Adam was waiting for Roman and the envoy from Sienna to arrive. He was still struggling with what was the right thing to do. His troops saw the sense of carrying on the preparatory work, but he doubted that they would be ready to launch an attack on Vale unless and until there was some concrete evidence that the whole Branwen Republic thing was a con trick.

He was still convinced that the right thing to do was to delay a final decision and to prepare for the attack. He felt uneasy about the fact that a bandit leader had offered them a deal which fulfilled the White Fang's criteria without much sign of any negotiation other than with Sienna Khan and certainly no military pressure on Raven. A freedom given can be taken away again, a freedom won is more difficult to revoke.

He had only brought the lieutenant along with him. He did not want the rest of the troops being appealed directly to by a member of the council nor did he want them to know how many of those assigned to work in Vale itself had heeded Sienna's command. That would require careful handling. Besides which there was no one he feared could cause him damage in the White Fang leadership or the fighters in Mistral.

The news from Atlas had not helped him keep his troops from heeding Sienna's call. The fact that the leading members of one of Atlas's leading families and the owners of one of the most notorious multi-Kingdoms had been arrested for murdering a Faunus who had made love to an aristocratic human had stunned and delighted them. The footage of the Lynx Faunus in a military uniform insulting the head of the family minutes before the man was arrested had particularly caught their fancy.

They had seen the strength of his argument that the reality was that it suited the SDC, the Campion family and General Ironwood to sacrifice the Marigold family to keep a lid on dissent in Mantle. Still, he knew that he had to hide his distrust of the Faunus involved. Too many people would call it simple jealousy, especially the women.

Roman had made it clear in the short meeting that he had had with the Lieutenant last night that there would be a maximum of four aides to the envoy, two of whom would be civilians and that he would be checking that this was the case. He trusted Roman to have regard to his own self-preservation and angering Cinder, Callows and Rainart would not be conducive to his expressed desire to carry on what he did best – lie, cheat, steal, and survive.

Still Adam had not survived by not taking some precautions. The Lieutenant had spent thirty minutes with him charging up his semblance by hitting Adam's aura with a sword and even using the chainsaw. He was close to maximum storage power and so could make short work of any attackers. He had learnt early on the importance of powering up before a fight.

He heard a car in the distance. Roman was as usual on time. The lieutenant raised his binoculars and said, "Roman, Perry, the girl, and a woman. The woman is wearing the mask." A pause, "A very young woman."

Roman waited as the car drove up and parked. Neo was first out, looking around for a bit before opening the door for Roman. Then Perry got out. He opened the back door and let out the young woman. Perry actually bowed which encouraged Adam to look more closely at the young woman. He had not expected that one of the envoy's aides would be a young woman wearing a tight top which left little to the imagination and a short red leather skirt. The White Fang mask perhaps lacked a little bit of threat combined with the rest of the ensemble. The blonde hair looked like it came out of a bottle as well. She looked like the sort of woman his mother and aunts would have warned him about. The woman turned round. He registered the pig tail. Wearing a skirt which showed the tail was a statement in itself. It was fairly easy to pass for human when your Faunus trait was a small tail.

Just then Roman turned to him and nodded. The dandy then offered an arm to the pig Faunus and the two walked towards him. Roman had his normal swagger (or at least the one he used when Cinder was not around). Perry and Neo were a few steps behind. Adam was certain that the Faunus looked familiar for some reason. He also was certain that she was not carrying a concealed weapon larger than a knife or perhaps a very small pistol.

Roman stopped a few yards away. "Adam, short time, no see. My friend here is the advance part of the envoy's retinue. She is here to confirm to him that this is not an ambush. She is a friend of Neo's from our days in Mistral. They had the same Alma Mater of the Mistral High Security Juvenile Detention Centre and broke out of it together. Happy days indeed."

He paused, "Adam Taurus, can I introduce you to Tracy Parker AKA Mistral's most wanted."

Adam now knew why he had thought her familiar. The mug shots after her arrest for the attempted murder of the man who had tried to kill her and do other things to her had been a call to arms. He was not pretending when he offered her his hand, "I am delighted to meet you. Your defiance was an inspiration to Faunus everywhere. Your escape was even more so."

"Thanks, mate. Me and Neo made a bostin' team." The accent was pure lower east side Vale. He wondered when she had been recruited.

The pig Faunus accepted the handshake from the Lieutenant and his congratulations. She then checked the forest behind them. She nodded her head and Perry handed her an old-fashioned walkie talkie. Oddly one effect of the advances in technology meant that selective use of lower tech could improve security as no one routinely tried to spy on it.

She said into the device, "Come on down, bab. The price is alreet."

She turned to Adam, "Sorry about that, mate, but Sienna ordered the toff to take care."

/-/

Velvet was both flattered and terrified that she had been asked to join in the operation. Perhaps asked was the wrong word. Glynda had "asked" Coco and Coco had in turn "asked" Velvet. Besides which she had given a real sniper gun and been given the opportunity to watch the best sniper in Beacon practising two days ago. In retrospect, Leslie had been planning for this and using her to fill in the role Brede would normally have played. Blake had also this morning spoken to her and explained why the operation was so important and so dangerous.

Anyway, she was driving a jeep which had been decorated so that it looked more like a golf cart. She was dressed in the uniform of a caddie on an upmarket gold course. Next to her was Lydia who was also dressed as a caddie and had a golf bag between her knees. The golf bag contained Velvet's new rifle, Brede's rifle, a few real golf clubs, three hundred marbles, and Lydia's collection of weapons which looked like sports equipment. All of them were wearing White Fang masks. Actually, in some ways the most disturbing thing was that Lydia was wearing a shortish skirt and had put on a black wig. The woman preferred wearing trousers and was a striking blonde but had been convinced that the camouflage was necessary.

Behind her was Leslie Corkran AKA too many names to bother mentioning. He was dressed in a white linen suit with a Beacon Academy tie which had a tiepin attached. The tiepin hid a microphone which was connected to devices in her, Anne's and Lydia's ears. He was also wearing a dust enhanced white waistcoat courtesy of Pietro Polendina. In the back of the jeep was his crossbow together with the twelve enhanced dust bolts she, Ruby and Penny had made for him in Atlas. Next to him was the singer Foxy Heart who was dressed in a dinner jacket with trousers with a gap for her tail.

In the car way in front of them was Roman Torchwick, the girl known as Neo, a very polite young man in glasses and Anne Harker. Foxy had been responsible for the change in how Anne was dressed. "Look the orange prison suit was what people like to pretend they remember, but it was the defiant slut look in the mugshots which really turned on male Faunus and made female Faunus admire her. Someone who took no crap from humans, advertised that she was a Faunus and showed no signs of fear."

She had spent time with Team LLAC before and what struck her today was how tense Leslie and Lydia were. They were normally two of the calmest and most confident students she knew. He was trying too hard to reassure his team and she while sounding carefree was constantly clenching her fists.

She had also had an odd conversation with the Fox Faunus before they had set out. The singer had enquired "Are Leslie and Lydia an item."

Velvet had honestly answered "No, they are best friends. She says that she won't marry until she has been a huntress for a few years. He says he prefers relationships with no complications."

The Fox Faunus had laughed, "Don't worry I'm not jealous. More curious at the dynamic. They obviously get on with each other"

Velvet had explained the initiation day gratuitous Grimm slaughter and the Fox Faunus had laughed.

What was certain was that the final instructions from Sienna Khan had been delivered to Foxy and Leslie, both had looked very serious indeed. The Fox Faunus had told her to have both guns locked and loaded and to be ready to produce the hard light copies quickly if need be. She had also volunteered Lydia to reload the guns for Velvet. Lydia had insisted on coming along and had promised not to get physically involved if a fight took place.

Leslie had talked to Anne, and Velvet had seen Anne's face become more serious. She recalled her conversation with Yatsuhashi the day after the battle of Kulsa. He had told her that he had expected to die for the five minutes before Ruby unleashed her silver eyes. He had not had time to really process the thought then, but a few hours later after the initial jubilation of still being alive had passed, he had had time to think about what was really important to him.

Before those last few minutes, he had always sort of assumed that he would be OK but seeing the seven Ancient Goliaths heading towards the wall had put a different perspective on things.

Velvet had also felt the same when she and Coco had been confronted by Tyrian Callows. Survival had seemed unlikely especially after Coco's aura was broken.

Leslie had the look of a man who half-expected to die today and he had not been able to hide that from Lydia or Anne.

She, Lydia, and Anne were wearing one of the newer developments of the glasses she had designed. These allowed the glasses to be used as binoculars. They would also assist if Velvet had to use the rifles.

/-/

Adam watched as the other car drew up and parked next to Roman's car. It was a jeep which looked like it had wandered off from a Mistral golf course. The driver was a rabbit Faunus with long ears and a caddie's unform on and the front seat passenger was a very tall girl. Both were wearing the mask and he did not recognise either of them. The tall girl was carrying a golf bag and was dressed like a female caddie in the Argus Masters. Traditionally these were all Faunus. Both were wearing sunglasses. He supposed that the winter sun was low so did get in the eyes.

He looked at the Pig Faunus who shrugged her shoulders, ""His nibs said it's a little eccentric, but the golf clubs were designed to prevent questions being raised when he and the bint left for this meeting."

The back seat passengers then got out. He focused on the tall, bronzed man. Adam nodded to himself. The man had been towards the top of his list of likely envoys if only because, whatever else he was, the man was not a coward. He also tried to work out what the choice said about Sienna Khan's thought process. The man was not a council member but had a certain reputation amongst the military wing of the movement. He also had a history with Adam. They had worked well together without actually liking each other. He was wearing the mask which looked a little incongruous with the linen suit.

The man was carrying a crossbow. No doubt he also had at least one gun and five knives around his person. Adam knew he could take the man, but not as easily as most. It was just as well that he had already maximised his semblance.

Adam turned his stare to the woman. She was dressed in a DJ and was wearing trousers and a monocle. Oh, her. One of Blake's friends. He had thought that she had been expelled from the White Fang, but seemingly Sienna had revoked that. She had bad mouthed Adam to Blake three years ago and he had arranged to have her sent away along with Ilia. Still in retrospect he should not have given Bruno the OK to punish her when Blake had left him. He had not realised how far Bruno hated her for rejecting him.

The two other women stayed back at the car. Tracy Parker walked back to them, and the taller girl handed her a golf club. Apparently she would be practising her golf shots while the meeting took place.

Typical of the Sandman to bring along a harem with him rather than troops.

The Sandman and Julie walked towards him after stopping to greet Adam, Neo, and Perry.

"Julie, Sandman, it has been a long time. Which one of you is Sienna's envoy?"

The Lynx Faunus said, "Adam, old chap. We have not spoken since you suggested that I go t' Mantle last year. It is ticketty boo t' see you again."

He looked over Adam's shoulder and said, "Lieutenant Saw, as you may gather rumours of my treachery have been exaggerated."

He turned back to Adam, "While I am the envoy for the purposes of this meeting, Julie here is also a special envoy for the movement. She and I had some early meetings with the authorities in Vale and Atlas to soften them for the news from Kuroyuri."

This annoyed Adam. The thought that these two had been more in the loop than him or indeed the council was aggravating. He supposed that from Sienna's point of view it had made sense.

The Lynx Faunus then looked at Adam. "I know you hate wasting time and energy on irrelevant social chit chat, Adam. Mr Torchwick, Neo, Lieutenant Saw, perhaps you can allow us some privacy t' have a full and frank amicable exchange of views. Adam, I think that both of us can trust Perry t' be an honest reporter if the need arises. He has worked with both of us and no doubt we have each offended his preference for predictability and long-term planning more or less equally."

"Of course." It was odd to think about it, but he had probably worked with Perry the longest out of any of his current team following the deaths at Junior's.

Roman said, "Fine by me." He and Neo walked about halfway between Adam and the golfers.

The Lynx Faunus said, "Adam, perhaps if we stand twenty feet apart that will reduce the risk of misunderstandings or over-reactions. We both know that we are likely t' irritate the other and sudden movements or expressions of annoyance can easily be misconstrued."

Adam assented by nodding. The man had not brought along anyone he had reason to fear, and they were all at a distance. Besides which he knew how quickly he could cover the distance between them.

Adam said, "I suppose that you are going to tell me that I have to come to heel and kowtow to Raven Branwen."

"The Joint councils of the White Fang believe that Sienna Khan is right when she says that this is the best opportunity for the Faunus in Remnant we can realistically hope for in the next ten years. We've both spent time there and it is not Menagerie where the spiders and insects are out to kill us as well as the Grimm. There is no long-established ruling class, the Branwen tribe is not yet so accustomed to wealth as t' think they all merit mansions and neither are there enough of them t' fill all the important roles in the country. You and I both know from talking t' the civilians that if more rulers were like Raven Branwen we would have little or no support for military action."

"She is still a human giving us orders."

"A human who needs our skills t' run the country and one who is not that much bothered with ostentatious displays of wealth."

"And who comes after her? The rest of the older members of the Branwen tribe I've met are profoundly stupid and only treat the Faunus and other humans well because they are scared of her."

"She is a tough woman in her early forties and looks after herself. Sienna says that there is no reason why she should not last twenty to thirty years and perhaps longer. I am told that the younger members of the tribe admire her, and she makes certain that she knows them all."

"We are relying on the good health of one woman and her being able to hand over to a successor who thinks the same way."

"Adam, if there is a better opportunity tell me and Sienna Khan what it is? If humans and Faunus can co-exist in the Branwen Republic it shows that we can co-exist in other places. As it is the Branwen Republic has the largest percentage of Faunus inhabitants outside Menagerie."

"Sienna and the White Fang are being used by a human woman for her own ends."

"Perhaps, but they coincide with our aims enough t' make it worth going along for the ride."

"Tell Sienna Khan that I will watch with interest and that I will not launch any attacks for two months at least to give her the chance to prove to me that this new Republic is for real. For the moment me and my troops will remain here."

"So, old bean, you are going to sulk in your tent, wait for the inevitable teething problems, say I told you it would all be a disaster and then go and kill some humans?"

Adam tried to stop himself reacting to the accent and the taunt. The taunt worked because there was just enough truth to it to make him question himself. Instead, he changed the subject and asked, "Why did Sienna Khan send you?"

"Who knows? Because I am the only person who didn't say no thank you? Perhaps she thought that there was a better chance of you listening t' me as I have had some success in the field? Perhaps the Albain brothers fear both me and you as rivals when they inevitably make their bid to overthrow Sienna and want us to eliminate each other?"

"Why send someone who used the cause for their own ends and those of Atlas. It's clear now that you were always a double agent." The remark about the Albains sounded right though. It was the sort of thing they thought was clever.

"Enlightened self-interest, my dear Adam. Actually, revenge was a large part of it. You of all people must sympathise with that motive. I'm just a bit more selective and patient than you are. Less of a bull in a China shop, don't you know."

Was the man trying to start a fight with him?

The Lynx Faunus paused, "Unfortunately Umber Raddock killed the man who branded you and while you got t' terminate Raddock with extreme and indeed gory prejudice, it did not satisfy you. A pity, you should have savoured the moment when he realised that he was going t' die rather than be ransomed. I certainly did."

"You did?"

"Yes, he was ultimately responsible for the treatment of the Faunus in the SDC mines in Vacuo and the person I held most t' blame for the deaths of my friends in the Mohawk tribe at the Rising Sun mine. I actually had that revenge twice. The first was when I, Perry and a few others had fooled him t' allowing us to kidnap him. Taking off my officer's cap and welcoming him to Fang Air had a most satisfying effect. There are some people for whom the realisation that they have been played for a sucker is the worst thing you can do to them."

Again, Adam told himself to ignore the accent and the drawl. He didn't disagree with the sentiment. Certainly, the look on Umber Raddock's face when he realised that he was not going to be ransomed had been very satisfying.

"You once said to me that you understood me better than most people. You are now a member of the Atlas elite. How does that make any sense?"

"Both of our families were destroyed by humans and humans tried t' kill both of us as children. That left us with an anger which motivates us. We both wanted revenge. I waited fifteen years for mine. I had the raw material for it seven years ago but waited for the perfect opportunity t' humiliate my enemies. I engineered the arrest of the people who ordered that my father be mutilated and then killed for the crime of loving their daughter and sister and then spent eight years chasing after my mother t' kill her for dishonouring the family name and not meekly agreeing t' be placed in a posh asylum. Better still they saw me savouring it and I am now going to take their power away from them."

"But you have bent your knee to the Atlas military. You served them for years, you infiltrated the White Fang for them, you willingly betrayed the Atlas White Fang leadership, you went to Beacon, and you are now a member of the Atlas elite."

"I have used humans for my own purposes and at the same time furthered the cause."

Adam scoffed, "Furthered the cause?"

"Yes. I arranged for a powerful and conscientious officer t' be informed about the abuses of the multi-Kingdoms in the Vacuo mines and guilt tripped her into acting on them. I set up an Atlas colonel who was anti-Faunus to make a fool of himself so that he was forced t' resign for hitting a Faunus officer. I helped direct the efforts of the White Fang into targeted assassinations and economic destructions rather than indiscriminate attacks on civilians. I planned the deaths of some of the worse perpetrators of atrocities in the Vacuoan mines. Even my latest effort has allowed the section of the Atlas elite most willing t' contemplate real change the opportunity t' marginalise the sections of society who looked on us as animals. Adam, I admire the way you motivate your men t' fight and die for the cause. But answer me this. How have you improved the lot of the average Faunus in the last five years? Are the Faunus in Vale feeling safer than they were six months ago when you started purging the Belladonna supporters?"

There was a small emphasis on the phrase "die for the cause" which Adam knew was deliberate.

"The Faunus can never be free so long as humans rule over us and take us for granted."

His interlocuter raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. "I don't think they take us for granted. You and I have scared them enough for that. The aim of the ceasefire is t' encourage the other governments to make concessions when they are not directly under threat, even though one of the motives for conceding is the fear that we may start fighting again."

"You trust the humans too much."

"And you hate them too indiscriminately. I have been fortunate enough t' meet as many good humans as bad humans. Besides which most are just people. There will be no winners in a war between humans and Faunus apart from the Grimm. If we have a good chance of getting most of what we want peacefully, let's do it."

Adam knew that this was a message which was attractive to many Faunus. They may be fools for believing in it, but he understood why it appealed.

"Sorry, Sandman. I am staying out here until I am certain that we have not been conned."

"Sienna Khan says that's not an option, old bean. You either come in out of the cold now or you are expelled from the movement and your whereabouts disclosed t' the authorities."

Adam almost went for the man then. However, if he killed him for simply passing on a message that would be serving the interests of the Albains and Sienna Khan. Besides which while the man was a more than competent fighter, Adam's semblance meant that he had nothing to fear from him if Adam simply walked away. He looked at the others. Roman and Neo were watching with amusement. Perry was tense. The Fox Faunus was not a fighter, so he ignored her. The other three were at least 100 yards away and were standing together.

"That is an empty threat, and you know it. She does not have the political power to make such a call."

"You may be underestimating her current popularity. You are certainly overestimating yours. The loss of thirty fighters in ten minutes of stupidity has caused the war council t' doubt your leadership role in Vale. You and I know that it was only a matter of time until Bruno fracked up again as he did in Vacuo. You trusted him with the role, so perhaps they are right t' question your judgement. In any event, actions against fellow Faunus are to cease right now."

Adam thought about this. Perhaps this was more of a negotiation than the man was pretending. "Fine." It cost him little to say that. They had no military presence in Vale now anyway to carry out the assassinations.

The Lynx Faunus continued, "The council is concerned about the lack of information they have received about your proposed actions in Vale. What little they do know concerns them."

"Operational security is essential."

"Even from the leader and the head of the war council?"

"Yes. They have always trusted my judgement in the past."

"Questions are being asked about why you are involved with humans and the identity of those humans. Mr Torchwick is an acquaintance of mine but is hardly a dedicated advocate of Faunus rights. The War council is concerned that criminal humans know more about your plans than they do. In particular, they fear that you are being played for a sucker by humans."

Adam told himself to listen to the words and ignore the accent and the clothes. This was hard as the man sounded and looked (other than the ears and the bronzed skin) like an Atlas aristocrat at his most condescending. Indeed, as of two days ago he was one, albeit he was a Faunus.

"I refute that claim. If anything, I am using my human allies to further the interests of the White Fang."

"What are you doing with all the dust Bruno and Roman have stolen? Are you planning t' blow up Vale or attack Beacon? If you are, then forget it."

Just then the scroll in the Lynx Faunus's pocket rang. He looked at Adam, "Mind if I take it. It is further instructions."

Adam nodded. It would give him more time to think. However, the call lasted less than a minute and the Lynx Faunus merely said, "Understood."

He looked at Adam. "I am now authorised t' play you this tape."

He pressed a button on the scroll. "Hello, Adam. This is Hazel Rainart speaking. I was originally introduced to you as Mr Brown. I am sorry, but you have been used by Cinder Fall and Arthur Watts as a useful idiot. They are behind the W the Unknown broadcasts and scroll messages encouraging anti Faunus attitudes and your participation in the robberies and the violence were used to increase violence against Faunus. The proposed attack on Vale and Beacon was to be blamed on the White Fang and was expected to result in anti-Faunus laws being enacted in Vale. This wasn't even the main benefit expected. Frankly, the aim was to enable a heist of a valuable relic to take place and a murder to be committed while everyone's attention was otherwise engaged."

The message stopped. The Lynx Faunus stated, "Mr Rainart has disclosed the plans t' the Beacon authorities. They to avoid any further escalation of problems in Vale are happy t' allow your soldiers safe passage to Mistral if they start evacuation within the next hour."

Adam smiled ruefully. "Lieutenant, return to base and pass on the order to evacuate and return to Mistral. There is no point in carrying out a plan which has been betrayed to the enemy. Do not wait for me."

Adam dictated a message into the scroll which his lieutenant carried. The Sandman exchanged scroll numbers with the Lieutenant and discussed arranging bullheads to evacuate the troops.

Adam planned his next move for after the departure of the Lieutenant. He had owed it to his men to ensure that they survived and did not die unnecessarily. He now had to decide what was the right thing to do for the cause and, secondarily, for himself.

The remarks about the Albains wanting both him and the Sandman to destroy each other had got him thinking. From the military side he and the Lynx Faunus were the best candidates for leadership of the movement. While he still expected in the long term to be proved right in his view of the Branwen deal, the fact that he had been fooled by Cinder Fall would count against him.

Sooner or later, Sienna would fall from power. Currently the front runners would be the Albains and the Lynx Faunus. He knew that no matter how cynical they were, the Albains truly believed in the cause first. He had no idea what motivated the man in front of him now that he had achieved his revenge. He did know that he appealed to the trickster tradition for Faunus and the fact that he was now rich would in fact be a plus not a negative for many. He was also right that he could point at what he had achieved to persuade the doubters that he had a view for the best interests of the Faunus.

Still in the end he was half-human and had been bought up for eight years by his mother. No doubt she had been a brave woman to marry a Faunus servant, but she was a human. It made him too trusting of humans' goodwill.

The Lynx Faunus said, "I'm sorry old chap. Sienna Khan is happy t' pay for you t' go into rehab and analysis. Certainly, the Adam I first met three years ago would not have fallen for a scam like that. I'm told that ever since Blake left you, your judgement has been a little off. They say that you wished t' destroy Beacon t' get back at your ex-lover. That seems a little unfair. Still, I have been told that once you go cat, you can never go back. By the way, old chap, Blake is moving on. She has a choice of blondes now."

Adam then leapt towards the Lynx Faunus drawing Wilt. The Sandman did not move at all and was seemingly taken by surprise. Adam slashed down and at first he thought he had got through the man's aura with one blow. He then heard the sound of breaking glass as well as a scream of anguish.

Just then his aura took a heavy blow and a second later he heard the sound of a gun. Then a cross bow bolt slammed into his aura. As Wilt was fully charged he could not redirect the force of the hits into his weapon and instead took the aura hit. A second later another bullet slammed into him. Something was wrong. Three hits should not deplete his aura by that much. He refocused and saw that the Sandman was reloading the crossbow five yards away from him. He started to run again, but felt his feet go from under him. Another bullet knocked him back and he fell to the ground, dropping Wilt and Blush as he did. His mask also fell off.

To his amazement he saw his sword and scabbard fly away from him at speed towards the Pig Faunus who seemed to be carrying a golf club. He struggled to his feet and saw that a grenade was heading in his direction. He moved to avoid it and to his horror it seemed to follow him and exploded next to him. The next crossbow bolt and a fourth bullet hit him. He felt his aura flicker and break. A second grenade which was heading straight for him diverted and exploded in the forest.

He sat on his haunches and took stock. The Rabbit Faunus had been firing the bullets and he realised who it was. Another human/Faunus half breed with connections in Atlas. The Pig Faunus was jogging towards him with Wilt in her hand and shouting "Stay down Taurus and don't move." The accent was now received pronunciation with only a slight hint of the lower east side about it.

The tall girl was running hard towards the Sandman. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. She then stepped back and slapped him hard. He had released his aura and took the hit.

She said, "Don't ever frighten me like that again." The Lynx Faunus took her in his arms and kissed her. Adam again felt foolish. It was the umbrella girl from the fight at Junior's wearing a wig.

He moved to get up and was hit in the back by branches and stones. The Pig Faunus must have a telekinesis semblance. Someone in the group must have an illusion semblance. He then stared at Roman and Neo who were high fiving each other. Could not blame them for selling out, they had no pretence about being in it for anything else but the money and survival.

He looked at Perry who bowed to him and approached.

"Sorry Adam, but it was best for the cause. I had to follow the chain of command."

He said a few words back and Perry again bowed.

The Sandman disentangled himself from the woman and approached Adam, although still keeping a careful distance. The branches and stones cam back for a second hit. Clearly they were taking no chances on his aura regenerating.

"As I was saying before the excitement, you have served the cause well and Sienna hopes that you will be able t' do so again. Serving with the Raven Grimm defence unit was what she was thinking might be appropriate."

Defeat was a bitter pill to swallow. He had been ambushed by a man who should have stood no chance against him. As if reading his thoughts he heard the words, "I always told you that I did not believe in fair fights. I relied on you underestimating women. Congratulations by the way, it took one more bullet and bolt than I had expected t' take you down. The marbles were a last-minute improvisation."

Julie said, "Adam. I have it all on film and the conversation is on tape."

He groaned to himself. He had only strengthened the position of his opponent by attacking him. To be the man you had to beat the man, and the Sandman had done so. Faunus would not care that he had used his friends to take Adam down. He was a trickster and normal rules did not apply to them. All the obvious combatants had been Faunus.

He told himself that at least he had saved the lives of his troops. He looked at Perry and the man nodded back. Adam went to raise the pistol he had as a tertiary weapon, but without any intent of actually firing it. He had no intention of going back to Sienna as a neutered bull or steer. It also made his opponent's victory less total if he was not taken alive.

/-/

Velvet was just parking the jeep when the shot rang out. She turned her head and saw that the bespectacled Faunus had a smoking gun in his left hand and that Adam Taurus had a bullet hole in his head.

Roman Torchwick checked the pulse and indicated that Adam was dead. He then went over to talk to and seemingly comfort Perry. Anne was hugging Neo while Lydia was embracing Leslie. The Fox Faunus walked towards her, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hug you."

She looked at the dead Faunus. "Can't pretend I'm sorry, but he was some kind of Faunus. He was a better person when I first met him. He was never the same after losing his best friend and conscience at the Rising Sun Mine."

She then looked at Lydia and Leslie. "Fracking tricksters. Bet he did not tell her what he was planning. Nothing like thinking a friend is about to die to make you realise that you love them."

Velvet could only agree with that. She and Coco had still to have the conversation, but things had changed between them that night in the Faunus village.

"Why did Adam attack Leslie after telling his troops to surrender? What was the point?"

"Sandman raised the possibility that he would be the successor to Sienna Khan. Adam would have thought that would be a disaster for the movement. Besides which he used the accent and vocabulary to needle Adam throughout the conversation. Even I winced at some of the jabs. Adam would have convinced himself that killing the cat would be for the greater good."

"And the death?"

"He had been humiliated. He would have had no desire to live on as a pitied or despised loser."

Velvet nodded. "You seemed unsurprised at Leslie and Lydia."

"Spoke to him on the flight back yesterday. Completing his revenge has changed him. He is no longer chasing his Great White Monstra. He said he was now fit for sentient consumption if he survived today."

May be a bit of a gap until the next chapter as I am going on holiday and need to sort out the detail of some fight scenes.

For those who have not read my earlier works under Muskrat2, Leslie and Anne started off as characters who could allow me to investigate the implications of being a Faunus in Remnant and in particular Beacon. They were people who Team CRDL could interact with or react to. Only Blake and Velvet were Faunus at Beacon in the original and it would have been OOC to have used them to investigate the themes which I wanted to explore. Leslie early on became a sort of counterpoint to Adam – a less damaged character, but still with barriers against the world and in his own way as ruthless as Adam. I hope this worked for some of you.

GNTR96 – While this may not be exactly what you would have wanted to see, I hope that you agree that my iteration of Adam is not a simple villain. I trust that I conveyed that he was honestly committed to Faunus rights and the main problem was that he could not see how humans and Faunus could exist as equals.