Chapter 9-
The Price for Revolution
When he first heard the sounds of gunfire, he wasn't sure what to expect. Seeing the defeated forms of Team RWBY and what appeared to be their mentor was something that he definitely didn't expect. It was not exactly a sight he wanted to see either.
He knelt down by Blake's side.
She was unconscious, but she was alive and that was what really mattered. While her injures weren't severe, they weren't something that he could simply ignore either. He muttered a small healing spell under his breath, and a dull green light began to wash over most of her wounds.
Weiss, who was out-cold nearby, had similar injuries to her Faunus teammate. They were nothing life-threatening, a few minor lacerations and perhaps a broken bone or two. Thankfully, her Aura seemed to have taken the brunt of the damage. So, once more, he casted a small Dia spell, healing some of her more prominent injuries.
The red-haired White Fang member had been watching him the entire time. The Grimm-like mask on the red-haired man's face hid most of his features, but he could still feel an almost predatory gaze on him. It reminded him of how a predator would watch its prey as it debated when to pounce.
"This will be the third time that you've crossed us now."
While the voice was low and controlled, he could detect the faintest hint of fury residing in it. He didn't pay it any mind and simply began to make his way towards the rest of Blake's fallen comrades.
He didn't make it too far before he found himself staring down the tip of a crimson colored blade.
"This will also be the final time that you will cross us."
For the first time since he had arrived, he truly regarded the man in front of him. Crimson red hair along with a pair of jet black horns stood atop his head. An ivory white Grimm mask covered the upper half of the man's face. While it was similar to the masks that most of the White Fang wore, it had its own distinct differences. Aside from its much smaller size, there were intricate red designs that decorated the exterior of the mask.
If he had to guess, those designs probably held some significance; perhaps as a way to display one's rank and status within the White Fang?
"You are the leader of the White Fang?" He slowly began in a soft voice, "You are Adam Taurus?"
"I am. And you are the thorn that's been at our side for far too long."
He could not deny that, so he simply kept his silence.
"One way or another, I am going to remove that thorn."
A threat such as that was nothing new for him. He would have liked to check on the rest of Blake's team, but it seemed that would have to wait. With any luck, they wouldn't be too badly injured.
"…But before we begin," Adam began, "I have a question for you."
He was surprised at this, but did not let it show on his face. He was even more surprised when the crimson red blade slowly dropped back down to the masked man's side. He responded with a slight tilt of his head in acknowledgement.
"Why did you save Tukson?"
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but he answered the question regardless.
"Because he is my friend."
"Your friend…" Adam slowly replied, as if the word was completely foreign to him, "You would consider him to be your friend? A Faunus?"
"Of course," He answered without hesitation, "… Not all humans are that… Narrow-minded."
"Perhaps," Adam reluctantly nodded, "But most are."
He could not exactly refute that. How could he? When discrimination and prejudice was so commonplace? When he had literally just seen Faunus that would rather live outside of a major city's walls rather than deal with the discrimination?
So, he kept his silence once more.
"I can already tell what kind of human you are," Adam scoffed, "You're one of those idealist types. But mere ideals will not bring about the change needed for a better world."
Perhaps Adam Taurus was right about that. If ideals could sway the minds of the people, Remnant would not have any of the issues that plagued it in the first place. But still, that did not make Adam's way the right way.
"A better world would be one of equality," He murmured, "Not what you are fighting for."
"Equality? Do not be so naïve," Adam scoffed once more, "They will never accept my kind as equals.
"Better to be naïve than to be marred by hypocrisy."
"Hypocrisy?" Adam spat, "What would you know of our struggle, of our pain?"
"You are right, I don't know," He all but whispered, "But what you want, it would make you no better than the very humans that you are fighting so hard against."
Adam did not immediately reply to that. A strained silence seemed to hang in the air. For a moment, the only sounds that could be heard were the slight breezes of wind flowing into the cavern.
"You speak of pretty ideals," Adam eventually began, "But ideals are simply that, ideals. I gave years of my life fighting for equality, protesting for peace. And what did that get me and my people? Nothing, absolutely nothing. No, the only way to bring about change is through my way, our way, through revolution."
He blinked at that.
"Is that what this is all about? Revolution? That is the reason for this attack?"
Adam tilted his head in acknowledgement.
"It is what must be done."
He could only stare at the man in disbelief.
"You think this attack on Vale will benefit the Faunus? The only ones that would benefit from such needless destruction are the Grimm. How many humans, how many Faunus, how many people will suffer because of this? How many will die?"
"It is simply a necessary sacrifice for a better future," Adam smoothly replied, "This will be the spark that starts the fires of revolution."
For a moment, he had trouble finding the right words to reply to that with. After a brief pause, he finally settled on just seven.
"…Is this even about the Faunus anymore?"
"…And just what," Adam slowly began, "Are you implying?"
"This is what will happen as a result of your actions," He held his hands out and gestured at the ruined buildings that surrounded them, "There are Faunus that live in that city as well. How can this possibly benefit the Faunus, let alone anybody at all?"
What had once been a thriving city filled with people was now nothing more than a dilapidated ghost town. Humans and Faunus, the Grimm made no distinction between the two, everybody was fair game in their eyes.
"This isn't even about the Faunus anymore," He continued without breaking stride, "This is just about you and your selfish need for revenge."
The words had come out with a bitterness that he didn't know he possessed. That was surprising for him, for it was not often that he found himself losing his temper. Perhaps it was because of how similar all this nonsense was to Ikutsuki, and how his former advisor almost dragged the entire world down along with him and his insanity. How the deaths of so many innocent humans and Faunus could benefit anybody at all, aside from the Grimm, was beyond him.
He could not understand. Not only Adam and the White Fang, but the people of Remnant as well. How could they direct such hatred towards one another when the true enemy was right in front of their eyes? The Grimm seemed to wish for nothing but the destruction of civilization itself, and yet, people still found ways to attack one another rather than the Grimm.
For him, it was a completely ridiculous notion.
And perhaps therein lied the problem. He could not understand because this was not his world, he was merely a guest here, and nothing more. How could he begin to understand the feelings of the people of Remnant, when he was not even one of them himself? Perhaps Adam Taurus and the White Fang were justified in their feelings of resentment, in their thirst for revenge.
But in his eyes, that still did not make it right.
What Adam wanted, it would lead to the deaths of countless Faunus and humans alike. He was no stranger to death, death after all, had been ingrained into his very soul for years. He knew first-hand of the pain and loneliness that death could bring. To subjugate so many innocent people to that fate was something that he would simply not allow.
Perhaps it was not his place to intervene. This was not even his world to begin with. But then, images of Ikutsuki and his demented prophecy flowed into his mind; memories of how his former advisor was willing to go far enough to damn an entire world for his desire. This was much smaller in scope, but the core concept behind it all was the same, people were going to have to die for this, people he knew, that lived in that city.
He had lost enough to death in his life. He was not going to lose anything more.
"What you want Adam," He finally continued, "Has nobody's best intentions at heart other than your own."
The words seemed to hang in the air for a while, and the strained silence from before soon returned.
"We've already talked too much. A human could never understand our struggle," Adam eventually began, "Now, I am going to cut out the annoying little splinter that has been at the White Fang's side for far too long!"
Adam lunged forward with such speeds that he had almost lost track of him. The crimson blade swept straight for his neck, only missing it by mere inches as he quickly dodged out of the way. Gritting his teeth, he leapt backwards and reached for his evoker.
Quickly, he put the barrel towards the side of his head and moved his index finger to pull the trigger.
"As if I'd let you!"
Another blow, this time it was an overhead swing. The strike didn't find its mark, but it served its purpose in delaying his summoning. Adam did not let up, another strike came, a forward thrust. It nicked him in the cheek as he almost failed to jerk his head out of the way.
Fresh droplets of blood began to roll down the side of his face.
With his free hand, he reached for the sword at his side and quickly drew it out. It was nothing extraordinary, a simple mass produced short-sword that he had purchased at the local smithy. As far as weapons went, it was as uninspiring as it was bland. He didn't mind though, unlike most people from this world, he actually preferred it if his sword didn't transform into a gun; it made things much less complicated.
Bringing the short-sword up; he carefully held it in front of him in a defensive stance while his other hand tightly held onto his evoker. It was a feeling that he was now unused too, for it had been far too long since he had last fought with sword and evoker together. The last time he had been in this position was in his final battle against Nyx.
He wouldn't have the time to grow accustomed to it though, as Adam soon continued his assault.
The crimson red blade came down this time in an overhead swing. He met the steel with his own as he held his sword over him in a slight angle, allowing the other blade to smoothly slide off to the side. He would not be able to match the strength of the White Fang leader with only a one-handed style so rather than try to block the blows head on, he preferred the more nimble approach to countering.
But even then, it was difficult.
The pressure continued to rain down upon him. A small cut on the shoulder, one on his left arm, and another on his right. The blade came down so quickly that many a time he found himself reacting a tad too late, receiving a small cut or two in the process.
He grit his teeth.
He was out of practice. Reflexes had become dull from the days of peace without the daily grind up the tower. In the past, he would not have struggled so. While he knew what to do in his mind, his body was all too slow to respond, resulting in small cuts here and there.
Another thrust nicked the side of his neck.
This was not like the fight with the silver-haired assassin or the White Fang Lieutenant. While the silver-haired boy and the White Fang Lieutenant had been skilled, Adam Taurus was on a completely different level. The White Fang leader did not have the raw speed of Mercury or the brute strength of his Lieutenant, but the man had a perfect mixture of both and the skills of an expert swordsman to go along with it.
Adam Taurus was a dangerous individual.
Another sudden jerk of his head only barely managed to avoid the shotgun shells that ripped out of the other man's double-barreled shotgun. The crimson red sword was used in close range and when he tried to create some distance, the double-barreled shotgun that acted as the sword's sheath would quickly respond in kind. It was an unorthodox way of fighting, but that only made it all the more unpredictable, all the more dangerous.
Adam Taurus was without a doubt, a better swordsman than he was.
Were this simply a battle between swordsmen, he would have surely been defeated. Adam Taurus not only had the edge in terms of physical attributes, but the other man had the advantage when it came to plain and simple skill as well. The only reason why he had not been completely and utterly destroyed yet was due to his experience in fighting against overwhelming odds.
But, he never claimed to be a good swordsman in the first place. He had picked up the sword simply as a tool, a means to an end in order to allow him to draw out his true ability. Tartarus was the home to many a Shadow, and one could not always rely on an ally to cover their back while summoning after all.
The red sword came down once more, but this time he was prepared for it. He brought his own weapon up to counter, but rather than strike back with his sword, he leapt back and muttered a quick spell.
Agi.
A small torrent of fire shot forward. He had expected Adam Taurus to dodge out of the way, but instead, the flames simply seemed to vanish out of the very air itself. It was as if the red sword had somehow found a way to absorb the entirety of the fiery spell.
Perhaps that was the other man's Semblance?
Either way, it didn't matter; the spell had served its purpose in the end. As ineffective as it proved to be, it gave him just enough time to bring his evoker up towards his head, unperturbed. He pulled the trigger, and the all too familiar sound of shattering glass soon followed.
"Thou Art I… And I am Thou."
It was a familiar chant. One that he had heard many a time. It was one that he would probably hear many more times again in the future as well. Fate seemed to truly enjoy dragging him into conflict, through one way or another.
The wings were the first to flicker into existence. They were made of peerless silver and stood out more like sharpened blades than winged appendages. The rest of its metallic body along with the Sword of Judgement began to form next, cloaked in a magnificent mantle of light all the while. The frowning mask came last and like the rest of its body, was made of such sharpened silver that it seemed as if merely looking at it could pierce one's very soul.
The dimly lit cavern soon became engulfed in a bastion of light. Shadows that had once danced around the faintly lit lanterns were no more, as a continuous stream of light radiated from Metatron, the voice of god.
For a brief moment, nobody moved a muscle, much less spoke. In the end, he was the first to break this stalemate when he tilted his head in acknowledgement towards the manifestation of thought. The Persona would not make its move without his orders after all.
"Go."
And then, with a great flap of his wings, Metatron surged forward.
Roman reached into his coat pocket and took out a lighter as he lit the cigar in his hand. It was a cheap brand, but these days, times were rough and money was always short. The taste wasn't up to his standards, but the tobacco roll still served its purpose.
He let the smoke linger in his lungs for a moment, before he finally exhaled.
After a while, the nicotine finally kicked in. He closed his eyes and took another long drag, all the while enjoying the light buzz that he began to get. Roman had found himself smoking a lot more than usual lately, no doubt because of how complicated things had been getting recently.
Oh, how he missed the simpler times, when all he had to worry about was what poor sap would be the target of his next heist. Those were simpler times, better times, and he wished for nothing more than a return to the old status quo. But no, the world never did make things easy for Roman Torchwick. No, he had to deal with a psychotic woman, some crazy meddling kids, and some of the most incompetent buffoons that he ever had the displeasure of not only meeting, but having to work with.
And people wondered why he was in such a bad mood lately.
The cargo train continued to move along as he continued to smoke his cigar. Out of all the people in the world that could've found out about their little plan, of course it would be Red and her little gang of wannabe heroes. He would've liked nothing more than to put the little brat in her place, but he was a professional and the plan always came first. So, he listened to Taurus and got the train running, in spite of the bad taste it left in his mouth to be taking orders from the king of the mutts himself of all people.
Roman took one last drag of his cigar before he snuffed it out under his foot. Unlike Taurus, he was never a big fan of Cinder's little planned attack on Vale. When he told the kid about it, it was under the expectation that the kid would come and put an end to things like he had at the rally. The train was never supposed to have even left the cavern to begin with. Little Red and her gang's intervention changed things.
These new developments were unexpected, but he could still use them to his advantage.
Little Red and her gang of wannabe heroes wouldn't stand a chance against Taurus. Now, Roman might not have liked Taurus, but he still couldn't deny his strength. He'd heard stories about the bull, and from what he'd heard, those brats didn't have a shot in hell at taking down Taurus.
But, when a wild card comes into play, the game changes.
Little Red and company might not be able to put Taurus out of the picture, but throw in the kid too, and that was a whole new ballgame. Roman could feel the gears begin to turn in his head and he couldn't help but let out a dark chuckle. He was a gambling man, and this was going to be the gamble of a lifetime.
Neo, who sat at his side, gave him a puzzled look.
Roman simply returned her curious gaze with a lopsided smirk.
"It's time for another life lesson Neo."
Neo's only response was a raised eyebrow.
"Y'see, when your boss has you working under idiots, it's time to become self-employed."
Weiss could hear voices.
They started off faint, but as time passed, the voices grew louder. Whoever those voices belonged to, she wished for nothing more than for them to be silent and let her sleep. As the voices continued to grow in volume, begrudgingly her eyes began to open.
The first thing that she noticed was the absence of the soft cushions of her pillowcase. What was there instead was what felt like the extremely rough exterior of rocks and gravel. The next thing that came to her mind was the sudden pain and fatigue that seemed to radiate throughout her body. As the gears in her brain continued to process all of this new information, the continuous stream of voices was no more and had been replaced by the all too familiar sound of clashing steel.
Huntsmen training soon took over and eyes that were once struggling to open were now fully awake and alert. Light-blue irises scanned the surrounding environment, carefully taking in each and every detail. Underground cavern, remnants of a battlefield, the masked swordsman, and now, Minato Arisato.
Memories of what had recently transpired rushed back into her.
Ruby had gone missing and they had tracked her down into this underground cavern. They found her, but they also found the White Fang as well. Professor Oobleck and her team had gotten into a battle with the masked swordsman, and then that explosion of light…
And now, it seemed that Minato Arisato was here.
The blue haired boy was here and he was now fighting against the masked swordsman. Unlike the rest of her team, she was not overly familiar with the boy. Aside from a few small talks here and there, Weiss did not have too many interactions with him.
Minato Arisato was a bit of a mystery to her.
When Blake had first asked her for a favor, she had been more than happy to oblige. Blake did not ask for assistance very often, and she was more than eager to help her friend, especially after how strained their relationship had been for a while after that argument at the port.
While the request was a strange one, she obliged without much questioning. A background check on one Minato Arisato through the Schnee Dust Company's databases. What was even stranger than the request itself was the fact that Minato Arisato did not exist in the records. While it was not unheard of for there to be individuals out there that weren't included in the company's records, it was because most of these individuals lived beyond the walls.
Minato Arisato most certainly did not.
The crude noise of metal crashing against metal soon brought her attention away from her thoughts and back towards the duel that continued on in earnest. After only a brief moment, it became obvious to her what the outcome of the fight was going to be. As a fellow swordsman herself, it became apparent to her from the beginning that Adam Taurus was an opponent that was simply beyond her current level of skill. And while the blue-haired boy was skilled in his own right, he was no closer to defeating the masked swordsman than any of them were.
Adam Taurus had the advantage not only in terms of speed, but in strength as well. Normally, when an opponent had such an overwhelming advantage, the battle would be over in a matter of moments. However, in spite of how sorely outclassed the blue-haired boy appeared to be, he had not been defeated just yet.
At first, she had attributed it to the masked swordsman not taking the fight seriously. But then, as the battle continued to drag on, she began to come to the realization that that wasn't the case. The battle wasn't finished yet, but not because of a lack of effort from Adam Taurus. No, but because Minato Arisato, in spite of the overwhelming disadvantages he faced, somehow managed to continually avoid what would have otherwise been fatal blows.
Whether this was attributed to skill, experience, or even just plain old luck, she did not know. While the masked swordsman fought in a style that she had at least read about, the blue-haired boy fought in such an unorthodox way that it caused her to wonder how he had still not been defeated against such a strong opponent.
Despite the fact that Minato Arisato had still yet to be defeated, she couldn't help but think it was only a matter of time. While the blue-haired boy managed to evade fatal blows, he was still taking damage in the form of small cuts here and there. When the crimson blade managed to nick another cut, this time onto the blue-haired boy's neck, she had a feeling that the battle would soon be coming to an end.
And then, she saw it.
She could see the blue-haired boy begin to mumble something under his breath, and then, as if forming from the very molecules of the air itself, a stream of angry bright red fire shot forward. Adam Taurus did not appear to share her surprise as the masked man simply brought his crimson sword up, taking in the flames like a vacuum. Her eyes widened as she remembered what came next once that crimson blade absorbed an attack.
Her body began to tense up and she opened her mouth to yell out a warning to the blue-haired boy. However, nothing came out as the words soon died in her throat. Minato Arisato had placed the barrel of a gun at the side of his head, and before she could yell out in protest, he pulled the trigger.
Rather than the sound of gunfire, it was that of shattering glass.
That was when it appeared.
Silver armor as majestic as any she'd ever seen. A sword that seemed to do nothing but simply radiate power. Wings that appeared to look more like sharpened blades than appendages used for flight. And light, so much light that it was almost blinding.
Minato Arisato had performed a summoning.
Weiss could not understand how that was possible. Only members of the Schnee family could perform summonings. That was how it had always been, and there had never been another instance of someone other than a member of the Schnee family proving otherwise.
Then did that mean he was also…?
Just who was Minato Arisato?
Author's Notes- Ugh, all these papers have been totally killing my drive to write. At the very least, I managed to get this one finished before finals. Hopefully, once the break's here, I'll get that motivation back.
As usual, thank you for all the support. It really helped me push through to get this one finished.
-SFX
