AN: Hey, everyone. Sorry I haven't uploaded in two months apparently. I never intend to take this long, but life happens. And we keep on trucking. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

In other news, I got RWBY Arrowfell, and it was spectacularly underwhelming.

Now for the serious part. Consider this the trigger warning for sexual assault. I have had characters allude to sexual assault in the past, but this is the first time I'm having someone actually commit it. It's not something that will get the rating brought up to M, and I consider it "tame" as far as this kind of thing goes, but it's still kind of unpleasant. You have been warned.

Chapter 130

Yang backed up into the wall as far she could, trembling uncontrollably at the sight of Adam Taurus. He grinned wickedly as he saw Yang and Uncle Qrow restrained, but the grin quickly fell when he saw the same had been done to Blake and Tifa, but with the collars done up.

"Look what they've done to you, my love," he said. "For all your assertions that humans can change and be convinced to respect us, they still muzzled you like a rabid animal. You, and not the humans. How long are you going to keep defending them?" Blake muffled something in response, recoiling away from him in fear like Yang was. Tifa was silently glowering at him. "Oh, right. Let me get that for you, my dear." He slowly walked towards her, reaching out a hand.

"S-Stay away from her," Yang said, unable to keep the fear from her tone. Adam turned his head to look at her.

"Her team mate, I presume?" Adam asked. "One of the humans that Blake abandoned me and her kind for?" Yang's eyes widened. Did he not recognize her? Her fear multiplied as Adam fully turned away from Blake and started walking towards her instead. He stood over her for a few seconds, a look of contempt on his face. Suddenly, he reached his hand down the collar of Yang's straitjacket.

"What are you doing?!" Yang yelled, as Blake and Tifa yelped in outrage. But instead of doing, well, what she was afraid he was doing, he just reached his hand right back out. But he was holding something.

It was a charm depicting a lion.

With a sharp tug, he broke the chain holding Simba's summon charm and tossed it across the prison cell.

"Simba!" Yang called out in concern. "How did you mfmfmfm!" Before Yang could finish her question, Adam quickly did up the straps of her collar, stopping her from talking. She growled in confusion and frustration.

"I was told that those charms were how you summoned those creatures," Adam said, confusing Yang even more. "I don't want any more surprises." Who had told Adam about the summon charms?

Wait a minute. The coat he was wearing was identical to the one that hooded bastard, the Master of Masters wore. Was it him?

Adam chuckled. "It always puts a smile on my face to see you humans where you belong."

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Uncle Qrow asked, his voice sounding much weaker than he likely intended. Adam looked annoyed as he turned to look at Yang's uncle.

"Well, well, well," Adam said. "Qrow Branwen. You know, you're pretty notorious among the White Fang."

"I'm flattered," Uncle Qrow said sarcastically.

"I very much want to put you down for how many of my brothers and sisters you got arrested, but sadly, I'm not allowed to," Adam said scornfully. "But it wouldn't be much of a fight. You look like death already."

"What are you talking about? I can still kick your ass," Uncle Qrow said.

"I'm sure you could," Adam said, before doing up Uncle Qrow's collar like he had done to Yang's. He turned back over to Blake, that grin returning. "Now that the humans are silent, it's just you and me, my love." He reached behind her head, undoing the straps of her jacket's collar, before reaching down and ripping Genie's summon charm away, too. Blake looked like she was about to say something, but before she could, Adam grabbed the back of her head and roughly pulled her into a kiss. Blake's eyes opened in horror, and the others in the room all yelled in outrage. After several seconds, Adam finally let go, licking his lips. "You don't know how much I've missed your taste, my love."

Blake was absolutely speechless, simply staring at Adam with wide, fearful eyes.

"We had something, Blake," Adam said. "I would have torn down the sky for you. Why did you break my heart?"

"You know damn well why I left!" Blake yelled.

"Yes, yes, we've been over this," Adam said. "You cared about the humans. That's not what I was referring to. It's not enough that you left me. I would have been fine knowing you were safe. But no, you finished your betrayal by joining an Academy. By working with these humans that have put us down! Fighting against your own brothers and sisters!"

"I was trying to stop you from killing innocent people!" Blake said.

"There are no such thing as innocent humans!" Adam roared. "The White Fang was glorious! We were finally bringing the world to its rightful state, and then you had to ruin everything!" He took a few deep breaths, seemingly to calm himself down. "But I'm not unreasonable. Because I love you, Blake, I'm still willing to give you the opportunity to return to my side."

"You're insane," Blake said. "What makes you think I ever want anything to do with you again?"

"Because the rest of this base is currently infested with Heartless," Adam said, surprising everyone. How did he even know what they were? "And unless you agree to be mine again, they'll kill all of your little friends imprisoned on the upper levels."

"Don't underestimate my friends," Blake said. "They can handle whatever monsters you throw at them."

"And what about your friends in this cell with us?" Adam asked, gesturing broadly at Yang, Tifa, and Uncle Qrow. "Do you think they're in any position to defend themselves from me?" Blake's eyes widened. "I told you back at Beacon. I was going to destroy the people you cared about. It's a promise I might not have to keep. But it's up to you."

Blake lowered her head in what looked an awful lot like defeat. "You're a monster," she said quietly.

"Only because the humans made me one."

"No. Because you chose to be one."

Adam scoffed. "I grow tired of this my love," he said. "What's it going to be? Will you come back to me? Or will you watch your friends die?"

Blake was silent for several seconds, and Yang was starting to grow concerned. "…If I go with you, will you really call off your Heartless and leave my friends alone?" Yang's eyes widened, and she desperately started shaking her head, trying to tell Blake to not give in to this maniac.

"You have my word," Adam said.

"Then—"

Movement out of the corner of Yang's eye caught her attention. She turned and saw her uncle's straitjacket fall to the ground, empty. A small bird flew out of the neck hole towards Adam, before transforming back into Uncle Qrow, who punch the red-haired swordsman in the face. Adam stumbled back. He looked at Uncle Qrow, the discarded jacket, and back again.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Uncle Qrow asked, raising his fists, but Yang could see how unsteady he was on his feet. Adam chuckled.

"Are you okay there, Branwen?" he asked mockingly. "You're looking a little green."

"Yeah, you just keep talking, Ribeye," Uncle Qrow said, causing Adam's eyebrow to twitch. He growled and charged at Uncle Qrow. Uncle Qrow threw a clumsy punch at Adam, and the bull Faunus simply ducked underneath it and jabbed the hilt of his sword into the older Huntsman's stomach. Uncle Qrow stumbled forward, and Adam quickly punched him several times, knocking him to the ground. Uncle Qrow weakly tried to use one of the cell's benches to pull himself back to his feet, but he suddenly vomited on the floor. Adam walked over and kicked him in the stomach, knocking Uncle Qrow on his back.

"Pathetic," Adam said, drawing his sword.

"No!" Blake yelled, while Yang and Tifa yelled incoherently. Adam ignored them, and swung his sword down to try to decapitate Uncle Qrow, but the sword stopped just short of the Huntsman's neck. Adam clearly tried to push his sword closer, but it wouldn't move.

"I guess he wasn't kidding," Adam said seemingly to himself. "I'm really not allowed to kill you."

Uncle Qrow looked up and tried to say something, but seemingly couldn't, instead coughing. Adam flipped his sword around and hit Uncle Qrow in the side of the head with the hilt. Uncle Qrow slumped to the ground, unconscious. Adam looked back towards Blake, who recoiled from him in fear again. He took a step towards her, but Tifa stood up from her bench and hopped forwards, getting in between Blake and Adam.

"I remember you," Adam said. "You were one of her friends that got in my way at Haven." He smirked. "Well, you won't be getting in the way now." He grabbed Tifa by the collar of her straitjacket, and threw her across the cell.

"Tifa!" Blake called out in concern. Adam walked over to his former partner, standing over her menacingly.

"Now then, where were we, my love?" he asked. "Oh, right. I think you were about to agree to be mine again."

Blake looked up at Adam fearfully, before her eyes hardened.

Ptoo!

Without warning, she spit in his face. He stood there silently for several seconds, before slowly wiping the spit off his face. "You really shouldn't have done that," he said. Without changing the neutral expression on his face, he backhanded Blake across the face, striking her with enough force to knock her off her bench and onto the floor. Yang yelled in alarm. Blake tried to squirm away, but Adam stood over her, his sword in his hand. "I gave you every opportunity to return to me. To return to your people. But you keep spurning me in favor of these humans." He lowered his sword, pressing it up against Blake's ear. Yang shouted, and tried to jump forward, but fell and landed on the floor. She pulled her arms apart as hard as she could, but the straps on the jacket were too strong. She tried using her Semblance to enhance her strength, but the collar shocked her. "If you're going to side with the humans, then it's only fair that I take those ears of yours. A traitor to your race like you doesn't deserve those beautiful ears."

"Wait, please," Blake pleaded.

"I'm done waiting," Adam said, raising his sword above his head. "I'm going to give you what you wanted! You can finally join them!"

"No!" Blake yelled.

Yang screamed, her eyes igniting with yellow fire. Adam looked at her in confusion, lowering his sword. "What?" From inside the sleeves of the jacket, Yang conjured up fireballs, burning away at her straitjacket from the inside. The shock collar of the jacket activated again, and while it hurt like hell, Yang knew she had to endure it. She had to save Blake.

With a mighty burst of fire, she tore the straps off and burned away most of the fabric, leaving her standing in the middle of the room with burnt dredges and the occasional leather strap hanging off her body. The Atlesians had removed her biker jacket to fit the straitjacket over her, leaving her in just the cropped orange tank top she wore underneath it. She quickly reached up and used her Maiden powers to rip the collar off her neck, finally freeing her from the electric shocks. With a roar, she used the pain from the shocks to power up her Semblance, igniting her hair to match the flames coming out of her eyes, which were now blood-red.

She launched flames from the soles of her feet like rocket thrusters, and flew at Adam, nailing him in the face with a flaming punch. He flew out of the cell and into the hallway, hitting the wall so hard he dented it.

"You… stay away… from my friends," Yang said, breathing heavily from the residual electricity.

"Yang," Blake said in relief.

"You okay?" Yang asked.

"I'm fine," Blake said, before her eyes widened. "Yang, look." Yang turned around, and to her surprise, she saw Adam standing up.

"You people really are full of surprises, aren't you?" he asked. Purple clouds began radiating off his body. "Unfortunately for you, so am I."

"Darkness?" Yang asked in alarm at seeing the clouds coming off Adam's body.

"Oh, no," Blake said. "He's gonna be a Heartless soon, and none of us have Keyblades."

"That's where you're wrong, my darling," Adam said. "You see this coat I'm wearing? It provides me with protection from the darkness. I can tap into all the darkness in my heart that I want to, and I don't have to worry about turning into a Heartless."

"How do you know all this?" Yang asked. "Who gave it to you?"

"Didn't give me his name," Adam said with slight annoyance. "Doesn't matter. I didn't need to know his name to accept his gifts." He swung his sword, and the clouds of darkness were expelled, blowing past Yang like a fierce wind. Instead, his body began to steadily glow purple. He took a look at Yang's mechanical arm. "Now I remember you. You were the one I dismembered at Beacon." Yang's eyes widened, and she felt her left hand start to tremble. Adam chuckled. "Do you really think you'll do any better this time?" Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, the flames in them had reignited.

"What other choice do I have?"

Ruby and Riku swung their Keyblades at every Heartless in their way as they led the others into the courtyard.

It was complete pandemonium.

The sound of gunfire was deafening as Atlesian soldiers fired at the masses of Shadows pouring out of black pools in the ground. The Shadows were forming towers that rose high into the air.

"What in the world is going on here?" Cordovin asked at seeing the horde of monsters before her.

"It's the Heartless," Riku said, his Keyblade held defensively. "But why are there so many of them?"

"What are Heartless?' Cordovin demanded. "What do you know about these creatures?"

"They're bad news," Ruby said. "Just let us handle it."

"I will do no such thing!" Cordovin said indignantly. "I am a commander of the greatest army that Remnant has ever seen, and I will not be ordered around by-!"

Cordovin was interrupted by a group of Heartless jumping towards her, causing her to yelp and cower in fear.

"Thunder!" Riku shouted, and lightning bolts rained down and killed all of the Heartless.

"H-How did…?" Cordovin asked.

"Specialist Cordovin! Emergency!" the twin guards shouted in unison, stopping in their tracks when they saw the group of former prisoners surrounding her. "Halt!"

"Seriously?" Nora asked. "Is this really important right now?"

"Get away from her, criminal scum!" one of the guards yelled.

"Look, you can yell at us later!" Ruby said. "Right now, we need to stop these monsters!"

"What could a bunch of children hope to accomplish?" Cordovin asked.

"These children are a lot more capable than you think, Cordo," Miss Calavera said.

"And also unarmed," Ren pointed out.

"Not for long," a new voice said. A familiar voice. The sound of someone snapping their fingers rang out, and time seemed to stop all around them, including Cordovin and the two guards.

"Oh, not this again," Weiss groaned.

"Aw, Weiss, you're going to hurt my feelings," the voice said, and the Hooded Man appeared in front of them with his hood up. "And I after I went to the trouble of bringing you gifts." He waved his hand, and a pile of the group's weapons appeared on the ground, including the equipment belonging to their missing members and the Lamp.

"You're the man from Jinn's vision," Riku said. "The Master of Masters."

"Or should we call you the God of Light?" Ruby asked.

"Well, now those are names that no one's called me in a long time," the man said, reaching up and pulling his hood down, revealing his silver eyes and black hair that turned red at the tips. "And considering that my apprentices are long gone, you can just call me Light. It's nice to meet all of you for real, Heroes of Remnant."

"He really does look like you, Ruby," Ren said.

"Yeah, he does," Ruby said. "Why do you look so much like me?"

"Now that, my little rosebud, is a story for another time," Light said. Ruby was surprised at the use of that nickname. It was the one Mommy used. Light looked around the group. "Good to see you again, Ozma," he said to Oscar, causing Nora to step in front of him protectively. "Though, I guess Ozma's checked out right now. Can't really say I blame him." He looked at Pyrrha and Achilles. "And I believe this is the first time we've met, Miss Nikos. Congratulations to you and the wet noodle on the baby." Pyrrha clutched Achilles closer to her chest. Light chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't hurt him."

"I'm sure you'll forgive us for not trusting you," Weiss said. "Is this another one of your tests?"

"Would it matter?" he asked. "If I was testing you, would that stop you from fighting all these Heartless and protecting the town?" Weiss clammed up. "I thought so." He snapped his fingers, and everyone's weapons appeared in their hands, with the Lamp attaching itself to Ruby's belt. Blake, Yang, and Uncle Qrow's weapons stayed in a pile on the ground. He picked up Pyrrha's sword and shield and approached the red-haired girl with them. "As for you, Miss Nikos, you have a choice to make. And no, it's not like the last time someone presented you with one." He sent a pointed look Oscar's way when he said that. "You can either take the weapons, or leave the fighting to everyone else."

"Hey, Pyrrha doesn't want to fight," Jaune said. "She told me that she just wants to raise our son. She doesn't want to be a Huntress anymore."

"Are you done speaking for her, or can she answer my question?" Light asked in annoyance. "Well?"

"…I…" she said, clearly deep in thought.

"You became a Huntress to protect people," Light said. "Do you really mean to tell me that you won't fight to make this world a better place for your son? Even now that you know what's really at stake here?"

"…You're right," Pyrrha said.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.

"I became a Huntress to protect the people, and that includes my son. Yes, it's true that I wanted to quit so I'd always be there for my son, but even though losing my father hurt so much, I'll always be proud that I'm his daughter. I want Achilles to be proud of who his mother is. Someone that won't back down. Someone that won't stop fighting for what's right." She sent a loving look to Jaune. "I want him to be proud of both of his parents."

Light smiled. "Well said. I can see why you were Oz's star pupil. You learned this lesson a lot faster than the others did. And for that, your reward." Pyrrha was surrounded in a flash of light, and when it dissipated, she was suddenly wearing her old armor from Beacon, her sword and shield strapped to her back. Light held out his hand, and a charm was dangling from a chain. The charm had an image of a seashell on it. "She'll serve you well. Now, our heroes, go forth! And may your heart be your guiding key." In a flash, he vanished, and time resumed.

"What?" Cordovin asked, visibly confused at how Pyrrha changed clothes and everyone had their weapons back. Pyrrha walked over to one of the tall guards and held out Achilles to him.

"You keep him safe," Pyrrha said.

"Wait, what?" he asked.

"You. Keep. Him. Safe."

"Uh, yes, ma'am," the guard said with fear evident in his voice.

"Thank you," Pyrrha said, giving him a sweet smile. She turned towards the horde of Heartless, drawing her weapons. "These creatures are threatening my home and my son. They're about to learn a lesson!" The charm around Pyrrha's neck glowed brightly, and with a burst of…water?... a creature appeared.

It was a mermaid.

A really, really beautiful mermaid. She had long hair as red as Pyrrha's, and her lower body was a green fish tail instead of legs. The only thing she was wearing on her upper body was a bra seemingly made out of two seashells held together with string.

"Woah," Jaune, Ren, Oscar, and Ruby all said in unison, enamored with the mermaid's beauty.

The mermaid unleashed torrents of water, washing away scores of Heartless at once. Within seconds, the creatures' numbers were cut nearly in half.

"Oh, I hate these things," the mermaid said, before turning to Pyrrha. "Hi, there. My name's Ariel. What's yours?"

"Pyrrha," the other redhead said, not quite used to speaking to or having her own summon. The mermaid moved through the air as if she was swimming. She examined Pyrrha closely.

"Oh, you have those whatchamacallits," Ariel said. "What are they again? Oh yeah, legs."

"And, uh, you have a tail," Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, I do," Ariel said with a smile. "Anyway, it's very nice to meet you."

"Uh, you too," Pyrrha said.

"Look, I hate to break up this touching moment, but we've still got monsters to deal with," Cloud said, gesturing towards the courtyard.

A large pool of darkness opened up, and a metal hand reached through and used it to pull itself out. It seemed to a giant made out of iron, its body looking like it was made of armor. It's arms were disproportionately large, and it carried a massive sword in its right hand. The red and black Heartless emblem was emblazoned on its chest.

"Oh, boy," Oscar said.

Ruby held both of her Keyblades in a defensive stance. "Let's do this!"

"Oh, I just remembered!" one of the tall guards said suddenly. "Ma'am, we received reports of an intruder in the base!"

"What?!" Cordovin yelled. "Why didn't you say so earlier, you imbecile?!"

"My apologies, ma'am, but I got distracted! Reports indicated that the intruder headed into the maximum security wing of the detention area." That got Ruby's attention. "He matched the description of Adam Taurus!"

"Oh, no," Weiss said. "Blake."

"We gotta go," Ruby said. "We have to stop him!"

"You go save Blake and the others," Pyrrha said. "We'll handle this!"

"Thanks!" Ruby said, and she and Weiss scooped up Yang's, Blake's, and Uncle Qrow's weapons and made a mad dash for the detention area.

She just hoped they weren't too late.

AN: Sorry about having Adam do that to Blake, but if RWBY was a darker show, this is absolutely what I think Adam would do to her. Hell, he would probably have done a lot worse things to her if Ilia had succeeded in shipping her off to him.

We also get the first of Team JNPR's summons: Pyrrha gets Ariel!

And also, that new Heartless at the end os based off the Iron Giant enemies from FF, specifically Final Fantasy XV.

I want to remnd everyone that this story has a Tv Tropes page!

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!