly retorted without an ounce of remorse, causing the police chief to snarl under his breath as now, he was tempted to shove the headmaster's cane where the sun didn't shine.

"Fucking muckrakers...fine, I'll go along with this bullshit your peddling," Asher huffed, which the councilors nodded at, while Ozpin wished things could have gone differently.

"Very good, Chief. In light for your service to Vale, you may request any food items you wish for your retirement party so long as they aren't too outlandish," the councilors responded calmly before they cut off the call, leaving only Ozpin on call.

An eerie silence filled the room as the soon to be former lawman glared at the huntsman with his fists clenched. Knowing how Asher would react now, but still feeling a need to repair the bridge that was burnt, Ozpin decided to offer an olive branch.

"Asher, I can assist you in finding a new job if you want-"

"Fuck you, Ozpin. I don't want a damned thing from you after what you just did so I'm just going to tell you one thing," Asher seethed through gritted teeth as he pointed his index finger right at him.

"One day, the council is going to start questioning your ability to protect the people of Vale and when someone comes along that they think can do a better job, you're going to be tossed to the wayside like me," Asher threatened which the headmaster took with grace and said in response 'That day is closer than you think, Chief. Take care.'

Now truly alone in a dimly lit room, the former chief of police was left with nothing but his intrusive thoughts, intrusive thoughts that threatened to overwhelm him.

"I need to stay in the loop about what's going on and I need to rescue Lisa so I guess I have no other choice but to join the Valean Militia after tomorrow," Asher mused while slumping forward on the podium and burying his face in his hands.

Just as felt like sobbing for the first time in a long while, a knock came at the door.

"Chief, there's some huntsmen who want to talk to you," the voice from outside the door said, causing the lawman to sigh heavily and shake his head before saying 'I'll be out in a minute.'

Putting on his best brave face, Asher approached the door and swung it open where he saw the huntsmen who helped battle the White Fang at the docks standing before him.

"Oh hey, it's you guys. Thanks for your help back at the docks. It made capturing Torchwick and some of the White Fang's foot soldiers a lot easier," Asher earnestly told the huntsmen.

This caused Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Penny to beam with pride while Sun could hardly contain his excitement as he was in an actual police station, and not as a criminal this time!

"It was no problem, sir...well, that's not actually true. You see, we ran into this super strong girl and she kicked our butts and took one of our friends and she even broke Crescent Rose. That's my weapon by the way..." Ruby began only to go off on a tangent, making Asher slowly nod with a raised brow.

Rolling her eyes, Weiss clamped a hand over Ruby's mouth and took over the conversation from there.

"What's she's trying to say is that it was our pleasure to help, but our friend was captured in the process which is why we would like to interrogate Torchwick and Deshret's captured miscreants," Weiss requested while removing her hand from Ruby's mouth.

Understandingly nodding, Asher motioned for the huntsmen to follow him.

"Trust me, no one wants to make these guys talk more than I do, but they aren't saying a word," Asher replied as he led them into the interrogation room where they stopped in front of the one-way mirror.

From there, they saw another officer trying, and failing, to make Roman Torchwick talk.

"I feel foolish. Lisa went and got herself captured to bring this bastard in and he hasn't told us a damn thing," the lawman continued as Ruby and Penny jolted when the officer in the interrogation room lost his cool and slammed his hands down on the metal table.

Predictably, this brought no end of amusement to the mob boss who threw his head back and laughed.

"Look, if you guys think you can make them talk, be my guest, but don't be surprised if you don't come away with anything," Asher warned the huntsmen, causing the remnants of Team RWBY to nod before requesting that he bring Jin and Wilma into an interrogation room.

"Go get yourselves set up. I'll be back in a moment," Asher told them while walking towards the holding cells with a fellow officer.

Now alone, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Penny, and Sun strategized with one another on how to best go about this.

"Okay, Penny, Sun, and I will be good cop. Weiss and Yang, you'll be bad cop," Ruby ordered causing the fencer, brawler, and the android to readily nod in agreement while Penny hardly able to contain her excitement.

Sun, for some reason, seem less enthused as he rubbed the back of his head. When the scythe wielder inquired as to why, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the answer Sun gave her.

"Aw, but I always wanted to be bad cop," Sun whined, causing Ruby to groan and say Okay, you can be a bad cop.'

The kung fu fighter broke out into a grin at finally being able to live out his boyhood fantasy as an officer led them into the interrogation room.

"This is so exhilarating, Ruby! I promise I'll do my best!" Penny exclaimed, which Ruby smiled warmly and nodded at, as Asher and one of his men brought the two White Fang soldiers into the room and handcuffed them to the table.

"Alright, we'll be on the other side if you need help," Asher assured the huntsmen before leaving the room with his fellow officer.

Knowing what had to be done, the huntsmen turned their attention to the White Fang goons. Wilma shrank back in her seat from all this attention while Jin, despite her inferior position, took one look at the gaggle of huntsmen, snickered, and shook her head.

"You need five people to interrogate someone?" Jin remarked, causing Yang to slam her hands down onto the table which made it fold inwards like sheet metal.

Wilma proceeded let out a small gasp and lean as far back from the huntress as possible. Jin, however, remained unflappable, even as the blonde brawler leaned her face as close to hers as possible.

"That's not important. What is is the location of your little hideout so you'd better start talking or things are going to get...rough," Yang retorted as her eyes turned a shade of crimson and to up the intimidation factor, fully brandished Ember Celica.

Sun, not willing to go as far as Yang, directed as fierce a glare towards the captured grunts as he could muster. Weiss, after confusedly looking between them, settled for Yang's approach and unfurled Myrtenaster.

"Hey, there's no need for that!" Wilma protested, causing the blonde brawler to immediately round on the White Fang soldier and grab her by the collar.

The blonde brawler proceeded to hoist Wilma, all 310 pounds of her, up into the air as if she weighed nothing.

"I remember you. You brutalized my little sister when she couldn't fight back. How about I return the favor?" Yang growled as she chambered a slug into one of her gauntlets and reared a fist back.

Seeing her ally flinch and tense up, Jin stood up from her chair only for a black glyph to tug her back down.

"It-it was nothing personal!" Wilma squeaked not unlike a rat as Yang was about to follow through on her threat...only for Ruby to place a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Yang, this isn't helping," Ruby told her sister, causing the brawler to snort before releasing the White Fang grunt who crashed back down onto her chair with a loud thud.

Yang proceeded to raise a brow as Penny tapped her chin and stared at Jin intently, which the White Fang soldier narrowed her eyes at, as the android approached the table.

"You are Jin Hu, a history teacher from the former settlement of Kuroyuri in Mistral. With your credentials, you would have been able to find work in Argus or the city of Mistral so why assist the White Fang?" Penny inquired with a tilt of her head causing Jin to release a breath as the android reminded her of some of the students she had been fond of, so she tried to keep her tone forceful, yet subdued.

"You think I didn't try? I was always turned down just because I was a faunus and they always hired a human over me even if they were less qualified. When I did find work, the students treated me like shit and I got death threats from human supremacists on a daily basis," Jin answered, causing Penny to tilt her head as her mind simply couldn't process such hardship at this point in time while Ruby was sure if Blake were here, she would be able to empathize with the former teacher better than they could.

"Judging from your attitude, I'm guessing you didn't leave," Sun pointed out, causing Jin to nod slowly as she put her face down, removed her eye patch, and took off her surgical mask.

Immediately, everyone collectively gasped. While they expected a cybernetic eye, they were unprepared to see that Jin's chin, jaw, mouth, and even teeth were completely replaced with cold, metallic bionics. Ruby, Penny, and Sun for their part, couldn't comprehend how someone could do such a thing while Weiss, though not fond of the White Fang, felt a sense of pity for the foot soldier.

"You would be right," was all Jin said as she opened her mouth, showing that even her tongue, gums, and the inside of her maw entirely were metallic as well.

Like Weiss, Yang wasn't fond of the White Fang, especially the member right in front of her. That being said, she wouldn't wish such harm upon anyone, no matter their crimes.

"My mom said that some humans could be...violent towards us but I didn't think-"

"It's fine, Wilma. You couldn't have known," Jin lightly interrupted her cohort as Penny then shifted her attention to Wilma.

The low level White Fang soldier warily stared back at the android, who was sifting through the Atlesian database, and proceeded to let out a small "Oh." when she came upon the relevant information.

"You are Wilma Beekman. Your father serves in the Mantle Wall Defense Division, you have an adopted older sister called Ashanti, and your mother, Ainsley Beekman, is working for the White Fang like you are. Why is it that she couldn't find legal employment?" Penny innocently inquired with absolutely no malice behind her words, but this still caused the White Fang soldier to huff.

"My dad has been MIA ever since I was thirteen and my mom was struggling to make ends meet even with Ashanti and I dropping out of school to help her. What was she supposed to do? Let us starve?" Wilma retorted, which Sun understandingly nodded at as he remembered his family being in rough spots financially when they used to live in Vacuo.

Weiss, though her general view of the White Fang didn't change, was sympathetic to the foot soldier's plight.

"That doesn't excuse what you or anyone in the White Fang do! Speaking of the White Fang, start telling us where they're hiding at or this is going to get ugly!" Yang demanded while pounding her fist on the table, making the furniture fold in even more.

Wilma jolted and felt beads of sweat pouring down her brow while Jin didn't flinch in the slightest.

"What if it was your friend who got captured? Wouldn't you want to know where they were so you could help them?" Ruby added, appealing to whatever sense of nobility the two White Fang grunts had.

This seemed to actually got through to them as they glanced at one another, but Wilma, knowing that Jin was her superior, deferring to her for a decision. Sighing, Jin considered the fallout of letting information slip into enemy hands, but remembered Deshret telling her that they would leave the White Fang with Wilma, Ashanti, and Ainsley should the organization begin to self-destruct. With that in mind, Jin didn't seem the harm in telling them what they needed to hear while leaving out some details as a precaution. Yang, brash as ever, beat her to the punch before she could even open her mouth.

"You know, our dad lost the love of his life twice and sure, he struggled to make ends meet at times too, but he never considered resorting to crime like your mom did," Yang told Wilma and immediately, it was as if someone flicked a switch in the White Fang soldier's head as her nervous gaze was replaced with a calm, but fierce glare.

"If you guys lived in Mantle, you would have," Wilma retorted with a razor sharp edge to her voice, causing Jin to nod in agreement.

On second thought, withholding the information from them for the time being seemed to be the smart decision.

"Or if you faced the hardships faunus go through in Mistral," Jin added, causing the blonde brawler to snort as she briefly looked at the White Fang grunt for a moment before refocusing on Wilma.

"No, we wouldn't. Our dad, even if he was a faunus though, wouldn't have resorted to joining the White Fang so your excuses to justify your actions aren't holding," Yang shot back, causing Wilma's lips to quiver and her expression to darken like a shadowy abyss.

Seeing this, Sun nervously glanced at the blonde brawler whose eyes turned a shade of crimson. Suddenly, his boyhood fantasy didn't seem to be all it was cracked up to be.

"Um...Yang...maybe we should let someone else take over," Sun advised the blonde brawler, only for his guidance to fall on deaf ears as Yang propped her forearm on the table and leaned her face close to Wilma's.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Does the truth hurt? If you want to stop hearing it, then tell us where they took Blake!" Yang roared while slamming her fist down on the table yet again.

This time though, Wilma just clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white, causing Ruby to anxiously look between them as the White Fang solider stood up from her chair.

"I want to go back to my cell, please," Wilma politely requested through gritted teeth, causing Yang to get right in her face as if they were two fighters facing off in a fighting ring.

Ruby, wanting to deescalate the situation, began to approach her big sister only for Penny to block her.

"Penny, what are you-"

"I'm sorry, Ruby, but from what I know of interrogations, the interrogators try to induce high stress levels in the suspects to break them down in order to acquire the desired information. I believe that this is what Mrs. Xiao Long is doing so I believe it's in our best interests to let her proceed," Penny murmured, causing Ruby to uncertainly glance at the android and then at Yang and Wilma before hesitantly inclining her head.

"I hope you're right because she doesn't look like she's going to break down in the way Yang expects," Weiss whispered, causing Penny to analyze the White Fang soldier's stress levels.

Seeing that they were high, Penny figured Yang must be on the verge of a breakthrough so, like with Ruby, the android advised Weiss to let Yang proceed.

"Not until you tell us what you know!" Yang retorted, causing Wilma's breathing to become rougher and louder, something that was amplified when the blonde brawler forcefully pushed her back down onto her chair.

"I want to go back to my cell, please," Wilma cordially asked once more, but in a more forceful tone as Yang grabbed her by her collar and tried to yank the White Fang goon toward her.

However, Wilma put up resistance this time by grabbing Yang's forearm, making the blonde brawler wince slightly, and tried to fight out of the huntress's grip.

"Why are you even protecting someone like Deshret anyway? If she was sitting here, she would have sold you guys out in a heartbeat to protect her own skin!" Yang surmised, causing Wilma to tighte her grip on the brawler's forearm and stared right into Yang's furious crimson eyes with her red, teary ones.

"You don't know anything about her!" Wilma snarled, causing the huntress to huff as she finally managed to hoist the White Fang goon into the air and pulled her close so their foreheads were touching each other's.

"Wilma's right. I've worked with Deshret for a long time now and she trusts me with her life and vice versa. If you want to question anyone's loyalty, you need not look further than your so-called friends," Jin interjected once more, causing Yang to glower at Jin with her golden hair glowing as if it were a bright star in the night sky.

Despite knowing what the huntress was capable of one she got worked up, the White Fang soldier refused to be intimidated.

"What do you mean-"

"I mean that you've known these guys for what, 3-4 months at best? That's hardly enough time to form a close bond with someone, especially since your relationships were never truly put to the test. Take Blake for example. She ran from her parents, she ran from the White Fang, and when the chips are down, she'll run from you," Jin ruthlessly interrupted the blonde brawler who roughly tossed Wilma aside and grabbed Jin by her neck.

Yang proceeded to yank her out of her chair, breaking the handcuffs as if they were fragile glass, and slammed her against the wall, creating spider web cracks on the surface.

"She wouldn't do that!" Yang yelled while pressing Jin into the wall even further, making the White Fang goon grimace.

Jin, however, managed to maintain her cold, stone faced gaze on the huntress in spite of the pain.

"The evidence is in front of you. You need only accept it," Jin calmly, but firmly retorted, causing the blonde brawler's lips to quiver as she let the White Fang goon drop to the ground right on her tailbone.

"Oh, you think you're so smart, huh!? I may not know as much as Blake or the White Fang as you, but I do know that honorable front Deshret puts up is fake and she'll abandon you the moment you're no longer useful. Why else didn't she rescue you guys when she had the chance?" Yang inquired, causing Wilma's breathing came out in stutters and tears freely streamed down her face with her teeth gritted.

"Um...Yang...seriously," Sun got out as he saw the White Fang goon's body language and knew it wasn't going to be good if she continued getting pushed.

Yang wasn't listening though as she grabbed Wilma's shirt and tugged her to her feet.

"Penny said your mom is working with the White Fang too, right? Why didn't we see her at the docks with your sister? I guess she doesn't care about you as much as you thought," Yang spat at the White Fang goon who widened her eyes, gnashed her teeth, and with strength that surprised Yang, shoved the huntress off of her.

Gasping, Yang was sent tumbling to the ground as Wilma physically uprooted the table that was attached to the floor, shattering her handcuffs, and smashed it against the brawler's chest as hard as she could. Cringing, the huntress covered up as she felt the wind get knocked out of her as, before anyone could process what just happened, Wilma rounded on Yang like an animal on the hunt.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Wilma roared with a rat like squeak as she swung the piece of furniture like she was going for a home run.

Seeing stars as it harshly connected with her skull, the taken off guard and now dazed Yang lashed out with blind, wild haymaker in her foe's general direction. The White Fang goon leaned her back, letting the punch hit nothing but empty air, and with an animalstic roar, viciously smashed her forehead against Yang's with a loud, sickening crack.

Crumpling onto one knee, Yang shielded herself with her arms as Asher and three officers burst into the room where all three of them tasered the White Fang goon. Grimacing, but remaining on her feet, Wilma glared at them, and looked poised to strike, but reminded herself that her only gripe was with Yang. So even as they continued to try to bring her down, she didn't attack. Rather, she closed her eyes and tried to bring herself back to a state of calm...as Sun grabbed her, threw her end over end to the ground with a deft hip toss, and felt Penny, Asher, and his men restraining her.

"Yang, are you okay?" Ruby concernedly asked while kneeling down next to her sister.

In response, the blonde brawler gave a pained nod as the scythe wielder and the fencer grabbed her arms and helped her to her feet.

"Y-yeah, just give me-" Yang began to say only to wail in pain as Jin capitalized on everyone's confusion and tackled Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, sending the blond brawler's head straight through the reinforced, bullet proof one way mirror.

As Yang lay in a groggy, barely conscious daze, Jin advanced on the indisposed Ruby planted her boot against the scythe wielder's face. Ruby yelped in agony as the back of her skull harshly crashed against the wall, breaking the tiles and leaving the huntress covered in sawdust as she fell unconscious. With two of her foes taken care of, the White Fang goon moved onto Weiss next and stomped on the back of her head before she could reach for her rapier. With both huntresses laying still on the ground, the White Fang soldier moved onto her true target as Yang began to get up, only to dry heave as Jin tackled her to the ground, tightly wrapped her legs around her enemy's neck, and grasped the back of the blonde brawler's head for extra leverage.

"Payback's a bitch, huh?" Jin snarled in a ferocious, tiger like manner as she popped out her claws.

Yang yowled as the sharp digits dug into the back of her head, making her feel as if someone as jabbing fiery, sharp needles into her skull. Gritting her teeth, the blonde brawler gripped Jin's leg for leverage and fiercely pounded her ribs with harsh, semblance enhanced punches. Each of the blows elicited a retch from the White Fang goon, with one particularly nasty liver shot making her cough up blood. In spite of this, the White Fang soldier kept her grip on her foe, even when Yang lifted her up as high as she could, and slammed her on the ground. Cussing when she felt as if she fell from a mountain, Jin almost unconsciously released the huntress, but managed, but just barely to maintain grip on the blonde brawler.

Jin coughed up crimson ichor again as Yang slugged her kidney, making her breaths come out in sputtered bursts. Even this, however, didn't cause the White Fang soldier to let go of the huntress, but knew that a different strategy was needed. Seeing that Yang was holding on even with her applying as much pressure as she could, Jin decided to twist her hips, causing a very audible snap which made the huntress spasm and slacken her grip. Releasing a haggard breath, Jin torqued her hips again, causing another loud crack which made Yang wildly twitch before she went limp. Exhaling, the White Fang goon kicked the now comatose Yang off of her and rolled to the side in order to catch her breath. Wilma, on the other hand, stopped struggling since there was no reason to and stopped Jin from helping her with a simple stare. Upon seeing more officers rush into the room, Jin got onto her belly and put her hands behind her back as handcuffs were placed on her, along with her ally.

"Get them out of here!" Asher shouted, causing his men to nod as Wilma and Jin were forcibly dragged out of the room, as the lawman knelt down next to an unconscious Yang.

"Is she..." a groggy Ruby asked as she crawled next to Yang and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Gently pushing the huntress aside, Asher checked for a pulse and was relieved to find one. Next, he checked her body for any damage and upon seeing the nasty bruises on her neck, thoroughly inspected them before slowly shaking his head.

"You're sister's lucky. Her aura prevented her neck from getting snapped, but she's still going to need some rest," Asher informed the young huntress who laid down next to her sister and wrapped her arms around her.

Weiss, having regained her bearings, limped towards her teammates, knelt down next to them, and placed a hand on her partner's back. Ruby shot Weiss an appreciative, if weak grin causing Weiss to look away and scoff as the scythe wielder turned her attention to the lawman.

"I see, thank you," Ruby replied, causing Asher to nod, as he ordered for someone to bring the medics.

Penny upon seeing the state Yang was in, covered her mouth while Sun internally chastised himself for forgetting about Jin during the skirmish.

"I'm sorry, Wilma seemed like the submissive type so I didn't think she'd react the way she did," Asher admitted with a heavy sigh as the medics came into the room and wrapped a neck brace around Yang's throat.

"I don't think any of us did," Sun said, which Asher said nothing to, as the one of the medics kept a firm grip on Yang's head while the others slowly turned the huntress onto her side before tying her to a scoop stretcher.

"We can try again when your sister is feeling better if you want," Asher offered, which Ruby accepted while wiping her tears away with her forearm, as she, Weiss, Penny, and Sun followed the medics who were carrying Yang out of the room.

---

Groaning, Lisa suddenly felt as if someone was crushing her skull, causing her to groggily slump forward. Widening her eyes, Blake concernedly glanced at her while Lacey put her whetstone away and approached the reporter. Grabbing Lisa's head while wrapping her tail around Blake's neck so she wouldn't try anything, Lacey placed the back of her hand against the journalist's forehead and grunted.

"She has a fever. Her wounds must have gotten infected," Lacey surmised, causing Ashanti to guiltily stare at the reporter, while Ebony sighed softly and approached Lisa who was still out of it.

"Her aura is going to have to make do then," Ebony replied as she took out a syringe, grabbed Lisa's head, tilted it back, and plunged the needle into her neck.

Hissing in pain, Lisa nearly cussed out the White Fang soldier only for the burning sensation in her body die down as whatever Ebony injected her with worked. The pain was still there, but it was simmering rather than burning. This brought a sense of relief to Lisa as she felt her wounds slowly, but surely healing to an extent.

"Here, Blake. You need this too," Ebony stated, which the former right hand of Adam snorted at, as the arm cannon soldier took out another syringe and injected into Blake's neck.

"Ebony, Lacey, please. Lisa needs a real doctor," Blake pleaded, causing Ebony to sigh heavily while Lacey released a breath and removed her tail from around her former ally's neck.

"There's not much I can do, Blake. Adam and I have never seen eye to eye and it's only gotten worse once you left," Ebony replied, causing Blake to huff and narrow her eyes at her former ally.

"We'll do what we can, but don't hold your breath. Adam gives us a lot of assignments on the fringes of the perimeter to keep us out of his way and to try and get us killed," Lacey added making the huntress dip her head and shake it about before looking up at both of her older, former peers.

This caused Ebony to raise a brow while Lacey was stone faced.

"Ebony, Lacey, please. You know what the White Fang is doing is wrong so why are you helping them?" Blake asked in a pleading tone, causing Ebony to release a breath while Lacey remained silent as both recalled the atrocities they committed in the past.

For Ebony's part, she remembered her assassinations of countless, high ranking employees in the SDC and relatives of the Schnee family. The fallen hero, on the other hand, thought back to feeding the children who falsified statements about her teammate, which led to his death by a lynch mob, to a horde of beowolves, leaving a town to be slaughtered by the Grimm upon finding out they sacrificed their faunus neighbors to buy themselves some time, and massacring, by her count, four iterations of Ace Ops who were trying to bring her in a lifetime ago.

"I'm sorry, Blake, but it's too late for us. All we can do is lie in the bed we made no matter how uncomfortable it is," Ebony replied in a heavy, world weary tone, which Lacey grimly nodded to.

Blake could do nothing but ground her teeth at this self-defeating admission while Ashanti unconsciously scooted closer to Deshret for protection.

"It's not too late to change. You can still do the right thing and turn yourselves in," Blake implored, but her pleas fell on deaf ears as Deshret landed the aircraft in the White Fang's base, causing the foot soldiers to stand up.

"I've missed your optimism, Blake, but it's misplaced. I'm obligated to see what lies at the end of the path I've chosen, even if I don't like the end result," Lacey responded leaving the huntress befuddled as the fallen hero grabbed Blake's arm while Ebony grasped a feverish Lisa's arm.

When the ramp opened, the foot soldiers saw not only a wounded Ainsley, but Adam and Adolf waiting for them at the bottom as well. Groaning, the two veteran White Fang soldiers forced down their misgivings for the time being and led the prisoners out of the aircraft with Ashanti and the sharpshooter bringing up the rear while Deshret walked beside the soulless soldier and the fallen hero.

"Ah, so nice to see you, my darling," Adam purred in a calm, predatory tone as he cupped Blake's chin in his hand, causing the huntress to hiss and tilt her head.

Adolf, meanwhile, roughly grabbed Lisa by her shirt collar and harshly yanked her out of a Ebony's grip, eliciting a growl from the arm cannon soldier.

"This is the reporter who keeps nipping at our heels! I say we teach her what happens when someone messes with the White Fang!" Adolf urged as he revved up his chainsaw and pressed the spinning teeth against the side of her face.

The reporter screamed as her flesh was shredded like meat in a grinder, causing a wide eyed Ashanti and Ainsley stared at Deshret. Just as the warrior was about to intercede though, Ebony beat her to the punch by pushing Adolf's chainsaw away with her arm blade.

"The Vytal Conventions prohibit the cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners," the soulless soldier stated calmly, but firmly, causing Adolf to cruelly sneer while Adam laughed scornfully.

"I'm getting a lesson in morality from you?" the Crimson Scourge asked with a disdainful smirk, making Ebony incline her head as she retracted her blade and folded her arms.

"Someone has to make sure the White Fang adheres to some standards and if that someone has to be a fucked up monster like me, then so be it," Ebony retorted, but all Adam did was scoff as he pulled out Wilt and pressed the cold steel against Blake's throat.

Wincing, Blake put on her best brave face despite wanting to be anywhere but here right now and glared at her former lover.

"How long has it been, my love? Not too long ago, you were on board with what we were doing," Adam murmured while gently tracing Wilt across her neck, causing Blake to tremble as she felt trickles of blood pour down her body.

Before this could go any further, Ebony intervened yet again and pushed Adam's sword away with her arm blade.

"Adam, stop. Lisa and Blake need to get treated for their wounds," Ebony pointed, causing Adam to take his measure of the captive's injuries.

He wasn't blind. He could clearly see that they were severe, but that wasn't his problem.

"If you think that we're going to care for a traitor and a whistleblower, then you're more messed up in the head than I thought," Adam responded, causing Ebony to resist the urge to groan as while she expected that kind of answer, she at least hoped for something different this time around.

Alas, all she could do was give Blake a subtle, apologetic shrug which the huntress ignored.

"At least give us a medical kit or something," Blake begged only to receive a harsh, stiff punch to her gut instead.

Dry heaving, the huntress crumpled to her knees and spat up a glob of saliva as she nearly went limp in Lacey's arm.

"Why, so you can take advantage of us again? So you can take advantage of me again!?" Adam snarled as he kneed Blake in the face, making her head violently snap back, as blood poured down her broken nose and busted lip.

Ashanti widened her eyes at the scene while Ainsley cringed as Adam rounded on the barely coherent huntress to dish out more punishment only for Lisa to speak up.

"Leave her alone!" Lisa barked, causing Adam to wheel around and viciously bash her across the face with Blush.

Crimson ichor spewed from Lisa's mouth and onto the floor as a nasty bruise to formed over one of her eyes from the strike.

"And what are you going to do if I don't, huh?" Adam snarled as he tugged the reporter out of Ebony's arms, tossed her to the ground, and stomped on her bruised, bleeding midsection, making Lisa wail at the top of her lungs.

Seeing tears form at the corner of Blake's eyes as she could only helplessly stare at the spectacle brought a smirk to Adam's face as he grinded his boot down on Lisa who threw her head back and screamed bloody murder.

"You know, Blake, I've learned something-" Adam began to say only to be knocked flat on his ass when Lacey clubbed him across the face with the crossguard of her longsword, sending him crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

Widening his eyes, Adolf revved his chainsaw making Ashanti, Ainsley, Vickers, and the sharpshooter point their rifles at him while Ebony unfurled her arm blade and leveled her arm cannon at both of her superiors.

"I believe Ebony has already explained how we are going to be treating the prisoners," Lacey stated while aiming her crossbow at him and brandishing her longsword and dagger.

"I heard, and I don't care. The humans, especially Ironwood, don't use the Vytal Conventions when dealing with us so we won't use them when dealing with them," Adam retorted while aiming Blush at the knight errant.

As much as they didn't want to, Ebony, Lacey, and Deshret conceded that Adam had a point in regards as to how the Atlesian Military treats White Fang prisoners.

"We know they don't, but you need to learn that total war isn't good for anyone," Ebony advised Adam with Lacey and Deshret nodding in agreement as they've seen the results of such conflicts and regretted them.

Adam, however, just snorted and sheathed his blade, prompting Adolf to power down his weapon as well. Warily, Vickers, Ashanti, and Ainsley lowered their rifles while the arm cannon soldier and the fallen hero followed suit by sheathing their weapons.

"If total war results in the faunus being dominant and the humans being suppressed, then I beg to differ. Now, run along. There's some powerful Grimm around the perimeter that our men are having trouble killing," Adam ordered in a tone that was seemingly calm, but Ebony, Lacey, and Deshret knew he was just a slight push away from snapping.

Noticing this, the knight errant glanced at the soulless soldier with an expression that all but said "We can take them."

Giving a discreet nod in response, Ebony subtly mouthed "I know, but not now."

Grumbling, Lacey didn't push the issue further as she, along with her superior and the sharpshooter, walked away. Before departing, however, Ebony spared a glance at Ainsley who glowered at her with piercing, dark brown eyes that seemed to bore holes into her skull. Accepting the shun with grace, Ebony politely bowed before leading her subordinates to mission control to ascertain where the problem Grimm was. With his three headaches out of the way, Adam and Adolf proceeded to shift their frustrations onto Deshret who wasn't intimidated.

"As for you, I don't know exactly what happened, but I know that you, Ebony, and Lacey had something to do with Torchwick getting captured," Adam snarled, causing Deshret, to decide that the truth, even though it would only serve to validate her superior's claim, was better than telling a lie for the sake of her warriors.

"We did. It was my idea to use Torchwick as bait while my team and I secured the dust that was away from the carnage of battle. I believe this was for the best as Torchwick's allegiance with us was tenuous at best so he would have sold us out eventually," Deshret explained in a well thought out manner, but all Adam heard was that three of his subordinates let one of Cinder's pawns get captured.

With a snarl, the leader of Vale's White Fang chapter unfurled Wilt and press the tip of the sword against her neck. The warrior, however, just held up her hand when her subordinates aimed their guns at the Crimson Scourge, causing them to reluctantly lower their weapons.

"Do you have any idea what Cinder is going to do to me when she hears this?" Adam growled, only to blink, go silent, and then start chuckling lowly.

Raising a brow, Vickers, Ashanti, and Ainsley exchanged glances with each other while Deshret just continued to stare at Adam with a wooden gaze as the folk hero pointed Wilt away from her.

"I just realized she isn't going to do anything to me because you're going to tell her what you did. I have to warn you, Cinder isn't really one to tolerate things that go against her plan so she's most likely going to...teach you a lesson," Adam purred with an empty grin on his face as he glanced at Ashanti who felt a chill go down her spine.

Snarling, Ainsley protectively placed Ashanti behind her and unconsciously hissed at Adam which revealed her beaver fangs.

"Don't you threaten my girl," Ainsley growled, but the intimidation factor was offset by her grimacing and crumpling to her knees.

Gasping, Ashanti knelt down next to her mother and placed a hand on her shoulder while the folk hero guffawed at Ainsley's agony and folded his arms.

"I'm sure Cinder and her associates would love to meet you and your other daughter too," Adam retorted with the same vicious smirk on his face causing Ainsley to hiss ferally at him.

Her expression, softened, however, when Deshret placed herself in front of them with Vickers backing her up.

"Careful whom you levy threats at," Deshret warned the Crimson Scourge with a cool, but fierce gaze, causing Adam to snort as the desert fighter saw White Fang commandos, much like Adolf, and before her defection, Blake, approaching them.

While Deshret was confident she could take them all on even if Adam and Adolf were thrown into the mix, she was also confident her warriors would be killed as a result. Thus, for the time being, she backed down, but never took her eyes off of Adam.

"Let's head back to the barracks. You guys need some rest," Deshret stated causing Vickers, Ashanti, and Ainsley to nod as Ashanti, along with the warrior, put their arms around Ainsley's neck and helped her walk.

Vickers, however, cast one last glare at Adam, Adolf, and the commandos before following his unit, making the chainsaw wielder huff.

"We should deal with them, Adam," Adolf suggested as he grabbed Lisa by her hair and roughly hauled her to her feet, making the reporter howl in pain.

Blake, who was still out of it to an extent, heard her companion's cries and tried to stand only for Adam to place an arm around her throat, making her gag.

"We will, but I believe we have an interrogation to do. Considering it's Blake, let's make it something special," Adam replied, which Adolf smirked at, as the duo, along with a group of White Fang commandos, dragged Lisa and Blake to the outskirts of the base.

"Wh-where are you taking us?" Lisa asked with a slight stutter, eliciting a bestial chuckle from Adolf and the commandos which didn't inspire confidence in the reporter.

Widening her eyes as the realization struck her, Blake strained in Adam's grasp, causing the Crimson Scourge to increase the pressure around her throat making the huntress grimace.

"Adam, you're not seriously-"

"This is what happens to traitors, Blake. You've always known that, but chose to ignore it," Adam interrupted, which the huntress wasn't able to muster a response to as, after walking for what seemed like an eternity, came to a stop at an abandoned downtown district.

"Th-this is-"

"Mountain Glenn, part of it at least. More importantly, it's where we're going to interrogate you," Adam cut off his ex-lover as he and Adolf dragged their captives into a destroyed building and up the staircase which held despite it's appearance suggesting otherwise.

Stopping at the third floor, Adam forced Blake to the very edge of the building. Breath hitching, the huntress desperately tried to maintain her footing only for Adam to kick her in the crotch with his steel toed boot. Immediately, Blake's pupils constricted to the size of dots as she let out a soundless scream and collapsed to the floor while tightly clutched her groin, feeling as if her entire lower body was destroyed.

"You remember what I was saying earlier, right? I've learned something about you. I can torture you as much as I want, but you don't care what we do to you," Adam explained as he glanced at Adolf and nodded.

His second proceeded to cut Lisa free, causing the reporter to confusedly stare at her captors, while Blake feebly reached out to her. The former White Fang commando proceeded to wail as Adam stomped on her fingers, causing her to clench her teeth so tightly that they threated to break.

"You care what we do to those you love," Adam finished as a group of beowolves, their alpha, and a horde of creeps emerged from one of the ruined buildings, looking up at them, but Lisa in particular.

Freezing up for a moment when she turned her head to look at the Grimm, Lisa realized what was going to happen and tried to flee, but it was too late. She proceeded to shriek in pain when Adolf slugged her across the face, making her head violently snap to the side as she soon blacked out. A now unconscious Lisa tumbled off the edge of the building and only returned to the waking world when she hit the ground with a loud, harsh thud. Lisa proceeded to throw her head back and scream at the top of her lungs as the bone in one of her already injured arms, along with snapping with a sickening crack, gruesomely jutted out of the limb.

"Lisa!" Blake shouted as she tried to move only for Adam to punt kick her across the face, making her slump to the ground and feel lighter than air.

Her former boyfriend proceeded to lift her bloodied head up and show her pictures of her teammates, eliciting a snarl from the huntress who knew where this was going.

"If you want to save her, tell me what their semblances are," Adam ordered, causing Blake to glare at him as Lisa fought through the pain, scrambled to her feet, and desperately looked around for a place to hide.

"You're not going to uphold your end of the bargain!" Blake snarled, causing Adam to sneer, as he pulled his ex-girlfriend's face close to his to the point their noses were touching.

Lisa, meanwhile, hid in a abandoned market while trying to calm her frenzied, panicked breathing.

"My darling, can you really take that chance?" Adam inquired as both suddenly heard Lisa scream as she was tossed out of her hiding place by an alpha beowolf she didn't see.

Harshly hitting the ground, tears streamed down Lisa's face due to landing on her mangled arm, making Blake widen her eyes.

"So what's it going to be, my love?" the Crimson Scourge inquired as he fired a few rounds from Blush which impacted the alpha beowolf and forced it back before it could finish Lisa.

"...Fine, you win. The blonde one, Yang, is my partner at Beacon and her semblance is exactly like yours except that she uses her gauntlets to absorb damage. If you take her gauntlets away and she can't use her semblance," Blake explained, which was mostly true save for some of the information being jumbled around,

Adolf dutifully typed this information on his scroll while Adam shot a creep through the head when it lunged at Lisa who was weakly inching away from it and the oncoming horde with her only usable arm.

"You and Adolf have fought Winter before so just think of Weiss as a lesser, incomplete version of her. What I mean is that Weiss needs dust and her weapon to conjure her glyphs so if you take those away, you take away the threat she poses," Blake informed her ex-lover with her explanation being mostly true yet again.

Adam slowly inclined his head and swung his blade, sending an arc of red energy which bisecting a swarm of beowolves that nearly fell upon Lisa like a pack of starving hyenas.

"The one wearing the red cloak is Ruby, our team leader. Her semblance is to conjure rose petals that she can use to obscure the enemy's vision and hamper their movements. The increased speed she gets while using it is just an unintentional by-product," Blake told the Crimson Scourge who looked at her blankly for what seemed like an eternity before sending another arc of red energy at the two alpha beowolves and whatever remained of their pack, staggering them.

"Adolf," Adam called out causing his second to grab Gambol Shroud, unfurl the blade, and contemptuously toss the sheathe down onto the ground below before cutting Blake loose with his chainsaw.

"Go fetch, Blake," Adam mocked, making the huntress huff, as she deftly leaped down from the building and rolled the moment she landed on the ground.

Retrieving her fallen weapon, she sprinted toward Lisa who was being mauled by the two alpha beowolves while the lesser ones stood idly by. Letting out a war cry, Blake leaped toward the monsters and kicked one of them, staggering it, while slicing the other one across the back of its neck.

This elicited a yelp from the creature of Grimm who buckled, but otherwise was still raring to go. Glowering at the huntress, one of the alpha beowolves glanced at its fellow Grimm before refocusing on Blake and letting out a deafening roar. Cringing, Blake resisted the urge to fall to her knees and cover her ears as the creatures of Grimm charged at her simultaneously. Gritting her teeth, they fell on her like the savage beasts they were... or at least they thought so. Just as they touched what they assumed to be Blake and Lisa, their forms ebbed away. This caused the younger Grimm's ears to perk up as they yowled and frantically scanned left and right for their quarry.

The two alpha beowolves, however, just snorted as they turned around and glared at Blake who was standing atop an adjacent building with beads of sweat pouring down her brow. Moreover, Lisa was nowhere in sight, causing the two demons to come to a silent agreement. One of them took two members of its pack to search for and finish Lisa while the other took the remainder of its pack, four members in total, to engage Blake. Releasing a labored breath, Blake readied her weapon and spared a brief, subtle glance at a rusted, broken down delivery truck as the alpha Beowolf jumped into the air and plunged its claws into the side of the building. Letting out another ear piercing howl, the monster began scaling the building at frightening speed while its two pack mates slowly followed behind it.

---

Giving an annoyed snort, a giant, beaver like Grimm with sharp, curved fangs, pointed, giant talons on its hind legs, a broad tail that looked like a razor sharp spade, a cracked face plate, and a heavily scarred, burly build waded through gunfire as if it were taking a leisurely swim upstream. Oh how it hated these thundersticks the primates and chimeras called "firearms." The darts they fired out came out far too fast for its liking, they were many a variation of these darts, and worst of all? They were a lot of them. Everyone from the lowliest chimera to the most uplifted primate seemed to have one. Brother God of Darkness, the weapons the slayers used even turned into thundersticks! However, the demon would take facing thundersticks and the elemental crystals over combating the warlocks and witches of the old world. Deciding it reminisced enough, the creature of Grimm lunged forward and swiped at one of its attackers which sliced through her aura like a knife through hot butter and completely cut her in half.

Ignoring the terrified screams of her cohorts when blood and viscera splayed onto them, the demon crushed another chimera's head by swinging its paw down onto his skull, sending gore and brain matter flying through the air. Before their shocked packed mate could react, they decapitated them with a swift swipe of its tail. Seeing the last chimera tremble and drop their weapon as the head of his companion rolled to his feet, their expression stuck in that of abject horror, the creature of Grimm paused in its stride mere inches away from him and just bared its fangs at him.

Peering into the chimera's soul, the creature of Grimm scowled as it decided that this one deserved a brutal death that only a Grimm could deliver. Far faster than the grunt could react to, the creature of Grimm wrapped him up in a bearhug, hoisted him up which left his legs helplessly dangling in the air, and squeezed as hard as it could. The demon wouldn't deny its inner nature and gave a cruel smirk as the chimera screamed as his bones cracked with sickening, audible snaps, causing the ossified matter to pierce through his vital organs.

The monster's smirk widened as the chimera vomited a copious amount of blood onto its coat with some of the life giving substance even spraying from his ears and nostrils. Eagerly lapping up the blood with its tongue, the creature of Grimm took immense delight at the chimera twitching erratically and feeling his life slip away in its arms as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Letting the foot soldier drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes, the demon wondered why the barrier the primates and chimeras called "aura" didn't protect it. Coming to the conclusion that this chimera along with its pack mates were just weak, the creature of Grimm trudged along while sniffing the air as it continued its hunt for the chimeras known as Adam, Adolf, Ebony, and Lacey. They once had the safety of their dens they called Kingdoms to rely on, but now they were in the wilds and together of all things! The thought of finally ending a hunt that spanned the entire world for such elusive quarry made the demon feel giddy. Finally, it could do unto its prey what they did unto others!

However, the creature of Grimm tempered its eagerness with the wisdom that it had more hunts to attend to in the future, causing it to focus as it continued to stalk the White Fang den. It was certainly surprised to see beings other than its kin here. After all, none dared ventured here after the previous inhabitants were abandoned to the mercy of the horde by the den called Vale. Were they trying to recreate the den called Mountain Glenn, but make it exclusively for their fellow chimeras? Shaking its head, it continued to stalk its prey as the idea was outlandish and the White Fang, as it had learned, was not beloved by their fellow chimeras, even by some of those living among them. Suddenly, it sensed an acute pang of fear, terror, and desperation from up ahead. To its surprise, it wasn't coming from a chimera, but a primate.

Tilting its head, the demon picked up the pace and after what seemed like an eternity, came to a stop next to a building where it saw a slayer engaging an elder wolf and one pup. Moreover, the demon saw that the slayer had been disarmed and was forced to fight with nothing but tooth and claw, something that wasn't working out for her as the monster saw. Her blows were strong enough to stagger her kin, yes, but not enough to kill them which the elder wolf took advantage of by catching her ankle when she went for a kick and chomped on her skull where it forced her onto her back.

The slayer screamed as her barely recharged aura was the only thing preventing from having her skull pierced. Not helping this is while the slayer managed to dislodge her head from the elder wolf's maw, the pup chomped down on her hand and viciously swung its head about to try and tear off the limb. Howling in pain, the slayer saw her weapon lying off to the side which she wasn't able to grasp due to holding off the elder wolf who was clawing at her midsection and still trying to bite her face.

Releasing a grunt, the creature of Grimm figured the slayer could hold on for a bit more as its eyes fell upon a delivery truck where it saw another elder wolf and some of its pack mates patrolling nearby due to sensing fear, but unable to determine where exactly it came from. Deciding to mislead its kin, it pointed in the direction of the second most acute emotion, spite, and saw...it was Adam! This detour was already proving its worth! Shaking these thoughts aside, the demon approached the broken down vehicle and determined beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is what caught its attention prior.

Lifting up the door, the monster saw a heavily injured primate who was barely conscious, had sweat drenching her whole body, and was breathing heavily which the creature of Grimm determined was from an infection. Upon seeing it, the creature widened her eyes and desperately tried to scramble away from it...only to forget in its terror the state one of her arms was in. Shrieking at the top of her lungs as she unconsciously put pressure on her mutilated arm, forcing more of the bone to go out of alignment and poke out of her skin, the primate crumpled onto her side, sputtering erratically with tears streaming down her face, as she couldn't even muster the strength to grip her arm.

Sparing a glance at the slayer who managed to throw the elder wolf off to the side, enabling her to grab her fallen weapon, the creature of Grimm nodded and glowered at the other elder wolf and its pack mates with an expression that said "Back off, this prey is mine!" Not wanting to combat the demon, the elder wolf stood down, causing its pack mates to follow suit, as the monster got into the vehicle. Seeing this, the primate began to kick the creature of Grimm in the snout as hard as she could, but it was for naught.

The demon's head didn't even budge as it simply grabbed the primate's ankle and pulled her toward it, causing the woman to wildly punch, kick, scratch, and even bite in an effort to get the monster off of her. Unfortunately for the primate, the Grimm took the blows without so much as flinching and pinned her only usable arm down, causing the woman to repeatedly headbutt the creature of Grimm. This had no effect on the monster, but it took its toll on her as a nasty gash opened up on her forehead which made blood splatter everywhere with each successive blow. In her desperate, adrenaline fueled fight of flight state though, the primate didn't even notice it as the demon grasped the woman's face and forced it down to the ground. Lisa struggled with all the strength she had left, but it was as if she was trying to push the moon out of orbit. Before the Wechuge could begin examining the wound, the primate proceeded to scream for help.

"BLAKE! BLAKE!" the primate shrieked at the top of her lungs, causing the slayer the demon now knew as Blake to look in their direction and mouth a silent 'No.'

Seeing this, Adam tauntingly gestured at the delivery truck, causing the slayer to try and go toward it only for the elder wolf she was fighting to chomp down on her shoulder and toss her backwards. Grimacing as she skidded across the ground, Blake couldn't help but let tears fall down her face as, unfortunately, she had to focus on the fight in front of her and hoped with everything she had that her ally would still be alive afterwards. Inspecting the the woman, the Wechuge saw the damage that the primate's arm was in and came to the conclusion that it was beyond saving in the state it was in. Tightly gripping the woman's bicep to stop the blood flow, the monster lifted Lisa's arm up and cut off the limb from the elbow up with a strong, clean slice.

At first, the woman just jolted and felt her body break out into a cold sweat as she stared at her lopped of arm with trembling eyes. The next moment, she threw her head back and screamed while flailing her legs. Leaning its head down, the Wechuge devoured the chopped off limb and laid down on top of the primate to give off the impression that it was slowly mauling her. In reality, it was cleaning the amputation point, all while ignoring the fact that the woman was punching and kicking its face. However, it yowled when the primate dug three of her fingers into its eye, causing it to lock its malevolent, red eyes with the primate's terrified amber ones and bare its crimson fangs as if to say "Hold still, annoying primate!"

This, understandably, had the opposite effect as the primate redoubled her efforts to break free and felt her hand brush against a jagged, rusted, piece of metal which made her feel as if someone up there liked her. Grabbing onto what she thought was her saving grace, the woman repeatedly jabbed the pointed end of her improvised dagger onto the ancient Grimm's neck, but the weapon was unable to penetrate it's thick, reinforced flesh. Worse, they badly cut their hand, making the Wechuge groan and fend off stabs to its eye with its meaty forearm as, after what seemed like an eternity for the primate, the creature of Grimm stopped cleaning her wound.

Grateful for the reprieve even though she was still trapped underneath the demon, the woman seemed uncertain of what was going to happen next as the monster ripped off part of her shirt, placed it over the amputation point, and tightly tied it. That done, it got off of the woman, who scrambled into a kneeling position and warily stared at the creature of Grimm who was warding off the elder wolf and its pack mates with a savage snarl when they tried to move in.

"I-it's just prolonging my suffering to feed off my emotions to get stronger! Well, it's not going to get anymore from me!" Lisa resolved as she tightly gripped her improvised dagger, causing more blood to drip down from her palm, and put all of her weight behind a stab to the Grimm's eye when she thought it's guard was down.

However, the creature of Grimm was more aware than she gave it credit for as it enveloped her tiny hand into its giant, baseball glove like one, stopped the blow dead in its tracks, and caused the piece of metal to bend upon making contact with its flesh. Wincing, Lisa tried to free her hand, only for the Grimm's hand not too budge an inch. In her desperation, she chomped on the monster's fingers like a rabid dog, but all this did was make the demon narrow its eyes. Increasing the pressure, Lisa screamed as she felt as if her hand was a coal getting crushed into a diamond and winced as she felt herself getting pulled out of the vehicle. Grunting as she fell onto the pavement on her knees, Lisa still tried to free her trapped hand which the ancient Grimm ignored as it regretted that it had to treat her so roughly, but it had to keep appearances lest its kin attack it as well.

Forcing a cruel smirk onto its face, the demon gestured at a building a block away that was out of sight of the slayer, its quarry, and its quarry's pack mates. When it saw that the elder wolf and its companions weren't convinced, the Wechuge deftly slashed Lisa across her midsection without hesitation. The reporter proceeded to wail as the demon's claws left nasty looking, but ultimately superficial cuts. Warily nodding, the elder wolf followed the demon with its younger cohorts in tow just as Blake managed to finish off the other alpha beowolf by cutting off its head, though it did manage to lacerate her across the thigh before expiring.

"Damn," Blake hissed as she grasped the fresh, stinging wound and glanced at where she left Lisa.

Widening her eyes as she saw the reporter being dragged off by her hand by the ancient Grimm, Blake gave chase only to keel over onto all fours when she landed on a rooftop, the pain she was enduring finally catching up to her. Grimacing, the huntress clutched her midsection and climbed to her feet despite her body screaming at her to stop and grabbed her weapon. Hobbling over to the edge, she saw Lisa bite the Wechuge's hand as hard as she could, not caring that blood was seeping in between her teeth, and proceeded to yelp as she was tossed to the ground face first. Seeing the alpha beowolf and its pack mates lunge at Lisa who futilely curled into a fetal position, Blake growled and sprang into action.

However, she could only let out a silent gasp as the ancient Grimm plunged its arm up to its elbow through the alpha beowolf's chest, making the monstrous wolf let out a inhuman yelp as it tightly grasped the traitor's limb. Before the younger beowolves could process the change in situation, one of them was bisected by a strong, swift strike of the demon's tail, causing black gore to fly through the air, while the other had its chest caved in by a brutal kick. Letting out a strangled yelp, the young Beowolf skidded across the ground before going still as black blood poured from its nostrils, ears, and mouth as a result of the strike before it disintegrated into dust, enraging the elder Grimm skewered on the Wechuge's arm.

Swiping at the traitor's face which made the monster wince, the elder Grimm chomped off one of its foe's ears and then plunged a bony spike on its forearm through the traitor's shoulder which got stuck a quarter of the way in. Grimacing, the Grimm from the Old World plunged its arm even further into its brethren's chest, making the elder wolf dig the sharpened digits on its thumbs into the demon's eyes which popped and caused black, tar like blood to pour onto the monster's coat. Forcing down the pain, the Wechuge's persistence paid off as the elder wolf turned into nothing but dust shortly afterwards, the damage it accumulated finally catching up to it. These kin were nothing but poor imitations, no doubt because they were the creations of the Girl in the Tower rather than the God of Darkness itself like it was. Had they been created from its lord, the fight would have certainly been more difficult.

Pushing these thoughts aside, the creature of Grimm regenerated from the wounds it suffered by using the negative emotions it gathered over the years and looked down at Lisa who grabbed a fallen pipe and brandished it like a club while Blake readied her cleaver. Before it could convey that it meant no harm despite its prior actions, the demon's head suddenly snapped to the side when it sensed Adam and his entourage approaching their position. The monster immediately lumbered behind a building, bringing no end of confusion to Blake and Lisa, as they stared at the demon who hid itself from view. The duo couldn't help but glance at each other, but didn't have much time to think of what exactly they just witnessed as Adam and his entourage were suddenly right in front of them.

"How are you even alive right now!? Those Grimm should have torn you apart!" Adam shouted while leveling Wilt in Lisa's direction who said nothing as Blake ripped off part of her shirt and wrapped it around the feverish reporter's mangled hand.

"You know how Elder Grimm are, Adam. They'll prolong their victim's suffering to gain more power from their emotions if they think they can get away with it," Blake responded with a huff, but Adam wasn't convinced as he started marching toward her.

To make things worse, Lisa fell unconscious not only from her fever, but also because of the full extent of pain her body was in due to the adrenaline wearing off. Tensing up, Blake prepared for another fight even though her aura had only begun to recharge, but then saw something out of the corner of her eye.

"That doesn't explain why she's still in one piece," the Crimson Scourge snarled, which Blake nodded slowly at...as she suddenly grabbed Lisa and jumped as far away from Adam as she could.

Before Adam could process what just happened, Adolf shoved him out of the way just as a subway train crashed on top of the chainsaw wielder with a loud, deafening crash, causing the ground to split open and send debris flying in all directions. Grimacing as he hit the ground, Adam looked over his shoulder and felt his jaw drop as he saw that his second was now nothing but a hand and a bloody, gory puddle. He got over his shock, however, when his instincts screamed at him to dodge, causing him to roll to the side just as the ancient Grimm's knee smashed onto the pavement where his skull once was.

Quickly getting to his feet, Adam fired round after round at the Elder Grimm who blocked the shots with its forearm and even endured getting slashed by an arc of red energy courtesy of Adam's semblance. However, chunks of the flesh on its forearm were still sheered right off sending the hunks of black meat flying through the air which made the Elder Grimm, wince, but otherwise was still raring to go. Glancing at Blake and Lisa, it gestured for them to follow it down a dark tunnel after backhanding a commando across the face so hard that his neck unnaturally twisted to the side, causing the vertebrate to snap so completely that it shut down all of his lower body functions. This, quite understandably, caused the huntress to hesitate. Should she go with the unknown who could easily turn on them anytime it wanted even though its actions seemed to convey it wanted to help? Or should she stay with Adam, however horrible he was, due to at least knowing what to expect from him?

Before she could even come to a decision, Ebony, Lacey, and the sharpshooter arrived on the scene and fired upon the Grimm from the Old World who was conflicted on how to feel. It's quarry right in front of it at this very moment? This was too good to be true and as a precaution, thought it was. While it was certain it could take them now, it was better to be safe than sorry as it did have other hunts to attend to in the meantime. Besides, it managed to get one of its targets.

Blocking Lacey's overhead strike with its forearm, bashing her to the ground with a vicious backhand swipe, and enduring the semblance enhanced stab to its chest which would have spilled its gut out if it had any vital organs, the Wechuge chomped on Adam's skull as hard as it could. The Crimson Scourge's aura barely held and before he could even try to push himself free, he was abruptly tossed aside like a ragdoll. Cringing as he hit the ground, Adam looked up and saw the demon run down a dark tunnel. While he was certainly tempted to give chase, not even he wanted to search for something in such a Grimm infested area.

"Adam, what in the absolute fuck?" Ebony shouted as Lacey wrapped gauze around Blake's mangled hand while the sharpshooter applied bandages around the various bite and slash marks she and Lisa suffered.

"You were supposed to be dealing with the problem Grimm!" Adam snapped while tightly clutching his head as the knight errant took off the impromptu bandage on Lisa's amputation point and applied an actual one.

"We were, and one of those problem Grimm happened to be the Wechuge who reports said was in this area!" Ebony shot back with an exasperated roar, causing Adam growl as Lacey and the sharpshooter finished applying bandages to Blake and Lisa's wounds.

That done, Lacey carefully hoisted Lisa onto her shoulder with the sharpshooter doing the same for Blake.

"Don't talk back to me! Sienna put me in charge-"

"I don't care if High Leader Khan did! You've demonstrated you're clearly not mature enough to handle this so Blake and Lisa are my prisoners from now on!" Ebony sharply interrupted the Crimson Scourge who attempted to unsheathe Wilt to slice her in half only for Ebony to have her arm blade at his throat and her arm cannon primed to fire before he could do so.

"When are you going to grow up?" Ebony snarled as she shoved the Crimson Scourge to the ground and escorted Blake and Lisa back to base with her subordinates.

The mental cap the Crimson Scourge was using to hold back his rage failed yet again as he let out a deafening, bestial roar, clearly ready to go on a rampage right then and there. He only stopped when Ebony suddenly wheeled around and fired off several, quick, powerful shots from her arm cannon which pierced through the skulls of his remaining commandos, causing superheated blood and gore to splatter onto the ruined pavement. Staring at his now dead subordinates with eyes as wide as a goldfish, the Crimson Scourge snarled, but begrudgingly sheathed Wilt as he stared at the remains of what used to be his second before heaving Adolf's chainsaw onto his shoulder. With that done, he lagged behind Ebony and her fireteam all the way back to base, plotting their demise the entire walk there. Arriving at their destination, Ebony, Lacey, and Adam exchanged glowers with one another before the former led their prisoners to their cells while the latter retreated to his barracks, no doubt to take his anger out on his unfortunate possessions.

"Get in, don't try anything funny," Ebony ordered, causing Blake to grunt as she went inside the cell and placed her hands against the wall to show that she wasn't a threat while Lacey placed Lisa down on one of the beds.

"Alright, I'm going to go to Deshret's quarters and ask if she and her unit can lend a hand watching over them. No way Adam isn't going to try something later. Then I'm going to the infirmary to see if any of the doctors would be willing to help our prisoners," Ebony explained, causing Lacey and the sharpshooter to nod as they stood guard at either side of the cell as their leader departed.

Not before locking eyes with the huntress and leaving a med kit for her and Blake, however. Snorting, the huntress grabbed the case, pilfered through it, and found the aura boosters much to her relief. Injecting herself with one, Blake released a breath as she felt her injuries slowly mending themselves and then injected an unconscious Lisa who grimaced, but then sighed softly as her wounds began healing. Smiling slightly, Blake wiped the sweat from her brow, got into bed, and closed her eyes to get some rest while trying to forget about the hell she currently was in.