Note: A bit nervous about this one to be honest. We haven't written an action scene in over a year. We wrote this mainly as a way of trying to get back into the grove, so we apologize if it isn't up to snuff. We're sure you will let us know in the comments. Anyway, we hope you enjoy Penny trying to murder everyone. Enjoy.
Ruby's instinct's kicked in. She pushed herself back up against the chair, hitching up her legs and throwing herself over the back of the seat. She rolled through the air as the swords blasted toward her. Blake ducked low to the floor to avoid getting sliced to ribbons. Weiss dodged to the side, moving off her seat. Yang pushed herself up to her feet and simply got ready to deflect the blades with her bare hands. Ruby landed on the armrests of the chair behind her just in time to see the swords reach her former position.
But, before they could her former location, the swords arced up in the air and redirected toward the ceiling. Ruby watched, every muscle in her body tensed, as the swords began to soar in the air in a majestic pattern, circling in a graceful dance. Ruby studied their movements, trying to predict where they would go next, and her eyes kept jumping back to Penny, who guided the swords while barely moving, impossible to predict. Yang growled, pulling up her fists and Weiss and Blake tried to recover.
"What the hell?" Yang shouted. "Is she trying to kill us?"
Ruby tracked the swords. Where were they going? When would they strike?
"They can't be that stupid, right?" Blake shouted, scrambling to find her weapon case.
"This is just trying to intimidate us," Weiss stuttered, her head flowing with the erratic motion of the swords. "She can't seriously be trying to—"
Penny extended her hand, and the swords changed course suddenly, spread out at the four young women. Ruby jumped from the seat.
"Move!"
She barreled low, swooping down to grab her weapon briefcase before jetting off along the row of chairs in a stream of rose petals. The swords followed her movements, racing after her. She ducked low amongst the seats, and the swords pierced the empty chairs behind her with a loud clink. She raced to the end of the row, bursting forth in her human form, her scythe equipped and her eyes gleaming with a demented fury. She stared down Penny, but the cadet just gave her a cheeky glance. It was more than enough to light the fire under her.
She didn't know what Atlas's game was—but she damn sure wasn't going to let herself be a player. If that meant cutting this random student's arm off, she would do it.
Ruby shot herself down the stairs, and across from her, Weiss, Blake, and Yang all nodded to each other. Yang cocked her shotgun gauntlets and blasted them behind her, turning the few chairs to her rear into rubble as she blasted over the other students. Weiss, too frantic to grab her weapon from her suitcase, jumped down the stairs and started sprinting as fast as she could. Blake, still on the floor, looked hurriedly for her own weapon. When she found the case a few feet from her, she reached toward it. Before her fingers could grab it, it became encased in a purple aura and suddenly slid down the row away from her. Blake grabbed at the air in confusion until she heard a quiet chuckle behind her.
"Oh," Goodwitch said casually as she sat next to the smoking rubble of several seats. "Did you need that for something?"
Penny stood still as Ruby, Yang and Weiss approached from three separate directions, their vengeful screams met with the startled gasps from the audience of other students and the rapid, finessed violin music from her fellow student, Ciel. She wasn't expecting the others to join her so quickly, but she was pleased nonetheless. She kept her eyes peeled on all of them, expecting Ruby to meet her on the stage first, but the rose petal suddenly jutted toward the center of the theater, swooping beneath Yang. The blonde ended up reaching her first, her trajectory headed right on top of her. She could adjust for that. She quickly pulled on her fingers, summoning her swords back to her before Yang made contact. Yang pulled back her fist, but Penny lightly pushed herself back so that her charged fist crashed into the middle of the stage floor. Yang sneered at her. The girl was faster than she was expecting, lunging almost to the back of the stage. Yang did not chase after her; instead, she ducked low so her sister had a clear shot.
Ruby flew over the crowd until she came to a forceful stop on the backs of several students' chairs, swinging down her scythe and implanting it between two more students directly in front of her. They cursed at her, but she was so focused she could not hear them. She grabbed onto the bolt and pulled so hard she thought she would pull it off, launching a sniper shot directly toward the cadet's lower torso. Before the bullet could arrive, four swords swooped past Ruby and formed a shield to deflect the shot with a cannon-like pang, ricocheting it back into the stage. Ruby cranked on the bolt again, but before she could get another shot off, she gasped and was forced to jump away as the other four swords came swooping toward her. She leaped back onto more armrests, carefully stepping over the waists and heads of her classmates as she made a desperate, staggering retreat from the swords.
"Whoa, watch it!"
"What is happening?"
"Get away from me!"
"Kick her ass, Ruby!"
Ruby glanced back and forth between the students, the chairs, and the swords, which jabbed at her rhythmically as she sprinted toward the end of the row. She had no room to swing her scythe; vertical, and she'd slice off her classmate's legs, and horizontal, she'd slash those in the row next to her. She just had to keep moving, one foot crossed over the other, dance, run, dance…
"Ruby, jump!"
The redhead heard her cue, and she jumped as high as she could into more petals. Behind her on the stairs, Weiss froze in line with her and held out her hand. From the ground behind her, four golden, spiked chains broke through the theater floor and collided with the flying swords, piercing them at their centers. They flew back and jammed themselves far into the other side of the theater, whooshing past the other students who, at this point, began to run out of their seats in a blind panic. A good fifth of them ran toward the outskirts of the theater, and those who remained recorded on their Scrolls the ensuing battle and screamed and jeered as if they were watching some grand show. And, in some twisted way, they were. It was eve set to music.
On the stage, Yang pushed forward, charging down the smiling cadet who attacked her team unprovoked. Yang did not duck or weave in her approach, simply running down Penny as fast as she could and delivering as hard of a punch as she could without trying to kill a person. Penny braced herself, blocking with her swords to dampen the impact. The metal rippled as Yang's punch connected, and the cadet was forced against the back wall of the stage from the sheer blunt force. Yang quickly tried to follow through, but Penny recalculated. She was strong. Stronger than anticipated. Blocking: stupid. Dodging: effective. Yang cocked back her fist and threw another strong right, but this time Penny tilted her head to the side and slipped past the blow. The wall behind her fractured, but she did not stop smiling, a fact that only enraged Yang further once Penny ducked beneath her arm and slid away from her, twirling across the stage like she was on ice skates. Her movements were so smooth and powerful that Yang couldn't even understand them—until she noticed that Penny's legs weren't shaped properly. They seemed angular, obtuse, and it only clicked once Yang saw the small bursts of bright green flame emitting from the cadet's calves.
And she noticed just too late, as while Yang's fist was still embedded in the wall, the flames in Penny's legs roared to life and she spiraled toward Yang, delivering a flying roundhouse of solid titanium to her skull. The strike didn't take Yang out, but Penny knew that. She remembered those news stories on Team RWBY and their fascinating Semblances, including the girl who grew more powerful every time she was hit. Yang was brought down to one knee, hunched over, and it was the perfect opportunity to strike. Penny reached out her palm and grabbed the back of Yang's neck, and several panels on the tips of her fingers opened up, allowing small, sharp prongs hidden within to stick in Yang's flesh. Yang tried to push herself up and take another swing, only to be shot down when a violent streak of electricity coursed through her body.
"Yang!" Ruby gasped as she saw her sister brought down by the surge of power. She grabbed Weiss's hand and morphed the two of them together using her Semblance, flying down the last few steps before the stage. Penny's eyes shot to the approaching duo, and she easily extended her free hand toward the approaching blur. A small panel opened up on her arm, and all at once Ruby and Weiss were bombarded with blistering noise, a shockwave so screeching that they broke apart in midair and crashed on the stage on either side of her. They groaned in pain, clutching at their heads. They had no idea what had hit them. Ruby wasn't too familiar with Penny Polendina. She had heard secondhand tales and stories of a student from Atlas that was an amazing Huntress prodigy, one of the best ever fielded in a Kingdom known for producing powerful soldiers. She wasn't sure what to make of her. Swords, tasers, sound cannons… just how much was this woman hiding.
It turned out: a lot more. Because before Ruby could recuperate, Penny pointed her hand at the prone Weiss, and her arm transformed in front of her eyes. The palm widened, the forearm split into multiple panels, and soon the entire arm became something wide and grotesque, a glowing, hissing, revving cannon of some sort. Penny's fingers separated wide until their tips were extended as far, and together they launched out from the cadet's hand, a stronger fiber net woven between them. The net attacked Weiss and pinned the defenseless Huntress to the floor, the fingertips embedding like spikes to keep Weiss in place, immobile, her arms pinned at her side. Ruby's face became flushed with terror. In the span of a few seconds, Penny had incapacitated two of her teammates.
Was that the plan all along? Kill her the moment she got to Atlas, or just humiliate her in front of her classmates. Weiss's grunts of discomfort and Yang's screams were echoing through the theater with the sound of that damned violin playing; the beret-wearing student hadn't even looked up from her instrument since the battle began, as if this was all meaningless. More than meaningless even… it was a damn joke to them. They thought she was nothing. They thought Team RWBY was nothing. The old Ruby would have been crestfallen. She would have seen her teammates taken down and thought to surrender. The old Ruby would have seen the overwhelming odds and stayed down like a bruised pup, just as everyone thought she should. The old Ruby was weak.
The new Ruby tightened her grip on her scythe because she didn't have time for that shit anymore.
Penny directed the final four swords toward her position, but Ruby sprang back to her feet with a furious cry. She ducked beneath the incoming blades and swung at Penny's legs. Penny strengthened her grip on Yang and pulled the sister in front of the attack as a human shield. Ruby acted quick, using the gun on the scythe's end to blast herself into a new position, swinging at Penny from a new angle. The cadet kicked at the scythe to deflect it, but Ruby took two more rapid swings at her, forcing her back. Penny directed the swords forward like a charging army, but Ruby knocked them from the air with cycling swings. One down. Two. Three. The fourth she rolled beneath, transforming her scythe as she moved, and she popped up in front of Penny's face with her sniper aimed straight at Penny's foot. Penny kicked at the weapon, but the shot went off before she could deflect her. Her foot took the brunt of the impact, and though it was strong enough to avoid being blown off completely, the sheer force was enough to destroy the engines within her calves and knock her off balance.
Penny stumbled briefly, just briefly, adjusting herself, holding her arms out for support—and it left her with a perfect target. Perfect enough for Blake to strike from above, as the assassin, armed with Gambol Shroud in her dominant hand and Myrtenaster in the other, slashed deep into the flesh of the metal arm holding Yang hostage.
The dual blades wedged themselves deep into the metal sending sparks and oil sputtering over the stage. Penny reacted with a subdued yet shocked squeak, and as Blake pulled out the weapons from the metal, the taser keeping Yang docile ceased.
The dragon did not react to the favor kindly. All at once the pain ceased and her muscles loosened, and with the growl of a beast, Yang grabbed onto Penny's arm and threw the cadet over her shoulder. The private smacked against the stage with an enormous crash, as if a thousand tons of steel came smashing full force into the earth, and while the cadet was disoriented, Yang screamed and threw Penny across the length of the stage. The Atlasian crashed just behind Ciel, finally jolting the student out of her violin solo, and the spectacular throw was enough to summon a host of cheers and screams from the audience.
Penny lay on the ground for a long moment, motionless.
Hurting.
Her body was hurting.
She slowly stood up, the world around her flashing, the four girls in bold colors staring her down. She had to… reset. Refocus. Clear the air. Her leg was damaged, and her arm…
She looked down at her limb.
Oh. Her arm was missing.
Penny shook her head and casually looked back at Team RWBY. Ruby Rose was staring her down, her scythe-sniper pointed at her head. Blake Belladonna was freeing Weiss Schnee from the net, handing her the weapon she had failed to pick up at the beginning of the attack. And Yang Xiao Long… oh, there was her arm. Yang had just ripped it off completely when she threw her. Yang seemed somewhat surprised herself, looking down at the glitching, jittering robotic limb in her possession like it was some peculiar bug she picked up from the wilderness. Regardless, they were all ready for a fight, preparing for whatever insane weapon she summoned from her body next.
They had done quite a lot of damage to her—and all after a sneak attack no less. General Ironwood said they would be easy targets to incapacitate, but she did tell him they shouldn't be underestimated. Heroes of Vale—they were deserving of that title after all. As she looked down at the exposed, sparking remnants of her arm, the smile that hung on her face during the battle returned.
Those girls were fascinating. Very fascinating.
The question lingered: If they worked together, would they be able to kill her if they wanted to?
Better question: Could they beat her right now if she actually started to try?
"That's enough, all of you."
Oh. A command to stop. How unfortunate. The answer would have to wait.
The room suddenly became very still and Team RWBY lowered their guards as the loud footsteps of General Ironwood approached from behind. Ruby's heart jumped to a thousand beats per minute. She saw him walk into her field of view, his arms clasped behind his back so stoically, so casually… like it all meant nothing. He surveyed the carnage in the theater, his face dark in a manner she hadn't yet seen, so different from his attempted warmness from before. Yang, Blake, and Weiss relaxed, but Ruby's hands shook violently on her weapon. He was right there… right there, a few steps away, easily within distance of her blade. Her mother's bloody visage snapped into her mind. Her breaths quickened. She took a step forward, and the General turned toward her. His gaze was sharp, nearly enough to make her trip over herself. Yang reached forward to stop her but she could not. Ruby stepped up to the general, practically frothing at the menacing Atlasian towering over her.
"What the hell do you think you're—"
"Miss Rose." His deep voice cut through hers and forced her into submission. "Excellent work."
Ruby stopped in her tracks. Her rage faltered.
"W-What?"
"That was an excellent response time," Ironwood stated plainly. Ruby lowered her guard, bewildered. Her teammates were no more understanding, even as Ironwood continued. "You all packed your weapons so they could be easily accessed. You responded quickly to the threat at hand and Miss Belladonna…" He glared the Faunus down, and his gaze did not relent even as his words carried kindness. "You even retrieved the weapon of your teammate when she carelessly forgot it. You always look after your comrade. Miss Schnee, I'm sure you won't be so forgetful to charge into combat without your primary weapon next time. But all you were well-coordinated. You recognized Private Polendina's weaknesses and you unflinchingly sought to neutralize them. I can see why Ozpin thinks so highly of you."
Ruby still didn't understand what the hell he was talking about. His student just tried to actively murder them, and here he was giving compliments? What kind of game was he playing? Ruby turned toward Penny, but to her surprise, the soldier was standing at attention, a pleasant smile still present on her face. She had lost, been disarmed in more ways than one, and she was satisfied. This was some elaborate test, wasn't it, like the nightmarish trials she had to undergo during her inauguration at Beacon. But it's purpose only became somewhat clearer when Ironwood turned out into the audience, and his mild sternness transformed into a demanding rage.
"The rest of you… what was that?" He did not shout, but his voice was loud enough to be carried across the entire theater. The rest of the Beacon students stared at him in awkward silence, unsure if it was appropriate to respond. "You are supposed to be the best that all of Vale has to offer, but you just saw your classmates attacked and did nothing. I see some of you on your Scrolls, some of you hiding behind chairs. Do you think that is what a Huntsman is supposed to do? Hide? As if you were damn cockroaches?"
A murmur came from the crowd.
"No…"
"What was that?" Ironwood growled.
"No," said more of the students. The few of them that had retreated to the edge of the theater shamefully returned to their seats, and the rest of them that had been enjoying the spectacle put their hands in their laps or by their sides and hung their heads, trying not to be seen.
Ironwood paced along the edge of the stage. "Three weeks ago, a Grimm attacked the City of Vale. No one knew it was coming. No Huntsmen were prepared for it. But these young women—" He pointed firmly at Team RWBY. "—They did not hide. They did run. They were present at the scene and they decided to act, and in doing so, they saved countless lives. Would any of you have done the same? I can hardly imagine so, given you cannot even show the basic level of courage needed to fight off a teenage girl from another Kingdom. If a Grimm attacked you all right now, I'd expect the majority of you to be eaten alive. When your classmates are attacked, that is an attack on you. Any one of you could have joined in to fight by their side, but you didn't. I am embarrassed that you are what represents your school."
Ironwood kept ranting, his voice unwavering as he talked down the crowd. We are now at war. The media might tell you otherwise, and your Kingdom may tell you not to believe it, but Humanity now has an enemy. They attacked Vale without any warning, and you are stupid if you believe they will give you open before striking again. You must all be ready to fight and die for our Kingdoms at a moment's notice, and what I see in you now… do any of you even have your weapons on you? Of course not, because you thought you'd be safe. Civilians have the luxury of thinking they are safe, and that is a foolish luxury they can afford because we keep them safe. Is that understood?"
Another murmur, this time of approval. Ironwood sneered.
"No. This time, you address me as General Ironwood. I'll ask again. Is that understood?"
The response from the Beacon students was clear.
"Yes, General Ironwood."
Ironwood, still unsatisfied, walked back toward Team RWBY. They were still on edge, but the earnest praise amidst a sea of disappointment was enough to keep them off-balance. Ironwood approached Ruby and stood before her. She was still trembling. Why couldn't she stop herself? Maybe the old Ruby Rose wasn't gone after all.
"You four have shown initiative," he said loud enough for the other students to hear. "I can respect those that are willing to fight for their Kingdom. I hope your classmates can become half the Huntresses that you will turn out to be." He bowed his head, more determined than before. "But don't be mistaken. You were still sloppy. If Private Polendina had been trying to kill you, she would have. You may be considered heroes in Vale, but here, you are not going to receive any special treatment. I will make perfect weapons out of you. Do you all understand that?"
The four women stared him down together. None of them gave an inch of ground. Ruby thought about what to say. He was a murderer. He just commanded one of his own students to attack them. Even if Penny wasn't going to kill them, that was still assault. There was video footage taken by the other students. She could threaten him with that. Expose him. Create international outrage. Would that be enough? Would she be able to get to that footage in time before Ironwood and Ozpin wiped it? Would they spin it in her favor? They did win after all. There were too many questions. Her adrenaline was still pumping. She couldn't afford to make an irrational move. Don't be aggressive, a voice in her mind reminded her. Play it safe. Get more information. Get dirt. Get an advantage. Then strike. Or strike now. Cut the bastard's head clean off for what he did to her mother. End it right here with the stroke of a scythe. That would work, too.
But Ruby didn't do that. Instead, Ruby took a deep breath, and swallowed her pride. She would make sure she could actually get the footage and then consider her next move from there. There was so much more game to be played, after all.
"Yes, General Ironwood."
Her words were laced with disgust. She hoped he picked up on that. Moreso… she hoped she reminded him of her mother.
Ironwood did not respond. Instead, he reached past her, calmly stealing the metal arm out of Yang's hands, much to the blonde's surprise. She somehow forgot she was holding the thing through all the reprimanding. Then, he merely turned around and walked to the other end of the stage. As he passed the center, a few notable glances from the students caught his eye. A studying, careful gaze from Pyrrha Nikos. A terrified appearance from Jaune Arc. A quiet resentment and unhappiness from Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. A dismissive pass from Coco Adel. A cocky, incandescent smirk from some young Huntress sitting near the back of the crowd that he did not recognize. He turned his head briefly toward them.
"Tomorrow, your real training begins. I expect perfection. Don't disappoint me again."
He reached the end of the stage, where Penny awaited him with a wrong-armed salute. Her smile did not waver despite his grim disposition.
"Are you satisfied with my performance, General Ironwood?" she asked cheerfully.
"You did fine, Penny," he sighed. "Let's get your arm reattached."
"Great idea, General Ironwood," she stated. "My training will go better with both of my arms."
"Yes. It will." Ironwood went to pass her, when he suddenly stopped and turned toward the girl standing by the stage's end, holding a violin and remaining perfectly still. "Oh, and Private Soleil?"
The girl's eyes nervously—hopefully—turned toward her Headmaster. "Yes, General Ironwood?"
Ironwood's sneer remained. "You hit two wrong notes during the rubato. Practice more."
Ciel's face did not change, but whatever glimmer of hope that was in her eyes faded quickly. Her words came out empty. "Yes, General Ironwood. My apologies."