Beacon Tower, several days before the fall of Beacon
"Well, Miss Polendina, it seems that you've made quite a splash in the tournament," Professor Ozpin said. "I look forward to seeing how far you can go." Penny liked this headmaster. He was pleasant. He smelled of coffee and ginger, and though his gaze was penetrating, it was also tinged with a smile.
"Thank you, headmaster, it's been an honor to compete against your students," she replied. She hoped that he would go along with her plan. The box at her feet had seen a brief glance of curiosity from him, but he had said nothing. It had taken her many days to put together the parts she had needed for her plan.
"How do you find life in Vale compared to Atlas? I know that you've made some friends here – Miss Rose in particular." Penny gasped in surprise. "Fear not, Miss Polendina. There is little that happens at my school that escapes my notice. Rest assured that your secrets are safe with me, all of them." Oh goodness, he knew! She had heard that he was almost supernaturally astute. He was a Huntsman, after all.
"I like it here, very much, sir. Ruby is a wonderful friend – she doesn't even care that I'm not a real girl. In fact, she insists that we aren't any different." He smiled fondly, nodding slightly. "How did you know?" He sipped from his mug before answering.
"As it happens, I've known your father for many years – though we haven't spoken in quite some time. I knew what he was trying to accomplish when he started working on you three years ago." The smile held, but something in his eyes changed. She zoomed her visual receptors on them. Was that sadness? Why would he be sad? "I'm pleased to see that he was finally successful." He waited a beat, then moved on.
"And what brings you to my office today, Miss Polendina? Is there something I can help you with?" Straight to the point; Ciel would like him. She hesitated for a moment. "Perhaps it has something to do with the box you've brought with you," he prompted, gesturing at her feet.
"Well, I had an idea," she said, kneeling down to pick up the box and moving it onto his desk.
Beacon Tower, Sub-Basement 2
It had taken nearly an hour to convince Headmaster Ozpin to allow her to implement her plan. She had finished installing the last module into the server rack that he'd led her to. She was certain that she'd been clever enough in acquiring the parts she had needed to make it. Having access to her schematics had made things much easier. Getting away from her escort the few times she'd needed to had been harder. But now it was finished. There would be time to test it later.
"You're sure you want to do this?" He asked. She closed the panel and spun to face him with a salute.
"I'm quite certain, Headmaster. Thank you for allowing me to carry out my plan."
"Very well, Miss Polendina. I cannot, however, promise that your plan will not be discovered." She opened her mouth to thank him, but he held up his empty hand to stall her. "Do not thank me for this. If something were to go wrong, I would have no choice but to inform General Ironwood. Your father would never forgive me if I allowed something untoward to happen to his daughter." He was very thoughtful, something Penny had always done her best to imitate.
"I understand, Headmaster Ozpin. I'm sure that I've thought of everything, though." Her hand flew to cover her mouth as she hiccupped. The briefest moment of confusion crossed his face, but he recovered instantly.
"Come, Miss Polendina, let us walk in the garden for a while. You can tell me of Atlas and your father. Your minders will be none the wiser." He retrieved his cane and led her back to the elevator.
* * *
Amity Coloseum
She had watched the bout with Ruby's sister and Mercury with fascination. His footwork was impressive, and she studied it intently. Her swords were her primary weapon, but there was something… appealing about the way he moved. Perhaps she could convince the General to give her room to add them to her combat routines.
Yang was equally skilled, though she seemed to get hit more often. Ember Celica was an unconventional weapon. She'd never seen anything quite like them. She had thought they were rather limited, even with the added mobility. Were all of her dust rounds explosive? Why not include some focused firepower? Penny knew that her semblance was partially passive. Maybe precision wasn't necessary; she wasn't sure.
When the match was over, she cheered for Yang. Her joy at the victory was caught short when Yang turned to attack the defenseless Mercury. She covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide in shock. "Why did she do that?" her question would have been lost in the mass of cries, but General Ironwood heard her. His face was blank of any emotion.
"I don't know, Penny, but I intend to find out." His scroll rang, and he stepped away to answer it. She turned back to see that Mercury had been carried away on a stretcher with Emerald hovering beside. Yang was escorted off by Atlesian soldiers and knights. She seemed just as shocked as everyone else. Penny scanned the crowd for Ruby and her team, but her search function returned no matches. General Ironwood closed his scroll and came back to their seats.
"Penny, I need to go deal with this. The tournament will resume this evening, so you're free to go until then." She stood and moved toward the exit. The General placed his gloved hand on her shoulder. She stopped and craned her head around to look at him. "I know you want to go find Ruby, but that's probably not a good idea right now." Disappointed, she agreed silently. Perhaps a walk in the gardens would be best, she thought to herself. She turned to go, followed by two soldiers.
Penny stood before Pyrrha Nikos – this was exciting! Bad as she felt for Ruby and her team, she had so hoped to be matched up to the Invincible Girl. She had studied all the tournament footage she could find, as well as sneaking a peek into the cameras in Professor Goodwitch's classroom when she could. Pyrrha was an amazing combatant, and might even pose a significant challenge.
"Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos! It's an honor to finally meet you." She seemed nervous and distracted as she looked at her hands. Was she not feeling well? Penny gave her an encouraging smile. "This is going to be so much fun!" She didn't look convinced, but Penny thought she should keep smiling anyway. Smiles had a way of spreading if you wore them often enough.
"Fighters, are you ready?" Doctor Oobleck's voice boomed over the loudspeaker. Penny grinned at the camera and shook her head while focusing on Pyrrha, who seemed to find her resolve. "Three! Two! One! Begin!" Penny unleashed her swords with Circle the Colum and twisted them into Spinning Pinwheel. She Unfurled the Scroll and sent them forward into Scattering Pines. Pyrrha blocked some and dodge the others with graceful agility as she ran forward and leapt at Penny.
She Mantled the Wing and Threaded the Needle while darting back from Pyrrha's whirling spear. She parried with two swords while the rest returned. They all arrived in in time for her to parry spinning strikes with Budding Flower, knocking Pyrrha back a few feet. Scattering Pines was blocked and then skillfully used as stepping stones. She Crested the Wave as Pyrrha leveled a two handed overhead strike. Pyrrha reversed her momentum into a midair backflip, and Penny Rewound the Hands, using the force to flip backward as well, giving her the space to press a momentary advantage with Spinning Pond Liles.
They paused for a moment, and Pyrrha called her shield from her back to her left arm, determination set in her features now. She had a momentary look of surprise, but rushed in with quick strikes that Penny attempted to block with Crane Fends the Paws. Pyrrha was too fast and landed a few blows, knocking her into the air. Two strikes she blocked with Catspaws before Pyrrha's assault broke through again, pushing her back to the ground.
Penny could feel the pace of the fight quickening, so she Flared the Wings and unleashed Starbursts. Pyrrha showed how nimble she was again dodging and rolling out of the way. Penny sent Chaffing the Wheat twice, both blocked and started to Pinwheel, but Pyrrha rushed in with a very strong hit that sent Penny flying back dangerously close to the edge of the ring.
Penny recovered quickly with Skating the Frozen Pond. When she was close enough, she flew up with Eagle's Rise and closed the distance with Dragon's Dive. At the bottom of the dive she reversed into Clashing Thunder to throw Pyrrha off balance. It was time to finish this. While her aura was not even half depleted, the fight could not last much longer.
She used Catspaws to disarm Pyrrha and reave away her shield. The redhead tried to recall her spear and it was batted away again. Tiger Stretches it's Claws reared back as Penny raised her hands. General Ironwood had said it was scary looking, and could put her opponents off balance if she grinned just so. It worked just like he said – Pyrrha's eyes widened and her jaw dropped open as she stumbled backward. Penny didn't want to hurt her, though, so she settled for Scattering Pines.
Pyrrha closed her eyes with intense concentration and she crossed her arms before throwing them out wide. Her form darkened with aura and a distorted wave shot forward, grasping Penny's swords before slamming into-
CRITICAL ALERT! WARNING!
Oh no! She's a huge magnet! No –
ALERRRRT ENGAGING SECONDRY SYSTEMS
Penny registered her swords flying back in a basic way, not quite understanding why she was being pulled back.
SECONDARY SYSTEM INITIALIZED.. ANALYZING POWER LEVELS.. POWER FAILURE IMMINENT
The Dust threads were beginning to crimp her shell.
WARNING! STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY EXCEEDING TOLERANCE
UNTETHER PRIMARY WEAPON SYSTEM.. FAILED?ERROR?RETRY?FAILED
No! This was not good! She didn't know what would happen if she.. Her PLAN! It wasn't meant to be used like this, but the graphs and numbers were dropping into dangerous areas they should not have. She bent all of her available processing power to it.
OVERRIDE.. ACCESS TERMINAL UPLOAD..
WARNING! CRITICAL POWER LOSS DETECTED
WARNING! LEFT LATERAL STRUCTURE FAILED: NO INPUT
ACCESS TERMINAL UPLOAD – LINK ESTABLISHED
WARNING! PRIMARY LATERAL STRUCTURE FAILING
EXECUTE UPLOAD100% OVERRIDE S#3Z7H
At first nothing happened. She had fallen to the ground. It was getting dark. Then she saw the counter.
WARNING! SOUL MODULE TOLERANCE EXCEEDED PROCEED? YES/NO
YES! It was her only chance. She could see her left arm had been completely severed. The system wasn't registering her legs or other arm. This had to work, it HAD to! She could only watch the counter climb.
70%
It was so dark now.
80%#$ _(
WARNING! POWER FAILURE IMMINENT
WARNING! EMITTER EXCEEDING OPERATIONAL TOLERANCE
She'd never been afraid of the dark.
90%%%% #$*
WARNING! SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IMMINENT
She could hear sirens in the distance.
96$ #*)&
Please let Ruby be okay!
Darkness fell.
