The dust in the air glowed with a sinister aura, lit by the fires of the ruined hall below. It would float here and there on a whim, only to be blown roughly aside from the gusts of the fighters below as they twisted and flashed in a dance of death.

Adam charged, parrying the blows from the Atlesian soldiers that stood in his way. One of them lashed out with a stun baton, forcing him to slide under the man's outstretched arm. Dodging the furious strike, Adam unsheathed Wilt, separating the man from his lower legs, as he darted forward towards his next victim.

The next soldier was better prepared, backpedaling furiously and taking aim with his rifle. Ultimately, his effort was in vain, his shots flying wide. It mattered not whether his shots connected or not, as the soldier found himself impaled upon his enemy's sword. With two hands, Adam whirled the sword above his head, taking the soldier with it, and swung it at a squad of troops at his flank, nearly bisecting the man and sending his body crashing into his squadmates.

The remaining soldiers had regained unit cohesion and massed at the other side of the room in a firing line, hellbent on cutting the terrorist down in a hail of gunfire. Adam glanced over at the sound of guns being readied echoed across the hall, throwing himself behind a ruined table as the squad leader gave the order to fire. With a flourish of his sword, the fanatical Faunus vaulted over the splintered wood, catching every shot on his blade as he leveled a charge at the Atlesian soldiers.

Through the barrage, Adam charged, parrying each shot with his blade, which glowed brighter with each shot. He had made it halfway across the room, still blocking and absorbing every little pathetic attempt to stop him.

But halfway was enough.

The terrorist dropped to the ground in a crouch and unleashed his Semblance, channeling the energy through his blade and sending it across the hall in a blinding line of hatred that blasted the troopers apart and scattered their remains wildly, continuing on to bite viciously into the wall and obliterate all the glass that remained in the windows.

Breathing heavily, Adam slid his sword back into its sheath, scanning the ruined room. Anything in the room that was glass was now pulverized, and a large angry line had sliced into the room horizontally, the scar still smoldering, casting off a bloody, dim light. He stood back up, scanning the room, letting his gaze fall upon one of his previous opponents, feebly crawling towards his fallen weapon. The man's helmet had been blown off, allowing Adam to watch the soldier's bloodied face blanch with fear, as his own sadistic expression grew wider and wider.

"Pathetic fool."

Just like I learned. Take out the Alpha, and the others will scatter.

Blake ran, dodging Grimm, slashing at rogue androids, and pushing civilians to safety as she made her way north. The Fang had limited airships to spare, so they had to make do by caging Alpha Grimm and dropping them into strategic points on campus. Every Alpha that was dropped would continually draw and rally Grimm to their location, making this mess of a fight harder with each step. Thankfully, Blake and Weiss had noticed one such airship drop off an Alpha Wolf before it burnt up and exploded.

It needs to die before it rallies more Grimm.

She had tracked it as it leapt from building to building, working its way deeper and deeper into Beacon, leaping from rooftops, smashing through them in wanton destruction. But for all of its recklessness, it seemed to have a purpose on mind. Thus, Blake decided to take a shortcut in order to cut it off and bring it to an end. With that in mind, Blake made a sudden left, winding around several destroyed androids and pausing to eviscerate a Griffon that had mistaken her for an easy meal.

The first thing Blake noticed passing by the dining hall was an angry burnt scar across the entire building, as if the whole thing had been a drawing on paper some one had drawn a flaming knife cleanly across.

"That couldn't have been a Grimm, right?" She cocked her head in wonder as she beheld the gash. "It looks like it was an Atlesian energy weapon, or maybe it was-"

No. Focus. Alpha Beowulf. Don't be ridiculous..

Overhead, the Grimm had smashed into the roof of the dining hall, roaring in triumph as it summoned more of the creatures of darkness to its aid. There it clung, waiting for its compatriots to direct their rampage towards its general direction. Blake darted into the cover of the ruined building, thinking of a way to dislodge the creature and put an end to its reign of terror. She couldn't help but look around at the sad state of the dining hall, reflecting sadly upon the food fight and her friends enjoying simpler days where they could just be kids.

She hoped they were all right.

Ruby, Weiss, Yang-

"NYYARGH!"

Blake jumped as someone yelled with exertion from inside the hall. Peeking in, her eyes swept past the bodies and the ruined furniture as her blood turned to ice.

No.

No no no NO NO.

The figure inside turned, throwing the corpse in his hands to the floor as a sadistic grin spread across his face.

"...Adam?"

The man inside stepped towards Blake with an unmistakable swagger, his grin wide as ever as he regarded his former partner with a hateful smile.

"Hello, my darling."

Gambol Shroud bit into Wilt, as Blake strained to keep the enemy blade away from her. For every step she took, the blade lowered, closer as she lost ground. And yet, that sinister smile never diminished. In fact, it even seemed to grow as Adam's foot sent her sprawling backwards. Not missing a beat, she raised Gambol Shroud yet again to fire off a few shots before the weapon was torn from her grasp.

His words bit harder and deeper than any punch or slash he could throw her way.

How, how? How could the best of us become the worst of us?

With every step of the way, Adam had guided her along, promising things would change for the best of them.

Things changed, all right.

Adam would never hesitate to lash out at anyone who had hurt Blake. But with every word, every strike of the hand, she wondered if the Adam of days past would lash out at the Adam of days present.

"I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love. Starting with her."

Her? Her? Who's- Oh no...

Eyes flaming, fists clenched with hatred, Yang Xiao Long had stepped through the smashed window, leveling a charge with a scream of agony.

It hurt worse than anything Adam could have ever said.

Yang was screaming for her.

She had charged forward, fists raised as she threw herself between her partner and the terrorist, vaulting into the air with death in her eyes and her fist flaming.

There was no way that Yang could have ever completed with Adam. Blake cried out in horror, hand outstretched as Adam whirled about, bringing his sword to bear with that sick smile as it began to glow a bloody red-

"NO!"

Blake had flung herself forwards, aiming for Adam's legs in a feeble attempt to save her partner, but was forced to watch helplessly as Adam deftly stepped out of the way, his sword humming through the air on a collision course with Yang.

But sometimes, even the most simple of things could make the biggest of differences.

Blake's lunge had caught Adam off guard, breaking his focus and turning his attention to her. Even though his step had carried him out of the way, Blake had succeeded in her distraction. His sword bit through the air, loosing a wave of energy that screamed towards Yang. Time seemed to slow as Blake watched her partner fly closer to death-

-and as Adam's slice came a fraction of a second too late, blazing through Yang's right hand gauntlet, shattering the metal like a glass bracelet.

Oh Dust.

If the strike had come any earlier, Yang would have lost her entire hand.

Or worse.

Yang soared overhead, rolling to a stop and whirling about for a second charge as Adam's attack bit into the ceiling with a concussive blast, sending plaster and debris cascading down like an avalanche. Brandishing Ember Celica, she threw herself forward again with a scream, fists raised in anger. She never got the chance to, as something slammed into her from the side, bowling her over as Adam's latest strike blazed overhead.

"Blake! Let me go, I can take him out!"

Her partner had dashed towards her, grabbing her and tossing her into the ground with a look of absolute terror.

"Not when the hall is like this, his Semblance is bringing the entire place down!"

Indeed, large pieces of the building began to smash into the ground as the building began to disintegrate around them. Already damaged by Grimm and errant weapons fire, the structure had finally succumbed, compromised by Adam's energy attack. Both huntresses turned tail to run, hurtling out the window as the terrorist gave chase. Blind to all but his quarry, Adam pushed forward, oblivious to the chunks falling around him, until a a large chunk landed before him, throwing him back. Sprawled on his back, the Faunus beheld the roof above splintering, falling, crumbling.

"Oh, son of a-"

The pillars holding up the room collapsed under the strain, sending flying debris careening outwards as Yang tackled her partner forwards out of harm's way. The both of them looked up just in time to see the hall fold in upon itself with a tumultuous crash, the sound of tortured metal and rock clawing at their ears as rubble pelted them like a twisted mimicry of rain. What once held the biggest food fight of them all, countless memories of friendship and camaraderie, and reminders of better, innocent days, was now shattered before their eyes.

But in its final act, Beacon's dining hall had served one final customer his just desserts.

Adam Taurus had struggled to his feet, rushing towards them, with sword raised and teeth bared with hatred, but unfortunately for him, the tidal wave of rubble had been too fast, pushing the terrorist to the floor and dragging his screaming form into shadow. And now, only the fading red glow of his Semblance gave testament to the fact he had ever been there at all.

Rising to brush the dust off her jacket, Yang reached down to help her partner to her feet as her eyes faded to their customary lilac. Blake's expression of shock melted to one of utter relief as she threw herself into Yang's arms, shaking with relief. There they stood a while, dust swirling around them like snow as they clung to each other, happy that in this climate of danger and uncertainty, their stories wouldn't end here, not today, not in this place.

Even if this was the end of the book for them at this point, well, at least both stories would draw to a close together.

And neither of them would have had it any other way.

"Y'know," Yang started, a grin slowly spreading across her face as she slowly released her partner. "I think that whole incident ended up 'ceiling' that weirdo's fate." And with that, she pointed her fingers at Blake with a gleeful cry of "hey-oh!"

In spite of all that had transpired, in spite of her near-death experience, in spite of the ghosts of her past coming back to haunt her, and even in spite of Yang's horrendous pun at the absolute worst times, Blake managed a smile, drawing small comfort in the fact that in this new chapter of her life, she could end one chapter of her life and keep moving forward.

Plus, her partner was besides her, ready to back her up through thick and thin. Wasn't that always a positive?

"C'mon, let's get back out there. I saw an Alpha Beowulf heading east," Yang called, slowly jogging off in pursuit. She stopped for a second before turning back with a wink.

"Race ya."