Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Cybernetic Couple. Enjoy the 1500-word chapter. I don't own RWBY, Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth do.

(Atlas.)

Cinder seethed in pure rage. She had the Winter Maiden's power within her grasp. There were only 2 beings that stood in her way and all she had to do was butcher them.

Then a third warrior had joined her fight, and they were dispatched easily… Cinder would rip the power of the Winter Maiden from that worthless TOY if it was the last thing she did.

"What!?" Cinder roared as she heard Neo's footsteps behind her.

She was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder and turned to see Neo who transformed into Emerald. Cinder blinked before a small smirk emerged on her face.

Neo turned into an Atlesian soldier as she held up her scroll which showed the Atlesian base.

(With Penny)

Penny walked in to see Ruddy with wires leading to IVs as he flexed his arm. Penny turned to see Pietro busy working on him while the robotic arms started to tinker with him.

"RUDDY!" Penny yelled as she boosted halfway across the room at the cyborg.

Ruddy, who was still plugged into all the technology? This almost bowled over the cyborg who barely managed to grab the edge of the reinforced table which creaked. He almost collapsed to the ground from the force of Penny wrapping her arms around her friend. Ruddy almost forgot a lot of his skin like the synthetic skin of his arms.

"OW…" Ruddy winced, Penny's cybernetics almost crushed his healing ribs. "Hi… Pe-penny." Ruddy wheezed out while he blinked.

Ruddy detached his hands who had crinkled the steel and left groves in it. Ruddy gently wrapped his metallic arms around Penny as he tapped her on the back. Ruddy hummed and nodded while he blinked slightly while he tried to say something.

Ruddy looked at Penny who was latched onto him like a Silverfish. Ruddy tapped her on the back and looked at Pietro while he tapped his fingers on his friend's back.

Ruddy blinked slightly and sighed as he tried to pry Penny from him.

"Penny?" Ruddy asked as Penny had buried her head into his chest. He felt her autumn leaf orange hair tickling his face. "You can stop hugging me… I'm not dead. She just knocked me out for a bit." Ruddy said and tried to sit up.

Penny didn't budge. Ruddy rolled his eyes and sighed before gently looking down at the girl below him.

"You're going to keep hugging me then threaten me if I do that again, aren't you?" Ruddy questioned and got a shake of the head from Penny.

"General Ironwood is requesting to talk to both of you since the… Incident." Pietro put in which caused Ruddy to hum and turn to look at him.

"What happened to Mantle?" Ruddy questioned while flexing his arms. "And what's the plan?" Ruddy asked while looking at Pietro.

"General Ironwood is focused on making sure that the Grimm are exterminated… And Amity launched." Pietro stated before starting to type at the terminal. "Since he and the rest of his forces are focused on protecting the kingdom? He wants the Huntsmen and Huntresses to focus on finding the intruders… Which includes you both." Pietro said which caused Ruddy to blink.

Ruddy crossed his legs under him as Penny final detached herself from the teen. He looked at her for a second as Pietro looked at Ruddy.

"Ruddy?" Pietro questioned as Ruddy raised an eyebrow and looked at the man. "I'm going to check your cybernetics and make final adjustments to them… I'll tell General Ironwood that both of you will be headed to report to him tomorrow." Pietro stated before leaving the room.

Ruddy was about to ask why the man had left the room before turning to Penny.

"Why were you at the hospital?" Penny questioned which caused Ruddy to hum.

"The pilots wanted to drop the wounded off at the hospital." Ruddy stated with a frown as he remembered what proceeded the fight. "Why were you there? I went to investigate the noise I heard. I found you and Winter fighting." Ruddy said which caused Penny to frown in response.

"We were supposed to guard someone until Winter got their power…" Penny stated and slowly stumped to the ground. "I got the power instead… And I'm starting to wish I did not." Penny added as Ruddy crossed his arms.

He had seen the green fires in Penny's eyes before he passed out. Ruddy guessed that was the power that she spoke about. Ruddy also knew Cinder who powers, as did the woman who was in the center of the storm.

'Penny has that power now. Cinder wants that power, which means she's going to go after her.' Ruddy thought to himself and turned to look at Penny.

Penny stood in front of Ruddy who had his legs crossed under him. The various tubes and wires connected to his back reminded him that he was no longer flesh and blood. He felt like he barely even remembered being a soldier in the Atlesian Army.

"I have power because someone died." Penny said while looking down at her feet. "People died when I was supposed to protect Mantle." Penny added which made Ruddy nod and tilt his head to the side.

"I believe I saw her willingly give you that power, Penny." Ruddy stated while he cracked his fingers which gave a metallic clank. "And this is war, Pen. I don't like people dying. We can't save everyone. I want to, but we can't." Ruddy said while rubbing at his temples with annoyance.

"How do you have so much faith in me?" Penny questioned which caused Ruddy to tilt his head. "I couldn't stop Dr. Watts from hacking the power systems. I couldn't protect the people from Tyrian. I couldn't stop Cinder." Penny stated while looking at the ground.

"Because you've been helping me this entire time." Ruddy stated as Penny looked at him. "You've helped me unlock my aura. You saved my life; you've been fighting as hard as you could for Mantle. We're human, Penny. We might not be fully human anymore, but we're human. Ruddy added and took a breath.

The tubes attached to his back moved slightly before he cleared his throat. His scarlet eyes narrowed slightly before he unfurled his modified legs. The noise also reminded Ruddy that all 4 of his limbs were metallic.

"We make mistakes, if we knew that Tyrian and Watts were in Mantle?" Ruddy questioned and tilted his head to the side. "Then we could blame ourselves for not being good enough. We can't be everywhere and do everything. Pen? I wouldn't be ALIVE if it wasn't for you." Ruddy stated which caused Penny to look to the ground.

She felt crimson flush to her cheeks. Ruddy saw it and blushed himself as he remembered that Penny had hugged him in such a vulnerable state.

The two teenagers just realized how awkward the talk was. Ruddy coughed for a moment and then looked to the side.

"Your dad said I'm going to be getting some upgrades like RWBY did." Ruddy said while he gestured to the side. "Even my gun. I'm going to make sure the next time we find Cinder? We're ready for her." Ruddy stated while he cracked his neck with a metallic click.

"Cinder…" Penny stated as Ruddy looked to the side. "She's…" Penny added as Ruddy nodded.

"She's behind what happened to you." Ruddy responded which caused Penny to turn to look at Ruddy. "She's the one who almost killed you before. Ruby told me. We're stop her. You know we will." Ruddy stated while he looked up at the wires.

"She'll kill you to get to me." Penny stated and watched Ruddy shrug.

"She'd have to before I let her hurt my partner." Ruddy said which caused Penny to blush.

Ruddy sighed as he wondered what Cinder would do next. She would hunt Penny down which did make it easier to try and confront her… But Ruddy didn't want to turn Penny into bait.

"We're get through this." Ruddy said and sighed. "Atlas has gotten through worse then this. We just need to figure out a plan." Ruddy stated and awaited Pietro's return.

There was a lot of work to do before Mantle was safe. Ruddy knew they'd have to be strong when that came down to it.

Little did he know the bond between him and Penny would change massively in the few days down the road.

Author notes

Phew. Another chapter done! I want to point out that Amity is going to be the last fight of the story. Penny and Ruddy will be together by Amity or after. Next chapter will set up Emerald and Tyrian confronting Ruddy and Penny at the base and such. Until 2-10 weeks or such, until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter is 1200 words Tuesday. Raven 1200 words Saturday. Ruby 900 Monday. Yang 1500 words Sunday. Neo 1200 Wednesday, Cinder 1500 Monday.