King: Consider this something of a two-for-one.

Knox: To be fair, fights with him are usually a few minutes at most.

King: Quite. Anyway, we have the grand battle between the Sun and Love. And a surprise appearance at the end~ Hope you all enjoy the chapter. That is something you can decide.

Note: Also, expect chapters to be released around this time from now on. I have a new job that takes up most of the day now. I'm still here, but it's a process. On a side, I briefly considered a mini story where you all vote on what happens between chapters. If you guys are interested, let me know in the reviews.

Inspiration: Seven Deadly Sins.

/\

Harriet stretched her back against the chair, never one for sitting still very long. "So, what's next?"

Penny turned to answer her, "These alternate worlds play at random unless we request one plays a future scenario from the Archive."

"Huh." Knox swung his legs up and lied down on the railing toward the screen, "I forgot about that."

King nodded, explaining it for everyone that wasn't there, "Once we installed it, we can return to a previously viewed world. Check their progress if you will. Speaking of..." He snapped his fingers and began the next round.

The screen began to glow in preparation for the next viewing. As it opened, it showed Ozpin sitting atop a throne, surrounded by various banners. He was dressed in regal attire of a man who sat atop the top of the mountain.

Port let out a chuckle. "King Ozpin. I suppose it can work in a way."

Ozpin sighed. A past life had lived as a king. It was overrated.

Ozpin took a breath and sighed. Currently, he sat in his throne room as his kingdom was invaded by dark forces. Now, all he could hope was that his Holy Knights could protect them all.

The scene transitioned to the streets to show a massive red demon stomping through a castle town.

"Holy crap!" Qrow jumped seeing the creature. "That is one ugly freak."

"Very." Raven rarely found herself agreeing with her brother. But it happens now and then.

Another was seen in the distance, then another. This was a full scale demonic invasion of the Kingdom of Vale. The camera pulled back a bit to show a pair of figures floating in the air, wings of darkness emitting from their backs. One was Emerald Sustrai, dressed in green clothing beneath a set of basic armor. This was the youngest daughter of the Demon King, Emerald the Piety.

Mercury raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that a contradiction? A pious demon?"

Beside her was another figure, a man clad entirely in dark red armor. This was Qrow Branwen, a man possessed by the unholy demon Hazel the Selflessness.

Qrow as instantly indignate, "I'm fucking possessed?!"

The two floated to the ground as the common citizens began to run before a strange power ran among them. Soon, they all turned back to the demon princess and bowed. This was the power of the Commandment of Piety.

Yang was instantly excited again, "Wait! Commandment? Like the Truth guy we saw?"

Knox nodded, "That's them."

Emerald chuckled, "Humans are so easy to fall to the Commandments."

The camera changed to show a massive, serrated sword fall to the ground. Pulling away, it was revealed to be Neptune as he seemed to strain to lift his weapon.

"Then why have a weapon that big?!" Ruby was still a little mad about the 'farm tool' crack from the last time they saw this world.

Neptune growled, "What's going on?"

Beside him was a series of people falling to the same power. Sun, Nora, Ren, Reese, Coco, and Yatsuhashi all seemed to have trouble even forming a fist, much less lifting their weapons. Before them and at the side of a cliff stood the middle child and only son of the Demon King, Adam Tauras. His attire was a long purple coat with gauntlets and greaves. Other than that, he had no armor. His face was uncovered (there is no scar or brand) and set in what looked like a benevolent smile.

This just made everyone who knew him recoil for a moment. It was hard to imagine Adam smile, even before his drastic fall into violence. Everything was serious when it came to Adam.

Nora tried to move forward, only to fall to a knee, "Damn it. Is this the power of his Commandment?"

Adam let out a sigh, "It is. I am Adam, Second Child of the Demon King. I have been gifted with the glorious Commandment of Love."

Blake instantly started to laugh, almost falling out of her chair and shocking her friends. She could feel their stares, but she didn't care. She did, however, explain it, "They'd have to call him Adam the Love!"

Ilia and Sienna caught on and started to join her in laughter.

Adam gestured to the Knights before him, "Any in my presence who holds hate in their hearts find it impossible to act on this impulse."

Neptune cursed, "So if we hate him, we can't even lift our swords?"

Ruby deflated, defeated in that he could wield that weapon if Adam wasn't there. Presumably.

Sun spat, "Damn you… DAMN YOU!" Sun, more than anyone there, hated this man with a passion. This was the man that killed Ruby, his Captain and long time friend.

Ruby turned white, "I'm dead?!"

Yang responded in kind, "She's dead?!"

Adam turned to Sun as he shouted, sorrow on his features. "I know why you hate me. I cannot blame you for this. It's clear that my sister meant as much to you as she did to me."

Blake's laugh instantly ceased, "His what?"

"Sister." Knox answered, deadpan.

King nodded, "Ruby is the eldest of the Demon King's children."

Everyone was silent hearing that.

Adam felt a tear fall from his eye, to wipe it away. He truly loved his sister, even as he had to kill her. He could hold no hate and fight due to his Commandment, but Ruby was the one he looked up to. "I apologize for this. But I must do what I must."

Ilia's mouth was agape at what she was hearing. "I… I don't know what I'm hearing."

"It's surreal." Blake added.

Nora tried to move, only to fall to her knees. "Damn it. We can't even fight like this. I can't die until I've avenged Ruby!" Ruby had trained her as she was growing up. She was a friend and teacher to Nora.

Nora groaned, not liking the situation at hand. There was every possibility that this ends badly.

As all seemed lost, the camera hung low as a golden boot of armor slammed onto the ground, kicking up dust and rock.

Everyone jerked upward at how sudden it was and the sound it made.

Another step followed and the camera returned to Adam, "You aren't affected by my Commandment?" It was genuinely shocking to see anyone resist his power.

"Of course," the camera loomed to the side to show a large man in golden armor. His pauldrons were a bright blue and the size of shields. The man was a golden blonde with short hair and a glorious mustache. His voice was booming, but familiar.

Jaune was wide eyed at seeing him like this again. The Sin of Pride, in a way his polar opposite. But maybe…

Jaune continued to stomp toward the Commandment with little effort. Each stomp kicked up dust from each impact. As Adam stood on an elevated chunk of rubble, each step brought him closer and their eyes closer to level. Soon their eyes were level with one another, though Jaune was still a step down from him. "How can I bring myself to hate those so much weaker than myself?" Jaune took the final step and now loomed over Adam. "All I feel for them… is pity."

Yang was starry-eyed now. "Badass."

Adam smirked, "That's quite the prideful statement."

"Of course. For that is my sin. I am The Lion's Sin of Pride. Lord Jaune Arc." Everything was quiet for a moment before he continued, "Do not hate me. Or else your Commandment will rob me of our battle."

Adam smiled good naturedly, "You really are a good man." Adam was suddenly above Jaune with the sound of an impact, and Jaune clearly forced to look upward. Blood droplets and Adam's angle implied that he had punched Jaune to cause what they saw.

Nora gasped, "I'm sorry, WHAT?! Jaune was so strong last time we saw this one! Did he get weaker?!"

Adam then delivered another punch to send Jaune through the rocks of the cliff, creating a massive groove in the face to show Jaune had been sent through it.

Ren blinked, "Or, it seems, Adam is that much stronger."

Knox snickered to himself, to a joke they couldn't know just yet.

Adam fell to the ground only to kick Jaune back up the cliff and to the castle grounds where they began. The impact alerted Emerald and Qrow to the battle, causing them to fly off to observe Adam's battle. As Adam returned to the top, Jaune was on one knee, though his breathing seemed controlled. As Adam approached, he opened his mouth to say something, only to be distracted by something to his side. A glance to his right showed a burning sun, only to be replaced by uane's armored fist. He was able to block the attack, but was sent backward.

Blake growled, annoyed Adam was doing so well right now.

Adam smirked, "Nice try." His celebration was short lived, however, as he suddenly lost balance in his legs and fell to his hands and knees.

Jaune was back on his feet with his ax, Rhitta, resting on his shoulder. "Oh? Did you drop a coin?"

Blake's mood improved almost instantly.

Nora let out a loud cheer, "That's what I'm talking about!"

Harriet wanted to say something, but Marrow's smug smirk told her that if she tried he could lord her 'he's dead' remarks over her for it. So, she relented and let him have his win.

Adam had an annoyed face for a moment, but it quickly passed to a smile. "I see." He stood up again and his darkness pooled over his chest. A handle appeared after a moment and he retracted the item to reveal a short sword. "I'm glad I found someone I can go all out against."

Jaune raised his ax upward and slammed it downward. Only for Adam to swipe his blade slightly to the side. Blood then erupted from Jaune's shoulder.

Velvet jumped at seeing this, "What just happened?!"

Nora's eyes were wide, "Was that…?"

Adam's smile spread slightly as he stood upright again. "Full Counter. Unlike my older sister's version, my counter takes any physical damage and reflects it back at double the power."

Blake sighed and hung her head a little, "And it all makes sense now."

"What?" Yang turned to her partner.

"Adam… has a similar Semblance to yours. He takes in damage through his sword and can deal it back out as he wants."

Yang was silent for a moment. "That is… huh."

Jaune patted his shoulder, "I see. That would explain why I felt that one. I pack quite the wallop."

Adam started to laugh, "How prideful can one man be?"

Jaune took a step forward, angling his body slightly with a palm facing upward. "In return for your taking this seriously, I shall respond in kind and show you that I am serious." A ball of fire appeared over his open hand, like the sun hovered before him.

Adam didn't seem too phased. "Are you sure you want to use that here?"

Behind Jaune, the armor and weapons of the other Knights were starting to melt from the intense heat.

"Well that's a problem." Elm tapped her foot against the ground. Truth be told, the Lion Sin was her favorite version so far, so she was interested to see where this goes.

Jaune didn't seem too phased, turning slightly to address a man behind him. "Wukong. Can you confirm that Lake Ernes is to the south?"

Sun, who was practically melting mind you, was a little occupied to keep any amount of cool. "Yeah! What's your point?!"

"Making sure." Jaune pushed the ball into Adam and created a shockwave that sent the Commandment of Love flying. The camera caught the moment as Adam flew over the massive Lake in question. Above him, Jaune rode atop the small sun, looking down on the demon. "Your death will neither be quick nor kind. Cruel Sun." He kicked off the fireball and sent it straight into Adam, who was pushed into the Lake as the sun continued to burn. Jaune closed his hand somewhat, "Pride Flare," and the Lake erupted into steam. The attack had vaporized all the water within.

Port was speechless. Actually speechless. There was nothing he could possibly say after something like that.

Many, in fact, had a similar reaction.

Jaune returned to the ground, approaching where Adam would have landed.

Adam was revealed to be on his feet with burns, his coat destroyed, and a strange dark power emanating from his right side. "Not bad. If I had waited even a half second longer to unleash my Darkness, I'd have taken some serious damage there." His Darkness flowed over his burns and healed him completely. "Let's finish this, shall we?"

Nora was officially pissed, "How is that fair?!"

Jaune, Ren, and Pyrrha tried to calm her back down and hold her back from storming something.

Jaune let out a breath, "On that alone, we agree." He created another Cruel Sun, ready to end this.

Adam smirked and held a hand toward the flame, "Blackout." Adam's Darkness surrounded and swallowed up the sun.

"Do you think this will change anything?" Jaune swung his ax downward.

"No wait!" Ruby tried to warn him.

Jaune's blade found only Adam's Full Counter, causing a massive power wave to blow up into Jaune's face.

Adam smirked and swung his blade with a flourish. "My Darkness has swallowed your sun. I clearly have the advantage in magic power. What's more, you can't hurt me with physical attacks thanks to my Full Counter. Face the facts, you've lost. It's been fun, Jaune Arc. But this is the end."

Nora was in full rant mode now. "No! Our fearless leader won't lose to a cheater like you!"

Jaune felt something deep down and finally let loose. "NORA!"

His teammate was instantly stiff as a board and her ranting paused.

"One, they can't hear you. Two, I understand you feel strongly about this. But please, sit down. You're free to complain, everyone here has at least once. But don't go overboard like this."

Nora blinked before sitting back down in her chair.

Jaune sighed and returned to his own chair, the moment surprising many in the audience.

The camera hung up to show the sun rising above them.

Suddenly, a large slash spread across Adam's chest as his blood flew out from the impact.

"What just happened?!" Coco was on edge now.

Adam shook in surprise, "What just…?"

"My attacks can't hurt you? Who decided that?" The Darkness around the Cruel Sun was torn apart as it reappeared above Jaune's raised finger. "Your Darkness swallowed my Sun? Who decided that?" The angle made aune appear nearly twice as large as Adam in that moment. "I am the one who decides such things." After a pause to let his words sink in, he finished saying, "Begone."

With this, he threw the Sun into Adam and sent him flying. As the Sun pushed him away, Emerald flew over to try to push back and defend her brother, only for them both to be sent over the horizon. This was the power of the Lion's Sin of Pride.

Nora, now over her shock, leapt up with a cheer, "YEAH! That's what I'm talking about!"

Jaune lifted his ax up onto his shoulder again. "I'd return to the fight, but Rhitta is barely holding back my power and it's almost noon. It would be in their interests for me to remain here for now."

Thus ended the viewing.

Nora was excitedly punching the air around her.

Jaune sighed. At least she's not trying to destroy the screen now.

Knox was swinging his legs over the side of his balcony box, "That reminds me, what should we do with Adam?"

King jerked up like he'd heard something that never should have come out Knox's mouth.

"What?" Blake was less than happy to hear his name right now, and that those two had something going on in the background.

King pinched the bridge of his nose and took a breath to calm his nerves. "Like Raven, something is holding Adam in the theater. He didn't want to actually leave, but tried to force himself to. As such, he was dropped off in a side room of the theater and no doubt thinks he's already returned to Remnant."

"You can't be serious!" Blake was on her feet, indignant. "That psycho is still here?! He's dangerous!"

Knox snickered, "And I bet he's learning exactly how much so~"

As Blake turned to Knox, her father was at her side, glaring toward the golden theater being, "Explain."

"See, some rooms give you what you think you want. Adam's been trying to lead his revolution against the humans, and is finding… difficulties."

"Putting it lightly." King responded. "He's toppled human cities only for the same to happen to his own. On and on. Over and over. The cycle of violence and hate playing out around him as everything burns."

Yang blinked, "That's… messed up."

"How else will he learn?" King started to walk off, causing many to follow after him, thinking something was about to happen.

And they were correct. King reached a new door in the hall and opened to reveal a desolated city, building caught between rising and falling. In the city's center was Adam, on his knees with a dead faunas in his arms. His back was to the door, unaware of their presence.

King walked up behind him, stoic as possible, "Is it everything you hoped it would be, Taurus?"

Adam didn't look up toward him, "You… what are you doing here?" He sounded broken. It was clear in all this time… he'd seen things.

"Perhaps this is a vision of guilt. Perhaps you've finally lost your mind and its deriding you with the vision of the closest thing to a god you've seen."

"Wow." Kali whispered, "He's good."

King walked around and looked down upon the bull faunas. "Or perhaps, this is the beginning of something else."

Adam looked up toward the man, still unseen by the people beyond the door. "What… do you mean?"

"You lived a life of power. One of blood, steel, and hate. This is the end result. Everyone you've cared about? Dead. Your movement? Dead. Your 'enemy' stands, but battered. You still live though. Is this what you wanted? I suppose you achieved equality in a way. After all, all are equal in death."

"Have you come to taunt me then? Knowing it all went so wrong?"

"I admit, I am enjoying that part. But what if you had the chance to do it all over again? Would you change? Or would you want to repeat this all over again? I believe in the ideal of the second chance. You can still turn things around. You just need to take that chance on yourself."

Adam was silent, the body falling slightly to rest lightly on the ground. "I don't think I can turn back now."

"Can't you? If you haven't taken a single step further on your journey?"

Adam looked back to him, clearly surprised. "What are you talking about?"

King snapped his fingers and everything around them was gone. The city ceased to exist and they now stood in a field. "You never left the theater. You didn't want to leave in your heart and you remained. So it showed you what you believed you wanted. As to why I'm here, consider it a wakeup call. We'll be seeing you, Taurus." King walked off, leaving Adam alone. As he closed the door, he herded everyone back to the main room.

Now alone, Adam had too many things going on his mind. Too much to remain any longer.