DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.
Infinity Verse MAX
Reverse Blake Belladonna: Humanicide
Born with no life, Into subjugation
Treated like a worthless animal
Stripped of all rights, Just a lesser being
Crushed by cruel ruthless human rule
Eleven years ago...
All an eight-year-old Blake Belladonna could do was continue to cower inside the closet she had hidden herself in, both hands covering her mouth as the tears continued to fall from her eyes. For there, through the crack of the slightly open door, were the bodies of both of her parents, Ghira and Kali, lying dead upon a blood stained rug, bullet holes on both of their foreheads. Just a few minutes ago, the sounds of someone breaking into the Belladonna household were heard, prompting both Kali and Ghira to hurry their daughter into her closet to hide herself. Just before she could shut the door, however, a man suddenly burst out of the door and pointed a pistol at the two of them, wasting no time to gun them down with what Blake could only assume were aura piercing rounds.
The child continued to tremble with fear and despair as any eight-year-old would after witnessing their parents being mercilessly murdered before their eyes when the man noticed the slightly opened door. Smirking to himself, he loaded another round into his weapon as he slowly approached the closet.
"May as well finish you filth off for good," he said to himself before grabbing the doorknob and flinging the closet door open.
Once her parents' murderer was revealed to her, the young Blake screamed in terror before ducking down to narrowly avoid a bullet to the head, though the round did graze a small chunk of her left ear off. She then crawled through his legs and jabbed a pair of scissors her mother gave her for protection into his right leg. The murderer yelled out in pain before swiftly turning around to see Blake dashing towards her window.
"Faunus bitch!" the man exclaimed before taking aim with his pistol.
With the squeeze of the trigger, a second bullet flew out of the barrel and towards Blake...only for it to phase through her and for her to vanish into a black mist. Confused, the killer turned towards the bedroom door and saw that it had been opened farther than it was when he made his entrance, cluing him in that she mush have escaped through there.
"Damnit!" he cursed as he limped out of the room, the blood from his leg leaving a trail as he did so.
Outside, the rain continued to pour heavily as Blake continued to sob quietly, leaned against an alleyway wall while allowing the raindrops to soak her. She slowly sat down as the blood from her now chipped ear trickled down the side of her head, and the rain hid the tears she continued to shed. For five minutes, she sat there in silence, reeling in everything that had happened, and begging to awaken from what she prayed was a horrible nightmare. But such relief never came. Her world as she knew it had completely come to a halt.
She was alone.
At least, that's what she thought at first, only for a voice to echo throughout the alleyway.
"Blake?!"
The child turned to her right, noticing a figure approaching her whilst holding an umbrella over her head. As this individual got closer and closer, the shadows and heavy rain gave way to reveal exactly who she was to the recently orphaned girl.
"Aunt Sienna?"
While she wasn't related to Blake by blood, Sienna Khan was still someone who was practically family to her. Her late parents had been members of the Faunus rights movement she had lead known as the White Fang for some time, and as such, had spent time with and bonded with the young cat-Faunus over the years, almost becoming like a second mother to her.
Upon seeing the young girl alone in a dark alley, crying and bleeding, the tiger-Faunus immediately rushed over to her and knelt to her level, holding her umbrella over both of their heads.
"Blake, what are you doing out here?" she questioned as she started wiping the blood off the side of her head. "What happened? Your parents must be worried sick."
Upon hearing her mention her parents, Blake began to sob uncontrollably as she wrapped her arms around Sienna and started crying on her shoulder. Confused and alarmed, Sienna gently pushed the child away from her slightly so as to look her in the eye.
"Blake, sweetie, tell me," she softly requested. "What happened."
"S-S-Someone...S-Someone broke into our home," Blake choked out. "He...H-He...He went for Mom and Dad and...and..."
She couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence, but the look on her face was all Sienna needed to understand what had happened. A somber expression overtaking her own face, she dropped her umbrella and placed her arms in a comforting embrace that the child returned, positioning herself above the orphaned girl so her body could shield her from the rain, all while Blake continued to cry in Sienna's arms.
"Shhh, shhh, it's okay, Blake, it's okay," she reassured as tears began to well in her own eyes. "I'm here..."
Ten and a half years later...
"Good evening, everyone, I'm Lisa Lavender. Our top story, several White Fang protests continue to spark across Mistral against the Schnee Dust Company's alleged deplorable and prejudiced working conditions for its Faunus workers. Just two days ago, an explosion caused by a defective piece of equipment killed four miners, all of whom were Faunus. One week before, seven Faunus were killed and twelve gravely wounded after a cave-in, the survivors claiming their supervisors left them to die. Not long after these protests began, despite them being primarily peaceful, the recently appointed CEO of the company, Weiss Schnee, had this to say."
"I staunchly refuse to allow a pack of anarchists and THUGS continue to spread these blatantly false accusations to bring the Schnee name and this company down. Nor will I allow them to spread their chaos across the kingdoms. That is why I am having General Ironwood send the Atlas military to Mistral's aid to put an end to these protests and put these animals where they belong...CAGES!"
Having heard enough of this, Blake promptly threw a rock at the radio that was allowing such filth to be heard in the first place, silencing it for good. The one who no doubt owned the now broken radio angrily turned to Blake to confront her, but one look at her breathing heavily with rage and glaring right at him with scorned amber eyes was enough to get him to back down in fear.
Noticing this, two figures amidst the crowd making their way from Kuo Kuana to the docks of Menagerie approached her: Sienna and Blake's lover, Adam Taurus. The two had met during one of Sienna's rallies a few years ago, Blake discovering him in tears upon learning the deaths of a pair of Faunus he had considered friends, Trifa and Yuma, at the hands of a group of humans that had snuck into the save haven for their kind. Taking pity on him, she offered him her comfort, and the two began a relationship soon afterward.
However, Adam had begun to notice something festering inside of Blake. Every time more and more Faunus died trying to advocate peace between them and the humans, she would more often than not express the hate that boiled inside of her for the humans. How the Faunus were better than humans in practically every way and that the White Fang should look into other, much less peaceful tactics to gain the humans' respect. Each time, Adam would try to calm her down as best he could, but very few times would he succeed. At those alarmingly common occurrences, his best option was to let her vent her frustrations. Get it all out of her system. Afterward, he would continue on with their relationship as normal. He was so hopelessly in love with her that he couldn't possibly bear the thought of leaving her over this.
Unfortunately, in recent days, he had begun to question if he was a fool for not doing so a long time ago.
Such as now, when both he and Sienna noticed her act of aggression...as well as the fact that she had her weapon, Gambol Shroud, strapped onto her back.
"Blake..." Adam sighed. "Why are you bringing that thing with you?"
"Why do you ask questions you already know the answers to, Adam?" Blake countered. "You can't be too prepared when it comes to humans."
"I know," Sienna responded. "But...maybe try and conceal it when we arrive at Mantle. We want to rally to the SDC in peace. If they see you with that-"
"They'll probably shoot us anyway," Blake argued. "You know how the Atlesian military is with us. Shoot first, ask questions last, point the finger at us, rinse, repeat."
"Blake, I know you're still upset about what happened to your parents, but please..." Adam pleaded as he placed a hand on his beloved's shoulder. "Don't give up on them. We can still show the human race that we're willing to work with them to build a better Remnant, so long as-"
"I've heard these arguments before, Adam," Blake harshly interrupted, swiping her boyfriend's hand away as she did so. "And look where they've gotten us. More and more innocent Faunus murdered just for being what they are, our brothers and sisters being treated like slaves in Atlas, and that bitch calling us animals AND SAYING WE BELONG IN CAGES!"
"Blake, that's eno-" Sienna attempted to say.
"Protests won't sway the humans," Blake interrupted. "You know what will?...A fist."
Before either Sienna or Adam could try to counter her claim, the cat-Faunus angrily turned around and began to storm her way back into the crowd. All Sienna could do was sigh in exhaustion as yet another argument with the girl she had effectively adopted after her parents' death came to an end. She too had noticed this darkness growing inside the child ever since that night, and she did all she could to try and quell that rage building inside her as a mother would to her child, but it was coming more and more clear that they may have fallen upon deaf ears.
Amidst the crowd, Blake continued to stroll alongside her fellow Faunus towards the docks, trying her best to put her mind at ease, when she noticed something. A hooded person in the middle of the crowd suddenly dropping a backpack he was carrying and running off, shoving several Faunus out of the way as he made his escape. Several of them exclaimed in surprise at the sudden rudeness of this person, all while Blake curiously stared at what he had dropped...and her amber hues widened in horror upon realizing what was more than likely inside.
"EVERYONE, GET BACK! IT'S A BOMB!"
Unfortunately, Blake's warning came just a second too late, and the bomb detonated right in the middle of the crowd. The force of the explosion was enough to send the cat-Faunus onto her back, a deafening ringing overtaking her eardrums as a thick cloud of smoke coated the area. She laid there for several seconds as her hearing came back to her, and the screams of several Faunus overtook her. Hacking out the smoke she had just inhaled, Blake slowly rose back up to her feet and began traversing through the smoke. She felt her foot hit something soon afterward. Against her mental pleas not to, she gazed downward to see just what it was.
It was the head of a deer-Faunus, one of his antlers broken off and his head completely cracked open with his brain spilled onto the blood-stained pavement.
The horrific sight was enough for Blake to start hyperventilating, her skin turning an icy white as she had to resist the urge to vomit onto the street. She began to shake slightly as she turned to see more and more pieces of her fellow Faunus scattered across the street. Then, without warning, an ear-shattering cry pierced through the air, causing Blake to flinch slightly. She quickly made a dash towards the source of the sound and saw a girl, likely around her age, crouched over the still bodies of a couple, the woman with her bottom jaw completely blown off and several pieces of shrapnel jutting out of her chest, while the man had pieces of shrapnel lodged deep into his forehead and both of his legs blown off.
It was clear that there was no hope in saving the two of them, as evident by the girl, likely their daughter, sobbing uncontrollably over their corpses as her skin began to turn a bright shade of blue, a sign that she was, in fact, a chameleon-Faunus.
"HELP!" she desperately cried. "SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE!"
It was a sight Blake knew all too well, unfortunately, for as she continued to observe, memories of her parents being gunned down in front of her flashed back to her, causing the tears to begin falling once again. At that moment, her cat ears picked up the sound of footsteps from afar. She quickly turned her head just in time to see the hooded man who dropped the backpack fleeing the scene. Her somber expression soured to one of contempt as he vanished into a darkened alley. Her breaths got heavier and heavier as the gray clouds above rumbled with thunder and raindrops began to fall upon the scene of this most heinous crime. She knew exactly what she needed to do and, without any hesitation began to run towards that very alleyway, fully intending on making this bastard pay for what he's done.
"Blake!" Sienna called out amidst the carnage. "Blake, where are you?!"
As the High Leader of the White Fang continued to try and find the girl she cared for, Adam emerged from the smoke in a panic much like his superior.
"Did you find her?" Sienna questioned.
"No," Adam answered.
Sienna was about to continue this exchange, only for the cries of several of her fellow Faunus to interrupt her. A sudden wave of guilt rushed through the White Fang's leader at that moment. Several of her people dead, several more gravely injured, all because she, in her mind, failed to notice the human amidst the crowd.
"Keep looking for her," she commanded. "I'll tend to the wounded."
"Yes, Sienna," Adam responded.
With that, the bull-Faunus ran back into the smoke whilst the tiger-Faunus ran up to someone with several shrapnel pieces engraved into his stomach, all the while praying that Blake wasn't among the victims of this act of terrorism.
The human stopped to breathe after gaining some distance between him and the Faunus, smirking to himself as he thought of how much of these 'animals' as he'd call them were wiped off the face of Remnant. He was so entranced that he failed to notice a vengeful figure looming down at him from the rooftops, her silhouette briefly illuminated as lightning struck behind her. As he continued to relish in his success, the figure dropped down from the rooftop she stood upon and landed perfectly onto the soaked pavement. Upon hearing a splashing sound coming from behind him, the human instinctively grabbed a crowbar that was tucked away in his jacket and turned to face this stranger.
His eyes were greeted by someone cloaked within the darkness, a pair of hateful amber eyes being all he could see.
"The hell are you suppose to be?" the human scoffed.
Silence was all she answered with, a flash of lightning briefly revealing to the murderer the true nature of this figure. Upon realizing just what she was, a mocking, cocky smirk overtook his face.
"What's the matter, Faunnie?" he jested. "Cat got your tongue?"
Feeling as though he's wasted enough time, the human charged towards the cat-Faunus, his crowbar raised up and prepared to bash her brains out. However, once he took his first swing, the Faunus shifted to the side and grabbed his arm with one hand before thrusting her free palm towards his elbow. A loud cracking sound echoed throughout the alley, followed by the previously overconfident human letting out a cry of agony. He would have clutched his now broken arm had the Faunus he was fighting not delivered a right hook to his face that sent him flat on his back. He attempted to get back up, only for his enraged opponent to crouch down and pummel her fist down onto his face, each blow causing more and more blood to gush out of his nose and mouth. After five devastating blows, the Faunus finally relented, glaring down upon the one who took so many of her brothers and sisters' lives.
"I'm your reckoning, human," Blake coldly answered.
"Guh...you...GAH! Broke my fucking arm!" the human cried as he clutched his still-broken limb. "Fucking Faunus bitch!"
Faunus bitch.
Upon hearing those words, the memories of that fateful night came to Blake once again. As she relived her trauma, she took a closer look at this man's face and her eyes widened in shock.
It was a face that she could never forget and never forgive.
The face of the man who killed her parents.
The shock subsided, and in its place was the unmatched fury that boiled inside this girl for over ten years finally releasing. She lifted this man by the collar of his jacket and brought him face-to-face with her, allowing him to take a good look at the one he had dealt such trauma towards. And once he saw her face up close, as well as her scarred left cat ear, his eyes too widened in shock.
"...Oh shit," was all he could say before Blake swung his head against a nearby ladder rung.
Practically roaring in anger, once his forehead left a bloodstain on the rung, Blake harshly veered him back and threw him back down to the pavement. Not giving him a chance to get back up, the cat-Faunus pounced onto him and grabbed both sides of his head. She then lifted his head upward only to slam the back of it against the ground. Heaving heavily, she clasped both of her hands together and raised them up, ready to bring them down upon his nose and break it like his arm.
"W-Wait! W-Wait!" the man pleaded, placing his only functional arm in front of his face as she did so.
"I have waited, you bastard," Blake practically spat with venom. "Ten and a half years I've waited for the chance to make you pay for what you did to me. Why should I have to wait for even a second longer?"
"It was a job!" the human answered. "I was hired to kill them!"
"By who?" Blake asked.
"Sienna...Khan..." the human grunted as he fought the pain he was still in.
A look of surprise overtook Blake's face, clearly having not expected that answer, but just as it came, it faded back into an expression of hate. She then grabbed the man's left index finger and bent it back slowly until it snapped like a twig, causing the human to scream in pain.
"Lie to me again, and I'll break the rest of them," Blake warned. "Now...WHO. HIRED. YOU."
Mustering what little strength he had, the human reached down into one of the pockets in his pants. On edge, Blake quickly grasped the handle on the weapon strapped to her back, only for the man to reveal a scroll that was displaying a contacts screen. He tossed it up to Blake, who caught it and looked down at the contacts on this man's scroll. She scrolled past number after number, paying no mind to most...until one caught her attention.
It was Sienna's.
She could have sworn that her heart nearly stopped once she confirmed that it was her exact number, a look of shock overtaking her face. It was then that she noticed a series of recorded messages listed underneath Sienna's number. Including one...that occurred on THAT night. Her mind begged for her not to press play, knowing that her already scarred heart wouldn't be able to handle what was buried inside this man's scroll. But, in the end, she knew deep down that her newfound questions would only be answered if she acted now. So, with her fingers shaking, she pressed onto that one specific recording, allowing it to play out.
"I'm fully aware that your history with our kind has been...problematic, to say the least, but I would not have come to you if there wasn't a better man for the job, Mr. Winchester," Sienna's voice explained.
"Hey, money's money, even if I gotta take it from a Faunus, 'specially since I got a son to provide for," the human, Winchester, responded. "So, whaddya got for me, kitty cat?"
"Two members of the White Fang seem to want to take a more...'direct' approach to achieving equality. I have my suspicions that they intend to bomb the SDC's regional headquarters in Vale."
"And just who are these 'bad eggs' you're talking about?"
The recording fell silent for a few seconds before Sienna finally answered.
"Their names are Ghira and Kali Belladonna."
The tears began to stream down Blake's face almost instantly. The Faunus who rallied their kind to spread a message of peace with the human race, the one who took her in when she lost everything and raised her like her own...had orchestrated the death of her parents. The cat-Faunus' body began to tremble slightly, causing her to drop the man's scroll onto the pavement before she leaned against one of the alleyway's walls with one hand. The quiet sobs of betrayal commenced as she continued to process this revelation.
As she did do, she hadn't noticed the man, identified as Winchester, picking himself up before reaching to one of his pockets to pull out a pocket knife with his unbroken hand. The human then charged towards her, intent on stabbing her in the back, only for Blake to leap upward and for Winchester to run through a Shadow clone that faded away once he reached it, resulting in him ramming harshly against the wall. He fell flat on his back and groaned in pain whilst attempting to get back on his feet. But before he could do so, Blake grabbed him by the back of his jacket and pulled him back up before placing one hand on his mouth and the other on his unbroken arm. The murderer of her parents tried to free himself, but his weakened state and Blake's strength prevented him from doing so.
"Sienna said something about you having a child," Blake pointed out. "I'll have to remember to pay him a little visit when I'm done."
She then placed the bladed edge of Gambol Shroud against Winchester's neck, causing his eyes to widen in a panic and for him to let out several muffled pleas of mercy, all the while Blake repeated the same words she heard before he made an attempt on her own life.
"May as well finish you filth off for good."
And with that proclamation, Blake sliced Winchester's neck open, a sea of blood gushing from the freshly carved wound as the human let out a muffled scream, crimson beginning to pour out of his mouth and seep through Blake's fingers. She then began to move her blade back and forth like a saw, causing it to cut deeper and deeper into his neck, all the while the human in her grip thrashed about as he continued to bleed out.
About an hour later, Blake approached the doorstep to a place she never believed she'd ever step foot in again: the abandoned Belladonna family home. Ever since the murders occurred, it had basically been left there to rot. No one would move into it, and it almost gave off the aura that it was haunted to some. Blake herself couldn't bring herself to go anywhere near it, lest she relive the trauma she had endured. However, hearing Sienna speak of her parents being problematic to the White Fang and her goals made the cat-Faunus desire to get more answers as she unraveled this cover-up more and more.
And so, upon reaching the house's entrance, she took a deep breath and, for the first time in many years, opened the doors to return home. Cobwebs and dust practically coated the dilapidated household, every painting, vase, and piece of furniture left exactly as it was on that fateful night. The memories came to Blake in an instant. Both the good, such as ones of her returning home to her loving parents from school, and the sole bad memory. The night the Faunus' world came crashing down on top of her. Unlike most days when this trauma came back to her, however, this time, rather than try to shut it out, she allowed it to run its course inside her head, powering through in spite of the tears once again welling in her eyes.
As she traversed down the familiar halls, she noticed a decaying door nearby one that leads to her father's study. One she can't recall seeing before. Perhaps back then, it was purposefully hidden from her, but now, thanks to the sands of time, it began to give way, revealing itself before the orphaned Faunus. Curiosity got the better of her, and she pushed it off of its rust-coated hinges, allowing it to fall to the floor and reveal this hidden room to her.
Once she stepped inside, she saw a small crafting table before her with a white mask that seemed Grimm-like in design and was meant to be placed over someone's eyes, as well as two sets of metal claws attached to ten rings. In front of the crafting table was a wall practically coated with newspaper articles that covered several acts of violence against the Faunus as well as dozens of mugshots of various humans, at least half of which were marked with X's to hint towards their untimely demise. Several interconnected strings were placed between various articles and portraits, almost as if some insane conspiracy theorist had decorated it.
A surprised Blake turned her attention back towards the mask and claws, noticing a small USB stick in between them. Curiouser and curiouser, she grabbed the stick and attached it to a port on her scroll, opening the files inside and playing before her a recorded video of someone she did not expect to ever see again: Her mother.
"Hello, Blake," the recording of Kali began. "If you've received this, it means our mission has failed, and something has happened to your father and I."
It was at that moment that Blake noticed that her mother had donned the very mask that was before her, and upon closer inspection, she could just barely make out the claws on the ends of her fingers at the bottom of the screen.
"For years, you've asked me this very question any time our fellow Faunus fell victim to their subjugators, 'Mommy, why do the humans hate us?'" Kali continued. "And for years, I've been forced to tell you the same, deceitful answer of 'I don't know.'"
The older cat-Faunus let out a heavy sigh as Blake barely noticed a tear streaking down her right cheek, no doubt out of the regret she felt for lying to her own child.
"But the truth is...I've always known...It's because they're afraid of us, sweetheart. It's because they know their time is running out."
She then proceeded to lean forward slightly.
"You see, Blake, we're better than humans. We have everything they have and so much more. We are the next step in the evolutionary chain. And in the end, it will be the superior race that inherits the world. That is why they hate us, Blake. They fear us. They know that natural selection will make us the inheriters of Remnant. And hopefully, after today, we will take the first step in truly building a better Remnant for us."
Once she finished that sentence, she looked down slightly as a thought drifted her mind.
"No doubt Sienna won't approve of this. She continues to have delusions of co-existing with the human race in peace. But, hopefully, she'll come throu-"
Then, without warning, the sounds of broken glass bled through the walls, prompting Kali to dart her head towards the door and remove her mask before shutting the recording off...and eventually meeting her end.
A stunned Blake took in her late mother's words, thinking back to all the times she was subjugated to hatred and violence at the hands of the humans. It all made sense to her now. They hated the Faunus...because they feared the Faunus.
And now...it was time to give them something to warrant those fears.
But first, there was the issue regarding Sienna. Her mother was right. There was no way she would approve of this. She still believes in this 'fairy tale,' as Blake had come to call it, that humans and Faunus could co-exist peacefully, and she'd continue to poison the White Fang with these well-meaning but flawed ideals and lead more of her kind either to prison cells or to their graves.
And, of course, there was the matter of her orchestrating her parents' murder. A crime that Blake could never forgive her for. One that Blake believed she must suffer the consequences for.
So, with these thoughts in her head, she reached down to her scroll and dialed Sienna's number. No more than two seconds passed before Sienna answered.
"Blake?!" the tiger-Faunus said on the other side. "Oh, thank the Gods! Where are you?"
"Home..." Blake answered.
"What?" Sienna questioned. "Sweetie, I searched the entire building, you're-"
"No, Sienna," Blake sharply cut off. "...HOME."
"...Blake wha-" Sienna attempted to ask.
But before she could finish her sentence, Blake immediately hung up her scroll, looking down at her mother's mask and claws as she put it away. She stared at them for several seconds before grabbing each of the claws one at a time and placing them at the end of each of her fingers. She was about to reach for the mask next when she noticed a slightly open drawer on the crafting table. She pulled it open, revealing a second mask, no doubt the one that belonged to her father, and a thin, metal nail file.
An idea forming in her head, she grabbed the file and walked out of the room and into a nearby bathroom, staring at the mirror propped above the sink. She then opened her mouth to reveal her teeth to her...and began to wedge the file in between two of them.
Sienna was shocked upon seeing that Blake had hung up on her before a sudden realization came to her. One that more than likely clarified just where she was. And with that, she immediately dialed Adam's number on her scroll, not even giving him a chance to say anything before she spoke.
"Adam, I think I may know where Blake is."
About half an hour later, the High Leader of the White Fang and her right hand Faunus approached the open doors to the abandoned Belladonna household, Sienna's Cerberus Whip wrapped around her right wrist. The rain had not let up ever since the bombing, and the heavens above cracked with the rumbles of thunder and the flashes of lightning, allowing a foreboding atmosphere to overtake the scene. For Sienna, the guilt came like a hurricane storming itself inside her soul the instant she laid eyes on this building once more. The sin she had committed all those years ago may finally be coming back to haunt her, and all she could do was inwardly beg the Gods that Blake had not gone down the path she feared she may have taken.
"You're certain?" Adam questioned, snapping the High Leader out of her thoughts. "You believe Blake went here?"
"She hadn't returned to the compound, Adam," Sienna answered. "Where else would she call 'home?'"
"But why would she come back here?" her right-hand Faunus asked. "She wouldn't even so much as look at this place whenever we'd walk past it."
"...That's what I'm afraid to find out," Sienna truthfully answered.
With that ominous omen, the High Leader of the White Fang slowly began to make her way up the steps to the household, Adam following close behind. They noticed that the doors were already opened and stepped inside, their minds on high alert as they searched for Blake. The two soon found themselves inside a large foyer within the center of the compound. No sooner had they done that did the lights suddenly flash into the two Faunus' eyes, the duo placing their arms in front of their squinted irises for a few seconds.
When they finally lowered their arms, they noticed something placed on a rug in the center of the room. The two of them looked down and gasped in horror upon what they had discovered: A decapitated head with its blood drenching the middle of the rug. For Adam, it was simply a fright to behold due to someone's life having been lost, but for Sienna, it was something else. For upon closer inspection, she realized exactly who this was.
"Look familiar to you, Sienna?" a voice coldly asked from above.
The tiger-Faunus froze in place for several seconds, leaving Adam to be the only one to look upward towards the source of the voice. And there she was. Standing on a balcony above the two of them was Blake, wearing the mask and claws of her mother and her chin drenched in her own blood, her weapon sporting a similar shade of crimson all over it. Her amber eyes were locked not on him, but on Sienna, waiting for her to look up to see the monster she had inadvertently created. When she finally did so, she opened her mouth to reveal her clenched teeth to her...teeth that she had completely filed into razor-sharp fangs.
Almost on cue, a bolt of lightning struck from the window behind her as Sienna turned white as a ghost the instant she saw her adopted child...and who she reminded her of.
'Oh, Gods,' she thought. '...She looks just like Kali.'
She was then snapped out of her thoughts once Blake dropped down from the balcony, landing almost gracefully in front of the duo of Faunus.
"Blake...did you do this?" a mortified Adam questioned, motioning to the lifeless head as he did.
"Of course I did, Adam," Blake sneered. "He was, after all, the one who murdered my parents...or was he?"
She uttered that last statement whilst turning her gaze back to Sienna, her hateful stare not relenting even remotely. Perplexed, Adam too turned towards his High Leader, only just now noticing the petrified look on her face.
"Sienna?" he asked. "...What does she mean by that?"
"Oh, you mean you haven't told him, 'Aunt Sienna?'" Blake hissed. "Here, then...let me help you."
She then proceeded to reveal something she was holding in her right hand: The human's scroll. With the push of a button, the White Fang leader's words were repeated before her most trusted ally.
"Two members of the White Fang seem to want to take a more...'direct' approach to achieving equality. I have my suspicions that they intend to bomb the SDC's regional headquarters in Vale."
"And just who are these 'bad eggs' you're talking about?"
"...Their names are Ghira and Kali Belladonna."
Hearing the voice of the one he had looked up to since he was rescued from the horrors of the SDC's mines ordering the deaths of two of their own kind was enough to cause Adam's sole functioning eye to widen in horror. Not wanting to believe it, he swiftly turned to Sienna, and just one look into her paranoid eyes and cold sweat running down to her neck was enough to confirm his fears.
"High Leader Khan...what did you do?" he demanded.
The tiger-Faunus did not answer him, nor did she so much as turn to face him.
"What did you do?!" Adam shouted angrily.
"WHAT I HAD TO DO, ADAM!" Sienna yelled as she finally swung her face towards his, tears streaming down her eyes. "Ghira and Kali were going to ruin everything we've been fighting for. I tried. Goddamn it, I tried to talk them out of it!"
She then turned to face her adoptive daughter, the tears not quelling even remotely.
"But they wouldn't listen," she continued. "I knew they would always act more aggressively against the humans, but I couldn't bring myself to do such a thing until...until I finally realized what they had truly become...and what they were capable of."
"So their lives were worthless to you, weren't they?" Blake accused. "This fantasy of peace with the human race you've clung onto despite EVERYTHING they've done to us was more important."
"I LOVED YOUR PARENTS, BLAKE!" Sienna retaliated. "I did...but I couldn't just let them start a war with the humans that we couldn't possibly win!"
"You're wrong, Sienna!" Blake countered. "Evolution. That is what has made us MORE than capable of winning against them."
"Even if that was true, I don't want that!" Sienna responded. "I want peace!"
"What you want...IS IMPOSSIBLE!" Blake seethed.
The cat-Faunus took several deep, aggressive breaths before turning her back towards both her adoptive mother and her beloved, walking towards a nearby window.
"So what is possible, Blake?" Sienna questioned. "For the humans to fear the Faunus? To serve them?"
"Oh, they don't even deserve to serve us, Sienna," Blake denied.
"Then what DO they deserve?" the High Leader asked.
The scorned Faunus remained quiet for several seconds before finally giving her answer, turning her head halfway towards her audience as she did so.
"...Death."
The spines of the two Faunus in front of her ran cold in an instant upon hearing that one, simple word. Knowing now that the Blake Belladonna that they had known for over a decade, the one that they loved...was gone.
"Blake..." Sienna gasped out, still in total disbelief over what she had said. "You...You are talking about...about genocide!"
"For the good of Remnant," Blake added, turning herself to face the tiger-Faunus once more. "Humans are the root of damn near EVERYTHING that is wrong with this world. Imagine a world free from it, Sienna. A world where only the Faunus reign. No more discrimination. No more war! No more of the humans' subjugating us as their slaves!"
"Blake, please, listen to me!" Sienna begged. "This hatred boiling inside you, it will only be the death of you as it was your parents!"
"No, it won't," Blake retaliated. "...Not after I'm done with YOU, THAT IS!"
Without warning, the wielder of Gambol Shroud dashed towards the leader of the White Fang, her weapon at the ready to cut her down. But the instant she reached her and swung her blade towards Sienna's neck, it met not flesh, but metal, as evident by a loud clang that echoed throughout the room. Stunned, Blake turned to her left...and saw Adam wielding Wilt, blocking her offensive.
"...Adam?" Blake asked, betrayal laced in her voice.
"I'm sorry, Blake...but I can't let you do that," Adam responded in a hurtful tone.
Behind her mask, the cat-Faunus tightly clenched her eyes shut to try and stop the tears from falling before opening them once more, fury burning in her amber hues.
"Then die with her!" she shouted.
She then lept backward, leaving a Shadow clone that burst into flames thanks to some fire dust, which caused her two opponents to be launched backward and for the room to be ignited into a raging inferno. Blake managed to plant her feet against the balcony before using them to thrust herself towards Adam as he picked himself back up, forcing him to use his own blade to stop Gambol Shroud just before it could claim his head. The force of the impact forced him onto one knee as he gazed into his lover's hateful eyes as she clenched her fangs whilst letting out an almost animalistic snarl.
EPITOMIZE THIS RACE OF TORTURE, CRAVING TASTE FOR WAR
RETURN YOU TO YOUR MOTHERLAND, IN WAYS NOT SEEN BEFORE
PREPARE FOR ARMAGEDDON, FACE ONE SIMPLE FACT
NONE OF YOU SHEEP WILL SURVIVE, NOTHING LEFT INTACT
With her boyfriend distracted by the shock coursing through his body, Blake was able to sweep both of Adam's legs, causing him to fall roughly onto his back. Blake then raised Gambol Shroud and aimed it for his chest, but before she could bring it down, Sienna's Cerberus Whip suddenly wrapped itself around both of her hands before its wielder tugged Blake towards her with all of her might. Once she was close enough, Sienna delivered an elbow to Blake's face that resulted in her being forced up against a wall. Sienna then proceeded to swing her whip towards her adoptive daughter, detaching a blade laced with ice dust towards her. Blake was quick to act, however, and shifted to her right, leaving a Shadow clone that was encased in earth dust, resulting in Sienna's blade freezing that instead.
THIS IS WHO I AM, DESPITE WHAT YOU BELIEVE
A FORMLESS FIGURE FROM THE DEPTHS, DESTROYING ALL I SEE
THIS IS WHO I AM, YES! I'LL ALWAYS BE
THE DARK HORSE, BLACK PLAGUE, ANTI-GOD, THAT LIVES IN YOU AND ME
Snarling with hatred, Blake charged towards Sienna, turning her weapon into its gun formation and opening fire on the tiger-Faunus, who took a few hits to her aura, but was then able to twirl her whip around to have it act as a shield. Once she had reached her target, Blake reformed Gambol Shroud into its katana form and slashed it down at Sienna, who swiftly dodged the offensive and delivered a roundhouse to Blake's face. Though she stumbled back slightly, this barely phased her in the slightest, and she immediately blocked a flurry of strikes from Sienna's Cerberus Whip.
With her focused on Sienna, however, Blake failed to notice Adam barreling towards her, red energies from his Moon Slice semblance radiating from his sword as he swiftly thrust it towards her once he was within range. Blake, unfortunately, noticed this from the corner of her eye and immediately grabbed the sheath of her own weapon to block Wilt right before it made its mark. This sparred her from taking the full brunt of the impact, but the built-up energies within still detonated like a bomb going off right in her face, causing her to be sent hurtling towards a nearby vase, shattering it once her back slammed against it before falling to the floor.
FLAMES
WHEN NOTHING'S LEFT, NO REMAINS
THERE'S NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME
GLOBAL DENIAL
THIS IS THE REASON ALL HOPE IS LOST
With their opponent currently down, the two Faunus cautiously approached where she landed as the flames around them continued to burn. They clutched onto their weapons tightly as they both prayed this fight was over, but also expected for it to have just begun.
Then, without warning, Blake practically exploded towards the two of them, roaring with fury and with both Gambol Shroud and its sheath in both of her hands, ready to cut her enemies to pieces. Caught off guard slightly by this sudden action, both Sienna and Adam quickly blocked the cat-Faunus' two weapons as their clash against her resumed.
THERE IS NO ROOM FOR JUDGMENT, DO NOT CAST A STONE
YOU HYPOCRITE OF HIGH DEGREE, YOUR CLOSET FULL OF BONES
DENOUNCE ACCOUNTABILITY, APPRAISE OF DENIAL
LET'S SEE THAT FACE WHEN YOU GO DOWN, SO SMUG, SO VAIN, SO VILE
The tiger-Faunus and the bull-Faunus attempted to get a hit in on Blake as she continued to slash wildly at the two of them, perfectly able to take them both on at the same time, but were completely forced to go on the defensive. For they were unable to keep up with Blake's speed and ferocity. Eventually, their defensives began to wain and, bit by bit, Blake began to take small pieces of their auras while they tried helplessly to return the favor, but to no avail.
THIS IS WHO I AM, DESPITE WHAT YOU BELIEVE
A FORMLESS FIGURE FROM THE DEPTHS, DESTROYING ALL I SEE
THIS IS WHO I AM, YES! I'LL ALWAYS BE
THE DARK HORSE, BLACK PLAGUE, ANTI-GOD, THAT LIVES IN YOU AND ME
Knowing that they'd need to try and change their strategy, Sienna gave a nod to Adam, who nodded back to her in response, before the High leader of the White Fang released a second of her blades onto the ground, resulting in a type of mist dust bursting out and encompassing the three of them in a thick haze. A surprised Blake tried to listen carefully with her enhanced hearing to try and find them. Then, all of a sudden, her targets came at her from opposite sides and slashed at her at the same time. The orphaned Faunus cried out in pain before noticing Adam attempting to go in for another strike, meaning Sienna was no doubt behind her about to do the same. Acting quickly, she jumped upward, crafting a clone that released a powerful gust of wind dust that sent the two of them flying back into opposite walls.
FLAMES
WHEN NOTHING'S LEFT, NO REMAINS
THERE'S NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME
GLOBAL DENIAL
ALL HOPE IS LOST
As she watched Adam slowly slide down to the floor, Blake slowly began to approach him, placing her sheath back before flinging her katana to the side in an attempt to intimidate her beloved.
"I expected this from Sienna, but YOU, Adam?" she sneered.
Hearing her voice, Adam slowly looked up to his ired girlfriend's hidden eyes, groaning in pain as he did so.
"I wanted us to change the world together!" Blake continued. "This could have been our day. The day we begin our quest to deliver our LONG overdue vengeance upon mankind! Can't you see that?"
"What I see...is a Faunus blinded by hatred to-" Adam attempted to reason.
He was cut short, unfortunately, by Blake placing her boot onto his back.
"Blinded?" she repeated. "I'M the one who's blind when you know damn well that Sienna's tactics were doing nothing?! That she was going to lead us to a slaughter in Mantle?!"
"You don't know that!" Adam protested.
"Clearly, I'm the only one that DOES!" Blake countered. "And now, it seems, I'm the only one who's willing to do what must be done. Light the fires of TRUE REVOLUTION!"
Her tirade was cut short, though, when Sienna tackled Blake to the floor. The High Leader held her adoptive daughter down, grasping onto both hands while a distraught and saddened expression overtook her face.
"Blake, please, STOP THIS!" she yelled. "Don't make me-"
"What? Kill me?" Blake interrupted. "Wouldn't be the first time you'd murder one of us for having sense."
Before Sienna could so much as respond, Blake kicked her adoptive mother off her person before jumping back to her feet, grabbing her by her outfit, and tossing her to a nearby table, causing it to snap in two. Once she hit the floor, a large chunk of the ceiling had broken off due to the continuing fire, landing atop both of Sienna's legs, breaking them. The High Leader screamed out in pain, both from her legs being broken and from the flames that began to burn through her flesh. She struggled to free herself when she noticed Blake marching towards her with murderous intent.
But right before she could reach her adoptive mother, Wilt suddenly smashed its hilt against the side of her head, causing her to fall to the floor and drop her weapons, which slid away from her and into the inferno. The enraged Faunus swiftly turned her head to her left and saw Adam pointing Blush towards her.
"She murdered my parents...two of our own kind...and you continue to defend her?!" Blake snarled as she got back on her feet.
"She will atone for what she's done, Blake, I promise you...but I can't just let you undo everything we've done because of it," Adam responded.
Knowing there wasn't any sense in trying to sway him to her side, Blake crossed both of her arms, splaying her clawed fingers outward as she glared right at her boyfriend.
"So be it," she said.
With those words uttered, Blake launched herself at Adam, swinging and slashing her claws at him like a deranged animal, taking off major chunks of his aura with every hit she landed. Adam continued to go on the defensive, not wanting to bring himself to harm his beloved, but it was clearly a fruitless endeavor, for he was still unable to make pace with his opponent's quick yet brutal tactic.
EUTHANIZE A SELFISH PLANET, EIGHT BILLION TO DIE
REFLECT ON HUMAN HISTORY, NO LONGER WONDER WHY
WITH TERROR MANIFESTING, THE ONLY TRUTH IS DEATH
EVIL SPECIES WORTH EXTINCTION, BREATHE YOUR FINAL BREATH
WELCOME FINAL DEATH
Suddenly, Blake grasped onto the bladed end of Wilt with her claws and pulled it out of Adam's hands, tossing it aside before continuing her relentless onslaught of slashes against Adam's person. This went on for what seemed like an eternity, until finally, with one devastating swipe, the last of the bull-Faunus' aura was depleted, and he was sent flying backward into a statue that crumbled to pieces instantly.
THIS IS WHO I AM, DESPITE WHAT YOU BELIEVE
A FORMLESS FIGURE FROM THE DEPTHS, DESTROYING ALL I SEE
THIS IS WHO I AM, YES! I'LL ALWAYS BE
THE DARK HORSE, BLACK PLAGUE, ANTI-GOD, THAT LIVES IN YOU AND ME
With her enemy downed, Blake charged towards him and leaped upward, her claws raised and ready to finish this fight. Running low on options, Adam grabbed the last blade of Sienna's whip and stuffed it into the barrel of Blush before firing it, the blade impacting Blake's chest and detonating thanks to the fire dust built inside. The resulting explosion sent Blake hurtling backward into a wall, her own aura depleted as she slid down to the floor.
FLAMES
WHEN NOTHING'S LEFT, NO REMAINS
THERE'S NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME
GLOBAL DENIAL
THIS IS THE REASON ALL HOPE IS LOST
Wasting no time, Adam seized this opportunity by instantly getting back on his feet and grabbing his sword as he ran towards his downed girlfriend. He brought his blade upward, ready to bring it down to Blake's neck, when his beloved looked up to him, a look of fear just barely being visible from behind her mask. Noticing this, Adam's eye widened with hesitation as his raised arm completely froze. For several seconds, the two stared at each other before Adam, in a surprising move, tossed his sword aside and bent down to help Blake back to her feet.
"Adam, what the hell are you doing?!" a shocked Sienna yelled.
Ignoring her, Adam proceeded to embrace his lover, tears welling in his sole eye.
"I do want to change the world, Blake," he admitted. "And I want nothing more than for us to do so. Together. But this isn't the way."
"...Adam," Blake whispered.
"This won't do our kind any good," Adam continued. "Driving ourselves further apart from the humans will only lead to our downfall. Peace CAN be an option, my love. Come back to us, and we can show you the way."
Several tense seconds passed without the two lovers saying a single word.
"Blake...please," Adam pleaded.
"...Adam..." Blake choked out in a somber tone.
The right hand Faunus of the White Fang smiled to himself, believing that his effort had worked.
...Those hopes were quickly dashed when he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
"...Why?" Blake asked.
His eye-widening in both shock and pain, Adam looked down to see the claws of Blake's right hand digging themselves deep into his chest.
"...Why must you hurt me, Adam?" Blake asked, tears streaming down her cheeks from behind her mask.
Then, in an instant, Blake proceeded to tear Adam's heart right out of his ribcage. Blood immediately began to stream from the large hole she had created as Adam took one last look of betrayal at his former loved before the life faded from his eye, and his corpse fell to the floor. A horrified Sienna could only scream out in distraught while Blake tossed his beloved's organ to the floor and turned her attention to her adoptive mother.
"Even after everything you've done, Sienna...I still feel I should thank you," she said as she walked towards her. "When our people needed you, you were there."
She splayed out her claws once more as she got closer and closer while Sienna continued to try in vain to escape.
"But they don't need you anymore," Blake continued. "They need me now."
Once she reached her, she knelt down to her level and looked her dead in her dread-filled eyes.
"B-Blake..." was all Sienna could say.
"For what it's worth...I really am sorry you won't live to see this through to the end," Blake admitted.
With that, Blake slowly reached her claws at Sienna's face, ready to commence the atrocious, painful deed she was about to commit.
Several screams of horror from the crowd of Faunus echoed throughout Menagerie as they gathered at the burning Belladonna household. What was once a response to the fire had turned into an audience for a horrific act that they would be unfortunate enough to bear witness to. Several minutes after the crowd had gathered, Blake was seen approaching them from the roof of the building, dragging something behind her, before holding it up high for all to see.
It was Sienna's skinned corpse, the words 'No one is untouchable' scratched deeply onto her flesh.
After relishing the screams of terror from the crowd, the cat-Faunus tossed the corpse of her adoptive mother off the building, allowing it to fall harshly onto the pavement below, before addressing her peers.
"Brothers, sisters, lend me your ears!" she began. "I am Blake Belladonna. Daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna. And I ask that you do not weep for the husk you see before you."
She harshly pointed directly at Sienna's corpse to emphasize who she was referring to.
"Sienna Khan was a well-meaning but weak-willed, absent-minded fool. She clutched onto a fantasy of peace with our oppressors to the point where she orchestrated the murder of my parents to preserve this over-glorified fairy tale!"
Several gasps of shock were heard amongst the crowd, no doubt from members of the White Fang who couldn't believe their High Leader would do such a thing.
"And for what?! To continue on with picket signs and a few harsh words? To continue on with burying more and more of us each time the humans claim our lives?!"
"She speaks the truth!" a voice suddenly called out.
Blake looked down towards the source of the voice to see that same chameleon-Faunus making her way through the crowd to approach her.
"Speak your mind, sister," Blake ordered.
"My name is Ilia Amitola," the Faunus began. "Just a few hours ago, I watch both of my parents die at the hands of a human...and right then and there, I knew EXACTLY what little Sienna's methods were doing to us. All it's done is make the humans hate us more! Make them hungrier to cause us more pain and suffering!"
"And do you know why that is, Ilia?" Blake asked. "Do any of you know why they hate us so?"
Silence was all the cat-Faunus received.
"...It is because they fear us," she answered for them. "...And they're right to fear us!"
She then raised a clenched right fist upward.
"Because we are the future! We are the ones who will one day rule this world! They know their time is running low, so they do all they can to delay the inevitable. Well, my fellow Faunus, now is the time we strike back at them! Now is the time for us to say 'NO MORE!'"
Several cheers were heard amongst the crowd of Faunus, indicating that Blake's words had reached a large margin of them.
"From the shadows, we will descend upon the world! TAKE BACK WHAT THEY STOLE!"
As the cheering grew louder, Blake responded by outstretching both of her arms outward as the rain continued to pour and the skies continued to rumble.
"WE WILL RECLAIM OUR DESTINY! SET OUR FUTURE FREE!"
"Hail High Leader Belladonna!" Ilia suddenly shouted.
"Hail High Leader Belladonna!" the crowd chanted. "Hail High Leader Belladonna!"
And as she continued to soak in the chanting and the cheering, Blake slowly lowered both of her arms and placed her right fist where her now blackened heart was, lightning brightening the skies from behind her.
"And we...will rise."
Six months later...
The instant the airship arrived at a small village in Vaccuo, Corsac knew that time was short and began to pack as much as he could before he left this village. He knew that he was gambling with his life by defecting from the White Fang not long after Blake assumed control, but up until now, it had paid off swimmingly. The villagers welcomed him with open arms (though a part of that may have been thanks to him hiding his tail from them and not telling them just what he was) and he was able to lead a quiet, peaceful life as a simple farmer.
But now, it seemed that life was coming to an end...and unfortunately for him, it would in more ways than one.
For as the Faunus defector continued to pack, he failed to notice a figure hiding in the shadows of his home. It was Blake, now with her hair cut down to her shoulders and donning a long, white tailcoat and a sleeveless, black crop top. She observed the traitor like a predator observing her prey, thankful that she was able to torture Corsac's location out of his brother, Fennec, before she killed him.
Then, once Corsac's back was turned, Blake immediately grasped Gambol Shroud's handle and lunged out at him.
Back outside, the White Fang soldiers continued to force the petrified villagers out of their homes, crowding them into the town square with their weapons drawn, willing to gun them down if they so much as looked at them wrong. Amidst the sea of fear and cacophony, a rabbit-Faunus named Velvet Scarlatina, a top-ranking general for the White Fang as well as their main combat instructor thanks to her Semblance of Photographic Memory, was busy forcing a family of four made up of a wife, her husband, and their two children, one no older than seven and the other around five, into the crowd whilst pointing her rifle at them.
"Keep moving!" she shouted.
Not wishing to provoke their captor, the husband and wife made their way to the crowd, carrying their crying children as they did so. Once they vanished amidst their fellow villagers, Velvet noticed Blake approaching her, her weapon drenched in the still-fresh blood of the traitor, and turned around to make her way towards a blonde monkey-Faunus.
"You and the others stay here and keep an eye on them, Sun," she commanded. "Make sure no one escapes."
"Yes, general," Sun replied.
The general of the White Fang then approached her superior and kneeled before her.
"It's done," Blake reported. "Corsac's dead."
The rabbit Faunus noticed that the tone of voice the High Leader spoke with was not one of pride, but with a hint of regret.
"Might I ask if something's troubling you, your grace?" Velvet asked as she got back on her feet.
"I doubt that I'll ever get use to it at this point...being forced to kill one of us," Blake answered. "Too many of our brothers and sisters have fallen at the hands of the filth that subjugated us to this Hell on Remnant...I had hoped that Sienna would have been the last to die by my hands, but...but I never imagined that so many Faunus were just too blind to see the truth."
"I understand, High Leader Belladonna," Velvet responded. "Unfortunately, this was what they chose. Their minds are tainted with fantasies of equality. And perhaps you're doing a lot more for them than you realize by ending them."
"How so?" the High Leader questioned.
"They no longer have to live in this unforgiving world ruled by the human scum that their delusions so desperately believe they can co-exist with," the general answered. "They will no longer have to endure countless years of prejudice and suffering to try and change said world. In their place, an eternity of blissful peace."
Hearing these words caused the White Fang's leader to perform an action that the past year of war, death, and hatred have all but made extinct and was a most rare sight to behold: Smile.
"Thank you, sister," she said as she placed a hand on her subordinate's shoulder. "I suppose I needed to hear that."
Her smile immediately faded, however, when she finally noticed the pleas of mercy from the villagers and turned towards the crowd of humans, scowling at them from behind her mask with pure malice.
"Is this all of them?" she asked as she and Velvet approached them.
"Yes, your grace," the rabbit Faunus answered before turning to Sun. "I trust that none have left your sight?"
"No, general," Sun answered.
"Then what are your orders?" Velvet asked her superior.
Before Blake could answer, though, the mother that Velvet had forced into the crowd suddenly cried out.
"Have mercy, please! There are children and elderly among us!"
Glaring at the human, the White Fang High Leader slowly started to approach the now shaking woman.
"I've heard that plea many times before, human," she informed. "And every time they had fallen upon deaf ears. But humor me. Do tell before I issue the command: Why should I listen now?"
"Please, if this is about Corsac, believe me when I say that we didn't know," the woman pleaded. "We didn't know he was a Fa-"
She stopped right before she could finish that word, her eyes widening as she feared she may have inadvertently condemned her family and the entire village to death. All she could do now was pray that her captor had not noticed, but alas...
"Finish that word," she snarled as she tightened the grip on her weapon, turning her knuckles white.
The mother started to breathe heavily as her blood ran cold in terror.
"W-W-We-We didn't know he was with the White Fang," she just barely managed to get out. "We-"
"No," Blake interrupted. "That wasn't what you were going to say at all, wasn't it? Now, say the word that you were going to say."
The woman started to feel her knees grow weak as she tried to say the word but couldn't bring herself to.
"Say it."
Yet again, silence was what fell upon Blake's ears as her captive failed to utter the word.
"SAY IT!"
This time, the High Leader flashed her fangs at her as she shouted those words.
"F-F-Faunus," the woman finally said.
"Yes, that was it, wasn't it?" Blake harshly asked. "You didn't know he was a Faunus."
The cat Faunus then began to walk around the mother like a tiger circling a wounded antelope.
"And what would you have done if you did find out, hm?" she asked. "Turn a blind eye? Chase him out? Stone him? Burn him at the stake?"
"N-N-No, of course not!" the mother pleaded. "We don't carry any prejudice against your kind! There are good people here that are just trying to live their li-"
Her words were cut short when Blake swiftly grasped her metal claws onto her neck, puncturing it deeply before ripping her larynx out, causing a splatter of warm blood to land on the High Leader's face as the wound started to bleed profusely. The woman desperately tried to stop the bleeding as she struggled to so much as breathe, only for her to get weaker by the second as she lost more and more blood.
"The only good human is a DEAD human!" Blake yelled right before the woman's corpse fell to the ground.
Upon witnessing their mother being murdered in cold blood, the woman's children screamed for her, bursting into tears as they tried to run up to her, only for their equally traumatized father to hold them back. As they continued to weep, an unremorseful Blake swiftly turned back to Velvet to finally issue the command she had been waiting for.
"Kill. Them. All."
Upon hearing those three words, Velvet, Sun, and the rest of the soldiers immediately raised their rifles as the villagers began to panic. A sea of desperate pleas, final prayers, and even the cries of one or two infants erupted, which would send any normal soldier into a state of pity and hesitation.
But the soldiers of Blake's White Fang were anything but normal.
"Fire!" Velvet shouted.
An onslaught of dust blasts made their way to the now screaming crowd as Blake watched body after body fall over and the screaming slowly but surely get quieter and quieter. The rage that currently fueled her black heart slowly began to give way to a cathartic sense of satisfaction. The amber hues behind the mask she wore gave no sense of regret, sorrow, or guilt whatsoever towards this most heinous act she had carried out before her.
'They deserve this,' she thought to herself. 'All of them.'
When the last of the villagers were finally slain, a sinister silence filled the air as the terrorists observed the mound of corpses before them.
"Let the Grimm come for their bodies," Blake ordered. "We're done here."
And with that, the terroristic Faunus turned towards her airship and began to board it when her scroll suddenly went off. She reached down to her pocket and pulled it out, snarling in irritation once she saw who was calling her.
"Gods, I fucking hate her," she groaned.
"Uh, Blake, that's not what I saw when I walked in on you two in the training arena fu-" Ilia, who was leaning against the archway to the airship's cockpit, attempted to say.
Her statement was cut short, however, when Blake swiftly turned to face her first lieutenant, fangs flared and growling in a manner that screamed 'Don't you dare finish that sentence.' Almost instantly, Ilia had a look of fright on her face, immediately regretting her action.
"S-Sorry," was all she could say.
Ignoring her, the White Fang leader begrudgingly answered the call.
"Heeeeeey, what's new, pussy cat?" a voice asked.
Hearing that forced Blake to use every ounce of willpower she had to not smash her scroll in anger again.
"What do you want, Yang?" she asked.
Despite her intense hatred towards the human race, Blake had a rather unfortunate situation she and the White Fang were currently in. Not long after she had ascended the throne and began her crusade, a most peculiar man (if she could call him that) named Ozma approached her and demanded her organization begin working for him. When she refused, he had an entire pack of Ursas and Nevermores wipe out one of her encampments, as well as returned with a squadron of Atlesian Knights to inform her of his hold on the Atlas Military. He made the same offer once more and, knowing that the White Fang were incapable of winning a war with this man, for the time being, she had no choice but to accept. So, for the time being, she was forced to stand at the Devil's side rather than be in his way.
At least until she can figure out a way to be rid of him and this team of huntresses he forced her onto. In particular, that same racist head of the SDC who, six months ago, demanded that her kind be put into cages.
"If you're calling because you're drunk again, I swear-" Blake continued.
"Pfft, as if," Yang interrupted. "Barely got two shots in me before Ozzy just HAD to have a mission for me."
"Then why did you call me?" the High Leader demanded.
Her response came in the form of a sigh from the blonde before saying...
"It's...It's a long story."