-Beacon Academy lunch hall-
Penny and Ruby are both sitting at a table while Ruby eats her lunch.
"So why can't you eat food again?" Ruby asked with her mouth full.
"It gets clogged up inside me and isn't very pleasant to clean out. The same goes for liquids" Penny replied.
Ruby shivered in disgust.
"There are a lot things I'm unable to do because I'm… Well me." Penny said looking glum.
"But just think of all the things that only you can do!" Ruby said with her mouth still full. "You're super strong, you can control all those swords and you can do the robot better than anybody else!"
Penny giggled. "Yeah. I guess you're right, Ruby." She said with a smile. "It's just that sometimes I wish I was more human. So I could be just like you!"
"And how are you gonna do that, silly? Steal human parts from other people?" Ruby laughed jokingly.
It was at this moment that Penny had an idea. A horrible, horrible idea. She wanted to be Ruby's BEST friend and nothing was going to stop her. Not even her programming.
"So anyway, Me and Weiss were walking to the tower when-" Ruby was interrupted by Penny getting up. "Where are you going?" She asked.
"I ugh… Have to head back to the ship. General's orders! Hiccup" Penny covered her mouth.
"Oh. Okay! See you later, Penny!" Ruby said while waving.
"See you soon, friend!" Penny shouted as she ran off to the Atlas ship she was stationed in.
-Penny's Room-
Penny is sitting in her room and lying on her stomach with her legs in the air. She is writing in a small green diary with her emblem on the front of it.
"Dear Diary. Today I was given the most brilliant advice by Ruby! She said that to become more human, I can just take other people's parts! It can't be THAT hard right? I need to be subtle about it. I must find someone who no one will notice is missing… Someone who won't be missed…"
It was at that moment that Ciel Soleil knocked on Penny's door.
"Curfew starts in 10 minutes, Ma'am." Ciel said with a monotone voice while pointing at her watch.
Penny paused to think and gave off a massive grin. "Ok. Thank you very much, Ciel." She closed her diary and pretended to look busy.
Ciel then left the room.
It was 3am and Penny was still wide awake. She had a plan and was sticking to it with pure determination. She slowly opened her room door and peeked out. The coast was clear. She snuck through the hallways of the ship, avoiding camera's and guards along the way when she finally reached Ciel's room. She picked the lock with a hair pin and quietly entered, closing the door behind her. Penny had prepared for this. She had raided an Atlas medical bay to find chloroform and a rag. Penny now stood over Ciel's bed.
Ciel was sound asleep with her nightgown on.
"Remember. This is all for Ruby." Penny thought to herself. She covered the rag in chloroform and was ready to strike. Penny slowly moved towards Ciel and, with a quick strike, held the rag to Ciel's mouth and nose with force.
This instantly woke Ciel up and she began to struggle.
Unfortunately her screams and pleads for help were muffled by the rag and she was no match for Penny's strength. Ciel began to fade deeper and deeper into unconsciousness until she was knocked out cold. The last thing she saw was Penny's innocent smile looking down at her.
Penny had completed the first part of her plan. Now came the hard part. Penny pulled out a large bag and stuffed Ciel into it. It was a tight squeeze and she probably broke one of Ciel's fingers, but Penny didn't care. She had one goal and nothing was going to stop her. Penny snuck back to her room with Ciel in the bag. She opened the bag and looked at Ciel.
"I think I'll start off with an arm today." Penny said to herself. She pulled out one of her swords and lifted up Ciel's right arm. "Thank you for your co-operation, Miss Soleil." Penny said as she moved the sword towards Ciel's shoulder. She inserted to point of her sword into the area just under Ciel's shoulder and started to push it in. This drew large amounts of blood which poured down into the bag and onto the knocked out Ciel. Penny stopped when her sword came out of the other side of Ciel's arm. "Perfect!" She said was a grin. Penny started to move the sword back and force, sawing through the bone in Ciel's arm. The took quite a bit of force but Penny managed easily. She sawed back and forth and back and forth, going through the bone and spraying blood all over herself, her room and Ciel who had lost an almost fatal amount of blood at this point. She pushed and pulled faster and faster until her sword had completely cut through Ciel's arm, dismembering it at the shoulder.
Penny smiled with satisfaction. It was a messy job but she was almost finished with it. She wrapped her newly acquired arm in a cloth to stop more blood getting everywhere and placed it on her bed. She looked at Ciel in the bag that was filled with blood. Ciel had now died of blood loss but Penny didn't care. Ciel had something Penny needed to become Ruby's true best friend so she took it. Penny zipped up the bag and hid it under her bed in the mean time. She started scrubbing the floor to get rid of the blood and to ensure there was no visible evidence. Blood was truly a pain to wash out but that didn't stop Penny. Once everything was clean, she turned her attention to the arm that was wrapped in cloth. Penny unwrapped it and paused for a moment. "I've got it!" She said to herself confidently. Penny twisted and popped her own synthetic arm off and placed it in a drawer. She picked up Ciel's right arm and placed it in her socket. Her wires started to merge with the nerves and veins in the new arm. "Ow! Agh!" Penny yelped as she felt the pain of this real body part surge throw her body.
Once the arm was fitted and in place, Penny tried moving it. It worked! The arm was in her full control and worked just like any other arm. Penny decided to look in a full length mirror to see what she looked like with this new arm. Penny neglected to notice one big factor of this plan. She and Ciel had very different skin complexions which made the arm look out of place on Penny's body. "Oh no…" Penny said looking upset. "After all of this work too!" Penny thought for a moment and grinned as she had another idea. She pulled down her sleeve and went into a drawer to pull out a long white glove. She put it on and looked in the mirror again. Nothing was noticeable. "Wonderful!" Penny cheered in victory. She had completed her task.
Penny decided to power down for the night after all that hard work.
-Outside the CCT Tower the next morning-
"Ruby!" Penny shouted as she ran towards her friend.
"Hey there, Penny!" Ruby said as she greeted Penny. "What's with the fancy glove?" She asked looking at Penny's hand.
"Oh this?" Penny held up her gloved hand. "It's just a new thing I'm trying out. Hiccup. Does it look good?"
"Yeah! It looks great on you! You should keep it." Ruby replied with a genuine smile.
"Oh I will." Penny grinned as she hugged Ruby.
Ruby noticed something when Penny hugged her. It was nothing noteworthy or concerning. Just odd. This hug felt warmer than usual. Not in an emotional way but physically. Penny felt warm.
"So are we going to the café?" Penny asked.
"Sure are!" Ruby replied. "C'mon! Let's go!"
Ruby and Penny both walked off to the café as Penny mentally congratulated herself on her work. Ruby had no idea about the big surprise Penny had planned for her.
Meanwhile, Atlas student Ciel Soleil had been reported missing after not being found in her room, ship or anywhere at Beacon. Her friends and family are very worried and hope she turns up safe soon.