Blake saw the smoke in the distance. She knew instantly what it was and why it was happening. The crops they'd grown were being destroyed in an act of pointless aggression; a fool throwing a renewed temper tantrum when he didn't get his way.

"Ma'am?" one of her Liutenants called, knocking on the post of her tent.

"I see it," Blake sighed in exasperation. "Get the workers out. Tell Tukson to get his men around the perimeter and make sure he can't worm his way out of this. I'll take Ira and Bernard to try and talk him down."

She didn't expect it would work, but she'd make an attempt. Whatever he'd become, she'd loved the man he'd been, and that wasn't something she could easily forget. She wasn't foolish enough to hope he'd see the error of his ways and return, but she did hope maybe he would stop hurting his former friends and waste his life on pointless destruction.

It was easy to hope. Her way had made progress. The White Fang was trading with Vale now, after Ozpin and the Vale Council accepted her offer of ceasefire and trade negotiations. Atlas was being stubborn, but they had a way to go to mend those fences. Blake only hoped Vale would understand their food delivery might be a bit late due to an unexpected terrorist attack on a reformed terrorist organization. She was not looking forward to explaining the nuances of that one.

Ira and Bernard were waiting once she finally left her tent. Bernard's rifle was still coated in dust, and Ira seemed confused of which end of her staff she should grip. It didn't fill Blake with confidence to see the two flanking her have trouble wielding their weaponry, but there was something comforting about seeing them unfamiliar with the fight. It'd been a long time, and that it was no longer commonplace was to be celebrated.

And ideally, after tonight they'd have even less reason to expect a fight.

They dashed through the woods from their encampment to the farmstead, where Three Sister crops were being burned one after another while some of the farmers tried desperately to suppress the flames while their White Fang brothers tried to persuade them to evacuate before they were caught in the conflagration.

Once she'd cleared the tree line, Blake saw him, firing incendiary ammo at every crop he saw, standing amidst several raging fires. It reminded her briefly of the old days, when she'd caused just as much destruction as he had... the thrill of it, the incongruous beauty of fire and smoke, the feeling of making a noticeable difference in the world... but then she saw him, still wearing his Grimm mask, still telling the world he was a monster. And she remembered why he left. What he was.

Adam reloaded his shotgun and prepared to fire again, when he took note of her, and lowered the barrels to the ground and broke into a smile. "Hello, my love."

"Don't call me that," Blake snapped immediately. "What are you doing? What is the point of this? What's wrong with you?!"

"You know what I'm doing, and you know why I'm doing it," Adam reminded her. "So don't waste all our time asking questions you already know the answer to.

"As for what's wrong with me..." Adam lifted both his arms and waved them in the direction of the fires he'd set. "...I guess you could say I was tired of seeing everything I built go to waste. So I thought I'd burn it down and start again."

"Adam, please, this is pointless," Blake requested. "You don't have to fight us. All you're doing is making things harder for the White Fang and the Faunus when we're finally making progress."

"Progress? Progress for the humans, not us," Adam snapped. "You think you're helping the Faunus or the White Fang? All you've done is bent your knee and accepted scraps from the humans' table. All you've done is give them exactly what they want! You say you're making progress for our kind? I say I'm the only Faunus left!"

Blake had hoped there would be some semblance of logic in his rants, but this fervor wasn't born of rational disapproval. It wasn't even his experience of persecution talking: his fury had no reason. "You're insane," Blake finally said.

"The world is insane," Adam retorted. "You knew that once. You fought the madness right along with me. But in the end, you succumbed to that insanity so the humans would pay you lip service and you could live in your filthy hovel without fear."

"I wasn't the only one," Blake said defensively. "The White Fang sided with me. They wanted peace too."

"And is this peace, then? Having to live in some forgotten corner of the world growing crops for fat and lazy humans? Having to pay a tithe just so you can be left alone in poverty and misery?!" Adam roared. "No, it's proof that I was right all along. The humans will never see us as their equals. They'll never share the world with us. You want to be their pets and subordinates? You've betrayed everything the White Fang stood for!"

"I chose to compromise!" Blake replied. "Things are getting better for all of us here! We finally can make one place home without fear of being forced out! We can grow our homestead without having to take the land from someone else."

Adam shook his head. "Until you grow too large and the humans decide you're not worth humoring. They're already planning it. They'd rather you make them a few meals before they cut you out of their plans. All they've done is placate you with the illusion of peace."

"You don't know-"

"I do know," Adam snarled. "There's a war coming, Blake. And a fool who isn't willing to fight it doesn't deserve to lead the White Fang. I came here tonight to reclaim my seat and give my people what they were promised..."

There was no hope of talking him down. It hurt to do... but making the hard decisions had come easier to her. Where before she might've run from such a direct and immediate problem, now Blake was ready to face it, bolstered by the confidence of her success and the love of her people.

"Very well, Adam," Blake drew Gambol Shroud and steeled herself. "You want pointless destruction, you can have it. You'll never defeat us by yourself."

"Oh, I'm not alone," Adam replied, drawing his katana. He moved in to attack, easily cutting through Ira's staff and killing his former comrade without hesitation or mercy.

"What?!" Blake interceded before Adam could kill Bernard, clashing her blade against his. "What are you talking about?!"

"This 'pointless destruction'... isn't so pointless," Adam explained. "I found some people who shared my view."

Bernard moved to intervene and help his leader, only to be struck by a burst of flame to his back. He survived the initial hit, only to be struck by a cane, as a man with distinctive orange hair and a bowler hat stepped in from a gap in the flames, quickly dispatching her comrade.

"Little bit flashier than I expected," he observed.

"I wanted to send a message, Roman," Adam explained. "And we will."

The man called Roman turned his attention to Blake. "So is this little kitty the one you want alive?"

"She is only for me," Adam answered. "Let those she has led meet their ruin. Be sure to remind them who led them to the slaughter."

"Sounds good to me," Roman agreed, as he headed back towards the camp, accompanied by several men clad in black suits and red ties, and a short woman with strange multicolored hair and a parasol. They headed away from the fire, towards the noncombatants waiting unprotected, while Blake's soldiers and sentries waited unaware around the camp perimeter.

"Why are you doing this?!" Blake demanded. "You'll destroy your own people!"

"I'll destroy weakness," Adam answered. "All except you. You I will keep, as a reminder of where peace leads us. You I will keep at my side, my love... until you are cured of your madness and ready to be yourself again. I'll wait as long as is necessary... I know just how hard it is to become sane."

Blake attempted to draw back and use her Semblance to escape the battle and warn her people, but Adam found where she'd moved to and forced her back to the ground. He fired his shotgun's incendiary bullets at the gap in the flames, leaving the two encircled by fire.

"No more running," Adam promised. "No, this will make you strong again. Just like it made me stronger, watching my dream die."

Adam hoisted her up by the back of her head and made her look at the tree line, as she saw muzzle flashes at the camp ground, and heard cries echoing through the trees.

Trapped once more in Adam's grip, Blake watched as her dream, and all she'd built went up in flames...