Mama Yang-11
"So, remind me again, why you're here." Yang said nervously looking at Summer Rose as she was standing across from Team RWBY, plus Athena and Saffron.
"I'm the new Grimm Biology Teacher." Summer exclaimed. "I accepted the job offer when Professor Blacksteel first contacted me a week after the school year had first started, but my mission took a lot longer than I thought, so I wasn't able to come until now."
"So, Grandma Summer's gonna be teaching us?" Athena asked, holding Saffron in her arms like usual.
"That's great and all but…" Weiss paused and looked back to the ginger haired girl waving to them with a smile and her eyes closed. "What exactly is Penny doing here?"
"Salutations."
"While I'm training you four in techniques too much for a child, Ms. Polendina was called in to babysit Athena in her father's makeshift lab here at the academy. Or rather her lab. Professor Polendina is getting up there in age, so he's permitted his daughter to take over his lab, so long as she doesn't do anything against his rules." Summer explained.
"An' we're gonna have so much fun." Penny smiled.
"Okay." Athena said.
"It's okay sweetie, go with Penny. Everything will be fine." Yang smiled. "Go have some fun."
"Okay mom." Athena said going to Penny. "How long will the training be?"
"A few hours." Summer explained. "No real time frame to work with."
"Do we have to train on our break mom?" Ruby asked. "We've only got a week and a half left to enjoy it."
"No backtalk." Summer said.
"Okay, we'll be in the makeshift lab." Penny said, taking Athena by the hand, and with a little too much glee, ran out of the training room to the makeshift lab.
When reaching it, Penny let go of Athena's hand, leaving the Faunus girl, and Saffron with swirls for eyes, showing they were majorly dizzy as neither of them were ready to have been dragged off that fast.
Opening the door to the makeshift lab, Penny stepped aside for Athena and Saffron to come in, finding it was one of the unused classrooms, refurbished to be a temporary lab for a scientist, though it looked more permanent than temporary.
"Welcome to my lab friend." Penny smiled enthusiastically.
"Whoa." Athena gasped, seeing all the technology, beakers, and other scientific equipment, within the lab facilities. "This place looks like something out of a Sci-fi movie."
"It is pretty cool. Check this out."
Penny took Athena and Saffron to what looked like a glass ball on a stand with some kind of core inside, but when she took the child's hand and put it on the surface, Athena gasped in amazement seeing purple electricity coming from the core, and connecting with her hand.
"Neet huh?" Penny smiled.
"It's incredible." Athena smiled.
"I'm glad you like it, com check this out." Penny said, bringing Athena over to another scientific tool.
"A telescope?" Athena asked.
"It's not really functional during the day, but maybe later tonight we can look through it and see the stars." Penny suggested.
"That sounds fun." Athena smiled, looking around, finding a watch like device. "What's this?" She asked, grabbing it.
"I am not sure. But I believe it had something to do with my father's DNA Splicing research." Penny said looking at the watch.
"DNA Splicing?"
"It's when DNA from one species, is divided and added to another species, essentially making them hybrids of both species." Penny explained. "In theory, with a large enough DNA sample, their genetic code could be rewritten all together, making them an entirely different species."
"What if it was used on someone with two different samples of DNA?" Athena questioned.
"Hmm, then theoretically, it would make the subject, the biological offspring of whoever the DNA samples came from with the DNA mixing and melding together." Penny theorized before taking the watch from Athena and putting it away. "But, we're not to tinker with any of my father's old projects, that's one of his rules."
"Okay." Athena said, looking up at the cupboard that Penny put the watch in. 'Would it work if I… no, bad Athena, mom has taught you it's wrong to take what doesn't belong to you. But still, what if it worked?'
~Later with Team RWBY~
"Phew, that was an intense workout." Yang sighed.
"It's almost dinner time, we've been training since lunch. Who knew your mom was capable of teaching such complicated techniques." Blake exclaimed.
"We should grab Athena and head for the dining hall." Ruby said.
"I agree. I could go for a fresh salad right about now." Weiss exclaimed.
Reaching the lab, the Team Leader knocked on the door, before opening it, finding a surprising sight inside.
"I was expecting to find Athena coloring while you were working on some machine, but I wasn't expecting this." Yang said.
"Hi mom." Athena said, waving at her from the mecha suit Penny was building around her.
"Would you have preferred that?" Penny asked.
"No, so long as Athena isn't hurt during these little projects of yours, I don't mind if she participates." Yang said. "But why a mecha suit?"
"We were bored, and Athena mentioned how she like the ironman suits from the comic books she reads, and I figured we'd make a sort of replica." Penny said.
"We made a replica of the Mark 1 armor except in my size." Athena smiled.
"Ruby have you been letting her read your comic books?" Blake asked.
"Well, she enjoys them more than the novels your recommend." Ruby said.
"I thought you liked those novels Athena?" Blake asked.
"I do, but I like comics more." Athena said as the armor opened up to let her out.
"Wow, fully functional and everything huh?" Yang asked.
"So long as it's plugged in. It uses very little power to operate. Tomorrow we're making the Mark 2 Armor, and if we have time, the Mark 3." Penny suggested.
"You have a knack for technology don't you sweetie?" Yang asked, putting a hand on Athena's head.
"Yeah, I like working on technology." Athena said. "If we can somehow make an external power source for the armors, they'd be great cosplay for comic conventions."
"I'm sure they would." Yang chuckled. "Hey where's Saffron?"
Saffron made her presence known by nudging and rubbing herself against Yang's leg, giving off a purr, as she weaved through them.
"Oh there you are. Where have you been Saffron?" Athena asked, picking her up.
"Well we were thinking of heading out for the dining hall. You're welcomed to join us Penny." Ruby exclaimed.
"I'll pass. Thank you though friends. I've actually got dinner plans with my father." Penny said.
"Okay, some other time then. We'll be sure to drop Athena off tomorrow before training." Yang said.
"By Penny." Athena waved her off.
"By friends." Penny smiled. After the door shut, Penny turned back to her designing desk, and unrolled blueprints, that looked like they were drawn by a child. "Now, let's see if I can make this using Dust, instead of Palladium. But first, I need to fine tune the blueprints just a bit."
~That Night~
The dorm was dark, as Athena slept in her bed, and both Yang and Blake slept in the other, easily fitting both of them. Athena was sleeping peacefully dreaming about her time with Penny to come tomorrow, when she was stirred awake from a wet, rough tongue licking her cheek, and a wet nose nuzzling her face.
"Mmm, Saffron? What the matter?" Athena asked looking at her pet.
"Athena, I have something for you." Saffron said, before she began to physically cough and lurch.
"No-no-no-no… not on the bed." Athena said, quickly grabbing Saffron and running to the bathroom, accidentally waking Yang and Blake with the door shutting behind her.
"Is everything all right sweetie?" Yang asked with a yawn.
"Everything's fine mom. I just had to rush to keep Saffron from hacking a hairball onto my bed." Athena said, her voice echoing through the closed door.
"All right. Just be sure to clean up the mess she makes in there, before going back to bed." Yang said, before yawning again, going back to sleep with Blake.
Athena sighed in the bathroom as Saffron hacked her hairball into the sink, glad the mess wasn't made on her bed. When she looked into the sink however, she saw not a hairball, but a familiar device that Penny had banned her from using.
"Saffron, what did you do?" Athena hissed with a whisper as she cleaned off the watch.
"I could sense your desire to use the device on yourself. I could not decipher what you wanted to use it for, but I could tell you wanted to use it." Saffron's voice echoed in Athena's head.
"Yeah, but I accepted the fact I wasn't allowed to use it. Penny is a nice person, I don't want her to hate me, or get her in trouble with her dad for breaking one of his rules." Athena exclaimed drying off the watch. "Besides, I don't even know how it works."
"Put it on, and give it a try." Saffron said.
Athena looked at the device, and sat on the edge of the tub, contemplating what she should do. Go back to bed, or test out the watch. In the end, her childish curiosity got the better of her and she slipped it onto her left wrist.
Almost instantly, the watch shrank down to her size, and snuggly hugged her wrist. The basic design of the watch was overall high tech, with a silver color scheme and a green glass face plate. (A/N: For those of you who know the show, think of the U-Watch from early 2000's animated series, Martin Mystery, only silver instead of green and purple.)
Pressing a finger on the dial, a holographic screen popped up from the face plate, and the words, choose a function, appeared on the holographic screen. Grabbing the dial of the faceplate, Athena twisted it, and found that there were quite a few more functions to DNA splicing than she thought.
"Partial splicing, full DNA Reboot, there's just so many of them." Athena said, going through the list, before she stopped on one particular program. "Full DNA Maternal Rewrite." She hit the information icon on the bottom left of the label and began to read it. "FDMR allows for the wearer of the DNA Splicer, to rewrite their own DNA, and change their biological parents. Requirements involve two strands of separate DNA's and an exact time setting for how long the Nanites injected into the bloodstream, will be programed to perform the DNA rewrite. As the rewrite progresses, subtle changes to the subjects physique will be noticeable. Skin pigment, hair color, and if subject chooses Faunus DNA, they may develop the same Faunus traits."
Saffron rolled Yang's hairbrush to Athena, motioning for her to pick that function. Athena looked at the hairbrush, and saw strands of black and blonde hair stuck in the bristles.
"You have their DNA Samples right here Athena." Saffron said. "Both Blake, and Yang's."
Athena looked at the FDMR on the watch, hesitant about what this could mean, before she selected it, and grabbed a strand of Yang's hair and Blake's from the hairbrush. When the DNA Splicer finished loading the program it produced a holographic cone with the wider end on top, and the words, insert DNA Samples one at a time, scrolling across its surface.
Athena first put in Yang's strand of hair, and then Blake's, after both were broken down and assimilated into the watch for analysis. After that was done, the holographic cone vanished before another projection popped up, this time a dial. The label on it, identified it as the time set for the Nanites to do their thing. When she moved it for twelve hours, a warning popped up, telling Athena that the transformation would be excruciatingly painful if set for that low a time.
"Okay, not wanting to be in a lot of pain so… how about a week?" Athena suggested, moving the dial to a week's worth of time, the warning disappearing, being replaced with a notice saying the transformation would make her whole body feel warm and tingly throughout the whole thing. "Okay, and…" Athena paused as she was having second thoughts about not only using the FMDR, but also using the device behind Penny's back, without first asking permission.
Before Athena could think to remove the device though, Saffron used her nose to press the confirmation option, and initiated the transformation. Athena felt her arm get pricked right under where the device was located, and winced holding it, before a notice came up, saying she was not to remove the device until the DNA rewrite was completed.
"Saffron." Athena groaned, as a progress bar appeared, and 1% filled it up.
~The following day~
"Are you sure you're doing all right Athena?" Yang asked, looking down at her daughter, who wore her battle gear. "You're not gonna be able to train with the rest of us, and you look tired."
"I know, I just thought it'd be fun to wear my battle gear is all." Athena said, nervously. 'Thankfully, my vambrace is hiding the watch.'
"All right, now remember to behave for Penny, okay?"
"Yes mom." Athena exclaimed as they reached the lab.
"Salutations girls." Penny smiled, greeting them outside the door. "Isn't this a fine morning?"
"It is indeed Penny." Yang smiled. "I'll be back around five to pick her up."
"We will see you then." Penny saluted.
"Take care sweetheart, and remember to listen to whatever Penny tells you." Yang said.
"Got it." Athena nodded as Yang got up to leave.
"I'll stop by for lunch." Yang said, heading off to training.
"So, what should we do now?" Athena asked.
"Before we do anything, I have something to show you." Penny said, taking Athena by the hand, and leading her into the lab where she had something covered by a cloth. "Ta-da." Penny smiled, removing the cloth, leaving Athena wide eyed.
"Is that…"
"Yep." Penny said. "I made a miniature arch reactor using ice and lightning Dust instead of radioactive isotopes. I even based it off the blueprints you made yesterday, though I had to tweak them a bit."
'Now I feel horrible.' Athena thought, as she clutched her left wrist.
"C'mon, I tested it out last night and made some pretty amazing armor specs to use the arc reactor with." Penny smiled. "Let's look them over and see how they pair with your fighting style."
'She's gonna hate me when I can't hide my transformation anymore.' Athena mentally whined.
~Near the end of the week~
"Hey Yang." Blake said, walking alongside her blonde teammate/girlfriend.
"What's up Blakey?"
"It might be my imagination, but have you noticed Athena acting weird lately?" Blake inquired.
"Now that you mention it, she has been acting kinda strange as of late." Yang said. "She's wearing a hat now, and hiding her bangs, and hair inside her jacket."
"Have you also noticed how her body has gotten a little more slender?"
"Actually kinda reminds me of you and your slender figure. Built for speed and agility, but her legs and arms, have also gotten a little more definition to them."
"Something's up, and we need to get to the bottom of this." Blake said as they reached Penny's lab. "I just hope it isn't Penny experimenting on her."
Opening the door, the duo found Penny sitting at her design table, and Athena sitting in a corner, wearing a beanie and her jacket, looking really sad, and guilty for some reason.
"Penny, what's going on here?" Yang asked.
"I am not sure Yang." Penny exclaimed. "I came up with blueprints for a new battle suit based off Iron Man's Mark 42, but Athena just broke down and started crying when I showed them to her. She hasn't moved from that spot all day, no matter what I do. I even told her I got permission from my father for us to experiment with his DNA Splicer, but that seemed to only have made it worse. I don't know what to do now. Is she upset with me about something?"
"Athena, what's going on? I thought you enjoyed building suits of armor with Penny?" Blake said, kneeling down next to her, before Athena just buried her head into Blake's chest, with a hug and began crying. "Sweetie what's wrong?"
"Mmmphbr mm mphhat." Athena said.
"What was that?" Yang asked.
"She said, remove my hat." Penny translated.
Yang reached down, and grabbed Athena's beanie, before removing it, surprising all three of them, with the pair of black furred cat ears that were on top of her head, and with her bangs uncovered, they saw that Athena now had black bangs the same color as Blake's hair. Removing Athena's jacket from her, they saw that the ends reaching down her back were now a golden blonde, same as Yang's.
"Athena, what is going on, how are you changing like this?" Yang asked.
Athena pulled back, from Blake and looked down at the ground, before reaching for her left arm, and removing the vambrace, revealing the DNA Splicer on her wrist.
"That's my father's DNA Splicer." Penny said.
"Athena, explain this. Now." Yang said sternly.
"Saffron sensed that I wanted to know what the DNA Splicer does, so without my knowing she stole it from the cupboard here in the lab. I know I should have come to you and told you in the first place instead of using it, I'm sorry, and I scolded Saffron for stealing it but I still ended up using it without permission, but before I could change my mind, Saffron hit the confirm option, and now my DNA has changed to where I am both your biological daughter. I'm sorry and I'm willing to accept any punishment you give me." Athena explained, talking a mile a minute. "I wanted to come clean about it sooner, but it got harder and harder the more fun I saw Penny having and doing these things for me, and then when she showed me the blueprints I couldn't take it anymore and the guilt was crushing me and…"
"Hey, calm down. Slow your roll." Yang said, pulling Athena in for a hug, getting her to calm down. "It's starting to make sense now. You were scared about the consequences, so like a child, you hid this until the very end. But you know, breaking down when Penny showed you the blue prints didn't make her feel any better. You made her feel like she did something wrong. I get that the crushing weight of guilt got to you, but you still should have said something instead of letting her worry all day."
"I know. I'm sorry." Athena said, hugging Yang back.
"Will you get in trouble Penny?" Blake asked.
"I will, but I'm willing to take responsibility for my negligence." Penny said. "I'm just happy I didn't do anything to get Athena to hate me."
"I'm sorry Penny." Athena said. "I know I should have come clean sooner. I wanted to, it's just…"
"It's fine Athena, don't worry about it." Penny smiled. "I might not understand everything about children, but I do know that they are allowed to make mistakes and learn from the consequences. Now I have a video call to make with my father, he'll want to hear about this."
Going over to the hollo-screen, Penny punched in her father's number, and waited for him to pick up, before a dark skinned man with short balding white hair, and a pair of glasses on his face, and a dark mustard cap on his head.
"Hello Penny, what can I do for you my dear?" Pietro asked, adjusting his glasses.
"Father, I have something to confess and…"
"Penny… can I talk to him for a minute before you say something?" Athena asked, tugging on Penny's arm.
"Oh I… guess that would be okay. Father?"
"It's fine dear. I've been wanting to talk to the young genius who managed to turn fiction into reality." Pietro smiled.
Penny stepped to the side, and the camera for the video chat moved down to get a good look at Athena.
"Professor Polendina sir. There's something I need to tell you, and I want you to know that none of it was Penny's fault." Athena said, before holding up her wrist, showing the DNA Splicer, with the percentage bar showing 95% complete. "It, happened about a week ago…"
~Yang, Blake, Athena's Dorm~
"So in the end, Penny ended up not getting punished for Athena's mistake, too severely. She was just grounded from using the lab for a week." Yang said, tossing a softball into the air, and catching it.
"While Athena, was punished by having to write a fifty page essay about the science behind Cold Fusion and how Dust is one of the main components for its self-energizing properties, that's due before the end of break, which the final day is tomorrow." Blake said looking up from her book, to Athena who was sitting at the desk, three pages to her right, and a stack of forty-six to her left. "An' was grounded from his lab for a month."
"I hope you learned your lesson on being honest young lady." Yang said.
"If you had come clean sooner, this most likely wouldn't have happened." Blake chuckled turning a page in her book.
"Yeah, I know. I made my bed, now I have to sleep in it." Athena said, her cat ears flat on her head. "But I'm pretty sure Grandma Summer is gonna flip when she finds out I'm now biologically related to you both, and the others are gonna be hounding you for questions."
Yang threw the ball in the air one last time, before it came down and knocked her on the forehead, as she spaced out, realizing that Athena was right.
"Crap. My mom is gonna flip, and totally try to spoil Athena with more presents than she's already getting her." Yang said, sitting up instantly.
"I haven't spoken to my parents in years, how the hell am I supposed to tell them they're grandparents now?" Blake questioned, her body shaking in fear.
"Don't ask me, I'm too busy writing my essay." Athena said. 'Payback for teasing me about getting stuck with this assignment from Professor Polendina.' Athena thought, as a mischievous grin formed on her face.
A/N: Just a filler chapter for some bonding time between Penny and Athena.