Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY
Chapter 22: More Days at Beacon, Part 1
A Good Fit
A new day meant performing the same morning routine for all the students. This included Lie Ren, though recent events had caused a notable change in how they got ready for the day.
Taking a shower and getting dressed was the same, it was just one step that was now different from before and it was throwing the Green Ninja for a bit of a loop.
Ren was no longer binding their chest down as much as before. While an immense relief at not having their breathing so restricted, they had been wearing those bindings for so long that it was a bit uncomfortable to not have something tight around their chest. They were still using some bindings, to keep them in place, but nowhere near as much as before. The sweater Jaune had loaned to them, alongside the sling and fake cast was helping to cover them from prying eyes but it was just a temporary solution.
In Team JNPR's bathroom, Ren was staring at their bare chest in the mirror, conflicted emotions dancing across their face. On one hand, they were pretty nice and a good deal bigger than most of the girls at the school, but that meant they were that much harder to conceal.
These breasts were the question, and Ren didn't know the answer. They were tied so much to their gender, which was an even bigger, more confusing question that Ren was no closer to answering either.
Staring at their chest wasn't going to help start the day, so Ren quickly put on their lighter binding and pulled on the Pumpkin Pete sweater. They decided to forgo the fake cast for now, as they wouldn't be leaving the dorm for a little while yet.
Just as they exited the bathroom, there was a knocking on the dorm room's door. Being the closest, Ren walked over and opened it, revealing Weiss with her hands on her hips, a serious expression on her face.
"Weiss, what happening…"
"Boobs are amazing!"
Ren's question was cut off by this sudden proclamation, and they could only stare at the white-haired girl with complete befuddlement. Behind Ren, the rest of Team JNPR was looking up from what they had been doing and faced the doorway, the same expression on their faces.
Weiss continued, pacing back and forth in front of the doorway as she talked.
"Boobs are the most magnificent thing on this planet. When the gods created this universe, first they said, 'Let there be Light', after that they said 'Let There be Boobs', and things were great. All good things in the world come from boobs; those soft, supple, wonder things. Big, huge, giant breasts are the total of all that is great about humanity and should be worshiped accordingly. If I'm ever condemned to death for grievous crimes against humanity…not that I'm planning on anything…I want to be executed by being suffocated by a massive pair of tits."
Weiss stopped her pacing, standing in front of Ren, and hands on her hips with a determined look on her face.
"That is the objective truth and I'm not entertaining any dissenting viewpoints at this time," she then bowed deeply, "Thank you."
Stunned silence was all that met the end of her tirade, neither Ren nor the others knew how to respond to such as thing. The door to Team RWBY's dorm was closed, so the other Xiao Longs Sisters weren't on hand to interpret what was going on.
After a long moment, Weiss coughed into her hand and looked away sheepishly.
"Having said that, I know that everyone has the right to feel good in their own body. Boy or girl, everyone has the right to be comfortable in their own skin, and to live life on their own terms. So…I, ummmmm…here."
Weiss pulled out a dark piece of folded clothing and presented it to Ren. They took it gingerly, not sure what it was. Unfolding it, it looked like a tank top, but there was a lot more woven into it than one would expect from a simple piece of clothing.
Ren's eyes widened as they realized what it was, a chest binder. They had seen them before, a few stores in the city carried them on the shelves. They had contemplated purchasing one discreetly, as they might have worked better than simple bandages. That would have meant acknowledging the issue, however, admitting that they had breasts and that had been the biggest issue for Ren these last several years.
It being gifted to them was another matter and one that Ren could more easily accept. Tears began to well in the corners of their eyes.
"Weiss, I…thank you, thank you!"
Weiss waved a hand, a big smile on her face.
"It was nothing. I'm pretty sure it should fit okay but let me know if it doesn't and I can make some quick adjustments. Just to be clear, I can't get your chest completely flat, not with the firepower you're packing, but this should be better than simple bandages. I guarantee that it's better than anything you could buy from any store, I've put many of my touches into it. Blowing stuff up is the best thing Dust can do, but there are an infinite number of other possibilities as well."
Ren nodded, still staring at the binder. They were listening, sure, but many emotions were swirling in their mind at that moment. This piece of clothing wasn't the answer to Ren's question, of who or what they were, but it gave them more control over their body, more control over the situation.
That made it a priceless gift, coming from a dear friend. It was a small measure of stability in a confusing storm of life and was the first step in helping them come to the answer they needed.
Ren's teammates look at the unfolding scene at the door, smiles gracing their faces as they realize how special this gift is.
"There are, of course, other services I can provide,"
Those words from Weiss snapped Ren and the others out of this happy reverie and back to the white Xiao Long. They all noticed the strange gleam in her eye and the lop-sided smile on her face, but the biggest tell was how her hands had risen and were making very obvious groping motions.
"I'm sure your chest can get quite sore from being bound all day long. I'd be more than happy to…massage them. It's important to keep such fine specimens nice and healthy, so I'm perfectly willing to get hands-on and-"
Suddenly, the door to Team RWBY's dorm flew open and an extremely long Shepard's crook shot out, reaching around Weiss's neck. It pulled back, dragging the white-haired girl into the room with a garbled cry, the door shutting behind her.
The sounds of a furious fight began to emanate from the dorm, though the only words that could be made out were the cries of 'Useless Lesbian'.
Ren could only stare at the closed door and, after thinking for a moment, slowly closed their team's door as well. This seemed like the perfect time to just let RWBY be RWBY.
Their attention returned to the chest binder in their hands, a smile gracing their face. They looked over at their teammates before heading back into the bathroom. Some changes needed to be made before they were ready for the day.
Later, Team JNPR was walking down the halls of Beacon, heading for the cafeteria. More than one person did a double take at the group as they walked, noticing something different with one member in particular.
The only notable change was that Ren didn't have their arm in a sling anymore and was back to wearing their normal outfit. Everyone chalked up the big smile on the usual taciturn ninja's face as just them being happy that their limb had finally healed.
A few privately thought there was more to it than that, but with no real evidence to go on other than that Ren had some sort of positive glow around them today, elected to say nothing and simply congratulated them on such a swift recovery.
Ren was feeling good, indescribably so. Their chest was still bound and hidden, but it didn't hurt at all. They were still hiding but they were also more open now. They were still presenting as male in public, but they felt freer than they had in years. Weiss had done an amazing job and while their chest wasn't flat, you would still need to look closely to notice anything.
The other members of JNPR were equally happy, glad that Ren had taken a positive step and that they had been given a solution to the problem of Ren's chest bindings. They were so happy for Ren and their smiles matched that of their teammate.
JNPR reached the cafeteria and navigating the swarm of other students, acquired their meals and sat down at their usual table. They were joined in short order by Team RWBY, each with their customary huge plate piled high with food. The Xiao Long Sisters look as fine as they usually did…except for the cartoonish large bump on Weiss's head.
The white Xiao Long neatly and precisely laid out her cutlery and laid a napkin on her lap before turning towards Ren.
"I regret absolutely NOTHING!"
These words brought a round of sighs from her sisters and, to the surprise of all, a hearty laugh from Ren. Several other students nearby turned, having never heard Ren laugh before and even their teammates were taken aback by the wonderful sound.
"Weiss…don't change. Always been just who you are," Ren said, their laughter dying down after a few moments.
Weiss smiled at the compliment and nodded in return before digging into her food. Her sisters just shook their heads, small smiles on their faces. They were perfectly fine with Weiss being a lesbian, of course…it was just when her here-to-now hidden perverted side appeared that they took issue.
This side of Weiss appeared again, as the girl briefly stopped stuffing her face for a moment to look over at Ren.
"My offer still stands, by the way," she said, a loop-sided smile appearing on her face.
Ren slowly chewed and swallowed their food, thinking for a moment before answering.
"…I'll consider it…" They replied, a faint smile on their face. Weiss simply nodded and returned to gorging herself.
The others could only look at the two in silence at this exchange before shrugging it off. The conversation moved to other things, though Ren did make some suggestions about the chest binder and Weiss promised to include them in the next batch, she would make sure Ren had enough for everyday use. From there things moved to schoolwork and plans for the week, with Yang having somehow roped both teams into helping with the dance.
On the surface, it looked like the group was the same as always, and in a way that was true. But something had changed as well, as a small but important step had been taken.
Killers of Dance and Applause
The auditorium of Beacon Academy was a complete mess. The usually empty and open space was cluttered with chairs, tables, and a growing number of large speakers.
Sitting at one of the tables was Velvet Scarlatina, pouring over a pile of papers and constantly writing, erasing, and writing again. It was one thing for Coco to volunteer her team to organize the school Dance, it was another for her to dump all the logistics and heavy lifting on her teammates while she went shopping for decorations.
Coco was a caring and capable team leader, but she was also impulsive and often assumed people would be fine with her choices before being consulted. It never went too far but it was still grating at times.
This was how Velvet ended up sitting at a table, trying to figure out how to plan this big school dance with the time and resources available. It would be a miracle if they could pull this off without a hitch.
It was a small miracle that she was even sitting here now. They had a mission outside of Vale the week prior, a 'simple' task to sweep the area between a few outlying villages and clear it of any Grimm.
Simple, until they stumbled across a huge horde of the beasts. Even with Coco laying down serious firepower with her Gatling gun, Velvet copying her weapon and doubling the fire, Yatsuhashi cleaving Grimm in half with his sword, and Fox dispatching any that tried to sneak up on them, they were still forced to fall back again and again. It looked like they would have to retreat to the nearest village and fight a prolonged siege against the Grimm, delaying their return to Beacon alongside the increased chance of harm.
It was the possibility of missing the dance that Coco complained about the most between salvos, and not wanting her friend to do something reckless, Velvet decided to take a chance and do something reckless herself.
Priorities were a funny thing.
They noticed early on that a huge Alpha Ursai was leading the horde. Taking it out would disrupt the Grimm's coordination and make dealing with them easier. For most of the battle, it had stayed in the middle of the horde, making it impossible for any of them to hit it.
A few well-placed Dust explosions, amplified by Coco's Semblance, cleared a path forward. Seizing the change, Velvet summoned a copy of Ruby's scythe and dashed forward before her teammates would stop him. All they could do was cover her as best as they could as Velvet rushed towards the exposed Alpha.
Velvet summoned Ruby's weapon not for the tool itself but for the speed boost it provided. Her Semblance, Photographic Memory, allowed her to copy the moves and fighting styles of others. With her weapon creating high-light copies of other people's weapons, Velvet could perfectly mimic other people, giving her a vast repertoire for any situation. She didn't need to create the weapon copies to use her Semblance, but it did help her to focus her Semblance and body in the way she wanted it to, something valuable in a fast-paced combat situation.
One quirk of her Semblance, that she learned the hard way, was that while she couldn't copy other people's Semblances, and thus couldn't replicate physical feats that required them, her body would still try its best.
She couldn't move as fast as Ruby, but her Semblance was pushing her body and Aura beyond her regular limits, making her faster than she was normally. When a large Beowulf blocked her path, she switched to Yang's weapon and punched the beast out of the way, making it collide with other Grimm and clearing her way again. Velvet wasn't lacking in physical strength, especially for her kicks, but there was no way she could have hit that Grimm as hard with her regular punch, borrowing Yang's style had given her that little extra push.
That push came at a cost, as both Velvet's arms and legs were beginning to strain. Her body was being pushed beyond its normal limits. She trained vigorously to condition her body and practiced with her Semblance but there was only so much she could do. The first time she used Ruby's style she overshot her target and ran face-first into the wall. With Yang, she had destroyed the punching bag and almost broke her hand in the process. She had tempered her Semblance so she didn't over-exert like that right away, but there was still only so much she could handle in a short time.
The Alpha Ursai saw her coming and it reared up, its huge claw ready to swipe down and rip her to shreds. Velvet was ready, her weapon switching to a hard light hammer as she played her trump card.
For reasons that she didn't understand, she had two separate profiles of Nora within her Semblance. One was the copy of Nora she saw in regular practices and class spars, of a fast and strong girl. Her copy was like Yang or Yatsuhashi, making her swing the weapon harder than she could normally but nothing otherwise spectacular.
The other one was from the match against Pyrrha, the one that saw the undefeated champion knocked through several walls. Velvet's Semblance recorded this as a profile apart from the one she had for Nora, seeing it almost as if it was a different person. She decided to test this new style, to see how different it was. She used a wooden sparing staff and swung as hard as she could at the training dummy.
She woke up several minutes later, surrounded by her worried teammates. The dummy was destroyed, alongside a good chunk of the training room's wall. It was nothing compared to what Nora had pulled out but still far and beyond anything Velvet had ever managed with her Semblance. She had knocked herself out, her arms strained almost to breaking and her Aura drained to nothing. She hadn't been pushed a bit beyond her limits, she had blown right past them.
It had taken a few days to fully recover, and Coco had made her promise to never use that style again. Velvet agreed, not wanting to go through this again but the sheer power was something she couldn't just ignore, so she kept it in the back of her mind just in case they may need it during a desperate situation.
Velvet's body rushed in and braced itself, mimicking Nora's the day she had fought Pyrrha. She swung the hammer, hitting the Ursai right in the centre before it knew what hit it.
The creature of Darkness, who had lived many years to reach the size and strength that it was, was vaporized instantly. A massive shock-wave followed, knocking back, and scattering the surrounding horde of Grimm. A huge cloud of dust was kicked up, obscuring the battlefield.
Team CFVY cried out in alarm and Yatsuhashi dashed forward, desperate to reach Velvet…only for the bunny girl to come flying towards him, the shock-wave shooting her backwards. The large male managed to catch her neatly, though he was still forced back by the sheer impact. Coco and Fox hurried up, carefully scanning the area for a Grimm counterattack.
That thankfully wouldn't happen. The horde was now scattered and broke off into smaller groups, all away from the Beacon Students and the human villages. Gathering their semi-conscious comrade, CFVY pulled back to the village and called in a Bullhead from Beacon. They explained the situation and got a commitment from Beacon that a group of Huntsmen would be dispatched as soon as possible to sweep the area again and make sure the remaining Grimm was taken care of.
With that, CFVY was flown back to Beacon, relieved that they had survived the battle, angry and annoyed at Velvet for taking such a risk and, in Coco's case at least, happy that they would have plenty of time to plan the dance.
Priorities were a funny thing indeed.
So that is how Velvet came to be sitting at a table, pouring over lists and forms, trying to organize the school dance. This was pretty much all she could do right now, as her entire body was still strained and sore and even her Aura hadn't fully recovered yet. That gambit had worked but it took everything out of her, so she had to take it easy for a while.
Physically at least, mentally it was still stressing her out how all of this was supposed to work out. She was so engrossed in her paperwork that she didn't notice Yatsuhashi's approach until he set down the large speaker, he had been carrying on her shoulder, the impact making the ground and table shake enough for her to notice.
"You doing okay Velvet? Don't forget to take a break if you need to," the large student said, towering over the sitting Velvet and looking down with a worried expression.
Velvet just smiled and waved him off.
"I'm fine, Yatsu. All of Coco's plans are driving me a bit crazy but it's not straining me. You're the one who could probably do with a break; moving all this stuff from storage must be tough,"
Yatsuhashi was down to his undershirt and had worked up a good bit of sweat.
"It's no problem for me, it's a good workout," The gentle giant rolled and flexed his arms a bit, both to ease them and to show off a bit. He had a bit of a playful side to him, and he did sometimes like to show off his strength and physique.
"Anyway, there are still a bunch of large speakers in storage I need to take out. I should be able to get them out before the end of the day," he rolled her shoulders as he said this. It wasn't beyond his means at all, but these speakers were remarkably bulky and heavy. It would take time for him to safely move them all into place.
"You don't need to do it all and wear yourself out. We do have others helping," Velvet pointed to the side as she said this, toward the approaching pair of Weiss and Blake. The two girls were carrying one of the large speakers between them, which they placed next to the one Yatsuhashi had brought in.
"Damn these things are heavy, they must have used forklifts to get them into storage," Blake said, rubbing her arms.
"They're an older model to be sure but the bulk does come with lots of power. We'll be blowing the roof off with these bad boys," Weiss replied, wiping away some sweat.
While Velvet knew those two weren't physically frail by any means, it still impressed her that they could lift those huge speakers between the two of them. She didn't know how or when Coco convinced Team RWBY to help, but it was great to have the extra hands.
The type of help was surprising as well, as Yatsuhashi hurried over to the pair.
"You don't need to do that; you could hurt yourself. You can just leave the heavy lifting to me."
Velvet's lips quirked into a small smile. From one perspective, it could sound like Yatsuhashi was being a bit sexist, saying that they couldn't be doing stuff like that and should leave it to the big, strong man. That wasn't the case at all, he was genuinely worried about them; he just had a bad habit of saying things that could be considered rude.
Thankfully, neither Blake nor Weiss took it the wrong way, simply smiling and waving off his concerns.
"It's no big deal. We've lifted more during training. Besides, we should be almost done now," Weiss looked over her shoulder towards the storage room, "Over here Yang!"
The other looked as well, seeing that Yang was approaching, a massive speaker carried casually on one of her shoulders. It was bigger than the one Yatsuhashi had carried and when she placed it down, the impact made everyone jump an inch off the ground.
"All right! I can't wait to get these babies plugged in! With woofers this size, we can melt people's bones with music,"
"I think that might be a bit counterproductive to be melting bones and such," Velvet commented, "Is that all the speakers?"
"There are two more, but Nora's got them," Yang answered.
Right on cue, Nora arrived with two giant speakers on her shoulders. She carried the weight like it was nothing and she was almost skipping across the floor towards them. When she placed them on the ground, the whole building seemed to shake and several of the papers on Velvet's table almost fell off.
Yatsuhashi couldn't keep the look of complete shock off his face and so turned and slowly walked away, muttering about having other tasks he needed to do.
Velvet watched him go from the corner of her eyes. She knew he wasn't upset, just surprised. She was coming to understand that for all the craziness her team got into, RWBY and JNPR were a cut above the rest.
Still, it was fortunate that where one team goes, the other follows, so Team JNPR was also here to help. Right on cue, Ruby and Ren arrived, carrying bundles of cables for the speakers. A much lighter burden than the speakers themselves but no less vital.
Coco had commandeered Jaune and Pyrrha for her shopping trip, so everyone who was helping with the dance was there.
"So, where do you want to set the speakers up?" Yang asked, cracking her knuckles as she got ready to lift the speakers again.
"Well, I have a few ideas, based on the acoustics of the building," Velvet started before Weiss suddenly jumped in front of her and placed something on the table.
"Before that, I want your opinion on something," she placed two white folded tablecloths on the table, "Which one do you prefer?"
Velvet looked at the tablecloths for a long moment before looking up at Weiss with a very confused expression.
"Aren't they both the same?"
This answer elicited a groan from the white Xiao Long.
"Come on Velvet! You need to look at things with a more critical eye. We need sophistication and class if we're going to make this dance the greatest ever," Weiss picked up the fabric and held it up towards her sisters, "What do you think?"
The three other Xiao Longs looked at the items before pointing at the one in Weiss's left hand.
"That one."
"The colouration goes well with the interior."
"And the cross-snitching complements the window curtains,"
Weiss nodded at these words.
"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking," she said before heading towards a nearby table covered with small boxes that Velvet now learned were filled with those tablecloths.
The bunny girl turned towards the Xiao Long sisters, her eyes narrowing.
"You…you just picked one at random, right?"
The question only brought knowing smiles to the girls' lips, with them not saying a word either way.
The group dispersed again, going back to their various tasks while Velvet returned to the plans. Most of the truly heavy lifting was done and much sooner than she expected but there was still much to do. She had just begun to do the final table and seating arrangements when Yang calling out to Weiss caught her attention.
"Hey Weiss! I found a box of doilies. They should go great with those tablecloths."
"Awesome!" the white-haired girl exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air, "By the way, I may need to get some Dust, but I should be able to get those fog machines we found working in no time."
"Sweet!" The blonde replied before returning to her work.
The exchange left Velvet perplexed and worried.
"Doilies? Fog machines? Those… aren't on the list. Wha…what?! I…Weiss, we need to talk and-"
"Calm down, it's all right," Weiss said gently, quickly moving to Velvet's side and placing a hand on her shoulder, "We're not dumping a bunch of random stuff on you and leaving you alone to deal with it. We're helping you, fully and completely; not just sophistication but also adaptability is key to making things like this a success."
Velvet calmed down from his mild panic attack, knowing that she wasn't going to have to deal with everything herself. Her worries had just gotten ahead of her.
"You're right…you're right…" she said, her breathing steady.
"Of course, you can bet your wonderful and delicious bunny butt that we will help make this dance the greatest thing of all time," Weiss proclaimed.
"Yeah, we can do this," Velvet nodded along before realizing what Weiss had said, "Wait…bet my WHAT?"
Weiss was suddenly seized by a coughing fit and moved away from Velvet.
"Nothing! Nothing!" she eventually croaked out, "I ummmmmm, have some important work to do…over there…so…bye!"
The white Xiao Long fled the scene, leaving Velvet to stare at her with narrowed eyes for a moment before shaking her head and getting back to her work.
It wasn't long afterwards that all work was suspended as the front doors burst open and Coco Adel strode in, carrying two large paper bags in her hands.
"I'm back!" she yelled unnecessarily loud, "I got a bunch of awesome stuff to liven this place up and make this dance shine!"
Behind Coco was Pyrrha, struggling slightly with several larger bags and beside her was Jaune. They could tell it was Jaune from the bit of blonde hair sticking out but beyond that, it was hard to tell. This was due to the excessive number of wrapped boxes he was carrying, alongside having bags hanging from his arms and even his legs.
Everyone was stupefied by the sight, even Fox, who had to use his Telepathy to ask Velvet and Yasuhashi what it was, as his Accessibility Dialogue Assistant had emergency pinged him, telling him that a human-sized piñata had just walked in.
Surprisingly, Jaune wasn't struggling at all with the burden. It wasn't just the weight, but he was balancing it all so well that he was able to move easily with little difficulty, much less than Pyrrha, who wasn't used to carrying her own bags and such.
When asked about it as the others unburdened him, he merely said that he had seven sisters and thus he had much experience being used as a pack animal for shopping trips.
Coco left the unpacking to the others and hurried over to Velvet's table.
"I see you got the speakers all out, much faster than I expected. Have you got a full plan and floor layout figured out?"
Velvet passed the paper she had been working on and Coco looked it over closely.
"Oh, this looks good, but I feel with need something special. I'm thinking maybe some fog machines, to help set the atmosphere and maybe some doilies on the table, to make them comfortable and inviting."
Velvet opened her mouth before closing it, thinking for a moment before speaking.
"Actually…I've already taken care of that. We should be able to get both those items set up before the end of the day."
"Really? Damn girl, you are on top of this! I knew I could count on you to handle things," Coco said, impressed by Velvet's foresight.
The bunny girl decided to soak in the praise from this little white lie, keeping her eyes low so Coco wouldn't suspect anything.
"Anyway, it looks like we're well on track," Coco stood up and looked back to the others, all busy unpacking and sorting through the countless bags she had brought back. Beacon may have made a small mistake in giving her a school credit card to help buy supplies. "We should be good to…"
Coco trailed off, lowering her sunglasses, and staring forward. Velvet followed her gaze and saw she was looking at Ren, who was currently helping untangle Jaune from the many bags he had wrapped around his arms.
"What?" the Faunus asked.
"Nothing, it's nothing," Coco replied, putting her shades back up, "It's just…they wear it well…"
Velvet tilted her head in confusion, not sure what she meant. Ren was wearing the same clothes he always wore, not big changes that she could see. She had noticed that he was more open, happy, and approachable now than at the start of the term, which was great, but she couldn't see what Coco was seeing.
"No matter, we got lots of work to do," Coco declared raising her voice, "Let's get everything packed and then get these speakers wired up and in place. Dance is nothing without music and I want to see these girls sing!"
Everyone hurried to obey, quickly untangling Jaune from his merchandise prison. Yasuhashi, Yang and Nora pushed the speaking into place around the room, with Weiss and Blake working to hook them up properly. When it was all done, Coco connected her Scroll to the sound system and hit play.
The sound-wave almost knocked everyone down and the glass in the windows shuttered, seeming to be at the point of shattering. When Coco finally hit pause, it took a minute for the ringing in everyone's ears to subside enough for them to hear again.
"Overall, a complete success!" Coco proclaimed, happy with the result. Team RWBY nodded along, while JNPR and the rest of CFVY were less sure.
"Maybe a few adjustments…I don't want to be deaf as well as blind," Fox quipped, shaking his head.
"I'll make sure everything is perfect before the dance," Weiss said, "It can't be anything less for Team RWBY's musical debut."
"You guys offering to do a music act?" Coco asked.
The Xiao Long Sisters all nodded enthusiastically.
"Trust us, those four are great at singing," Jaune said.
"Yeah, they got the high score at Karaoke. You guys should seriously start a music group or something," Nora added.
"Oh, we got that covered," Yang said confidently, "We got the dance numbers, songs and even a name already figured out."
"Really, what is it?" Pyrrha asked.
The Sisters looked at one another and nodded. They dashed forward before spinning back toward the main group, striking poses as they did so.
"The Killers of Destruction and Annihilation!"
Silence and blank stares were all that greeted this proclamation.
"That's…ummm…quite a unique name," Pyrrha said, trying to not sound too unsure.
"Sounds more like a death metal band or something," Nora commented, not as concerned as Pyrrha about staying polite.
"Well, our band will be multi-genre in any case" Weiss replied, the Sisters pulling out of their poses.
JNPR could believe that. They had witnessed how Weiss could go from singing high-energy pop to soothing jazz to eardrum-shattering heavy metal without missing a beat.
"Using our initials to make an acronym would have been great, but that being used for our Beacon team. We want to keep some level of separation from these two career paths," Blake explained.
"Well…why not use something else to give you an acronym, like that 'Killers' name?" Velvet suggested.
The four Sisters tapped their chins in unison, deep in thought.
"…Killers of Destruction and Annihilation…" Yang whispered aloud.
"…KDA…" Ruby said, finishing their collective thought.
The four Huntresses looked at one another before nodding.
"We like it!" they proclaimed, giving Velvet a thumbs up.
"As long as no one else has trademarked it, KDA will be a great name for our group. After we graduate as top Huntresses, we'll take the music world by storm," Weiss said, rubbing her hands together as she thought of all the fame and money they would get.
"You guys think you can pull that off? I'm more into fashion but I know the music business is cut-throat," Coco commented.
"Oh sure, we got the talent and determination," Weiss replied, pulling out her Scroll, "Here, check out this demo we made before coming to Beacon."
She expanded the Scroll and handed it to Velvet, who was still sitting at the table. Everyone gathered around to watch the video playing.
The Xiao Long Sisters were singing and dancing on stage at the Patch community theatre, singing a song called 'Popstar'. The sheer coordination among the girls was astounding, their voices in perfect harmony and their movement as if they shared one mind. The production values, while not up to professional standards, were still great for amateurs.
The Xiao Long Sisters were standing on the other side of the table, watching the reactions of their friend and taking smug satisfaction at their amazement.
"Okay…I take it back, you guys can probably make it," Coco conceded, her sunglasses almost sliding off her face.
"Swipe left, there a practice video we made for another song,"
Velvet followed Weiss's instruction, bringing up another music video where, again, the Xiao Long Sisters were killing it with their music, this time with a song called 'More'.
"Damn, is there anything you guys can't do?" Nora remarked.
"Well, that piece needs more work to it," Blake said.
"Probably need a fifth person for the end part, to really bring it together," Ruby added.
So engrossed was Velvet, that she absentmindedly swiped again, to see if there were more videos. She accidentally swiped too hard, scrolling past a large number of pictures and videos by mistake.
"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" Velvet's apology was cut off as she stopped the fast scrolling and looked closely at the picture it had stopped at. The others followed suit, leaning in with eyes wide, not fully processing what they were seeing.
The picture was of Yang, Blake and Weiss, that much was clear. The thing that was shocking to everyone was that they were wearing very different clothes to what they were wearing now.
It was a mix of blacks and dark purples, with many rips and tears for all three of them. Yang had several purple extensions in her hair and Weiss had completely dyed her hair black. She still had her hair in the off ponytail, though the tiara hairpin had been replaced with one bearing batwings and a skull.
There were several skull motifs, on belts, bracelets, earrings and necklaces. Blake was holding out her fist, with her index and pinky pointed up like horns. Yang had a wicked smile while Weiss was sticking her tongue.
It was absolutely bizarre, and all followed a very clear theme.
"Y-You…" Velvet started to say, her lips twitching into a smile, "You guys went through a goth/punk phase?"
The three elder Xiao Longs, who had been watching the scene and had been about to lunge forward to grab the Scroll, instead slammed their hands down on the table and leaned forward with pure indignation on their faces.
"IT'S NOT A PHASE, DAD!"
Silence met their declaration, and realizing what they had said, the three quickly backed away, bright blushes on their embarrassed faces.
"Sorry…reflex…" Yang said, not looking at anyone.
More silence followed before it was broken but, of all people, Yatsuhashi. The large male was the first to crack, first with a small giggle before almost falling over laughing. Everyone followed suit, even the Xiao Longs laughing at their past selves.
"I will say that you three do rock that looks pretty well," Coco said, taking off her glasses to wipe tears from her eyes, "How long did you keep it up?"
"About a week or so," Blake answered.
This brought another round of chuckles, as the Sisters continued to insist, quietly, that it still wasn't a phase or anything.
"Anyway, back to those dance moves. We have got to try something ourselves, some big, coordinated dancing debut," Nora said to her teammates, "Maybe we can do a big number altogether, all of us eight of us."
"That sounds wonderful!" Pyrrha exclaimed, uncharacteristically enthusiastic. She blushed a bit when she realized her outburst, but she couldn't help it, she was truly coming to understand how much she loved singing and dancing.
Teams RWBY and JNPR began an intense and animated discussion about what sort of dance routine they could do in the time they had. Team CFVY was left to just watch the debate, smiling at the over-the-top ideas being thrown around. Coco would have to get them back to work soon enough, or there wouldn't be a dance at all, but she could give them a few minutes for themselves.
All four members of CFVY were in silent agreement on one thing, with those two teams in the mix, this would be a dance to remember.
Penny Discoveries
Lunchtime had passed and both RWBY and JNPR were returning to their dorms. They had the day off from helping with the dance, as Coco was waiting for more supplies to be shipped in. The group entered Team RWBY's room, discussing what they could do for the rest of the day.
"Weiss, I know we have tests and term finals coming up but I'm not spending what free time we have studying," Yang said, completely against Weiss's suggestion of heading to the library for the afternoon.
"If we don't keep up with our studies, then this dance will be the last thing we do at Beacon before we're flunked out," Weiss counter, walking to her desk to grab a textbook.
She was being hyperbolic here, as both teams were well on top of their assignments and their grades were excellent. She just wasn't going to remotely entertain the notion of them failing any upcoming test, no matter what.
"We've been cooped up inside the auditorium the past few days, some fresh air wouldn't be remiss," Pyrrha suggested.
"That sounds great!" Ruby seconded, heading to the window to throw open the curtains. "It's a perfect day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and WAAAGGGHHH!"
Everyone jolted and looked over as Ruby suddenly screamed and fell back from the windows. Her sisters rushed over, hovering protectively over her as they looked out the window to see what startled her.
There, hanging on the window with her face pressed against the glass, was one Penny Polendina. She was smiling widely, which given how her face was right up against the window, came off as creepier than anything. It looked like she was just sticking to the window, like that one hero from Marvelous Comics, Arachnid-Man.
"P-Penny! What are you doing?" Ruby cried out, trying to get her heartbeat under control.
Penny started moving her lips but those inside the room couldn't hear anything.
"What? What are you saying?" Blake asked, moving to open the window.
As she did, Penny moved and stuck her head through the opening.
"Salutations!" she shouted, causing everyone to cover their ears. As they collected themselves, Penny climbed through the window, standing in front of the group with hands on her hips, a big smile on her face.
"W-what the fuc-…heck, are you doing?" Weiss said, biting back a curse as the ringing in her ears slowly faded.
"Proclamation; I am here to visit my dear and true friends!" the girl said, puffing out her chest with pride.
"You know they have doors in this place, you could have just walked up here," Nora commented.
"Rebuttal: That would have a negative effect and lessen the impact of my primary objective," Penny replied.
"What would that be, scary the living daylights out of us?" Blake asked.
"Proud Proclamation: I intend to partake in a midnight elopement with Friend-Ruby. We will sneak away under the cover of darkness for a night of irresistible passion!"
A long moment of silence passed in the dorm as everyone processed what exactly she had just said.
"WHAT?" was the collective cry from seven of the eight students. JNPR all had bright blushes on their faces, while the elder Xiao Long Sisters shuffled protectively around Ruby, mainly on instinct as their minds were still shocked.
The odd one out was Ruby herself, who only looked at Penny with a blank expression on her face. The notion of doing anything vaguely romantic with anyone just didn't make sense to her. To think or contemplate doing anything like that was just complete nonsense, and she felt absolutely nothing at all about the prospect.
The only exceptions were, of course, her sisters…her sisters…her sisters…
Ruby tilted her head as a thought came to mind. No…If it had been some random stranger, then she would be feeling nothing. This was Penny and that was something…she felt…something. She had no idea what it was, this was just a small nugget of an emotional response to Penny's declaration, but it was there.
Penny's brow furrowed as she looked over the group.
"Puzzlement: This is not the reaction I was anticipating."
"What reaction were you expecting?" Yang croaked, her mind still swirling.
"A more agreeable and joyous exclamation was what my processing units had calculated. Is this not the typical action of non-physically involved friends?"
The robot girl's question only brought more confusion to the group, as it was a contradiction to what she had said before.
It was Jaune, having another flash of insight, who saw what might be going on.
"Penny, I think you're getting your definitions of romantic and platonic mixed up."
"Pure Shock: Oh Dear, am I? I suppose the Wi-Fi in the area where I conceived this plan was spotty."
Everyone let out a deep breath, as they realized this was all a mistake and misunderstanding.
"That's good, but…what this about a 'midnight elopement'? It's the middle of the day," Weiss pointed out.
Penny stared ahead blankly before turning her head towards the window. As in, her head spun a full 180 degrees while the rest of her body stood still. After a few moments, her head spun around the other way, back towards the room.
"So it is," she said in a bland voice.
A moment of silence passed before everyone burst out laughing. It was such a strange and surreal thing, both unreal but also completely human. It showed that Penny was far more than a simple machine but a real person who could make some very strange decisions and mistakes.
"Alarm: Have I said something to offend or disturb?" Penny asked genuine fear and panic in her voice. "If so then I wholeheartedly apologize and will endeavour to repair the damages wrought-"
"Penny, Penny! Calm down, it's okay, we're not mad or anything," Ruby said, finally getting back on her feet. "We were all just caught off guard by everything."
"Oh, if that is the case…" Penny looked down and started fidgeting. "Sincere Apology: I'm sorry for making such a non-standard entrance into the premises. I wanted to make a positive impression and elected a more…unorthodox and spontaneous approach. I didn't mean to cause alarm or discomfort."
"It's fine, it's fine, no harm no foul," Ruby said, moving over to Penny and placing a hand on her shoulder. "We're always happy to see you, no matter what. You're our friend and you can visit us whenever you want."
"Preferably in a way that doesn't give us a heart attack," Weiss quipped.
Penny looked up and a small but genuine smile graced her lips.
"Thank you, Friend-Ruby."
Another small flash of emotion went through Ruby, an emotion she couldn't understand. It wasn't bad but it was strange, so she decided to just ignore it for now.
Penny looked around the room before looking down again, her smile fading.
"It seems I'm intruding on an inter-team discussion between you and Team JNPR. I do not want to interfere or upset any plans you may be in the process of formulating."
"That's no problem at all," Jaune spoke up. "You're our friend too, so you're more than welcome to join in whatever we plan on doing today,"
"Hesitant Query: R-really? Am I really your friend as well?" Penny's voice was small but filled with hope.
Jaune and the rest of his team nodded, more than willing to accept this eccentric robot girl.
Penny smiled brightly and threw her hands into the air.
"Sensational!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, against making everyone wince and cover their ears. "This is wonderful and stupendous news. Where before I had four confirmed friends, now I have eight. Eight is a greater number than four, so the mathematics of the situation are most favourable. A quick calculation returns the result that this is perhaps the best day ever!"
JNPR couldn't keep the smiles off their faces. The genuine joy and exorbitant on display put to rest any lingering doubts of Penny being fake or not a real person. Everything about her was pure, genuine human, no question about it.
"Proclamation: I must properly express my appreciation for your acceptance of my friendship," Penny said before dashing forward, appearing in front of Jaune before he could even blink.
"Thank you, Friend-Jaune!" she exclaimed joyfully, patting his shoulders with her hands. She then dashed backwards to her starting position before moving again in front of Ren.
"Thank you, Friend-Ren!"
Again, she moved faster than the eye could see back to standing in front of the window before moving the short distance to Nora.
"Thank you, Friend-Nora!"
One last backward dash before she moved to the last member of JNPR.
The others all realized what was about to happen and they all took a step forwards, hands outstretched and a warning on their lips for Penny to stop.
Too slow for the excited robot, who placed her hands on the shoulders of the tall red-haired Amazon.
"Thank you, Friend-Pyrrha!"
Pyrrha had been making wonderful progress in overcoming her aversion to physical contact with others. She could, slowly and carefully, hold the hands of her teammates and Team RWBY for a short time. For dancing, she still needed to start with Ren using their Semblance but once she got going, she could switch partners and dance with the others.
It was a small thing, but for her, it was a huge step forward.
Still, there were limits and having someone who, despite affirming her friendship was still practically a stranger, run up and place their hands on her, was too much. Pyrrha's body moved on instinct, responding to Penny's friendly gesture by striking the girl in the chin with her fist in a fast and powerful uppercut.
This would have been bad in a normal situation, but Penny was far from normal, which was showcased by her head becoming detached from her body by the surprise attack. Her head hit the ceiling of the dorm, falling at an angle and landing in the hands of a very surprised Ruby.
Penny's eyes were still moving around, a look of shock and surprise on her face before she looked up at her friend.
"Oh my…this is embarrassing," she said.
Holding her friend's head in her hands, Ruby did the only thing she could do…she tossed it into the air while screaming bloody murder.
"WAAAAAHHH!"
Jaune was the unfortunate one that Penny's head landed on next, and he promptly followed Ruby's lead, screaming and throwing the head away from himself.
"AAAAGGGGGHHHH!"
For the next few minutes, an impromptu game of 'Hot Potato' ensured, with Penny's head being tossed around between the members of RWBY and JNPR, each one, in turn, throwing it away and screaming hysterically. While they were being trained to be warriors against hideous monsters, seeing and holding what looked like a severed head was too much for the teens.
"Friends please…if you would just calm down…No, don't…Friends… Please!"
Penny was talking throughout the ordeal, her pleas for calm and rationality falling on deaf ears. Indeed, having a severed head talking just made things worse.
Not helping was that Penny's headless body was still moving, arms outstretched to grab hold of her head. That just increased the animalistic fear of the others, who were all stumbling and falling over one another, getting back up just to accidentally catch Penny's head. They would then throw it away and start the process over again, making a chaotic mess of the dorm room.
Eventually, Penny managed to get her body to jump and catch her head while it was in mid-air, quickly reattaching to her neck. The sudden restoration of Penny back to her normal self finally gave everyone a moment to calm down and catch their breath.
"Robot girl…robot girl…"
This was the mantra the teens repeated over and over, necessary information that needed to be fully absorbed to allow their minds to stop panicking.
"Sorrowful Conclusion: I'm so sorry about this. I…I…I have brought an unacceptable level of panic and discord to this dorm. I should never have come here this day…I will vacate the premises post haste."
Penny's apology was punctuated by small fits of hiccups, which showed just how emotional she was. She began turning towards the window, planning on leaving the same way she came in.
"Penny, wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Ruby said, dashing to Penny's side and grabbing her hand. "Don't go, everything is fine. We… were all just a little surprised, that's all. We're more than happy to have you here, so please stay."
Penny just stared at Ruby, a few more hiccups escaping before she fully calmed down. Her processors were at full spin trying to analyze the whole situation and the proper response, but also understand why her internal temperature was suddenly rising. It was the strangest and most illogical reaction, and she assumed it must be some sort of error with her hardware.
But it didn't feel bad at all, so she elected to brush it all off and accept what Ruby was saying.
"Thank you…Friend-Ruby."
The smile Ruby gave was small, but it had a big impact, making Penny's internal temperature rise further. It was fortune that she had such an extensive heat dispersal system, designed to handle her laser weaponry, otherwise, she would be as red as a tomato with visible steam coming out of her ears.
It was the most peculiar thing.
Ruby's sisters, having regained their composure, looked at the scene with smiles on their faces. In their minds, they replayed what Ruby had said during the first day at Beacon.
"Why do I need friends when I have you?"
While Ruby had always gotten along with her sisters' friends back on Patch, she never ventured out to make friends on her own. She had started with Jaune, though that had been in a situation they had forced her into. It had also morphed into a collective friendship between Teams RWBY and JNPR as well, no longer just a relationship between two people.
That was fine, as they all agreed that JNPR were all great people and were fast becoming the best and closest friends they ever had. It was something the Xiao Long Sisters all had, rather than specifically for Ruby.
But right here and now, Ruby was comforting the friend she had made herself, going beyond the established circle and opening up to another.
They were so proud of her.
Penny turned towards the group and bowed deeply.
"Sincere Apology: I'm so very sorry for disturbing you and hope you will forgive me and allow me to participate in your friendship activities today."
Jaune spoke up, speaking on behalf of his team.
"Of course, it's fine. This wasn't your fault at all. It was all just an accident, right Pyrrha?"
Jaune turned to his partner, only to realize she wasn't standing beside him. They all belatedly realized that she hadn't partaken in the impromptu game of "Hot Potato Penny".
She was lying on the ground, out cold. She had fainted on the spot, and it would have almost seemed that she was sleeping peacefully…if not for the small amount of foam at the edges of her mouth. Shock and panic had been the prime elements in rendering her unconscious.
"Oh dead! Friend-Pyrrha has been struck down!" Penny exclaimed, slapping her hands against her cheeks in deep shock. "Resolute Action: I will employ my extensive suite of medical knowledge and equipment to remedy the situation. This includes surgical tools, a full suite of drugs including shots of adrenaline, and a built-in defibrillator."
Penny rubbed her hands together for a moment, and when she parted them, a few bolts of electricity jumped between her palms.
The group just stared at Penny, all thinking the same thing.
"That's…that's not needed. She's just passed out," Yang said, moving slightly to block Penny in case she tried to do anything to Pyrrha.
"Disappointed Expression: Awwwwww," she said, pouting. "I never get a chance to exhibit my non-combat functionalities."
"I'm sure the time will come one day," Weiss said before kneeling next to Pyrrha. "I think I can handle this. I have some Dust residue from a failed experiment; I was trying to make a formula that could create knock-out gas. It only became a foul-smelling solid clump, useless for a gas weapon but it should work as a substitute for smelling salts."
Weiss pulled out a vial from one of her innumerable inner pockets, one holding what looked like some dark green rocks. She took off the top and everyone except Penny took a step back. It was only faint but the smell from even that distance was horrible. Weiss held her breath as she tipped the top of the vial next to Pyrrha's nose.
The effect was instant, with the fallen Champion getting back up. She didn't sit up but instead was on her feet in one swift motion. It was like she was horizontal and then immediately vertical, her body tense and her eyes wide.
"I…I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" she cried, bowing profusely towards Penny. Her bout of unconsciousness hadn't affected her memory and so was apologizing for, literally, knocking Penny's block off.
"Oh, Friend-Pyrrha! You don't need to apologize. No permanent hardware damage was done, and I am functioning and 99.8 percent capacity," Penny replied, not angry or disturbed at having her head forcibly removed at all.
"No, what I did was unforgivable. I should never have done something so…violent. Not when you were just being friendly,"
"Reiteration; Its fine. This is only a small bump at the beginning of the road of our sure-to-be long and fruitful friendship. I would only request that, in the future, you refrain from taking actions that would either decapitate or dismember me, as that may be detrimental to our relationship. Is that acceptable?"
"I…yes. I can do that," Pyrrha conceded, her desire for a greater punishment thwarted by Penny's sunny disposition and lack of malice. It was an easy promise to make at least. What possible situation would she find herself in that would make her rip Penny to pieces anyway?
A somewhat awkward moment of silence passed, broken up by Nora speaking.
"I don't know about any of you, but I could use some fresh air. I say we hit the nearby park and stretch our legs a little before doing anything else."
Everyone quickly agreed with the suggestion. The dorm was a mess, and the smell of Weiss's concoction was still lingering, despite her having closed the vial immediately after Pyrrha woke up.
The group started to make their way out of the room. Penny made to go out the window again before Ruby grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, leading the robot girl out the door.
In short order, the group was outside and heading to the park. A quick trip to a nearby convenience store helped turn this into an impromptu picnic. A simple picnic at the park with friends turned out to be just what they all needed, to refresh and recharge after both the little incident in the dorm and from the work on the dance. A pleasant time with both old friends and brand-new ones.
Time flew by faster than anyone realized and soon Penny had to bid her friends a farewell. She had been allowed greater freedom of movement within the city in exchange for a strict curfew. The sun would be setting soon, so the students also needed to head back to Beacon.
The group parted ways with Penny, waving goodbye until she was out of sight. Penny herself continued to wave for several minutes after they were gone before lowering her arms and adopting a thinking posture.
Her super-computer of a brain was analyzing everything that had transpired, cataloguing the entire sequence of events, and calculating what the most appropriate response should be. After a solid minute of thinking, she came to her answer.
This answer involved Penny jumping over 100 feet into the air and shouting joyfully.
"WOOOOOAAHHHH! I HAVE FRIENDS!"
It was fortunate that there wasn't anyone else around, as the sight of a girl suddenly straight into the air like that would have caused at least a small degree of panic and calls to the police.
She landed deftly, a huge smile on her face.
This was truly a momentous occasion. While perhaps for other people, spending a couple of hours walking downtown, through a park and then having a picnic was nothing special, for her it was amazing. Simply conversing on non-combat related topics was a rare thing, only her father went out of his way to engage with her on that level. With everyone else in Atlas, it was all business.
But here, she had made real friends, who treated her like a real person. Even after the episode in the dorm room, they still wanted to spend time with her, to engage with her. It was a precious thing, as it made her feel truly alive.
For giving her such a gift, Penny was determined to return the favour and after a few moments of thinking, she came to an acceptable course of action.
"I will quickly procure a sufficient quantity and quality of diamond rings and present them to my friends, to solidify our engagement and join with them in holy matrimony. I will then take them all to a secluded tropical island for a month-long honeymoon of irresistible passion before constructing a sufficiently large private domicile for all of us to live in together, happily ever after."
Penny's smile slowly faded as she more thoroughly considered this proposal.
"Is this…what friends do? Is this the most appropriate way to show my appreciation for this outing?"
Her mind raced through multiple data sets, looking over mountains of information in seconds. Even with the sum of all human knowledge at her fingertips, she wasn't sure if she was getting this right.
Considering her mistake this morning, she may be mixing her information up again. She elected to stay on the safe side and shelf this plan, for now at least.
But she still wanted to do something to show how thankful she was to RWBY and JNPR. These people, her friends, made her feel like just an ordinary girl. They made her feel like a real person, just like one of them.
That brought another concern to the forefront of Penny's mind, and she looked down as she patted her chest with one hand. Her very…flat chest.
The human body could take innumerable different shapes and sizes and there wasn't anything inherently better about one over the other. Her body had been made for a specific reason, to fit into a needed form for both combat and possible infiltration. Much of her appearance had been dictated by her father, and he had very strong reasons for making her look the way she did.
She understood and accepted those reasons and otherwise had no issues with her body before coming to Beacon.
But spending time with her friends, who were predominantly female, she was finding that she was coming up short in certain areas.
The most obvious difference was in breast size. Her friends were, according to her calculations, in the top percentile when it came to breast size. They were incredible and perfectly fit their figures. Friend-Ruby had grown significantly since they first met, though it was well hidden by her corset, while Penny was still the same.
Even Friend-Ren had substantially large breasts hidden way under their chest binder. She wasn't sure why that was the case, why they were hiding their gender, but she didn't pry. It certainly didn't stop Ren from being a kind person and firm friend.
It all just came together to make Penny feel inferior, that she wasn't up to the same standards as the others. It was a very human reaction, which was great in one respect, but it was still an unwanted feeling. Just as she was getting closer to people, something was coming up to make her feel apart again.
Penny slapped her cheeks, gathering her resolve. She wasn't going to falter here. Instead, she would use her synthetic makeup to resolve the situation.
If the issue was that her chest was too small, then they would simply get a bigger one. Physical upgrades were well within the realm of possibility for her.
"Okay…time to upgrade my chest…I mean…expand my mammary glands…no, that's not right."
Penny started pacing, racking her computer brain. Those words fit the definition of what she wanted, but not the feeling. She didn't fully understand or express it, but she just felt that she needed some new words to encapsulate what she wanted.
She searched through her database and was frustrated to find nothing that fit her admittedly vague parameters. She searched on the internet and again found nothing. Possessing the sum of human knowledge wasn't helping much right this moment.
Miffed, Penny performed an internal diagnostic, thinking something had to be wrong with her search capabilities. She didn't find anything wrong but was a bit shocked to discover that a safe filter had been applied to her internal search engine.
She was both shocked and annoyed at this. While still young by human standards, she wasn't a child or anything. Having such a filter imposed was certainly impeding her ability to access accurate information and was an unnecessary burden.
Being a walking supercomputer, it was easy enough for her to hack her mind and disable this filter. Her handlers didn't know that she had gained such control over her internal software, and she took care to not let them know; a girl's allowed to keep a few secrets. With the filter off, she once again imputed a search on the internet to find what she was feeling regarding her body and breasts.
Penny's eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open as the new information flooded into her mind. She knew of the biological makeup of humans, and thus what they looked like without clothes on, and she knew how procreation works but the images and videos playing before her mind were of a different level and substance.
She inadvertently learned exactly what 'irresistible passion' truly meant and why her friends had such a reaction to her saying it. A part of her stored that tidbit away for later but most of her processing power was being spent examining and sorting through the seemingly infinite number of new data points her search was bringing up.
"Girls can do that…and Boys can…oh my…so much…so much…so much information!" Penny could only stand still, every ounce of her being focused on this monumental task.
It was too much, too much new information that needed to be analyzed. Her core temperature rose beyond her normal limits and steam began to rise from her ears. She wasn't aware of the warning alarms, so focused was she on seeing and knowing everything about this aspect of humanity. Her whole system was on the verge of a complete meltdown.
Luckily, she had safeguards in place. Just before her system was overwhelmed, her master program initiated an emergency hard reset. Penny's eyes went blank, and her arms fell limply to her sides. She stood completely still, and one could have easily mistaken her for a colourful statue.
Several minutes passed. A small bird landed on Penny's head and started to make a nest out of her hair. It was startled away as the robot girl suddenly sprung back into life, her eyes flashing.
"Salutation!" she gave out her customary greeting as her reboot completed. Her happy expression faded as she remembered what had happened.
This was…dangerous. To think that there was such a repertoire of information out there, blocked from her. She had to be very careful, lest she fall victim and be overwhelmed again.
Still, this was an incredible new source of information, information she was sure was vital to understanding the complexities of the human condition. She just needed to take it slow and be more careful.
Taking a deep breath, Penny once again accessed the internet and put in her search, looking for the proper expression regarding her desire for a more developed chest. She made sure to focus only on this, her previous mistake being that she had been so surprised by the results that she kept widening the parameters and examining everything, overloading her systems. She would take time to go over everything, slowly and carefully, later but right now she needed to find the right words to match what she was feeling.
She found them, remarkably quick. She went over the words several times, analyzing them to make sure they met her criteria. Once she was satisfied, Penny smiled brightly and pumped one fist into the air.
"Okay! Time for me to get some Big Ol' Anime Tiddes!"
With that proclamation, she started to happily march out of the park, heading back to the apartment block that Atlas had rented out for her and her support team.
The researchers, engineers, and handlers of the P.E.N.N.Y Project were used to dealing with bizarre questions and requests from their charge. It went hand in hand with creating a being that had an advanced computer for a brain while being as naïve and innocent as a toddler.
This latest request…yeah, it was up there for the strangest things Penny had ever asked.
Still, it wasn't something a soulless robot would ask. If anything, it showed that Penny was becoming more human. Eccentric and weird yes, but still very human.
They all silently wondered what had happened to make this sizable change in Penny.
Penny played coy with her answers to that query. A girl was allowed a few secrets after all.
That's it for this set of vignettes. I plan on one more set of three for the next chapter, with the Dance taking place after that.
The first story gives some more development for Ren and gives another appearance of 'Weiss the Useless Lesbian'. It comes off the heels of the Deleted Scene from the last chapter, which I didn't plan. I certainly don't want to run the joke into the ground, so I'll try to space it out more. I had thought about having a short scene of Weiss and Coco bonding over their shared love of girls, like how she bonded with Nora over their love of explosions. I cut it, again because it might be too much to focus on this one aspect of her character. I may include it later as a short flashback.
Another unplanned addition was the flashback with CVFY's mission, as I originally envisioned that they simply finished the mission on time in this story. This ballooned as I was writing it to feature Velvet using her Semblance in a unique way, which ties back to the main cast. The changes to her Semblance are both interesting and subtle enough to not change how it fundamentally works or how she fights.
The last brings back Penny and all her robotic antics. Having her get the proper definition of things wrong will be a recurring thing, and she will be getting a substantial 'upgrade' in the future.
I will also go into more detail about Ruby's condition and how the wider relationships will work in the future. The focus will remain on the RWBY and JNPR relationships, but I want to expand it out a bit to include other characters, such as Penny. There will be no drastic changes in the short term, but it will add more unique elements to the story.
I'm not big into K-POP or League of Legends but I do enjoy the K/DA music videos and I found myself imagining Team RWBY taking the place of the League characters. This is just another small, fun thing I decided to add to the story.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading my story. Please leave a review or PM and tell me what you think.