Author's Note: After reading past reviews and giving it some thought, I changed my mind about who would play Blake Belladonna. I guess I was a bit too focused on what most readers want, so that's why I posted (and deleted) that phony chapter 40. Perhaps Roman Torchwick fits the role better, but frankly, I don't have the time to rewrite the chapter. I chose Blake for my own reasons and for those of you disappointed in my decision, I'm sorry. But what's done is done.
But on a different note, I notice I made more than a few gender pronoun mistakes in the previous chapter. I fixed that up. Any other mistakes I make, feel free to point them out.
Read and enjoy.
Review Responses
Jlargent- Oooh! Lightbulb! A "Rush Hour" adaptation with Ren as Jackie Chan and Nora as Chris Rock. What do you think of that?
Guest, Jan 29- I highly doubt I'll adapt "Alien 3". No offense to anyone who liked it, but I feel it was a depressing letdown due to the deaths of Hicks, Newt, and eventually, Ripley herself.
Black Cross0- Those are all good options. But in my opinion, I chose the most fitting. I hope you agree with my decision.
Cinderfall20412- Indeed. I know it was common for younger women to marry older men back then, but I didn't want Weiss to be too young.
Matt: It wasn't an update per se, just a brief message to the readers. I deleted it because the issue it concerned is now over.
Guest, Jan 28: Hahaha! You gave me a great casting idea! Thank you, my friend.
Pride of the Quincy: My thoughts exactly. I feel it wouldn't be as funny if Roman got the part instead. After all, the audience could use all the humor they can get after watching "Alien".
Nacoma23: In my opinion, at least twenty years. So, "Curse of the Black Pearl" is just about old enough so there you go.
Pharamine: I'm sorry that Blake disappoints you, but I have my reasons for casting her as Jack that I'll explain at the end.
LeoLion1997: I'm glad you like my casting choices. Ruby definitely struck me as a blacksmith type of character. Blake, while maybe not the perfect choice for Jack, was chosen for certain reasons. And finally, Maria strikes me as the old and wise one of the gang with lots of experience in history. And since Oobleck isn't in the audience right now and Ozpin can only be heard by Oscar (for now), then I'd say Maria fills the historian part quite nicely.
Hawks nest427: You and I are FAR from the only people sick of that cliché. It's like beating a dead horse. Jaune can't just keep getting recycled and cast as the leading man for every adaptation. So that's why I gave everyone a chance to shine.
Luffy L Deathwalker: That's perfectly fine. To each their own pairing after all.
KellofSnow- Indeed. There's only so much of the RWBY universe I can cram into Earth, so I eased up on replacing names and locations. The East Mistrali Trading Company is perhaps the biggest stand-in from the RWBY verse.
Leaf Ninja 91: Yeah, that's my bad. To save time, I copied and pasted the transcript to the film onto my adaptation rather than writing them word by word. But I forgot to change all of the gender pronouns before I published the chapter.
Sinner and Redeemer: That's what I'm aiming for. After watching such high-octane nightmare fuel like "Alien", the humorous interactions between those three characters will be a welcome change of pace for the audience.
Ushio: Those are all very good points. I just felt the need to point out that by modern standards, they were a bit creepy. But like you said, times were much tougher back then.
Vanitus Omnipotent: Oh, it'll definitely freak everyone out to see Blake as a skeleton with patches of rotting flesh still on the bones. Especially Blake herself.
Gamelover41592: Well, I've got my reasons. The main one being pirates being a stand in for the White Fang. Jack Sparrow (Blake) is an anti-hero and an adventurer rather than a true pirate while Barbossa (You'll see who) is a villain and a pirate, through and through.
On the streets of Port Royal, Atlesian marines continued their searched for Blake.
"Search up the stairs!" one of the marines ordered.
"Look lively, men!" a second shouted.
After a squad of marines passed, Blake stepped out from her hiding spot behind a statue and crept towards a set of barn doors.
"Looks like Blake gave them the slip," Oscar observed.
"Even so, she's still stuck at Port Royal without a ship," Ruby reminded while dunking a big cookie in a glass of milk and taking a bite.
"Well, she was searching for another ship anyway, so she'll just steal one," Yang reasoned, though she wouldn't approve of the thievery.
"But if she does, Clover will find out, and they'll be hot on her trail," Ren countered.
Blake stepped through the barn doors, above them hung a sign with a hammer and anvil painted on it and the name "Brown".
"Isn't that Ruby's workplace?" Yang questioned upon seeing the shop sign.
Clover nodded. "I think so. Port Royal seems like a small town. There can't be more than one blacksmith's shop," he answered.
Inside, Blake sheathed her sword and scanned the forge. It was dark and quiet inside. Apparently deserted.
"Do you think Blake and Ruby will meet?" Jaune asked as he sipped a soda.
"If they do, I have a bad feeling they'll come to blows," Weiss fretted.
"Weiss is right. Ruby will probably realize Blake is a pirate and try to perform a citizen's arrest," Ironwood said, especially since Ruby's counterpart had nearly run afoul of pirates in her past.
Blake removed her hat and set it down on a workbench as she reached for a short sledgehammer to sever her irons.
Nearby, a limp hand dropped an empty rum bottle with a soft thud. Blake spun around and spotted Mr. Brown, the balding, elderly owner of the forge, sleeping in a chair. [1].
Ruby giggled a bit after she identified the man. "Once again, the shopkeeper makes an appearance," she identified Mr. Brown's counterpart.
"That lazy drunk gets the credit for crafting Clover's new sword?" Yang scoffed, feeling Ruby had been cheated.
"Unfortunately, some supervisors lord their limited authority over their employees and use it to steal credit for their work," Ironwood said, despising such behavior.
Blake approached Mr. Brown and gave his chest a couple of pokes to make sure he was passed out. Brown just snorted and turned away. Blake turned to leave, and then then turned back and shouted at Mr. Brown. The latter didn't even flinch.
Satisfied, Blake moved to an anvil, and awkwardly tried to hit the manacle links with the sledgehammer again and again. But they wouldn't break. Jaunty music played as Blake growled in frustration.
Blake looked around the forge and spotted the large metal gears of a mill. Beneath it stood a donkey with a harness attached to it.
Blake retrieved a poker from the blacksmith's forge. The tip was glowing red hot. She glanced over at the unsuspecting donkey.
Cut to the donkey as there was a sizzling sound behind it. The donkey bellowed in pain and began to move, pulling on the harness.
"Awww, the poor donkey," Ruby cooed sympathetically for the animal.
"That's just cruel," Nora agreed with a frown.
"Don't be such a jackass, Blake," Yang joked, eliciting frustrated groans from everybody.
The gears of the mill turned. Blake quickly placed the links of the manacles between two of the heavy gears. As they come together, the chain snapped, finally setting Blake free.
"Animal cruelty aside, that was a clever way to sever her bonds," Harriet commented on Blake's resourcefulness.
Unfortunately, just then, she spotted the latch on the door shifting up. Someone was coming. She quickly dove away to hide.
Ruby entered the forge and shut the door behind her as she gazed in puzzlement at the rotating mill. She rushed over to calm the mule down and it stopped rotating.
Removed her coat and spotted her boss, Mr. Brown, passed out in a chair with a bottle of rum in his hand.
"Right where I left you," Ruby scoffed at her boss.
"So that old geezer sits in a chair all day getting wasted while Ruby does all the work?" Yang said angrily.
"Yeah. That's not fair," Ruby pouted.
"I hope your counterpart at least receives decent pay," Penny said, not wanting Ruby's counterpart to be mired in poverty.
Ruby tossed her coat aside and switched her gaze to her anvil near the forge. She noticed the sledgehammer sitting on the anvil.
"Not where I left you," Ruby said suspiciously.
Ruby then turned and spotted Blake's hat. Curious, she reached towards it...
"She's onto you, Blake," Elm warned.
"You'd better scram before she sniffs you out," Marrow recommended.
...then froze when the flat end of a sword blade smacked her hand.
Ruby glanced up to lock eyes with Blake, who pointed her sword at Ruby's throat, forcing her to back away.
Ruby glared at Blake. "You're the one they're hunting. The pirate!" she deducted calmly.
"You seem familiar," Blake said in recognition. "Have I threatened you before?"
"I avoid familiarity with pirates," Ruby said with a hint of venom.
"Ah. Then it would be a shame to put a black mark on your record. Excuse me," Blake said, deciding Ruby was no threat as the former turned her back on the latter.
Seizing her chance, Ruby spun around and grabbed a sword from behind her.
"She's not going to let you slip away that easily," Ren said, knowing a fight was coming.
"That's not Crescent Rose I'm holding, but I'll take what I can get," Ruby said with a quick shrug.
"She's lucky Ruby is a heroic character here. You should never turn your back on someone so quickly," Ozpin said inside Oscar's mind.
Ruby pointed her sword Blake in an En Garde position. The pirate quickly turned back around.
"Do you think this wise, girl?" Blake asked, unimpressed. "Crossing blades with a pirate?"
"You threatened Miss Schnee," Ruby accused with a glare.
"D'aaaaw! My little sis is standing up for her sweetheart," Yang teased while she pinched Ruby's cheek.
Ruby blushed and shoved Yang's hand away. "Oh stop it!" she said in embarrassment.
"Only a little," Blake admitted as she tapped her sword blade against Ruby's.
With that, the two women began dueling, exchanging parries and thrusts with speed, precision, and skill. Despite being much younger, Ruby had no problem matching Blake.
RWBY wasn't pleased to see two of their counterparts fighting onscreen and they hoped neither would seriously harm the other.
"Very impressive. Blake's counterpart looks to be about a decade Ruby's senior, yet they seem evenly matched," Penny lauded Ruby's counterpart.
"It's not the age, it's the mileage," Blake quoted Sun's counterpart from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
"You know what you're doing, I'll give you that. Excellent form," Blake complimented Ruby's prowess. "But how's your footwork? If I step here..."
Blake shifted a step in a circular motion. Ruby stepped the other way with a smirk, maintaining her position opposite to Blake as they exchanged a few more blows.
"Good. And now I step again," Blake said as they continued dueling in a circular motion until they stood opposite of their starting positions.
"Very good fencing maneuvers," Weiss complimented Ruby as she sipped a cup of tea.
"This takes me back to your own training, Weiss," Winter reminisced on better days.
"Ta," Blake said simply as she sheathed her sword, turned her back to Ruby and began to walk away.
Blake hopped up towards the door. Angry and surprised at the dismissal, Ruby threw her sword in an overhand motion. The blade embedded itself into the door, just above the latch, barely missing Blake who stared at the blade in wide-eyed shock.
Jaune, Oscar, and Marrow all recoiled in surprise. "Whoa!"
"Was that on purpose? If so, nice throw Ruby," Yang praised as she clapped her sister on the shoulder.
Ruby smirked proudly. "Yeah. She's not getting away that easily."
Blake tugged on the sword a few times to no avail. Then she rattled the latch, but the sword blocked it. She tried again and again in frustration while Ruby watched with a smug grin.
"That is a wonderful trick," Blake admitted as she sauntered back towards Ruby via a tilted wagon.
"Except, once again, you are between me and my way out," Blake pointed out as she drew her sword again. "And now...you have no weapon."
Ruby turned and grabbed a sword from the forge behind her and aimed it at Blake. The blade's tip glowed red hot.
Across the room, the startled donkey began to move again in fear of being singed again. The machine the donkey was harnessed to began to rotate again.
Yang grinned smugly. "Oh yes she does."
"Of course. It's a blacksmith's shop. There are weapons everywhere," Vine reasoned.
"That donkey can't catch a break, can he?" Harriet said with a hint of pity for the animal.
Blake and Ruby continued their duel. Their blades ringing, Ruby's in particular emitting orange sparks. Then Blake's manacle chain whipped around Ruby's sword, disarming her opponent. Ruby just leapt away from Blake, over one of the beams at the base of the rotating machine and unsheathed another sword.
Blake then became aware that the whole room was filled with swords. "Who makes all these?" she asked in amazement.
Two women resumed fighting, both opponents ducking and turning around the rotating beam of the machine.
"I do!" Ruby replied pridefully before dodging a hammer thrown by Blake. "And I practice with them three hours a day."
Everyone was impressed by Ruby's productivity and strict training regime. Ruby even beamed with pride at her counterpart.
"Wow. She's been busy as a beaver," Jaune commented.
"Just like you were back at Signal," Qrow reminisced on Ruby's past.
"It certainly explains her exceptional swordplay," Penny said with a pleased smile.
"Thanks everyone," Ruby said bashfully.
Blake threw another hammer at Ruby, which she dodged, before diverting away from the rotating machine.
"You need to find yourself a boy, lass," Blake said.
Ruby clenched her jaw as she picked up a second sword. "Not that it's your business, but... I actually prefer women."
Blake looked surprised by Ruby's correction as they locked blades. "Oh...well, then perhaps the reason you practice three hours a day is that you already found a girl and are otherwise incapable of wooing said lass," she asked mockingly to Ruby's face.
That made Ruby angry. "I practice three hours a day so when I meet a pirate, I can kill him!" she said defensively.
"Geez. She really touched a nerve there," Harriet commented on Ruby's anger.
"I guess Ruby has wanted to fight pirates ever since she was nearly killed by them," Blake commented as she munched on some anchovies from a can.
"I can't blame her for that. She could have had friends or family members on that ship in the beginning," Elm sympathized with Ruby's counterpart.
Blake raised her eyebrows as they resumed fighting. Ruby drove Blake back onto the tilted cart she descended earlier. Ruby followed, and the weight of the two women broke the wooden stool that one end of the cart had been resting on, allowing the other side of the wagon to slip off of the stone platform.
The cart now teetered from one side to the other, but the two women fought on regardless as they struggled to maintain their balance.
The duel continued until Blake's chain wrapped around one of Ruby's swords. Thinking fast, Ruby twisted the handle of the sword guard through a link, and thrust the sword upwards, lodging the blade into a wooden beam in the ceiling. Now Blake's manacled left arm was left suspended.
Frustrated, Blake swung her sword at Ruby a few times, the young blacksmith standing just out of reach and looking proud of herself.
"Clever move, kiddo," Qrow complimented his niece.
But Blake wouldn't give up. She stomped on one of the boards of the cart, it flew up, hitting Ruby in the chin and knocking her off the cart.
"Oooooh!" multiple audience members explained with a wince.
"She's probably gonna feel that one in the morning," Marrow said.
"I think I feel it right now," Ruby muttered as she rubbed her own chin.
Blake jumped up and wrapped her legs around the wooden beam, using all her weight to try and dislodge the blade. Ruby got to her feet and jumped back onto the cart just as Blake managed to pull the sword out. This caused Black to fall back onto the cart, catapulting Ruby upwards.
Blake tumbled off the cart. A little dazed, she climbed to her feet and looked around. Then she looked up just in time to spot Ruby cutting a rope that held a bunch of casks. The casks fall onto the cart, launching Blake up towards the overhead wooden beams.
Blake clambered onto the beam she grabbed onto and faced Ruby. The two opponents straddled and leaped from one beam to the other until they were close enough to cross blades once again.
"Now this is starting to get silly," Elm commented as the fight became more ridiculous.
"You should have seen us on initiation day. This is nothing compared to our first day at Beacon," Yang said, prompting nods from the rest of her team.
Nora laughed. "It's true. We had a few other battles that made this look lame."
Finally, Ruby was finally able to knock the sword from Blake's hand. Blake smiled nervously and jumped off the beam while Ruby followed, beating Blake to the ground floor. Blake then grabbed a bag next to her and flung it at Ruby as the latter charged towards her, coating the blacksmith with sawdust. With her opponent blinded, Blake kicked Ruby's sword from her hand and leapt down.
Blindly, Ruby grabbed a pair of iron tongs, looked up... and saw Blake's pistol aimed at her.
"You cheated!" Ruby accused.
"Pirate," Blake reminded.
"Even so, that's a cheap move," Ruby grumbled as she crossed her arms.
"You can't expect pirates to fight fair," Blake said, unsurprised by her counterpart's action.
"That's right. In fact, there's no such thing as a fair fight," Qrow said, speaking for years of experience.
Suddenly, the front door of the forge jostled and creaked. Ruby and Blake looked over and could make out the silhouettes of marines just outside.
Ruby glanced behind her at the second door right behind her. With the metal tongs held above her head, she blocked Blake's path.
"Move away!" Blake ordered.
"No," Ruby refused.
"Please move?!" Blake asked in exasperation.
"No!" Ruby refused again.
"Huh. You know for a pirate, Blake is rather friendly," Elm remarked as she chowed on some popcorn.
"Indeed. So far, she's saved my life and now she's politely asking Ruby to step aside," Weiss agreed, glad Blake wasn't playing a more stereotypically brutish sort of pirate.
"It's a shame that she's a criminal. Someone with her sword skills and cleverness would make a fine addition to the Atlesian Navy," Ironwood commented.
"I cannot just step aside and let you escape," Ruby said bravely, even with a gun pointed at her head.
Blake cocked the pistol. "This shot is not meant for you."
Ruby tilted her head slightly at Blake's statement.
Blake blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Penny tapped her chin. "I believe she means she's saving that one bullet for someone," she guessed.
"Wow. Whoever it is must have really pissed her off," Harriet remarked, wondering how long Blake saved the bullet.
Someone from behind Blake smashed a bottle over the pirate's head. Blake's eyes glazed over, and she fell to the floor out cold. Behind her stood a groggy Mr. Brown holding a broken bottle.
"Oh, now he wakes up to lend a hand?" Jaune said in exasperation.
Just then, the door was kicked in by a squad of marines, who stormed inside the forge. Among them was Clover wielding a pistol.
"There she is!" one of the marines shouted.
"Over here!" another added.
The marines surrounded the unconscious Blake and trained their bayoneted muskets on her in case she woke up.
"Excellent work, Mr. Brown," Clover congratulated the old forge master. "You've assisted in the capture of a fugitive."
"Just doing my civic duty, sir," Mr. Brown replied, his speech a bit slurred.
Ruby sputtered indignantly. "What?!"
"How do you like that. He steals credit from Ruby twice in one day," Yang said angrily.
Qrow shook his head. "Damn. Tough break, kiddo."
"At least the swordfight was really cool," Nora commented, always happy to enjoy action scenes while a few people nodded in agreement.
"I trust you will remember this as the day Captain Blake Belladonna almost escaped," Clover said as Blake lay unconscious on the floor. "Take her away."
The marines hauled Blake away towards Fort Charles.
"Come on, Clover. He saved Weiss' life. Give her a break," Elm spoke up in Blake's defense.
"It's not me. Besides, the law is the law. I have to do my job," Clover said reluctantly.
Cut to later that night. A fog had begun to roll onto Port Royal.
Inside Fort Charles cell block, a black and white Corgi was holding a ring of keys in his mouth.
Four seedy inmates were in a prison cell trying to lure Zwei over to them with a bone.
"Come here, boy! Come here, boy!" one of the inmates beckoned.
"Want a nice juicy bone?" a second said.
"Look. It's Zwei," Ruby squealed softly, her grumpiness dissipating upon seeing her beloved dog.
"It's always good to see him," Weiss cooed, missing the canine in real life.
"Not for everyone," Blake said, wishing Zwei was still a cat from the previous film.
In an adjoining cell, Blake sat against the wall with her hat covering her face. "You can keep doing that forever. The dog is never going to move," she said doubtfully.
One of the inmates glared to Blake. "Oh, excuse us if we haven't resigned ourselves to the gallows yet," he said.
Blake just grinned and tilted her hat down.
"I'm awfully calm for someone facing the gallows," Blake remarked.
"So how are you going to get out of this one?" Yang asked in concern for her partner, who shrugged in response.
"I suppose Ms. Belladonna has been in situations like this before and managed to escape," Ozpin assumed internally.
Meanwhile, at the Schnee mansion, Weiss was lying in bed with a book in her hands. Her maid, Estrella, was removing a bedwarmer from a nearby fireplace.
"There you go, miss," Estrella said as she slid the bedwarmer between the sheets at the end of Weiss' bed.
"It was a difficult day for you, I'm sure," Estrella said with concern.
"I suspected Commodore Ebi would propose, but I wasn't prepared for it," Weiss said.
"Why would she have that feeling?" Ruby asked aloud.
"My counterpart has known Clover's for years. I suppose she figured out he fancied her some time ago and believed he'd propose when I came of age," Weiss assumed.
"Plus, in those days, it was common for women to marry older men," Maria added, going by her own historical knowledge.
"I meant you being threatened by that pirate. Sounds terrifying!"
"Yes, it was terrifying," Weiss admitted.
"But...the Commodore proposed! Fancy that. That's a smart match, miss, if it's not too bold to say," Estrella congratulated Weiss.
"It is a smart match. He's a fine man. He's what any woman should dream of marrying," Weiss conceded.
"And that Ruby Rose...she's…a fine woman," Estrella said awkwardly.
Weiss and Ruby blushed again and exchanged bashful looks.
"I hate to say it, but I doubt Willow would approve of such a relationship," Winter said sadly. "Weiss is an upper-class girl and Ruby is from the working class."
"Plus, during that time period, homosexuality was often spurned," Penny said somberly.
Weiss shot Estrella a sharp look. "That is too bold," she scolded.
"Beggin' your pardon. It was not my place," Estrella apologized before exiting the bedroom.
Weiss tried to read, toying with the medallion chain around her neck, but her attention diverted from the book. The lamp flame suddenly drops. Elizabeth watched the flame goes out, and the room darkened.
Cut to the blacksmiths' forge. Ruby wore a leather apron as she hammered away at a hot iron ingot. A surly look was on her face.
"She's definitely in a bad mood tonight after her boss got the credit for catching Blake,"
"Plus, she might have caught word that Clover proposed to her crush," Blake said with drooping ears as she cast a sympathetic gaze at Ruby's counterpart.
"Yeah. Not the best day to be me," Ruby sighed as she sagged in her chair.
Then she stopped and approached a window and opened the shutter to peer out to notice the fog had gotten thicker.
"That's pretty creepy," Oscar commented nervously.
"Wait a second… there was a thick fog in the opening too, wasn't there?" Jaune recalled from the intro.
A feeling of cold dread filled the audience, believe the fog was a harbinger of danger.
Cut to the mouth of Port Royal Bay. Soft but foreboding music played as a dark ship with black tattered masts crept into the harbor. The fog seemed to thicken with the ship's arrival.
Everyone tensed up. Seeing a ship like that silently entering a harbor on a foggy night could never be good news.
"That has to be the Black Pearl," Ren guessed correctly.
"Oh, this is gonna be bad," Yang predicted an attack on the town.
"I just hope Clover and the other Atlesian Marines can fight them off," Marrow said hopefully.
Up at Fort Charles, Willow and Clover were walking along the battlements having a conversation. Below them, a noose hung from a gallows in the courtyard.
"Has my daughter given you an answer yet?" Willow asked about Clover's proposal.
"No, she hasn't" Clover replied.
"Well, she has had a very trying day," Willow reasoned.
Weiss scoffed. "Of course. I almost drowned and was briefly held hostage by a pirate. A marriage proposal wouldn't be very high on my priority list," she said flatly.
"Bleak. Very bleak," Clover agreed as he looked around.
There was a muffled sound in the distance. A booming sound.
Willow's eyes shifted side to side. "What's that?"
"Uh-oh," Ruby fretted, knowing the sound was gunfire.
"Here we go," Elm said in anticipation.
"Mother, get down!" Winter shouted at the screen while Weiss became worried for Willow.
Clover identified the sound. "Cannon fire!" he shouted as he tackled a startled Willow to the ground.
Right behind the two, a parapet exploded as a cannonball hit it.
"Return fire!" Clover ordered his nearby marines.
Inside her cell, Blake perked up at the sound of cannon fire.
"I know those guns," Blake said as she stood up and peered through the bars of her cell window.
Outside, barely visible, was a ship in the middle of the bay. The port side bombarded the town while the starboard side focused on Fort Charles.
"It's the Pearl," Blake whispered in recognition.
"Hmm? She can identify the pearl by the sound of its guns?"
"So what does that mean? She's been aboard the Black Pearl before?"
"Perhaps. Or maybe she was even a crewmember in the past," Maria presumed from what info she had to go on.
Oscar arched his brow in curiosity. "Then why isn't she aboard it right now?" he questioned.
"The Black Pearl?" one of the neighboring inmates said in horror. "I've heard stories. She's been preying on ships and settlements for near ten years. Never leaves any survivors."
"No survivors?" Blake questioned with a cheeky grin. "Then where do the stories come from, I wonder?"
The inmate blinked in confusion and glanced at his cellmate.
Nora giggled. "That's a good point," she said as she enjoyed some pancakes.
"Ten years. How have they evaded the authorities for so long?" Ironwood questioned.
"Blake did say the Black Pearl was very fast," Qrow recalled from the dock scene.
"Even so, it seems like it would take more than a fast ship to avoid capture for so long," Ozpin said internally.
Cut to the Black Pearl in the bay. The ominous looking ship was firing full salvos at the town. Ashore, the terrified townspeople of Port Royal ran for their lives as explosions from cannon fire struck the town. A few unlucky ones were killed as a result.
Looks of anger and sorrow filled the audience as they watched the attack unfold.
"Those poor townspeople," Ruby said softly.
"Unfortunately, that's just how pirates conducted raids. It's really no different from how modern bandits operate," Winter said.
"Or the White Fang under Adam," Blake added, having witnessed pirate-like raids conducted under Adam's leadership.
"Mamaaaa!" a terrified toddler boy cried out for his mother amongst the chaos.
Behind the boy, a cannonball hit a scaffold, tipping it over towards the child.
Horrified gasps filled the theater. Ruby, Nora, and Weiss even averted their gazes, unable to watch something so terrible as a toddler being crushed to death.
"Please no!" Weiss said in a shaky voice.
"Someone help that little boy!" Elm cried out.
Luckily, the boy's mother spotted him and carried him to safety before the scaffold crushed him to death.
Nora put a hand to her chest "Oh, thank Oum," she exhaled in relief.
"I wouldn't want to watch anymore if that poor child had been-," Penny began, but stopped herself from finishing her sentence to avoid upsetting the others.
Next, the Black Pearl pirates began to storm the shore in boats. They were a nasty bunch of humans and Faunus. All gritty, vicious and armed to the teeth. Among them was a tall, slender, green-haired woman and a short, grey-haired man.
Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Emerald and Mercury," she identified the pair distastefully.
"I'm not surprised to see those two playing pirates," Yang growled, not at all happy to see Mercury onscreen.
"Now that I think about it, this is the first time we've seen them in Goldsith's viewings," Jaune noted.
Emerald had just finished carving a up a wooden eye. She then placed it in her empty right eye socket. The wooden eye squeaked as it swiveled around while Mercury stared at Emerald before they left the boat.
"Ugh!" Jaune, Ruby, and Weiss and all said in disgust.
"That sounded nasty," Oscar commented on the squeaking wooden eye.
"A wooden eye? I thought pirates wore eye patches," Nora said, noting one of the stereotypes about pirates.
Ren shrugged. "Well, apparently Mercury doesn't," he said simply.
The pirates began to raid Port Royal in a typical fashion. Striking down civilians, setting fires, and looting buildings.
One pirate in particular, Yuma, a wild-eyed pirate lit a couple of clay bombs with smoking ends on his thick beard. He then spotted a woman and began to chase her while cackling madly just as the bombs exploded, destroying the shop from the inside out.
At the blacksmiths forge, Ruby quickly armed herself and exited the building. She spotted Yuma chasing the terrified woman. Ruby threw a tomahawk into Yuma's back, who bellowed in pain and fell to the ground. Ruby then ran past Yuma, retrieving the hatchet as she went.
Ruby did her best to defend the townspeople as she engaged more pirates in melee combat.
The audiences' spirits were lifted a bit upon seeing Ruby jump into the fray to protect Port Royal.
Yang raised her fist. "That a girl, Ruby!" she cheered her sister on.
"This is what you've been training for!" Jaune encouraged his friend.
"Yeah, kiddo. Show those scurvy bastards a thing or two," Qrow added as he sipped a diet soda.
Ruby nodded slowly in appreciation of the praise. While she would never enjoy killing, she knew it had to be done to protect the townspeople.
Meanwhile, at Fort Charles, the marines were grabbing their muskets and rushing outside to fight the pirates. The fort received heavy cannon fire from the Black Pearl, killing or wounding several marines. One cannonball even hit the gallows, shattering it to splinters.
"It makes sense the pirates would focus their fire on the fort," Ironwood said, angry at the casualties the Atlesians were suffering.
"It keeps the marines busy while the pirates loot the town," Clover agreed with his commander.
"Sight the muzzle flash!" Clover loudly instructed his troops up on the battlements as they returned cannon fire.
"Aim for the flashes!" Harriet relayed Clover's orders.
"I need a full spread, fore and aft! Mr. Stevens, more cartridges!" Clover continued his commands.
Willow stood on the battlements, completely shell-shocked by the destruction.
"Governess. Barricade yourself in my office," Clover ordered.
Willow stared at Clover in hesitation.
"That's an order," Clover said, firm and final.
"Listen to him, mother. It's for your own safety," Weiss implored her mother's counterpart.
Meanwhile, at the Schnee mansion, Weiss had just awoken. She looked out from her bedroom balcony and through the dense fog, she could see several fires burning down below. Cannon fire continued to echo through the night.
"At least Weiss is a safe distance away from the battle," Winter said gratefully.
Down below, a mob of pirates had just reached the front gate of the Schnee manor and barged through carrying weapons and torches.
An alarmed Weiss quickly spotted them and bolted from the balcony.
"Uh-oh" Weiss and Ruby said in unison while Winter's eyes widened in alarm.
"I think you jinxed it, Winter," Qrow sighed while shaking his head.
"Quiet you!" Winter hissed.
Weiss rushed downstairs as there came a loud knocking on the front door. Klein approached the door to answer it, oblivious to the danger outside [4].
"Don't!" Weiss cried out in warning.
Weiss and Winter both gasped sharply in fear for the safety of Klein's counterpart.
"What the hell is he doing?! Does he not hear all the noise outside?" Harriet shouted in befuddlement.
"Maybe he was asleep and was just awoken up by the knocking," Jaune guessed.
"So, he slept through cannon fire and explosions? That's one heavy sleeper," Yang remarked.
But it was too late. Klein opened the door to come face to face with the pirates.
"Ello, chum," Mercury greeted before he aimed a pistol and fired.
Weiss shrieked with horror as Klein fell dead to the ground and the pirates stormed inside.
"Nooo!" Weiss cried out in sorrow as tears brimmed in her eyes.
Winter clenched her fists and jaw. "That bastard! How dare he!" she ground out.
Penny looked saddened and placed a hand over Winter's to comfort and calm her down while Ruby was quick to hand Weiss a napkin to dab her eyes with. Weiss nodded with gratitude as she dried her tears.
Emerald peered up and spotted Weiss. "Up there!" she hollered to her mates.
Weiss turned and fled back up the stairs and Emerald and Mercury pursued her. Weiss re-entered her bedroom, locked the door behind her, and ran into Estrella.
"Miss Schnee, they've come to kidnap you!" Estrella warned.
"What?" Weiss questioned.
"You're the governess' daughter!"
"That makes sense. Perhaps the pirates plan on holding her for ransom," Vine suggested.
"And a big fancy house like that would have plenty of valuable loot," Marrow mentioned another reason pirates would storm the mansion.
The bedroom door rattled as Emerald and Mercury tried to break inside. "In here!"
Realizing Estrella was right, Weiss shoved the maid into a dark corner to hide.
"They haven't seen you. First chance you get, run to the fort," Weiss instructed.
"Gotcha!" Estrella agreed.
Just then, Emerald and Mercury broke in. They spotted Weiss fleeing into her bedroom and continued their chase. Luckily, the door swung towards Estrella's hiding place, concealing her from the two pirates.
Mercury was the first to pursue Weiss into her bedroom…
…only to receive a bedwarmer to the face with a metallic bang. Mercury staggered back in a cross-eyed daze.
Raucous laughter filled the theater at Mercury's comical expression onscreen.
"Serves you right, you murdering sea rat!" Winter spat at the screen.
"If only that was my true self. I could take both of those scoundrels," Weiss stated, having fought far worse than pirates in real life.
Weiss then swung her makeshift weapon at Emerald, but she caught it by the handle and made taunting faces at her. Weiss narrowed her eyes and pulled down the trigger on the bedwarmer. The pan lid opened up and spilled hot coals and ashes all over Emerald's head.
Emerald cried in pain as she beat at her hair. "Agh! It's hot. I'm burning!"
"Don't be such a hot-head, Emerald," Yang made a pun, and surprisingly, a few people actually snickered if only because it was at Emerald's expense.
Seizing her chance, Weiss took off back downstairs as fast as she could. On the ground floor, the other terrified servants screamed and ran for their lives while the pirates ransacked the mansion. Among them, Estrella briefly registered Klein with a scream before rushing out the front door.
Weiss nearly reached the ground floor when Emerald vaulted over the balcony above and landed at the base of the stairs, blocking the way. Weiss turned around. Mercury blocked the stairs. She was trapped.
Just then, a third pirate emerged from a double set of doors across the room, his arms full of loot. Then, a stray cannon ball from the black pearl tore through the foyer, hit the third pirate dead on, and sent him flying through the doors with a crash.
"Oof!" Jaune, Marrow, and Oscar all exclaimed.
"That's another one for the good guys," Ruby said, wondering how her counterpart was faring in town.
With Emerald and Mercury distracted, Weiss raced for the dining room, narrowly avoiding a falling chandelier as she went.
Weiss slammed the doors shut, grabbed a candelabra and rammed it down over the door pulls. The makeshift bolt worked as it held Mercury and Emerald at bay as they threw themselves against the door.
Above a nearby fireplace were two crossed swords on a wooden mount.
"Oh, lucky me," Weiss said, believing now she could defend herself.
Weiss ran to the swords, grabbed one by the hilt and pulled. And the piece came off the wall, but the sword wouldn't come free. It was only a decoration.
Yang giggled. "I guess Ruby didn't make that."
Weiss however facepalmed. "Oh, great. Now what am I supposed to do?"
"Jumping out the window and making for the fort would be a good idea," Penny advised.
The doors buckled as the two pirates continued pounding against it. Weiss looked wildly around the room for a weapon and/or hiding spot.
Emerald and Mercury finally burst in. The room was empty. Curtains trailed out an open window. Emerald started to climb through, but Mercury stopped her and gestured: "She's still here."
"We know you're here, poppet," Mercury said creepily.
"Poppet," Emerald murmured. "Come out. We promise we won't hurt you."
Mercury shot Emerald a questioning look, the latter gave her mate a smile. She intended to hurt her very much.
Weiss was outraged. "You think that'll fool me after seeing what you did to Klein?" she scoffed.
"We will find you, poppet" Mercury went on threateningly. "You've got something of ours and it calls to us."
Mercury looked down and saw the rug had been disturbed at the foot of a china cabinet.
"The gold calls to us," Emerald said softly. "Gold calls."
Weiss, now hiding inside the cabinet, registered the pirates' words. She gazed down at the medallion still around her neck. The gold glinted in the thin line of light spilling through the crack between the doors.
Qrow blinked. "That one piece of gold is all they're after?"
"And what does Emerald mean it calls to them?" Ruby asked.
Maria pondered for a few seconds. "I think she's talking about that shockwave we saw when Weiss fell into bay," she theorized, starting to believe Ren's theory that the medallion was magic.
"And they felt it from miles and miles away?" Clover questioned in amazement.
Then the light vanished. Weiss looked up...
...and saw Mercury's eye peering through the crack between the doors.
"Hello, poppet," Mercury snarled as he yanked the doors open.
"No!" Weiss and Ruby cried out together.
"Get away from her you degenerates!" Winter shouted protectively.
"She should have gone out the window," Harriet agreed with Penny's earlier idea.
But right before the pirates could strike…
"Parley!" Weiss said loudly.
Mercury paused. "What?" he asked in disbelief.
"Parley. I invoke the right of parley."
The theater was silent for a few moments.
"What's parley?" Nora asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Parlay is calling for negotiations between two opposing sides to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire," Ironwood explained, having plenty of experience with such matters during his career.
"What good is that gonna do against pirates?" Jaune asked dubiously.
"Well, it may be my only chance of getting out of there alive," Weiss reasoned, seeing as her counterpart was cornered.
"The Code of the Brethren states you have to take me to your captain," Weiss said quickly.
Mercury narrowed his eyes. "I know the Code," he said in annoyance.
"If an adversary demands parlay, you can do them no harm until the parlay is complete," Weiss finished.
"Your counterpart definitely did her research on pirates," Maria said, impressed with Weiss' politicking.
"Well, I can't just give them the medallion and be done with it," Weiss reasoned, knowing the pirate duo would kill her regardless.
Emerald pointed her sword at Weiss. "To blazes with the Code!" she hissed.
"She wants to be taken to the Captain!" Mercury snarled at his partner.
Emerald reluctantly lowered her weapon.
"And she'll go, without a fuss. We must honor the Code," Mercury concluded.
"No offense, Ms. Schnee. But this seems very foolhardy," Ironwood disapproved of Weiss' counterpart.
Qrow nodded. "Jimmy's right. They're pirates after all. Code or not, who only knows what they'll do once parlay is over."
"Well, I was cornered, so I didn't have many options," Weiss reasoned in her defense. "Besides, if the pirates really want the medallion that badly, perhaps I can strike a deal with their captain."
Back in Port Royal, the pirates were happily ransacking and looting shops. Ruby was engaged in combat with a burly pirate, Tuskon. The pirate managed to overpower Ruby and pulled her in close with an axe raised to finish her off.
"Say goodbye!" Tuskon snarled.
Just then a cannon ball blew out a wall above the two. A hanging sign swung downwards, but Ruby managed to dodge it and it plowed into the distracted Tuskon, sending him crashing through a window.
"Goodbye," Ruby said cheekily.
Yang applauded her sister. "Smashing, Ruby. Simply smashing," she made another pun, and loud groans filled the theater.
Marrow jerked a thumb at Yang. "How do you put up with that?" he asked the rest of Team RWBY.
"No small amount of patience," Blake answered irritably.
Yang huffed and held her nose high. "You all just don't appreciate my humor," she proclaimed.
Ruby moved on, but then stopped in her tracks as she spotted Weiss being escorted roughly by Emerald and Mercury.
"Come on," Emerald said as she pushed Weiss towards the dock.
"Weiss," Ruby said softly in alarm.
Ruby was about to give chase when she came face to face with Yuma. Ruby cocked her head; fairly sure she had already killed the pirate. [4]
"Huh?" Jaune and Oscar said together in perplexed voices.
Ruby blinked in disbelief. "Wait a second. Didn't I get him?"
"Yeah...you did. How is he still alive?" Harriet questioned.
"Perhaps he's wearing armor under his clothes," Penny said, unable to think of any other logical explanation.
With a shit-eating grin, Yuma glanced down. Ruby followed his gaze and saw a lit bomb at her feet. Just as the fuse ran out…
Ruby, Weiss, Oscar, and Jaune all gasped, thinking Ruby was about to be blown up.
"Ruby! No!" Yang cried out.
"Jump away!" Qrow yelled.
…and nothing happened. The bomb was a dud. Yuma's smile vanished while Ruby smirked at him.
Unfortunately, a passing pirate bonked Ruby on the back of the head with a stolen candelabra. She fell unconscious. Yuma cackled and ran off.
"Oooh. Back of the head," Marrow said with a wince. [5]
"Lousy sneak attack," Ruby grumbled.
"Now who's going to rescue Weiss?" Winter said with worry for her sister.
Back inside Fort Charles, one of the cell walls exploded inward from a cannonball. Blake dove for cover as eerie moonlight spilled in through the hole. Unfortunately for Blake, the hole was centered on the other cell one. The portion of the hole in Blake's cell was too small for her to squeeze through.
"If only it was a foot to the right, I could slip out of there," Blake grumbled at her bad luck.
The other inmates scrambled through the hole to freedom.
"My sympathies, friend. You've no manner of luck at all," one of the prisoners said.
The inmates climbed down the rocks outside while Blake watched in resignation. Moonlight continued spilled into the cell through the hole.
Now alone and desperate to escape, she reached into the other cell and picked up the bone. She stuck it through her cell bars and waved it around while whistling.
"Come on, Zwei. Help her out, boy," Ruby implored the canine onscreen.
"I doubt that's going to work. Those other inmates had no such luck," Elm reminded.
"Indeed. I think Zwei was trained to keep the keys away from the prisoners," Clover said
"Well, it's worth a try. There's nothing else I can do," Blake reasoned.
"Come on, doggy! It's just you and me now," Blake cooed to Zwei.
Zwei was hiding under a bench, frightened by the cannon fire. He peaked his head out at the sound of Blake's beckoning.
"It's you and old Blake. Come on. That's a boy!"
Zwei slowly came out of his hiding spot and started walking towards Blake's cell.
"Get your bone! That's a good boy," Blake continued. "A bit closer! That's it, doggy!"
Zwei stopped and stood with the keys just out of Blake's reach.
"Come on, you filthy, slimy, mangy cur!" Blake hissed in frustration.
"Blake!" Ruby scolded Blake's counterpart.
"Don't talk to Zwei like that!" Weiss added in defense of the corgi.
"I can't help it if cat Faunus don't like dogs, okay?" Blake groaned.
Just then, a crashing sound was heard up above. Startled, Zwei whined and fled down the hall with the keys.
"No! I didn't mean it!" Blake called after the fleeing dog.
Blake threw her hands up. "Oh, come one! Don't leave me in there," she groused.
"Well, maybe if you weren't so nasty to him…" Marrow scolded in defense of Zwei.
Penny held up a finger. "Actually, I believe he was running away from the sound upstairs," she corrected.
Blake turned towards the commotion from above. There was shouting. Then a gunshot. A dead marine tumbled down the stairs. Next, two pirate siblings, Corsac and Fennec, entered.
"This ain't the armory," Fennec angrily told his brother.
Corsac ignored Fennec as he spotted Blake. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here," he said as he sheathed his sword.
The two brothers approached Blake's cell. Blake herself seemed to recognize the pair.
"Captain Blake Belladonna," Fennec said mockingly while Corsac spat at Blake's feet. "Last time we saw you, you were all alone on an Oum-forsaken island, shrinking into the distance. Her fortunes aren't improved much."
The two pirates smirked. But Blake didn't. In fact, she looked angry.
"Worry about your own fortunes, gentlemen," Blake cautioned her old mates. "The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers."
Everyone listened intently to Blake's words with the Albain brothers, surprised and intrigued to learn Blake was indeed a former member of the Black Pearl.
"But it sounds like they marooned her," Qrow deducted from Fennec's line of Blake shrinking away on an island.
Yang narrowed her eyes. "What for?" she asked with a mixture of anger and curiosity.
The two pirates stopped smiling. Corsac's hand shot through the cell bars and seized Blake by the throat. Blake looked down and saw Corsac's arm had morphed into a skeleton with tattered clothes around it.
Everyone's eyes widened at Corsac's skeletal arm grabbing Blake onscreen. Ruby, Jaune, Oscar, Nora, and Elm even gasped softly in shock. It was completely unexpected.
Blake gently rubbed her own throat, feeling a little grossed out seeing her counterpart being touched by a skeleton.
"Holy crap," Marrow murmured in surprise.
"That's…bone. He' a freakin skeleton!" Nora said in a somewhat shaky voice.
"One of those marines said the Black Pearl was crewed by the damned," Maria reminded everyone.
"He wasn't joking at all," Oscar said with wide eyes.
"So, there is a curse," Blake said in shock. "That's interesting."
"You know nothing of hell," Corsac snarled as he released Blake.
With that, Corsac and Fennec departed from the fort, leaving Blake in her cell.
"That's very interesting," Blake muttered to herself in a daze.
"So that's the curse mentioned in the title," Ironwood realized.
"And apparently it's only shown under moonlight," Vine added, noticing Corsac's arm didn't turn to bone unless it was under moonlight.
"But where does the curse come from? The ship?" Oscar wondered as he cocked his head slightly. [5]
"I'm not sure it's that simple..." Ozpin doubted as he mulled over the nature of the curse.
Up in the sky, thick dark clouds blocked out the moon.
Down in Port Royal Bay, Weiss sat in a longboat being rowed towards the Black Pearl as it continued firing its cannons. It was a tall galleon bristling with many guns, dark wooden planks, and bearing tattered black sails. It was undoubtedly the same ship she saw eight years ago. An ornately carved figurehead of a woman releasing a bird into flight decorated the bow.
"That's strange. The Black Pearl doesn't seem to have taken much damage. Or perhaps none at all," Vine said and he examined the Pearl's condition.
"Well, combined with the thick fog and the ships dark colors mixed with the cover of darkness, it would be practically invisible and thus very difficult to hit," Penny said analytically.
"Penny is right. That's why Clover ordered his men to sight the muzzle flashes," Ironwood followed the androids reasoning.
Up on the poop deck beside the helm stood an imposing silhouette overlooking the clamoring crew as they sorted through the loot they collected from Port Royal.
The boat was winched up to the deck. Weiss and the pirates disembarked. She glanced to her left and spotted a figure. It looked like a man wearing a long coat and an ostrich feathered hat. A monkey hopped onto his left shoulder.
"That must be the captain," Ruby assumed, judging by the figures more regal attire compared to the other pirates more rugged and mundane clothes.
"The one so evil that Hell itself spat him out?" Nora asked nervously.
"That's what the legends say, at least," Ren said with a bit of skepticism.
"And is that a monkey that just jumped onto his shoulder?" Harriet asked offhandedly.
"I didn't know we was takin' on captives," Hazel inquired about Weiss being brought aboard.
"She's invoked the right of parley with Captain Taurus," Mercury explained.
Everyone familiar with the deceased White Fang leader glared at the screen, especially Blake and Yang.
"Why am I not surprised he's the captain of the Black Pearl," Blake snarked as she flared her nostrils.
"I am here to... Weiss began before Hazel slapped her across the face, silencing her.
"You will speak when spoken to!" Hazel growled.
Weiss blanched and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, reminded of when Jacques slapped her before she left Atlas last year.
"Hey!" Ruby, Blake, and Yang all barked at the screen in outrage.
"How dare you!" Winter hissed at the screen.
A hand swiftly grabbed Hazel's wrist. The camera turned to reveal Captain Adam Taurus. He was a middle-aged buccaneer with weathered features and an unkempt beard and mustache. The monkey on his shoulder wore a shirt, vest, and pants.
"And ye will not lay a hand on those under the protection of parley," Adam reprimanded Hazel.
"Aye, sir," Hazel complied.
"Ugh. He hasn't aged too well," Yang judged Adam's haggard appearance.
"Nobody said the pirate's life was healthy or hygienic," Ironwood said.
"I'll say. Now that I think about it, all the pirate's teeth look horrible," Jaune said with a grimace.
"That monkey is cute, though," Nora said fondly, though going by pirate stereotypes, she would have expected a parrot instead.
Adam released Hazel and turned to Weiss. "My apologies, miss," he said with a smile that revealed rotten teeth.
Weiss mustered her courage to speak. "Captain Taurus...I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal," she said.
Adam paused. "There are a lot of long words there. We're naught but humble pirates," he chuckled at Weiss' request.
"She wants you to screw off, you scumbag," Yang snarled at the screen.
"That's right," Weiss agreed, still upset over Klein's death.
"What is it you want?" Adam asked directly.
"I want you to leave and never come back," Weiss answered sharply, prompting laughter from the pirates.
"I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request," Adam replied loquaciously.
Nora scratched her head. "Maybe I'm wrong...but I'm guessing that means…no?" she assumed.
"You guess correctly," Weiss confirmed, knowing the definition of acquiesce.
"But didn't he just say they were just humble pirates?" Marrow recalled in confusion.
"I think Adam was referring to rest of the crew, not himself," Vine corrected his teammate.
"Indeed. All leaders must have some brains. Even pirate captains," Ironwood conceded reluctantly.
Weiss stared at Adam, unsure what he meant.
"Means 'no'," Adam explained with a smirk, eliciting more chuckles from his crew.
"Very well," Weiss said as she took out the medallion and approached the edge of the ship.
The pirates went silent as Weiss dangled the medallion over the water. "I'll drop it," she threatened.
Adam stared at the medallion. "Me holds are burstin' with swag. That bit of shine matters to us?" he said.
Weiss studied Adam's expression carefully. "He's bluffing," she deduced.
"How can you tell?" Ruby asked.
"The way he and the others are staring at the medallion," Weiss explained. "Plus, Emerald and Mercury admitted they were after the medallion.
"Why?" Adam inquired about Weiss' threat.
"It's what you've been searching for. I recognize the ship," "I saw it eight years ago on the crossing from Atlas!"
"Did you now?" Adam said with interest.
"Fine. I suppose if it is worthless there's no point in me keeping it," she said and let it slip slightly towards the water.
"No!" Adam cried while the other pirates gasped and lunged forward.
Weiss smirked in triumph at calling Adam's bluff.
"So, Weiss is right, that is why they came to Port Royal," Winter said, impressed by Weiss' ploy.
"Apparently. But why is it so important to them?" Oscar wondered while scratching his chin.
"Maybe I was right. Maybe it is magic and the pirates really want it," Ren theorized, though inside he had his doubts on the medallion's true nature.
"Something tells me it has to do with the curse," Ozpin presumed as he connected the dots.
Impressed, Adam chuckled and stepped towards Weiss. "You have a name, missy?"
"Weiss..." she started but hesitated to reveal her true name. "...Rose. I'm a maid in the Governess' household."
"Wise choice not using her real name," Winter said, believing otherwise the pirates would hold Weiss for ransom.
Adam's eyes widened in recognition of the surname "Rose". The other pirates exchanged bewildered glances.
"Miss Rose!" Adam said to his crewmates.
"Rose," the other crewmates murmured amongst themselves.
"Bootstrap!" Emerald said.
Everyone looked mystified by the Black Pearl's crew reacting to the mention of Rose.
"How do they know my last name?" Ruby questioned; her eyes squinted in curiosity.
"And why did Emerald say 'bootstrap'?" Yang wondered while munching on a handful of popcorn.
"Remember in the beginning when Ruby was found floating in the water right after the Black Pearl sank that ship? It must have something to do with that," Oscar assumed, getting everyone to wonder what Ruby's connection was to the Black Pearl.
"You're right. Either Ms. Rose is connected to the Black Pearl crews...or someone in her family is," Ozpin agreed with his current host.
"How does a maid come to own that trinket?" Adam inquired. "Family heirloom, perhaps?"
"I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean," Weiss answered.
Jaune tapped his chin. "Actually, now that I think about it, you did steal it," he pointed out.
"Well...technically yes. But only to protect Ruby from the gallows," Weiss defended her counterpart.
"Awww, Weiss. You're such a good friend," Ruby said gratefully while giving Weiss a hug, the latter return after only a moment's hesitation.
"Very well," Adam said as he held out his hand. "You hand it over and we'll put your town to our rudder and never return," he promised.
Weiss hesitated for a second before she dropped the medallion into Adam's hand. Adam then handed the medallion to the monkey, who chittered and clambered away onto an overhanging rope.
"Our bargain?" Weiss pressed.
Adam turned to Hazel and jerked his head to the side as the latter headed for his quarters.
"Still the guns and stow them," Hazel hollered to his crewmates. "Signal the men and make good to clear port."
Gaping, Weiss chased after Adam. "Wait. You have to take me to shore!" she protested. "According to the Code-"
Adam wheeled on Weiss, interrupting her. "First, your return to shore was not part of our negotiations so I must do nothing. Secondly, you must be a pirate for the Pirate's Code to apply, and you're not. Thirdly, the code is more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules."
"Uh-oh..." Ruby mumbled.
Weiss scratched the back of her head. "I suppose I didn't think this one through, did I?" she admitted.
"I can't say I'm surprised Adam would trick you like that," Blake sighed, knowing her deceased enemy better than anyone.
Weiss stared at Adam in speechless horror at what she had gotten herself into.
"Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Ms. Rose," Adam said in a faux-affable tone.
Emerald and Mercury then seized Weiss by the arms and shoved her into Adam's cabin.
"Oh no..." Winter muttered as she pinched the bridge of her nose at the predicament Weiss was now in.
"Forgive me if I don't feel welcome," Weiss snarked at Adam's counterpart.
"Well...at least she got the pirates to leave Port Royal," Ruby said with a sheepish grin, trying to look on the bright side of things.
Author's Closing Note: Whoo! This was a long chapter. Over 10,000 words. Stay tuned everyone.
[1]- It's been a while since this old fellow got a cameo, so I threw it in there. Originally, I was going to give it to Qrow before I changed my mind and gave him a bigger role as Gibbs.
[2]- To this day, I still don't know why the butler answered the door instead of running like hell. After all, the cannon fire was loud enough to wake up Elizabeth (Weiss).
[3]- I love this foreshadowing that these aren't just ordinary pirates and supernatural forces are at work.
[4]- Just a little shout out to the "Red vs Blue" running gag of being hit on the back of the head. Lol. Poor Ruby.
[5]- When I first saw this years ago, my younger brain thought the Black Pearl itself was cursed and I wondered: "If the ship is cursed, why doesn't the crew just abandon it?". Then I learned later that wasn't the case. Anyone else?
[6]- It was a bit tricky choosing Barbossa's counterpart. I was torn between Adam Taurus and Arthur Watts. Ultimately, the former was my choice to give Blake's counterpart a fitting opponent to fight. But also of the similarity the characters have to their counterparts. While Jack is technically a pirate, he seems more interested in adventure than killing and plundering. Barbossa on the other is a ruthless pirate, full-stop. Pertaining to the RWBY stand-ins, Blake was, by letter of the law, a terrorist once, she genuinely wanted Human-Faunus co-existence and peace. Adam was simply a racist hate-monger who wanted to enslave, if not outright exterminate humanity so Faunus could rule Remnant.