Click. Click. Clunk. "There. It's finished child. Can you open your eyes?" Computing… Computing… Command received. Reacting. Penny blinked and opened her eyes. Standing above her was her father, the man who had created her. The man smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her up to a sitting position. "I'm relieved you've finally rebooted. I was worried when you didn't respond when I put you back together." Penny smiled at him. "What happened? My memory banks haven't loaded up all the way, the last thing I remember is-" Penny stopped as she remembered the fight between her and Pyrrha. Penny grabbed her arm and looked at it. "I broke into pieces." Her father nodded. "Yes, but I was able to collect all your pieces and eventually put you back together."
Penny slid off the table and looked around the room. It wasn't her father's workshop in Atlas. Instead, it was a bare room with a computer against one wall and a shelf of tools against the other. "Why aren't we in Atlas?" Her father walked over to the computer and turned it on. "A lot of things happened after you shut down Penny. Watch all the news feeds from Vale, and come talk to me afterwards. I'll be somewhere in the building, just walk around and you'll find me." Penny nodded, and as he left the room Penny sat down in front of the computer. She opened all the feeds and began watching them simultaneously. The feeds opened in the arena, looking at Pyrrha and Penny. The feeds flashed back and forth, showing different views of the arena and the audience as a woman began speaking. Penny's eyes grew wide as the feed shifted to show the streets of Vale. Grimm were invading the street, the White Fang were attacking, and the Atlas defense robots were malfunctioning and attacking Hunstmen and Huntresses.
As the feeds grew more and more violent, showing citizens fleeing through the streets and desperately trying to fight back, Penny noticed that her hand was twitching and ran a quick diagnostic of her arm. Arm functionality at 100%. Connections clear, no bugs detected- "Well, this is a pleasant surprise". Penny's eyes widened as a strange voice echoed in her head. "Who's there?" "Me? I'm just someone trying to survive. It seems that I've done that, but you're here too. That won't do." Penny's arm twitched again, then slowly curled into a fist. Penny looked down at it and frowned. She tried to open her hand, but it wouldn't respond to her commands. She grabbed her hand with her other and tried to pry it open, but it still wouldn't move. "What are you doing?" She asked, trying to run diagnostics. "Shhhhh". The voice purred as Penny's vision began to flicker. "I have some business to take care of. That brat in the red hood needs to be taught a lesson, and unfortunately I'm stuck in your body. So I'm going to be taking control." Penny's eyes widened. "No!" She stood up and took a step towards the door, but froze. She tried to take another step, but her leg refused to move. "Let me go! You can't hurt-" Penny's mouth froze as her eyes slowly opened all the way to an empty expression. "Good girl." The voice that came out of Penny's mouth sounded the same, but wasn't Penny. "You'll do." She walked to the door and slammed it open. "This is going to be so much fun."
Months later
Swishhhhhhh slice! Crescent Rose sliced through the last Beowolf, and Ruby smiled as it dissolved into dust. She had gotten separated from Jaune and the others in the woods, and a group of Beowolves had attacked her. They hadn't been an issue, but they had slowed her down a little bit. "I wonder where the others are?" Ruby slung Crescent Rose across her back, then stopped and looked over her shoulder at a noise. Ruby's eyes widened as she saw Penny standing between two trees. Crescent Rose slid out of her hands, and Ruby took a step towards Penny. "Penny?" Ruby asked quietly. "It's you!" She ran straight to her, reaching out to hug Penny in a tight embrace.
Penny's kick caught her completely off guard, hitting her square in the chest and sending her flying backwards. Ruby landed at the base of a tree and curled up on her side, struggling to get her breath back. She looked up at Penny with tears in her eyes as she walked over. "Penny? Why did you do that?" Penny stopped and looked down at Ruby, then put her hands on her hips. She smiled, but there wasn't anything friendly about the smile. "Hi Red! Did you miss me?" Ruby stared up at Penny uncomprehendingly, then her eyes slowly widened. "Ro-Roman?" Penny grinned at her and put her hands behind her head. "Oh it is good to be back!" She crouched down by Ruby's head and grinned at Ruby, who stared at her in a mixture of shock and confusion. "What did I tell you Red? I'll do what I do best. Lie. Cheat. Steal. And survive. And now." Penny stood up, and her blades unfolded from her backpack. "You get to be a Huntress. Time to die like one!" Penny threw out her arm, and her blades flew at Ruby. "No!" Ruby threw up her hands as she saw Penny's blades race towards her, and the sound echoed through the forest.