The next few days were a bit of a blur for Adam, that morning his team had been worried that he had disappeared without a word, after explaining he was only training before class the others decided they would join him going forwards. Ruby even ordered it as 'team leader' to make them grow closer as a team.

Aries and Capri had taken to doing their own training before and after classes, 'to let off steam' was the reasoning. Though Adam knew that Daiki joined them, he didn't interfere.

Since that first encounter Adam hadn't seen the woman dressed in white again. Even though in the mornings he'd spend a few minutes checking the hallways while the girls dressed.

The rumors had spread rapidly, everywhere they went eyes and whispers followed, none brave enough to directly confront Adam but all whispering nasty things about him.

"Violent animals."

"Feral beast."

"Dirty-blooded filth."

And other such whispered insults that made Adam seethe, lashing out and building a reputation on fear… the easy path called to him. Then he looked to his teammates and his siblings and endured. While they shared the names, faces, and maybe even similar pasts of those from his world, they weren't his old enemies. Even Blake failed to elicit the same obsessed rage he once held in his heart.

Things were general acceptable amounts of disgust, distrust, and hatred, at least until Friday afternoon when things exploded once again. Things spiraled further after the news had gotten a hold of both the picture of him and Weiss leaving Professor Port's classroom and a poorly shot video clip of Adam fighting Aries. The end of the fight was the only thing circulating, Adam getting punched in the face before tackling Aries and bashing him into the stone walkway.

A group of older students surrounded their table during dinner.

"So the rumors are true? You walk this beast around with a leash?" The older male student sneered, his voice dripping with disdain as he loomed over Weiss. "Or you got him whipped a different way?"

Yang's fists clenched at her sides, her eyes blazing with a fiery rage that threatened to consume her. "How dare you speak to us like that?" she spat, her voice trembling with fury.

Weiss felt a cold knot of fear tightening in her chest, her hands trembling as she struggled to find her voice amidst the onslaught of insults. The air around them crackled with tension, thick with the weight of their tormentors' hatred and prejudice.

"I'm just saying, this beast must have been broken somehow," the older student continued, his gaze lingering on Yang's form with a lecherous gleam in his eyes. "And none of you look to be physically overpowering... so you must have used... another way."

The words hung in the air like a toxic cloud, poisoning the atmosphere with their venomous intent. Ruby's attempts to defuse the situation fell on deaf ears, her pleas drowned out by the cacophony of cruelty that surrounded them. Each of the older students giving their own insults at the quartet.

Adam's voice cut through the chaos like a blade, his tone icy and hard as steel. "Enough."

The older students faltered, momentarily taken aback by the edge in Adam's voice. But their hesitation was short-lived, replaced by a renewed sense of aggression as they squared their shoulders and prepared to strike back."Oh, the bull wants to protect his..." The older student's words trailed off, as if giving a dramatic pause, a sly smirk curling at the corners of his lips as he dared to taunt Adam once more.

But before he could finish his sentence, Adam moved with lightning speed, his hand shooting out to grip the older student's collar in a vice-like grip. His eyes blazed with a hatred deeper than any the young man had faced before. The young face of Adam Szarvak did not match the eyes of Adam Taurus that burned through, the vicious killer threatening to make a return.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with," Adam growled, his voice low and dangerous. "But let me make one thing clear. You will not disrespect us. You will not insult us. And you will most certainly not lay a hand on any member of my team. If you do… you will lose that hand."

The older students recoiled, their bravado crumbling, none of them expected there would be retaliation. Hadn't they been just hunkering down under the insults before?

"Of course an animal like you can only react one way." The boy somehow gained the courage to spit back, literally as a glob landed on Adam's face.

Adam lost it at this point, his free hand clenched tightly into a fist and… stopped. Someone was gripping his arm. Adam tried to shake them off, it had to be one of the boy's allies, battering them with his elbow.

"Adam!" Weiss' voice cut through the red haze in his mind, "Stop!"

"Please Adam!" Ruby's voice pleaded with him.

Adam's eyes flicked behind him seeing the two small girls both holding his arm in place. Yang was on her feet though eyes glowing angry crimson, her own fists ready to start flying. If Adam took the lead to start a fight she would follow his charge. Honestly unarmed Adam gave his team poor odds, Weiss and Ruby would easily be overpowered by their attackers, then he and Yang would be drowned in numbers.

Slowly his fist unclenched, though the rage lingered in his heart, smoldering now instead of blazing. The hand holding the other student loosened and he gave a light shove. "Get out of here while I'm still being reasonable."

Adam took a moment to memorize the faces of the boys around them… they might suffer some unfortunate accidents in the near future. "I knew they had you by the balls." The boy taunted as he took a couple steps back, Adam took a single step forwards.

"Don't…" Weiss said softly.

Adam's chest heaved with the effort to control the tempest raging within him, the urge to lash out clawing at the edges of his restraint. He felt the weight of his team's pleading gazes, their silent pleas, the same looks Blake once held when they attacked targets and he cut them down mercilessly. A shuddering breath to attempt to calm himself.

The older students sneered, their faces contorted with contempt as they backed away, their bravado crumbling in the face of Adam's burning hatred that followed them with his eyes. They exchanged knowing glances, then their disdainful laughter echoed through the Cafeteria, lingering in the air like a bitter aftertaste as they turned around to leave.

Adam's jaw clenched, his fists trembling with the effort to contain his fury. He felt the heat of Yang's anger radiating beside him, her crimson eyes ablaze with a fiery anger that mirrored his own.

But as the older students retreated, their insults still ringing in his ears, Adam knew that the battle was far from over.

"What gave them the courage to act like that?" Adam growled, he looked around and only then did he notice that both Team JDSN and BLNA were absent from the Cafeteria, no allies. There were several other first year teams but they looked away when his eyes landed on them.

"Cowards," he spat before turning back to the table to grab a napkin to wipe off his face. However Weiss held out a small white cloth towards him. "No thank you." Adam refused on instinct.

"It'll be more gentle than the napkins… just take it." Weiss insisted, Adam rolled his eyes but did as she asked, unfolding the handkerchief before wiping his face off with it. "You… did good holding yourself back."

"We could have taken them!" Yang said suddenly, her body was still showing signs she wanted to fight.

"We could have… They couldn't." Adam pointed at Weiss and Ruby with his free hand. "Is it worth Ruby getting hurt?"

Yang paused, her eyes flickering before turning their normal lilac color, "No, I couldn't live with myself if Ruby got hurt."

"Hey!" Weiss complained, they were both seemingly ignoring the idea of her getting hurt.

"You too, Ice Queen." Yang said, a bit of a smile creeping onto her face.

"Better." Weiss huffed, but she glanced at Adam expecting him to say something. He didn't. With a sigh Weiss shook her head, "I'm sorry, this is because of that stupid picture, it's my fault."

Adam shrugged and waved a hand, the other putting the handkerchief in his pocket, "No, if it was someone else besides someone like me this would not be happening." Reaching up he ran his hands along his horns, "The world is a much more cruel place than you three might have expected." It sounded cruel, even in his ears, but he was upset and his blood was still up.

"Guys… let's just go back to the dorm, okay?" Ruby suggested she was still uncomfortable acting like a leader, made worse by the fact her older sister was one of her teammates. After a few seconds everyone just nodded and began to gather up their half-eaten dinner plates, and as a team they made their way out of the Cafeteria under the watchful eyes of the students inside.

Adam split away from the girls after they got to the dorm, he claimed he needed to shower which was partially true, but in truth he needed some time alone. Entering the showers he walked around to check for any other students, it wouldn't be good to have his brand exposed especially with all of the current rumors. After ensuring his privacy he stripped down to a towel and entered one of the shower stalls.

Running cold water he stood there, trying to physically cool his rage with the water. Hands gripped tightly into fists so hard he could feel his nails biting into his skin. "Why?" he muttered, the rage building, "Why should I care? Why did I do that?" A bang rang out as he struck the stall wall with a fist, not enough to damage it luckily.

They were all humans… this wasn't his world… his 'siblings' were fakes, duplicates created solely to give him credibility here… and yet, he cared about them. Adam should have had a field day chopping heads and cutting down these would be heroes during the Initiation, and instead he gave Weiss his shoes and carried her. Apollo and Artemis claimed there would be punishments if he didn't do as they instructed, however he had already lost everything. What more could they take from him?

His life?

At this point he wasn't even himself anymore. His own thoughts, emotions, and actions betrayed who he once was.

Another boom as he struck the wall again, no Aura protecting his body as he released his anger. Red stained the steel for a moment before being rinsed away.

"What is the purpose?! Why do I care?! Why?!" Adam voiced his grievances as he slammed his fist into the wall once more, the steel frame giving slightly.

"You don't…" the slimy voice croaked from the back of his mind, "You are just afraid. You don't want to die, and have just convinced yourself that you are different. You aren't, you are nothing more than a caged and leashed animal hoping for one more day, a stay of execution. Hero of the Faunus? Ha! You were just a mad dog that needed to be put down."

Adam growled at the insinuation of the voice in his mind, but he couldn't refute it.

The second voice chimed in, more gentle but tinged with heavy sadness. "You are here to make a difference. Change their fates as yours has been. Destiny has called you to your end once, will you obey or defy it. The strings of fate no longer bind your soul, you are free to live as you see fit. A savior or destroyer? A villain or a hero? This is a second chance, be the Adam you dreamed of being."

"Enough!" Adam shouted with a final boom as the shower stall wall warped and his knuckles split open, the water by his feet now tinted pink.

The hoped for peace of being alone was destroyed by his own intrusive thoughts. Adam turned off the water while he activated his Aura with a thought, the torn skin on his knuckles slowly knitting itself back together. Yanking open the shower curtain he stepped out and let out a snarl! A blonde boy was standing there, towel around his waist and several items in a shower bag. The boy's eyes flicked to Adam's face then down to his chest, and twice more this happened in the span of seconds before his gaze locked onto the brand.

"Ugggh-!"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off as Adam rushed him, hand closing tightly around his throat. Adam slammed the boy into a nearby set of lockers and held him there. Slowly it dawned on him that he was currently attacking Jaune, Capri and Pyrrha's team leader.

Jaune's terrified eyes stared back into his own wild eyes that verged on madness. Seeing his own reflection Adam hesitated, was he a monster? Is that the deepest depths of his being?

Jaune struggled against Adam's iron grip, his face contorted in a mixture of fear and confusion. He gasped for air, his hands clawing desperately at Adam's fingers, but to no avail. "A-Adam! What… are… you doing?!" He struggled to gasp out.

Adam's grip loosened slightly, his fingers releasing their vice-like hold on Jaune's throat. He stepped back, his chest heaving with the effort to regain control of his emotions. The echoes of his rage reverberated through the empty showers, his fingers flexed several times, a voice whispering in his mind to finish the job, kill this pathetic human weakling.

"I'm sorry… forget you saw me here tonight." Adam said, his voice hoarse and ragged, his inner turmoil bubbling to the surface. "All of it." Without waiting for a reply Adam strode away, grabbing up his clothes and rapidly changing into them and leaving the shower room.

Jaune stood bent over, gasping to regain his breath and trying to calm down from what had just happened. Adam and Aries had always been a bit difficult to get along with, Jaune just assumed it was just because they were different, but seeing Adam like this, things made more sense. "SDC? Like… oh no…" Jaune wasn't sure what to do, Adam had attacked him because he saw it, but was he just supposed to keep quiet about this? Maybe Capri knew what to do, it was about her brother after all.

Weiss paced the dorm room, her mind swirling with a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. Ruby and Yang had gone to shower as well but she couldn't stop replaying the scene from before. The insults, the taunts, the whispered rumors—they gnawed at her conscience, leaving her feeling vulnerable and exposed.

Just as she sank onto the edge of her bed, her scroll buzzed with an incoming call. With a hesitant breath seeing the name on the screen, she answered, steeling herself for whatever awaited on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Weiss," came the smooth, polished voice of her father, Jacques Schnee, the head of the Schnee Dust Company. His image flickered to life on her scroll, his stern visage framed by the glow of the screen.

"Father," Weiss replied, her voice tinged with a hint of apprehension. She flinched unconsciously while she braced herself for the inevitable lecture or reprimand that often accompanied their conversations.

Jacques' expression softened slightly as if surprised she had answered the call, though the steely resolve in his eyes remained unchanged. "I heard about the... incident with that Faunus boy," he began, his tone measured and controlled. "It's unfortunate that you find yourself subjected to such scrutiny."

Weiss nodded, her gaze falling to her clasped hands in her lap. The weight of her father's expectations bore down upon her, a constant reminder of the burdens she carried as a member of the Schnee family.

"I can make this all go away, Weiss," Jacques continued, his voice smooth as silk. "I have the resources, the connections. I can clean up these rumors, sweep them under the rug, so to speak."

Weiss felt a flicker of hope stir within her chest at the prospect of relief from the relentless rumors and attacks from not just the newspapers and tabloids but the other students as well. However those feelings changed as Jacques outlined his plan, her hope quickly turned to apprehension.

"You see, my dear, in situations like these, sacrifices must be made," Jacques explained, his words laced with thinly veiled manipulation. "We must find a scapegoat, someone to bear the brunt of the scrutiny while you emerge unscathed."

Weiss felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach as she listened to her father's words. She knew all too well the lengths to which Jacques would go to protect the Schnee name, to maintain their façade of perfection.

"And who do you propose as this scapegoat?" Weiss asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jacques' gaze hardened, his eyes boring into hers with a chilling intensity. "Adam Szarvak, your teammate from the photograph," he replied, his tone devoid of emotion. Weiss' eyes went wide, he already knew his name, "He's already an outsider, an outcast from my reports. It wouldn't be difficult to spin a narrative of coercion, of blackmail. That he had forced the relationship onto you, so to speak."

Weiss felt her heart sink at the mention of Adam's name. Their partnership had always been fraught with some tension, a delicate balance of conflicting ideals and opposing viewpoints, in spite of all that Adam had yet to turn his back on her since they became partners. To throw him to the wolves, to condemn him to the same fate she sought to escape... it felt wrong, fundamentally wrong, a true betrayal.

"I... I don't know, Father," Weiss stammered, her voice trembling with uncertainty. "Adam may not be perfect, but he's still my teammate. My friend, in a way."

Jacques' expression hardened, his patience wearing thin. "Weiss, my dear, you must understand the gravity of the situation," he insisted, his voice taking on a sharper edge. "This is about protecting the Schnee legacy, ensuring your future. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made for the greater good."

Weiss fell silent, her thoughts swirling in turmoil. The weight of her father's expectations pressed down upon her, threatening to suffocate her under their suffocating embrace.

But as she looked into the cold, unyielding gaze of Jacques Schnee, she knew that the choice before her was not an easy one. Sacrifice Adam to save herself, or defy her father's wishes and stand by her teammate, come what may.

Jacques' voice echoed in her mind, his words lingering like a specter in the stillness of the night. She was unable to make the decision one way or the other, a look of dissatisfaction flashed across Jacques' face.

"Weiss," Jacques' voice took on a harder tone as he let out a sigh of disappointment, "I had hoped for a more decisive response from you. Nevertheless, I have taken the liberty of making the necessary arrangements to ensure that the tabloids shift their focus onto Adam Szarvak. Consider it a preemptive measure to safeguard your reputation and the interests of the Schnee family."

Weiss felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she heard her father's voice, her hands trembling with a mixture of relief and unease. Jacques' words hung in the air like a silent condemnation, a reminder of the power he wielded over her life, her future.

"By Monday every single mudslinger and two-bit tabloid journalist will have dragged his name through the muck, while you will be as untouched as virgin snow."

Weiss remained silent, her mind racing as she processed her father's words. The called had been nothing more than a test, one it seems she had failed.

"If this boy is, as you say, your friend then perhaps we can, in the future… give him some reward, for his selfless sacrifice. Nothing overt or excessive, a well paid guard, maybe a sergeant to show our magnanimity. Letting bygones be bygones."

Weiss listened to her father's words, the weight of his expectations bearing down on her like a heavy burden. The idea of rewarding Adam for a sacrifice he didn't even know he was making felt like adding insult to injury, a hollow attempt to assuage her guilt and absolve themselves of responsibility.

"Father, I..." Weiss began, her voice faltering as she struggled to find the right words. She wanted to speak out, to defy her father's manipulation and stand by her teammate, but the fear of disappointing him held her back.

With a hint of impatience flickering in his eyes Jacques spoke again. "Weiss, my dear, I understand that this may be difficult for you to accept," he said, his voice tinged with a note of condescension. "But trust me when I say that this is for the best. Think of it as an opportunity to show your loyalty to the family, to prove yourself worthy of the Schnee name."

Weiss felt a surge of frustration and anger welling up inside her, the realization dawning that her father's expectations were nothing more than chains binding her to a life she didn't want. She wanted to scream, to lash out against the suffocating confines of her gilded cage, but the fear of reprisal held her tongue.

"Very well, Father," Weiss replied, her voice heavy with resignation. "I will trust in your judgment."

"As you should, I only do this for you."

As the call ended, Weiss was left alone in the oppressive silence of the dorm room, the weight of her father's expectations pressing down upon her like a suffocating blanket. With a heavy heart, she sank onto her bed, her thoughts consumed by the impossible choices that lay ahead. Tears threatened to overwhelm her as she lay there, alone, the betrayal of her partner done with just a few words. How could she face him knowing what she had agreed to?

After several minutes and with a deep breath she sat up and threw her scroll across the room before grabbing her things, deciding a shower was in order. However when she stepped outside she fell to her knees in shock and horror. Piled outside the room's door was a wet towel and a men's uniform. "No, no…"

Weiss stared at the pile of clothing outside her dorm room door, her heart sinking with dread. The sight of the wet towel and the men's uniform sent a shiver down her spine, a chilling and sudden reminder of the choices she had made and the consequences she now faced.

Trembling, she reached out to pick up the items, her fingers brushing against the damp fabric. Every fiber of her being screamed in protest, a silent plea for forgiveness and redemption. But deep down, she knew that there was no going back, no undoing the damage that had been done.

As she gathered up the clothes, Weiss felt a wave of nausea wash over her, the weight of her decisions threatening to overwhelm her fragile resolve. Tears stung her eyes as she struggled to come to terms with the harsh reality of her situation.

With trembling hands, she pushed open the door to her dorm room and stepped inside, the weight of her father's expectations heavy upon her shoulders. She placed Adam's things by his desk before going back out into the hall.

Ruby and Yang were coming back from the showers now and their faces changed from the jovial teasing to looks filled with concern as they took in Weiss' disheveled appearance.

"Weiss, what's wrong?" Ruby asked, her voice filled with genuine worry.

Weiss could only shake her head, her voice caught in her throat. How could she begin to explain the tangled web of lies and deceit that had brought her to this point? How could she face her teammates knowing the betrayal she had committed?

Without a word, she made her way to the showers, the sound of the running water offering a faint promise of solace amidst the storm raging inside her. As she stepped into the shower, the hot water washing over her skin, Weiss closed her eyes and let out a choked sob, the weight of her guilt threatening to crush her spirit. Crouching down in the shower she silently wept.

In that moment, she felt more alone than ever before, a solitary figure adrift in a sea of uncertainty and regret. And as the water cascaded down around her, washing away the remnants of her facade, tears ran unabated.