"Every human has the capacity for evil. No exceptions." - Ozpin, recalling the story of Salem

"Then let us start here and now, by cleansing the traitors from our midst. Isn't that right, Blake Belladonna?" Adam pointed his blade at the catwalk where Blake stood. She should have known someone would recognize her even a year later and a thousand miles away. She was a fool for thinking she could run from her past like that. Those next to her looked around in momentary confusion, trying to spot who exactly Adam was pointing to.

She did not have long, so she pulled out Gambol Shroud, puncturing the throat of a man next to her with its blade, before she fired wildly into the crowd below and jumped off the catwalk in the chaos. She left an illusion behind her, which was quickly pummeled by gunfire.

Adam was not fooled by Blake's semblance, for he leapt into action immediately, locating her as she kicked down one of the doors to the building. Many of his men leveled their guns at her, only to find them inexplicably fall out of their hands in random directions. He felt a tug at his own weapon, but he managed to keep hold of it. He was forced to conclude that someone else was with her, though he couldn't figure out who it was at the moment. Nevertheless, Blake was making her escape and he wasn't going to let her.

Weiss was certainly not expecting them to be exposed so quickly, and she was even more surprised that it wasn't due to her. Everyone around her was in a panic, either fleeing the fighting or chasing after Blake and she didn't know what to do. She tightened her hold on Ruby, "Go outside and call for backup, I'll do what I can to help Blake." She didn't give her a moment to respond as she let go and drew Myrtenaster. She sought either Adam or his lieutenant, and as she saw the latter getting inside the Paladin she fired a stream of fire dust at him, causing an explosion that covered the place in dust and smoke. She ran away with the fleeing crowd before anyone could respond. Weapons and other metal accessories went haywire for a second, distracting everyone further and letting her escape.

Once outside, Weiss ran for a full minute before turning around to find herself being followed by no less than 10 people. Only half of them had firearms, the rest likely losing them in the chaos due to Pyrrha. That didn't mean she could underestimate them though. She readied Myrtenaster and charged at them. Those without guns went in front to restrain her, but she activated her semblance and summoned a glyph in the air, using it as a platform to jump over them and go after the men with firearms.

They tried firing a few shots at her, but the mass of confused people around them meant they had to be careful to not hit their own, and the hesitation caused them to meet their end swiftly. One was stabbed in the throat, another received a jab in the eye before collapsing in pain. A third man fled, and the fourth was stabbed thrice before falling. Weiss showed no remorse as she felled them. It was as if they were little more than training dummies. The fifth man fired wildly at her, managing two hits against her aura before she ran her blade through his heart.

Her triumph was short-lived, however, as the other men she had bypassed now took her by surprise and wrestled her to the ground. Once there, they started beating her with kicks and punches until her aura gave out, and even after it did and she started screaming her lungs out they did not stop. In fact, their kicks only increased in ferocity. Years of repressed rage were unleashed upon her, further enflamed by the deaths of their comrades.

As she laid down on the ground, desperately trying to halt the beating she cursed herself for trusting Violet's plan. But more than that, she cursed how reckless she was. What the hell was she thinking, picking a fight while surrounded and with half their force absent? She figured Winter would have beaten Weiss herself if she saw what an idiot she was. Even if she survived, her embarrassing first field outing would eat at her for a long time. She thought she was better than this. But that shouldn't even be her first concern, if they captured her she'd likely be paraded in increasingly messed up ransom videos. She almost wanted them to end her here and now so she may avoid the indignity of it all.

The kicking had suddenly stopped and she opened her eyes to see them distracted with another target. One of the men was lying unconscious next to her, a second one falling swiftly as Ruby hit him on the head with the blunt end of her scythe. Weiss took the opportunity to get up and grab her weapon, taking it just in time to meet the strike of one of the faunus and kill them. The other two people chased after Ruby, but after a few moments she appeared to her from an entirely different direction in a flurry of rose petals.

"WEISS? Are you hurt?" A disturbed Ruby said before readying her scythe to face yet more White Fang that were sizing them up. They retreated into one of the nearby apartment buildings, shots following behind them, "Ruby, what's the situation? Where is everyone?"

Ruby was shaking as she looked at Weiss' presumably bruised face, the severity of the situation slowly sinking in, "I- Vio is… he's uhhh…"

"Snap out of it!" Weiss slapped her.

Ruby looked at her in shock, and Weiss thought she could see tears in her eyes, "They said they were close but I had to hang up to help you, I'll call them again if-"

"It's no use. We'll make for the roof and call for backup. Defending a stairwell will be easy and we can escape with our landing strategy." Ruby nodded, following her up the stairs. Though it wasn't anything special at all, Weiss felt great pride at delivering that single sensible call under pressure after her previous blunder. It was almost enough to negate her earlier humiliation and growing pain as the adrenaline began wearing off. Almost. Even the three story trip up the stairs was hellish. She concluded that one of her ribs was definitely fractured, and the slowly growing redness on her dirtied clothes made her anxiety spike. The flat rooftop provided some measure of safety, so Weiss instructed her partner to watch the entrance as she fired a flare into the air before checking her wounds. As she did so, she noticed another flare dying out in the night sky. Was someone else in danger too?

Blake fled for her life, only allowing herself to look back after an entire minute of desperate running. For a moment it looked as if she had lost them, but then he appeared around the corner. Adam followed her, flanked by 2 of his men. She turned to run even faster, taking another turn.

She came upon a wide street with no side alleys, and the doors and windows all along its length were boarded up. In the distance she could see some people shuffling around, though she could not make out their identity. Not seeing a good place to run, she took out a flare gun from her pocket and fired it in the air, before creating a decoy in the middle of the street and slipping behind a dumpster.

Footsteps rang out, and a few shots were fired. Adam spoke angrily, "It's obviously an illusion, you imbecile. No one would just stand still in the open like that. You'll draw attention."

True to his prediction, the people further away focused on Adam and his people. As they approached, she could see that they were police officers, 5 of them in fact. She remained hidden, trying to reload the dual guns with her shaking hands as the two groups exchanged fire.

Adam charged forward immediately, and Blake rose out of cover to unleash a storm of lead upon his companions. She emptied her magazines into them, yet none fell. She had failed to consider that they might have had significant aura reserves. She berated herself for underestimating them, as now Adam's followers started shooting back at her with assault rifles, and she had revealed herself. Now that she had wasted her head start, she could do nothing but run for her life, zigzagging across the street to avoid bullets and summoning decoy clones to confuse them.

She passed by Adam, who was too distracted eviscerating the group of cops, their bullets bouncing off his aura while he goes from one to another without a hint of fear.

While her escape could have gone better, she still got hit several times. Every shot that landed drained her aura significantly, and even if she took out the shooters she would stand no chance against Adam, whose footsteps were getting louder and louder behind her. She finally came across a side street to turn to, losing the marksmen temporarily. Though barely a second later, Adam found it as well. She ran as far as she could, only to notice that it was a dead end. Gambol Shroud was empty, but the blades on it were still functional. She would make her stand here, there was simply no other choice.

Adam gave her no time to collect her thoughts, swinging his katana at her head. She prepared to parry it with her blades, but she noticed too late that it was a feint. His swing canceled out and he transformed it into a low thrust. She felt her aura flare as it protected her stomach, if only barely.

She turned to run again, this time making it to the very end of the street before being forced to face him again, "Running away again?" Adam said with a cruel smile on his face, "But you've only just arrived, dear. Don't worry, once I get you back you'll forget all about this little temper tantrum of yours."

She tried to pay him no mind and just focus on the battle. But she knew him well, and she knew her chances were slim even in an equal fight, and this was far from equal. His attacks were unmatched and it would only be a matter of time before her body failed her, so did the only thing she could. It was something Adam taught her, though she could easily imagine Violet saying it as well. When one was at a disadvantage, the only way they could hope to win was through taking great risks. So she did just that, suddenly charging him.

If nothing, it took him by surprise. Her left blade went for his face, and he moved to block it with his katana, when her right blade stabbed the hand holding his blade. His aura absorbed it, but he was knocked off balance when she also slammed into him with her full body weight. She took the opportunity to run past him. As she reached the exit, she spotted his two escorts, but their rifles were not pointed at her. Shots were being fired at them from the distance, prompting retaliatory fire.

She didn't mind it, as the noise concealed her approach. She drove her blade into the neck of one of them, the other one only noticing when it was far too late. He brought the gun to her, but she sliced his jugular and shoved him to the ground before he could do anything.

She turned to see that Adam was back, his playful demeanor replaced by a subdued anger she learned to dread. He moved up to her, and she responded by trying to stab at his heart. He parried it easily, Gambol Shroud flying out of her hand. She brought the second blade to strike at his exposed sword arm like before, but he jumped back and swung again, striking her arm and causing her to drop her second weapon. Blake didn't even register the pain as that bad, but a quick glance at her hand told her otherwise. A torrent of red started flowing, and she dropped to the ground.

Such was Adam's blade, razor sharp at all times, one barely feels it when cut. She had the honor of sharpening it herself on a few occasions. But even with her injury, she couldn't give up. Not to him. A new series of gunshots hit Adam from the side. It came from the same place that his companions were shooting at. Judging by the sound, she figured it was 9mm, so it must be Ren. As if to confirm it, Nora suddenly descended upon Adam from the top of a building. Her hammer taking him by total surprise and delivering a devastating blow to his shoulder.

But Blake couldn't afford to waste time gawking. She leapt at the ground where one of her guns was, frantically trying to load it with trembling hands, smearing blood all over the weapon as she laid down on the pavement. When she shifted her gaze towards Adam, he was fighting Nora with all his might, and he seemed to be winning despite the surprise.

Ren ran out to support her from up close, loosing several shots before closing in with his blades. Adam's face remained calm and focused, though his swings became more and more erratic. Even so, he was standing his ground for the moment. Blake finally took aim at him, waiting until the firing line was clear of her friends to deliver accurate bursts with Gambol Shroud. Adam finally had enough, "You came here just to hurt me, didn't you Blake? I'll be back, don't worry. I'll find you again even if I have to scour all of Remnant. Count on it." He ran away, Ren and Blake firing potshots at him but ultimately unable to take him down before he went out of range.

Ren ran to up her, putting a backpack on the ground and pulling out a first aid kit, "What happened?"

"They discovered us prematurely," Blake said between pained breaths as Ren bandaged the gash on the back of her hand, "We sure did disrupt their meeting though. Weiss, Ruby, and Pyrrha were there too, though I don't know how they're doing."

"We saw a second flare alongside yours," Nora said, "Violet and Yang split from us to help them. We should hurry too."

Blake nodded, but Ren protested, "Only Nora and I will go. Your aura is gone, Blake. You could die from a single bullet."

"I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

"No you won't be, and no you can't," he tightened the bandage as if to prove his point, "We can handle it ourselves."

Blake scoffed at the idea, "Are you my superior officer? You can't force me not to go," She met their worried looks with a determined stare, "I'm not an idiot. I'll hang back, alright?"

Ren sighed before relenting, "Fine. I trust you know your limits well. Nora, how are you doing?"

"My aura was almost halved, but otherwise I'm good to go." She picked up Blake's second gun before dropping it next to her. She had never seen the Valkyrie girl so focused. She always took her for an unserious type, but she was pleasantly surprised to see she could be reliable when necessary.

"My aura is only lightly damaged." He reloaded his guns, "Are you ready, Blake?"

"It still aches, but I'll power through it. I'll catch up with you." She took the time to inspect her guns and load them.

"If you say so," Nora said, "Oh, and by the way. You know you're still wearing that ridiculous mask, right?"

Pyrrha was horrified at the sight before her. The screams of terror. The person next to her that Blake had killed so easily. A person! Blake shooting into the crowd so easily. The explosion where the Paladin stood. When Blake tried running away and people brought their guns up to kill her, Pyrrha braced herself against a railing and used her semblance to disarm most of the warehouse. Nobody around Pyrrha suspected her, but she didn't want to stay and let them find out. She had to make sure her friends were safe. She climbed down the catwalk alongside the White Fang militants, looking around for any trace of Weiss and Ruby. She was probably too late to catch up to Blake, assuming she was even alive by now.

She thought of the lieutenant who was targeted by that dust explosion. It was likely Weiss' doing. She was disturbed at how easily everyone around her went for the kill. Of course, she understood that real combat was different on a rational level, but on an emotional level it still struck her as unimaginably awful. She couldn't just kill someone, certainly not just because they were part of an opposing group. Blake was in the White Fang once, should she have been killed on sight? It was insane. She resolved to only use non-lethal methods and to let the police arrest them later.

With that, an excellent idea came over her. She retreated into the far corner of the warehouse, taking out her phone and covertly calling the police. Giving them the location and a short description of the situation would be enough for them to take things seriously, she thought. After all, the gunshots would attract attention anyways, but informing them of the situation would make their response faster and more effective.

By now, most of the warehouse was empty, save for a handful of guards and the Paladin that seemed mostly intact now that the smoke had cleared. In fact, it looked like it was just starting up, and the lieutenant Weiss targeted seemed to be alive and inside the cockpit piloting the mech.

She gulped, having no idea what anyone among them could do against something like that. Still, it was too dangerous for her to leave it be in good conscience. So she went closer and started waving at it, "Uh… Boss, where are we going? Should we follow you?"

After a moment, the mech's speakers came to life, "Closest gunshots are due east. We go there. We'll need infantry to search the buildings if they're hiding within them."

She nodded, following the mech as it busted through the building and followed the gunfire to its source. She could see a fading flare above her, a confirmation that her comrades were close by and alive, at least for now. One of the masked men gestured to an apartment building, "They're stuck on the roof."

Pyrrha made her way up the building, only stopping before a stairwell where 4 White Fang members were waiting, "We can't push up, some girl with a sniper rifle is holding the angle," One of them said to her, "So we're waiting on grenades to arrive before advancing." A warning shot came down from the stairs. No doubt it was Ruby, Pyrrha imagined she must have been scared out of her mind.

"Damned blood traitor." Another man said, "I saw the bitch. She was in the crowd with us."

The first man had a demented smile on his face, "Well, was she at least pretty? I wouldn't mind giving her some payback after this."

"You think we'll capture her alive?" The man snickered, "I can only hope." His laugh was cut short by a blunt blow to the back of the head. Pyrrha aimed her shield at the other person and launched it with her semblance, knocking him out cold.

The two remaining White Fang soldiers raised their guns at her, but yet again they found their weapons inexplicably knocked out of their hands. Pyrrha aimed her rifle-javelin at them.

"Don't move a muscle," She said in a shaky voice. The men glared at her through their masks, "Or what?"

"Or I'll k-kill you. I'll shoot you. You're under arrest." She knew it wasn't that intimidating, but even so, she didn't expect them to immediately bolt out of there. She tried firing at their feet to halt them, but to no success. They'd bring in reinforcements, so she had to get her friends out of here while she could. She approached the stairs, "Hey, Ruby. It's me, Pyrrha. Can I come up?"

After a few moments, Ruby peeked down. Upon seeing that she cleared the room of enemies, she let her onto the roof, "What's the situation, Ruby. Where's Wei- Oh heavens," she rushed to where Weiss was sitting, "Are you alright?"

Weiss was bloodied, bruised, and exhausted. And yet there was still a determination behind those brilliant blue eyes, "I'm fine. My aura is gone, but I can still fight," She picked up her rapier, getting up with Pyrrha's help.

"I'm sorry, but I very much doubt that. We'll get you out of here. We will-" An explosion at the edge of the roof caused them to get down on the ground. It was swiftly followed by a second one.

"What the hell was that?" Weiss asked.

"Must be the Paladin. That guy you shot at didn't end up dying."

"Well that's just wonderful." She sighed, "Ruby, your orders?"

"Huh?"

"You're supposed to be the team leader, Ruby. Tell us what to do. Either that or let me lead."

If Ruby looked anxious before, now she was on the edge of breakdown, "I- I… I don't know. This whole thing was Violet's plan. Can't we call him?"

"I tried reaching out," Weiss said, "Vale instituted a comms blackout for civilians a few minutes ago."

She looked over at the entrance of the rooftop, finding it empty, "Pyrrha, can't you do something about the robot? It's metal, right?"

"I can help, but he's too big for me to just toss around." Another shot of the cannon was heard, but no explosion. They looked up to see a smoke trail from a shell going almost straight up.

Weiss gasped, "Indirect fire!" Pyrrha jumped onto Weiss to shield her, while Ruby fled downstairs with her semblance. The explosion landed much closer this time, with several pieces of shrapnel hitting Pyrrha's aura.

"Get inside before he kills you," Ruby shouted at them. They followed her, the second shell just barely missing them. Once inside, Ruby peeked through the windows to scout the area, "They have people waiting for us outside. We're pretty much surrounded."

"No doubt," Pyrrha said, "But I did tip off the police when Blake was discovered, so they should be coming soon."

"That's right! Blake! Where is she?" Ruby said.

"Focus on the here and now, Ruby." Weiss said, "We need to get out of here." Another explosion came from the top, this time collapsing a massive hole in a neighboring room.

"Well, I can carry you away myself. And Pyrrha can make it out by launching herself with her semblance, right?"

"I wouldn't take my chances with that thing." Weiss said, "Those machine guns were designed to take out missiles. Not to mention the soldiers that surround us. We'll need a good distraction if we hope to get past them."

"I see…" Ruby said, "Hey Pyrrha, you still have your flare gun on you?" She nodded. "Good. We can use it to blind them when we make a run for it. If you've got some dust with you, we could also use that to distract them."

"Sounds as good a plan as we can hope for on such short notice," Weiss said. Another explosion shook the building, "You go upstairs Pyrrha, we'll make our exit through the front door. We go on my signal." She held up Myrtenaster, a fire dust cylinder readied.

Once they were on the ground floor, Weiss again found herself being carried by Ruby. She didn't object, even if the hold was agitating her rib. She aimed Myrtenaster through a broken window, sending a fireball onto the back of the mech. Ruby followed suit, shooting a flare outside. She figured Pyrrha must have done the same by now.

Ruby ran out, sidestepping the guards with her superspeed and making her way out of the Paladin's sight. The Paladin didn't really target her, rather tracer fire was lighting up the night sky where Pyrrha was flying, though Ruby couldn't tell how successful it was.

The good news, probably, was that she could hear police sirens approaching. She even saw a helicopter surveying the area, but it was swiftly shot down by the Paladin's AA fire. Would the people on that heli have lived if not for her team messing up today? The thought crept into her mind and threatened to consume her if she didn't immediately shut it out. She remembered her partner's words- she focused on the here and now. She let Weiss down on her feet, and though she managed to stand, she couldn't conceal how much pain she was in. Ruby was having second thoughts about facing that Robot now.

She tugged at Weiss, telling her to follow as she ran away from the thundering steps of the Paladin chasing behind her. She thought of going into one of the buildings, but then it would just level everything with its shells. And these weren't the empty buildings surrounding the hideout. No, there were countless innocents living in this place. She finally spotted a police car blocking the road with two people standing beside it. She waved at them, but they responded with gunfire, forcing them to duck for cover. That's when she realized that she was still wearing the White Fang mask, even though Weiss and Pyrrha had discarded them. She thought of ways to clear up the misunderstanding when she saw the two policemen scatter before a shell incinerated their car.

Ruby turned around to see the Paladin had caught up and was now eyeing them. Weiss unleashed another dust explosion upon the Paladin, again aiming for the cockpit. Ruby fired the whole magazine of Cresent Rose at it, but it barely made a dent.

One of its arms turned to fire at them, but it stopped moving halfway through. Pyrrha appeared, preventing it from moving the arm with her semblance, though only momentarily before it failed and a shell fired at Ruby, who just barely dodged it by speeding behind the robot.

It was undeterred, choosing to fire at Weiss instead. She summoned a glyph with the little aura she had regained, and it managed to impact with the shell, detonating it prematurely. She took the opportunity to run for cover, while the mech aimed with its second arm at Pyrrha, but the shell was stopped mid-air by her, and flown right back onto the mech, though failing to detonate.

Before the Paladin could choose between the three targets, it was presented with a fourth one. A pelting of buckshot drew its attention to none other than Yang Xiao-Long. She descended upon it from a height, punching out one of the exposed machinegun feeding belts before jumping onto the cockpit and trying to bust it open with fist and shotgun alike.

The Paladin tried to ignore it and instead fired the other functioning machine gun at Pyrrha, who for all her skill absorbed a dozen bullets before finding appropriate cover.

"Weiss, make ice on the ground," the voice of Violet rang out. Weiss looked at him, standing on top of a building, his scythe unfolded, calmly gazing down at the unfolding battle. She did as he said, rotating in an ice cylinder and firing it at the mech's feet.

"Pyrrha, knock down one of its legs. Yang, get ready to dismount."

Pyrrha dashed out of cover, using her magnetism to push one of the massive robot legs away while bracing her semblance against a steel pillar behind her so that she wouldn't be launched backward herself.

Eventually, the Paladin's left leg did falter, and it fell on its knee.

"Weiss, more ice dust, keep that joint frozen." She followed his command without hesitation. Ruby took initiative and sped up, cutting the second machine gun's belt now that it was closer to the ground. Yang was right next to her, punching the barrel of an artillery tube until it dented and the shells couldn't pass through it.

The paladin still fought on with its final artillery gun, firing where Ruby and Yang were, knocking them away with enormous explosive force, before following up with another shot. Violet was preparing to join them when Blake arrived next to him. She was out of breath, and definitely hurt, "Vio… Ren and Nora are here but… Adam went back, he's clashing with the police back at the hideout. Wiping them by the dozen. I don't think the cops can help us."

As if on cue, Nora did come, and she brought her hammer onto the mech's shoulder, jamming it and immobilizing the second gun. Ren was also there, trading shots with two White Fang soldiers out in the distance.

"Good. They'll be distracted for when the Black Knights arrive."

"What? When did you call them?"

"I had them on standby, and they're almost here. I'll need you to tell them to tow the Paladin away and see if we can restore it. The damage to the weapons could be repaired easily, I think."

The mech was on its last legs, figuratively and literally. None of its main weapons were working, so it elected to use its final one, the array of missile launchers on its shoulders. Rocket after unguided rocket sprang to life, heading who knew where. Violet estimated it would land 1-2 kilometers away, so definitely still inside the city. His face held the mark of disgust as he jumped down, swinging the Mordred at the cockpit and piercing it. It did not kill the pilot, as the next thing he knew the ejection rockets fired up, and Violet just barely got off it without being pulled away.

Once he got down, he called for attention, "There's hostiles coming in soon, but we're done here. Head east to Beacon, Pyrrha and I will go after the lieutenant. Blake, you stay behind to see if we're followed, then join me ASAP."

Before anyone could protest Violet took Pyrrha and headed towards where they could see the parachute from the ejection seat. It was only about 300 meters away, and once they arrived they could see that the man was concussed enough to not get out. It took Violet and Pyrrha several minutes of painstaking work to get it open, stabbing with the scythe and magnetically bending metal little by little to finally break down the cursed armored cockpit that held him inside. Once they did, they finally got an unobstructed view of him.

A far cry from the energetic man who had given a stirring speech not 20 minutes ago, this man was tired and bitter, with a slight burn and a few fresh cuts on his face. His focus was returning to him slowly, at least enough to understand his situation. Pyrrha moved to tie his hands with a piece of cloth.

"What are you doing?" Violet asked her.

"I'm tying him up, what else?" she replied as she tightened the knot.

Violet braced himself for what was to come, "That won't be necessary." He said in a detached voice, before taking Pyrrha's javelin from her back and holding it out for her.

Pyrrha looked at him with disbelief. She then looked down at her javelin, and back at him, "You don't mean… I… I can't…"

"You can. This man has killed a lot of innocents. He even fired an a rocket barrage into the city, likely killing plenty of innocents."

"And he'll get what he deserves when he gets arrested. We have no right to judge him."

"And who has that right? Plenty of White Fang terrorists got their members lax sentences due to threats of retaliatory massacres. The courts are all spineless cowards."

"But some of them do deserve mercy, plenty of people get caught up in the wrong circumstances and-"

"He killed people! Those that meant him no harm."

"Blake also did terrible things. She also killed for the Fang." Her face was becoming red and tears began to form in her eyes, "Would you have also killed her?"

"Yes." Came his somber answer, "She chose to change her ways of her own free will, at a time when it would be inconvenient to her. And she is making up for her sins right now."

Pyrrha's bawling intensified, and she sank to her knees, "You… Is that what you told her?" she looked up at him, "Did you guilt her into joining you?"

"She had that guilt for a very good reason. She longed for judgment, and who was I to deny her? But she has already done more than enough, she can leave if she wants to. Isn't that right?" He turned to see Blake walking towards them, "How long have you been here for?"

"Long enough. I did as you asked, Vio." He simply nodded.

Blake looked downcast, "And as awkward as it may be to say, I would understand if he wanted to cut down the Blake that was with the White Fang. Hell, I would probably do it too." She looked at Pyrrha, "I wouldn't fault anyone for wanting to be rid of that hateful, self-righteous, resentful idiot."

The lieutenant cried out in pain. He tried his best to appear as pitiful as he could, perhaps hoping that Pyrrha would take mercy on him.

"Still, we ought to try. If you could be redeemed-"

"His crimes are far worse than Blake's ever were!" Violet said sternly, tossing the javelin next to her knees.

"You can't prove that!" she stood up, "I'm not doing it!"

Violet was furious. How dare she refuse him? If she couldn't kill an obviously guilty maniac, what hope would there be for her to join the Black Knights? Hell, what hope would there be for her to become an effective huntress? Was he just wasting his time all along? "I see how it is… What if I told you I could prove it without a doubt, here and now?"

She stared him in the eyes, but said nothing.

"I'll take that as a yes. You see, I derive my right to judge others by my semblance. Specifically, it allows me to force people to tell me the truth."

At this, both girls gasped. "Huh?" was all Pyrrha could utter.

He knelt next to the lieutenant, whose expression switched from that of false weakness to horror.

Violet activated his semblance, "Now, you will answer all of the questions I ask. You will tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Understood?"

"Yes." the man replied in a monotonous voice. The two girls shared a look, waiting to see how this would play out.

Now came his favorite part. A confession the likes of which the worst torture or coercion could not obtain, and a righteous killing afterwards, "Are you a member of the White Fang?"

"Yes."

"And what was your position in it?"

"I was put in charge of Vale City operations, though directly subordinate to Adam Taurus, who is responsible for all Vale and Atlas operations."

"I see. And what were your plans for when you took over?"

"We… we would repay humans for everything they did to us."

"Which means?"

"Killing of those deemed most dangerous and enslavement of everyone else."

He looked over to Pyrrha, who was aghast. As glad as he was that the lesson was setting in, he grew tired of the wide-eyed shock. He wanted rage, "And were there any things you personally did as payback?"

"Yes, I personally killed, uh, 29 people before today. And I led the kidnapping of 47 total. I did much more through indirect means, though I cannot make an accurate estimate."

He saw Blake pick up on his intentions, and she handed Pyrrha her javelin. She looked at it with horror, but did not drop it.

"And what did you do to those you kidnapped?"

"Usually we roughed them up and held them for ransom."

"And if they didn't pay when ordered?"

"We'd beat them up more, have them say or do humiliating things at gunpoint, threaten to post that to the public."

Blake pat Pyrrha on the back, though she looked at Violet with disgust. Whatever, he didn't care. Of course not, she'd get over it.

"And if they truly couldn't pay you? What would you do then?"

"Usually execution or forced labor for the males, and the females were sold as slaves."

Pyrrha stepped closer to him, still in tears, yet her demeanor was slightly subdued. No, she was angry, "I've heard enough, Vio. Please."

No, she didn't, Violet thought, "Had you won tonight, what would you have done to the huntsmen that stopped you?"

"They caused many casualties. I would have had them tortured for weeks, until they were broken husks of themselves. Then they would be executed in front of a cheering crowd," the man said without any emotion.

At that, Pyrrha became a complete mess. She was crying and shaking uncontrollably as she held the javelin overhead.

But Violet wasn't done, "Be more specific. For example, what would you do to that short girl with a scythe?"

Blake's lips thinned at such blatant emotional manipulation.

"I would have pulled her nails apart, one by one. I would have gouged an eye out, cut up her pretty little face, then in front of her friend I would have taken her-" Pyrrha let out a deafening shriek as she ran the javelin through the man's chest. His calm voice was replaced by a scream, and a stream of blood erupted from him, coating the weapon and Pyrrha's hands in crimson.

He turned his semblance off since those enthralled by it didn't really express pain all that much. He wanted her to do this in full. It was necessary. People usually thought all of their actions were thought through by reason. But no, far more often one commits the action, than rationalizes it afterward. If the action was taking justice into her own hands, this would make her believe it right. It's the same reason most gangs had horrifying initiation rituals. So that one could never return from it again, else they'd be forced to face what they've done.

The man was still alive, screaming and struggling against his restraints as Pyrrha took the javelin out and put it in again, this time at his throat.

On some level he truly was disgusted with himself for doing this to her, but he'd come so far and done so much- it was too late to back down now. He barely suppressed the urge to laugh at how he also fell for his own trick. After all, it's forgiven if you're self-aware about it, right?

He hugged Pyrrha from behind, comforting her crying form, "You did well. You're ready to be a real huntress now. You'll save this world from people like him- you'll save countless lives."

"I killed him…"

She turned to look at him, still sobbing. He kissed her on the forehead, all the while maintaining the embrace, "It's okay. You did the right thing, and you're stronger for it. Someone would have killed him one day, you've saved that person from a burden too. You saved everyone."

She remained there for what felt like forever while he whispered comforting words in her ear.

AN: Some long awaited action and a little character trauma as a treat :)

Don't worry, he didn't completely mindbreak her.

Also, I guess I ought to reply to my reviews:

Pleyades0104: I didn't really set out to match RWBY characters with the Code Geass girls, I wanted them to be their own people interacting with Lelouch in a unique way to take advantage of a crossover fic. But I suppose Blake does have a lot of common elements with Kallen, and maybe even C.C.

Pyrrha is very good natured and cares most about who Lelouch is as a student, so in that respect I can see the resemblance to Shirley. Though Lelouch mostly looks at Pyrrha as a weapon to be used, and tries to pull her in instead of pushing her away like with Shirley. I'm also focusing a lot on Lelouch's relationship with Weiss, though I haven't decided exactly where I want to take it yet. Initially I decided against any romance when I writing this, but there was just so much synergy and it all flowed so naturally so I said fuck it.