Fourth chapter for this story and Penny is going to fight Draal, let's see how that turns out.

See the disclaimer at the last chapter.

A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A

The entire trip down was quiet, and the trip across Trollmarket was the same. The latter fact disturbed her. Usually the settlement was buzzing with activity. Trolls were either calling out their wares or yelling things at each other.

Today, though, the only sounds were distant, coming from the Hero's Forge.

To her surprise, they didn't just walk straight inside. Instead, they took a route around Trollmarket that lead them to the back entrance. From there, she could hear Vendel over the roar of a thousand trolls,

"Gathered trollkind! The Trollhunter has laid a challenge before the son of her predecessor, and you shall all bear witness to the ensuing battle, which will be one for the ages!"

She breathed in and let out a heavy sigh, even though she didn't need the air but she did it to calm herself down. Her anxiety was building up again, but she willed it down. She couldn't get cold feet now or she'd be a cold robot body in a couple minutes.

They stopped short of the gate barring entry into the Forge. Peering between the oversized bars, she took in the sight of the roaring masses and cooled down her processor unit.

A hand on her shoulder prompted her to turn and face her friends.

"You got this, Penny," Ruby said, holding up her fists.

"You're gonna beat Draal so bad he'll think twice about smack-talking you ever again."

She smiled and nodded. "You're right. Im going to win this. No doubt."

She looked between them and smiled, then laughed.

She gave her a long look before nodding with a grim smile.

"Draal the Destroyer!"

Everyone turned at Vendel's call and watched as a blue blur came rolling out of the Forge's main entrance. It sped across the land bridge over the chasm and bounced into the air, then came down with a crash. When the dust cleared, Draal stood tall and threw his arms into the air, appraising the crowd whose cheers arose in volume.

Penny narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

"Mistress Penny."

She looked to Blinky who held his hands. "Now is the time to put everything I've taught you to the test."

She nodded.

"Alright, with luck, he'll trip and fall."

She glanced at Draal. "I don't think that'll happen, I calculated an 85.67% probability that I would win this battle and Draal would have a 14.33% portability of winning."

"Indeed, so, let's be quick about this. Rule number one?"

"Always be afraid."

Blinky smiled and nodded. "Rule number two?"

"Always finish the fight."

"Rule number three?"

"When in doubt, always go for the gronk-nuks."

"Exactly," he said, swinging an arm and grinning. "Now, go out there when Vendel calls and show trollkind what a human can do."

With a bit of a fire lit in her artificial heart, she turned back to watch Draal stir the crowd with his physique. He flexed and beat his chest, drawing out their zeal and exuberance.

"Man," Ruby said, "sometimes I wonder if he can even walk around with a head as big as his."

Penny blinked. "Can you say that again, Ruby?"

Her friend gave her a confused look. "Uh… sometimes I wonder if he can walk around with a head as big as his?"

She looked over to Blinky who gave her the same, astonished look. Then, they looked to Draal still showing off. They watched him turn and twist, but never glance over his shoulder.

"That's it," her mentor breathed. "That's it!"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"He's got a big head," she reiterated for her friends. "He can move with it, but I don't think he can actually move it. Meaning-"

"Blind spot," Aaarrrgghh finished, his voice filled with awe at their discovery.

"Exactly!" Blinky cried, raising a finger. "Mistress Penny, this is your secret weapon. Your advantage. You must use it to triumph!"

She nodded and took a step towards the arena with a proud look.

"And now, Draal's combatant, Penny Pole-iN-Dana, daughter of… Gep-Pot-aTo Pole-iN-Dana."

With her Amulet held tight and her head held high, she strode into the arena. The crowd's roar lowered into boos. She endured their glares and jeers, keeping her attention focused solely on Draal. He reciprocated her gaze, though his narrowed eyes held no determination, only pride and arrogance.

"Prepare for battle!"

She raised up her Amulet above her head. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command."

A corona of blue magic erupted around her. In the smoky wisps, the pieces of her armor materialized and assembled before pressing upon her body. Within the blink of an eye, she was suited up. Then, bringing her hands up, she summoned her sword.

On the opposite side of the arena, Draal smirked and pounded his fists together.

"Salutations Draal, it's an honor to finally battle you!" She beamed before placing her hands on her hips as he snarled at her.

"Begin!"

—(Insert One Thing from RWBY volume 6)—

Without warning, the ground beneath her shook. A sudden sense of vertigo overtook her and she found out why when she noticed the arena walls suddenly getting shorter.

The floor of the Hero's Forge had lifted up. She could hear gears grinding and ticking, working in some mechanism to raise them high. She turned back to Draal before it stopped, and held her ground when the ground shook again, signalling the end of the ride.

Not a moment after, though, the battlefield changed again. On her left and right, sections of the floor dropped. She briefly got a glimpse of them stopping at intervals, making a kind of staircase. Though, not the kind she could use.

Across from her, Draal smirked smugly and pounded a fist into his hand. She held one of her swords close enough that she could probably see her reflection in it. Though, she didn't spare it a glance. Her focus was set on her opponent as he slammed his fists into the ground and roared, pounding his chest for the crowd.

They ate it up, roaring and cheering for him. She let the humming of her magic-imbued blade fill her robotic ears, drowning out the crowd. It calmed her and kept her steady as she moved to her left, circling with her opponent.

"Come on, Trollhunter," Draal taunted. "Come over here and lay one hit in. I'll let you."

He opened his arms, puffed out his chest, and raised his chin. She leveled a glare at him and held fast, gripping her fists tightly and locking her stance before summoning all of her blades.

Draal dropped his arms and gave her a bored look before smirking. "Alright, then. Right down to business."

He beat his chest one last time before roaring and jumped at her. She let out a short cry as she dived out of the way, heading left and around him. The platform quaked and she had to steady herself before she could gain her balance again.

"Gotta get behind- Oof!"

Before she could finish muttering to herself, Draal swung his arm and sent her flying down to one of the lowered sections of the platform.

She grunted on impact and groaned as she got up, but then yelped at the sight of Draal leaping into the air again. He came down like a basketball Cardin dunked, but she rolled out of the way in time.

As she got up, though, he grabbed her leg. There was a brief moment for her to register that fact before he swung her around. She screamed the whole time until he let go of her. She fired off some lasers at him.

She slammed into the wall and felt like a pancake pressed flat against it; and just like a pancake on a wall she peeled off.

'Aura level is 75%! He is not like the Grimm I fight!'

Thankfully, she hit the ground feet-first, but her lack of balance sent her stumbling forward, almost sending her falling into the machinery that had raised the platform.

"Penny!"

She glanced over to the back entrance and saw her friends peeking out. Blinky was shaking his fists expectantly, Aaarrrgghh was watching anxiously, and Ruby was cupping her mouth and cheering for her.

Penny nodded before taking out the fire crystal she had and injecting it into the backpack before slipping it back on and the green lines on the swords changed to red as she sliced the ground like it was butter.

Penny pursed her lips and chose not to shoot a witty retort back. Turning away from her friends, she looked up to Draal who held his arms out wide, egging the crowd to cheer louder.

He turned to her after a moment, a sadistic grin on his face. She swallowed, ready to fight again before taking out the melted crystal and injecting earth dust.

Leaping off the platform, he hit the wall and came down rolling. The world around her slowed down and she narrowed her eyes.

"Not this time!" she shouted, pulling her arm back before throwing it forward.

She let go of her anger and let it sail through the air. It was a blur of gleaming silver and shining blue that struck Draal off the wall with an explosion of smoky, azure wisps.

The crowd went silent. And then they cheered.

At first, she watched the stands high above her with wide, shocked eyes. Why would they cheer for her?

After a moment of processing, though, a grin spread across her face.

Why did it matter? The crowd was on her side, not Draal's. Speaking of which...

Her opponent had also scanned the crowd, but he'd done so with a dumbfounded gape. When he brought his eyes back to her, he scowled and glared.

"I calculated a 93.37% probability that would work for me to get close enough in order to strike." She said before launching another blade at him as it pulled her forward and she spun the blades around her creating a Sonic Spin*. The blades grazed his crystal back and she landed behind him, away from his line of sight.

Somewhere in the distance, Blinky was crying out in joy while Ruby cheered.

Draal growled and spun around. She moved as fast as she could with a wounded side, barely able to keep up with his rotation.

"Where are you!" he roared.

"Do you really think you can beat me, eh?" he taunted. "I am Draal the Deadly! The son of Kanjigar! Rightful owner of the Amulet!" Soon she launched the lasers as he flew back into a wall.

"My name is Penny Polendina, daughter of Geppetto Polendina. The amulet chose me!" She said as she raised her blades up in the air and thought about ending his life.

She can't do it...

She placed her blades away before picking Draal up like he was nothing and smiled at him.

"Why didn't you finished me off?" He asked before she looked at him in the eye. The hatred, arrogance, and sudden fear were all gone, replaced by shock.

"I don't care," she said.

She tried to lift the platform again, but still failed. So, breathing heavily and still feeling her side pulsating with pain, she reached out a hand.

Draal stared at it for the longest time, shock mixed with reluctance.

"Come on," she said. "I can't get you out alone."

He stared at it for another second, then reached out and grabbed it. She heard a hum from her armor and noticed its markings light up briefly. Strength flooded her again—not as much as before, but enough to help Draal pull himself out. Together, they fell onto the ground, with her on her back and him on his stomach.

It was then that they noticed the crowd booing at them. No longer were they cheering and roaring, but instead throwing their mugs or spilling their grog. She didn't need to read another lore book on trollish culture to recognize their disapproval.

"You should have killed me," Draal said beside her, head still bowed.

She spared him a sympathetic glance before she shook her head. "I don't do that to a friend."

Then, without hesitation, she stood up and walked to the center of the arena. The whole way, she wore a solemn face. What fear and anxiety she'd felt eating her from the inside out was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by something resolute. Courage? Confidence? Valor?

Whatever it was, it compelled her to seek out the stage and stand tall before her audience.

Standing the spotlight, before the enraged denizens of Trollmarket, she raised her voice and declared, "I am Penny Polendina, your Trollhunter, and I am not a killer!"

The crowd quieted for a brief second before erupting into a bigger uproar. Yet, she didn't falter.

"I don't take lives," she said, hand splayed over her chestplate, "and I refuse to compromise who I am just because your rules tell me to."

'I'm not programmed to follow your orders!' She thought in her unit that wanted her to say it out loud but she didn't.

They didn't relent. If anything, they got angrier, judging by how many more mugs got thrown at her. None reached her, thankfully, so she kept going. "But that doesn't mean I won't do my duty. I will still protect you." She looked over to Draal. "All of you."

He looked up to her with wide, awed eyes.

She walked away but he could've swore that he saw something spark from her hands as she took off the armor and walked out of the arena.

"Who are you truly, Penny Pole-iN-Dana?"