The pen had began to lose it's ink. Every pen in the building seemed to be losing their ink. Perhaps it was the amount of paper work and several incidents happening under the line of work the building was built for. The women at the table simply sighed and passed it to the dispenser.

"Another one, please." She requested at the voice recognition. The device beeped several times, until finally it gave a final noise, releasing a new and hopefully full pen. "Thanks."

"No problem, Miss Penny." The robot replied in a metallic, monotone voice. The antlered peanut was getting sick of that voice. All robots had that same tone of voice, and only the expensive ones got any change in voices. Thinking so hard about robots reminded her of what she deemed the perfect robot, her school classmate, Bobert. She wondered where he could be, she hadn't seen him since he went missing six years ago when the Robotic Age was beginning.

Thinking about her classmate reminded her of all of them. And her mind focused particularly about one, but she quickly moved away from him. She didn't want to return back to such a touchy subject. Instead, her thoughts settled on a certain co-worker fish, Darwin. He was the only one she had kept in touch with after she left school, seeing as he seemed to need a friend after the incident. They had become close friends over the years, but nothing romantic. She couldn't, she just couldn't delve into that, and Darwin himself had told her that he had no time for such things as long as there was a job to be done.

Shaking herself out of the the current funk she was in, Penny continued with her work. The commotion around her was an annoyance, but she lived through it. She had to, in order for her to pay her rent. Places to stay were so expensive these days.

An hour afterwards the day was over, and Penny was quickly packing her things, ready for the trip home. As the last of her personal equipment was packed away, she felt a pair of eyes staring at her, waiting. She looked up, to see a very familiar friend standing a few feet away.

"Penny." Darwin greeted as soon as she looked up at him.

"Darwin." She replied, smirking a little with one raised brow. The fish smiled back, crossing his arms and leant against a nearby wall. He had grown over the years, standing as tall as Penny in terms of height. To make himself even more defined as a grown person, his face and donned a small moustache above his lips. "So, what is it this time?"

"Lately, the investigations with these mysterious new public figures, you know, the Bandit Reaper and Black Edge, are going rather slow. We're hitting dead ends, and we need help." The fish exclaimed. "I was wondering if you'd like to quit the normal work and help with the investigation."

"Would it mean any extra time on my part?" Penny asked rather seriously. She had another job to tend to, and that took enough time off her already.

"Not at all. It's also extra pay." He claimed rather smugly. Penny put her hand to her figurative chin, in thought, before nodding in agreement.

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow then?"

"Yup. I hope you have nice day, Penny." He remarked before walking back into his office. Penny waved to him as she picked up her bag and walked out of the office area, and passed the entrance doors, exiting the building and returning outside.

The building in question was the Police Department.

Penny held her head high as she began her walk home. Already the sun had begun to set, and after a long gruelling day of two part time jobs, and constant monotones voices bugging her about every little thing, all Penny could think about was going home and relaxing on her nice comfy bed.

The streets weren't crowded, but the roads definitely were. The electric powered cars came racing down them, almost impossible to number. Penny paid them no notice, it was like a normal dusk in Elmore nowadays. She readjusted her stature and began waking down the street path, only passing a small few people before she reached the end of the street.

Turning left for the shortcut through the forest, Penny thanked who ever made roads stayed clear of creating one through the nice natural park. She trekked down the sandy path casually, her boots creating a rather relaxing crunch against nature's ground. She eyed the beautiful trees around her, the sounds of the insects and the wind rustling against the leaves of the trees. And the rusting in the nearby bushes that gave a glinted silver shine.

Penny did an instant double tale on the bush, now to see and bent over feral looking rat man holding a knife close to her body. He was covered in rags, his tongue licking across his lips. Penny screamed in fear, turning around to run away from what looked like a mugging, but as she did, she ran into a tree, making her dizzy. To regain her footing, she backed up against the tree, so the criminal couldn't attack her from behind. You never leave your back exposed, she learnt from the police department.

"Hello la'y." The rat hissed crazily, giving her a good look over. Penny couldn't help but notice of his lack of the letter 'D'. "You shoul' know that the woo's aren't a goo' place to walk at night." He edged closer, bringing the knife to her face so she could get a good look over. Before she could think about kicking him, he pulled out a second knife, much larger and suited to butcher things, and held it close to his body for protection.

"Get away from me!" She screeched, her body shivering in fear. She didn't want to die, especially not by the hands of some scoundrel.

"But why woul' I 'o that, Miss?" He said, bringing the knife closer. "First, I'm gonna kill you. Then, I'm going to take your belongings, and then, finally, I'm going to leave you in the park river. Because that's what I 'o."

"W-Wait..." Penny recognised him. She was only trying to remember know, hopefully to buy herself more time. Finally, something clicked in her head, from earlier today at the Police Department. "D-Dirty Drake?! You're Dirty Drake, wanted for the death of an I-innocent family!" She said, rather to herself than him. He only grinned, his tongue circling his lips once again.

"Ooooo, seems like I'm getting popular..." He bearded his teeth, bringing the knife edge to her shell. "I'm sure I can get even more notice' if you 'ie here by my knives!"

Penny closed her eyes ready for the slice the criminal was obviously about to do. She held her breath, waiting for her death. And waited. And waited. And waited. Penny opened her eyes in confusion, only for her expression to turn to shock.

There, standing before her, was a shadowed figure, donned in a ripped long leather jacket, black turtleneck shirt, ripped up dark jeans, and a black notched stetson hat to cover his face, the only thing visible underneath said hat was one yellow, glowing eye with a slit pupil, which was looking at her. The scariest thing about him however, wasn't his look. It was his arm. Or rather, pitch black scythe.

His left arm, from the elbow down, was a sharp, long, and deadly scythe blade that extended out of the sleeve of his leather jacket, was just touching the neck of the rat bandit, easily cutting the tip of the skin as a small amount blood trickled down his neck. Penny knew this figure. He was renowned for his speed, strength, endurance, but most of all deadly scythe. This was one of the people Darwin was currently researching, a mysterious figure that found criminals and gave them to the police in secret while stealing the amount of money from the same building that matched the amount of the reward for the said criminal. The public had given him the name of the Bandit Reaper.

A reaper bounty hunter.

"Drop the knives before I make you choke on your own blood." The bounty hunter said in a dark, serious tone. Dirty Drake was shaking in fear, he could feel his blood drop down from the stinging cut on his neck. The knives instantly left his hands, and fell to the ground like rocks. The Bandit Reaper then clasped his right hand over the scum's mouth with a cloth, and the rat instantly fell asleep. Penny stilled looked at him in fear and awe, amazed he got the job done so soon.

As the rat collapsed in his grasp, the figure quickly pulled away his long, scythe arm, to not bring him in harms way. Penny partially understood why he did that. Perhaps so he may feel honourable about stealing the money, seeing as if he was in perfect condition, it would be like returning an item that has not been opened. Penny pondered on that being the only good reason. She looked on at the reaper, who was now bending down over the body of the criminal. What happened next surprised her greatly.

His scythe arm began to shift in shape, moulding and reforming until it had shrunk to half it's size. Now, it resembled a normal black arm and hand, like the arm on the right, only it's fingers had spiked ends, his yellow glowing eye had also changed, fading away and making his entire face hidden in shadow. He lifted his prey on his shoulder and used his dark arm to keep him steady, gave the antlered peanut a tip of his hat, and turned, ready to run off with his prize.

Before he did however, in an act of desperation and instinct, Penny reached out and grabbed his shoulder, turning him around and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him while burying her face into his shoulder, crying openly. The Bandit Reaper jumped in surprise, which soon made him feel awkward as he tried to comfort the person he just saved. He pat her back slowly with his free hand while she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I w-was so s-scared..." Penny sniffed, still crying. She felt like a fool, but crying into the shoulder of this being made her feel... relaxed for a reason she couldn't understand. This bounty hunter just felt familiar, and that made her feel relief.

"It's okay to be scared." The reaper began, trying his best to sooth her. "Everyone has their fears."

"... W-who are you?" Penny asked, looked up to the figure's face, covered in complete shadow.

The man sighed, and Penny could tell it came from sadness. "Someone who can't be himself." After that, he gave her a pat on the head, turning away and readying himself to run off again.

"Wait!" Penny shouted, causing the bounty hunter to flinched and turn his head, implying he was now staring at her. She smiled nervously. "My n-name is Penny, Penny Fitzgerald... Thank you for saving me..."

The figure froze up at the name, as if he had seen a ghost. He stared at the lady he just saved for a long time. Penny felt awkward in the silence, but she could swear she knew this person, even though she had never met anyone who had a body or a voice like his. Before she could speak, the Bandit Reaper turned and dashed off, much quicker than what she thought possible. Before a second had passed, he jumped over the reach of the trees as if it was the easiest thing in the world, and disappeared over the tree line. Penny gazed off in wonder, as no normal being could do that.

She turned and ran, kicking the knives into a nearby bush on he way. Hopefully now no one would find them and use them for the wrong purpose. As she dashed as fast as she could, she soon felt herself getting exhausted. The end of the pathway which lead into an empty suburban street was only a few feet away. She slowed down, and exited the forest path, and onto the sidewalk. Only two houses down and she was at hers. Well, the one she was renting. It was full on night now, with the moon reaching far over the horizon, accompanied by a great many stars. She gazed at the beautiful sky, and, if only for a second, she felt truly happy. She didn't know why, but something inside her had sparked again. Shaking her head, she turned to her home, walking to the front door of her rented home. And the first she did was placed her stuff by her bedroom, and flop down on her bed to relax.

At the entrance to the now colossal junkyard, a lone, dark figure walked into the entrance, holding a heavy bag in his left arm. He walked towards the place where all of today's robots go to when they shut down. The bodies of hundreds of broken machine scattered the area. Moving passed the body of a huge carrier classed mech, the man in the stetson hat found the trap door behind the mighty body of the mech. He pressed a button on its side, causing the trap door to open and drop him inside.

The bounty hunter landed perfectly with his bag of acquired money, placing it on the counter of the workshop his partner worked in. He looked down on his little buddy, who returned the gaze.

"Welcome back. How did today go?" The small robot asked in a humane and social tone. The figure pulled off his hat, and placed it on the counter next to the money.

"It was... surprising. I met an old friend today." He told his small but ingenious companion.

"Is it someone I knew?"

"Yeah, you knew her. She went to the same school as us."

"Oh really? Who was it then?"

The figure turned to smile to his only friend. "It was Penny."