Victoria came to inspect her new guests after Mercury brought them back. The kid was more effective than she thought.

"But where is Kip?" she asked him.

"Around," Mercury said. "Said he needed more dust fuel."

"And you didn't stay with him?!" Victoria cried.

"If you haven't noticed, lady, I'm kind of wanted by everyone, and he's a nobody," Mercury said. "He's safer without me."

That might be true...but why wasn't he calling?

"I'll have to step out." Victoria decided it might be the scroll service. "But let's make sure my new guests are comfortable."

She had made sure to seperate them more from each other this time so they wouldn't plot with each other, but the hideout was only so big, so not much more than a few collapsed partitions blocked them from each other's view.

The Schnee woman was already coming to. She might be more of a problem.

"Good evening, Lieutenant," Victoria said amiably.

Winter, head still buzzing, sat up and looked around.

Her hair tumbled loose around her shoulders.

She glanced at it, then put her hand up.

"Sorry about that," Victoria said. "But those hair pins and holders can be bad in the tank, you know. Metal interferes with my instruments sometimes, so I had to remove them."

Winter had bigger problems than that, but the thought of Victoria doing this while she was unconscious did nothing to put her at ease.

"Kanap," she said coldly.

"Yeah, I'm sure Raven has told you all about me," Victoria said, frowning. "That witch... So let's keep it simple, shall we? You know what I can do, right?"

"Yes..."

"And I know what you can do, in theory, and I'm dying to find out more." Victoria held up her remote. "I won't hurt you if you cooperate."

"I won't be doing that." Winter got to her feet.

"I had a feeling you might say that," Victoria said. "And it's been a very, very long few days for me since I had to move, and you all destroyed some of my prized equipment. So I'm not in the mood to play nice. You remember your sister, right?"

"What?" Winter suddenly tensed.

Victoria held up her scroll, showing a picture of Weiss tied up.

"I have her at a separate, not to be designated location," she said. "I told them to treat them well--as long as I say so. But if you cause me trouble or try to escape--I don't think you'd succeed, but I've learned caution since last time, so...you get the gist of it?"

Winter stared at her in horror.

"You release my sister, you witch!"

"Temper temper," Victoria said. "I heard you had a savage one. But you can't do anything to me in there. I think this will be a very enlightening experience for us all... Anyway, aren't you used to being in a cage, Schnee? You should feel right at home."

Winter hit the glass with her fist--which only hurt her hand.

"Yes, without Aura it certainly stings more, doesn't it?" Victoria said. "I don't like you Atlesians, you know...but still, there's something I admire about your tenacity. It used to be what you had going for you. But I guess it's all time is money, and money is power now--or it was. If I ever let you go, do give James my regards for closing down the dust research program and consigning us to our dooms."

"The General and I are not on speaking terms, currently," Winter said.

"Worth a short," Victoria shrugged. "I have to check on the others. Don't make any noise. I've been up all night, and I already have a headache."

She walked away.

Mercury, leaning on the wall, rolled his eyes.

Victoria did something to start testing Winter's powers after that.

Then she surveyed Raven, who was rubbing her head.

When she saw Victoria, she swore at her for at least 5 seconds straight.

"Tsk tsk...your language has gotten worse since last time. I didn't think that was possible," Vic said.

Raven looked around, freaked out.

"The bird flew the coop only to be caught by the fox." Victoria gestured around. "Amusing, isn't it? I admire your determination to escape, Raven, really-- from both myself and Ozpin--but sadly you can't do either. Never should have taken those powers."

"You may think you've won--" Raven leaned on the glass. "--but they'll come for us, and this time they won't leave anything left for you to rebuild with. They'll destroy you."

"I doubt it," Victoria said. "We're not being such fools this time. I'm ready for anything. No one gets in here without my special scanner approving them. I still don't even know how you got that small woman in here before without me knowing it, but nonetheless she won't be so lucky this time. I'm much more familiar with your weaknesses also, thanks to my helper."

"Black..." Raven scowled. "He was working with you the whole time."

"Technically, more working with some other people," Victoria said. "He really shouldn't have outed himself to you, but now that he has, it's classic, isn't it? You should never trust a rat, Raven. I'd think you'd know that."

"Hmm, did Watts teach you that?" Raven was not without her savageness.

"I don't trust him," Victoria said airily. "But I can use him. And I understand him better than you do, I can promise that. Now, you remember what happened before, right? Are you going to be a pest?"

"I won't go along with this," Raven said. "If I can help it."

"Then the same to you as Schnee," Victoria said. "If you want your family to be safe, you''ll cooperate."

"Schnee?" Raven said. "Winter...already?"

How could Winter be so stupid?!

Then again...she had followed Kip. Maybe she wasn't one to talk.

Of course, Kip wasn't really the one who'd taken her out--Mercury had, so maybe she just should have watched for him more. Either way, she'd been shortsighted again.

"What did you do to Yang?" she asked.

"Nothing yet," Victoria said. "But I'm a little ticked off now. Don't think I won't."

"Does that potion of yours make you crazier, or is it just the natural progression of whatever mental illness you have?" Raven said nastily.

"Shut up!" Victoria lost some of her composure. "The elixir does not cause insanity in the proper dosage--we tested that! And I do not have a mental illness. That's what they used to say in Atlas. They said I was mad. But I am not mad. I am the one who had the vision to see what we needed to do. You fool, I am trying to save us. And none of you understand that."

"You're right, I don't understand how walking right into Salem's hands is saving us," Raven said. "Perhaps I'm not the only one who's trapped."

"Oh, you can count on that," Victoria said, angrily. "You think your friends are going to save you? I have news for you, Raven Branwen: We've captured your two wild cards--yes, I know about them now. Likstar and West?"

Raven's expression changed.

"You're bluffing," she said. "They would never be so easily captured."

"It was too easy," Victoria agreed. "They were blinded by their care for the boy--for a reason I can't fathom."

"Well, you seem to like yours." Raven couldn't help but throw that jab at her--but inside she was freaking out.

"My son is nothing like that assassin, son of an assassin." Victoria said, in disgust. "But he's useful."

Raven analyzed her words... Shine and Wally always did have a weakness for showing mercy to those criminals, especially if they were younger... It was possible...but she was sure Shine was not stupid enough to fully have fallen for Mercury's deception, at least not without some help. Surely he had fought dirty...but...she had no reason to think Victoria was lying either.

And even if she was...what could Raven do about it?

"Nothing to say?" Victoria said. "Good. You know, I have to thank you. I've made real progress even in a short time because of you--by the way, how is that imbalance treating you? I wondered if it would heal itself in time, but I still detected some when I took scans."

"Imbalance?" Raven had forgotten entirely about Victoria saying she caused this last time, but now it came back to her with sickening clarity.

"My bird form," she said. "I couldn't activate it--you did something."

"That was one possible side effect." Victoria said this as if she was talking about the weather changing. "Or it could have affected your Maiden powers more--or both. Aura might compensate for it for a while--you tend not to use those powers fully, I take it. But the bird thing being a little harder to mitigate, I wondered if it would make it hard to maintain control. But not to worry, I should be able to fix it--there is also a chance I could make it worse with these tests, though, so could take some time. But I'd hate to mar such a magnificent power, unless I could take it and replicate it. There might be a chance there..."

She mused. "Well, no other way to know than to try."

"They'll still find a way to rescue us." Raven could think of  nothing else to say. "And then you'll burn, Kanap. Trust me."

"Worry about yourself, Raven. I'm not in the best mood," Victoria said warningly. "Enjoy your solitude. You like it anyway, right?"

She walked away.

Now just to check on the last few prisoners.

Due to her lack of space, she'd had to put Likstar and Cinder in the same area, but she wasn't much worried about them conspiring. Cinder had made her opinion of Likstar pretty obvious when she saw her.

Shine was recovering her powers of motion nicely. In fact, she'd only been passed out for a very short time for how long it was supposed to last, but long enough to be locked up.

Victoria was glad she'd thought to charge the wall for the cage with magical energy from dust and the Maidens that she'd been siphoning so far. Mercury's tip that their weakness was magic had been most useful.

"Comfortable, Miss Likstar?" she asked, glancing up.

Shine looked at her without fear. Well, she did like boldness in a woman.

"I've had worse cells," Shine said.

Cinder, who was awake and salty about being used as a battery, made a scoffing sound.

"I'm sure you're not too happy about your jail mate, but sadly I had to conserve space," Victoria said amicably. "I must say, it's a pleasure to meet you. For all I hear, you've managed to put my friend in his place. That's not so easy to do. I'm one of the only people who ever has."

"Yes...he speaks of you quite highly," Shine said.

"What are you talking about?" Cinder asked.

"Shut up," Victoria said to her icily.

"She still doesn't know?" Shine asked.

"No, no one has told her," Victoria said. "Delicious, isn't it? I'm not one for revenge, usually, but even I will just relish that."

"Really, I wouldn't think you'd think that highly of the person in question," Shine said.

"No, but comparing Cinder and them is like comparing a mangy dog to a wolf," Victoria said. "Both are killers, but one just has so much more style about it."

"I'm sure they'd like to hear it," Shine said dryly. "Well, I think I've put it together. But I'm not sure why I'm here. And where is my partner?"

"Don't worry, I didn't hurt him," Victoria said, naturally enough. "I don't have any aspiration to destroy young love--I think it's quite touching. He should be fine as long as he doesn't try to escape. Same to you. You understand, I hold you in high respect, but I can't allow you to keep foiling my plans. It was a nice try though."

"Yes, I've heard you're less vicious but somehow still more terrifying than any of our foes," Shine said. "Personally, though, you remind me of some people I knew before. I understand you're an alchemist?"

"Yes," Victoria said.

"I thought alchemists turned things into gold," Shine said.

"I do, in a matter of speaking. Dust is far more valued than gold," Victoria said. "Do you have any interest in science, Likstar?"

"I dabble," Shine said. "I know a lot about magic, though. At least, I know what I need to know."

"Is that so?" Victoria said. "Well...you could be useful then. Know anything about transferring it?"

"Yes," Shine said.

But then said nothing else.

Cinder looked up.

"Such as...?" Victoria prompted.

"Hmm? Oh, I wasn't going to tell you," Shine said. "I have no wish to speed this up. Do you have anyone besides Cinder in here?"

"I might," Victoria said cautiously.

"In that case I really don't wish to speed this up," Shine said. "Taking a few free shots at Cinder is something anyone would want to do who's met her, but I draw the line at human experimentation. I don't believe in it."

"That's like saying that surgery is wrong," Victoria said. "Come, all procedures were once experiments. If people are willing, there's no crime in it, and sometimes they are only not willing because they think there's something uncanny about it. In the name of our salvation, one has to make the responsible choice."

"My salvation does not come from science," Shine said. "Though I probably could explain it in those terms. I do not need your help."

"I have heard you're quite powerful," Victoria said. "But oddly, when I scanned you, I found nothing, except a slight anomaly in your Aura levels... They are higher and brighter than anyone's I've ever seen. But that was all. That doesn't explain what you do."

"I don't explain what I do very often," Shine said dryly. "Do you want to try to torture it out of me?"

"I don't torture people," Victoria said, insulted.

"In that case, I have no motivation to tell you anything," Shine said.

"I don't know about that," Victoria said. "I'd rather not have to keep this many people hostage. Perhaps if you cooperate with me, we could work out some kind of deal."

Shine laughed at her.

Victoria didn't like that.

"Stop it!" she said, in different tone.

"Sorry, that was just funny." Shine sat back. "Was I not being clear enough? I don't want any part of what you do. Now, I'll get out of here sooner or later. I always do. Who knows? Perhaps these glass walls will just shatter. Perhaps an angel will unlock the cage. I don't know, but it's you who should be asking me for mercy, because if my team finds you, you will need it."

Cinder glanced from Shine to Victoria.

"You going to let her talk to you like that?" she said nastily.

"Oh, you be quiet," Victoria snapped at her. "Anyway, I don't care for your empty threats, Likstar. You talk a big game, but if you could escape, you would have. How do you find my magical barriers, by the way? They're new."

"Nice," Shine said sarcastically. "Makes me feel like I'm surrounded by enemies."

"Can't win them all," Victoria dismissed it. "Well, if you want food, let me know. I have work to do. Fall, don't you give her any lip. My contact asked if I would remove your voice box, and I said it was tempting, but I'm still mulling it over. See you." She walked away again.

Cinder put a hand to her throat.

"I won't ruin their fun by spilling any details," Shine remarked. "But this is ironic, you have to admit, Cinder."

"So much for your fine words," Cinder said. "'See you in Vacuo,' huh? I guess you did."

"I'm not the one who was dumb enough to come here after that warning," Shine said dryly.

"Did you set this up?" Cinder asked. "Mercury...was it part of your plan?"

"I can't say that it was," Shine said. "Nice twist, though, them capturing you first. I'd almost have to appreciate it."

"When I get free, I will kill you and them," Cinder said. "All of you."

"I suppose reasoning with you won't work," Shine said, leaning on her hands nonchalantly. "But if you think you're impressing me from inside that fish tank by making death threats, then you're even more clueless than I thought. Have some dignity for once, woman."

"You will regret challenging me," Cinder said.

"I almost pity you," Shine said, as if she hadn't spoken. "Me? I've lived through this before, and it's never really shaken me that much. But you hate to feel powerless so much, it'll probably stay with you. You and all your anger, and rage, and greed, and desperate attempts to get power. And for what? Because you suffered? Everyone has suffered. Whoever told you you could hurt people to get what you want?"

"Who cares about them?" Cinder said, scornfully. "Not me. I do what I need to do to get power. Better than you--you all just hold yourselves back. But that just makes it easier for the rest of us to take power. You're given power when you don't work for it."

"What do you know about me?" Shine asked calmly. "That you should say that?"

Cinder, while her usual angry self, was not finding Shine the easiest person to deal with--she was used to either getting anger or fear. Not...indifference.

"Nothing," Shine said. "Watts was right about you. You want to be strong, but not smart. I remember what you said. 'I want to be strong, I want to be powerful.' And for what? Let's say you claw your way to the top--you might succeed, with Salem helping you...and then you'll have nothing. Because the poorest person in the world is the one who has power without love and victory without purpose."

"Shut up!"

"I know, I know," Shine said. "You kill people when they're right. I should watch out--but the beauty of it is, you could kill me and I would still be right. You could do to me what you did to Watts--not that I would ever trust you enough to fall for it--and I would still be right. You can silence every voice, Cinder--except the one in your head that tells you that all this amounts to nothing."

"Shut up!" Cinder hit the edge of her cage--but Shine didn't shut up. She didn't even flinch.

"In fact, that's why you're so angry all the time," she went on, coolly. "That's why you have such contempt for life. Because you have contempt for your own. You're a sociopath because you can't be brave enough to risk being anything else. You've let Salem do things to you that no one should ever agree to, in the hopes that you'd stop feeling so powerless. Strong people threaten you. You want to kill Ruby because she beat you. You want to kill Watts because he is smarter than you and he showed you up in wits. You want to kill Emerald because she is smarter than you also and more effective. And one day, you want to kill Salem, because she rules you."

That last part was what finally made Cinder go from angry to slightly unnerved.

Because who would have guessed that?

[Yeah, it was real hard to figure out!]

https://youtu.be/2B87f4Fyfbw

["I'm So Sorry" AMV by Scarlet Song.]

"How did I know?" Shine glanced at her scornfully. "It was obvious. You won't succeed at that, by the way. Salem knows what you want. She'll crush you as soon as you get her what she wants. I think you know that, too. You think you'll find a way at the last second. Arrogance is just folly at this point, you know. But as far as I'm concerned, you're doing us a favor, so, I won't try to stop you. When she kills you, we'll have less to worry about. But it will be kind of sad that a woman's life amounted to nothing but causing pain to other people, with one tiny little blip that, in hindsight, you've managed to undo."

"What?" Cinder was lost.

"I mean Emerald." Shine pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to get more comfortable on this glass floor. "It's so sad what you did to her. She loved you, once. Maybe she still does, deep down. She's the only person who ever has, I'd guess. You know Cinder, I could perhaps like you just a little if that meant anything to you. One could overlook your grudge against humanity if it was because none of them ever offered you any better--but once you have had that, and you spat in it, then it is on your head if you spite the world. She was too good for you. She was able to do what you never could, which was still be capable of loving even after her whole life had been hard and bitter and cold and hungry. And deep down, I believe you hate her for that."

Cinder clenched one fist.

"You see, though, suffering does not make or break us," Shine said, gesturing widely. "What we do about it does. Watts was right about that too. Suffering is not enough--you have to have more. He think brains is it--I think it's love. You have neither. But that was your own choice. No one made it for you."

"Shut up!" Cinder exploded. Then her eye blazed. "If you like Emerald so much, then I'm going to kill her, as soon as I get the chance... How do you feel about that?"

"It was what I thought you'd say," Shine said, in such a deadpan tone that Cinder was stupefied.

She stepped back a little.

"I knew you would try to kill her anyway," Shine said. "But I wanted to see if you felt at all guilty for what you did to her. I see you don't. You just take and take and take from people. It's fitting that arm of yours is really just a power-sucking tube. You want to take their lives, like some big spider. Lewis was so right about people like you. But no matter how much you take, you will feel just as empty as before. It's never enough to only take if you don't learn how to give. Giving is what makes us feel full, not taking."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Cinder said savagely. "We take and take because that's what it means to be powerful."

"No," Shine said. "That is what they tell you so that you'll do what they want. True power, Cinder, is something you've never seen in your life...but you will." She said that kind of scarily, in her way.

Cinder glared at her.

"You will see it," Shine said, eyes intense. "But I wonder if, when you do, it will be anything you'd ever want. It would burn you up just by proximity. A small, shriveled thing like you couldn't survive a second. I don't know if I will see it, but I don't really need to. I know it's inevitable. But let me tell you one other little thing: True power is also simple--and quiet. It's the ability to rise above your circumstances and still love and still want goodness. To not make the darkness a part of you, as you so visibly have, but to set yourself apart from it, and be better in spite of it. You have already lost because you made the agreement with the dark--that you belong to it. That it is a part of you. And so you are never satisfied. Just as the Grimm are never satisfied. Were you a Grimm before you ever had that arm? Really? It was inside you before--and now everyone knows it. No, you lost as soon as you joined Salem. No amount of killing people will change that--but if you add to your sins, you add to your punishment later. Who should we pity? Your victims or you?"

Cinder was--speechless.

Shine looked away. "Well, you'll try to kill me later," she said offhandedly. "I won't even say that you can't do it. Who knows? But you won't change a thing. I wouldn't fear you if you sucked the life out of me inch by inch. I'd spend every second looking at you with either pity or contempt, but not fear. Do I fear evil, or do I fight it? You might kill me, but I promise, you won't enjoy it. Nor will it rid you of your fear of what I'm saying being true. It will only make it worse. It will haunt your every step, every day, till you're finally destroyed."

Cinder backed up from her more.

"So think about that, if you can." Shine leaned back. "I need to think about how to escape."

Silence ensued.

[Boy, did that feel good.

Shine is completely right, too. Even in real life, people like Cinder reach a point where what they do is a compulsion, but it's no longer really a pleasure. It's impossible for them to feel satisfied because they know it's empty.

I'm reminded of Sikes from Oliver Twist, who was haunted by killing his lover but still went on trying to kill because that was the man he'd become, even to the end.]

* * *

"We're all dead!" Vara started freaking out as soon as Pyrrha told her what happened. "It's too late! They've got them all!"

"What do we do?" Nora was covering one ear and looking nervous.

"We shouldn't have left them vulnerable like that," Ren said.

"They weren't," Jaune protested. "Winter was with at least three people, and Raven was at the school, I thought."

Vara shook her head. "They'll come for me soon enough," she said. "I ought to pass the powers on now, before--"

Pyrrha suddenly slapped her.

This hurt Vara much more than a normal person, even though Pyrrha didn't hit her that hard. She reeled, and her face stung.

Nora, Ren, and Jaune all gaped at Pyrrha.

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha wrung her hand out. "I hate to do that, but you have to get a grip. Vara, now is not the time to worry about passing your powers on. We can still fix this, I think. But we must help the others. We have no time to lose. You know this maze--do you know where they could have been taken, if it was Kanap?"

Vara rubbed her face.

"Well, she always had her secrets," she said, slowly. "I think that maybe... I have no idea, all right? But it wouldn't be the same place as before--she's smarter than that. I do know where there's some off limits tunnels. I was always told they weren't finished, but it could have been a lie. It was her husband who designed it after all. Derek was a genius, I have to admit. But we'd never make it there."

[If I never said, Derek Kanap is a reference to Daedalus, the Greek who designed the Labyrinth.]

"Then take us back to Shade so we can confer with the others," Pyrrha said firmly. "If you don't do this and try to harm yourself, I'll take my sword and knock you out."

Vara blinked at her.

"And then we'll carry you back," Pyrrha added. "In broad daylight. Your choice."

Jaune gaped at Pyrrha again.

Vara rubbed her face and then straightened. "I knew you had spirit, but dang...I was more right than I thought."

"Do not start." Pyrrha was stressed.

"All right, I'll take you--it makes no difference now..." Vara said, meekly for her. "But in the end, we're going to have to decide. You know that."

"Yes, we will, as a team," Pyrrha insisted. "Come on, we have to hurry."

Vara started to lead them, summoning fire in her hand to light the way.

"Dang, Pyrrha," Nora said. "That was so cool--and scary. I had no idea you had that in you."

Pyrrha was embarrassed. "I didn't mean to be harsh, but I had to get her attention."

"No, no, it was great. She was totally freaking out," Nora said.

"A firm hand is all right sometimes," Ren said.

"I guess you can take care of yourself around her," Jaune said.

https://youtu.be/K_flH6B21Y8

[Some team JNPR love from A2Z-AMV, Shout Your Freedom by Skillet]

Pyrrha smiled, but then in a low voice, "She'd only have to get out of my line of sight, though. We can't let her go off alone. I'm worried she'll do something desperate."

"We'll make sure not to let her out of our sight," Jaune said. "I'm more worried about the others. How could they all get taken? We were being careful."

"Kanap is better than us." Ren was getting negative again. "That's how. We underestimated her."

"She plays dirty!" Nora cried.

"She's a mad scientist, Nora!" Ren said severely. "We should have known we wouldn't be safe from her."

"All right, we can't blame each other," Jaune said. "Let's focus on just getting back and helping them."

"And then, we need to tell Vara about this." Pyrrha pulled out the vials. "We didn't get the chance, but it might save her."

They nodded slowly.

[Let's hope they can do something.]