Penny & Oscar's Excellent Adventure
A RWBY Fan Fiction
By Starlight Wanderer
"Go then, there are other worlds than these."
― Stephen King, The Gunslinger
Chapter 1
Don't Touch That Dial! Seriously, What Are You Doing?
There wasn't much time left; Oscar Pine hurried his pace as he walked through the maze of hallways making up Atlas Academy. He had to find General Ironwood. His chance of stopping the madman's plans were slim, but it was all he could think to do at this moment. Ruby, everyone, they were counting on him.
As he turned a sharp corner he saw an open door down the next hallway. Curiosity took over as he ventured to the threshold.
The room inside was awash in cold fluorescent lighting; computer terminals and machinery beyond his comprehension lay scattered about. In the midst of all this, however, he recognized the ginger haired girl rummaging through it all.
"Penny!" Oscar said. "You're just the person I was looking for." If anyone would know where Ironwood was, surely she would.
Penny Polendina jumped, startled by his intrusion, but her smile was as bright as ever as she turned to greet him.
"Salutations, Oscar." she gave a single wave. "What can I help you with?"
"It's General Ironwood," Oscar began, but paused to consider his words. He didn't want to give the wrong impression, but he needed to hurry. "Do you know where he is? I need to speak with him right away."
"Absolutely!" Penny beamed. "General Ironwood went to the Vault to prepare."
To prepare to abandon the citizens of Mantle to their deaths, Ozpin's voice echoed in Oscar's mind. He wasn't wrong, but that was precisely why this intervention was necessary.
Oscar scratched his head nervously, "I...forgot which way that was. Could you help a guy out?"
"The Vault is located that way," Penny pointed to her right. Oscar noticed a strange black device in her hand.
"What is that you're holding?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him once more.
"Oh, this?" Penny held the device in her hands before Oscar. "I do not know. Winter had asked me to look for a replacement part for Fria's life support, however I found this instead."
The device looked like a remote control of some kind, a glossy black material made up the bulk of the body with matte buttons in several colors and orientations; a circular arrangement near the top of it featured a prominent blue ring that was pulsating with light.
"You don't know what it does?" Oscar asked, entranced by the contraption.
"I have never seen this kind of technology before," Penny explained.
Oscar took the remote from her, examining it as if he somehow could decipher its function. The buttons had labels, but none of them made sense. CH plus and minus, a numeric section, but the big button in the center kept drawing its eye with its enticing glow.
"Oh!" Penny spoke up. "Hello! Are you lost ma'am?"
Oscar whipped around to find a menacing looking woman standing in the doorway. She leaned up against the threshold, twirling what looked like an umbrella at her hip. Beneath her black bowler hat, her eyes were staring daggers at him.
Oscar, Ozpin said, that woman is dangerous. You need to keep the Relic away from her.
He had forgotten about the Relic on his belt, but it was too late now; he was cornered.
"Can I help you with something as well?" Penny asked, unfazed by the woman's demeanor.
She pushed off the wall and began walking slowly towards them. She stopped twirling the umbrella and pointed it firmly at Oscar's waistband, directly at the Relic of Knowledge that hung there.
"She's after the lamp," Oscar said, backing away from the advancing menace.
Penny's normal sunny behavior faded. "Oscar, get behind me," she said as Floating Array began to unfold out of her backpack compartment. "I'll distract her. You get to the Vault!"
The attacker opened her umbrella and twirled it playfully behind her. Penny wasted no time in attacking, sending her blades into the woman. Oscar bolted from out behind her, taking a wide berth to avoid the ensuing fight as he ran to the door.
Penny's blades made contact with the woman and she shattered into tiny pieces. Oscar was so caught up in the spectacle that he didn't realize she had never left the doorway. He ran straight into the woman who gave him a shove backwards, a devious grin on her face.
"Oscar!" Penny cried, running to his aid. The mystery woman also began to dive at him, her eyes fixated on the Relic. Oscar panicked, thrusting The Long Memory outwards and gripping it firmly.
Except the cane remained tethered to his waist, and in his hands the remote, his fingers tight upon the now depressed central button.
A brilliant light erupted from the device, engulfing the room, and when it had cleared the three were gone.
Oscar, get up! You must protect the Relic!
Ozpin's voice roused him, and Oscar wiped his eyes, fighting off the blindness. As his vision cleared, he wasn't sure his eyes were working properly.
They were outside, a star filled night sky hung over them as they stood on the streets, the shattered moon casting a cool glow over the tall buildings drawing long shadows. This clearly wasn't Mantle, and the buildings didn't look like the ones he had seen in Atlas either.
The clash of steel caught Oscar's attention and he turned to see Penny and the strange woman clashing in the street. Despite only wielding an umbrella, the menacing figure was keeping up with Penny effortlessly. His hands instinctively shot to his belt, where the Relic of Knowledge remained attached.
A crashing sound from his right! What now? Oscar groaned. The window of a nearby shop had burst open and the body of a man in an all black suit lay on the ground buckling over in pain.
Wait a minute, Ozpin said, this seems awfully familiar.
A flash of red, a flourish of steel; a lone girl stood over the man's body brandishing an enormous red and black scythe.
That's Ruby! Oscar was overjoyed. Everything was going to be fine now.
"¡Sal y ríndete mientras puedas!" Ruby shouted, slamming Crescent Rose into the concrete.
Or...not?