Sam, Dora, and Anino ran down a lange corridor towards a massive door at the end. They arrived, and Anino began typing in a password as Sam and Dora readied their weapons. A moment passed, The the two sides of the door began to separate and slide apart, and Anino moved back to stand between Sam and Dora.

"Alright." Dora nodded, her eyes narrowing as she gazed into the darkness. "We rush in and taken the old guy by surprise, and we make him tell us how to cure everyone and deal with the Grimm. Ready?" Sam and Anino nodded, focused.

The door finished opening, and silence fell. Then, suddenly, several red lights came on in the darkness as a siren went off. The sounds of dozens of locks coming open rang out, followed by loud snarls. Glowing-green Grimm emerged from the shadows, and all eyes widened.

"Damnit!" Sam cursed, he and Dora backing away as Anino growled at the monsters. "Ani, did we take a wrong turn?!"

"Moved... Main... Lab..." Anino snarled, then he looked back at Sam and Dora. "Fight!" Anino charged forward, and Sam and Dora exchanged glances before following behind him.

/\

Adam and Jenna locked weapons, glaring at each other as the silver shaft of the her spear sparked against his crimson blade. He growled lowly as he attempted to restrain his rage, then he grunted in effort and forced her back, firing at her three times with his gun. She blocked the first two shots, but the third hit her in her chest, causing her to let out a soft noise as she felt the hit and moved back, ending up down on one knee.

"Enough!" Adam snarled, and she looked up at him with a scowl. "This isn't going to work, Jenna! Your father is only going to make things worse!"

"You don't know that!" She snapped, her hair bristling. "Adam, you of all should understand! My father is trying to make things better for the Faunus, he's doing whatever it takes to change the world! Isn't that what the White Fang is all about?!"

"Yeah, and in case you haven't noticed: I left them!" Adam shot back, quickly raising his blade to block again as she lunged and attacked. The two circled each other, their narrowed eyes locked even thoigh Adam's ribbon, and Adam took a deep breath. "Look, I get it: you're tired of the inaction. But this isn't how you get reform, it's how you start a war - and you won't win."

"There are always winners and losers in war." Jenna told him. "But regardless, there is change brought about by the end. This will show the world the strength of Faunus who go too long being treated like animals. Humanity will fear us, fear the Feral, and they will have to start respecting the Faunus as an equal species if they don't want to bring about greater carnage."

"And what if humanity decides on genocide, instead?"

"They wouldn't dare!"

"You don't know that!"

"Shut up!" Jenna activated her weapon's whip-form an lashed out at Adam with it. He dodged, his eyes narrowing, then he suddenly froze as he gazed at the weapon. Jenna, who had been ready to attack, blinked in surprise before looking down at the weapon. She blinked again, then looked back at her partner. "Adam?"

"... You shouldn't lower your guard, like that." Adam announced, smirking, then he raised Blush and fired Wilt out of it, striking the girl in the forehead. She took a step back, and he darted forward and snatched his blade out of the air, slamming his arm into her chest hard enough to knock the wind out of her. She dropped her weapon as Adam pinned her to the wall with his arm, his other hand holding his blade to her throat, and she looked up with wide eyes as he glared down at her. "Enough, Jenna. You've lost."

"... Have I?" She asked, giving a small smirk. "Ani led Sam and Dora the wrong way." Adam blinked, then his eyes widened. "Father planned for this, should Ani and I ever return as enemies. He swapped his lab for a Grimm storage-room." Adam looked back as he heard howls and snarls in the distance, then he looked back at Jenna. "You'll never find him."

"Tell me where the lab is." Adam growled, his eyes narrowing. Her smirk didn't falter, and he brought his sword to touch her neck. "Now!"

"I'm willing to die for my cause."

"It's not your cause, Jenna! You're not like this! Your father, he's brainwashed you - in more ways than one!"

"Why, you-!"

"Jenna." His blade touched her throat, but he actually seemed conflicted. "Please... This isn't the way to do this. You're smarter than this, and more than that: you're kinder than this. This isn't the way."

"There... There's no other way!"

"Jenna, you don't have to use fear to get your way and set things right! There's always another way!" Adam snapped, then his eyes widened in disbelief. Did he really just say that? Jenna's eyes were wide as well as she gazed at him, and Adam realized that he had actually gotten through to her a bit. "... There's always another way, Jenna."

"... Name one."

"I'm not sure, yet. But if I - me, specifically - can learn to work with humans like Sam and Dora without going to this much of an extreme, then you've gotta know that there is one, somewhere... Help me find it."

"Adam-"

"Hey." Adam's eyes narrowed behind his ribbon. "I'm counting on you. You've fallen far, like I did. And... If you can change, so can I." At that, Jenna blinked in surprise, and Adam's expression softened. "Please... Help me find a way."

Jenna remained silent for a long moment, just staring at Adam, then she noticed something behind him. It looked like her mother, smiling at her as her wolf-ears flicked back, and she slowly nodded before vanishing. Jenna blinked, then looked back at her opponent as she felt her whole body go numb.

"I..." Jenna gazed at Adam, stunned, then slowly looked down. Her eyes teared up, then closed, and Adam felt her legs give. He slowly helped her into a kneel as she started crying. "O-oh, gods... I-I'm sorry..."

"I know." Adam frowned, gazing at her. "The way I was, before I came to Beacon... I would have agreed with your father's plan immediately." Jenna slowly looked up at him, her teary eyes wide. "But now, I believe that we can do better. It isn't too late to find a different way." Jenna gazed at him, then bit her lower lip. "... Where is your father?"

"He... He's down the hall, to the right." Jenna announced quietly, frowning. "In his lab... Preparing for the final stage." Adam nodded, going to stand, but Jenna grabbed his hand. "Wait! You're a Faunus, it isn't safe for you-!"

"No one else will get here in time to help Sam, Dora, and your brother." Adam pulled his hand away, his eyes narrowing. "I have to take this operation down at its head... I'll do my best to subdue him without causing too much damage. We're arresting him, not killing him."

"Adam-" Jenna reached out, but Adam turned and walked away. The bull-Faunus sighed, shaking his head as he moved.

"I'll be back for you once I've dealt with Merlot... Stay safe."

/\

Adam approached the lab, his covered eyes narrowed as the massive doors opened for him. He drew his blade as he slowly walked into the room, his eyes shifting to examine it as he went. There were massive monitors displaying formulas and surveillance footage and beakers filled with strange liquids all around - the place looked like it came out of a movie, and he didn't know whether to be amused or disturbed.

"So." A voice spoke, and Adam looked forward to see a wild-haired man facing away from him, his hands folded behind his back. One arm was flesh and blood, the other synthetic. "You managed to turn my daughter against me, boy?"

"You did that the day you turned your children into Ferals." Adam growled, raising his gun and aiming it at the man's back. He didn't hear the footsteps approaching behind him... "Tell me how to cure those people and destroy the Grimm, now."

"Tch." The man turned around to face Adam, his eyes - one real, the other cybernetic - narrowed. The man looked haggard, and there was a wicked smirk on his face. Something in this man was bent and twisted, and Adam felt a sense of dread was over him as he stared at the madman. "Such ungratefulness... My daughter will have learn the price of her disobedience." Merlot suddenly raised his synthetic hand, a barrel for a small gun opening in the palm. "Won't you, Napa?" With that, Doctor Merlot fired a dart at Adam.

"Adam, look out!" A voice shouted, and a smaller figure suddenly ran up and shoved Adam out of the way, yelping in pain as the dart struck her shoulder. Jenna fell to the ground, passing out as the orange contents of the dart entered her bloodstream, and Adam looked back, his eyes widening beneath his ribbon.

"The Hell?!" Adam asked, horrified. "No!"

"... Stupid girl." Merlot spoke quietly, and Adam blinked, surprised, as he looked back at him. His tone had changed... Before Adam's eyes, the craze in Merlot's face melted away into concern. The bull-Faunus was too stunned to stop the scientist as he moved, walking over and getting down on one knee next to his unconscious daughter. "Her stubbornness has always astounded me, almost as much as it frustrates me." Merlot looked up at Adam, a wry grin on his face. "She gets it from her mother."

"... What was in that dart?" Adam demanded, his fists clenching. Merlot raised his hands in mild surrender.

"Calm down. It was the original formula, easy to cure." Merlot drew something from his pocket, and he held up a syringe of some pink substance. "We just have to administer this antidote before she wakes up, or things could get ugly..." Merlot noticed Jenna stirring. "Hold her down, then." The man blinked, then chuckled. "This is most-likely the only time a father has ever told a strange man to do that to his daughter."

"You really are crazy." Adam deadpanned, then he got down on one knee and went to reach out, but he paused. Merlot looked up at him, an eyebrow raised.

"Well... At least you're a bit of a gentleman when it comes to women." He noted, and Adam looked up at him with a scowl. "What?"

"How can you order me around so calmly, or make jokes?! You tried to turn me into an animal! I should tear you apart!"

"I would have changed you back, once my daughter stopped being such a pest." Merlot shrugged, seeming to think himself completely innocent. "Back when she was young, if she misbehaved, I wouldn't let her play with the tamed Beowolf pups - I'd release them from my control and make her fight them with nothing but what she currently had in her possession. Same thing, really."

"You are insane!"

"Tch." Merlot rolled his eyes. "Every genius in history has - at one time or another - been called insane, boy. I take that as a complement... Now, hold her down. I'm pretty sure that bulls are below wolves on the food chain, after all. Wouldn't want her trying to eat you, now would we? That would make things awkward."

"Tch." Adam grabbed Jenna's shoulders, the girl groaning softly in pain as Merlot injected the pink substance into her right arm. As she shifted, seeming uncomfortable, Merlot sighed and rested a hand on her face.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"You should be." Adam growled, and Merlot looked at him. "You have no idea... You have no idea, how scared she's been. No one should ever have to fear themselves like she fears herself... How could you do that to your daughter?" The scientist gazed at Adam for a long moment, then he stood up.

"... Take her, and go." Merlot spoke quietly, and he drew a remote with three buttons on it - one green button, one red button, and one orange button. He pressed the green one, and Adam watched as all of the green dots in the monitor behind him suddenly flickered and vanished. He pressed the orange button, and all of the orange lights turned brown before fading. His finger rested on the red button, and Merlot looked up. "It's over."

"Over?"

"The Grimm are dead, and the Faunus are cured." Merlot announced, and Adam's eyes widened. "There are one hundred and fifteen... See that they are returned to the mainland. And-" Merlot drew a syringe, gazing down at the blue liquid within it. "I managed to make a small batch of a prototype cure, but if it works: it will only be enough to cure just one of my children, not both of them. I wasn't able to figure out how to alter the formula to allow a bite to serve as a cure. There wasn't enough time..." Merlot looked up at Jenna, frowning at her. "... May I go to the fires of Hell, for inflicting such suffering on my greatest creations."

"What are you talking about?" Adam demanded as Merlot set the syringe on Jenna's lap. "You're not getting away that easily. You need to be put on trial for your crimes, and-"

"My boy, think." Merlot looked up at him. "If I am arrested, what will become of my research? Into whose hands will it fall? No, their goals will not be as pure as mine. They won't want peace - they'll want war, and I'll be damned a billion times before my work goes towards a war waged by those stinking politicians or those careless men in the White Fang... There is only one way to ensure that this all ends, for good." Merlot looked down at his remote, at the red button. "... My children grew up in a world where an injection I created could turn them into complete animals. I won't have them go on with that fear any longer. I'll destroy my work, my research - and myself with it. Only then will I achieve my greatest goal." Merlot looked at Jenna, then drew something else from his pocket: a small, old, worn, leather-bound book. He placed it in Jenna's lap, sighing, but a small smile crossed his lips. "... For my children, my beautiful lusus naturae, to have peace."

"Why do you call them that?" Adam asked, his eyes narrowing. "If you love them so much, why call them freaks?"

"Hm." Merlot gave a wry grin. "It's a shame you've grown up in a world where freak is an insult. I intended to rectify that, but alas: it was not meant to be... Young man, a freak is someone who stands out amongst the masses. A red blip on a screen overtaken by blue. They're different, but that's what makes them so remarkable." Adam blinked, surprised, as Merlot chuckled. "A freak is liberated due to the fact that they are not forced to conform to any crowd. They don't fit in anywhere, but they need not worry about fitting in - they're meant for so much more. A freak has a clearer, more precise perception of the world and of themselves, and that allows them to go beyond what the world thinks is possible and allows them to not only achieve their full potential but sweep past it and continue onwards... That was my hope for my children, ever since they were born. I wanted them and others like them and my wife to be more, and to be free to be more." Merlot calmed himself and gave a small smile. "Do try to think kindly of me in the future, if you will. I may have been thought of as only a madman and a monster, but boy - I was only acting as a man who could no longer sit back idly and watch the suffering of other living beings at the hands of his own kind, and as the father to two wonderful children who - without the truly right and just steps being taken - would always be treated as lesser beings and second-class citizens... Madmen and monsters aren't born, they're made. I became what I was fighting because, sometimes, that's what it takes to create change." Merlot looked down, frowning. "In the most cruel of cases, to make things right, you must take up the part of the villain. And once you achieve victory, you can only hope that the next man in line remains a hero as he works to defeat you and breaks the cycle."

"... Goodbye, Doctor Merlot." Adam spoke quietly, turning away. "And... Know that I don't wish Hell upon you." Merlot blinked, surprised. "Because, I believe that when it comes to protecting those that they care about, anyone with an ounce of humanity would have gone down a similar path to yours if they saw no other choice."

"Hm." Merlot gave a small smile, placing his hands - and the remote - in his lab-coat pockets as he watched Adam starting to walk away. "And what will your choice be, Major Taurus?" Adam blinked, surprised, then looked back. Merlot was facing his screens, watching footage of the cured Feral Faunus being freed and evacuated by the others as his mutated Grimm dissolved. A small, wistful smile was on his face, and he closed his eyes, sighing. "...

They call me sick, obsessed -

A madman with no proof...

I'll give the monster's life a use..." Adam knew that tune... As the old man sang, the bull-Faunus heard a beep, and he looked up as a countdown timer for fifteen minutes began on the screen, all of the monitors turning red. A siren went off, and a robotic woman's voice spoke.

:Warning.: She announced over the intercoms monotonely. :Total laboratory destruction will take place in fifteen minutes. Please, clear the area.:

Sam, Dora, and Anino looked up from the dissolving corpses of the Grimm with wide eyes, then Anino looked up at the two, his eyes narrowing.

"Run!" He ordered, beginning to flee, and the two teenagers followed him. Sam looked over at Dora, his eyes wide.

"Jenna and Adam?!"

"They'll have to get out on their own!" Dora replied, her eyes narrowing. "We have to get to the others and get out of here!"

Adam's eyes widened as he stared at the scientist in dismay, then he forced himself to look away as he turned and ran. Merlot gave a small smile as he heard the receding footsteps.

"Awaken my brood,

Today you will rise..." He drew something from his pocket and held it up. It was a picture of himself as a younger, kinder-looking man, beaming with his arms wrapped around a smiling woman with brown hair, reddish-brown eyes, and wolf-ears. A little boy with brown hair and purplish-blue eyes was on his shoulders, grinning as his ears perked up, his eyes on the little girl with frizzy brown hair, wine-colored eyes, and wolf ears held in the woman's arms. "

I've given you life,

My lusus naturae..." Merlot's human eye teared up as he beamed, holding the picture to his heart. "

Open your eyes..."

Fifteen.

Fourteen.

Thirteen.

Twelve.

Eleven.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

Adam looked back, his eyes widening, as Merlot's lab exploded in the distance. The shockwave was enough to knock several nearby trees over, and even Adam found himself close to being blown away. Once he righted himself, he looked up as the remains of the complex burned, stunned.

"He really did it..." Adam stared at the wreckage, then he looked down at his partner as she shifted. Her eyes fluttered open, and she weakly looked up at the burning remains of the lab.

"Father?" Napa Merlot asked quietly. Adam looked down at her with a twinge of pity, and her eyes closed again as she passed out.

... How did I make myself sad by killing off an evil character from a video-game?!

And why is that really all I have to note about this chapter, since everything else was pretty self-explanatory?!

*sigh*

Why do I do this to myself?

I only own my OCs. Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks! :)