Chapter 12: To learn honour.

All rights go to their owner.

Cover art by Ars Goetia Games on Twitter. Their commissions are open, so go ahead check 'em out, or even their games: Hellslave or Blind Prophet. Yes I'm going to continue stanning for the games, they're fucking cool.

Talking: "Have you learned to love your neighbours? Of all colours, creeds and kinds?"

Thinking: 'Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?'

"Kid from 101 killed the ghouls at Tenpenny Tower… can't say I blame him. Heard he kissed a lot of ass to get the ghoulies in, only for them to turn around and kill all the human residents down to the last family. You know what they say, children: What comes around, goes around, so don't go running the wasteland being a piece of shit or else someone is gonna get ya."-Three Dog reporting on the massacre of Tenpenny Tower.

"H-He killed them all! Left them in the basement, the ferals are e-eating on their corpses." Alex gags, as the image replays in his head. A nervous stutter as he speaks. Tears in his eyes as he speaks to Bessie.

The female ghoul stares in shock before it changes into a sad gaze. She looks away, unable to meet Alex's baby blue eyes. She takes a shuddering breath. "T-They must have done something to deserve it…"

Alex jaw drops, a look of shock on his face. "I… C-Children! HE SLAUGHTERED CHILDREN, WHOLE FAMILIES!" Anger begins to pool into his chest, overriding the disgust he had. His nervous stutter now gone.

Bessie still doesn't look him in the eyes. "If… If you're not here to buy anything, please leave."

Alex's face tweaks, his brow twitching. His lips twist into an angry snarl. He stares at her silent, nothing more then his enraged breathing could be heard. "P-Please leave!" Bessie shouts at Alex. The words snap something in Alex, as he unholsters his sawed-off shotgun, lifting it to meet Bessie's face.

The woman opens her mouth to speak but Alex presses the trigger. The buckshot tears through her rotted flesh like nothing, her brain matter spews out from the back of head, painting the wall behind her in a vile crimson. Her head no longer existent, turned into a bloody pulp. Torn flesh and shattered bone.

Alex inhales and exhales erratically, hands shaking, pupils dilated. Something had snapped.

"Bessie!" Michael shouts out as he rushes in, hearing the gunfire. He stares, agape at the sight. Alex with a psychotic look in his eyes and Bessie on the floor gushing blood from where her former face rested. The ghoul stares in horror, frozen in the moment.

Alex lifts the shotgun at Michael and fires. The distance meant the shots were more peppered out, but a good number were centre-mass. The former scientist drops to the floor and gasps before blood-loss takes him. His head lifts up, gurgles escape his throat. Alex's hand shake even more as he watches Michael die in agonising fashion. One final gasp marks Michael's death, the pre-war ghoul gone.

Alex steps past Michael's body, right out into the hallway. Not noticing rushing footsteps coming right for him. He's lifted off the floor and slammed back down, his back smashing against the tiled floor. His spine screams at him in agony.

"You fucking smoothskin bastard! What did you do!" Roy roars as he throttles Alex in the face with a hook. Blood flying out with the punch. "What did you do?!"

"Killed a group of racist monsters!" Alex raises his sawed-off shotgun at Roy and presses the trigger, only for a click to be heard. Roy grins darkly at him, grabbing the sawed-off shotgun, the two fight for dominance with it before Roy shoves it directly into Alex's face, the wooden handle breaking Alex's nose. The blow stuns him, allowing Roy to snatch the shotgun away, leaving him free to slam the butt of the shotgun into Alex's face.

Alex weakly lifts his arms to try and defend himself but Roy pins his right arm down with his knee and the other with his arm, leaving one free to continue bashing in Alex's face. Roy plants the empty shotgun at the side. He leans in close to Alex's face. Roy snarls, the warm breath stunk of meat.

"I'm going to cut you up smoothskin, make you look like us before finishing your worthless life." Roy pulls out a long knife and rams it into the side of Alex's cheek, the blade piercing flesh with ease, it even spears the other side of Alex's cheek. A scream thunders out of Alex's throat, Roy's face contorts in glee at the sound of Alex's suffering.

The pain makes Alex cry, tears trailing down his cheeks, mixing with the blood from the sliced cheeks to turn into a pinkish rivulets. Roy slowly pulls the knife toward the corners of Alex's lips, the knife jaggedly cutting the sides. Roy's face twitches as grabs the knife with both hands to force it through Alex's lips, the blade wrenches free, a splatter of blood follows it with another shriek from Alex.

Alex opens and closes his hands, trying to find something to defend himself. He feels the shotgun at his left hand. He grabs it and slams the metal barrel into the side of Roy's head, right around the ear. A violent crack echoes out from the hit. The shotgun barrel bends from the force. Roy falls off Alex from the blow. Blood spurts out from the shattered section. Roy despite feeling a bit woozy attempts to get up, only to be met with another smack from the shotgun barrel, this time aimed around the top of his head. Another crack follows, along with more blood pours out.

Roy drops to the floor. He rolls over, lifting his arms for mercy only to be met with another hit, then another and another. "Monstaer!" Blood flies out of Alex's mouth as he screamed. He repeatedly hits Roy's head. The fleshy thwacks fill the air.

The rupture of shattered bones.

The smack of pulped flesh.

When Alex stops, Roy's is completely unrecognisable. His head if it could even be called that any more was pummelled into a puddle of brain matter and blood. Small fragments of bone poking out of the puddle.

His hands shake even worse, like a leaf in the a tornado. His breathing volatile, repeatedly changing from deep gulps to short gasps. Alex drops the shotgun, the impact makes the puddle of blood splash. The barrel completely devastated, bent all the around till the shotgun's shape was a semi-circle.

He walks off, stumbling toward the wellness centre in Tenpenny Tower. Blood pouring down his busted face, and sides of his cheeks. One of his eyes swollen shut. His vault suit bloodied and filthy.

Two figures walk down a well-lit hallway. The walls made up of simple wood and stone, nothing extravagant like gold or marble. A few others stand in the hallway, bowing to the two as they past by, before the ones that bow quickly stand upright and go about their business.

"Six more villages have been hit." Sienna Khan said. Her tail bristled and her ears straight as an arrow. "Merstle... being one of them."

"Fucking Iron Crown. Is Donovan alive?" The male asked. He was a tanned human, a few scars here and there on his clean-cut face. The woman shakes her head in response, to which the male growls out a swear. The two barge through the door into a large room. Two rows of sitting seizas with one at the head. A towering man on his back between two of the seats. He sits up at the sudden entrance, his lips locked into a frown. He stands up to his full height, head and shoulders over the other two.

"How bad?" The towering man asked, a large horn on his nose.

"Donnie's dead." The man said.

"Shit… What's our response?"

Sienna looks between the two. "We need to take care of our own first, searches on newcomers upon entry, checks on anyone we deem necessary, need to send off apprentices on Grimm hunts, even if its nothing more then just clearing out Beowolf and Ursa hordes."

The human shakes his head while the rhino faunus kisses his teeth. "We need to counterattack. Get a group of Hunters to teach these bastards a lesson."

"We're stretched thin, Raye. If we pull other Hunters off of Grimm hunting, we'll be leaving villages defenceless and at the mercy of the Grimm, we'll lose faith."

"-If we don't counterattack, Iron Crown will just keep prodding us until we fall apart!" The rhino says with a huff. His face contorts into a glare. Taking a step forward.

Sienna meets it with her own, not backing down. Her lips slightly curl, revealing her sharp teeth. Matches the step with her own. She wasn't as tall as the huge rhino faunus, but there was presence in her regardless.

The human man scoffs, intersecting the two. He waves a hand in front of Sienna while he glares at Raye. "Enough of this! Both of you!" The two relent immediately at the human's words. "Iron Crown is doing enough damage to us, I don't need you two killing each other. We need to stand together, now of all fucking times!"

Sienna folds her arms with a grunt while Raye rubs his the bridge of his nose, rubbing the base of his horn. "Wait if…" He looks at Sienna. "Your apprentice is out looking for Iron Crown bases right? Why do-"

"-No, he is but one. He's not even a full on Hunter, sending him to attack Iron Crown bases by himself would be a death sentence."

Raye waves his hands around, the other male rubs his chin in thought. "We can't sit around and not counterattack, WE need to hit back! If we can't spare any Hunters to help him maybe get a few grunts or hell even some mercs to help him."

"Mercenaries." Sienna spat out. Her lips twist into a dark frown, her opinion on the guns for hire painted clearly on her face. "I would not trust them with a damn spoon let alone MY apprentice. Would you trust mercenaries with Jazz?" She asked, aiming that question at Raye, the man opens his mouth but Sienna interrupts, aiming it at the next person present in their three-way discussion. "What about you, Turk? Would you trust your apprentice with mercenaries?"

The now named Turk shakes his head. "Obviously not, but-" He lifts a hand interrupting Sienna before she can speak. "-But Raye is right, we need to hit back. We'll look weak if we don't, especially considering we still haven't retaliated yet for the Dust shipment bombing." He looks at Raye. "We need to keep this internal however, we can't trust killers for hire and we'll look even weaker if we do hire them."

"What about this Grimmlander my contacts have been talking about?"

Sienna and Turk stare at Raye confused. Sienna asking the question the two of them were thinking. "Grimmlander?"

"Some new person been slaughtering Iron Crown, rumour is, he's the one that killed the ones in Vale and that he's been wiping Vale of Iron Crown ever since then, hell he might even be on Mistral right now, apparently an Iron Crown dock on the coasts of Mistral been found, lotta bodies and a crashed ship into the dock. Maybe we get this guy, this Grimmlander to join up with Adam. Hell, maybe even join up with the cause. Seems he ain't got no love for Iron Crown."

Sienna shakes her head while Turk lips go into a straight line. The human sighs out. "Could cause problems taking him in, given that Vale still somewhat thinks it was us that killed the Iron Crown enclave in the city. Actually getting the killer in would certainly make things fucking… tense to say the least."

Raye scoffs. "Since when do we care about making things tense with Vale, hell any of the fucking Kingdoms?"

"Since it is now of all times, the worst idea to be rocking the boat, Raye." Sienna barked out, a displeased look on her face. The words about to come out was like ash on the tongue. "While I don't want to play nice with the fascists, I especially don't want a reaction while we're still weak. We instigate, they'll push with a mob of Huntsmen and Dust supplies. They'll swipe towns and villages that are starting to doubt us right from under us." Sienna shakes her head. "Besides, I don't even want a psychotic butcher like that working with Adam."

"Adam would probably be fine with it..." Raye muttered, a slight wince when Sienna glares burn into Raye like the pits of hell.

"He may be fine with it, but I am not. I do not want my apprentice working with a monster, his hate of Iron Crown has already started turning into inappropriate behaviour with humans. The last thing I want is someone to twist him even further."

Turk crosses his arms with a frown while Raye rolls his eyes. "Yeah, he's a bit edgy and disrespectful but he's not that bad."

"But he can be. This vengeance campaign he has against Iron Crown could have him witness the worst of Iron Crown, enter a hole he will never crawl out of. I'll... lose him and get another faunus supremacist to join up with the Albain brothers and their crazies." Sienna jabs an accusatory finger at Raye before aiming it over to Turk as well. "If anything happens to him, I will not forgive the both of you."

"Needed to happen, Sienna. You know that. Our apprentices are still too inexperienced and youn-"

Turk is interrupted with Sienna whipping her hand in his direction as if she was trying to bat away his words. The sides of her mouth drop into a toxic frown. The human male lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head while Raye for once gives a remorseful look to Sienna. The tiger faunus lets out a growl before speaking. "Moving on, what is the plan?"

"If we can't hire mercenaries, we'll need to start training militia in villages, really go full throttle on our recruitment."

"That will take time, time we do not have."

"We can gain time, if we hit back at Iron Crown." A serious look on the rhino faunus' face. The towering man shoulders every so slightly hunched, as if the weight of his thoughts was dragging him down. "Select villages that we believe are most likely to survive without Hunter interception… or the villages that we can afford to lose."

Shadows lick at Turk and Sienna's face. A horrible decision had to be made. Turk rubs his forehead. "We'll do the best of both worlds. All of our villages are to be on high alert for any saboteurs, we also need to prepare some White Fang troops to replace any Hunters we're going to take out, but we'll wait first on taking out any Hunters.-"

"Wait-?" Raye said a brow raised on his face. Sienna's head tilted as well as she looked at him.

"Yes, wait. We can't bring this Grimmlander into the fold, but we can certainly use their rampage against Iron Crown in our favour. Wait for this monster to crash against Iron Crown. Let them slaughter as much Crownies as they want, when they die, we'll come swooping in and hit Iron Crown hard."

Raye hums in approval. Sienna however speaks, adding onto the plan with an adjustment of her own. "We can use whatever intel Adam gathers for us to… feed this Grimmlander, point them towards key Iron Crown establishments. Let them cripple Iron Crown for us."

"It'll be hard to retaliate officially if all the Iron Crown bases are wiped out."

Sienna scoffs, rolling her eyes. "I severely doubt one killer will destroy all of Iron Crown, but they should serve a good distraction." She straightens up. "This will allow us to build up our strength, then when we're able, we crush the racist bastards."

"Works for me."

Raye nods. "Best plan so far."

Alex subconsciously traces the jagged scar on his cheek at the memory. Sat across Adam, his eyes on the faunus at all times. Alex didn't really like Venta because he was a ship captain. It was a little childish that he didn't trust him, but he would have much rather had Venta than Adam.

"Is there an issue, human?" Adam asked gruffly.

"No." Alex replied, hostility clear in his voice. There was clearly an issue

There was no trust between the two, no camaraderie. Just two killers collaborating for the sake of more kills. The two didn't even trust the other with nightwatch, instead the two just took short naps in sight of the other, both of them weapons at the ready.

The two move on from the campsite, the fire they made already smothered by cold dirt.

"You are the one responsible for the deaths of Iron Crown in the city of Vale, aren't you?" Adam asked as he walked side by side with Alex.

"Yes."

"For intel, I suppose."

"Yes."

Adam's face twists in annoyance at the short one word answers. Adam himself was rather blunt and to the point, but compared to Alex, Adam was a social butterfly. "You do not say much."

"Would you rather I comment how pretty the grass looks frosted? How cold it is and how much I miss the sun?" Alex deadpans.

Adam scoffs. "No, I hate small talk, but you seem to hate talk in general."

"I have nothing to say, so, I say nothing."

Adam hums in response. The two continue on in awkward silence, until they reach a path oddly enough. Alex gets to one knee to examine the path, noticing a few footprints into the cold dirt. "Must be a village nearby." Alex looks up to find a few tree stumps.

Adam however scowls at it. "This far north?"

"Is that an issue?"

"More likely they'll have a problem with me."

"Not as if we'll be staying there, we gather some supplies and move on." Alex said, already heading for the village.

Adam kisses his teeth but quickly follows suit.

The two walk into the village. It was rather nondescript. Simple homes to and from. There was nothing eccentric about the area.

Apart from one thing; The raw antagonism was quickly felt, the two receiving dirty looks the moment they entered. Adam suffered it far worse however. The faunus glared upon like dry old shit. The faunus in turn gives a glare back but it doesn't stifle any glares, if anything it causes some to spit on the floor at the resistance. Adam spots one teen boy give him the middle finger, a smug grin on their face, shouting a slur at him.

Alex walked into a store, Adam lagged behind, keeping his eyes on the outside in case of a mob of villagers coming around with pitchforks and torches. When he saw nothing, he turned around. Alex already at the counter, having grabbed various things when Adam was staring out of the store suspiciously. Adam spots the shopkeeper glaring at the two of them.

"Your kind ain't welcome here." The shopkeeper spits out with a derisive tone. Her arms crossed.

Adam snarls at the woman. "Believe me, I rather not be in this primitive hovel of a town any longer then necessary."

The woman's hands latch onto the counter as she seethes about to speak before being interrupted by Alex. "I want to purchase these supplies."

The woman eyes up Alex, her confidence takes a hit as she fully takes in Alex. The towering Wastelander peers down at her with a piercing gaze. The woman looks between Adam and Alex. She takes a gulp, "W-Well, I don't want to serve an animal, nor do I want to serve his faggot animal lover."

Adam opens his mouth to rage at the woman but Alex speaks first, his cold tone still present. "We require these supplies, we will be out of here much quicker if you would sell to us and let us leave."

The woman hisses in annoyance, before rolling her eyes. The mask of confidence was slipping, with the sneering faunus burning a hole through her with his scorching rage and the towering freak freezing her with his cold apathy. Two opposites in terms of emotions, both terrifying in their own right. "...That'll be 975."

Alex quickly counts out the Lien and plants it on the counter, grabbing all the rations and other supplies.

The two step out to find a number of people. Men with rudimentary weapons and such, the one at the head was an older man, dressed in a cloak and suit. "Swinford don't welcome your kind, feral." The old man bitterly rasps out. His voice was scratchy, as if the poison that spews out his mouth had an effect on his vocal cords. His words make the faces of his little squad of labourers twist in conjunction, like insects obeying their master.

Adam steps forward about to yell at the group and old man, Alex stops him, arm raised in his way. "We are leaving."

Adam scowls at Alex before snapping his eyes back on the old man, who in turn gazes at the two of them with disgust, eyeing up the weapons on Adam and the holstered knife and pistol on Alex.

"Then leave, never come back, or else." The old man said.

"Or else?" Adam asked. Alex however grabs the faunus' arm and pulls him away, the faunus tries to pull his arm out but to no avail. Alex's grip was resolute. Adam heard the mocking laughter of the villagers as the two left. The faunus' inside burning with anger.

Alex drags Adam a bit longer until they were far enough from the village in Alex's mind. He lets go of Adam, the faunus backsteps and draws his blade. "Don't you ever fucking touch me without my permission." He harshly said, malice dripping from his tongue.

Alex doesn't even acknowledge the drawn blade, instead, just walking on. Adam growls at being ignored as if he was some petulant child. Adam rushes after him, shouting as they walked into the treeline. "Coward! You afraid of a group of villagers?!"

"Are you?" Alex's tone was like a blade, cutting through the air.

"Obviously not! I was willing to-"

"-Willing to what? Kill them all for mere insults? Mere slurs?" Alex said, turning to face Adam. Adam blinks at the sudden question that interrupted him. "Would you kill that boy too? For merely showing you the middle finger?"

"No." He said, his voice quiet.

"Are you sure? I have killed a man like you, he was a monster, he used his mistreatment as an excuse to slaughter those he wanted, those he hated, even those that had done no wrong to him or his kind." Alex steps in closer until the two are mere inches apart. Alex leans over, his eyes dug into his mask, despite the mask, Adam could feel Alex pry into his eyes, scrutinising his very soul. "The world suffers enough, it does not need another monster like him, like you." An instinctual fear builds up in Adam's gut, as if he was standing before something unnatural, some foul aberration of flesh.

Despite the gnawing fear, Adam does not yield. "Wanting to fight back makes me a monster?" Alex doesn't respond to that, causing Adam to scoff. "Should I just be a good little faunus? Just accept the mistreatment, accept the slurs?" Adam glaring right into Alex's ocean blue eyes.

"I don't care about the prejudice you suffer. I care whether mere words will set you off to kill innocents, whether you will slaughter those who have done nothing to you."

Adam scoffs. "Innocents, all of them are scum. A rotten apple spoils the whole bunch after all."

"The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father. You suffered mistreatment from some, not all, that does not damn every single one."

"But they let it happen! They stand by and do nothing, so either they support it silently or don't care enough to help."

"Maybe, or maybe they are afraid of speaking out their true feelings in fear of being singled out. You know nothing, yet you quickly are ready to demonise them in your head." Alex said, turning back around. He returns to walking toward his objective. The Wastelander doesn't even turn to speak to Adam, instead his voice carries over his shoulder. "Would you like to continue wasting time with villagers or go back to hunting Iron Crown?"

Adam stands and stares for a moment, he turns back to the village for a moment, he rotates back around and lets out a grumble, walking after Alex.

The two walk in tow silently, no words between them. There was no love lost between the two before, but this recent interaction had turned the silence aggressively toxic. Alex eyeing up Adam every once in a while with Adam doing the same.

The atmosphere between the two was tense, on the verge of snapping. Adam growing more and more incensed by Alex's presence.

His rage is paused when a Beowolf rushes out of the treeline. Adam grabs his blade about to pull it out when Alex fires at it with his 10mm. The lowly Grimm drops to the floor, dead without any special fanfare.

Adam huffs. His hand still on his handle as he looks around. "Perhaps your A.G is out of charge."

Alex shakes his head. "It isn't."

Adam eyes up the device attached to Alex's hip, the dim glow was still present. Proving Alex's words. "Then either bad luck… or a scout sent out by an Alpha."

Three more Beowolves rush out. Alex fires the 10mm, killing two, with the other close enough for Adam to slice in a single efficient slice. Bisecting the monster in two.

Adam hums. Acknowledging the number of Grimm. Wilt still bare, ready in case of more threat. "Not bad luck. A vanguard from an Alpha, for us?"

"…" Alex eyes up the dead monsters that begin to fade, bones the only proof that the monsters existed. He takes in their bodies, going over the direction they were headed in his mind. He stiffens. "Not us, the village." Alex starts a mad sprint back, rushing for the village. Leaving behind the faunus.

Adam watched Alex charge to the village, his eyes constantly flickering to the path ahead and the road behind. His lips twist into a snarl, his grip on his katana tightening and loosening.

"I said you aren't welcome here." The old man said, barring Alex from entering the village, a mob of people with tools, such as lumberjack axes, sickles and pitchforks glared at him, on edge from his return and Xuanlong in his hands. There were others, some children watching on with curiosity. A few adults also watched on the sidelines.

"There is a Grimm horde approaching your village. You need to hide in a shelter and reinforce it." Alex stated.

The sentence makes the crowd mutter between themselves. The old man at the front however scoffs at Alex. "Nonsense, yo-"

The old man is interrupted by a bellowing howl. The old man's face drops at it as well as the other villagers. Alex however growls. "Get to safety, now!" He barks out. Barging his way through the crowd.

A bundle of Grimm rush into the centre of the town. One of the monsters lifts a claw to disembowel a villager. The 5.56 round goes through the pitch black werewolf's eyesocket, lobotomising the monster in a single shot. "Move!" Alex roars out. A burst of gunfire echoes throughout the village as he fires at the monsters. The villagers rushing off with a scream and yells.

One, two, three monsters drop in order. The bullets impact their skulls with lethal accuracy.

The Grimm mostly focus on Alex, the only one who poses a threat to them. The dark creatures charge at him. A rampaging horde of claw and teeth barrelling toward him. There was no fear, no nervousness in Alex, nothing but ice and wrath.

He keeps on firing, unwilling to swap to a minigun in fear of harming the villagers. Xuanlong clicks as the magazine runs out. But Xuanlong did not have the capacity to deal with the monsters of the night in the numbers they were pouring in. The lack of outer walls gave the Grimm free reign of entering wherever and however they wanted.

One man drops and screams, one of the Grimm about to rip him to ribbons. Alex denies it, firing off three times at the Grimm with his 10mm pistol in his off-hand, other hand still holding on Xuanlong. It dies and Alex fires the rest of the magazine at the horde five more drop. Alex holsters the 10mm and reloads Xuanlong. Bashing one Grimm to the floor with his shoulder before stomping its skull in.

Xuanlong clicks as he pulls back the lever.

He hears a child scream and he turns to find a group of children frozen in terror. The three cornered by a Beowolf. Dark ooze foams at the mouth of the beast as it pounces at the group. Time slows, as he brings Xuanlong around to fire at it.

It wasn't necessary. In a red flash the Grimm is sliced. The monster cut into two by the shoulder to the hip. The children shout at the chopped remains of the Grimm impacting the wall above them and the floor before them. The group look as Adam glares at them. "Go, now!" The children rush off, heading right into the store, the woman from before stares at Adam before closing the door.

The faunus hums before the violent cracks of bullets snaps him back. Spotting Alex in the centre, firing at the group of monsters. Adam joins in, the two work in tandem. A cacophony of sword and gunfire. The Beowolves nothing more than trash for the two experienced combatants.

Adam was the definition of precision. Every swipe, slice or chop was not wasted. It killed or turned the Grimm into non-threats. He dances around, ducking under, sidestepping and backstepping from any hits, Adam's senses were borderline supernatural. Dodging attacks from behind, parrying others, leaving them open for a killing blow.

Alex however was more volatile, he was still precise and not wasteful with his strikes, but the blows were more cruel, more brutal. Close quarters gunfire with a pistol or vicious cutting from his ripper. He executed the monsters in a gory fashion. Even now, his tactics of fighting in the Wasteland still bled in, subconsciously butchering in an attempt to hammer terror into the Grimm.

It worked to a lesser degree, the monsters were becoming wary of the two, so many of their kin dying to the two. Without so much as a scratch on them.

A far deeper howl invigorates them however. The Alpha Beowolf comes into play, pouncing at the two of them from a building rooftops.

Alex and Adam dive out of the way, the monster slamming into the earth the two were just standing at. Alex fires at it response, the 5.56mm rounds wounds the monster but doesn't kill. The beast charges at Alex, causing him to roll away from it. One of the Beowolves slams into him mid-roll. A group of the minions out to get him. Adam rushes after the Alpha, blade at the ready. Leaving Alex to deal with the monsters focused on him.

He slices at the towering beast, the arc of the faunus' weapon met by the Alpha's arm, pushing it away from anything vital. The flesh yields and the bone crackles as the sharp instrument goes through. Adam overly invested himself in the swing, searching for a killing blow in one swipe. The Alpha backhands the faunus away with its remaining arm.

Adam's Aura takes the worst of the blow, as Adam skids across the cold dirt, his back impacts a building. The faunus gets up with a snarl. He spots Alex, massacring the Grimm that surrounded him. The Lone Wanderer was butchering and slaughtering his way to the Alpha with his Ripper and Deathclaw Gauntlet. The beast eyeing him warily. Not even looking at Adam anymore.

Adam gets up, swinging his blade and killing two Beowolves in a single swipe. He wasn't willing to be outdone by a mercenary. Blocking hits every now and then, as he too began to make his way to the Alpha. Slicing and dicing his way through. His presence acknowledged by the Alpha once again.

The Alpha growls, eyes flittering between Alex and Adam, the two making their way to the leader, it charges at Alex, sensing his lack of Aura, the Alpha decides Alex would be the easiest to eliminate.

It wouldn't live to learn from the error. As Alex meets it head on, changing his Ripper to his Railway Rifle. He fires it one-handed at the monster, the railway spikes met their mark. Hitting right at the legs of the beast. It drops to the floor due to the crippled limbs.

It tries to get up but Adam emerges from behind, shadows consume him as as his red hair seems to glow for a moment before he beheads the beast, its minions quickly follow suit as afterimages of Adam proceed to cut the beasts down.

The Alpha died as quickly as it arrived, with it followed the lesser Beowolves. The two cleaning up what remained, Alex making sure none escaped.

The two stood in the town centre, like angels of death with thick black smoke billowing out into the cold winter air. "Any injuries?" Alex asked, checking over himself.

Adam shakes his head. "Aura took the hit."

Alex hums in response. He eyes up Adam. Disbelief in his eyes. "Those… copies of yourself, was that your Semblance?" Alex, this whole time believed Semblances to be total nonsense, make believe to excuse superhuman abilities of powerful figures, not literal magic.

"Partially." Was the short response, Adam keeping the true extent of his Semblance close to his chest. Mistrust still a bit present. Alex didn't blame him, he's kept his true capabilities close to his chest as well. It was smart, but just because it was smart, didn't mean Alex liked it, even if that made him a hypocrite. He especially didn't like that idea that there was more to Adam's Semblance then he was letting on.

He didn't like the inability to explain it, and he really didn't like the endless possibility of Semblances. Grimm at the very least made sense to him, or somewhat. Semblances just seemed like some fantasy nonsense out of Grognak the Barbarian comic, just less buxom half-naked women and more monsters of darkness.

How does one even explain Semblances? Simple, you do it with one word: Magic.

...Alex despises that more then boats.

He shakes his head. 'Need to be wary of every single Aura user even more, Semblances could be lethal just like Adam's. Energy-based weapons seems to be my great unifier against those with Aura.' Alex thought. His paranoia about Adam jumped a few levels, it jumped a few levels in general for any future interactions against people with Aura. He had half a mind to ask how to activate one's Aura, but he didn't want to admit his lack of knowledge, didn't want that possible vulnerability to be presented.

Alex's thoughts are interrupted by the villagers slowly coming out of their homes and shelters. There's mutters and whispers. The crowd walk in. The old man from before along with them. He chews the inside of his mouth. "Seems even a feral can serve a decent purpose." The old man spits out.

Adam snarls about to rage at the old man and the villagers but the fear in their stances, made him pause. He analyses the group, spotting the villagers from before that sided with the old man. The same ones that sneered and mocked him, now they couldn't even meet his gaze. Like scolded children who had their hands caught in the cookie jar, they looked away in shame. Adam sneers at them for their cowardice but doesn't speak.

"Are there any injured?" Alex asked.

The old man scoffs about to open his mouth before being interrupted by a man. "M-My wife… she tripped, I think… she might have broken something."

"Where?" The man leads him to the woman, and eventually others came about injuries. Alex providing first-aid to all that came.

An hour or so passes by as Alex treats anyone injured, Adam awkwardly standing on the edge of the village, awaiting for Alex. Part of him wanted to go off on his own, to quit wasting time on this village, but he knew that his combat effectiveness would diminish with Alex gone, add in the fact that Adam was not as prepared for going through forests and countryside as his temporary ally, as such he reluctantly waited for him.

"E-Excuse me…" A young voice is heard.

Adam turns to it and finds a child and the teen from before. The faunus' lip quiver in annoyance. "What is it?" He barks out.

The youngest of the group offers two things to Adam, a scrap of paper and a bar wrapped in paper and foil. Adam eyes the two items up before glancing at the child. The small boy however smiles at him in response. "I-It's for you! As thanks for saving me and my friends."

Adam blinks, he slowly grabs the two items, expecting a trick in some shape or form. The young boy however grins cheerfully at him, a tooth missing. Adam flips the paper over to find a drawing of himself in crayon, standing victorious against Grimm, with small figures shielded by him. For a child that couldn't be older than 6, the drawing was actually well-put together. Adam could tell who was who and what was what.

Even had his signature frown.

He had no idea how to respond to it however. He knew how to deal with killers and professional warriors, not children. "Um, thank you. This is very well done?" His final words came off more as a question.

The boys nods. "Thanks! I tried really hard to make it nice for you." The boy beams at Adam. The faunus feels guilt bubble in his guts.

The teen steps in, clearing his throat. "W-We should get going now, little man. Ma is probably looking for us."

The boy turns with a frown but nods. "Okay…" He turns back to Adam. "Bye, mister! Stay safe." The young boy walks off with a hop in his step.

The teen remains however. Adam stares daggers at him. "Thank you, for saving my little brother." The boy gulps, his voice turning weak. "I'm sorry for… what I did and said."

Adam however scoffs in response. "Your sorry means nothing to me. For basic decency, I had to risk my life. If I did not, you would never have even considered the idea of apologising to me." The teen doesn't respond, looking at the dirt floor. Adam watches for a few moments before he rolls his eyes. "I accept your apology, as much I shouldn't. You are young enough to learn from your mistakes, so do so. My people have suffered enough under your kind, we do not need another to mistreat us for simply existing."

"R-Right, yeah." The teen rubs the back of his head. "Sorry, again." He walks off, slightly dazed. Adam shaking his head as he watches the youngster leave.

Alex showed up almost directly after, Adam huffing to himself. "Done?"

Alex hums, nodding his head. The two set off out of the village. Adam pondered if they would change their views, or if they would perceive Adam as just a one-off. A good faunus against whatever mental images they came up with in their head.

The redhead blinks, the village placed at the back of his mind, replaced by Iron Crown and his ally. The usual awkward silence had returned between the two of them.

Adam unwraps the bar, chocolate awaiting him. Adam breaks it off in half and offers it to Alex, the Lone Wanderer stares at it confused. "Take it."

Alex does so, lifting his mask and biting down on the treat. "Thanks."

Adam grunts in response. "I don't want to hear it, by the way."

"Hear what?"

"That you were right, that I was wrong about them."

Alex stares ahead. "But, you need to hear it. Does the rotten apple spoil the whole bunch, did it spoil the child?"

Adam kisses his teeth. Regret and anger mixes into a confusing mixture. "No… but I never said all humans are evil, I respect many humans Hunters, those that support the cause."

"So, like them, humans require to do something you approve of for basic decency."

Adam stares at Alex in shock, his mouth agape. "H-How did you hear that?" Adam replayed the interaction in his mind, wondering if Alex was sneaking around him and Adam somehow didn't spot him. The thought was sobering considering Alex was just a human and he was a faunus.

"You are changing the subject."

Adam eyed Alex warily before letting out a bitter huff. "I've suffered because of humans, it is hard to not hold it against them." The brand on his face heats up uncomfortably. Adam adjust his mask but it doesn't soothe the mark.

Alex shakes his head. "Answer me this, how many Iron Crown scum do you think have similar thoughts?"

"I am nothing like them." Adam spits out, the tension returning like a tidal wave.

"No? Tell me, if I was not here, would you have still saved that village?" Adam opens his mouth, like a fish he opens and closes but no words come out. The faunus turns away with a growl. "I understand the rage, how it can blind you. How the idea of punishing those that wrong you can begin to consume your every thought." Alex turns to Adam, the faunus stares back and finds the gaze of the Wastelander piercing. "But it must never consume you, lest you end up like the faunus variation of Iron Crown."

"You must strive to be better. No matter how much it hurts, and it will hurt." Alex begins to get heated, the ice in his tone begins to melt. "No matter how heavy the turmoil on the mind will become and it will become almost unbearable." Alex grits his teeth, unseen by his mask. His rant seemed to no longer for Adam at least not solely for the faunus any more, but as to remind himself, to push against his mind. "You can't save everyone but you must try… no matter what." His words end in a whisper, the ice snapping back into place.

The uncomfortable silence returns, Adam eyes up Alex curiously at the sudden tangent, the sudden cracking of the mask from the usually stoic mercenary. Adam scoffs. "Funny, I would have thought the person who tortured scum a few days ago, would be more…. Cynical."

"The world is cruel enough, it does not need me to make it worse for the innocent and assisting them costs me nothing."

"Nothing but the risk of life and limb, you mean."

"And I offer it freely, in hopes of sparing others."

Adam doesn't have a response, the two walking in silence once more, however the venomous air had turned more stale. The two just staring at the road ahead.

End of Chapter 12. Alex and Adam save a village and the higher ups of White Fang discuss future moves, involving Alex, not realising he's already working with Adam.

Little synopsis over, I straight up do not like how Roy is treated in Fallout 3. Man is a fucking monster, but if you kill him its bad karma, he even drops an ear if you got the contract killer perk and Three Dog gives you shit for it too. Absolutely wild considering he killed the whole of Tenpenny Tower and is pretty stoked about Burke wanting to nuke Megaton.