"She's not protecting me, Adam. And I'm not protecting her. We're protecting each other."

As Blake and Yang stared defiantly at the fallen White Fang leader, Adam growled and gripped his sword.

"Then let's see which one of you will fail at that promise," he scoffed. Adam unsheathed Wilt as he lunged at the two, sending more afterimages in his wake.

The two huntresses had no time to prepare for Adam's flurry of attacks. But both of them were like yin and yang, each of them in sync as they dodged and countered Adam's strikes. Blake gave her all as she struck with her cleaver to deflect Wilt. Her speed was on par with Adam's, as she moved so fast that it was hard to tell which was her and which were her clones. Yang sent out rounds of punches and shots, making sure not to aim for his sword. Each time she hit him, jolts of satisfaction sparked through her.

But the three warriors weren't infallible. Fatigue soon caught up with their bodies, threatening to give any of them a disadvantage.

Then Yang had a terrifying thought: Adam hasn't used his Semblance at all since she and Blake teamed up. They shared panicked looks as they came to the same realization.

"You know, maybe you're right, Blake," Adam said. He was panting but hiked himself up with Wilt. "I'll let the past go - by killing you both."

Adam lunged again. Yang and Blake moved to bring him down, but he out-maneuvered them last second. His clones took the pair's strikes as the real Adam appeared behind Blake.

Blake swiftly spun around, but it was too late. The bull Faunus sent her reeling with a push kick.

Blake's Aura shattered. Adam wasted no time impaling her stomach, causing her to shriek like before.

Like that night.

"BLAKE!"

Yang's mind flashed to that night. Blake getting impaled. Adam standing above her in triumph. The pounding rage and hatred spreading throughout her body as she hurled herself at Adam. All these moments melted and exploded into each other.

Without thinking, rage and panic possessed her body as she blasted towards Adam. The branded Faunus smirked before unleashing Moonslice. Their world turned a sickening red as Yang's Aura broke.

It was lucky that Adam didn't kill Yang.

But that didn't stop her from falling over the cliff.

"NO!" Blake screamed. Adam bellowed out a lively laugh before turning back to Blake.

"Now, we're finally alone," Adam proclaimed. He raised Wilt over Blake's heart for a final blow.

But before that could happen, the two heard a familiar gauntlet being shot. Adam turned to see Yang rising from the cliff's edge, her eyes a blazing red and her hair burning flames. Like a phoenix reborn from ashes.

Adam had no time to react as Yang flew and threw one last punch. Golden shockwaves spiraled out of control, sending Adam flying to the other side of the cliff.

The last they heard of him was an ear-shattering scream. Followed by the sound of bones against stones.

"Yang!" Blake crawled to her partner despite the searing pain in her gut. She cradled Yang as the latter slowly opened her eyes.

Breathing heavily, Yang had enough energy to untie her bandana. She wound it around Blake's injured side, creating a tourniquet for her partner.

"Hey, we did promise to protect each other, right?" Yang quipped, cupping Blake's face in her hand.

Their lips met in a tender kiss, as both their worlds softened and ignited.