This is an idea I've had since I first saw Penny in Volume 1 but I've only managed to put it in writing recently so I hope you guys enjoy!
Laugh and the world loughs with you,
Penny woke with a loud yawn. She was vaguely aware of the snow forming a bed underneath her. She sat up, shaking the dizzy feeling from her head. She was in a forest of white snow and black trees. She didn't remember how she got there but that didn't feel important right now. Maybe someone was nearby that she could talk to.
"Hey, Penny," an echoing voice came from somewhere behind her. She turned to the sight of a red figure waving at her. Even though she could see this far away, Penny knew it was her friend Ruby. She smiled and began to jog towards her.
"Ruby, I'm so glad to see you! Where are we?" she replied as she ran. But something was wrong. She passed the trees but Ruby didn't seem to be getting any closer. But she noticed her face.
Weep and you weep alone,
"Penny, look out," the crimsonette screamed as the sky darkened around them. Penny turned to where Ruby was pointing and saw the shadowy forms of Grimm sprinting through the forest. Sprinting right at her.
But Penny was hardly afraid. Creatures of Grimm were no problem to her. Puppeteer slid from her backpack (she didn't realised she'd had it) and readied her stance. The monsters- Beowolves- jumped with extended claws. Penny shredded them in a flurry of steel once they came in range. Penny smiled at the ease of it but more were coming, bigger this time. An Alpha Beowolf came at her as the others circled around her in the dark. The creatures claw swiped at her and she ducked under it and pushed four of the blades through its chest then ripping them apart. The Grimm's death cry made her stumble disorientated. When she regained her hearing, it was to a girl's screams. Penny looked around in panic.
For age old earth must borrow its mirth-
Ruby lay in the snow with an Ursa above her, its claw's bloody. "Ruby!" Penny yelled and rushed to attack the offending creature. It only took a single strike but the damage was done. Blood poured from the wound in her stomach. She was coughing up blood and trembling from pain, "Penny… what's going on?"
"Wait, Ruby- no, please just-" Penny knelt down, her whole mind blank about what to do, there was no way she could stop the bleeding even with her knowledge of human anatomy.
"Am I going to die?" Ruby looked at her with tears in her eyes.
"I-I-I-" Penny didn't know what to do. She was helpless.
It has trouble enough of its own.
Sing and the hills will answer,
Penny's eyes shot open, "Where am I?" she said immediately. The room around her was dark and cold but her eyes quickly adjusted. She was sitting on a plain chair and tied by her wrists behind it. Despite her monster strength, she couldn't free herself. There were five people in the room with her. Each was tied to a chair like here and similarly bound.
"Rise and shine," a door to her left opened and the man that entered flipped a switch to flood the room with light. The place was old and decrepit, making Penny almost prefer the dark. The other struggling captives had bags over their head and from their muffled cried, were gagged. Four she recognised from their attire: Team RWBY was here?
Sigh and 'tis on the air;
The man stepped in front of her filling her vision, "Hello little girl or robot, whatever you call yourself," he wore a balaclava and his voice had a sinister edge that made her uncomfortable, "Please give us all you know about the Atlesian military and we'll let your friends go," he cupped her chin in his palm and forced her to look into his eyes. They were red, like a Creature of Grimm.
Penny struggled and screwed her eyes shut, "I don't know anything, please, just let us go,"
"Penny, what's going on?" she heard Yang shout, somehow escaping the gag, "Listen, punk, let us go, or you're in for a world of hurt,"
The echoes rebound to a joyful sound
"Oh-ho, feisty are we?" the man let Penny go and turned to the angry blonde, "Too bad I don't care much for girls who struggle," he took out a handgun. Penny's eyes shoot open and she screamed, but it was eclipsed by the gunshot. The loudest member of team RWBY went silent for good.
"Please, I don't know what you want. Father would but I can't tell you,"
"Your father?" the man asked, "Is that so…" he approached the final person, the one she didn't recognise, "Did you hear that, Doctor?" he took off the bag along with the gag and Penny gasped, "Your puppet says you have what I want,"
Father was beaten pretty badly. His nose was bloody and his face almost unrecognisable but Penny would know those eyes anywhere. "Please," he rasped, "Don't hurt my girl, she's innocent, she doesn't know any better,"
"Last chance, girl," the man put the barrel to her Father's temple. He whimpered at the touch and Penny started crying, "I don't know, I don't know,"
Father looked at her with fearful eyes, "It's going to be ok Penny," The man fired.
And shrink from voicing care.
Rejoice, and men will seek you,
Penny screamed as she jolted awake. Her breathing was erratic and it took a few moments for her to calm down. She stood up to get her bearings. She was in a dark, massive room, with herself in the spotlight. Around her she could sense the people in stands watching her.
"Bring out the challenger," a commentator's voice sounded somewhere from above. Penny waited for this "challenger" but none appeared. She looked around and no one was forthcoming. "Look down," a voice that was both horribly familiar and sickeningly alien spoke.
Grieve, and they turn and go;
She indeed did so and saw her own eyes lunge up with hate. She stumbled back as her own shadow pulled itself from the ground. Its clothes looked burnt black and its eyes were dilated to the point of being complete voids. It wore a smile far too larger to be her own natural one "Its time to die, fake," it said and drew its own set of ten swords. Penny jumped away from the blades as her shadow launched into a set of attacks she knew all too well. "I know all that you know," it laughed, "soon, I'll be the one Father loves,"
"No," Penny sobbed as two of her swords were knocked away, "Father loves me, he wouldn't-"
"He doesn't care about you," the shadow laughed. Three more of Penny's weapons clattered to the ground, damaged and useless, "Why would he create a cold thing like you that can only destroy," as it said this, the shadow's face seemed to melt, pale skin peeling away to reveal cold, stainless metal.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
"No," Penny's voice rose, "stop it,"
"What? Can you not take the truth?" her double laughed at her even as its lips sloughed off. The girl wasn't even using her weapons to attack anymore, only sluggishly coming up to block, so she knocked her to the ground with a shove, "You're not real, silly fake. Your entire purpose is to fight and die for war. And do you want to know why I know?" the shadow knelt down beside her. By now, its face was completely gone, leaving a leering rictus grin in its wake, "Because we are exactly the same,"
"No!" Penny swung her last usable sword, tearing though the double in a spray of darkness. The shadows engulfed her, constricting around her arms legs and throat. They prised open her eyes and when she opened her mouth to scream they filled that too. She was going to die.
But they do not want your woe.
Be glad and your friends are many,
Penny shot up in panic. This wasn't right. What was happening to her? She was being catapulted through really bad dreams, or nightmares and she couldn't stop it.
"Dreams?" the echo of the voice rang through the grey cell, she was now in. Through the bars opposite her bed, a tall black-haired man in a military suit stepped into the moonlight coming from her only window. "Are you sure they were dreams?"
"Mr Ironwood?" Penny looked at the friend of her Father quizzically. "What are you doing here?" she paused, "What am I doing here?"
"Do you not remember?" the General asked.
"Remember what?"
"Penny…" the man paused, looking away from here, "You malfunctioned,"
Be sad and you lose them all;
Those two words hit her like a train. It was one of her greatest fears: to lose control of herself and hurt those around her." What happened?" she whispered.
"During a test of your strength capabilities, something went wrong. You collapsed and your weapons went haywire. Three people are seriously injured and one is dead,"
"Dead?" Penny was horrified.
"I'm sorry," he still wasn't looking at her and she was dreading her next question.
"Who died?" the tears were already falling.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
"Your Father," Ironwood said finally.
"No," Penny's voice cracked as she began to sod, "You're wrong, I would never-"
"I'm sorry Penny, but you are just too dangerous. I'm afraid that we have to keep you here until I can figure out what to do with you,"
"Wait, you can't just leave me here," fear and panic overcame her and she gripped the cell bars with whitened knuckles, "You can't leave me alone like a forgotten toy,"
"It's the only thing I can do right now," the General turned and left, "I'm sorry,"
"Wait, please come back," she tried to prized the bars apart and continued to scream into the silence, "Don't leave me here. No!"
But alone you must drink life's gall.
Feast and your halls are crowded,
Penny awoke once more in a dead, snowy forest, but now, she was under no illusion that this was normal. Someone was playing with her and she had had enough, "Come out!" she screamed at the top of her artificial lungs. The hazy shadows of the trees yielded nothing to her calls. She took out Puppeteer and began to spin the swords around her in a protective arc. Whatever was out there was close by, she could feel it.
She paused. Since when did she start "feeling" things like that? Never before had she been able to use what living people called instincts, and yet she was sure that this was that primal sixth sense she had learned about.
A twig behind her snapped and her gut feeling was confirmed. She spun round, her swords flashing at the animal that leaped out at her. She had only the slightest chance to catch a glimpse of its golden skin before her blades punched into its underbelly.
The attacker collapsed in front of her. It was hazy and indistinct but it bore a bright corona of light around it that resembled a lion's mane. Really, Penny couldn't really tell what it was as the light almost blinded her to look at, even while fading.
Fast and the world goes by;
The young android had no time to contemplate further what this thing was. Behind her, a grey, indistinct monster, similar to the first one, crashed into her. Penny tumbled away, landing awkwardly on her ankle. She looked up in time to see the grey mass split into two smaller coronas of light: one black, the other white.
As one, they sped towards her. Penny didn't think, she couldn't. Her swords moved almost without her involvement in order to protect her. The orbs seemed to bleed light where they had been struck and collapsed into the snow near where the first lay.
Penny huffed from exertion. What was wrong with her? She shouldn't be this tired so quickly. But her newly found instincts were already alerting her to another presence, right behind her. She turned. This orb was a true horror to see, though she couldn't initially figure out why. It too was dark, but it was a crimson colour that reminded Penny of blood. Only, it didn't stay like an orb for long. This one coalesced into a cowl and robe. A hood formed over where its head should be. A gloved hand gripped a dead lantern and the other, an enormous scythe.
Forget and forgive, it helps you to live,
"Death," even a synthetic like Penny knew and felt the gut-wrenching feeling of cold that overcame her now. That unrelenting dread when Death comes calling.
Come to me, the reaper extended the lantern which sprang to life. Its green glow illuminated the forest, casting sickening shadows on the trees that looked like hideous monsters.
"No, please," Penny backed away from the apparition, but the figure only seemed to get closer without moving.
You can't escape your fate, the light reflected off the face underneath the cowl and Penny screamed. Her weapon once again moved with a life of its own and sliced through the dark robes. All at once, the Lantern and scythe vanished as did the robes, evaporating like steam. Penny sighed in relief. She was safe.
"Penny…?" the weak, soft, fearful voice shattered any calm the android created for herself. Death had vanished, but in its wake, a prone, injured Ruby Rose lay, covered in gashes that Penny knew all too well to be ones she made.
"No, no not again," Penny ran to her best friend's side, "No, this isn't real, you can't die,"
"Penny, why did you do this to me?" Ruby looked up at her, but the hurt in them was not at her wounds, but at the… betrayal, "Why would you hurt us? We're your friends,"
"No- no I-"
"She's an android sis, she doesn't care about us," Penny turned from Ruby to see Yang, lying in the exact place where the yellow orb had fallen… wait, that means-
Weiss and Blake lay in their own respective pools of coloured blood as well, staring at Penny with stern judgement, "You were only made to kill," Blake said, "What difference would it be that it was us?"
"But you guys- I would never-"
"Oh please," Weiss snapped, "Its not like you could ever know what it feels like to be normal. To be alive. Killing us means nothing if you don't understand what living means,"
"Guys, please stop," Penny couldn't stop the tears falling, "Why are you saying this?"
"Two reasons," Ruby said softly in her arms, "because its what you think, and because its true,"
But no man can help you die!
"Penny!" instead of waking up to another nightmare, the girl shot up into a hug. Tears fell from her eyes in floods and the wetness of her face told her that she had been crying long before she woke up. She was shaking uncontrollably but the welcoming warmth of the arms around her was reassuring.
"Blue?" she asked the question through his shoulder, slightly muffled.
"Its ok, it was just a nightmare," her guard said, "You're still in your room, there's nothing wrong at all,"
The words calmed Penny down and slowly, her reeling mind came to the conclusion that she was safe, "I'm ok, I'm fine," she said quietly, more to tell Blue to let go than anything else. She hiccupped loudly but her protector didn't notice. Herelinquished the hug and stood, straightening his uniform.
"Ok, if you want, I can stay here if you want to talk about anything,"
"No, no I'm fine," Penny said. She hiccupped again. She curled up her legs into her chest, holding her arms across them so that she was in a ball. It felt… not good exactly, but better than just lying there. Her rested her head on her knees and took some calming breaths, "No, I'm fine here. I- I think I just want to be alone right now." Blue nodded and left through the door. Penny hiccupped one more time before silence once again filled her bedroom.
Blue marched down the plain, confined hall like a man on a mission. Red stood outside the door marked Surveillance Room and they both knew who was currently in there.
"You heard her too?" Blue asked Red.
"She was screaming for the past five minutes. Who here didn't hear her?" Red replied.
"We can't let him get away with this," Blue shock his head in contempt.
Red shrugged, "I'm hate it too, but I'm not going to be the one that messes with him. I'll be right behind you if you want to take a crack at him though," he beckoned to the door her stood beside.
Blue didn't wait for any other smug comment and pushed open the door. Inside, half a dozen tech workers monitored the multitude of screens and equipment that Blue could only guess at concerning their function. The only objects of worth in the room to him were the screens that offered twenty-four hour surveillance of Penny's quarters and the desk where the man he had an issue with sat.
"What the hell was that, Ironwood?" Blue slammed his fist onto the table, causing every soul in the room to go quiet and watch the scene unfold.
The General, to his credit, barely flinched at the soldier's outburst, "I have no idea what you mean?" he said coolly.
"You sure as hell know what I mean. You said you were running tests on her mind. You didn't mention mentally torturing the girl,"
Ironwood's throat clenched at Blue's words, then softly said,"Could all in this room please leave," each of the workers left until all that remained were Blue and his employer, "This is very delicate information and I would rather you did not shout it out for lower-level security staff to hear,"
"Don't dodge the question," Blue knew his blatant insubordination would cost him but he didn't care, "You told us to protect her, yet you go and traumatise her with these tests. How long until she realises that these nightmares aren't her becoming more real, but scenarios you are planting in her head when she powers down?"
"He has a point," Red stepped through the door, finally backing Blue up.
"You too?" Ironwood sighed. He rubbed his forehead with both palms, "Look, I know you two are growing… attached to Penny, but let me make one thing clear: When I set out with the Doctor to create a synthetic that could produce an Aura, I had one idea in mind: a weapon with which to protect this world. I do not require an awkward teenage girl with a conscience. These experiments will produce the soldier I want."
"You're… breaking her," Blue physically recoiled from the General, "You're insane,"
"I am a General and men like me have to make the hard decisions. Penny will save us all one day. But first, we have to destroy her,"
"I don't like this," Blue said, but his head was already bowed in defeat. His anger was gone and all that kicking up a bigger fuss would accomplish would be his dishonourable discharge.
"Neither do I, to be honest," Red said, "But this is the military. It our job to make pissy choices,"
"As much as it pains me to do it gentleman, this is what is best for the people," Ironwood said, "Place your trust in me and I won't let you down. Penny's suffering is only temporary but protecting the world is worth the pain,"
The guards looked at the girl on the monitor, curled up on her bed and Blue couldn't help but think, What kind of world do we live in that hurting something as precious as that is required to save the world?
Penny started to cry once more as the memories of her dreams resurged through her once more. But she calmed down, as she had done with the song Father had sung for her since she was young. It was her earliest memory she had, him reciting a poem to her and teaching her what it meant to live. She didn't comprehend the lines the first time she had heard them but over the months and years she soon came to understand them. The tears stopped after a while but she continued on for a sense of closure, speaking the words softly to herself into the silence of her room:
"There is room in the limits of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one, we must all march on
Through this narrow aisle of pain."
So yeah, slightly random but for some reason, Way of the World just reminded me of Penny so much. I can't quite explain it, but there you have it. Comments and criticism is always appreciated. Thanks for reading!