The opening quote is shown: "Your hopes have become my burden. I will find my own liberation."
"Well, that doesn't sound good." Oscar said already knowing this would probably be bad.
Blake Belladonna sits on a rock outcrop watching red leaves drift down in the Forest.
"I guess it's time for your backstory." Yang said looking at the cat Faunus that was sitting next to her.
Adam Taurus walks up to her. "Blake, it's time."
She slowly turns toward him. "Okay."
"Who is that guy?" Ruby asked, for some reason already disliking him. Blake did tell them about her time in the White Fang, but she never mentioned anyone in particular.
"That's Adam Taurus, he used to be my partner." A few curious eyebrows were risen once she said "used to be".
The pair run through the forest until they reach a cliff. The camera drifts down to show a train rushing through the forest along some tracks.
"Wait a minute, that's an SDC train. What are you planning to do?" Whitley asked remembering that one of the cargo trains was robbed not too long ago. He may not have anything against Faunus, he guessed she was one since that Adam guy seemed to be a bull Faunus, but this was company property they were talking about.
Blake decided to stay quiet already knowing what was about to be shown. She just hoped they wouldn't judge her too harshly.
Sun and the RWY of team RWBY winced, so this was Blake's time in the White Fang. Welp, this would end horribly.
Adam and Blake slide down the hill and jump onto the top of the train, digging their weapons into the roof as they land. Upon boarding it the two jump onto another car, Adam slashes at a hatch before lifting it as they enter a car full of AK-130 Androids. "Looks like we're gonna be doing this the hard way." The Androids activate and circle the duo. "Don't be so dramatic." Blake responds.
"You're one of those White Fang terrorists!" Whitley stood up shouting in anger.
"They're not terrorists, they're just misguided and just because I'm a Faunus doesn't mean I'm a terrorist!" Blake realized what she just said and looked at the other teams. "I-"
"It's fine, we already knew." Blake just looked at them with an expression that said 'How the fu-' The students pointed at Weiss and Sun who made sure not to look at the furious kitty cat. "Why am I not surprised?" Blake said exasperated.
Before Weiss started berating Whitley the author spoke up. "Now, before you all start shouting at Whitley you have to admit that he is correct." They looked shocked and angry, how could he defend him after he insulted their friend like that.
"Now hear me out. At the time Blake was in the White Fang and what her on screen self is doing is committing terrorism. So, yeah White Fang terrorist. And don't start talking about how they're misguided Blake, because they really aren't. The protests turning violent, that was their choice, no one is forcing them to do this. I understand that faunus are being mistreated and that they wanted change, but terrorism will only do more harm than good. By turning the protests violent all they've done is prove the humans who are racist right about their beliefs. It's also funny how the White Fang, a group that is meant to fight against racism, is the main source of all racism in Remnant and are all just a bunch of racists themselves. You may be in denial now, but once you see more of the future you'll see I'm right." With that they went back to the viewing while Blake seethed silently. Blake and the rest of the audience knew Kamil wasn't wrong about what he said, they saw the effects of the violent protests. And those effects were more humans who hated the Faunus. (The way racism is portrayed in the show sucks ass, which is probably why the RWBY writers completely abandoned it after volume 6. I could go on a rant here about all of the problems, but then the chapter would be way too long.)
An Android activates the guns on its arms.
Android: Intruder, identify yourself.
Adam responds by firing his sword, dashing behind to shoot it's head off then
cutting the Android in two.
"Why did he sheath his sword after his attack?" Oscar asked confused as to why he would sheath his sword in the middle of a fight.
"That's the style he uses. Iaido is all about drawing and sheathing your sword for quick attacks." Blake answered his question.
"From shadows""We'll descend upon the world, take back what you stole"
The rest deploy blades and he and Blake proceed to completely annihilate the Androids in the car.
"From shadows" "We'll reclaim our destiny, set our future free" "And we'll rise"
Eventually, Adam kicks one and they burst out of the freight car onto a flatcar and encounter a horde of Androids running towards them.
"And we'll rise"
"You two are a really good team." Yatsuhashi said.
"Yeah, we were." Blake quietly replied in a sad tone with an almost disappointed look on her face.
"Were?" Velvet asked with a raised eyebrow, though Blake didn't answer.
Adam: Let's do this.
Adam and Blake run towards the androids. Adam strikes two of them horizontally sending them flying for Blake to attack them mid-air then fall back down for Adam to finish them off.
"Above the darkness and the shame"
Blake turns Gambol Shroud into it's gun form and throws it holding it by the ribbon.
"Above the torture and the pain"
Blake pulls the ribbon and the screen cuts to the weapon as the trigger gets pulled. Gambol Shroud fires and goes back to where it came from cutting an android in the process.
"Above the ridicule and the hate"
They finish off the rest of the androids while showing great teamwork.
"Above the binding of our fate"
While they were impressed by the fight some were worried about Adam seeing how skilled he was counting him as a potential threat for the future.
They enter the next cart filled with crates of Schnee dust.
Adam: Perfect. Move up to the next car.
He closes the trunk not noticing the machine crawling on the ceiling.
"Did anyone else see that thing on the ceiling?" Jaune asked making sure he wasn't seeing things getting various nods in return.
Adam: I'll set the charges.
Blake: What about the crew members?
Adam: What about them?
The reactions were pretty much the same for everyone, anger, shock, while the emo cat was sadly staring at the screen reminded of how much the White Fang had fallen and how much her ex-partner had changed.
"He was going to kill innocents!?" Weiss shouted disgusted at how he would do such a thing just because those people worked for her father's company.
"Why would he do something like that?" Ruby asked both angry and worried whether he was actually going to do it.
"The people who are on that train work for the SDC which is known for making faunus work in terrible conditions sometimes even shipping them of to work in dust mines against their will. He believes that they deserve it for working with the SDC. This is the reason I quit the White Fang." Blake said sadly with a hint of regret for what she did in the past. Everyone nodded their heads in understanding not holding anything against her, even Whitley though he still didn't fully trust her. He knew the conditions were terrible, but he couldn't do anything about it. He didn't control the company, at least not yet.
Adam turns his head around and sees a SpiderDroid climbing down from the ceiling of the car. Adam moves to fight it.
"Born with, no life, into subjugation"
Blake (anxiously): Adam.
"Treated, like a worthless animal"
"Are Faunus really treated this badly?" Jaune asked not knowing the full extent of how they were treated.
Blake nodded sadly. "Unfortunately yes most Faunus are seen as second-class citizens and they have fewer rights too. That's the reason the White Fang was created, but when things weren't changing they decided to change their methods, going from peaceful protests to terrorism. That's why people like Jacques can use Faunus as slaves without anyone doing anything about it."
"I just don't understand how he's able to get away with it." Velvet said.
The author spoke up. "Well, I don't know if you noticed but he's rich and influential. And those kinds of people can get away with pretty much anything even if the public hates them. If he was using humans rather than Faunus no one would care either. He's the largest dust exporter on Remnant, so if anyone tries anything all he has to do is say 'no dust for you' and suddenly everyone is on his side. Also, where do you think your dust comes from? Truth is you need the dust mined by his Faunus slave workers because without it you would be screwed. One day you would suddenly find yourself running out of dust. That's why no one does anything about it. As sad as it is, whoever controls the dust, controls the World." Whitley nodded at that, his father usually just bribed people so that he could do whatever he wanted.
"Ah, and one last thing. While you should try to lessen racism don't expect it to ever disappear completely, there will always be humans who are racist against Faunus just like there will always be Faunus who are racist against humans. No matter what you do some people won't change their ways or beliefs and you have to accept that. What I just said may sound harsh, but it's the truth and the truth hurts sometimes."
Adam and Blake try to fight it, but it doesn't go so well.
"Stripped of all rights, just a lesser being" "Crushed by cruel ruthless human rule"
Adam grabs Blake before she is about to be crushed by the droid's legs.
"When it started"
Blake: We need to get out of here.
"All we wanted was a chance to live our lives"
Everyone gave a sigh of relief, glad that Blake didn't get crushed.
"You do realize this already happened and I'm perfectly fine right?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow making a few people in the room awkwardly scratch the back of their heads.
"Now in darkness"
Eventually, it fires a shot and knocks them back as the fight moves out of the car onto another flatcar.
"Taking everything we want and we will rise" "We'll rise"
Adam: Buy me some time!
"We'll rise"
Blake: Are you sure?
Adam: Do it!
Blake distracts the droid while Adam readies his next attack. As she jumps back to Adam some time later...
Adam: Move!
The droid fires a powerful beam. Adam catches the beam with Wilt. As his body starts to glow, the droid jumps toward him. Adam chuckles then slashes out with his sword, disintegrating the droid and even affecting the trees in the Red Forest causing their leaves to fly into the air.
"I'm guessing that's his semblance?" Nora asked quite terrified of the prospect of having to fight him, a sentiment that was shared by the rest of the room.
"Yes, he collects his opponent's energy and redirects it at him." Blake explained seeing how scared everyone was of Adam now.
"So it's basically like my semblance." Yang said calming down slightly.
"I think it's different from yours. You wouldn't have survived a hit like that." Pyrrha said with wide eyes still locked on the screen.
"Well, his semblance actually doesn't make him feel any pain when he absorbs the attack." Blake added not making anyone less terrified of the chance of ever having to fight him.
As Adam walks back towards Blake, he finds her on a separate train car standing near the coupler between the cars. As he reaches out to her...
Blake: Goodbye
She severs the coupler and lets the released cars slow down as she lets the rest of the train continue en-route. As she leaves, the background becomes completely red with a black silhouette of Blake in the middle, with black leaves falling down. Then the camera zooms out from the RWBYtitle card and the silhouettes of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, andBlake Belladonna becoming defined.
"Did you save the crew?" Ren asked wanting to make sure everyone survived.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they were all in the front of the train." Blake answered hoping she didn't leave anyone behind. Now they were all waiting for the next trailer to appear.