Yadda yadda excuse as to why this took so long. Blah blah do we really need to do this every time? I think not.
But in all seriousness I am not, nor is this story, dead. I was focusing on life but now that I'm caught up I plan on getting the rest of this out. Thanks for sticking around people!
Enjoy the chapter and see y'all at the bottom!
"Okay I know you said that planning isn't your strong suit—"
"When did I say that?"
"Apologies, allow me to reiterate. Planning isn't your strong suit."
Adam glared at Jaune who only shrugged in response. The faunus grumbled and turned back to the layout of the White Fang stronghold that Fennec and Corsac had provided.
"I'm not saying it to be rude, but... Well..."
Jaune looked around, arms gesturing lazily around them. As in, to all of Menagerie. Adam grunted.
"I don't see your point."
"I know you don't. Hence my statement."
Growling, Adam jabbed a finger back down to the map. "What's wrong with what I suggested?"
"Adam," Sienna shook her head, "I know you're better than this."
Well he thought his plan was solid. Storm the front gate with the several huntsman level fighters they had and kill his crazy ex-girlfriend. It wasn't that hard to understand.
Jaune sighed. "What happens when, oh I dunno, we kick down the door and we're staring down the barrel of a tank since they could see us coming a mile away?"
"Then we'll be quiet. Or I'll destroy the tank."
"Adam, you're not thinking this all the way through."
"And why would you think that?"
Jaune pointed down to the area labeled as the throne room— which was already pretentious as is— and was circled with a red marker with 'bitch here' scrawled next to it in all caps.
Adam notably didn't meet Jaune's gaze.
"...It's an indicator."
"You're insane."
"What he means," Sienna cut in before Jaune could continue and get Adam going, "is that we need to think about more than the end goal."
He didn't only think about the end goal. He thought about different ways of fighting Blake when they confronted her, followed by all the ways he'd kill her after he was done fighting.
That being said, this meeting had gone nowhere, and Adam wasn't blind to that. Sighing, he crossed his arms and took a step back from the table.
"Fine. I'm open to suggestions."
Jaune threw his hands up and mouthed 'about time'. Sienna just shook her head with a fond smile.
"Of course you are," she purred, making him scowl harder. "If I may be so bold, have you run this by your motley crew yet?"
They all turned to a door at the far end of the room, on the other side of which one could hear the telltale signs of a little gremlin annoying the ever-loving shit out of Emerald.
"They're aware this is happening, just not how."
Sienna hummed. "Not to pass judgment without truly knowing them, but they seem like the sordid type. Why not let them plan the break-in part?"
Adam bit his lip. It wasn't that he doubted any of their abilities to figure out how to break into a heavily guarded bunker, it was that he doubted their ability to do so without making him go absolutely feral.
"At least ask Mercury and Emerald," Jaune suggested, "I know Roman is probably the dead ringer for this kind of thing, but dealing with him means dealing with her."
Of course. Neo. How could Adam forget? She was more likely to get them all killed for fun, likely being as insufferable as possible while they all died together.
"Right. Lesser of two evils, I suppose."
Jaune nodded. Sighing, Adam called the two in from the other room. There was a cry of 'thank god' before Emerald all but rushed into the room, Mercury following behind at a much more relaxed pace.
When it became obvious the two were going to stand there and stare expectantly, Adam grunted and pointed at the print on the table.
"We need you to get us into the White Fang stronghold without being noticed."
Mercury hummed noncommittally. "Sounds easy enough."
At Adam's unimpressed eyebrow, the assassin chuckled.
"Trust me bro, we've broken into more heavily guarded places."
"What? Where? What could possibly be more heavily guarded than—"
"Beacon."
"Touche. Okay, I'll leave this to you then."
Mercury looked over the schematics before turning to Sienna.
"Weird question, but do you know of any old war ordinance left around the island?"
Sienna raised an eyebrow and answered in a cautious tone. "... Yes... Why?"
"Kindly point me in the direction of those and I'll tell you. In the meantime, I've got an idea that'll probably— mostly— work, but we'll need to split up for it."
Emerald nodded enthusiastically. "Anything to keep me away from that little bastard." Neo waved happily from the other room.
Mercury grinned deviously.
"Actually..."
"I'm gonna kill him."
"Oh puh-lease! You're lucky you get to be partnered with these sweet cheeks for this yahoo-ass mission!"
Emerald and Neo were fast approaching the eastern side of the White Fang's base of operations. Mercury and Adam would be on the other side. When Emerald asked why they couldn't swap partners, Mercury assured her that there was a reason for it.
"Oh, by the way, you look like you got fat. Well, fat-er."
She wondered if the reason was his own personal entertainment at her loss of sanity. Either way, his nuts would be having a personal meeting with her metal knuckles later.
Upon reaching the fat eastern side, it became obvious why Emerald was needed.
"Da-yum! That's a big ass pit!"
Neo was right. It was a big ass pit. And it was far too wide for them to cross without triggering the land mines that Emerald could see at the bottom. That most definitely broke some form of peace-abiding, war crime-esque world laws, but she was pretty sure nobody in the White Fang was too nervous about that.
Aiming her arm, Emerald's hand shot out, latching on to the wall. Neo somersaulted through the air and landed on the cable connecting her hand to the rest of her arm, balancing like a trapeze artist. Emerald stared up at her scathingly.
"Get a good look while you're down there, Minty, this is the only time you'll see this fine ass so close."
Oh the temptation to let her arm go slack while Neo was over those mines. She wouldn't even flinch at the sound.
Instead Emerald grit her teeth and growled out the plan. "Remember to wait for the signal."
"Yeah yeah, I got it. Jeez, I'm not remedial!"
That was debatable, but Emerald didn't need Neo sticking around any longer to argue so she just watched as the little shit tightrope walked her way across her arm and to the walls of the base. Once there, Neo began scaling the wall, heading left towards the cell windows they were told to look out for. Once clear, Emerald hit the winch in her arm.
She went soaring across the pit before she too was latched to the masonry. She huffed as she started pulling herself up, going right instead as she headed for what would apparently be the hanger.
Neither would actually enter the premises until they got the signal. Emerald hoped that Neo would run out of stamina and fall to her demise before that happened.
SHHHHKU-FOOOOM!
Alas, as the entire base shook and that sounds echoed throughout the skies, that wouldn't happen today. Emerald pulled herself up, watching as droves of Fang members sprinted towards the entrance. Once they started petering out, she reeled her free arm back before slamming it through the reinforced window, penetrating the bars behind it as well.
Shaking the glass and metal from between her arms joints, she pulled herself through. She lightly tapped the headpiece she'd been given before they all separated, tuning into the frequency they'd set up.
"This is Emerald. I've breached. Heading to the hangar bay now."
"Agent Perfection, I'm all up in this bitch."
"This is Mercury. Broody and I are in on our side."
Another explosion rocked the whole fortress. She actually had to hold the wall to catch herself.
"Son of a bitch, Jaune! Ease up! You'll bring this place down!"
There was no response from the feed for a moment before there was a crackle. Unlike all of their own quiet spaces, the sounds of battle waged on like a historical war documentary.
"Okay, first of all, my bad. Second of all, only the first one was me. That time it was Roman."
Obviously Roman didn't respond, but another tremor reverberated through the building and she hissed. That was clearly Roman's reply.
"Easy Roman, we've only got so many of those shells, remember?"
Again, no verbal response was expected but they also didn't feel the whole base shaking again, so that was answer enough. Peeking around the corner, Emerald made way for the hangar.
Rounding a corner, she came face to face with a three-man patrol. Two with rifles, one with a sword.
"Intruder! They're in the base! Send word immediate—"
First guy with the rifle went down like a sack of rocks. Emerald blew the smoke from the end of her finger tip. You know, she'd always miss having real arms and all, but what she had now was pretty fucking rad. Gun arms was hard to beat.
"Shame," the pistons in the back of her arms made a chunky thunk sound as they rocked backwards, "Care to make this easy?"
She blocked a few bullets on her arms. Guess that was a no, then.
She ducked low as bullets glanced off her aura. Jumping against the wall, she propelled herself over their head, kneeing the one armed with a rifle in the nose. Hearing the crunch was one thing, feeling it against her knee was another. No time to worry about that right now.
When she landed she turned on her heel and threw her arm out. Just when her fist connected with the other grunts' chest, the piston in her elbow slammed forward, and her fist carried on like a bullet.
The man gasped for air, eyes wide under his mask. A moment later, said eyes rolled back and he collapsed.
As her arm cocked back into place, she continued on her way. Knowing who else had entered the premises, Emerald was almost positive she was the last person to get into a fight.
Adam watched Mercury pull one of his blades from the last grunt, flicking the blood off before retracting it. With a nod, they continued forward.
"So you're confident you can take this chick on your own?" Mercury asked as he casually strolled beside Adam.
Grunting, Adam checked the corner, seeing nothing and continuing onward. "I am capable of handling Blake by herself. She knows that too."
"Which means she won't be alone."
"Neither am I."
Mercury gave him a look that said 'who, me?' and batted his eyelashes.
"You're going to distract her right hand while I kill her."
"Man, you really want her dead, huh?"
Wanted? No. He never wanted it to happen like this. But she had crossed too many lines and it was clear she had no plans on stopping. If killing her was the only way she'd stop, then he would do what he had to.
"It is a necessity. Nothing more."
Shrugging they continued down the way they had planned. Mercury's idea was a simple one, really, and Adam was only slightly annoyed he hadn't thought of it himself.
Jaune, Sienna, and Roman, with the help of some heavy armament, were outside bombarding the place. Fennec and Corsac, who would already be inside, would be waiting with Blake under the guise of still being devoted to the White Fang. When Adam entered, they and Mercury would be sure Adam was left alone while he dealt with Blake.
In the event that Blake escaped, Emerald would be waiting in ambush in the hangar, sabotaging any vehicle or weapons she could find. Neo would be stalking the halls around the throne room, waiting to pounce as well as keeping other guards from coming in.
It was a passable plan, one that would hopefully get the job done. He could begrudgingly admit it was better than his full frontal assault, and everyone could agree it was better than Roman's plan of having Fennec and Corsac pretend to take them all in as prisoners. It wasn't a bad plan on its own, but when Fennec and Corsac had started salivating at being told they could tie him up, it had been shut down with the speed of god.
The stronghold shook once more. Adam grunted quietly while Mercury shook his head.
"At this rate they'll run out of shells before we make it."
Adam huffed through his nose. "Then let's not slow down."
They doubled their pace. Even from this deep in the base, they could hear the fighting outside. Adam couldn't fathom it. There were only three people out front, and they were fighting a small army of faunus fanatics. And winning if the sounds were anything to go by.
Rounding a corner the two were met with a giant door, one Adam knew meant they'd arrived at the throne room.
"This is it."
"Gaudy, huh?" Mercury looked up and down the doors. "Who was the architect trying to impress?"
"Considering this used to be a prison island for slaves and this was the prison? Probably not the faunus."
Mercury conceded to that. Still felt pretentious either way.
"So we just gonna kick this thing down or...?"
Adam shook his head. "Save the energy. We'll need it. Get in position."
Mercury nodded, literally melting away into the shadows. With a sigh, he looked straight ahead, steeling himself.
He pushed heavily on both doors, the large hinges groaning as they opened. Was it assuredness or ignorance that Blake has left the doors unbarred? Adam assumed a little of both.
He stood in the giant opening, facing down the long hall that made up the throne room. Large columns lined each side of the room, and at the end, the throne in question.
Sat atop it, legs crossed, was the very objective of this mission.
Even with the mask making her eyes invisible from this distance, he could feel Blake leering at him. On either side were no less than ten elite guards, likely veterans of the war and long time members of the White Fang. He recognized some of them, and it pained him to think that he may have to cut them down as well. He buried that feeling in his thunderous glare directed at Blake.
"You've come home Adam," Blake drummed her fingers along the armrest, "And you've brought company to our doorstep. Aren't you going to ask if they want to come in?"
He said nothing in response, striding slowly but steadily down the length of the room. He bit the inside of his lip. Fennec and Corsac weren't there. Had they been found? Had they betrayed him? He stowed his trepidation and kept marching.
"I should've known you couldn't face me on your own. You've grown weak. Dependent on lesser beings and those who are too weak to stand on their own."
Again he remained silent. He stopped when he was only a few paces away from the bottom of the stairs leading up to the throne.
"Speaking of which..." Blake snapped her fingers.
From an alcove to the left, Ilia and another elite came out, each restraining a fearful Albain brother. Adam grit his teeth. Looks like he was right with the first guess.
"Really Adam, did you think this would work? Not only did we find these two far too jumpy, but I've already received word that you've got more scum lurking our halls."
Fennec and Corsac looked at him hopefully. He hoped he wouldn't misplace that. They were insane, and he could hardly say he liked them, but they didn't deserve to die for his own indiscretions.
"I've come to end this, Blake."
"How righteous of you," she drawled, and he could tell she'd just rolled her eyes, "Tell me, how does it feel knowing your own kind hate you? That you're going against faunus everywhere for your own foolish ideals?"
No reaction. She was just trying to get to him. It was a cheap tactic, and one he wouldn't let work on him. That didn't mean he couldn't do the same.
"The faunus in Vale would be hard pressed to agree. It was you who destroyed so many of their homes. They may hate you more than Atlas."
He saw the way her jaw set. She always had been easy to rile up. It was one of her many defining flaws that made her unfit to lead.
She waved a hand and the Albain brothers were brought to their knees. She stood slowly, stalking back and forth but never letting her eyes leave him.
"You know Adam, you could've been someone. Someone special, someone important, someone loved." She stopped moving and faced him bodily. "So why did you choose this?"
Again he wouldn't ride to her barbs. She always was the type to try and beat people down with shock or passion just to have the last word. It was a manipulative and shameful tactic that she'd never grown out of.
"Your silence is telling. You're just as lost now as you were when you left the Fang."
"And you're just as incapable of getting to the point."
She laughed humorlessly, and Adam had to hold in a scoff at how much of a trope she was. Seriously, she read too many novels.
"You're a card, Adam, I'll give you that." The fake smile fell from her face, and without looking she spoke to the guards behind her. "Kill them."
Adam opened his mouth to shout, but before he could, a dagger had been driven into both Albains chests. They gasped, eyes wide as their pupils dilated. Blood began to soak through their hoods and Adam could do nothing but stare.
"See the consequences of your actions, Adam," Blake looked down her nose at him.
Both brothers looked him in the eyes and he could do nothing but lower his head slightly and clench his whole body. If he ran in full rage, he'd be at a disadvantage.
The brothers looked at each other, realization dawning on their faces. Nodding, they both reached in their cloaks. Turning back to Adam, he noted the grim determination in their eyes. What were they doing?
"F-for..." Fennec wheezed out, getting Blake's unamused attention.
"Spare us the—"
Fennec and Corsac didn't let her finish, both ripping their cloaks open to reveal the absolutely unreal amount of explosives tied to them underneath.
"FOR THE FANG!"
"FOR THE FAUNUS!"
Both brothers pulled a wire at the same time, a beep resounding throughout the hall. They both screamed in unison.
"FOR ADAM!"
Despite his distance, Adam was thrown back halfway across the throne room as the explosion from both men briefly turned the raised platform into a small sun. It was blinding and deafening, and the heat radiating from it was oppressive.
He stared in shock once the light faded, noting the smoking heap at the bottom of the steps. All the elites from before were dead, Ilia was reduced to a painting on the wall, and there weren't any indicators that Fennec and Corsac had ever even been up there in the first place besides the fire that remained where they'd once knelt.
Insanity be damned, you two were damn good men.
Adam sent a silent prayer for a safe travel to the afterlife for the brothers. It wasn't the way they'd planned it, but the two had taken care of the guards all the same. The heap at the bottom of the steps hissed and stood, the mask on Blake's face shattered and falling off as she rose.
"Those bastards!" she roared. "As much a pain in death as they were in life!"
She turned to him and tore her weapon free. Leveling the blade at him, she growled.
"Enough of this! I'm sick of you and everyone you associate with! You're a poison in my life and it's time to be rid of you!"
With that said, she waited no longer, said no more, sprinting at him fast enough to clear the distance in just a few seconds.
The fight was on now.
The first slash was blocked easily enough, as were the next few. When the shadow clones started coming out from multiple directions, it was a little harder to keep up an airtight defense.
He hissed as she stabbed at him from the left, narrowly moving out of the way enough that it glanced off of his midsection. It still ground against his aura, and rather than pull back, she pushed forward, shoulder checking him.
Due to the awkward angle, he was pushed off stance. By the time he righted himself and turned to swing, she was gone again. He kept himself tense, knowing that she could attack from any direction.
The slight change in the air told him she'd just jumped, and without hesitation he rolled forward as she came down from above in an attempt to behead him.
"You're sharp as ever Adam. Different from last time, now that you aren't being dragged down by some human."
"And you talk as much as always, so I see nothing's changed on your part."
Tutting, she rushed in again. Some would question such a choice, see it as foolish to engage him in close quarters only, but Adam knew it was a strategic move on her part. Her own range was nothing that he couldn't handle, and so rather than waste the time, she would focus on what she could manage.
He rolled back as she swept in with both blades extended, one of them catching his cheek. He'd lost focus there, not something he'd do again.
He retaliated full force, holding nothing back in an attempt to end this swiftly. His swings were fast and heavy, forcing Blake to dodge more than she could block or parry. Multiple times she would let a clone take the hit for her and in turn he'd do a full spin to cover every angle.
She growled harshly, sounding like it hurt her throat. "Why Adam?"
"Why did you have to leave?"
For just a moment he froze. What had she said?
He stared at her warily, watching as she kept her guard up but didn't attack.
"Why did you leave me Adam?"
He didn't make any move, but didn't lose his stance.
He was done trying to say it was because of anything else.
"I left because of you."
Again she just stared through him, breathing heavily.
"... Everything was perfect Adam. Why... Why did you have to ruin it!?"
"You call whatever we had perfect?" he glared, "Scarred as you are, even you should be able to see that nothing was even close to 'perfect'."
The low, throaty noise she made was reminiscent of the sound of a cat when it was about to pounce.
"Like you were any better! You're as guilty as I am!"
"No, I'm not, and I won't stand here and let you try and convince me of that."
He rushed in again, done with her impromptu breakdown. If her goal was to try and catch him off guard, she failed. He'd been thinking about this fight for far too long.
And if her growl of indignation was anything to go off, that whole thing was a ruse anyways. He was already right in front of her when he noticed her off hand coming around.
Thinking she was trying to catch him with a hook, he ducked. Unfortunately, it wasn't her hand he should've worried about, it was what was in her hand he needed to dodge.
Her fingers splayed and he couldn't close his eyes in time for the cloud of black powder to cover his face.
"Argh!" He snapped backwards and cleared as much distance as he could while blinded. His eyes burned and he could barely see the shapes in the room. The one thing he could make out without fail was the lights in the room.
He bit down on the pain when he felt something sharp dig into his arm. He backed off and swung but hit nothing.
He gasped out loud when he felt something pierce through the side of his abdominals. Sweeping his own blade in a wide arc to ward his attacker away, he knew that now was the time he'd been waiting for.
He waited, ignoring the pain in his eyes to listen closely instead. Blake was silent now, a smart move on her part. He heard a scuff to his left and turned quickly, facing the light to his right.
"Now!"
He couldn't see it, but he definitely heard Blake's cry of surprise.
Mercury sprung forth from his shadow, blocking the attack meant for his back. The assassin faced Blake, blades drawn and the same smirk in place as usual.
"So you're the chick responsible for torching Vale? I was expecting someone more... Scary?"
"Oh I assure you—"
"I mean seriously, you dress like you saw someone at a rave and made it your whole life."
"I'll have you know the monotones represent—"
Mercury tried and failed to hold in a laugh.
"Are— are you lowering your voice when you talk?"
"Wha— no! That's not even... Why would I even do that?"
"Oh man you totally are! God you're pathetic."
"ENOUGH!"
Blades clashed in rapid succession. Where Adam was heavy handed and focused on swift strikes, Mercury was fast and relentless. He never stopped moving, throwing attacks just for the sake of making Blake have to react to them.
A jab to the side, a kick to the shin, a stab here, a stab there. It's like he had no intention of actually hitting her. Everything he did was just meant to hurt and agitate, but it was all superficial.
"What's your plan, scum?"
"Is that the only insult you have? It's all scum this, scum that. Seriously, you don't have anything better?"
He punctuated his statement by jamming the hilt of his blade into her stomach. She kicked him back but growled at how slippery he was. The two were just dancing around each other at this point, the only difference being that Mercury was getting under her skin more than she was for him.
"You won't win this fight."
"I don't have to."
Blake faltered at that, baffled in trying to figure out what he meant. She saw his eyes drift to look behind her. Realization came too late, her eyes widening as she turned to block—
An attack that never came.
"What—"
Then she felt a heavy slash across her back. Crying she fell forward, rolling and turning, expecting to see Adam.
Instead it was still just Mercury.
"Man I can't believe you fell for that! Adam was right, you really are slow!"
Blake cried out in rage, rushing headlong at the man. She feigned left, a clone taking her place as she went right. Mercury just stood there, grinning lazily. He waved to her right before she was upon him.
The he melted away.
"GRAH! WHERE'D YOU GO!?"
She gasped when she felt a hand grab her ankle. Looking down was all she could do, seeing a hand reaching out of her shadow as if it were water. She was left upended when the assassin leapt from the shadow, her ankle still in his grasp. She landed flat on her back and wheezed.
She tried to get up, but a foot was planted harshly on her stomach. She looked up from it, seeing Adam, his eyes bloodshot but clear, glaring down on her.
"We're done here Blake."
"We'll never be done! As long as I draw breath, I'll never stop fighting for the faunus!"
Adam stared at her, a plethora of emotions playing across his face. She reached for her weapon but Mercury kicked it away.
He smirked like the bastard he was. "Oops."
She hissed at him, dragging her eyes to look back at Adam.
"Do you think this is enough? That I won't find a way to escape whatever cell you put me in?"
She ignored Mercury's snort, Adam staring down at her just as before. She scoffed.
"This isn't over Adam. I'll only rally more faunus, and when I do, I'll make sure that you and all you hold dear—"
She gasped. Looking down at her own chest, she tried to understand what she was seeing. She looked up at Adam, looking him in the eyes as sorrow played in his face.
"I'm not sorry for doing this, but I'm sorry it had to be done."
"You..."
She felt heavy and light all at once. Everything was blurring, but the only thing she still saw clearly was the man holding the sword through her body.
She reached up towards him. He didn't move. Didn't wrench or twist the blade, didn't reach back. She opened her mouth to try and say anything. No words came, so she just kept reaching for the man above her.
She didn't notice when her arm fell and everything went silent.
Jaune lifted a man twice his size and bowled him through an oncoming brigade. The man-turned-cannonball cleaved his way through the mass of soldiers, leaving them all in a heap.
"Hang in there you two! I'm sure Adam is almost done!"
Sienna was running on fumes. "After all of this... You are telling me... Why you're so strong!"
Roman had long since run out of the shells for the frankly massive fashioned cannon, having attempted to bring down the stronghold. The structure was still standing, but there was now a giant hole in the side that would serve as a reminder of their attack.
Jaune kept on the front lines, keeping as many of the Fang at bay as he could. Any who slipped through were dealt with by Roman and Sienna, but there had been a lot of soldiers and Jaune was one man, regardless of skill. He was fit to keep going, but if Sienna or Roman got taken unawares, the situation would change quickly.
The waves of Fang were clearly exhausting themselves too, but they far outnumbered the three of them.
Jaune kept on fighting, pushing faunus back and doing his best not to crush any under foot— or shield when the occasion called for it— making sure to look out for Adam in the din. When Adam returned, it'd mean they'd succeeded.
The army of faunus stilled. It wasn't all at once, Jaune and the faunus at the front lines were still fighting when it started. But eventually it reached the soldiers closest to them, and Jaune stopped with them. There were murmurs that Jaune couldn't make out, but the gasps emanating needed no defining.
The crows parted, and as they did, Jaune made out the fiery red hair of Adam, marching their way. In his arms was a body, and while he'd never met her, Jaune could only assume it was Blake.
Adam finally reached them, nodding at Jaune, who returned it. The blonde offered his arms and Adam gently allowed him to take the body. Adam turned to the swarm of faunus looking among them as they all stared back, expressions covered by their masks.
"Faunus of the White Fang!" Adam's voice was raw and powerful, "Your leader has fallen! Stop fighting unless you wish to follow!"
It wasn't a hard choice. Most of the faunus were already tired of fighting, but the threat of death was also a good incentive.
Weapons were thrown down and Adam stepped aside to let Sienna take the lead. As she addressed the crowd, Adam sighed and rubbed his face. Jaune didn't know if he should try talking to him, especially while holding a dead woman in his arms.
The easy solution was to lay Blake's body down on the ground and take his position next to Adam. He looked at him from the corner of his eye, watching as Adam stared blankly among the army.
"So," Jaune started awkwardly, not sure how to approach this particular conversation, "Where's the others?"
Adam didn't look his way when he answered. "Mercury is gathering them. They'll be along shortly."
Jaune nodded. How does one go from this to 'are you okay after killing your ex?'
"If it's all the same to you," Adam interrupted his train of thought, "Can we discuss this some other time?"
Jaune nodded and gave him a smile, resting a hand on his shoulder. Adam gave him an appreciative nod back and closed his eyes. Jaune turned and watched as Sienna continued to talk down the gathered faunus.
The day after their attack on the White Fang was hectic.
The faunus of Menagerie weren't deaf to the battle that was waved the night before. After all, shaking an entire building as large as the Fang base wasn't something that could be done silently. Many thought they were under attack again.
When Sienna had addressed the public, it only shifted the commotion from fear of attack to fear of change.
Sienna saw no reason to lie to the people, and told them that the White Fang as they knew it had been dismantled. Many of the members would not face severe punishment, but there were still quite a few, the faunus who were directly involved in planning and executing the attack on Vale wouldn't get off so lightly. Still, Menagerie would be undergoing a shift soon, one that nobody had any say in or time to prepare for.
For Adam, he was taking the time to sort through his thoughts.
Adam sighed as he held where he'd been stabbed through. He was lucky Blake had either wanted him to suffer or just outright missed, and Jaune had been able to heal him. Apparently mending the wound did not mean the pain would completely vanish.
In a way, he almost felt like he deserved the pain. Blake was undoubtedly cutthroat and her intentions were nothing less than malicious, but in the end, when she had been reaching for him, he could see right through the mask to the same girl he'd known for all those years.
Sienna assured him she'd be buried, but told him that her grave would be unmarked, to prevent any who were particularly spiteful from desecrating it. He was fine with that. She didn't deserve any accolades or fanfare. She'd be laid to rest invisibly.
The Albain brothers, on the other hand, would be receiving a ceremony. He'd promised to speak at it as well. It felt like the least he could do for them. If only they were still alive to see it, they'd probably be over the moon.
In his lap was something he'd been staring at since last night. He stared down at the dark blade. Gambol Shroud had been a weapon that he had helped Blake forge. He knew it as well as she did, at least on a composite level. Running a hand along the cleaver like blade, his mind ran rampant with the moment he drove Wilt through her heart.
A knock at the door wasn't even acknowledged, and when Jaune walked in, the blonde made sure to remain silent. He stood by, letting Adam have his moment. Rather than push for any words, he set down a cup of tea on the table beside him, gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and walked out of the room again.
How had he ended up with such good friends? He'd have to find a way to repay the champion. Jaune had put up with more of his shit than anyone should have.
He let out a breath, ignoring how it shuddered and setting the blade aside. He closed his eyes and leaned back, trying to steady his mind. In a way, he found it ironic.
All this time he'd been vying for Blake's head, the most vocal that her death was the only way this would end. And yet now that it had been done, he couldn't help but wonder if there could have been a better way. He didn't regret killing her, but he certainly regretted never looking for another way.
Could he even say he actually tried his best for her when he didn't even humor the thought of sparing her?
He lifted the cup of tea to his lips slowly, allowing the steam to run over his face for a moment before he took a sip.
Perhaps what had him the most rattled was how swiftly she had died. He was no stranger to death, and he knew that things didn't happen like they did in movies or whatnot. Yet he still has been expecting Blake's death to be more explosive than it was.
He sighed, ignoring the rasp in his throat and the sting as he blinked. It was almost funny that, even after killing her, she was still a pain in his ass.
"Damn it Blake." He hunched forward, eyes glaring through the floor. His hands came up and he held his face, not noticing the wetness that he felt. He did all he could to tell himself he'd done the right thing, that he was happy with this decision. He told himself that eventually, he'd be able to see that this truly was the only way things could've ended.
He sat there and, for the first time in a long time, allowed the tears to just fall.
First chapter in a while and I end it with angst. You're welcome.
I've been sitting on this one for a while. I hated how it kept coming out but for the life of me I couldn't make it happen better. With how I set things up, I realized far too late that I backed myself into a corner where Blake just wasn't that threatening and I needed to get rid of her to keep going.
Did I have to kill her? I think so. The thing about a character who's lost themselves to a cause is that even if you take pity, they'll just come back and do it all again. Unfortunately, sometimes death is the only way they'll ever stop. I mean this for fictional characters and not, you know, real, living people.
On that incredible dour note, I've got another story in the making still. I'll let you know what it's about in due time, but for now, thanks for still being here.
Stay safe out there and have a wonderful time!