Reader's POV:

17 Years Old

"They're here! Lockdown the building, now!" A loud voice rings throughout the large building. "Seal the entrances, protect the boss. All available units converge on the main floor. They must be stopped at all costs!"

Red lights flash through the many windows of the building, piercing the darkness of the night sky. Outside you and your older brother face a dozen grunts, blocking your path to the entrance, one of them having run inside to warn the others. Quickly drawing Bloom, your long blade easily slices through four of your enemies in one cut. To your left you see Adam quickly dodging the guards' gunfire, weaving through their bodies, cutting them to pieces as he goes. Spinning on your left foot, you throw of spinning heel kick to one of the guards, flipping your Ōdachi into a reverse grip and sliding it up his body, cutting him in two. Looking over your shoulder you see another guard running at you with a stun baton. Grabbing Bloom with both hands, you pierce behind you to the left of your hip, the slight resistance and strangled cry mixed with the gargle of blood telling you you've hit your mark. Your brother has made quick work of the other six men, and pulling your blade from your opponent's stomach, the two of you square your shoulders to the loading dock bay doors.

As you approach the large steel entrance, you hear the breaking of glass from above you. Looking up you see a large, muscular man falling from the second story towards the pair of you. Shielding yourself and your brother, you hold your Ōdachi at an angle, blocking the man with the flat of your blade. Pushing of your sword, the man does a flip and lands on the ground. Straightening up, the man pulls out a large war hammer. Dragging the head of the hammer along the ground as he charges you and Adam, he swings the weapon out. Adam ducks under the hammer as you use Bloom to block the impact, knocking your back several feet. Adam quickly rushes the new opponent, Wilt drawn, and attempts to slice the man horizontally through his side. Sidestepping his attack, he swings his free hand around striking Adam in the upper back. Going to help your brother, you swing Bloom at the man's neck, but he blocks it with the handle of his hammer, then swinging it down, almost striking you in the head. Recovering from the seismic shock of the hammer, you look up in time to see him kick you across the head. Tasting blood in your mouth, you spit on the ground before rushing him again. At the same time Adam runs at him from the back and kicks him in the side of his knee, breaking his leg. Dropping to one knee, the man turns his head up just as you cut through his meaty neck, severing his head from his shoulders.

Flicking your blade to clean it from the blood, you and Adam once again walk towards the loading bay doors. You can still hear the alarms blaring from inside as well as the sound of what are obviously dozens of men rushing around the main floor, awaiting your entrance. Your brother looks at you, removing his mask and you do the same so the two of you are looking into one another's eyes.

"Are you with me brother?" He asks.

"To the death. Always."

Replacing your masks, Adam uses his semblance to cut down the door. Switching Bloom into its shield mode, the two of you are instantly met with a hailstorm of gunfire. Protecting the two of you, you slowly advance until your right up against the crowd. Reverting Bloom back into an Ōdachi, you suddenly drop onto one knee, the bullets flying over your head, and cut up at an angle, your long blade cuts through multiple opponents at once. The sudden drop of men provides an opening in the gunfire. Adam jumps off your back and into the middle of the group, hopping from person to person, severing limbs, slicing heads, and cutting through arteries. As your brother works his way through the middle of the group, you deal with the outside and push your way in. Dropping multiple enemies at once thanks to the extreme length of your blade, you pull Bloom back and give a mighty thrust, charging forwards while screaming, impaling five enemies on your blade. Running them into a wall, pinning them their as they bleed out, you convert Dream into a silenced AR-15 rifle. Taking cover behind a support pillar you fire short, accurate burst at the guards still standing, dropping them like flies.

As the last few men drop at Adam's blade, you pull Bloom from the wall, pushing your foot against the now dead bodies impaled upon it, pulling it from their guts, the usually silver blade now dripping crimson. Hearing the sounds of running footsteps across metal, you and Adam look up to see a small group of men running across the catwalks headed towards the roof, several guards surrounding a grey-haired man. Two of the men fall back and pull out railguns, pointing them at you and Adam over the railing. As they release beams of energy at the two of you, you both hold up your blades and absorb the energy. Adam's blade glowing red, your skin glossing over with a (F/C) sheen before fading.

Running ahead of your brother you stop underneath the catwalk, widening your stance and cupping your hands together. Adam runs towards you, and as he places his foot on your hands, you throw him up to the upper levels. As Adam pursues the enemies, you position yourself between a support beam and the wall. Jumping between the two you climb higher and higher, eventually breaking through the glass skylight. Landing on the roof with a roll, you see your target running to a nearby roof, Adam hot on his tail. You hear a loud noise from behind you and see a helicopter approaching the area, ready to pick up the small group of men. Backing up a few steps, you run towards the edge of the building and jump off, just barely managing to grab onto the landing strips of the chopper. Pulling yourself up, you silently open the door and climb inside.

The helicopter is completely empty except for the pilot, obviously making room for the people it's about to pick up. Closing the door, you stay crouched behind the distracted pilot's seat, waiting for him to land. When he does, you slice his neck with Bloom, and wait for your target to enter. Peering out the windows you can see the small group of men approaching the helicopter, Adam busy fighting off another three men who broke off from the group. You watch as your brother quickly dispatches the distractions, but it bought enough time for your target to escape. Or at least it would have, were you not waiting for him. The door opens, and the last two guards stand outside, motioning the grey man in. You shoot them in the head, dropping them instantly, then place Bloom against the grey man's throat. Pushing him roughly back onto the roof, you bring him over to where your brother pulls his Chokutō from a man's stomach.

"Ah, Mr. Hawthorne." Adam says, cleaning his blade with a flick of his wrist before resheathing it. "You sir are a hard man to find."

"What do you want with me?" Hawthorne says fearfully. "Money? Dust? Whatever it is I'll get it for you I promise!"

Adam quickly slices upwards with Wilt, severing the man's left hand from his wrist. Crying out in pain and clutching his bleeding stump, the man falls to his knees.

"While we appreciate the offer, that's not what we're after." Adam says, walking towards him.

"Please just let me go." He cries. "You can pretend I escaped, or that I wasn't here. I can make you both rich. Enough money to last ten lifetimes. Just let me go."

"Don't worry." Adam says. "We don't want to kill you. In fact, it's not really you we're after." The man looks relieved when Adam says this. "You're just a pilot fish, but we want the shark. We want Jacques Schnee."

"Look, I don't know where Schnee is. Even if I did, he's too well protected, you'll never be able to touch him."

"No man is untouchable." You say menacingly.

"My brother here is correct. And besides, we don't necessarily want to kill the shark, just maybe take a few of its teeth, rob it of its meals. And you're going to help us."

"What do you need?" Hawthorne asks nervously.

"The delivery schedule for the next month. You're Schnee's head of delivery in Vale, so you know when his trains are coming, what they'll be carrying, and what type of security they'll have."

"Of course. Of course, I can do that!" He cries. "Everything's in my office, just back inside.

Releasing him and giving him a rough shove, you put the barrel of Dream to his back. "Lead the way." You tell him.

Hawthorne takes you to his office where he stumbles around, clumsily searching through the many drawers and filing cabinets with his one hand in search of the delivery schedules. Finally managing to collect all the documents, he shakily hands them to Adam who folds them up and tucks them inside his jacket.

"Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne." Adam says as the two of you turn to leave. "The White Fang appreciates your cooperation."

Just as you're about to walk out of his office, you hear Hawthorne say something under his breath. "Filthy animals."

You hope your brother didn't hear, but of course he did. In one fluid motion Adam drawn his blade and cuts Hawthorne's head off, his body falling with a dull thud, his head rolling across the floor.

"Adam!" You say, grabbing him by the shoulder. "This wasn't the plan! Hawthorne was supposed to live and spread our message."

"Plans change little brother." He says, removing your hand and brushing past you. "He sends the same message in death as if he were alive."

Closing the door on Hawthorne's office, you follow your brother as the two of you head back to base. You aren't looking forward to explaining this to Sienna.