Note: I have rewritten the first two chapters, so some of the previous second chapter is now the third chapter. You can skip the chapter to four if you don't want to re-read it.
Adam was busy. He was glad of that fact, because it helped him to ignore his fateful encounter with Blake.
Another ten days had passed quickly as Adam analyzed Tukson's information and did his best to find other trusted sources to dig around both Roman Torchwick and Cinder.
As the information started to flow, he managed to create the beginnings of a plan. Admittedly, he discovered a great number of trusted sources, even in Vale, where his reach was limited. Funnily enough, his bloodthirsty reputation made sure that people remembered the favors he did, and his reputation for explosiveness made them more than happy to pay back.
Unfortunately, the plan he was able to compile was risky, too risky.
Technically, the best information he was able to get was a battle between Qrow Branwen and an unknown female assailant with flame powers who used a bow. Knowing that Cinder had made an enemy of Qrow, who was without a doubt the strongest huntsman in Vale, was good news.
However, it was a badly hidden secret that Qrow was Ozpin's attack dog. Yet, it wouldn't have been a bit of a problem if it wasn't for Ozpin's other dog, Ironwood.
Even remembering his name sent fires through Adam's veins. No human kingdom was exactly friendly with Faunus, but Atlas was by far the worst, forcing Faunus to live under their glorious flying city with almost no protection from Grim, essentially forcing them to join the mining camps to mine dust in desperate conditions.
Adam noted that their distaste toward 'animals' was suspiciously absent when they were visiting Faunus brothels during the night, humiliating widows with no chance to find gainful employment —while human pimps got most of the money while leaving a pittance to Faunus, of course.
Of course, if asked, they would claim that they were doing their best, and Faunus was completely free to reject the job offers, be it mining or prostitution. Adam found it hard to reject a mining job that when he was dying of hunger as an eight-year-old, his frame was strong enough to earn a transfer to a mining camp.
He tried to reject it when he arrived there, only to find the conditions even worse than he expected.
He was told he was free to go back if he could … through hundreds of miles of grim-covered wilderness with no weapons. And Ironwood was the 'heroic' protector of the glowing civilization of Atlas, even when he ordered the death of hundreds of homeless Faunus while trying to hunt for White Fang cells, only to write them off as sympathizers, not caring about the truth of the matter.
No, trusting Ozpin, or any of his dogs, was out of the question. He needed to be sneaky —and not the military sneaky, but political sneaky— despite his distaste. Like trying to counter Sienna's pointless challenges wasn't enough.
He swung his beloved sword Wilt, cutting through two more Beowolf that was trying to sneak toward him as he used a secret tunnel into Vale that had long fallen into disuse instead of the entrances Torchwick provided to White Fang, not wanting to alert them to his presence in Vale.
To their best of knowledge, he was currently hunting with some of the guards.
His team was arranged perfectly, all loyal to him except one of Sienna's spies, who would soon fall into a Grimm accident —while his men would transfer him to a secret cell to keep him in prison for a while.
Even though he was fighting with Sienna, he didn't want to sacrifice Faunus's life pointlessly.
He was not a monster.
At least, he hoped so.
As he finally entered Vale, he was considering whether another visit to Tukson was worth the time investment, when a sound of an explosion reached his ear, near the docks.
He knew that Torchwick was supposed to ambush a dust ship with the assistance of some White Fang members, but he had ignored that because there was little he could do on such short notice.
But the explosions changed his mind. Maybe, if he could sneak closer, he could find an opening to take Roman Torchwick, or more importantly, his sidekick with the multicolored hair.
Neo was a bigger target rather than Roman, because despite all his bravado —or more accurately, because of it— Roman was known quality. Neo was flat-out crazy, and her weird teleportation-illusion semblance worked remarkably well with her craziness.
He needed to keep his anger his check, however, only attacking if he could keep his identity secret. He pulled his cloak over tighter, no matter how much it hurt his pride to hide his horns.
His identity and his pride.
However, when he finally arrived at the docks and saw the battle, the frustration from hiding his features faded insignificantly against the flare of anger that filled his heart.
Torchwick was fighting against Blake.
Or more accurately, Torchwick was shooting at Blake while she rolled around, trying to avoid a mortal injury. A crimson layer descended in his field of view, his heart thumping hard.
How dare that human scum dared to attack what was his!
At this point, everything about Blake's betrayal took the backseat. Yes, he was angry at her, and disillusioned with the supposed love they had been sharing.
But still, until he could make a final decision in his mind, Blake was his. And Torchwick was trying to kill someone that belonged to him. His mind was absent of almost any thought as he rushed forward with the full intention of turning Torchwick into fine red paste.
He barely noticed the pain as he hit the concrete floor, his aura doing its job of preventing real harm, his sword already out of its sheath.
He didn't even realize that he had pulled Wilt rather than a spare weapon until Torchwick spoke. "Adam, I wasn't expecting you tonight-" Torchwick started in his usual smug tone, only for his eyes to widen as he realized that Adam's sword was already out, slashing toward his head mercilessly.
A pity that his reflexes were too good to nail him like that, though it still left a bad gash under his eye. Torchwick rolled back, opening his mouth once more to speak, but Adam had no intention of wasting time listening to his pointless drabble. He attacked Blake, so he deserved to die. Simple as that.
Nothing else mattered.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Blake appearing from the corner, a shocked expression on her face, but he decided to shelve that for the moment, not willing to distract himself with that. Torchwick might be an annoying showoff, but still, he was a dangerous combatant. He attacked, Adam deflected before retaliating with a slash of his sword, shaving quite a bit off Torchwick's arm, which, unfortunately, was a shallow wound.
Still, it was the first blood, and he was ready to chase Torchwick, when Torchwick turned his gun to the side. He was about to scoff, when he realized his target, Blake. Blake, who was still frozen in shock.
"I'll kill you," Adam shouted, aware of just how unhinged he sounded. However, Torchwick was too far away for him to actually prevent him from attacking, so Adam did the next best thing. He stepped between them, gritting his teeth as the bullets rained on his body, each draining a significant amount of aura, one of them digging deep into his shoulder.
In response, he swung his sword, a crimson wave soaring through the air. Torchwick rolled away, but not before receiving a dangerous dash on his leg. For a moment, the silence ruled, which was soon broken by the bullheads coming closer, depositing Adam's comrade of arms.
Their shock was palpable even from their mask. "So, Adam," Torchwick smirked happily. "Are you willing to fight your comrades to protect a traitor," he called, pointing at Blake. Adam was about to explode once again when he noticed the smirk of Torchwick, no doubt thinking that he had managed to turn the tables with a comment.
Adam admitted it was not a bad strategy. It might have even worked if he had done the rational thing and sent the people he trusted less with Roman with the hopes of getting rid of them. "Good move, human trash," Adam growled as he pulled his cloak down, revealing his face. "But not good enough."
He gestured to the Faunus that was stepping down the Bullheads, and more than half of them pulled their guns and rained bullets on Roman. Roman's shock was all he needed to swing Wilt while triggering his semblance, teaching him the mistake of being distracted while staying in his melee range.
Pity that with his head toppling down, Roman didn't have any time to share that lesson.
"Boys, lower your weapons," he ordered with a booming voice. There were advantages to being a leader. Anyone that wasn't loyal to him dropped their weapon, smart enough to realize that defying an angry Adam Taurus was not a good career move. His loyal soldiers started gathering the weapons just in case.
It was a good thing that none of them particularly cared about a human thief that made a habit of referring to them as animals, not even paying attention to his cooling corpse.
"Pull back, and get rid of the two of the Bullheads on the way, claim that you were ambushed by Qrow Branwen and some Atlas Robots, and temporarily lock our indecisive friends and tell that bitch they died," he ordered simply, before he turned to the prisoners. "My fellow revolutionaries, just sit tight for a few days, and trust me. I'm doing this for White Fang. I wow on my honor."
Adam knew that the lowest rung of their members were rarely the sharpest thinkers —those were dispersed across kingdoms as recruiters, spies, and various other undercover activities— but still, their blank look frustrated him. At least his followers were quick enough to push them into the Bullheads and disappeared.
Just as he was about to turn, his sixth sense blared, warning him of a sneak attack. He would have loved to use his sword on the idiot who thought that doing so against Adam Taurus was a smart idea, but unfortunately, there was a chance it was Blake, and while he was angry at her, it was a kind of anger that tempted him to spank her until she begged for forgiveness, not the kind he impaled his sword through her stomach.
So, he swung the Blush as he ducked, only to receive a distinctly masculine gasp. He turned, ready to stab at his attacker, only to realize he was another Faunus, so, rather than slashing his guts, he slammed the hilt of his sword at his head, putting him unconscious.
"Amateur," he murmured in distaste as he looked at the collapsed monkey Faunus, only to notice Blake's panicked expression. "New boyfriend," he asked in distaste, unable to hide his rage from his tone.
"N-no," she stammered in panic, but Adam knew her ashamed blush enough that while it wasn't completely accurate, it wasn't a complete miss either. He barely stopped himself from lashing out. Tonight, he had more important issues to handle.
"Good for you," Adam murmured dismissively, which made her flinch. Apparently, trying to replace him was fine as long as no one was around to point to her dalliances.
He had a few more choice words to utter, but then he noticed a little redhead appearing on the roof, carrying a sniper rifle larger than her, pointing at him. "Blake," she shouted in panic as she readied to pull the trigger.
Adam was smart enough to admit it was the correct decision even if she hadn't recognized him. He was facing her friend, with one decapitated corpse and one unconscious Faunus next to him, with blood still dripping down his crimson sword.
Well, almost correct decision, Adam noted. He would have pulled the trigger first. "Still, at least you had got rid of that disgusting bow," Adam said as he dashed back, disappearing in the dark streets of Vale before reinforcements could arrive.
He had a long night in front of him.
Also, he would be lying if he didn't feel a sadistic satisfaction from leaving Blake behind, her mouth parted open in shock…