Shine had a plan about the potential interrogation.

She'd spent the previous day thinking about it carefully, not wanting to rush into it.

While the other adults were off, she enlisted the help of Raven to keep an eye on Theo and make sure he didn't come down to the holding area.

Then she enlisted the help of Velvet to record the whole conversation for analysis later.

Velvet wasn't sure about doing this without permission, but Shine told her it was approved by the other leaders. Which was true.

Velvet assumed Theo must be okay with it then, and, after all, she didn't work for Vacuo, so she accepted it.

Now, as it happened, the person guarding the holding area that day was Yatsuhashi, so he let Velvet stand there with her recorder in place under the door.

Shine's plan was to talk to Ironwood first.

She portalled herself in there, surprising all three men.

Prison didn't look so good on them. They all had facial air growing out of control, but Watts seemed more upbeat. No doubt he was getting some favors from Theo in exchange for tips about his science friend.

"Miss Likstar?" Ironwood stood up when she came in--not out of chivalry.

"Hello, James," Shine said.

An awkward pause ensued.

"Have you heard from my son?" Jacques broke in.

"If you want your lawyer to cooperate," Shine said, "you will not say anything to annoy me, Mr. Schnee."

That worked. He shut up.

Shine really didn't care about his trial, but she didn't want him to distract her.

"Where's Winter?" Ironwood asked.

"Busy." Shine wasn't about to tell him anything. "I'm here instead... You can talk to me, or you can sit here and count the bars of your cell again."

That was scathing, especially since he'd already done that 100 times in the last few days.

Watts sat up to watch this with amusement.

"Where's Theodore?" Ironwood said.

"I assume if he wanted to talk to you, he'd be here," Shine said. "And I'm under no obligation to tell you where he is if he's not interested in talking to you."

"Then what do you want?" Ironwood said. "To gloat?"

Shine thought for a moment.

"Let's be candid, James," she said. "You know why I'm here, right?"

"No," he said.

"Things haven't turned out the way you wanted," Shine went on, noting Watts was leaning in for this part. "I haven't heard much from Winter, but she led me to believe at least that you're not exactly rethinking your actions yet...so I take it you're not interested in getting out of here."

A pause.

"Would you believe me if I said I was wrong and made an apology?" Ironwood said.

"Not a chance," Shine said. "Unless you said something truly profound that proves to me you really would have to realize why you were wrong."

"Exactly what I predicted happened," Ironwood said. "Salem destroyed Atlas... In what way was I wrong? You got the people here, but for what? She'll come here. They aren't safe. You've doomed them all."

"Have you been saying this the last 4 days?" Shine asked.

Ironwood frowned at her.

Shine shrugged, and a chair appeared behind her that she took from her room, and she sat down.

Watts stared at it.

"I have time to kill," Shine said. "You want to talk about who was right and who was wrong? Why not?... I guess I shouldn't have expected you to be grateful."

Ironwood frowned at her.

"I didn't have to save you." Shine made sure she wasn't looking at Watts, but she thought he was still watching with a weird smile. "But I did because I believed it was the merciful thing to do. A courtesy I know you didn't show Oscar or any of those kids who are too young to be held at gun point for these kinds of decisions."

"I had no choice," Ironwood said.

"No," Shine said. "You had a choice. I told you a plan that would most certainly have worked better than yours, and you didn't do it. You didn't cooperate with us. You didn't think twice before you murdered Sleet--and yes, we found out about that. These are not the actions of a rational leader, they are actions of a paranoid madman. And if you were honest right now, James, you would know that this is not what you truly believe is right."

"It was for the greater good!" Ironwood banged the bars of his cell.

"I can prove to you that it's not," Shine said. "But to give everyone their due, I do think that the team didn't treat you fairly either. And I'm the one who chose to save you and the one who is the most willing to consider your release. The others are only going so far as not turning you over to the people to be hung for this. So you might want to stay on my good side."

Ironwood studied her. "Well, you must have spared me because you saw that I was trying to do what was right."

"No," Shine said. "I thought you'd lost your mind. But it's against my faith to kill anyone for any reason outside self defense or in war. You were defeated and did not attack me. It would have been as good as murder to leave you there. So I saved you. I think it's a waste to let people die who might still be able to have a change of heart... If your mind is entirely gone, on the other hand, I'm not going to lobby for your release. Consider this an unofficial psych evaluation. No one else cares enough to do one, so I'm doing it. Sure I'm not a professional, but this is Vacuo, I'm the best you've got. If you'd rather talk to Ozpin, I'm sure I could arrange that."

"I'm not interested in talking to him--" Ironwood began, then stopped. "Ozpin is still alive?"

"Oh, did you not know that?" Shine said scornfully. "Oscar is tougher to kill than you thought. Though, may I say, I don't enjoy jumping out of planes and falling 300 feet to catch someone, so please don't do that again."

"You!?" Ironwood glared at her.

"Oh, it gets better," Shine said, leaning forward. "I helped them foil all your plans. In fact, I was counseling Winter to turn on you from the start. Oh, not out of malice, you understand, but because I saw where this was going. I knew you'd flip your lid when Salem threatened you, and make the same mistake as Beacon. It was partially me drawing attention to the pattern that made them all decide to do what they did. That, and you did a remarkable job yourself."

"I knew it," Ironwood said. "I knew you were working against me. From the very start you never wanted to cooperate."

"Does it make you feel better if you have someone to blame for this?" Shine asked coolly.

He paused.

"Other than yourself," Shine said. "I thought you'd jump at a new target. But despite what you think, I can't twist Winter to my will. She's very strong minded herself, trust me. If the evidence wasn't there, she'd never have betrayed you. And she felt horrible about it, but she won't change her mind. And I will do all I can to make sure she doesn't, just so you know. You are in no position to threaten me. I'm just coming clean. After all, all these secrets bother me. Oh, and that one time you locked us in our room for disagreeing with you? We totally snuck out and did something...but it wasn't talking to Robyn."

"Why should I believe that?" 

"I haven't lied to you once."

"You lied about the room."

"No, I told you we never went out the door," Shine said. "If you didn't stop to think that I can make portals and leave any room I want without using the door, it's not my fault."

Ironwood glared at her.

Then he sighed. "Why does it matter now?"

"Clean slate," Shine said. "That's why. We got off on a bad foot. Normally, I like to be a little more congenial with people I'm trying to work with...sort of.... Okay, that might not be true. Still, honesty can't hurt, can it?"

"Indeed," Watts finally spoke, smirking.

"You stay out of his," Ironwood told him.

"Oh, leave him alone," Shine said. "He couldn't have done anything if you didn't hand him the controls. Might as well have handed him your gun to shoot you with. I mean, really, who didn't see that coming? Arthur Watts wasn't smart enough to think of hacking Penny a little more than you wanted? Or of escaping? Or calling for help? I mean, I do think he wasn't smart enough to realize that Cinder never lets an insult go like that, but hey, we all have our blind spots."

Watts frowned at her.

"But not at much as you, General," Shine added.

"If that's all you came down here to say, then I think we're wasting our time," Ironwood said.

Shine sighed.

"That said," she said, "I've also been thinking that we didn't do the most to inspire trust... In my case, that was mostly because you didn't make it easy for us. But still, I'm sorry that the team lied to you. On record, I said it was a bad idea. But there are some things you did that were certainly nice enough. There was Yang's arm, for one thing. That was nice. And you stood up for Weiss at that one party, and you gave them the Lamp. All in all, I never thought you were a bad guy."

Ironwood stared at her.

"But you failed to see that Salem exploits fear." Shine twirled her hair casually. "The thing is, Atlas wouldn't have fallen if you didn't panic after Cinder put that little chess piece in your office. At least, I doubt it would have fallen as fast."

"You think I was afraid?" Ironwood said.

"I think you're a fool if you think that anyone would act like you who wasn't terrified out of his mind," Shine said. "I'm more worried if you weren't afraid. Does cold blooded murder sound right to you? Take the idealistic bullcrap off of it that you and I both know is poppycock, and you have some very unsavory actions. Now you could admit that, like a sane person, and admit that you deserved this--and worse--and try to get a grip, for the love of peace...or you can keep on like some wild dog, chasing his own tail and saying that you were right all along. Also shooting your own men in the back for not wanting to bomb a city? Not your best move."

"That's oversimplifying," Ironwood said.

"It's not," Shine said firmly. "You know it. That cold, hard facade you put on might fool the others, James, but it's not fooling me.  You know that you're guilty, and you know that the others were right to turn on you. The people who scream the loudest that they were right are always the ones who were really wrong. We hide our shame with anger so that we don't feel the burn of it."

"Are you in authority enough to tell me that?"

"Perhaps not the way you think of it," Shine said. "But the weight of the world being on your shoulders is something I can relate to... I've had to learn to give that burden to someone else. I can't take it. That's not weakness...that's being human. But don't feel as if you were expected to know all the answers. Kingdoms rise and fall--in some ways maybe it was inevitable... For all I know, this kingdom's fall could be inevitable. But right is right. That's why we shouldn't let the stakes blind us to what is simply the right thing to do."

"I sacrificed everything," Ironwood said.

Shine tilted her head. "Did you?"

Pause.

"Maybe you did," Shine said. "Maybe you sacrificed your soul. Your heart...and your mind, in the end. Maybe you sacrificed your honor, your empathy, your kindness. Maybe you sacrificed the trust of your subordinates, the trust of an entire kingdom that you swore to protect. Maybe you forgot that a protector isn't supposed to make his kingdom feel less safe. Qrow told you that as far back as Beacon, I believe, and it didn't work then. I know you think people should feel safe when you are in control, James...but you know who else thinks that they should be in control? Every dictator who's ever lived. Geez, at least Salem is honest about it. She doesn't pretend that she doesn't want everyone to fear her and obey without question... You try to dress it up in idealism too, but it is just fear. I should know..."

She stood up and paced, not making eye contact, then in a lower voice, "Because we can't help people who don't want help. Did you ever want help, James, really? Or was it just about being the hero and leader everyone would look up to?"

"Of...of course I wanted to save them," Ironwood said, a little more shaken up finally. "And if anyone had truly helped me...instead of lying to me and not telling us about the enemy..."

"Why do you think Ozpin didn't tell you?" Shine asked quietly. "Did you listen to his caution when it was Beacon? Maybe he saw this in you a long time ago. That tendency to control everything. Heck, even that fool there--" She meant Jacques. "--knew that. It's no secret, James...except to you. You are the only one who thinks it's not a problem. And this is where that gets you. There's a famous writer in my homeland, who says that the end of believing in yourself is the insane asylum. You could say the man there believes in himself most implicitly."

 [The author is G. K. Chesteron, Orthodoxy, if you care. The quote is from chapter one:

"It would be much truer to say that a man will certainly fail, because he believes in himself. Complete self-confidence is not merely a sin; complete self-confidence is a weakness looked down."]

"So that's it then," he said. "You think I'm just another madman?"

"I'd think the man in the cell next to you was more sane," Shine said candidly, "to be perfectly honest. I didn't think you were evil, James...just foolish. But I don't know now. The murders, the threats...there's things you can do in the military, but what you did is a war crime even by military standards. We don't bomb our own side. If you were your own superior officer, you'd be obliged to demote and kick yourself out. So you see, when you don't follow the code of the thing that gives you the authority to act as general, then you are no general. Another of our authors said that the king cannot be exempt from the law, for it is the law that makes him king. [C. S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy.] You are not the founder of the law, but its servant, James. I think you forgot that along the way."

Ironwood was not a very rational person on his best day, but the pure and simple logic of her argument was hard even for him to miss...plus he'd had much more time to rest and not be on the verge of collapse in the last few days.

"Hmm." Watts was smirking.

"Even if that were true--" Ironwood said what was an impressive concession all things considered. "--I was still right that I was betrayed, and loyalty is the most important thing. Wasn't that some excuse to circumvent the law?"

"You think so?" Shine said. "I admit you have a reason to be angry, but I wouldn't go that far. Just because someone else is unjust, does it give you the right to be unjust back?"

Ironwood frowned at her again.

"How much did you expect to be betrayed anyway?" Shine said.

"All the time," Ironwood said, "over the years... I just never thought it would be Winter and my own men."

"Does it occur to you that Winter is a person?" Shine said. "With a mind of her own, and so are they. You are a leader--you are not their oracle of God. Even if you were that, they could still think for themselves. Don't try this on me, James. I'm not a 14-year old boy. I know that you have always been most afraid, not of Salem, but of facing your own flaws."

That hit a nerve. Ironwood looked angry. But also he didn't have a ready comeback.

"I only wish I had popcorn," Watts muttered.

"She's right," Jacques muttered. "She's a b----, but she's right."

Shine ignored them. "I don't like pity plays, James. Oh, poor you, everyone in your life turning on you. One would think after years you'd stop to wonder, if everyone disagreed with you, the problem might just be you. Maybe it's not so complicated. What if no one cared about you, personally? They were just trying to help. What if they were all trying to save Atlas, and you, in fact, were the one who made it about you? Wouldn't that be a relief?"

This wasn't the strongest mocking, really, but Ironwood was fragile, and she was pushing him to his breaking point.

"Enough!" he said, sounding emotional.

"Is it?" Shine said. "Why should I stop? Did you stop? When they begged you to show mercy, did you stop? Or did you shut off any voice that could have called yours into question? Did you listen to your closest friends? Or did you throw them in prison for even daring to take a different position? Would you have shot Winter if she disagreed with you? Oh wait, I already know the answer to that!"

"Stop!" Ironwood covered his ears and fell to his knees, like her words were actual blows.

Watts was grinning. Jacques just looked disturbed.

Shine sighed.

There was a long silence.

Shine walked up closer to the cell.

"Do you hate me?" she asked quietly.

The answer to that was Ironwood suddenly jumped up savagely and grabbed her through the bars. He could get part of his arm through.

Shine moved in time for him not to get her throat, but he got her shoulder. His metal hands were big enough to lock it into place.

He looked furious.

Oddly, Shine didn't react. She felt strangely calm.

Watts and Jacques backed up.

"Do I hate you?" Ironwood said, suddenly livid. "What do you think?"

"I think the only person you hate more than me right now is yourself," Shine said steadily.

She didn't back down.

Second after second ticked by while Ironwood seemed to be deciding whether to kill her or not.

Shine had a plan in mind if he did try--but hoped she wouldn't have to use it.

"I say, James," Jacques said nervously, "you won't make it better for anyone if you kill her. They'll think we were all complicit in it."

Velvet was going to charge in there, but Yatsuhashi stopped her.

"If you get caught, we'll be in huge trouble," he hissed. "Let her handle it."

"But what if he's got her?" Velvet couldn't see what was happening, but it sounded bad.

"She's not screaming or anything," Yatsuhashi said. [For the record, I do not endorse this way of handling it.]

Finally, after what felt like an hour, Ironwood just let go, and Shine stepped back.

Her shoulder was throbbing, but other than that he hadn't hurt her.

Ironwood just leaned on his cell, like all the energy had gone out of him.

"So..." Shine said after a pause, "you're not totally insane...good."

"Hah," Watts said. "That was hilarious." He laughed again. "The great and mighty General, reduced to this, and now he cannot even bring himself to off one little brat?"

"Oh, can it, Watts," Shine said. "I don't see you doing any better. This is what comes of you, huh? And you thought you were so much better than him."

"Ah, but I still have things to consider," Watts said. "He's washed up. I'm still useful to your little enterprise."

"I don't see how," Shine said. "You can't hack Penny for us if she's not around. And what else are you good for except faking election results?"

Jacques winced.

"Couldn't even do that without a password from a gullible idiot," Shine added.

"You little twit," Watts said. "I can do plenty more than that. You think I wouldn't be useful?"

"I mean, if even Salem doesn't want you anymore, it says a lot," Shine said.

"Not Salem. It was Cinder, that backstabbing, little wench," Watts said. "Salem will, no doubt, come for me."

"Uh huh," Shine said. "You think so? Because she probably thinks you're dead. She can't exactly come for you if you're dead."

"That's what you think," Watts said. 

Shine shrugged. "I guess."

"Well, let's not be like that." Watts came to the edge of his cell. "Surely there's something you want."

"Oh, nothing you could give me," Shine said. "You don't know Vacuo well enough."

"I might surprise you," Watts said. "I know Vacuo pretty well. Surely we can strike some kind of deal."

"She doesn't owe scum like you anything." Ironwood finally found his voice. "You'd be lucky to be kept alive at all. In fact, I'm surprised they don't just shoot you."

"Big talk coming from you," Watts said.

"All of you deserve it," Shine said. "But I suppose I'm open to compromise... Still..."

"Oh, I'm sure we could help each other," Watts leered. "Try me."

"Don't trust him," Ironwood said.

"I mean, you did," Shine said.

"Exactly," Ironwood said.

"James, I think I'm smarter than you," Shine said, slyly.

Watts glowered. Perfect, he was thinking.

"Well, Arthur, is it?" Shine turned to him. "If you're so sure you can help me out, prove it."

"I might know something you don't," Watts said. "About this school."

"Is that your best offer? Unless it's where the Maiden is," Shine said. "I'm sure you know nothing." She turned sharply to walk towards the door dismissively.

"Well, I might know why you haven't been told where she is yet," Watts said.

Shine stopped.

Watts smirked.

Shine smiled to herself, but then she turned around with a quizzical expression. "Is that a bluff?"

"Is it?" Watts said.

Shine tilted her head. "All right, inventor," she said. "I'll play your game for now. What do you want?"

"I'd love to get out of this cell." Watts said exactly what she wanted him to.

"Well, that's Theo's department," Shine said. "I suppose you're here under our charges... It would have to be under guard."

"Oh, of course," Watts said. "I'm not a fool."

Shine shrugged. "All right, I'll talk to them."

She shook her head. "Still, I'm just one person."

"Of course," Watts said.

Shine left the room.

Velvet looked visibly relieved and almost fell over.

Shine put a hand to her heart and let out a long sigh. Ironwood had scared her.

"You snake," Ironwood said to Watts, and they all could hear it. "We both know you have no intention of giving them anything useful."

"Oh, James," Watts said, "unlike you, I know when to play my hand and when to fold. And I have nothing to lose. You're the one who's out of options."

"You scoundrel," Jacques said. "I should never have relied on you."

"Someone's sore that he has no assets left." Watts didn't care.

Shine and Velvet left.

"That was so scary," Velvet said. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Shine said. "Did you get it all?"

"A few pieces might be faint, but I think most of it," Velvet said.

"Yes, but I want a recording of what I said," Shine said. "It pays to make sure I won't contradict myself later. I hope not, but one false move in this gamble could throw the whole thing."

"That was risky," Velvet said. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Shine hoped that also.

[So what was more bruised do you think? Their bodies or their egos?]

* * *

The two teams, and Oscar and Emerald, headed out into Vacuo to explore.

Sun came with them, and Neptune; their teammates weren't interested in walking around in the heat of the day--they were kind of wimps.

"I hope Shine will be okay with just Velvet helping her," Pyrrha mused. "I trust team CVFY, but they just don't know the situation as well as us."

"Isn't that good?" Jaune said. "If anyone asks her, she can't tell them that much."

"I am not loving this plan though," Blake said. "It's really risky."

"Yeah, what do you expect from her?" Yang said. "Look, she's not here. Can we act like it? At least we get the day off. Is there any cool stuff to check out?"

"Oh, lots," Sun said. "I'll give you guys the professional tour."

He took Blake's arm. "I mean, it's my turn. You showed me Menagerie."

"Sure," Blake said, blushing a little. "I guess it could be fun."

"It's really nice at night though," Sun said. "It cools down, and people light up their shops and stuff, real artsy."

"It sounds picturesque enough," Weiss said.

"I just wish we didn't have to bring her." Ren glanced back at Emerald.

"Yeah, like we needed her tailing us," Yang groaned.

"Guys, can't we be nicer to her?" Oscar said. "I mean, she's been through a lot."

"Oh, and just what has she been through?" Nora frowned. 

"I mean, her mentor almost killed her," Pyrrha said.

"Serves her right," Yang said. "I'm still mad about how you just let that slide."

She started walking faster.

"Grumpy," Neptune said. "I don't know what you guys are talking about, but it does sound bad. I just think that girl is scary."

Emerald was scowling.

"Hey, we have to watch her. No one said we have to talk to her," Weiss said. "If she doesn't want to talk to us, then we can just act like she's not here."

"That's not very nice," Oscar said.

"I mean, it's not..." Blake had a slightly more lenient view of it. After all, Emerald wasn't that different from Illea in a way. "I mean, we should at least see if she's okay, right? If we don't even try..."

"Yes, exactly," Pyrrha said. "She's not so bad. She told the truth before. She could have just let me take the fall for it."

"Maybe," Jaune allowed. "But she still creeps me out kind of, with her power...and she did kinda...kill Penny, so... It's not like it's just that easy to forgive, Pyrrha."

"I...know," Pyrrha sighed. "I haven't forgotten or anything, but it's...I just... Maybe it's not that simple. We all have done things we regret now, thinking they were right at the time, and been loyal to people who turned out to be liars... How are we different from her?"

"We didn't murder someone," Yang said.

"We got close," Jaune admitted. "I guess we would have if we could have... Not sure it's murder though, if we're in war."

"In that case, is it murder for her if she saw it that way?" Pyrrha asked. "We have to be fair. She was misguided, but she's realized the truth about Salem now, and she's out. What more can we expect? Not everyone is taught the same things as us."

"Yeah, exactly," Oscar said. "Considering where she's come from, it's probably the most we could expect from her. She never had anyone teach her what was right, and Cinder is like her only family...and we know what Cinder is like."

Everyone shuddered.

"Fair point..." Weiss hesitated. "But, I mean, I left my family. I knew it was wrong."

"But you had Winter," Oscar argued. "You weren't totally left on your own. I mean, she was in the streets."

"Even if that made it more understandable," Yang said, "everyone knows that killing people is wrong. And she knew. You can't tell me she didn't. She's way too guilty now."

"But it's a good sign that she felt guilty," Pyrrha said.

"Whatever," Yang said. "You want to be buddy buddy with her? Fine, but I'm not interested in cozying up to murderers and thieves."

She sped up and got too far ahead to talk to.

"She seems...a little different than before," Sun said. "What happened to you guys in Atlas?"

"It's...been hard on us all," Blake said. "Yang especially... I think her mom made it harder."

"And how could I forget that little secret," Weiss sighed.

"Let's not think about it," Ruby said. "We're supposed to be having fun. And hey, we can show Little what the human world is like."

Little nodded.

"Shush, don't talk," Weiss said.

"At least not where anyone can see you," Blake added.

"You're a talking cat," Little said. "Why is a mouse so much worse?"

"I'm not a cat!" Blake said. "I'm a cat Faunus. It's a little different!"

"Huh?" Little didn't get it.

Emerald caught some of the conversation, without them realizing it, and she felt pretty uncomfortable.

Of course...

Well, what did she expect? And screw them. She didn't like them anyway.

She slowed down a lot to be in the back of the group.

But that was a little incautious, as it turned out, because the others were so engrossed in their conversation with each other that they didn't notice her falling behind, and then someone pushed a large cart in front of Emerald without much warning, and she had to jump back.

The group didn't hear her over the din of the streets and didn't see that she'd been separated.

Emerald didn't yell for them like she should have--too embarrassing. She tried to get around the cart instead.

Some people got in her way, and she skipped around them.

"Hey, girl, out of the way," another person said, moving with a heavy load.

"Sorry." Emerald moved.

She was supposed to be streetwise. How was she getting lost?

She moved to catch up with the others.

"Hey." Someone suddenly got in her path on purpose... Could have been a huntsman or a thief, from his garb--jury was out on that.

Emerald backed up.

"Aren't you that girl who was on the news?" The guy looked her up and down. "I'd know that hair anywhere...yeah..."

Crap!

Well, it was nothing to get away from one person.

She clouded his mind and turned to run...unfortunately she didn't realize that he had some friends with him.

At least 4 other people were around.

"Wow, didn't expect to meet you outside the school," one said nastily.

"She used her powers, watch it," said the first. "Where did she go?"

"She's right there," the other said. "She can't fool all of us at once, don't worry."

"Look, I don't want any trouble." Emerald put her hands up. "I'm trying to patrol same as you, and my group isn't that far away."

"I don't see anyone," said one of them. "I think you're bluffing."

"I--" Emerald said, before one of them shoved her a little.

"I figure we owe you for Beacon and Atlas both," said one. "I mean, they're jacks, but still, what kind of monster helps burn down a whole kingdom?"

"I didn't--" Emerald began.

"Not here," said the other, who might be the leader. "People are going to make a fuss if we have this out here."

"I'll scream," Emerald said.

"What? We all saw you steal something," said one of them. "It's our word against yours, and who's going to believe you? This is just us handling a threat to Vacuo."

"It's...not..." Emerald said weakly. She was starting to sweat.

"So don't try to call for help," said the leader one.

Emerald tried to slip between them and disappear into the crowd, but one of them used their weapon's chain to grabbed her by her ankle, and then they all tackled her and plucked her off her feet and dragged her out of the plaza and into the alleyway behind the buildings.