Okay people, finals season is over and I'm here for a few weeks! Thank you for your continued support and patience!
Also would it please people if I started replying to reviews? I don't actually know how but I don't mind figuring it out if it means more direct interaction with you guys.
"Penny, how many are there."
"By my calculations, there are around thirty within the building, Weiss."
"You did all of that just now since we landed?" Nora asked. Penny tilted her head one way, then the other.
"It's more of a guesstimate," the other ginger smiled sheepishly.
"Good enough for me," Adam swept his blade in a loop in front of him, deflecting a barrage of bullets before sheathing his sword.
He gripped it tightly before tearing it out in a horizontal slash, using his aura to send a blade beam across the room. As he brought Wily back, several icy projectiles soared in the same direction and froze four grunts in place. Weiss stepped up beside him gracefully.
"Mr. Taurus, you will be teaching me how to throw my aura in such a fashion when we are done here," Weiss said with finality.
"The last person I taught that to used it to decapitate an accountant," Adam grumbled.
"William A. Scott or Phillis T. Braghorn?"
"Both at the same time actually."
There was a beat of silence.
"How do you know that?" Weiss glared.
"Uh..."
"Words, Taurus. We will have them."
The two launched forwards into the fray, while behind them Ruby and Penny we're back to back.
"Are you ready Penny?" Ruby smirked as she unfolded Savage Rose, digging the tip of the serrated blade into the concrete floor.
Several grunts took a tentative step back upon seeing that.
"I am combat ready!" Penny smiled merrily, raising her arms in front of her.
Penny's weapon, which she had informed them was named Floating Armada, floated from her backpack, setting itself up in a formation of gun barrels all pointed in front of her.
The grunts took a lot more steps back seeing that.
Already Nora and Ren were fighting near the entrance to the warehouse. Nora had her hammer before her, leaving a crater in the ground, while Ren was about to ready an arrow. He stopped when someone called out however.
"Get the chick with the bow first!" one man yelled.
"Excuse you!" Ren snapped his bow into its dual blade form, "This girl is gonna kick your ass!"
And just like that, mercy had disappeared from the table.
Ren was as vicious as he was graceful, spinning and kicking anything that got near him. He took no chances of riposte either, aiming for spots to either paralyze or knock out.
An unlucky grunt shouted his presence as he came behind the ninja with his sword raised clumsily above his head. Ren turned, glared, and spun on one leg with his other leg tucked in. When he finished turning the full one eighty, his foot shot out like a bolt of lightning, striking the man towards the left of his midsection.
"You'll be lucky if you aren't pissing blood tomorrow," Ren promised, whipping around and deflecting two blades from two much quieter grunts.
They backed off when it was clear they wouldn't be getting through the ninja's tight defense. Ren surprised them though when instead of going in for an attack as he had previously, he instead crouched low.
They were back on their guard a moment later when he flew upwards at great speeds. They followed him with their blades drawn, ready to try and defend themselves if he came crashing down on them.
Instead they watched as his blades formed a bow once more and three arrows were shot at once in an arc. They backed up with quick steps and the arrows implanted themselves in the floor.
"He missed!" one shouted.
Then they heard the hissing noise. It sounded very familiar, much like the fuse of a—
Three small explosions rocked the building and the two grunts were thrown back, landing in an unconscious heap on the other end of the room. Ren landed and flipped his braid over his shoulder.
"Ren! What did we say about indoor explosions!?" Nora called, hefting her hammer around in a full body circle, hurling an unfortunate man deep into the wall.
"Uh, not to do it when people were watching?" Ren tilted his head.
Nora only sighed, diving and rolling to the side as a bullet impacted the floor. She twirled her massive hammer in front of her, blocking another shot as she focused on the assailant. They had a rifle and it was clear they were trying to pick her off from a distance.
Unfortunately for them, while most would be bogged down by her hammers size and weight, she was more than used to running with it. And run she did. Directly towards the gunner, not even swerving to avoid the bullets fired at her.
"This bitch is crazy!" the gunner, now identified as a woman, shouted as the wrath of Nora was finally upon her.
Nora swept her legs out from under her, causing her to land flat on her back. She winced as her head bounced off the floor. Stars swam in her vision as she looked up.
Just as a hammer was swept across her temple. Blissful unconsciousness saved her from the tremendous pain.
Nora sighed as she heard and felt a few more explosions. Knowing the other people in this building, it really was likely only Ren causing them, unless the White Fang had given up on trying to protect what was being kept here and wanted them well and truly dead.
The missed bullet of yet another rifle caused her to sigh. No, this likely was their best effort to kill them. She adjusted the grip on her hammer, sending a placid glare towards her shooter. It was almost sad.
Almost.
Weiss staunchly ignored the plea of 'oh god not the giant hammer' that she heard from across the warehouse, instead focusing on something much more important.
"Seven," Adam said in a relaxed manner, the grunt he'd just been fighting sliding down the wall after Adam had bashed him in the temple with the hilt of his sword.
Weiss growled. Sometime during their fight he had started counting his body count out loud. It wouldn't have bothered her so much if—
"Eight. Step up your game, Schnee, your brother is better at this than you," he claimed, twirling his blade to absorb more energy from the incoming fire.
He kept swooping in and dealing with them before she could! She'd only managed to deal with two grunts before realizing that Adam had been doing a majority of the work. In such a short time he already had four times—
"ADAM NO! WE'RE SORRY, WE SWEAR!"
Four and a half times her own count. It looked like it was actually more difficult for him not to just finish the job, and it was obvious he was holding back a great deal.
That made this current loss even more degrading.
"Get the Schnee!" a grunt called behind her. She turned and saw two, one with an automatic rifle and the other with a sword. She glared and whipped her rapier around, two glyphs appearing before her.
Two arrows of fire formed in their centers before bursting forward, homing in on their targets and bursting on impact. Neither grunt was able to avoid the projectiles and collapsed after flying back.
"Four," she said quietly. She'd catch up soon!
"Ten," Adam said from several feet away, lowering the grunt he'd just beaten down softly.
Damn him and his enhanced hearing!
Meanwhile there was a brutal scene going on in the center of the room. Some would call it majestic, others inhumane. Some would even say it was unsafe for younger audiences.
Ruby was having a good time.
"STAY BACK! STAY AWAY!"
Why was she having a good time, you ask?
"NO! I'M TOO PRETTY TO DIE!"
Well that was subjective, wasn't it?
"AHHHHHHH!"
The simplest answer was that she was doing what she loved.
Her teammates in the room, as well as the grunts not fighting her couldn't help but take a moment to watch the scene in horrid fascination.
The tip of Savage Rose carved a grisly groove in the sturdy flooring, the reaper not even slowing from her stride forward towards the group of seven White Fang troops as she dragged the weapon behind her. Her hood up, and hair drooping from the front, hid her face in shadows. Only two things remained visible, for they appeared almost ethereal.
Despite her blackened face from the darkness, it was almost as if her eyes were shining from behind her hair. One completely terrified grunt finally snapped, be it in fear or madness, but they stepped forward and pointed their gun at her.
They took a chance taking the shot, and for a moment it looked like it would land dead center of her face. There was a moment of hope.
Except the reaper was suddenly gone from her place in front of them.
Primal instincts ran wild as all seven turned around at once.
Only to be met with the visage of death itself.
Ruby tried to ignore the fact that one of them pissed themselves while two more fainted. She hadn't even actually started fighting yet!
Penny stopped watching, focusing back on the fight in front of herself.
"Hello! I'm Penny! Please desist!" she called. The grunt swiped at her with her blade, but Penny caught it in her right hand without flinching, snapping it in half as a floating gun flew down and shot an electric burst into her back. She spasmed for a moment before falling over.
Penny turned around to face another grunt.
"Hello! I'm Penny! Please desist!"
Once again, she was forced to take action. Her hand came up and gripped the barrel of the man's gun. He looked confused until she flexed her wrist and the barrel let out a crunch as it was crushed. To be sure he was disarmed, Penny then bent the barrel downwards at a ninety degree angle. She nodded and shot another stun blast, this time at the man before her. Then she turned to her left.
"Hello! I'm Penny! Please desist!"
Adam ignored the sparks flying from Penny's direction and the screams coming from Ruby's direction. Those two were an odd pair of fighters. And it didn't even look like Ruby had really even fought yet!
Adam looked up, watching as more and more Fang members flooded in from above. Either they had a bullhead hovering overhead, or they occupied the surrounding abandoned buildings too for shelter. The latter sounded more likely since he couldn't hear any engines above.
That meant there were a lot more men coming towards them.
"Fourteen," Adam called out, rolling his shoulder.
"You cheater!"
At least he could enjoy this moment a little bit.
True to his assumption, the doors burst open on both ends of the warehouse, White Fang troops flooding in. Seeing their allies, the remaining conscious members were seemingly bolstered, and rushed forward with their comrades. Their numbers were far greater than the six hunters-in-training. Several soldiers were perched on the windows, with others covering the roof while the ground floor filled up.
"Surrender now, human scum!" one soldier yelled.
This is what many would call a fatal error.
"THAT'S MY LINE!" Adam raged, tearing off into the horse of grunts. Bodies went flying as the bull unleashed his fury into the east side crowd.
They could hardly keep up with the one, so imagine their shock when a volley of explosive arrows and a really as fuck Schnee herself joined him in his dance of fury.
Ren didn't bother taking his bow apart, instead loosing arrows into the crowd at random and letting lady luck decide the unfortunate date of whoever they hit. At one point the ninja lost track of what arrows he was launching and just decided to start beating people with the bow itself.
Weiss evidently had quite the competitive side, as she could be heard counting for every enemy she sent away with a swipe of her sword or a burst of dust. Not wanting to cause any collateral damage to her own allies, she stuck to inoffensive dust.
Of course, the White Fang would argue that inoffensive was subjective when said dust takes the form of several rocky spears being sent flying at you at the same speed as a freight train.
Even through their carnage, nothing compared to Adam and the dangerous red glow that began to coalesce around him. Sensing the danger, Weiss leapt up and hopped off of a glyph to watch from above. Ren did much the same, landing next to the heiress with an evil smile on his face.
"Ooooh I love it when he does this!" Ren cheered. Weiss looked confused and put off by his excitement. What could be so impressive that it would be worth—
The area around Adam simply became a red blue for a moment, and after just a few seconds, he sheathed his blade and relaxed with a deep breath.
Around him were the, hopefully unconscious, bodies of nearly fifty men and women.
"How— what?" Weiss blinked, rubbing her eyes as she tried to figure out what just happened.
"He did the thing! Duh!" Ren rolled his eyes, turning and loosing an arrow up at a sniper who had taken aim.
For a moment Weiss had forgotten they were in a fight.
And Adam had a huge lead now!
On the other side of the large space, the scene was quite different.
"So you're saying that boys like it when girls are upfront about how they feel?" Penny asked. Behind her, Floating Armada had merged into its giant sword form and was hacking away at anyone behind or above the girl.
"Well duh," Ruby smiled gently, "some of us need to take that lesson a bit more seriously."
Ruby sent Nora a pointed look. Said look was meant to draw shame from the warrior but had the unintended side effect of making the circle around the reaper grow wider.
Said circle was, of course, devoid of troops who decided that leaving the reaper alone was the best course of action, lest her ghostly gaze of death be cast on them.
Nora, for her part, reddened but otherwise just grunted.
"Listen," she slammed her hammer into the ground behind her, sending out a shockwave that dropped the assailants on her rear to the floor, "I'll get to it eventually."
"'Oh I'm Nora! I'll get to it eventually!' girl," Ruby sent her a scathing look, "You make me ashamed to be single. And I hardly wanna date in the first place!"
"Yes Nora! You must 'jump his bones!' as I've read in Weiss's personal magazine collection!" Penny said happily.
"FOR THE LAST TIME PENNY THOSE WEREN'T MINE!"
"Of course Weiss!" Penny called before turning back to the two girls, shaking her head at them with a solemn look and mouthed 'so unruly'.
"Penny I'm not gonna—" a bullet pinged off her aura, "Ugh, hold on."
Nora turned and did a single spin with her hammer before letting go of it and letting it spin into the crowd like a hurricane of steel. It sent whatever it touched flying back with the force of the wind itself. It rotated back and Nora caught it without even a tremble.
"I can't just have sex with him, that's not how you confess your feelings," Nora finished.
"Okay, buuuuut," Ruby slid up next to the shorter girl, "You've gotta do something!"
"Die bitch!" a grunt shouted, jumping at Ruby from behind, sword raised high.
It was hardly noticeable when a blur of red shot between him and where she stood. To everyone, it appeared Ruby hadn't moved an inch.
The man collapsing mid-air and his sword split in half said otherwise.
Did we mention that it was split in half the long ways? As in, down the tip to the bottom of the hilt?
Needless to say the circle around Ruby grew wider, and none tried again to make the same foolish mistake that the man laying in a heap behind her made. The light glinting off of the serrated edge was a grim reminder of the pain that may await them.
"On your right!" Adam shouted from across the room. All three girls ducked as a pile of grunts soared overhead. Some were frozen, others battered, and the odd one was twitching oddly.
Ren, they chalked that one up to.
"Is it just me," Weiss asked as she and the others reconvened in the center of the warehouse, "or does this feel entirely too easy?"
"You're not wrong," Nora gazed around the room, "where are the war machines that Pyrrha heard about?"
"I'm sure we're in the right place," Adam also set his attention around the large space, searching for any sign of danger.
"Could they have been keeping them in the other buildings? We know that they had men stationed all around the area now," Ruby asked.
That particular thought had them all pausing.
"You don't think—"
The walls on the north and south side of the building suddenly collapsed, clouding the area in dust and sending tremors through the ground. The building shook, clearly on the verge of toppling now that two giant holes had been made in it.
"That is likely the war machines!" Penny said helpfully.
"Thanks Penny," they all intoned.
The next thing they heard was the distinctive whirring of two different chain guns springing into action. Laser sights could be seen through the debris, all of them settling to triangulate on the six hunters.
"BOOK IT!" Ren lined up a few arrows and shot them at the closest wall. They exploded in impact, caving the wall in.
The six dashed out of the warehouse and turned to watch it fall to the ground from the street. The roof fell in on itself and the walls followed, crashing down into what used to be a building. The rain overhead only served to match the mood.
"Oh my god..." Nora held a hand to her mouth.
"All the unconscious people in there!" Weiss looked mortified that they may now all be technical convicts of manslaughter.
"We can't worry about that now," Adam had his blade ready before him. Ruby stood beside him, Savage Rose in its railgun form and aimed towards the wreckage.
From the destroyed building, the two hulking masses of steel and wires emerged, lifeless looking with the tinted glass. They all stepped back and dropped into ready stances, each of their eyes narrowing.
"Those things don't look city friendly," Ruby grit her teeth as she imagined the civilians that could get caught up in this.
"They most assuredly aren't," Penny too looked more stern than they'd ever recalled seeing her.
"Then let's bust 'em before they get any closer to the city center!" Ren pulled back more arrows.
The rest nodded and hefted their weapons into their various stances. Each tensed and poised to strike at a moment's notice. The two machines stepped forward slowly, steel feet pounding the ground each time. Lightning crashed, illuminating the two paladins for a moment as thunder roared above.
The smoke from the other location could still be seen from outside, even now. They all hoped their other group was doing better with their job.
Jaune didn't even wince as the giant steel claw raked across his shield. He threw his shield arm out just as the claw reached the edge of his shield, tossing the arm off balance.
Upon his destruction of the warehouse wall, the wide open lot had been filled with grunts. Thanks to Flynt and Whitley, the mass had been tamed easily. Neon, Yang, Pyrrha, and himself had hardly needed to do anything after his initial assault.
Then the warehouse wall exploded again, a few more times in fact. Three of the mechs that Pyrrha had overheard about had come rumbling out of the wide building, armed to the teeth and set upon the six of them.
He had taken the first one to appear by himself, and was currently still locked in combat with it.
Off to his right Flynt, Pyrrha, and Yang were dealing with one of the other mechs. They were holding out, but it was clear to him that the tide of their fight could shift at any moment.
To his left Whitley and Neon handled the last of the three paladins. Despite there only being the two of them, they were keeping the machine at bay with both a mix of Whitley's range and Neon's speed. The pilot was simply attacking everything around them at this point in an attempt to get one of them.
Jaune returned his focus to the paladin before him. After knocking the arm back he ducked out from behind his shield and theirs forward into the leg joint. The plate covering the joint cracked but the machine backed up before the knight could continue his assault. He narrowed his eyes.
This fight was one of patience on his part. Overextend, and he risked his allies getting hurt while he was distracted. Do nothing and the damned thing wouldn't ever fall.
He allowed the stream of bullets to impact his shield, even going so far as to slowly move towards the mech. If the pilot would keep backing up, he would back them into a corner.
Jaune may have been capable of handling one of these things decently on his own, but that didn't mean the same for the rest of them.
"Oh shit!" Yang ducked as a claw passed overhead. The same claw came back and she jumped, landing on top of it.
She knelt and thrust her fist into the hand several times, attempting to damage it so it was no longer a threat. Unfortunately she was shook off, and rolled across the concrete to land in a crouch.
The machine moved to crush her with an overhead swing but it stumbled forward and lost balance and momentum when a wave of sound crashed into its back. She looked between the machine's legs to send Flynt a thumbs up, which he returned with a wink.
All four of him. That one had been a surprise when she'd first seen it.
The machine's upper body turned while it's legs remained facing forward. It tried to crush Flynt but he redirected the arm with another blast from his trumpet. The hand crashed into the ground and shook the floor.
Pyrrha ran forward and jammed her sword into the arm joint, prying it like a crowbar until the wiring was exposed. She was about to hack at said wires but she was tossed back when the arm swung into her. She bounced across the ground and stopped when she hit an old light pole.
"I gotcha Pyrrha!" Yang called as she activated the flamethrowers in her gauntlets. She flew up and hovered directly above the machine while it's focus was on the spartan.
The fire that suddenly wreathed the entire body was intense, and the pilot inside clearly didn't appreciate being baked alive. The pods on the back of the mech popped open and pointed towards Yang.
"Watch for the missiles!" Flynt called.
Yang saw the explosives and her eyes widened. She cut off her flamethrowers and fell on top of the mech, gripping the metal as the body spun in an effort to throw her off.
"Some! One! Stop! This! Thing! Be! Fore! I! Hurl!" she screamed as the rotation continued. Flynt wracked his mind for a way to stop the machine without hurting the brawler.
He shook his head and took a deep breath. It was this or nothing, he decided. Aiming his trumpet up and at Yang directly, he blew into the mouthpiece. A wave shot out and washed over the upper half of the machine.
Yang went flying off the machine in an arc. She looked down and saw how high up she was. She blinked the stars out of her vision. It wasn't the best way out of that situation, but Flynt at least got her off that thing without sending her scraping along the floor. She threw her arms back and let loose another stream of fire, rocketing herself back towards the fight.
She impacted the glass of the machine directly, sending her fist through the center and grabbing the first thing her arm connected with.
With a cry of rage, her eyes turned red as she hauled whatever she had grabbed out of the cockpit with all her might. She had hoped it was the pilot so that they could just be done with the whole fight already.
Whatever she pulled on however was sturdy and didn't feel like a person. She yanked even harder and the screeching of metal and wires popping and sparking was heard. She looked at what she'd pulled out.
"Uh, whoopsies," she blinked, her eyes returning to normal. She had completely torn out the control stick, and subsequently half of the center console as well.
The machine shook as it's control was removed. It just started spinning and moving forward, guns firing randomly and the odd missile falling out of the back.
"Get back before this thing blows!" Yang called. She reached inside again, this time making sure she grabbed the pilot and tossing them out and far away from the rampaging mech. They landed in a heap and didn't move at all, likely unconscious from landing on their face.
Yang leapt and shot a burst of flames back to gain more distance. The machine stumbled forward, before lurching and tripping. When it crashed into the ground, it landed on one of the fallen missiles and exploded, sending shrapnel and flaming metal chunks everywhere.
"Goddamn!" Flynt shouted, bringing up his trumpet and blowing a piece of fiery steel away from him before it crushed him.
"Yeah not my most graceful work, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, amiright?" Yang elbowed him. He sent her a look and she coughed into her hand, looking away sheepishly.
Pyrrha jogged up to stand between them, looking haggard and scuffed but otherwise okay. She had either been winded or was exhausted from the hit she took, but either way she was out of breath.
"Did... We win?" she asked between gasps.
"Well, we finished one of them off. There's still two more," Yang patted her back, letting the taller girl breathe.
"HYARGH!" Jaune's battle cry could be heard and the three turned to watch the scene before them.
He thrust his lance forward, digging it right into the center of the machine's body. It twitched but remained mostly functional. It could no longer move its upper half, and it appeared motor function in the legs was down, but also of the weapons remained trained on the knight.
A giant fist crashed down where Jaune once stood, the blonde having jumped back, abandoning his weapon to remain lodged in the mech. Armed with just his shield, many would think he was at a disadvantage.
Many would not know the terrifying power that he could harness using just that giant slab of metal.
He heaved forward, pressing through every swipe, bullet, missile, or claw that tried to stop him. With another shout, the shield glowed purple as the gravity dust within activated.
With the combined new weight of the shield and his already impressive shield bash, he slammed the flat of the shield into the lance he'd left in the mech.
The sound was like the world's largest cannon going off. The sound of heavy metal on heavy metal going through heavy metal— well, you get the point. It was loud and clunky.
The lance jettisoned out the other side of the mech, leaving a gaping hole in the middle. It had traveled at the same angle it went in, which was angled up due to Jaune's place on the ground. As such, it had speared through the hull of the machine as well.
They watched as his lance went flying into the stormy sky. Jaune sighed as he walked away from the paladin. The machine simply fell, the cockpit piping open and the pilot falling out, looking terrified at the man who had taken the machine down on his own.
"I really hope that lands somewhere unpopulated," Jaune said aloud as he came to stand with the other three.
"Because you don't want people getting hurt?" Flynt asked.
"No," Jaune looked more upset at his current thought, "because I don't want fans to be camping around it like it's a statue of the Brother's themselves."
"Have they really done that before?" Pyrrha asked.
"You'd be surprised," he groaned.
A series of gunshots heralded their attention and they turned to watch the last two of their group with their own fight.
"Should we help?" Jaune asked, looking at Yang and Flynt, whose partners were the ones locked in combat.
"Nah," Yang threw her arms behind her head.
Whitley lined up five glyphs in front of him, thrusting his revolver through the center one and letting the hammer snap forward. Despite only being a six shooter, nearly thirty bullets flew from the glyphs, all light blue in color.
Some struck the ground around the paladin, while many others impacted the machine directly. Large chunks of ice formed wherever they hit, and the mech was being slowed down considerably. It's movement impeded, Whitley blew the barrel of his gun and holstered it.
"All yours, you nuisance," he sighed. Neon rolled casually past him.
"Jeez! You sound like Yang! Lighten up, Boy Toy," she smirked as Whitley sputtered and fumed at the nickname.
Neon dashed forward, essentially hydroplaning around the lot thanks to the rain. She slid past the frozen paladin, rounding it and coming to it's back. She crouched and leapt, landing on the back of the hull.
She found a panel and opened it, looking at the complex wiring inside and the many inner mechanisms. She blinked before shrugging.
Whipping out her nunchaku she cracked them twice, watching as they glowed a bright yellow color. She grinned mischievously and whipped them into the open hatch. Sparks flew and the machine shook in its icy prison before the lights in it's cockpit shut off and it could be heard powering down. She didn't bother worrying about the pilot, knowing that they'd still be there when the police arrived.
That was, if they didn't arrest the trainees running around at night starting massive explosive battles on city property.
She nodded and hopped off, landing and gliding back over to where the rest had gathered.
"Told you they had it," Yang smirked at the frozen scene.
"It was child's play. They hardly knew what they were doing," Whitley didn't even look winded.
"Speak for yourself," Yang still felt motion sick from all the spinning.
"So now what? There's no way the police aren't coming after Mr. Tall, Blonde, and Overpowered right here popped the warehouse open," Neon looked around the group for an answer.
"We should meet the others near their location," Pyrrha suggested. Flynt nodded.
"She's right. They're closer to the city than us, they may need someone running damage control," he added.
With that in mind, they all made sure that the White Fang they'd knocked out were all secured to something for the cops, before running off towards the other location.
Little did they know, a third giant robot fight was going on.
"YOU TWO OWE US BIG FOR THIS!" Neo yelped as she dropped into a split to avoid the giant claw passing overhead.
"We'll get around to it!" Mercury laughed, seemingly way too relaxed as he held up his spinning blades. He fanned them around to block the bullets flying towards him, each projectile bouncing off the weapon.
The initial attack had been easy. They got in and took care of the Fang that was floating around. Hell, they'd even dismantled a paladin before anyone had even touched the damn thing.
That had been where things went south.
Apparently the machines had a built in alarm that went off if they were tampered with. As such, the thing had let out the most annoying series of beeps before Roman had crushed the speaker with a stamp of his cane. It was too late though, as before they knew it the other three paladins in the building had been turned on and were aimed towards them.
"Quit your idle chatter, all of you," Raven growled. She had been left to fight her paladin alone, something she was more grateful for since she didn't exactly trust this group of criminals not to take a chance to stab her in the back.
She stepped back and sent a slash from Omen towards the mech. It left a groove but nothing more. The large metal fist slammed down as the gun kicked into life, firing a line of bullets after her while she danced away.
She glared and sheared her sword. The earth dust in her sheath clicked into place and she tore the blade back out before she stabbed it through the machine's hand. The stone formed around and within the hand, rooting the machines arm in place.
She was ready to end it there but the pilot was smarter than she had given them credit for. When she went to attack the cockpit, the arm she had left petrified detached and the body spun around, the other free arm whipping her away.
She grunted as she landed and cracked her neck. She wasn't too fond of being taken by surprise.
She sheathed Omen once more, running in a wide circle around the mech. It followed her, trying to light her up with the chain gun on its shoulder. She closed the circle tighter as she circled and the pilot seemed to know what she was coming in for. The arm raised to strike but Raven's eyes narrowed.
Ducking under the strike, she slid and jumped directly at the cockpit, pulling Omen out swiftly and slicing the chain gun from the shoulder cleanly. With that threat dealt with, she spun her blade and stabbed straight down in the cockpit. She heard a cry from within, nodding once and kicking the glass.
It shattered, showing the man inside, terrified that her blade had imbedded itself right between and certainly far too close to his crotch.
Raven tore her sword out from its place in the seat and turned it into a reverse grip. Using the hilt, she bashed the man in the temple, sending him to blissful unconsciousness.
"Hurry it up people. I'm on a tight schedule," Raven called, not even turning to see the battle raging behind her.
"YOU COULD ALWAYS HELP!" Neo cried, twirling her parasol to block a few stray bullets before leaping back and shattering.
The mech turned and searched for the girl but stumbled to the side when a flare exploded against its side. It turned and took aim at the smirking Roman, who tipped his hat towards it casually. The bullets flew, but just like with the girl, the man shattered like glass.
A loud thunk from above was all the pilot got as a warning before another flare exploded, this time right on top of the machine. The middle pods opened and two missiles flew out, impacting the ground around it.
Neo stumbled out of her illusion, huffing at the machine as she took cover behind the first mech they'd gotten rid of. Why couldn't all of them have been that easy!? Roman leapt and slid over the body as well, landed in a crouch beside her.
"This sucks! I think I took a bullet to the ass!" Neo hissed to the ginger, rubbing her rear and checking. There was indeed a smoking spot and she glared.
"I totally did!" she growled. Roman offered her the least sympathetic look he could muster, aiming over the wrecked paladin and shooting the active one with another flare. It exploded off of the arm, leaving a scorched and open hole into its inner workings.
Roman nudged her and held out his hand, pointing towards Melodic Cudgel. She rolled her eyes and reached into her coat pocket, pulling out a shell that had 'for emergencies only' written on it in magic marker. He nodded and packed it into his cane before aiming again.
"Everyone! Might wanna shield your eyes!" Neo called out into the room.
Roman fired shortly after, the light and smoke from this flare much stronger than his normal ones. It hit its mark, landing inside the hole he'd made with the previous flare. Upon impact the explosion was much bigger and far brighter. For their eyes it was already quite bright and harsh.
To a faunus's eyes, though?
The mech shook and toppled from the explosion, and the pilot scrambled out of the cockpit in a frenzy.
"I can't see!" the woman screamed, covering her eyes. Roman nodded his head at a criminal job well done.
"Thank the brothers that's over," Neo groaned, falling back and landing on the ground. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief as she stretched.
Roman stood over her and raised an eyebrow. Raven too came over and stared down at the girl, giving her a disappointed look before looking at the man.
"You raise her like this?" she asked.
Roman nodded and shot her a look that said 'you know how it goes'. The woman scowled and stared at Neo again. Curse her mother bird instincts.
"Get up girl, you'll catch a cold down there," Raven commanded.
"Who are you? My mom?" Neo spat. She didn't feel like getting bossed around by some milf.
"Someone's gotta step in and act like an actual parent," she argued, sending Roman another glare. He grinned and waved at her, throwing in a wink as well. She nearly wretched. Even if he was dead, her heart belonged to Tai and nobody else.
"Ugh, I don't need two people getting on my ass about—" Neo was silenced when a bullet pinged off the floor next to her head. She blinked once, before slowly standing.
"Oh, what was that about not needing someone getting on your ass?" Raven stared her down. Neo flushed and pouted, flipping the older woman off.
Roman clapped and fell over, silently laughing as he pointed at the short girl. She growled and kicked his side while he was on the floor but he didn't even care to notice. He didn't care to stand up when more bullets pinged off the floor near himself, unlike Neo had.
Said bullets were flying from the third mech, that was hailing fire on the duo of Emerald and Mercury. Mercury was fast, and the rapid spinning of his blades made it nearly impossible for any of the bullets to pass through. He looked bored, and even yawned as he ducked to and fro.
Emerald wasn't able to deflect the bullets like Mercury could, but she was managing just fine all the same. Using her mechanical arms like grappling hooks, she swung around the large warehouse by the girders and catwalks. She was waiting for Mercury's call as she dodged claws and bullets from above.
"Mercury, you're sure taking your sweet ass time!" she called. She may not have forearms but she still had shoulders and this was starting to get tiring.
"Yeah yeah, I'm ready," he said, still barely putting in the effort.
With that in mind, Emerald swung once more right over the paladin before recalling her hand. With both arms back in place, she dropped on top of the machine and punched both arms through the hull and gripped the wires inside. With a grunt she pulled the wires free, watching the mech spark and smoke. She nodded and jumped backwards, making way for the assassin to use his semblance.
Mercury did so with a lackadaisical smirk on his face. Almost like oil, he seemed to melt into the ground, melding with the shadows of the building. The gun being the only functional thing on the machine, twitched around as it searched for the young man who had just been in front of it.
From underneath, a figure emerged from the shadow cast by the mech, and Mercury whistled nonchalantly as he climbed up the side of the machine. He unclasped his two unwieldy blades and clicked something within them to shift them.
The blades collapsed inwards and formed two wicked looking curved daggers, with a distinctive looking barrel shape down the center of the blades. The handles had triggers on the front side of them, covered by a small guard. He walked over to the cockpit and switched the daggers into a reverse grip before stabbing both down into the cockpit. He clicked the triggers rapidly, sending a series of shots into the locking mechanism.
He kicked the latch open and pulled the pilot out. She looked terrified but he didn't notice any more than that before he slammed his fist into her face twice, knocking her out cold and tossing her down onto the floor.
Normally his daggers were supposed to stab into a target and then fire to finish the job, but they worked for breaking locks fairly well too.
"That's all four of 'em," Mercury observed, waltzing over to the unruly group.
"Great, can we go home now?" Neo asked.
"Well weren't there any more places they could've been storing these things?" Emerald brought up a map of the hideouts Roman had been using.
"Those places should only be storing stolen duuuu—" Neo paled at Raven's look, "I mean, uh, legally obtained dust!"
"Then I guess we're fine—" Mercury was cut off when he noticed something. The others looked the same direction he stopped to stare off towards and realized why he had gone quiet.
There were two plumes of smoke rising from the distance. While one looked like it was settling, the storm likely helped with it's diffusal, the other looked fresh and was closer to the city.
"Was that supposed to happen?" Raven questioned, watching the smoke grow higher.
"Not that I know of. We weren't gonna blow anything up for another like three months," Mercury said shamelessly. Emerald slapped her forehead, not seeming to notice her aura sparking from her metal hand striking her face.
"That's in the same direction as the other warehouses," Neo looked confused, not knowing of anything particularly volatile they had stored in either place.
Roman's eyes were narrowed and he motioned towards the fresher looking smoke. The others followed his fingers and saw the outline of what could only be missiles flying up before flying back down.
"The bastards were hiding more deeper in the city," Emerald commented, sounding more impressed than surprised.
"Which means there's still more of this crap to deal with!" Neo cried. Roman clapped her on the shoulder and shook his head.
"Wait," Mercury blinked, "them being active is one thing, maybe the guards here notified them and they'd start moving them. But they're fighting something over there."
"Did Cindy finally get off her admittedly toned ass and finally do something herself for once?" Neo drawled.
"No, no, that doesn't sound like her," Mercury had a hand to his chin.
"That means they met opposition. Police, hunters, or..." Raven trailed off.
"Shit. Trainees. That'd be bad if a student got hurt. Cinder's already gonna be pissed that they got the warsuits that close to the city, but if a kid gets hurt?" Mercury left the consequences unsaid.
Emerald didn't look too excited to tell Cinder about tonight in the first place, so the thought of there being more to report on made her head start to hurt.
"Wait, we gotta play baby sitter now!? We didn't sign up for that!" Neo stomped a foot, shaking a fist at them. Roman nodded, looking none too pleased at having to save a bunch of kids who would probably want to arrest him.
"All of you shut it," Raven grumbled, "I'll handle it. It may even make my story more believable if I have an alibi..." Raven mumbled that second part. She didn't need Roman and Neo knowing she was working under Ozpin's eye.
"You'd do that for wittle 'ol us?" Mercury gave her a baby face and she resisted the urge to slap him.
"Works for me," Emerald shrugged, turning and taking her leave without another word.
"I'll let Cinder know she owes you," Mercury smirked, waving behind himself as he followed Emerald away.
"If that's all then," Neo stretched, "peace out lady!"
With that and Roman tipping his hat towards her the two shattered and we're gone. Raven did a once over of the area, making sure that the two thieves or any cameras or civilians were watching. Once she was sure she was alone, she ran and leapt, transforming mid air and flying towards the smoke as fast as she could.
Hopefully that wasn't her dumbass daughter, or worse, Summer's dumbass daughter. A giant mech she could take. Hell, she bet she could even do two fairly well. But an enraged Summer after hearing her daughter got hospitalized due to a giant robot fight?
She couldn't take that chance, she liked her head where it was.
Ruby dodged to the side, running up the side of a building and leaping off, taking aim in air and firing off two rounds into the glass of the cockpit. She takes as they cracked the glass but didn't penetrate. It'd take some serious force to go through the glass directly.
She landed flawlessly but gasped when the mech spun and slammed a fist into her side. She went flying and tried to right herself, but due to their location being on the streets rather than a wide open space or giant warehouse, she didn't have as much time to right herself as she wanted.
She crashed into the brick wall of a building, coughing and wheezing as the breath left her entirely. That had hurt like hell, and she was lucky that her aura held.
The mech turned and the pods on its back opened up again. They had seen the force those missiles had first-hand, and she didn't even think twice before using her semblance and disappearing around a nearby alleyway.
The pods holding the missiles retracted as the target disappeared. They had to work fast here. They were getting closer and closer to the city, and that made fighting these things even harder.
Where Adam, Nora, and Penny had highly destructive ways to deal with these machines easily, they were now close enough to the city that they might start causing property damage to buildings that weren't abandoned. Adam at least had the ability to control where he went, but Nora's lazer and Penny's giant blade were unstoppable once they got moving and they couldn't risk cleaving a civilian in half. Not to mention that they'd all split up, her, Adam, and Penny chasing this mech while the others chased the second one.
Penny had gotten left behind rather fast due to her and Adam's greater speed. She had called after them that she'd catch up, and they were holding her to that.
So it was that they had been running around and trying to play damage control rather than actually destroy the damn mechs. Unfortunately, they had taken too much time if the screams and frantic honking meant anything.
They'd reached the city.
"Adam! If you can slow them, even just a little, now would be the time!" Ruby shouted from down the street.
Adam stood before one mech, the other having split off after they'd brought the warehouse down, and took a deep breath, sheathing Wilt and lowering his stance. This was no time to mess up, so he prayed that he could end this one machine now. His aura was low. Very low. If he missed this he might end up dead just being trampled by the thing.
He prepared to unleash Moonslice, but just as he thumbed his blade, the mech turned right hard, disappearing down a different street.
"Ruby! After it!" he yelled, dashing forward. He felt weak forcing her to continue chasing the mech considering how much of a beating she'd taken.
"I'm on it!" she shot back, shooting off after the warsuit. She unfurled Savage Rose into its railgun form and took aim as she bounded after the machine. It stampeded down the city street, thrashing cars out of the way and causing anyone who may have been out this late to run screaming or duck away into alleys.
She hated that they had failed to keep the machines out of the city. There was no telling what would happen when they reached more populated parts! She had to hurry and do this.
This is gonna suck soooo hard, she thought to herself. She aimed down the scope, lining up the spike of the railgun at one of the missile pods.
Normally she was able to brace herself when using the railgun function. The recoil was powerful and often required a lot of grounding. Doing this while running likely wouldn't be kind on her, but it was the best shot she had right now, Adam wasn't nearly as fast as her when it came to ground speed.
Sterling herself and gritting her teeth she pulled the trigger. The spike launched and soared forward at an insane speed, puncturing the missile pod and sticking out of the front of the mech. The missiles in the pod exploded, blowing the back of the machine open.
Ruby however was unable to revel in this as she screamed from the sensation in her arm and shoulder. Her aura shattered from Savage Rose bucking back, and she lost her momentum, rolling and hissing from the scratches she could feel against her skin.
She finally stopped, coughing and wincing. She pinched her lips before spitting up a wad of blood, panting as she tried to pull herself up. She yelped when her left arm gave out under her though, and let out a shout of pain. Her arm was dislocated for sure, and was feeling from the sudden stop after running so fast.
"Ruby!" Adam called worriedly, dropping to his knees and skidding beside her. She smirked up at him, still wincing as she did.
"Gottem," she grunted. He sighed in relief that she was at least okay enough to show her usual combat confidence. He looked up at the mech to see the damage the girl had done.
The mech had stilled, but still appeared to be somewhat functional. It was turning, but the movement was rigid and it was clear many inner workings had been fried or broken. The missiles that Ruby had shot had blown off the right arm of the mech, as well as leaving the back metal armor stripped off.
And yet Adam grit his teeth when it took a step towards them. He stood, stepping in front of the still downed Ruby and getting his sword ready. He wouldn't be able to use Moonslice here, what with the people still trying to flee the scene, but he was sure he could take the mech now that it was weakened.
"Damn... I had really hoped I finished it," Ruby coughed.
"Me too," he quipped, readying himself. He expected the mech to be slow, and the pilot not to want to risk their life pushing the clearly broken machine to exploding.
So he was surprised when it started sprinting towards him. Pieces fell off and sparks flew, but it seemed the pilot was taking a last gamble to crush them with their weapons down. He turned to look at Ruby, who was gaping at the scene.
"Ruby! We've gotta move you!" he said, taking his hand off his sword and instead hoisting Ruby up. He grit his teeth when she screamed and didn't blame her for crushing his hand with her good arm and biting down on his shoulder.
He turned and his eyes widened. The mech was speeding up too quickly, and he looked around frantically for a direction to throw himself and Ruby. But there was no safe option that wouldn't get them away in time. He did no such thing as closing his eyes and accepting his fate, however. He would never give in, even if he were about to fall.
Instead he still attempted to throw both himself and Ruby to the left, trying to take the brunt of the fall for her so she wouldn't further injure herself. They both fell and he clutched the reaper to his chest as he rolled. The thundering of both the storm above and the footsteps of the mech were loud and he scolded himself internally.
They hadn't made it far enough with his last ditch dive. The mech had adjusted only slightly, likely all it could do at it's distance and speed, but it would be enough. Even if it fell it would crush them under who knows how much weight of metal.
Maybe he could've saved himself if he let Ruby get crushed, but he would never do such a thing. Now here he was, any chance of his own survival gone as his attempt to save her had failed.
"Damn... My mom's gonna be so pissed that I died..." Ruby grunted, still clutched to his chest.
"And your sister's going to stomp on my grave for getting you killed," he shot back. She looked at him.
The two shared a look with each other, both nodding as they prepared for a grisly end. The shadow of the mech was above them and they held their breaths.
"I REFUTE THEE!" a voice called from behind them.
A foot stomped over Adam and Ruby to stand before them, burying the appendage in the ground with the force. They looked up and their eyes widened.
"Penny!" Ruby wheezed, hope glimmering in her eyes.
Penny didn't turn though, and she held her arms out before her. The mech fell, looking like it would crush all three of them. But then something happened that Adam would swear was a figment of his imagination.
Penny caught the damn thing.
Oh it wasn't effortless, she strained and grunted and her right leg buried into the street even further, but she had halted it's fall entirely. She screamed as she pumped her right arm forward, tossing the machine onto its side. She put her all into upheaving the mech, so much so that her right sleeve had torn off. She could be heard heaving in breaths once it fell and remained still. She dropped to a knee and coughed a bit, but otherwise was fine.
The mech lay there, moving until the cockpit hissed. The pilot fell out due to being sideways and promptly fainted, perhaps due to adrenaline or whiplash. Either way the three were now the only ones on the street, the last of the civilians running away after seeing the machine almost crush two people.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT PENNY!?" Ruby shouted.
Penny turned. They both gasped at what they saw.
"Penny..." Ruby searched for words.
"What happened to you?" Adam asked, as he saw a side of the girl that he hadn't seen before.
A literal side, in this case. Her right side. The side that, up until this point had been completely covered.
The side that, if her ripped blouse was any indication of, was bionic.
Her sleeve had torn off completely, revealing the girls right shoulder and upper torso, as well as her arm. A chrome metal occupied the place where her normal skin and flesh would be, and it seemed to meld into her actual body along a vicious scar.
Her metal fingers twitched, the glove normally on her right hand torn and tattered, and her eyes went wide as she realized that she was exposed.
"I..." she trailed off, unsure and afraid of what to say.
"Penny," Adam said softly, "What on Remnant is this?"
"I... Am not fully human..." she mumbled, a slight blush dusting her cheeks.
"You're a cyborg!?" Ruby looked amazed and shocked at once, the pain in her arm currently forgotten.
"No!" Penny held her hand before her, before telling and trying to hide her robotic hand, "I-I am no cyborg! I am human! I just..."
She winced and looked at the ground.
"When I was little... I had a terrible accident when my father and I were traveling outside the walls of Mantle. Grimm had attacked and had rendered the right side of my body, as well as much of my face, completely destroyed. Every doctor said that I would die. That even if I somehow lived, I would be without vital parts to survive," she said resolutely.
"But they were wrong," Adam clarified. Her look shifted and she beamed, happy as always.
"They were. Because they didn't know that my father is the best scientist Remnant has ever seen," she said with not a hint of disbelief in her voice.
"Your... Dad , rebuilt you like that?" Ruby questioned, scanning the plating and wires that composed the ginger's body.
"He did! And I have hidden it ever since so that nobody would know just how dangerously smart he is! And also..." she dug her toe in the ground and put her arms behind her, looking like a schoolgirl about to confess to her crush. It was comical what with the terminator-esque body she had.
"Also...?" Adam was confused. She blushed and looked at them shyly.
"I didn't want people to think that I was a freak," she said quietly.
Both of them stared at the girl for a moment. Ruby sighed and Adam rolled his eyes, whispering 'girls' and huffing.
"Penny," Ruby started, "you're literally training in a school where one of your closest friends fights with a trumpet and can make four of himself. There's not a lot that surprises people about that."
"But—!"
"And," Adam added, cutting her off, "even if you were worried people would look at you differently, it's not like you'd be a special case considering there's a whole race of faunus that people hate based just on what they can see."
The girl was silent, looking at her mechanical parts and turning them, before looking back to the two partners.
"So I'm not strange?" she asked hopefully.
"Oh you're nuttier than squirrel shit," Adam said ungracefully, earning a scowl from Ruby, "But you're you. Who cares if you're different."
"He's right. A jerk, but right," Ruby amended, "You're the best that anyone could ask you to be Penny. You just saved our lives because of your robo-half! If being strange makes you an epic huntress and hero, then be as strange as you want!"
Penny looked like she was about to cry. She smiled, her lip trembling as she sniffled.
"Oh, thank you, both of you! You're the greatest friends I could ask for!" she sang.
"Does Weiss know about this?" Ruby asked. Penny cleared her throat and composed herself, smiling again as she addressed them.
"She does. But she's the only other one, aside from my father! Not even our other teammates or General Ironwood know!" she said, whispering it loudly to them.
"Then you have our word that we won't tell another soul," Adam swore. Ruby nodded, her face determined.
"This is your secret to share! We won't say anything unless you want us to!" she promised. Penny looked at them both with such unmitigated happiness, that even Adam cracked an easy smile.
"So!" Penny said suddenly, "Why are you two cuddling on the street?"
Both blinked once. Then again. They slowly turned to regard the other. They were indeed still holding each other as they had when the paladin almost fell on them. They were completely silent, but Adam's eyes darted away quickly, and Ruby turned as red as her hood.
"W-w-we're not cuddling Penny!" Ruby squeaked, "My arm is d-dislocated!"
Penny gasped and hurried over to them. She extracted Ruby from Adam and held her in a way that wouldn't agitate her arm. Penny regarded her for a moment, her right eye glowing as she passed it over the reaper. Finally she nodded.
"Adam? May I borrow your coat? I do not want the others to see my arm!" Penny asked, very out of place considering what she was just told. She was clasping her hands together in a pleading manner. Adam sighed but shrugged off his jacket, handing it to her and revealing the tight shirt he wore underneath. Penny nodded gratefully before donning the black cloth.
"What about if they ask why you're wearing Adam's stuff?" Ruby wondered. Penny hummed before a lightbulb seemed to go off in her head. Literally, if the light blinking behind her right eye was any indication.
"I will tell them that Adam acted gentlemanly and gave it to me after my shirt was destroyed so as not to leave a lady exposed to the harsh and unforgiving eyes of the easily aroused public!" Penny claimed. Both of them hung their heads as she smiled triumphantly. Then she turned to Ruby.
"Now, Ruby, please look at Adam for a moment," Penny requested. Ruby stammered and blushed again.
"W-wha...?" she let out.
"Please! It is very important!" Penny looked serious.
Ruby looked at the ginger, but she had to relent at how longer she held her gaze. Sighing, she turned to look at Adam, who was standing beside her. He looked at her awkwardly, also not knowing what Penny was trying to do. Also, with his jacket off Ruby could notice the well toned physique that the man kept hidden away from the world. If he thought he had too many girls on him right now, Brothers forbid his jacket or shirt came off while people were watching. At any rate, this seemed like a strange and out of place thing to do right after—
"YEOWCH!" Ruby shrieked, jolting and lunging forward into Adam, away from Penny. She gripped the man's shirt, turning and sending a shocked look at Penny.
"P-Penny!?" she shouted.
"Your arm has been set in place again! You are welcome!" Penny curtsied politely, smiling like an angel.
True to her words, Ruby realized she had been holding Adam's shirt with both hands. Her left arm felt like absolute garbage, but it was working, and that was good. There also seemed to be truth to Penny's request, as she buttoned up Adams jacket over herself, making sure to stuff her right hand in its pocket.
"Ah," Ruby blushed at both her outburst and her proximity to a certain faunus, "thank you Penny."
"With pleasure!" she saluted, "I wonder how our companions are doing!" Adam and Ruby were now thinking the same. Had they been more fortunate in stopping their paladin?
In the opposite direction from Adam, Penny, and Ruby, the other three fighters were still fighting.
"Can you stop it at all?" Nora asked Weiss, the frosty girl preparing a glyph.
"I can, but your window will be short and we'll have to stall it first," she said with authority.
"On it," Nora gave away nothing more, running forward and swerving to avoid a stream of bullets.
"I've got you covered!" Ren cheered, leaping past her and sending arrow after arrow at the mech.
The arrows didn't make a dent in the metal, but Ren had learned that by this point. He hadn't been aiming to pierce, he was aiming to slow. And slow he did, as several dust covered arrows lodged themselves between joints and in any exposed parts of machinery.
The arrows all activated at once, forming a bright and harsh network of electricity, like a grid or a web, encompassing the entire machine. It shook only for another moment before the dust wore off. It booted back up, and just as it began to move towards the city again, a glyph appeared under it.
For a moment, the pilot rejoiced. Every glyph the Schnee harlot had used hadn't been effective enough, so why would this one be any different?
Weiss however took a deep breath. She thought back on her accomplishments, about every victory she had and every limit she'd broken. She thought about her family, and how badly she wanted to give her brother the love he deserved. And finally, she thought about Whitley directly. Her brother who had come so far and done so much.
All these thoughts courses through her mind in a mere second, before she opened her eyes and unleashed the most complex part of her family's hereditary semblance. One that Whitley had not gotten a grasp on yet that she still needed to teach him.
A sword, white like snow and sleek like ice, pierced from the glyph. It did not impale the mech like she'd hoped, but the form of an armored knight rose and stood valiantly. The Arma Gigas readied itself for only a moment before engaging in combat directly with the paladin.
"IT'S LIKE A GIANT KAIJU FIGHT!" Ren cheered, pulling out a flag from nowhere with the Arma Gigas's helmeted face on it.
"Nora, your chance is now, make it count!" Weiss said, channeling the summon's power with her rapier dug into the ground. Nora nodded and dashed in, ducking under a swipe from the Arma Gigas's sword as it clashed with the paladin's claw.
She flipped and turned mid-air, allowing her hammer to shift into its destructive form. While chasing, she would never try to take a shot so close to the city. Even here, she hated that she'd use such power so close to civilians, but it was a need by this point.
What the pilot didn't know was that the storm they stood in would only serve as part of this machine's demise.
She finally landed, hoisting her weapon onto her shoulder as she crouched right in front of Weiss's summoned knight, facing the paladin. She aimed up, and glared into the cockpit, knowing that should they remain where they were, they would be destroyed with the machine.
Lighting struck, and encompassed the girl. Her whole body seemed to light up, and the lights on her weapons grew so bright, it hurt to look at directly. As the energy of the sky coalesced within her charging weapon, the telltale clap of thunder sounded.
Evidently, they could sense the danger, for just as Nora pulled the trigger, the ejector seat activated and they flew out.
Not even a second later, a pink beam tore the entire upper half of the mech off, turning it into dust and illuminating the night sky with the light and energy from her weapon. The beam slowly shrunk, before she grunted and collapsed her weapon, stowing it and nodding towards Weiss in thanks for giving her the opportunity.
The Arma Gigas reached up, and plucked the pilot from the sky before slamming the seat down into the ground. The pilot groaned and lost consciousness as the hand flicked them in the head.
The knight took a knee and bowed towards Weiss before disappearing like a flurry of snow.
"That," Weiss walked up to Nora while Ren landed beside the ginger, "was the most unnecessary, unmitigated, and unhinged amount of force I've seen come from a weapon. And I'm partners with Penny."
"That's my girl for ya!" Ren hugged Nora tightly, squishing her cheek to his, "she's the most destructive ever!"
Nora flushed slightly but smiled a small smile.
"Thank you Ren," she said in her usual calmness.
The three would have continued their conversation, but for Weiss and Nora's scrolls going off.
"Hello?" they both answered.
"Weiss! We saw that laser beam! Adam says that was Nora! Are you done disposing of the warsuit!?" Penny's energetic and never ceasing line of questions came.
"Yes Penny, we're done. Based on the fact that you're calling me, I assume you took care of your own fight as well," Weiss stated.
"We did! We will reconvene at the bullhead docks!" Penny claimed before hanging up. Weiss sighed, but smiled. That girl was too much for her own good, but that was part of her charm.
"Nora, we saw your attack from here," Pyrrha told the ginger, "I take it you guys just finished up?"
"We did. I take it by your calmness that you guys are also done?" Nora clarified.
"Mmhmm. We'll meet back at the bullhead docks. The storm should let you by the time we get back," Pyrrha explained. Nora hummed her agreement and hung up.
"We're meeting everyone at the bullhead bay," Nora said monotonously. Weiss nodded, stating that she was already aware.
The three moved quickly, knowing that authorities would have seen Nora's attack and would find the remains of the paladin and the unconscious pilot when they arrived. They and the others needed to get out of Vale and back to Beacon.
As they ran, they missed the figure of a woman standing on the rooftops, having seen the whole display.
"Why are you kids going out of your way to get involved here?" Raven asked, watching the three round the corner and disappear from sight.
She would need to keep an eye on Yang and Ruby. This was much deeper than they knew and she wasn't going to let anything happen to them while they ran around playing hero.
Her scroll rang and she licked up without even checking the contact.
"Raven. I've seen the authorities' activity just now. Three different locations. James is going to have a conniption fit, I already know it," the tired voice of Ozpin groaned. She huffed a single laugh but inside, registered the information.
Three locations. And Cinder and her acquaintances had only known of one that they believed would be housing anything. Not to mention that a bunch of kids had taken down the other bases, which was alarming in its own right.
"I'll see to it that the police let us question any suspects. Did you notice anything in particular?" Ozpin asked.
Anything in particular? She worked with criminals, who, up until now, she believed were the bad element, but showed a genuine concern with the destruction of the city and the lives of students. Well, Emerald and Mercury did at least, but the point remained that they had said Cinder would be upset if anything bad were to happen in Vale. Not only that, but for whatever reason a giant group of students were out and about as well, completely under Ozpin's nose.
She had noticed a whole hell of a lot, was the point.
And yet, when she answered the man on the other end of the scroll...
"I couldn't make anything out. We'll have to look into it more, but for now it seems like the White Fang just got in over their heads after thinking these suits would make them invincible," she groused. Ozpin hummed on the other end, as he always did when processing information she gave him.
"Thank you Raven. I'll be sure to inform you of any developments from here. Thank you again for your efficiency," he said formally before hanging up.
She pocketed the scroll and stared off into the stormy sky.
Since when had things gotten so damn complicated?
And that's all I wrote!
Good job me, that's a lot of writing.
Anyways, thank you all for reading, and I hope you had some happy holidays! I don't know when I start classes again, but I'm going to be trying to get some more updates out before they do!
I hope I made it clear here, but Penny is not a robot in this universe. She's certainly mechanical, but here she was born human and turned part-machine.
Sound like any other character, I wonder?
At any rate, I hope you all enjoyed! If you did, follow to stay updated with my irregular schedule! And please review and let me know what you think!
Other than that, I hope you all stay safe and have a wonderful time!
Oh, and here's a longer Omake for you all. Consider it a little gift from me, and also me being excited for finally revealing Penny!
Omake: Anything a real girl can do!— Chronicles of The Penny Harem
Penny stared at herself in the mirror. She turned left, observing the side of her face that was entirely human. Then she turned right, pouting at the side that was not entirely human. She rubbed at that side lightly, even poking her eyeball and trying to shift it around. It didn't actually feel like anything, of course, and any other person would've gagged at the sight of someone manhandling their own eye in such a way.
She huffed. She was surrounded by so many girls, all of them so... so effeminate in their own way! And she stood here with her fake eye on her fake half of her body. That would not do! She needed to prove that she was as much a real girl as any of her friends!
With that in mind, she set out to try her theories on the ones who would know girls the best.
Boys.
Adam took a breath as he meditated, enjoying the sun on his face and light wind that crossed through the gardens. Today was a perfect day to just relax after destroying what had to be easily over a million lien worth of Atlas machinery. He didn't urge for the downfall of the kingdom like many faunus did, but he couldn't help but find that thought cathartic.
"HELLO ADAM!" Penny screamed, running towards him. He groaned. Never a moment of silence here.
"Hello Problem Child," Adam grunted out.
"I have a test I must conduct! Will you help me? It is very, very brief!" Penny rattled off.
Adam sighed deeply. If it got her to leave faster, fine by him.
"Go on then," he waved her on. She beamed.
"Okay! Please close your eyes!" she requested. He did so willingly. He had already been meditating so the chance to do so again and pretend he was helping her was one he'd take.
He didn't even notice what the ginger was doing before it was far too late. He opened his eyes as he felt her breath tickle his face.
"Wait, Penny, what are you— MMFPH!?" Adam's eyes widened as he felt the soft lips of the cyborg on his own. She was very gentle, and for a moment he almost relaxed. That was before he realized who this was and what was happening, as he didn't end up relaxing at all until she pulled away.
"Wow! I see, I see! Thank you Adam, you have very warm lips! I will be off now!" she noted down before disappearing as soon as she had arrived.
Adam sat there and blinked. Then his eyes widened. That was far from his first kiss, and he didn't even care about the intimacy. No, his issue stemmed from the fact that if a certain duo of faunus girls found out about this, he would be in some really hot water.
"Goddamnit Penny," he groaned.
Jaune hummed happily, polishing his lance and shield. This was one of the rare moments where he was able to think. Just him, his weapons, and his thoughts. And Pyrrha. She sat beside him, polishing her own weapon as well. But she seemed content to let their comfortable silence hang in the workshop they had set up in.
Until the silence was broken by the door exploding in and Penny running in with a determined look on her face.
"O-oh! Hello Penny!" Pyrrha smiled awkwardly, not expecting the door to suddenly crash the way it had.
"Hello Pyrrha! I need Jaune's assistance for a test!" Penny requested immediately, walking towards the champion.
"A test? I'm not sure I should be the first person you ask for help..." Jaune laughed good-naturedly. But Penny shook her head.
"Not an exam! A personal experiment!" Penny claimed, "I promise it will be very fast!"
"Oh. I... suppose I don't mind then," Jaune smiled, a little confused but willing to help.
"Wonderful! Please, close your eyes then!" Penny commanded. He nodded and did so. He was confused already, so he was more lost when he heard Pyrrha start speaking.
"W-wait! Penny, what are you—!?"
Then he felt a soft, pillowy feeling on his lips. It was only a moment, but when she pulled away he was left shocked and frozen as his eyes just stared forward, not at all knowing what just happened or why.
"Thank you Jaunne! You had very soft lips! I must be elsewhere! Good day!" and just like that she was gone.
Jaune rigidly turned to Pyrrha, hoping she would have some form of explanation as another female as to why Penny would do that. When he turned however, he was more confused.
Why did she look so angry? And why was it directed at him!?
"HEY REN!"
"HI PENNY! WHY ARE WE YELLING!?" Ren shouted, smiling the whole time. Penny ran up to stand before him.
"I have something I am testing and require your aid!" Penny yelled valiantly.
"Bring it!" Ren asked, not even questioning it.
"Plese close your eyes," Penny requested. He did so, ready to do whatever thing it was to help his friend in her time of need.
So why was she kissing him?
Wait.
He shot back, clutching his hands over his mouth.
"PENNY!" he shook, yelling through his fingers "THOSE WEREN'T FOR YOU!"
"Wow Ren! This is such an interesting reaction! Thank you for your lips!" Penny then left the room as if she'd never been there. It remained silent as the ninja processed what just happened. That is, until ginger hair entered the room again.
Only it wasn't Penny. And this ginger had a murderous look on her face.
"Where did they go?" Nora growled.
"What—"
"My senses went off. Where is she?'
What senses? Also, this probably wasn't going to end well for Penny. But he also didn't want to be on Nora's bad side, so he pointed out of the door Penny had left through and Nora stomped after her,
Did he just assist in murder?
Whitley sighed as he finished the page of the book he was reading. Such a relaxing day. No team annoying him or starting any insane and dangerous fights. No invasions or thefts. No he could just sit back, and enjoy his free time—
"Whitley! Please assist me with an experiment!"
"No."
"Pleeeease?" Penny begged. He looked at her as she sat on her knees, begging the short boy. He scowled and turned back to his book.
"Whatever is so important you cannot bother my sister, your own partner, about this, and instead had to come to me?" he asked, hating that he lost his place on the page.
"Weiss wouldn't understand the way you would!" Penny claimed. He growled and slammed the book shut.
"Will you leave me alone for the next forty eight hours if I agree?" he spat. She nodded excitedly.
"Go on then," he crossed his arms, bouncing his foot.
"Please close your eyes for me!" she requested. He rolled them before agreeing, still sat there impatiently. He felt something strange in front of him then. Had she just stood up? And why did she feel so close—
"MM! MMN!?" he shook with rage, feeling the girls lips on his own. He did what came on instinct and punched the girl full force in the temple. He winced though. Why the hell did that side of her head feel like metal!?
She finally pulled away, looking at him appraisingly.
"Interesting... Interesting indeed! Thank you for your lips Whitley! They were as well manicured as the rest of your person!" she thanked, dashing from the room. He shook in his seat, casting his forgotten book aside and standing.
Weiss and him were about to have words about her partner.
Penny smiled wide. She was learning so much! It seemed that despite their varying age, race, species, or level of excitement, all of the boys she had kissed gave her a very similar reaction! Was the surprise because they could tell she was not one hundred percent real-girl? Did other girls do this better!? Penny hummed as she sat on her bed, thinking over these ideas.
Then the door to the room exploded, six very angry looking girls standing in the frame. Why her friends; Ruby, Neon, Velvet, Pyrrha, Nora, and Weiss, all stood with their weapons ready, she had no idea.
"Penny," the icy, very icy this time around, voice of Weiss echoed through the room.
"Yes Weiss!" Penny jolted, going straight-backed. That was what she did when Weiss got really mad. But why was she upset?
"Why is it that I hear from not just these girls, but also my own little brother that you have been going around kissing the boys we know?" Weiss bit out.
"I was testing to see if they could tell I was a real girl!" Penny said, wholly honest. She wanted to see if people would be able to tell she was half mechanical just by touch!
That admittedly was probably not the best answer to this situation. She would try and amend it.
"U-Um! What I meant is..." she wracked her brain, "I have not yet shown them what hides under my clothes!"
Her honesty had definitely made things worse.
Penny contemplated her current position.
Of course, there was not a lot else she could do at the moment. She had been completely tied up, and somewhere along the way, they had covered her mouth with tape. All she could do was watch the world go by from where she was placed.
She had been tied upside down and tossed out of a window by her friends, watching the courtyard as people hurried to and fro. The blood had rushed to her head, but it didn't affect her the way it would affect most people. She had a filter installed in her head that would take care of such things.
"Penny?" a concerned voice asked from below. She looked down (up?) from her upside down position to see Yang and Flynt staring up at her in confusion and shock.
"Hello!" she shouted.
"What are you doing up there!?" Flynt called.
"Many of our friends did this to me after I told them I needed to expose myself to our male friends!" Penny shouted back.
Yang blinked before slowly turning to Flynt.
"Alright, we're just gonna go now," she said exhaustedly, dragging the more confused trumpet player away from the ginger pervert.
"Goodbye friends!" she waved.
This test remained inconclusive.
