Hello you all! Now it is time for the Android Arc! I am looking forward to doing this Arc and the one after that! And once that arc is done, it is off to do Volumes 4-7! Now, as I said before since Salem arrives at Atlas, I will end the story there. Mostly because, instead of Blackheart seeking out the Great Evil, he will lure the Great Evil to him and finish them off.
But anyways, let us begin this new arc!
Chapter 55
"I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!"
Inside a secluded warehouse, Sheeva, Montezuma, Sephiroth and Batty, who at the moment was working on a large computer, all flinched as Elsa unleashed her ice powers on a few wooden crated and completely destroyed them.
"That fool Leonidas!" Elsa shouted, "I should have told Kannon and the others to return back to base! And now Atlas has them!"
"It is a tragic," Sephiroth said, "And not only that, we have failed in our mission to retrieve the powers of the Fall Maiden, retrieve the Relic and destroy the CCT."
"We may not have done the first two," Montezuma said, "But we still have the plan to destroy the CCT."
Elsa calmed down a bit and said "Yeah…Batty, how are we with the weapon?"
Batty, while typing on the computer, replied "It is working like a well-oiled machine! Seriously, how can Atlas be able to accomplish this?!"
"We'll leave you with that to figure out," Elsa said as she took a deep breath, "As for the rest of us…we are going to meet with her."
Everyone looked at her as Sheeva said "Y-You sure you want to do that?"
"If not, they she will unleash her fury upon us regardless," Elsa said, "So…while we make our way to her domain, Batty, I trust you can handle things here?"
"Don't worry about me!" Batty said, "So long as I don't get too involved, I am good to go!"
"Very well," Elsa said as she turned to her remaining members, "Let's go."
With that, they group left Batty alone while he was working on the computer. On the screen showed a live feed of…something killing off nearby bandits, with their limbs sliced off and somewhere missing body parts. The figure let out a high pitch laughter as it tilts it's head.
"I aM c-c-c-cOmBaT r-r-r-rEaDy."
Weeks later…
It has been a few weeks since the successful rescue mission of Blake and Weiss from the clutches of the White Fang. Once everyone returned to Vale, Summer thought about grounding Blackheart, Yang and Ruby, however, it was decided that they should stay at Beacon to help out with repairs, which they gladly accepted. When they returned to Beacon, everyone rushed over to where Pyrrha and Mercury were recovering. Team JNPR, Mercury and Emerald were all happy to see Blake and Weiss safe and sound. However, their moods changed when Blackheart told them that one of his enemies was brought to their world as a form of punishment. Their shocked mood was interrupted when Ruby and Yang showed them cute pictures of Tali to them and bragged how Blake was technically their cousin. Once they understood the situation, that was when Ruby told Pyrrha that Alduin can possibly heal her but was sad that he couldn't help Mercury. While both Pyrrha and Mercury were shocked at this, Mercury was quick to recover by saying that it was fine and that, to everyone's surprise, General Ironwood informed him that one of his best scientists was working on cybernetic limbs for him. But for Pyrrha, it was like a miracle had presented itself to her. She told them that she didn't want the burden to have them go out their way for her, but Jaune told her that he will take her there and make sure she gets healed. Pyrrha smiled at Jaune's determination and finally agreed to meet with Alduin to have her healed, but it will have to wait until there was an available adult to accompany them in their travel. And right now, every Huntsman and Huntress was otherwise occupied at the moment.
Everyone was currently busy doing their own thing: Cinder was keeping Mercury company along with Emerald, Arthur was spending time with Weiss while Riku was spending his time with Blake, Grif and Victor were walking around the school to see where they can lend a hand, and Team JNPR was in Vale with Blackheart, Ruby and Yang. While there were buildings still under construction, there were some business open to the public, but ever since the attack, there weren't many people present. But luckily for those living in Beacon, less crowd to deal with, which means less hassle. Inside a small fast food place, Team JNPR, Yang, Ruby and Blackheart were all talking to each other while their food was being prepared for them.
"Come on, bro!" Yang whined, "You are the only one who can do it!"
"I don't care how much you beg," Blackheart said, "I will not abuse my abilities for this."
"Technically, you aren't since it's part of you," Ren said.
"See?!" Nora shouted, "Even Ren agrees!"
"Yeah Johnny!" Jaune said, "Do you know how rare it is for someone to complete this? You can be a legend!"
"Ok first, there is no one around here to witness this, so that is a pass," Blackheart said, "And second, I AM NOT DOING THE VOLCANIC HOT WINGS CHALLENGE!"
The Volcanic Hot Wings Challenge was widely known in the city of Vale: a challenger has 30 minutes to eat 8 pieces of hot wings coated with a hot sauce that is made from the Vacuo Ghost Chilli Pepper, one of the hottest peppers known throughout Remnant. Many challengers had taken on this challenge, from ordinary citizens to the most experienced Huntsmen, but none have succeeded.
Until now…
"Chicken!" Ruby shouted.
"I am not a chicken," Blackheart said.
"Then do it then," Yang confidently said.
Blackheart looked at her and said "If you are so eager, why don't you do it?"
Yang stood quiet for a bit and said "Uh…I just ate?"
"Oh bull," Blackheart said.
Pyrrha, who was silently laughing from all of this, said "Come on, leave him alone. If he doesn't want to do the challenge, then you have to respect his wishes."
"Thank you Pyrrha for being the reasonable one," Blackheart said.
"Besides," Pyrrha said, "I have heard of people doing the challenge, most of them ended up in the hospital with immense stomach problems and some even lost their sense of taste."
"But Johnny is different!" Ruby said, "Hot foods don't bother him! He can do it!"
"Yes!" Nora cheered, "Do it! Do it! Do it!"
Blackheart then said "Tell you what: if we ever become official Huntsmen and we save the world from this 'Great Evil', then we'll talk about it."
"It's a deal!" Nora declared.
Once their food arrived and they began eating it, Yang turned to Pyrrha and asked "So Pyrrha, any luck on finding a Huntsman to escort you and Jaune to Menagerie?"
Pyrrha shook her head and said "I'm afraid not."
"That sucks!" Ruby cried, "You're Pyrrha! You are like famous! How come no one is helping?!"
Pyrrha looked down in sadness and said "When my agency heard about my injuries and how I am now paralyzed, they just announced my forced retirement and…just dropped my sponsorship."
"That is just messed up," Jaune said, "After everything you have done for them, this is how they repay you?"
As Pyrrha sadly sighed, Blackheart then said "The joke will be on them when they find out you will be healed soon."
When he said that, Pyrrha smiled and said "It would be amusing."
"And forget about them," Blackheart said, "You are way better without them. All they would care about is your popularity and how much to exploit from that."
As they all enjoyed their meals, they suddenly heard a huge commotion happening outside the restaurant. Wondering what was causing the commotion, everyone quickly went outside and saw what was happening and their eyes couldn't believe it. Destroying the vehicles, buildings and even the streets was a small group Atlesian robots, but instead of the newer models, these were the old AK130 bulky models. While they all wondered why a bunch of old robots were doing destroying the city, some of them noticed their as they switch their hands into machine guns and aimed at them. As everyone quickly got out of the way, only Blackheart stayed behind and took out his Daedric Pistols and fired at them. As he took out a few of them, some of the androids fired back at him, but Blackheart managed to take cover as the robots continued to fire at him. While he continued to fire at the robots, the others, minus Pyrrha, took out their Scrolls to launch their lockers from Beacon and they landed near them. When the lockers opened and everyone got their weapons, they all charged in.
While Nora smashed any nearby robots with her hammer, Ren dashed in while he slashed through the androids with ease while he fired Dust bullets at them. Yang rushed in and punched a few robots out before she fired her gauntlets at them while Ruby fired her Crescent Rose from afar as she picked them off one by one until she switched it to her scythe mode as she used her Sembalance to slice through the robots like butter. Meanwhile, Jaune was using his shield to protect himself from the robots' attacks and when they switched their weapons to blades, they charged at him, but they suddenly stop as a black glow covered their bodies. Seeing this, Jaune looked over at Pyrrha, who was her Sembalance to stop the robots in their tracks, and smiled at her as his used his sword to slice through the robots with ease. When they saw more androids heading their way, Blackheart looked at Nora and nodded at her as he switched his pistols for Vengeance while Nora grinned as she transformed her hammer to her grenade launcher and, while he shot down a few robots with countless energy blasts, she fired a few grenades and blasted the remaining robots to pieces.
Once all the robots were destroyed, everyone looked around as Ruby asked "Wait…these are the old AK130 models, before Ironwood replaced them for the newer models."
Yang then said "But why are they attacking the city? And why these models instead of the newer ones?"
Jaune replied "These models are outdated, so my guess is that someone found some and decided to use them."
"But why attack the city?" Nora asked, "It doesn't make sense."
"I agree," Ren said, "Who would go out of their way to use the outdated models instead of the new ones?"
"My guess?" Blackheart said, "No one is going to notice stolen robots like these instead of the new ones. Problem is…who brought them here?"
"H-H-HeHeHeHe! Y-Y-YoU aLl HaD s-s-sOmE fUn!"
The moment they heard that distorted voice, everyone turned and they were beyond shocked at what they were seeing, especially Ruby and Pyrrha. Before them was their old friend Penny! However, she was not the same cheerful girl they once remembered her. The girl before them was completely different, the only parts of her that were still Penny was part of her upper right body, right arm and head. She was wearing, what looks like, a Beacon school uniform, except she was only wearing the shirt, dress shirt and the red ribbon around the collar. However, the limbs that she was missing were replaced by robotic limbs: the legs were long, slick and her feet like she was wearing heels while there were green lights emitting from alongside her legs, and she had a large left robotic arm where her old arm use to be and it had 5 long finger swords. But the worst part was her face, her left side was stripped of her synthetic skin, revealing her robotic face, her left was nothing more than an eyeball and her left side of her hair was gone while the other half was ruffled and ruined. The worse part was she was giving off a terrifying smile that made her look insane.
Getting over her shock, Ruby slowly took a step and said "P-Penny? Is that you?"
Penny slowly turned her head as it made a small cracking sound and replied "H-HeLlO r-r-rUbY fRiEnD!"
"Oh no…Penny!" Ruby shouted, "What did they do to you?!"
Penny replied "M-M-My NeW fRiEnDs MaDe SoMe UpGrAdEs. AnD nOw I aM bEtTeR tHaN eVeR!"
Blackheart gritted his teeth and thought "Now we know why they took Penny. But this? This isn't right."
"T-This isn't right," Nora said, "What they did to her…it isn't right…"
"Penny!" Ruby cried out to her friend, "This isn't you! It was Elsa and the others! They did something to you! You aren't like this!"
"BuT rUbY," Penny said, "T-T-ThIs Is ThE nEw Me. A-A-AnD yOu WhAt? I-I-I lIkE It!"
Without warning, Penny raised her left hand as it suddenly changed into a machine gun and started to fire green beams of energy at them. While everyone got out of the way, Jaune grabbed Pyrrha, held her bridal style and moved out of the way as the blast destroyed her wheelchair.
When Jaune gently put Pyrrha down, he asked her "Pyrrha, you think you can stop her?"
When he asked that, Pyrrha's eyes widen in fear and said "B-But…I…I…"
Just then, Penny charged at Ren as she swung her sword fingers at him. But Ren managed to evade her attacks while shooting at her. However, not of his bullets seem to affect Penny as much as she kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying into a wall. Seeing Ren hurt, Nora gritted her teeth as she transformed her weapon to a hammer as she charged in and slammed her weapon across Penny's head. But in a split second, Penny leaned back all the way as the hammer swung right past her as she delivered a powerful kick to Nora and sent her flying away.
Seeing that they might be at an advantage, Blackheart took out both of his Daedric Swords and said "Ok, listen here Penny, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's your choice."
Penny quickly turned her head towards him as she let out a manically laugh as her back opened up and summoned 10 swords as they all aimed at him. Blackheart cursed as the swords flew towards him and he began to block her attacks and even deflecting some of them. Having no choice, Ruby unfolded her Crescent Rose and she charged at Penny. However, the android saw her as she drew out more swords and swung them at Ruby. The young huntress-in-training used her scythe to deflect Penny's swords away while Yang rushed in to try to land an attack on Penny. But Penny raised her left arm as she turned it into a machine gun once again and fired blasts at her, knocking her away.
Seeing her friends fighting and being beaten, Pyrrha said "I-I'll try to stop her."
She then raised her hands and used her Polarity on Penny. However, her eyes widen and said "W-What? It's not working!"
Jaune looked at her and asked "What you mean it's not working?"
Pyrrha replied "My Sembalance isn't working on her!"
When Penny heard that, her head turned a full 180 at her and said "SoRrY p-p-p-pYrRhA! N-n-n-n-o MeTaL oN mE!"
Everyone backed away from Penny as Yang said "Damn it! We can't land a hit on her!"
"Looks like they did their homework," Blackheart said, "These guys are don't cut corners."
Ruby then shouted at Penny "What is going on, Penny?! Why are you attacking us?!"
Penny tilted her head as she laughed and said "EvErYoNe Is CoNnEcTeD. ATtAcHeD bY s-s-s-sTrInGs. M-M-MuSt DiScOnNeCt ThE wOrLd!"
Just then, Penny raised her machine gun arm as the swords she summoned danced around her arm as they transformed into blasters and a large ball of green energy appeared. Before anyone tried to do anything, a large figure leaped out of a building, landed between the group and Penny and they launched a missile at Penny. Seeing the missile, her heels transformed into boosters as she flew out of the way as the missile's way as it exploded on the ground she once stood. When everyone saw who it was, they all gasped as they saw Magnus holding at rocket launcher.
"Oh come on!" Yang whined, "This guy again?! Why is he even here?!"
Penny looked at Magnus and said "TaRgEt: MaGnUs NiKoS. ObJeCtIvE: aVoId At AlL cOsT!"
As everyone wondered what she meant by that, Magnus placed his missile launcher on his back as he raised his left hand to use his Sembalance to bring her down. It failed as he noticed that she was still in the air. While Penny laughed at his misfortune, Magnus' whole body glowed red for a bit as he leaped through the air and was heading towards Penny. The robot girl saw this as she dashed out of his way and slashed her swords at him. Thanks to his armor and Aura, Magnus was protected from Penny's attacks as he got in closer. But Penny once again evaded Magnus as she fired her green blasts at him. While he took the blasts head on, Magnus still pushed on ahead to reach Penny. However, Penny dashed out of the way as she as she fired a massive blast at Magnus and sent him flying to the ground. Magnus gritted his teeth as he stood, looked around and saw Blackheart and everyone else standing there with their weapons ready. He also saw his sister laying on the ground and he groaned in frustration.
Just then, Penny crashed onto the ground, let out a homicidal laugh and said "C-C-CaN't HiT mE? Y-Y-YoU sHoUlD tRy BeTtEr! Or, G-G-G-GeT rId O-O-Of ThE dIsTrAcTiOnS!"
When Penny raised her hands and aimed her blasters at Magnus and the others, he knew the others can defend themselves, but he was concerned with Pyrrha. If his Polarity Sembalance didn't work on Penny, chances are that her Sembalance didn't work as well. Not only that, while everyone can easily get out of the way from Penny's attack, he knew that Pyrrha will slow them down and get caught in the crossfire.
He has no choice.
He then suddenly drew his Kukri knife from his left shoulder pad and slashed it towards Blackheart and the others as a large red portal appeared before them. He then shouted "Everyone, take Pyrrha and run through the portal, now!"
"What?" Jaune asked, "What are you…"
"No time to explain now!" Magnus shouted, "Just take her! Like now!"
When they saw Penny ready to fire her blast, Jaune was the first to act as he grabbed Pyrrha and carried her through the portal. Everyone was hesitating for a bit but eventually they all rushed through the portal and, once everyone made it through, the portal disappeared. Once they were gone, Magnus finally focus his attention at Penny as he took out his rifle/shotgun weapon as Penny fired down countless energy beams at him.
And that is all! Yes, Magnus is back and he will help the others take down the insane Penny! I am gonna be honest, it was hard for me to make a new design and look for Penny, so I had a hard time creating a new look for this arc. Not only that, it was hard for me to write how she now speaks, too much work. Lol. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and see you all next time. Until then, please review!
