DISCLAIMER: You know that this is called "fan fiction" (or "fanfiction") for a reason, right? That reason being that I don't own the rights to this series. It belongs to Rooster Teeth (and the late Monty Oum). Any other referenced materials belong to their respective owners. This disclaimer apply to the entirety of this fic, to every chapter(s) (mostly to save space).

WARNING!

As I haven't watched RWBY for a long time, and I only watched several (read: less than 20 episodes), I'm going to retcon a lot of things. Expect things to not go as canon or as planned (laughs).

Changelog:

May 14th, 2017:
- Started and finished. Posted to FFNet and AO3.

May 21st, 2017:
- Found a typo or missing words (or more). Fixed.

He felt a certain amount of relief, of liberation. His Semblance, something 'they' call 'Moonslice', was such a blessing sometimes, and he wasn't talking about the capability of slicing nigh everything with one attack. Granted, it took him a long while to master, and the ability require additional power—more than the amount contained in his own body, and thus forcing him to 'charge' himself by absorbing energy from enemy (or, in emergencies, friendly fire) attacks. No, while the destructive power of it is something he kind-of likes, he wasn't talking about that. Moonslice is something that he had been using to channel his emotions, particularly the more the negative ones—anger, hate, pain, etc.; when he was feeling particularly angry (or other emotion states), he'd channel it all into his strike. It drained him more, but it was liberating. That feeling of having the heavy, crushing weight being lifted from his shoulders was well beyond worth spending the extra energy.

It has been keeping him sane in this insane organization—for years, it was his solace.

And it makes his people believe that he's a bull Faunus. That's another plus—but it's not important.

During this particular use of his Semblance, he was channeling more of his emotions than usual. The pain, the grief, the anger—mostly at himself. The redhead knew that he was lucky that the droid provided most of the energy required for the slash. With more of his energy spared, he could steel himself of what he knew was coming since a long time ago—it was just a matter of time. A matter of when, not of what or how. He knew—he was not going to break in front of her eyes.

Beyond that… Well, that's another matter he'd worry about later.

Swinging his beloved chokutō[1]—Wilt—back into its sheath—Blush as he finished his attack, he let himself enjoy the scattered petals, the by-product of his ability. Such tragic beauty—beauty produced from the death (or termination) of other beings. He remembered the first time he felt a fascination with roses—a person he had met a long time ago was the source. He was more bitter than usual that day, and saw them in passing, holding a rose in hand. The redhead would never pegged that that person was the spark that started everything; it all snowballed from there. He felt his emerald green eyes stinging with unshed tears, knowing the pain he's subjecting both of them to, and mentally punched himself.

You can do this—you must, the horned Faunus thought to himself. You knew this was coming.

And he truly did. His behavior toward her—it was all his machinations to prevent herself from getting close to him, carefully planned and executed with such flawlessness that no one but himself knew the truth. His mask was such a blessings for those moments—his poker face saving him when he didn't have it. Sometimes he wondered if it was such a good idea to have taken in Blake all those years ago—and bit his lower lip. He had many regrets, but training Blake to survive is not one of them.

Definitely not.

His gradually abusive behavior? Had she asked, he wouldn't have admitted it, but he had loved—loves her so much that he didn't care of what she thought of him. He had never cared—even if his throbbing heart whispered otherwise. Mentally, he shook his head, telling himself that it was better for him to feel pained than for her to suffer.

He was heading for hell, and the older Faunus didn't want his precious feline to go down with him.

As the redhead turned around, jogging toward what he knew was his partner's whereabouts, he saw that his efforts had come to fruition—Blake, beautiful Blake, was already on a separate car from him, her expression sad even as her sheathed Gambol Shroud was held in her hand. He knew her words before he even heard it, and he knew his reaching arm was futile (he couldn't help it) even before she swung it and disconnected their cars. Her goodbye was silent in his ears.

That day, Adam Taurus smiled a sincere, yet bitter smile, his emerald green eyes unmasked for the first time in forever, a tear rolling down his cheek as he watched the distant horizon where he last saw his now ex-partner.

"Brave the world, my darling; you're finally free. And…"

…Forgive me.

If his subordinates thought he was stoic and scary before, he was even more terrifying now.

"—nus didn't make it out the tunnels. You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to us?"

"No, but they'll listen to me." Everyone knows it.

Tell me, Blake, if you see me now, will you ever forgive me? Will they ever forgive me?

The order felt hollow in his ears, his heart screaming the opposite as what was coming out of his mouth. "Bring them to their knees!"

Just a little bit longer, Adam… Just a little bit longer. Hang in there…

"No… Adam?"

Blake… Why? Why are you here? Why must you be here?

He forced the feral grin even as his heart broke—channeling his self-hatred, his mask hiding the truth as it had done for so long. "Hello, my darling."

Run, Blake. Please, I beg you! RUN!

"Memories keep flooding in, showing the paths I should've taken, but now that time has run away from me—I cannot change a thing."
("Kami to Hito to", Go Shiina/Donna Burke)

[1] Basically straight sword (Japanese-style). It's usually one-edged. Ishikawa Goemon XIII from Lupin III also uses something similar (AFAIK). Goemon and Adam also shares similar sword-style: "iaido" (quick-draw; draw-slash-sheath, usually in one movement), though Adam's seems to be more modified.

A/N: Right. I was crazy enough to do this even though I barely watch the series at all. I was peeved that my favorite character (he's been my favorite since the "Black" trailer) was turning out to be a tad too dark for my tastes (without actual, mentioned reason/background—Lelouch at least had one or two), and even more peeved that fics featuring a not-totally-bad Adam is really, really hard to find. I don't care if those info are canon—shipping or whatever—this pisses me off!

RT, at least give him a background or something; he's barely there, and it's already season 4. Heck, give villains a background; everyone has a reason, even if it's only "because it's fun". Not very logical/relatable, but it's a reason for doing something. (And please don't pull a Kayaba and leave it hanging...)

There, I said/ranted it. Phew.

Well, because I wrote this on a spur-of-the-moment, I don't know if I will continue or not. Here are several options:

- Continue from "Heroes and Monsters" episode, after a certain "cut".
- Explore the whole show from Adam's view (this is going to be a pain, but I'm offering anyway) up to season 3.
- Explore Adam's past (this is going to flip the bird to the canon material, so yeah).
- Elaborate the episode transcripts from Adam's view. (thank RWBY wiki for them, btw)
- Drop this fic here.

Well, I'll be waiting for your decisions.

Cheers,
C. R. Takato

This fic is posted in FFNet and AO3.