71

Chapter 71: Execute the Plan

"Are you sure this is safe, Ilia?"

Five sets of footsteps echoed throughout the deserted hallways of the abandoned subway station. Ilia walked ahead of the group with a purpose, Team RWBY following behind her, in their standard outfits. Ruby and Yang looked around at the aged graffiti seriously, while Weiss eyed everything with a suspicious look.

Ilia looked back at Blake, giving her friend a reassuring smile. "I'm sure, Blake. I went over all of Adam's plans. We can sneak through the East side tunnel in this station, and it'll take us right to the White Fang's new base of operations."

Blame didn't look all that convinced, her ears pulled back in worry. "It just… seems too easy. You're sure he'll be there?"

Ilia looked forward so none of them could see her roll her eyes. "Yes, Blake. Trust me. He's there. He's barely left since he started this whole crusade against you. He'll be hunkered down in the maintenance office, probably going over his plans for the fifteenth time. He's got the guards stationed at all the normal intervals in the exits to the station, but this one's already boarded up. If we're quick, we can sneak in at the next guard change, blindside him, and take him down."

"And if any part of that fails and we end up with the entire White Fang bearing down on us?" Weiss asked with narrowed eyes.

Ilia glanced over her shoulder, her eyes equally tight. "We improvise. Isn't that what you Huntresses are best at?"

Weiss crossed her arms, scowling at the back of Ilia's head. Yang rolled her eyes at that, sharing an amused look with Ruby. To Blake, she said, "I'm starting to think we shouldn't have left Zwei with your Mom. Little guy could have helped sniff out trouble."

Blake scoffed at the notion. "We don't need the help of that… dog. What would he even do?"

Ruby shrugged in response. "I dunno. Warn us if he sensed something dangerous near us? Dad trained him to be a Hunter's dog."

The cat Faunus huffed. "Well, it doesn't matter, because we don't need him. You heard Ilia. We're perfectly safe. We'll just get in, take down Adam, and get out." She then turned towards Ilia. "Right?"

Ilia stiffened at the sudden question. She gave a too-wide smile. "O-of course! So long as we're careful, we should have no trouble." She reached over, putting a hand on Blake's shoulder. "Just a little longer, Blake. It'll all be over."

Blake held her gaze for a moment, searching. She gave a tentative grin back, nodding. "Right. It'll all be over." She swallowed thickly, turning to face straight ahead as she repeated quietly to herself. "It's almost over."

After a few more minutes of walking downward, the hallway opened up into the main station, a macabre collection of rusted steel structures and cracked marble. As the team gawked at the impressive structure, Ilia led them down the last staircase in the center of the station, down to the lower terminals. The stairs emptied out into a large plaza extending towards the subway tunnels. From their place at the foot of the stairs, the upper floors slightly hung over the lower on all sides, rusted railings ringing around the plaza.

The RWBY's followed Ilia deeper into the station until they were nearly at the center of it. On either side of the plaza were two tunnels each, two going west, and two going east, each line ending at the beginning of the platform. One of the eastside tunnels was completely boarded off, covered in yellow tape and signs explicitly stating "DO NOT ENTER" and "CONDEMNED." Trash lay everywhere, giving the impression that whenever the station had been abandoned, the people within had simply dropped their things and left.

"So…" Yang said slowly, eyeing each of the three open tunnels as they continued on. "Which one of these takes us to White Fang HQ?"

As if her words have been a trigger, Ilia suddenly stopped. Her sudden halt startled the other four girls, freezing them in their tracks.

"Uh…" Ruby looked around curiously. "Is something wrong, Ilia? Do… you not know where to go?"

Ilia bowed her head, not looking at any of them. Her hands slowly turn into fists at her sides. When she spoke, her voice was clean and loud, devoid of emotion.

"We're here."

The RWBY's tensed. "What… does that mean?" Blake asked slowly. "I thought you were going to take us to Adam?"

"Well, my dear Blake…"

Blake's ears splayed back in an instant, her eyes blowing wide with fear. She and her teammates snapped their heads up towards the dark, echoing voice.

"I'd say she did exactly as she promised."

A single figure stood at the railing directly in front of them. He was dressed in heavy, black, armored clothes, a pair of blades hanging from his waist. Blood red hair stood straight up from his head, blazing crimson eyes peering down at them through the ever familiar mask of the White Fang.

Blake's pupils shrunk to pinpricks, her face paling. "Adam…"

Her utterance of the man's name was all it took to break the other members of Team RWBY from their stupor. Within seconds, they had drawn their weapons, Yang moving protectively in front of Blake while she and Ruby took aim at Taurus.

Taurus, for his part, seemed completely unfazed by their reaction. "I wouldn't recommend that," he said in a low, almost conversational tone. He lifted his arm, forming his hand into a fist.

The sound of a cocking gun made all the girls twist around. From seemingly nowhere, White Fang were materializing out of the shadows, each one holding identical high-powered military weapons, the same ones Yang knew Junior's bouncers tended to use. The masked Faunus trained their guns at the four girls, fingers resting threateningly on the triggers.

Before they could even panic about the forces behind them, the RWBY's flinched hard as the sound of more guns engaging filled the air. Looking up, they could see more White Fang taking positions at the railings, aiming their guns down into the plaza. Then, an equal amount of people walked up next to the White Fang, all dressed in white coats and red sunglasses. A light chuckle sounded as Roman Torchwick grinned maliciously next to Taurus, Neo twirling her parasol at his side.

Surrounded on all sides, the girls took up a defensive formation based on who was closer to what. With Weiss guarding the rear, Ruby took the left side and Yang took the right, their weapon sights bouncing between the dozen or so soldiers staring down at them. Yang's eyes narrowed in an instant at the sight of the career criminal. "Torchwick!"

The man in question gave a cartoonish salute, a Cheshire grin on his lips. "Oh, don't mind me, Sunshine. I'm just here to watch the show." He gestured vaguely towards the masked man beside him, before leaning lazily forward with both hands on his cane.

Blake remained at the front of her team, trying to shove down her fear as she attempted to grasp the situation. Before she could really take in Adam and the Fang, her eyes fell on the back of her longtime friend's head. "Ilia?" she questioned, brokenly.

Ilia flinched at the call of her name but didn't respond further. After a moment, she slightly turned her head, just enough to look Blake out the corner of her eye. "I'm sorry, Blake," she said quietly, before walking away towards the stairs. The White Fang made no move to stop her.

Blake's face crumpled, clearly showing her betrayal. She bristled when she heard Taurus chuckle above her, her fingers twitching from her lack of a weapon.

"Well, Blake," Adam said in an oily tone, leaning on the railing in front of him. "You look surprisingly well. Though, perhaps it's to be expected, giving your... current company." His eyes zeroed in on Weiss. The heiress in question glanced back defiantly at him, unwilling to fully look away from the threat in front of her.

Blake, seemingly gaining her wits back, glared up at Taurus. "Why are you here, Adam?" There was no losing the shake in her voice, however.

Taurus grinned down at her as Ilia took her place at his side, now wearing her mask as she stood between him and his lieutenant. "No need for hostilities, Blake. I merely thought it was time to have a reunion. After all, it's been nearly a year since you left our little family."

Somehow, Blake's ears pulled back even further. "'Family'?" she practically spat.

"Well, Blake, surely you haven't forgotten us?" Taurus raised his arms gesturing to all the Faunus around them. "The White Fang. Your brothers and sisters. The people who stood beside you for three years. The ones you ate with, laughed with. The ones you fought beside, bled beside. The people who cared for you… when no one else would." His cold smile could not hide the burning rage visible in his eyes. "Does that not sound like a family to you?"

Blake struggled to form a response, her anger, regrets, and betrayal all passing over her face in an instant.

Taurus took her silence as a chance to keep going. "Though, perhaps it doesn't now." He started pacing slowly, back and forth in front of his forces, his eyes never leaving Blake. "After all, what kind of person would just abandon their family? Just up and leave with no reason, no warning?

"Well, Blake? Anything to say?" Taurus looked around at the surrounding White Fang. "We're all right here. Defend yourself. Tell us why. What reason was it that made you abandon us… and join them?"

Blake stared up at Taurus, her eyes glassy. She looked all around, taking in the angry frowns and loaded weapons bearing down on her and her Mates. At her back, said Mates shuffled closer, no more than a half step, but enough that she knew they were there. Ruby and Yang's hands were curling around their weapons, their fingers forming and releasing odd gestures, likely from nerves.

Blake took a few shaking breaths. "That's a nice speech, Adam," she said softly, her voice watery. "There's just one little thing you got wrong in it: I didn't abandon the White Fang."

Adam rose a brow beneath his mask. "Lying won't do you much good at this point, Blake. The truth of your disloyalty stands right behind you. Hell, you carry its brand on your neck."

At that, Blake growled. "I was always loyal, Adam. I practically abandoned my home, my family, everything that made me me, I gave up to follow you. Because I trusted you. Your every word, your every action I followed without question, because I thought you cared about the same things I did. That you really wanted to make the world a better place."

Blake was near-panting by this point, her cat's claws digging into her palms. "I spent three years devoted to you and your crusade. Three years going against my father's teachings, three years doing things that made my stomach churn, all because I believed in you. Three years, Adam!" Her sudden shout echoed throughout the station, making everyone, White Fang and RWBY alike, tense up, hands tightening on their weapons. Blake took no notice, glaring up at Taurus with glistening eyes, her anger and despair visible.

Taurus merely stared down at her, face expressionless behind his mask. "You clearly didn't believe enough."

Blake's face tightened, a harsh, bitter huff of a laugh escaping her. "I believed more than anyone. I was the first of your White Fang."

Taurus then leaned over the railing, blazing red eyes visible through the slits in his mask. "Then tell me, so-called-believer. What happened? What happened that made you decide to cast away three years of your life? What made you run from the White Fang with your tail between your legs, abandoning your allies… your friends?" He purposefully glanced behind him towards Ilia, a sick grin forming at the glare she was giving Blake.

He stared back down, that grin becoming a snarl. "What was it? Did your parents break you down into becoming their perfect little girl again? Did that teacher Ozpin promise you fame as one of his Huntresses? Or did this Schnee bitch just wave around enough cash for you to warm her bed?"

At that, Yang nearly lost her cool. Her eyes and hair blazed, her own snarl promising pain as she tried to take a step forward. She was stopped by Weiss throwing an arm across her chest, giving her a look that was half-warning, half-sympathetic. She only really ceased moving at the sound of more guns cocking, settling for trying to burn a hole through Adam's head with her eyes.

If Blake noticed, she didn't react. She just looked up at Adam, her eyes hardening, ice beneath her tears. "Nothing, Adam. I didn't leave the White Fang. I left you."

Adam stopped his pacing. Behind his mask, his eyes seemed to glow as he gripped the railing in front of him, looming threateningly over it. "There's a difference?" he asked, his voice arctic.

Blake let out of soft breath, and for the first time, she looked almost sad. "You really don't get it, do you, Adam?" She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing heavily. "Three years I followed you. Three years I trusted you. Three years I loved you." She swallowed thickly, clenching her hands so tightly that they shook. "Enough to let you Mark me." She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

When she opened her eyes, her tears were gone. She schooled her face, standing tall. "But in all that time… I never knew you." She shook her head slowly, almost sadly. "That's why I left, Adam. Once our Mark settled and I could Feel you, see you? In that moment, nothing else mattered. Not the White Fang, not my friends, not even the fact that I had absolutely nowhere else to go, that the White Fang was everything to me. Because, Adam... despite three years of loving you?" She took a step forward, her eyes slitting as she glared. "All it took was five seconds of knowing you to make me run."

A chilling silence fell over the station. The only sound to be heard was the faint clacking of plastic on metal as the White Fang members shifted their weight, their guns moving slightly in their hands. The Faunus suddenly seemed more on edge, more than a few of them glancing quickly between Blake and Taurus. A few looked to each other, as if searching for something in their neighbor's expression.

At Taurus's side, Ilia stared down at Blake with panicked eyes, her lips parted at the cat-Faunus's audacity. Next to her, Torchwick simply watched the proceedings with a raised brow, his smirk growing wider with every word Blake said. The grip on his cane tightened as he stared at the back of Taurus's head, sparing a quick glance towards Neo.

Blake glared up at Taurus defiantly, as if challenging him to respond. Behind her, her Mates had shifted their positions, turning slightly so that they could change target in an instant if need be. On their necks, their Mate's Marks glowed, unmistakable to all in attendance.

"So…"

Everyone tensed. There was something in Taurus's voice… it sounded just as calm as earlier, but… it was as if the coldness in it had become physical. There is a weight to it, a… finality.

"I suppose asking you to come back would be pointless then?" His sarcastic tone made it clear he knew the answer to his own question.

Blake glared through narrowed eyes. "What do you think?"

Taurus leaned heavily over the railing, the metal shaking as his hands gripped it. "I think… that you no longer have a use to us. Not alive, at least."

In an instant, Ruby had abandoned the targets on her side of their diamond formation, whirling around to take aim at Taurus's head, her silver eyes hard. The White Fang around them stiffened in an instant, tightening their grip on their weapons, taking aim at the speedster in kind. Weiss hissed her name quietly, forming familiar gestures with her fingers, while Yang threw her left arm out in a wide stance, gauntlets trained on the targets Ruby had looked away from while still aiming at her own.

Taurus didn't even spare them a glance, his attention solely on Blake as he continued. "I think… that the White Fang, as a whole, is finally going to put all memory of you behind us. That we shall eliminate you and your so-called Mates-" he spat the word harshly, "-right here, right now, and end this farce of a bond you've created that insults everything it means to be Faunus. I think that once his precious daughter lies dead at his feet, the good Chief Ghira will prove just how weak he and his compassionate methods truly are."

He then grinned cruelly. "Though, I suppose I should thank you for giving one final contribution to our cause." He chuckled as Blake stiffened, confusion in her eyes. Taurus gave a grand wave to just behind Blake. "You did deliver the Schnee heiress to us."

Blake growled. Weiss glanced backward with an icy glare, making Taurus's smile grow. "I'm still not quite sure what to do with her. She has use as a bargaining chip as well as a corpse. Either way, her disappearance will weaken the SDC more than ever before."

Weiss snorted, loud enough for all to hear. "Over my dead body."

"I think that's the idea, Weiss," Yang muttered, her head whipping back and forth at the White Fang she faced on both sides.

Taurus huffed a dark laugh, shaking his head slowly. "You know… I imagined doing this a number of ways. I've gone over this meeting a dozen times in my head, trying to think of how to make this as grand and memorable as I felt it needed to be. But, now… I feel you're simply not worth our time. Your presence will still draw out your father, live or dead.

"White Fang… on my mark. Try to leave the Schnee alive. Take aim."

In an instant, every White Fang member snapped back to attention, their rifles trained on Team RWBY. The few that had seemed to waver quickly shook it off, bringing their weapons to bear.

The girls tensed, weapons raised defensively. Blake still didn't break eye contact with Taurus, amber eyes blazing. The bull Faunus returned only a cold, almost amused smirk.

"Any last words, Blake?

Blake snarled. "Go to hell, Adam."

Taurus snorted in mirth. "Heh. I'm sure I'll see you there." The smile fell from his face as he stood up straight, raising his arm level with his head. "Goodbye, Blake. It was fun while it lasted. White Fang...fire."

The moment Taurus's fist closed, every member of the White Fang pulled the trigger. The noise of dozens of machine guns firing filled the air, near-deafening within the abandoned station. Taurus watched intently, wanting to memorize the exact moment the bullets met their mark. He held Blake's glare, waiting to see the light fade from her defiant eyes.

He held her gaze… until she smirked.

Taurus blinked.

The bullets hit home, he could see where they tore through the girl's skin, slamming into the concrete floor around them… but there was no blood. The girls gave no screams of pain, no indication whatsoever that they'd just been shot full of holes. And… they were all smiling.

"What…?" Taurus breathed, his confusion clear. All around him, the White Fang were similarly baffled, some lowering their weapons out of shock.

None of them noticed Torchwick's men slowly back away from the railings.

Taurus stared at Blake, his anger wiped away for the first time since the confrontation had begun.

Blake's smirk widened, which was suddenly much more blood-chilling than normal given the visible hole in her forehead. Her eyes flicked downwards. Taurus followed her gaze… just then noticing the rolling clouds of red and black pooling at the girls' feet.

Taurus's head snapped back up to Blake's face, his mouth parting. Before he could say anything, Blake's body blurred at the edges, before fading away in a familiar puff of shadow.

As did her team, in their own colored shadows, Yang flipping him off before she vanished.

"No!" Taurus roared. He was practically shaking in rage at how Blake had somehow gotten away. He could feel the rage in his chest building, ready to burst out in a torrent of furious orders for his men. He knew how Blake's Semblance worked, she couldn't have gotten too far yet.

Then someone chuckled.

"Trust me, Bully Boy…"

Taurus whipped around. His eyes widened as he found Torchick smirking at him, Team RWBY just behind him with weapons ready, and the conman's scroll held up in his other hand. The word "READY" blinked across the scroll's screen in big green letters.

"This'll be the real shocker."

Torchwick tapped his scroll. The text turned to "ENGAGED" in angry red.

Screams of pain sounded all around the station, causing Taurus to snap his head to the side. His lieutenant dropped to the ground, his rifle buzzing as sparks danced over his skin, but unable to drop the weapon as his muscles seized. All around him, his men were falling to their knees as their bodies shuddered, the weapons in their hands sparking with electricity. Within seconds, Torchwick's men rushed forward, knocking the weapons away and pressing their own to the back of the White Fang member's necks and wrenching their hands behind their backs.

When Taurus looked back in rage, he found Torchwick's cane pointed right between his eyes, the man himself chuckling triumphantly.

"Told you," Roman smirked, he then glanced towards some of his crew. "Nice timing, Rae. Very dramatic."

"Screw you, Roman." The annoyed voice came from one of the women bearing Torchwicks colors. She tore off her red sunglasses and white coat, revealing bright crimson eyes and black battle attire. She threw the clothing down like it offended her, drawing a collapsed katana out from behind her back. She glared at Torchwick even as she raised the blade threateningly, matching Torchwick's position. "You have no idea how much you owe me for forcing us all into that getup."

"Oh, I don't know, Sis." Another man shed his coat, mirth in his smoky red eyes as he drew his blade. "I think it's kind of nice to see you in something other than black and red. Get a little variety."

"Screw you too, Qrow."

Taurus was shaking in rage at how flippant the newcomers acted, his eyes darting around as he watched his lieutenant get wrestled to the ground by two of Torchwick's men, a trend that was quickly spreading throughout the station even as most of them ditched the conman's colors. "How?"

"Uh, that'd be my doing, Bully Boy. Obviously." Roman smirked. "All those fancy guns you had me steal? I put a little insurance policy in each one. A fifty-thousand-volt taser built into the stock, to be engaged at the installer's discretion with a simple little radio signal." He wagged his scroll mockingly.

Adam grit his teeth in rage. "Impossible… we didn't just use your guns."

Roman gave a lazy shrug. "Yeah, you got me there." He bobbed his head to the side. "That's why my new partner in heroics here sabotaged the rest when you weren't looking."

Adam turned his head defiantly against the weapon press to his head to see who Roman was referring to. His eyes blazed when they landed on Ilia pressing the tip of her sword to the back of another White Fang member. Her face was nervous, but determined, her mask discarded on the ground.

Taurus snarled. "Ilia… what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Bringing an end to this madness."

Taurus's head snapped around in an instant, completely ignoring the gun barrel pressing into the side of his head. As one, students, White Fang, and private militia all turned towards the station entrance, though only the White Fang did so in shock.

Marching down the stairs into the station, Chieftain Ghira Belladonna radiated authority. His brow pinched in an angry expression, his lips pulled to a firm line, he looked around the station at the sight before him. Gasps of shock and surprise rose from the White Fang, more than a few of them slumping their shoulders as they looked upon the Faunus leader.

Adam's eyes blazed at the sight of the man, his shoulders tensing. His voice little more than a growl, he said, "Well… this is a surprise."

Beneath the weight of the two men wrestling him to the ground, Adam's Lieutenant stopped struggling.

"It can't be too much of one, Adam." Ghira made his way past the restrained White Fang, his eyes darting from one young face to the next. His anger seemed to shift as he went along, looking more like overwhelming disappointment and sadness. "Did you think I would never learn about all you've done?"

Taurus scoffed as Ghira came to stand before him, placing himself between Raven and Torchwick. "I figured you'd stay holed up in the expensive little bubble you'd built for yourself, just like you have for the last decade and a half while your people suffered."

Ghira merely looked down at Taurus, towering over him. "I retired from the White Fang after twenty years of service, leaving the future up to the next generation while I cared for our homeland. When you left Menagerie, I thought you were going to become the next beacon of hope for our people, someone I could pass my mantle down to one day." He gestured with his arm towards all the White Fang left weaponless on their knees, watching the two with wide eyes. "Instead, you've reduced yourself to a common criminal, dragging the White Fang down with you."

Taurus sneered. "You have the gall to call us criminals when you align yourself with one?" He turned his glare on Torchwick, completely ignoring Ghira's narrowed eyes. "How much did he pay you to turn on us Torchwick? Did he have to empty Managerie's coffers to pay you off? How much of our people's money now line your pockets?"

Torchwick snorted. "Not a cent, Bully Boy. I'm doing this job pro bono."

At that, Taurus's eyes narrowed. "What? Why?"

"Because, believe it or not, as much as it makes my skin crawl to admit it, there is exactly one thing more important to me than money." He glanced backward, smirking at Team RWBY. "My family, corny as it sounds."

For one brief moment, Taurus rage was put to the sidelines. "What?" he shouted incredulously.

"That'd be us," Yang piped up, gauntlets at the ready.

"Hi," Ruby said with an awkward wave and nervous smile.

Roman laughed at Taurus's dumbstruck face. "Yep. Got so focused on the princess and your ex, you probably should have considered that the other two in their little quartet might have someone powerful you wouldn't want to piss off. Say, their master criminal uncle who supplies all your guns and ammo." He then bobbed his head towards the woman next to him. "And on that note, meet their mother. She's a badass bandit queen who makes Grimm cry for mommy."

"Charmed," Raven said in a deadpan tone, her look of barely contained rage a sharp contrast to Roman's flippancy.

Taurus snarled at her in response, turning his rage-filled eyes to Ghira. "So, what happens now, Chief? Are you going to have your band of human mercenaries gun us all down like animals? Sweep us under the rug so you can pretend that all is right in your little fantasy world, where humans and Faunus live in harmony?" He barked out a loud, raspy laugh.

Ghira simply shook his head, his anger conflicting with deep sadness. "That fantasy is closer to reality than it ever has been before." His eyes then hardened, shifting to slitted cat-irises. "At least it was, Adam. Before the White Fang traded peaceful protests for gunplay and assassination attempts. No, no one dies tonight. The authorities are already gathering outside the station."

Murmurs arose from the White Fang as the Faunus started to look to each other, voicing their worries and fear of Ghira's words. Adam looked towards the discontent, doubling his glare at the Chief. "So you'd turn on your own people, Chief?"

"I've turned on no one, Adam," Ghira responded plainly, not rising to the bait. "The men and women here tonight have broken the laws of The Four Kingdoms. I cannot turn a blind eye to crimes of any kind, least of those committed to tarnish the reputation of our entire species."

Taurus scoffed. "'Tarnished?' We're bringing about the world you failed to deliver to us, one where all Faunus are given the respect we deserve."

"Respect based on fear and violence?" Ghira shook his head with a sigh. "It would never last, Adam. And I think you know that." He looked back at his daughter, Blake clutching Gambol Shroud tightly as her eyes darted between himself and Taurus. He turned his head slowly to look out over the entire station, at all the Faunus hiding their faces behind expressionless Grimm masks. He met Taurus's glare with a firm look. "I'm sure there's plenty of those that share your views wholeheartedly, but I know there are just as many that have just been lead astray by your charisma. I've made a deal with the Vale authorities that any White Fang taken in tonight will be shown leniency for their crimes, so long as they cooperate."

"That easy, huh?" Taurus chuckled darkly. "A lighter sentence in exchange for surrendering themselves to the humans. You'd have them sacrifice their pride as Faunus?"

"This extends to you as well, Adam." Ghira's forceful statement quieted Taurus for a moment. The Chief's eyes softened slightly. "I remember the man you were before you left Menagerie. You were once a good person, that I am sure of. So, in memory of that man, I'm giving you one chance, Adam. Let this end, peacefully."

Silence filled the air as Ghira's words echoed off the stonework. The eyes of the White Fang fell on Adam Taurus, each member waiting with bated breath as their leader merely stared down the leader of the Faunus species. Crimson eyes bored into gold, the bull Faunus's hands tightly clenched. Taurus slowly looked from one side to another, at each of the men and women he lead, detained by Raven's militia. He met Ghira's eyes again… only for his gaze to slowly pan just behind the chief.

Behind Raven ghosting her blade against his neck.

Behind Torchwick aiming his cane right at his forehead.

Behind Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long, the sisters standing defensively at the front of their team, behind Weiss Schnee glaring at him, sword raised in one hand and a glyph prepped with the other.

Taurus looked past them all, his eyes falling on Blake Belladonna. She met his gaze with visible nervousness, her body coiled like a spring for both fight and flight.

His partner of three years. His childhood friend. His potential Mate.

His lost Mate.

Taurus's eyes narrowed. His eyes snapped back to Ghira, meeting his warning eyes with a mocking laugh. "How generous of you. But I'm afraid, Chief, that you've wasted your breath. They'll be no change of hearts today. Lieutenant?"

Everyone's eyes snap to the prone form a few paces away from Adam, being held down with Qrow's sword at his neck. The White Fang lieutenant chuckled under his breath, opening his hand to let a small blinking box fall to the ground. "On the way, sir."

Blake tensed in an instant, but her fearful outburst was beaten by Roman's dismissive scoff. "Who's on the way, Bully Boy? Reinforcements? News flash, people!" He raised his voice, making it clear he was addressing everyone within earshot. "Even forgetting the fine men and women currently wrestling you to the ground, outside this station is every able-bodied Hunter and cop in Vale along with whatever forces Old Ironside's was willing to donate." He focused back on Taurus with a smarmy grin. "It doesn't matter if the entire White Fang teleports into this one room. You're stuck, buddy."

Taurus shook his head, taking a step back to lean against the railing, gripping it with both hands. "That's what you think. See, this was going to end one of only two ways. Either we'd kill Blake and eliminate The Chief along with her…" He smirked as Ghira and the RWBY's bristled at his words. "Or, we'd just have to settle for plan B."

"Oh, yeah?" Roman said mockingly, stepping forward to press his cane's muzzle back to Taurus's head. "First I've heard of a Plan B."

"Of course not, Torchwick." Taurus scoffed, crimson eyes beneath his mask. "That's because I didn't tell you. I only told those I trust."

"More like those you know won't talk back."

Taurus ignored the comment, giving his focus solely towards Blake. "I knew there was a chance things may not go as I planned. But this all would have gone so much more smoothly if it did. Less… messy. I'd hoped I wouldn't have to resort to such… extreme measures." He laughed darkly. "Though, I should really have expected this outcome over the other. After all…"

He fixed Blake with a wicked, knowing look. "I suppose it is rather hard for a bull to skin a cat. Especially when she's cowering behind a fox-"

Weiss stiffened.

"-a wolf-"

Ruby's mouth fell open. "H-how…?"

"-and a lion."

Yang's eyes blazed.

Taurus's smile chilled to the bone. "Isn't it?"

"...what did you do?" Blake's voice was no more than a frightened whisper. She stepped away from her team, much to their dismay, putting herself just behind Roman and Raven. She looked up at Taurus with wide, frightful eyes. "Adam, what did you do!?"

Taurus stared down at her with cold eyes, a sickening grin on his lips.

"A better question is, Blake…" He turned his head slightly, straining his neck…

Revealing the faint ring of teeth marks near his collar bone.

"What did you do?"

Blake's hand flew to her Mate's Mark, her cat ears splaying down hard. "W-what…?"

Ghira looked between the two sharply, concern for his daughter warring with his anger towards Taurus for the sheer gall. "What are you talking about, Adam?" he demanded as he stood between the man and his daughter.

Taurus gave a satisfied grin. "Well, I would explain, Chief, but…"

Suddenly, a low noise sounded throughout the station: a constant rumbling, accompanied by a slight trembling in the ground.

"It would seem we're all out of time."

Roman looked all about the station in search of the noise, Neo instinctually turning to cover his back as she searched as well. "The hell is that, Taurus? White Fang build an earthquake machine and not tell me. Oh, I'm hurt."

Taurus just kept up his cold smile. "That would be plan B, Torchwick. Which should be arriving right about…"

The rumbling grew stronger, and soon a new sound joined it: the constant scraping of metal on metal. As the sound grew louder, building to a roar, everyone was able to pinpoint the origin of it:

The sealed off subway line… which now had a bright light building behind it.

"Now."

Roman best summed up everyone's collective thoughts.

"Oh, shit."

A second later, a driverless train crashed through the barrier at full speed, sending smoke and debris billowing into the station as it screamed into the station. The train hit the end of the line at full speed, obliterating the platform as the rest of boxcars it had been pulling tore into the station to continue the devastation.

The sheer impact of its collision threw everyone to the ground, Roman nearly going over the railing as he stumbled to it, his grip on his cane slacking. Smoke and flame filled the air as the freight train ground to a halt.

Before the train had even finished crashing, Taurus drew his blades and leapt towards where Ghira had fallen to his knees. His blade fell before the Chief could react, only to be blocked by Raven's katana.

Behind her, Team RWBY scrambled to their feet, Ilia and Neo right behind them as they found their weapons. All around them, White Fang struggled against their distracted captors, pulling hidden blades and guns from their coats. Raven's men raised their weapons in response.

Over the din of chaos that quickly filled the station, the voice of Taurus's lieutenant sounded above all else, along with the revving of a chainsaw.

"White Fang! Attack!"