The foreman had been a pathetic, horrible creature his whole life, but this… this was a new sort of evil. They were being branded. I could see it clearly then. On their faces, "SDC", it marked them. They were nothing. They were property, objects, machines. Shipping dust, carrying cargo. They were… what was the word? Slaves. They were slaves.
I knew quite well what was going on from the start. They'd had them under their thumb their entire lives. Why change now? Of course, I didn't think they'd be so blunt about it. The human filth only cared about themselves. They were scared of us. They were right to be, the mongrels. They know what we can do. They know what we can do to them. They would never forget.
The Faunus and mankind don't belong in unison. It's a simple truth. It's easy to understand, isn't it? They want equality. Equality? Idiots. "Equality" is what people say when they don't really want to fight back. When they want to kowtow to the people they think are above them. They're just as much traitors to the Faunus as they are slaves to humanity. They don't deserve to live. They don't deserve to walk Remnant's surfaces, gaze at its beautiful oceans. They deserve to be like us.
They said I was a savage. They said I deserved to be a slave, a worker, a piece of property. They said all those things. Then the monsters branded me. Me? Savage? I would have looked them in their own faces as they did it. You know the funniest thing? The one who did it, he almost looked sorry. Almost. People like that always justify themselves.
So, there. I was property of the SDC first, property of the SDC before anyone else. It's funny, isn't it? It's funny how being treated like a slave just pisses someone off? I carried cargo, I mined for Dust. They traded me around. At least I had my parents with me. Well, until the day they sold those two. My dads were good men. I liked them. One of them gave me his sword before they got put on the train. Grow and Bloom, he called them. He said it was meant to be used in self-defense, and then my dads got shipped off.
Normally, in this story, I say something cliche like "I'd never seen them again". I did, but that comes later in the story. Let's move on a bit after that, shall we? The first robbery. I was finally sick of it all. The funniest thing was how none of them reacted to the branding. It was normal for them. My "compatriots" as I thought they were then, they were surprised by the Grimm mask! It was almost funny, but I threw some line in there.
They wouldn't remember what I looked like. They would not remember me, Adam Taurus, the humble Faunus worker. They would remember Adam Taurus, the monster. The future leader of the White Fang. I was powerful, finally. I was using the sword in self-defense. I defended my rights and my kinsmen with it. At least, I thought they were my kinsmen. It took me a bit to figure it out, but blowing the lock was fun. The sword was also a gun. Who knew?
I never killed them. I barely even hurt them. A few broken limbs and lost teeth wouldn't hurt anyone. We took what we needed. What we deserved. What I deserved. We carved a swath through the humans working there. I didn't know then what I did now, I spared the monsters. Before long, word spread. I got in contact with the Belladonna patriarch.
I'd heard of the White Fang before, but never did I expect to find myself working there. Ghira Belladonna, I was working for him. I wasn't just a member of his organization, I was his bodyguard. He wanted peace. Along the way, we found some people. There was another one, one more like me. Sienna Khan, her name was. Dark skin. Stripes. Cat Faunus, actually. I liked her.
I didn't know she was going to turn on me like she did. They all turned on me.
Anyhow, I picked up some more followers of my part of the organization. Ilia Amitola was a fun one, until she turned on me too. Her parents had been killed in a mining accident, and she was being hunted for breaking their damned teeth. I liked her resolve, but she was always too sympathetic to those humans for my tastes. She was always just too soft.
Then, Ghira introduced me to her. His first betrayal. She was innocent. I was older than she was, I didn't think much of her at the time. I was stupid. I am so much more than her. Always have been, always will be. Her name was Blake. She was very young. He said she wanted to meet her daddy's bodyguard. She said she wanted to fight, too, to be like those Huntsmen she saw on TV.
It was cute. Real cute. I came out of the blue. I offered to train her. I helped her forge her weapon, you know that? Gambol Shroud was my idea. It mixed her weapon and Khan's. I taught her to fight. Of course, I was suspicious. I taught her with a flaw. She would never beat me, I thought. She never has beat me. No, she needed her pathetic human girlfriend to take me down.
Then, the cars and trucks. That was when it started. When I dawned, my finest hour. Those human monsters attacked our convoy. We just wanted to pass through for activism. I was stupid again. I asked Sienna, wordlessly. She nodded. I did my job. It was the first day I ever spilled blood, and it was glorious. Unfortunately, the Belladonna traitor didn't appreciate the fact I saved his life. I should have known then and there that he never cared about us. Sienna stuck up for me.
The process of lionization is simple, you see. Someone, throughout history, due to their actions, is turned into a hero. In its purest form, I, Adam Taurus, am a hero. I was lionized just as many were throughout history, as I deserved. I was going to make my impact, I knew it then. I was the messiah, the savior of the Faunus. They hadn't all betrayed me yet.
She was just trying to get in my good graces. She was just as afraid as the Belladonna liar, and she should have been. She called me a hero. She was right. I was a hero. Was? No, I am a hero. Slowly, I grew more accustomed to justice. I stopped taking the mask off. They would never see my face. The Belladonna traitor retired. Apparently, Ghira and Kali Belladonna just couldn't take the heat of defending our race. Their daughter saw fit to criticize me for my justice. I didn't know how much she'd like it at the time, how she'd murder me, so I told her it was what had to be done. I never had to do it. It was just the right thing to do.
I asked her something simple. I asked if she wanted me to give up. She'd finally gotten me in her trap by that point. I'll admit, I don't think I ever loved her. She was just my connection to the past where I was a coward. She said no. I smiled, I put on a fake smile and I told her I was just afraid I'd lost her. Poor girl. The second I was back in my tent, I smashed the mirror. The mirror didn't deserve to look at my face.
I could never see well after the branding. Having one eye be filled with your own blood does that to you. The mask had eyes, but I didn't need them. I added a blindfold to my ensemble. Just then, I got contacted by Sienna. My lieutenant, he'd gotten wind of my conversation with Blake. I bet she told him all about it. Sienna said she cared about me, but that I was abusing Belladonna.
I started taking Blake on missions with me when she turned sixteen. Child soldiers, some called it. No worse than what the Academies were doing with the Huntsmen she loved so much. We fought well together. I shielded her from damage, I took it for her. I took the blows for her. She was never grateful. I protected her from harm. It was as if a lady and a knight.
I'm no knight, of course, but she was no lady, so I guess that made us even. We went on quite a few missions, but then we got to more work. We worked together, and, one night, we kissed. I actually blushed that night. We went to fancy dances. I got uncomfortable looks for being older than her, and because they thought she was human.
I wore a nice shirt on those nights. Black and red. I wore the very same one to battle. I cleaned the blood off it for dances, of course. I couldn't have it filthy, but, hey, that's why you get red and black. She never knew about the dead men on the shirt. As she shouldn't have. If she'd known, she probably would have betrayed me far, far earlier.
Oh, that's right. She sided with the authorities later, but that's neither here nor there. She wouldn't let me enact justice on the SDC curs who hurt me. She left me alone. When you're alone, you see, you have a lot of time to think. I thought about everything, maybe even considered that I was the bad guy. I wasn't. It was just mental conditioning from humans that made me consider it at all.
Afterwards, Khan told me I was a good man but that she understood. I calmly told Sienna that she wasn't to make that mistake again. "I'm not a man," I said. "I'm a Faunus."
The funny thing is that I hated Sienna from that point on. I almost think it was just some bottled-up rage, you know? Cat Faunus were scum, though. Sienna was more loyal than most, but she would betray me too. It was inevitable. Before that, though, she told me my recent string of successes was impressive, and then she told me something that gave me my best idea yet. She said I could stand beside her, but that didn't matter. "In my throne."
I knew from that moment that I was destined to lead. She should have handed it over, but she didn't. Now, let's go back to my fathers. I know, you've probably forgotten them already. I saw them again. They were free, actually. I was on an operation without Belladonna when I saw them. I was overjoyed. I marked their home to visit again when I was off ops. I was going to level the block, and then I saw them.
How could I do it now? How could I bomb them all, wipe out my fathers? I sheathed my blade, and I tossed the detonator to the ground. I embraced them with open arms. I hugged them. They introduced me to their neighbors, their friends. Then I saw him. A little human boy. His name was Hiro. Sometimes they babysat him when his father was at work. For a moment, I looked at them with love in my eyes. Maybe it wasn't too late for me to become an outcast too? Maybe I could go back to them, leave the White Fang, leave Blake behind. Maybe I could even abandon my plans? Then Hiro's dad drove home. I recognized his white suit right away. I didn't want to see the letters. My parents had them on their faces too. It said "SDC" on his suit. At once, I lost all sympathy. The love faded. I didn't feel anything for the traitors. Even my own fathers betrayed me. I didn't feel anything when I drew the sword. One of them recognized it. He said he was proud of me. I didn't feel anything. I didn't need his words. I didn't feel anything as they told me their home number so I could call my fathers. I didn't feel anything as I said goodbye. I didn't feel anything when I walked away.
I didn't feel anything when I detonated the block either.
There were six Faunus alongside me. Not real Faunus. Men. They had the biology to be Faunus, but not the loyalty. One took the time to question me. All six were found dead in the explosion. The news said "White Fang terrorists" were dead. Nobody missed them. Least of all me. That day, Grow and Bloom disappeared. Wilt and Blush were born from the fools' blood.
Now, the process of lionization continued. Sienna repeated the same spiel about my successes, and how I could be beside her. She didn't understand that I was already above her. I'd gained the White Fang's favor. I was there. I was their savior. At least, my moment was finally there. I was their hero.
She was scared enough of me that she kicked me upstairs. She shipped me off to the Vale branch, and said goodbye. I was in charge of them. She thought that would appease me. For a bit, it did. I brought Blake to Vale. We fought alongside one another for a very long time, and then, then, and only then did I come to understand.
The woman in the red dress, I think her name was Ember, no, not Ember, Cinder, right. She came with a group of human thugs. She wanted my firepower. I said no. She came back a bit later with more power. What was I supposed to say? "Oh, no, human filth, I won't be standing for any of your magical tomfoolery?" Right before the train job, too. It screwed up my brain, made me forget to hide the plan. The real plan. I wanted to hide who I was to Belladonna.
She abandoned me on that train, and you know a lot of the story from there. I worked for Cinder's little business, for Salem. Over time, I came to like it. I met this smooth talking con man named Torchwick. Bit of a smarmy rogue, but an absolutely dashing one. Funny thing was, even now, I'm not sure I hate Torchwick. He had the charisma to lead humanity into our grasp once they'd surrendered to us. I wasn't sad when he died, but he was the first human I actually thought might be valuable. Besides, he was different. He hated them too. He provided some much-needed levity, and I even tried one of his cigars.
They sucked.
It was after his failed breach that I decided it was about time to get to work. The White Fang had failed him. He had failed me. We left him in that prison, and, in true Torchwick fashion, he never gave us up to Ironwood. For that, I didn't like him. I respected him, yes, but he would be put down with the rest of those curs when the time came. Well, that is, if I didn't keep him as a slave myself after he'd convinced the rest of who I was.
He died at Vale. So did part of me, when I saw that my Blake had become a coward like she acted in our battle. I knew what I had to do. I was to enact justice, and take everything she cared about from her. I saw the way the blonde one looked at her. I loved the way she charged at me. I took the blonde's arm, and then I went for Blake. I figured she couldn't care for anything else, the coward. The hypocritical coward!
Even her Semblance is cowardly. I take hits with my sword, but her? She just pretends to be somewhere other than where she is. I took her head, but of course, it was fake. I was confused by it, which was a bit of a shock. She deserved to die. They all deserved to die, but I was merciful. I let her go, at least, that's how I remember it. She ran away after.
I went back to Menagerie after, for one reason and one reason only. My throne. My dreams were fulfilled, all but one. I sent my men for the Belladonna household. I should have gone myself, because guess who else betrayed me? Amitola, she abandoned the cause. The Albains were always going to turn on me, and I was just glad the idiots failed me anyways. I left them to rot. I had bigger plans.
The invasion of Haven was coming up, and I was prepared. The failure of my inferior subordinates at the hands of the Belladonnas had rallied many against me, but I pressed on with the bravery that is requisite of a hero like myself. I was willing to sacrifice myself for vengeance. Unfortunately, Amitola disarmed my bombs! It didn't go so well.
And then Belladonna came up to me. She said she wasn't afraid anymore. She took me down. I pretended to run. I waited in the shadows, but they never came. They never, ever came! I was alone again. I dropped my mask, and I retreated for real. It was over, I knew. The White Fang would never trust me again. I should have just died with the rest of the mongrels!
I dropped my mask and I went back using one I took off one of my comrades. I thought it was cute how he'd modeled his after mine. It was cute up until I gutted him, that is. I didn't let the blood get on it. I walked back home in shame. I actually tolerated their criticisms when they wouldn't listen. I listened. I stood by and I thought. But one made a mistake. He mentioned Blake. I killed them. What else was I supposed to do? They turned on me just as the others did. Heroes have to walk alone, after all, and eventually, I realized the White Fang were just as much scum as mankind!
I cut down their false throne and cast down my mask. I wasn't a leader, no. They didn't deserve me. I was above leaders. I set my sights on the girl who ruined my life: Blake Belladonna. She controlled my mind. She tore me apart. Every aching second of every painful day, I thought about her. Hate grew stronger. It took me over. Then I got to her train. I saw her. She was battling Grimm. She and her pathetic "Team RWBY". I needed her alone. She needed to be alone! Like me! I would show that craven that we're exactly the same!
Right, yes, the journey on the Argus Limited. I didn't hurt any of the passengers. During the attack, one of the disgusting humans figured out who I was. A stupid, pathetic black-haired woman. It was almost humiliating, but it was a real shame how she ended up falling off the train when panicking about a monster. I asked her a simple question, an easy question. I asked her, "So what do you want to face? The monsters out there, or the monster in here?" She jumped off the train and splattered on the ground. I held back my laughter.
It was funny how they said I abused Blake. I'd never hit the girl, I'd never hurt her. But she betrayed me, she lied about me! She left me alone in a world that hated me! A world that hates me! So, I took the train. Then I met her. We all know how that went. Now, here I am, floating down a river, leaking blood by the bucketload. It's pretty disgusting.
I enjoyed the fight. At least I can say that. The blonde wasn't actually bad this time. She was still scared, as she should have been. Now, I'm washing away in the stream. I can't move. I don't know if it's the two blades they put in my chest or the rocks I hit myself on, but either way, I can't move. It's cold, and I'm alone. I'm alone. That gets me thinking. I saw wanted posters. The stupid woman, she called me a monster. I made my impact, yes, but what was it? In the end, will anyone care about me? Did I matter? Who will remember me?
I killed a lot of people. Families will never forget me. Maybe I should have abandoned the mask. Let them all see what the world did to me. They'd agree with me! They'd say I was right! Not delusional! Not weak! Not abusive! My name is Adam Taurus, and I am a hero! I am a hero that everyone betrays, and I will not be bested by two teenage girls who want-
Huh. My head's bleeding now. That's odd. I think I hit that on the rock too. It hurts to think. It hurts to feel. My jacket, it's covered in blood, and the water's filled with it. Someone will come by the water. Someone will save me, they have to. I'm freezing, I'm barely floating. Someone will rescue me.
I didn't run! I didn't turn tail and retreat! I fought them, I fought back. Sure, they won. They achieved victory, but I am not going to die here! I am Adam Taurus, and I don't deserve this! Everything I do is for a worthy cause. I am going to get what I deserve!
Ow. My head hurts more. Beside me, in the water, I see Wilt and Blush. I reach out for them, but my arms won't move enough. I think they're too cold. For a minute, though, Wilt and Blush are near me. I wish I could hold that blade again. It made me feel powerful. At least, that way, I wouldn't die alone.
They wash away. Die? No, no, no. There's so much more to do! I have to achieve justice! I have to wreak vengeance on Belladonna and the blonde girl! It is my duty, my right, to kill as I see fit. I am Adam Taurus, and I-
"Ow!" this one I say out loud. It hurts even more. It snaps me back a bit. How did they win? They fought together. I've been outnumbered before, it wasn't just their numbers. Wait, no, I understand now. They didn't just fight as allies. They fought together. Like lady and knight.
I'd laugh if it didn't hurt so much. In this moment, I get it. I'm what that blonde should be. I'm everything she doesn't accept in herself. I enjoy the killing because she won't. Nobody else will! Damned if the universe hates me.
Do they hate me?
Gods, do they hate me? Is that what I've done? Looking at them. They had such resolve. For once, she seemed happy. She never smiled at me. She was never happy with me. Is that what I am? Am I a monster? I chuckle again. Ironic. At the start of it all, I took the Grimm mask. I turned into a monster, didn't I? The moment I donned that mask, it started something I could never stop.
I don't want to be a monster anymore. I don't want to be cold. I don't want to be alone. Maybe, just maybe, if I survive this, I can start anew. I can finally, finally be normal. I'm free from the SDC, I will never have to endure-
NO! I will not endure oppression again! I will not be branded. I will not be one of their complacent sheep who's afraid to prey on the weak as they deserve. I am a hero! My name is Adam Taurus, and I am the hero that the Faunus deserve. I am what I deserve. I will get what I deserve!
Who am I kidding? This is what I deserve. Wasting away, forgotten by everyone, my only impact on wanted posters, being a terrorist. They'll tell stories about how easily I was thwarted. My regrets aren't what I've done. My regrets are that the Belladonna girl, the universe, everything. They all ruined me! I would have conquered the human scum if not for them!
No. No, I wouldn't have. My regrets aren't what I've done, they're- more pain. Great. Focus, Adam. Focus on where you are. Yes, you're bleeding. Someone will come to save you. A little boy runs by, and screams for help saving this red-haired man. Yes, that's it! I try to extend my hand, but then a woman runs by. A crowd starts to gather. I didn't even know this many people lived in the woods.
I see countless faces. I don't even know if the crowd is real. Sienna, Blake, the blonde, Ghira, Roman, Cinder, Salem. My vision goes red. I don't know if it's rage or the blood. They're all clapping! At me, but not for the reasons I deserve. They're clapping because I'm dying. They're clapping because they hate me! They hate me! Why do they hate me! Blake develops a smug smile. I scream. I scream and sob and if I could move I'd flail like a damn child.
"Belladonna!" I whimper now. It hurts. It hurts really bad. The people blow in the wind into snowflakes. I don't know what it means. The water gets colder, and the water gets redder. I wish someone would save me. Nobody will save me. Everyone hates me! Everyone hates Adam Taurus!
For a moment, I thought I would get to finally be a hero. I would finally get to rise up and claim my place again. In the end, it's all I wanted. I wanted to be special. I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be hailed by hundreds. I wanted approval. I wanted more, and more. I could have stopped at so many opportunities! I could have just stopped! Instead, though, instead, I wanted more! More, more, more! Now I don't feel the pain. Pain's beneath me.
I was their hero! What more could I want then? I was their savior! Why did I demand more again? I took over! What did I want? What did I need! There was always a voice inside me, a monstrous voice, saying "Power, give me more power!" I heeded that voice. My dads always said who I was, it was up to me! I get it. I chose to be their hero! I was defending them!
My tears freeze over and I realize I'm not getting out of this water alive. It took me too long to realize it. I'm going to die like this. They'll never see me as their savior, their hero. I'll be the man who led the White Fang to ruin over a fantasy. I wish I'd known. I wish I'd known. I'm not what I wanted.
What I wanted was just as impossible as peace. I laugh. It doesn't hurt anymore. If it hurt I couldn't feel anything. I push through blood loss and the lull of losing consciousness. I realize it, now. Blake is probably up there crying. My actions have furthered the divide between humanity and my people.
I won!
In a hundred years, there will be another Adam Taurus. They'll be just like me. The White Fang may not exist anymore, but there will be another White Fang someday. In the end, I have perpetuated the cycle of violence. I have ensured another rise of the Faunus. I will be remembered, maybe not by the humans, but by thousands of us, of the heroes, the revolutionaries, the rebels, I will be remembered!
Yet, I'm still dying in frozen water.
You know the funny thing about fairy tales? They always get a happy ending. There are no happy endings. After all of it, the hero always gets to rest. I don't rest. I never get to rest. I'm not the hero. There is no rest for men like me, monsters like me. For once, I get it. What everyone feels before they die. It's so cold. Not just the water. It's not painful. It's not something worth crying over.
I was saying nothing about being alone back then. I wasn't really alone.
Now, I'm alone. I'm going to die alone. The worst part is, I deserve it. I always have. I should have known. I deserve some rest, finally. I shut my eyes. I know this will break me. I know I'm going to die. I just don't care. I laugh. A hollow laugh. I repeat my words, and I know at last that I am not a hero. I am not a monster. I am simply alone.
"It's time I got what I deserved."