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Why am I like this?
Ilia: ''Because you're an idiot.''
Mmh, yes. The evidence does seem to point toward that conclusion.
Anyway, I've already answered joecola00 on that point by PM. But for the sake of any shadow reader that might wonder the same thing, I'll repeat myself here: The attack on Amber and Salem ordering Augur to go to Atlas happens on the same day, but Tyrian takes several days to find Ruby, which just happens to be the same day the attack on Atlas is launched.
Ilia: ''While we have a few readers who liked the Rubot solution, there are also quite a few who consider this to be what should only be a stop-gap solution and think that being like that forever shouldn't be the end goal for saving Ruby.''
I agree. I don't want to spoil, but all I'll say is to not be discouraged by Gemini seemingly have no further plan on that part outside of the robotic body. Just because a character in the story has an end goal doesn't mean that I, the author, doesn't have further plans.
Ilia: ''We also have Cheshirek3t, who… I think they googled the case of the woman who married the color pink, because they don't seems very happy at finding out that it actually happened.''
Yep. The rock being cancelled for being racist happened, too. I made up neither. If anything, I left out several other exemples of things that were too dumb to be real, and yet. Including apple pies being racist (because of course they are. -₋- ) Modern 'journalists' wondering why 'white supremacist' groups are so racially diverse. The american government distributing crack pipes to homeless people in order to 'reduce racial inequalities'.
The list goes on. God's only mistake with the Great Flood was to tell Noah to build a boat.
I understand your desire to leave this planet, though. People are getting more and more stupider as the years passes.
Anyway.
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to RT. Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Shueisha.
In C16's AN, I said that the Jacqeus shown on screen, due to being so easily fooled by Watts, was too stupid and incompetant to be the same Jacques that took a heavily indebted SDC and turn it around into the economic giant we know the company to be.
But after reflexion, Jacques getting fooled by Watts may be less an exemple of stupidity and more a case of Jacques working with incomplete information.
After all, it's not like Jacques had any chance of knowing about Salem. Jacques know Watts is motivated by vengeance, but as far as he
can know, Watts' desire is only directed towards Ironwood. He had no reason to reasonably believe Watts would screw over the entire population.
It's not like conventional methods of gathering intel, the ones he'd have used all his life, would be able to discover anythign about Salem and her plans. If that was the case, the secret of Salem's existence would only be a secret to the general population.
I mean, it's true that we never see him being the competant businessman he's supposed to be, but it's a show about a group of kids/young adults saving the world in an adventure. Not about capitalism or business building.
Reproaching that to the show is like hating on a fish because it's not as good at climbing trees as it is at swimming. It was silly and dumb of me.
Anyway, enjoy the long awaited Gemini VS Augur fight. It's a very long fight.
''Captain Schiff, reinforce our left flank! Lieutenant Turm, I want you to fire the turrets on Mantle's walls at the Grimm.'' In the command center of Atlas' military, General Ironwood barked his orders.
''But General, the turrets were build for defensive purposes. If we use them to attack the Grimm assaulting Atlas and the Grimm were to redirect course on Mantle, the city's defenses wouldn't-'' Lieutenant Turm started on the other side of the radio, but was cut off by General Ironwood.
''They won't. Now do as I ordered.'' Ironwood said. To the rest of the military, the Grimm ignoring Mantle was puzzling and unsettling, but unlike them, the General of Atlas knew about Salem and thus, could make sense of the unusual behavior of the beasts. ''How are things in the streets?'' He asked another officer.
Military handbooks on Remnant, for obvious reasons, were focused more on dealing with Grimm than with other people. Even during the Great War, most battles only consisted of the two sides meeting, fighting for a few minutes, and then it turned into more of a contest of who could hold its own against the Grimm the longest and with suffering as little casualties as possible. That was why the last king of Vale's killing of 1 000 enemy troops was so shocking that it ended the bloodiest conflict in Remnant's history, a total of as many as 30 000 dead soldiers, in Vale's favor.
The Grimm always charged straight toward their target. Even the smarter one only thought so far as to wait for a younger Grimm to attack first, so they could follow up when their target was occupied with it. Because of the lack of planning from the Grimm, it was easy to create kill zones and cull them en masse, especially with the abundance of ammunition Atlas had been enjoying lately.
But this Grimm swarm?
They moved in formation, using actual tactics. Nobody on Remnant was prepared for that. Even with the unusually high amount of munitions Atlas was enjoying, they were still struggling far more than it should be possible against a swarm of Grimm this size.
Earlier, a group of Wyverns, instead of mindlessly attacking the closest ships to them, had coordinated to push one of Atlas' warships into the city's dust barrier, opening the way for other Grimm to pass through.
''The situation in the streets is going well, Sir.'' The officer answered. ''The Grimm are being culled without much trouble, and seems to revert to their usual mindless charge. Well, almost?''
So her attention was on the air battle? At least now he knew Salem had a limit in how many fronts she could focus on.
But… ''What do you mean, almost?'' General Ironwood asked.
''They attack our men as usually expected, but they're… they're ignoring civilians.'' The officer admitted. ''There are a few armed civilians who attacked the Grimm, but outside them, there aren't any confirmed civilian casualty.''
What? How could that be?
''General, Grimm have been sighted in the command center, they're coming toward us.'' One of the communication officer said.
How had the Grimm managed to get so close in the first place!? ''Tch! They're coming to cut the head of the kingdom. Everyone, prepare yourselves! We can't falter here.'' General Ironwood ordered, before organizing the guards presents to fight off the incoming wave.
He'd face Grimm and put his life on the line dozens of times during his career. This was but one more of those times.
Then he was interrupted by the radio speaking up again, the voice coming from it being Winter's this time. ''Sir, a suspicious individual has been spotted sneaking into the medical wing's restricted section. Permission to pursue and engage?''
''Permission granted. Stay on your guard.'' He said.
This was bad. The enemy was coming way too close to Fria for his comfort. But he couldn't do anything about it. Not with his forces stretched thin. Not when he himself was about to be busy with a fight.
All he could do was hope Winter would succeed in apprehending this 'suspicious individual'.
As the growling of the Grimm approached the core of Atlas' command center, General Ironwood readied Due Process.
/-/
Fria, the Winter Maiden, gasped in pain as her power was drained from her, before slumping down on the ground, dead.
The Beetle Grimm retreated back into its user's body. A young, 14-year-old, girl with chalk white skin and hair, which was left loose and reached down just past her shoulders. She was wearing a pitch-black dress similar to that of Salem herself, but with a higher cut at the bottom of her dress, the cloth stopping at her calves instead of touching the ground. It also split on the side of her legs, and the boob window showed off her cleavage, instead of the middle of her breasts, and the green glowing crystal protruding from between her chest. There was a strange, bone-like wristband attached to her left arm.
Sibyl's crimson eyes stared at the corpse of the old woman.
''For what little it's worth, I'm sorry.'' She said. Mother had given her orders, and she had to carry them out, but that didn't mean she liked killing.
Suddenly, the wall broke down as a white Wendigo busted into the room, aiming a swing of its claws at Sibyl. She was more than fast enough to dodge.
Behind the Wendigo, Winter followed suit, both of her blades in hand. The Specialist's eyes narrowed at the sight of the Grimm girl.
''I don't know who or what you are, but for your attack against Atlas, you are under arrest. Surrender or suffer the consequences.'' Winter said, ready for a fight.
A shame she had no idea who she was messing with.
''Eh, normally I'd be all for letting you cuff me, preferably to a bed-''
''What?'' Winter cut her off, unsure that she heard that right.
Sibyl ignored her. ''- but I'm afraid I have to go right now. So it's gonna have to be another time.''
With that, the Wendigo trued to attack her Sibyl again, but she jumped over his arm to deliver a kick to its face. It was strong enough that it snapped the summon's head off, killing it instantly.
How easily her opponent killed a Wendigo, a fight that she needed a whole squad supporting her to win and still almost costed her life, shocked Winter, but the Specialist nevertheless leaped at Sibyl to slash her. No matter how strong this strange human-like Grimm was, flesh couldn't stop steel, and since she was falling toward the ground, she couldn't dodge. Winter had her opening, and she wasn't going to waste it.
Then Sibyl's eyes became covered in green flames, and power erupted from her, blasting Winter away and knocking her into the wall of the hall on the other side of the hole in the room.
As soon as she touched the ground, the Grimm girl charged Winter, acting to disarm the atlesian huntress before she could react. She drew a cry of pain from Winter as she used her strength to pry and twist the sabers out of Winter's hand, before grabbing her by the throat and choking her with one hand.
But Winter wasn't beaten yet. A glyph appeared around one of her swords, sending it flying toward the Grimm girl. Unfortunately, it didn't skewer her as Winter intended, as Sibyl used her free left arm to block the weapon with her wristband.
Refusing to give up and let herself be killed, Winter conjured a Glyph behind her opponent's guard, quickly summoning a Beowolf. Sibyl kicked the summoned monster, killing it before it was even out of the Glyph.
The Specialist's vision darkened, as she slowly went limp. So it was today that she died…
Once Winter lost consciousness, Sibyl deposed her on the ground, before checking the sleeping woman's pulse. She was still alive, cool.
She took out a pen and paper and quickly scribbled something, before slipping the note in Winter's collar.
Having obtained the Winter Maiden's powers, her main objective was complete. Now the question was how she was going to justify failing the other objective.
Either way, she had to get a move on. Watts was in Atlas' system, that was how they learned of the very restricted room in this medical facility, so she couldn't just wait here and pretend she was held up.
Sibyl broke through the walls of the facility with her strength and used the Winter Maiden's magic to fly toward her next target.
Or she tried to. Instead, her attempt to fly failed as she unintentionally swerved in a different direction than she intended and crashed into the ground.
''Ow… Right, I can't use Skill Points either.'' Sibyl thought out loud. Blasting the magic, about the least efficient use of that power, around her was about all she could do with it. Any attempt to do anything else with magic would just result in her failing what she was trying to do.
Ah, whatever. She called upon a nearby Teryx, climbing on it and using it as her transport.
Flying on the back of a giant, flying velociraptor was just so cool.
''Clever girl, to the Vault of Creation!'' She ordered.
/-/
That was bad. Like, really, really bad. This was nothing like canon, where Salem had an elaborate plan. This… this was just brute force. And there was only one reason why a schemer or mastermind would abandon their plans in favor of brute force.
Because they calculated brute force would work better than a more subtle plan.
''Gem! We gotta help!'' Ruby said.
Who's we?
''How!? I'm down an arm, remember? How am I supposed to be able to make a difference here?'' I asked, panicking only a little.
''There's bound to be something we can do!''
Again, who was 'we'? Ruby wasn't in a state to help, so her 'we' was clearly just my lonesome self.
''Well, if I find anything, I'll tell you. But I have no idea what I can do to help here.'' There wasn't much a single sword could do against an entire army. ''It'd be one thing if there was a place where I knew I could help, but-''
Suddenly, a large, green laser came out from a building.
''Whoa, what was that?'' Ruby asked, in awe. The laser didn't seem to have been aimed at anything outside the facility, but there were so many Grimm flying around Atlas that it seared through several Grimm anyway.
''That… I think that was Penny?'' I said, remembering how she cut through that bullhead at the end of Volume 1. ''I think I found a place where an extra hand could help.'' I said, before pressing my foot on the gas. Or more like pressing on the dust.
''Oh, that's good- Oh gods, Gem, what are you doing!?'' Ruby screamed in panic as we accelerated toward the origin of the laser.
What? I didn't know how to land this without crashing anyway, so... ramming strategy it was.
Kekekekekeke
/-/
The enemy dodged her laser, avoiding anything more than his dark, hooded cloak being singed.
She had fired her laser out of desperation, as the unidentified enemy kept gaining the advantage on her, slowly taking her Floating Array apart. He was grabbing one of her swords whenever he had the opportunity, snapping them in two with strength that far surpassed the limits of the human body, even that of a huntsman.
Her aura could have protected the sword from damage, but that would have caused it to lower to prevent the blades from snapping. This wasn't optimal.
Either way, losing aura or swords, she was getting weaker, soon to be overwhelmed.
Combat efficiency: 65%.
The enemy didn't seem to have aura, or chose to not use it for some reason, but she had been unable to land a decent hit in him.
The guards, and the scientists in the top secret lab… they were all dead. She was the only one left. Father…
''Why?'' Penny muttered, her voice weak. If she had lacrimal glands, would she be crying? Probably.
The enemy, face hidden in the shadow of his hood and with hands pale like death, cocked his head to the side. ''Why?'' He repeated. ''Why not? What is so wrong about taking away something from a thief?''
''What are you-'' Penny started, only to be cut off.
''What I'm talking about is that this soul doesn't belong to you.'' He said. ''So I'll be taking it, because you have no right to it any more than you have a right to the false life that animates you, doll.''
Penny recoiled at the words. The enemy's hand tightened, and he charged at her.
Her remaining swords were ready for use, but she knew it was only a matter of time before she was felled. She had already calculated her chances of survival.
0%.
Suddenly, a custom transport VTOL crashed through the wall and rammed into her opponent. It was a… red painted… squarish thing? With a thick bumper, giving the front of the machine an appearance at odds with the rest of it, of which her sensor detected a lot of shock dispersion materials and structures. It had four jet engine instead of the classic two, and they were each almost twice the standard size as well.
It crushed the enemy, killing him instantly, and Penny took note of the body disappearing under the cloak, only for black smoke to evaporate out of it. A Grimm?
The door at the side of the custom transport opened, revealing a red-headed teenager. She recognised him, she had seen him on the news. It was Jacques Schnee's son-in-law; Gemini Torchwick.
''Uh, hi?'' The boy spoke up. ''Can you direct me in the direction of Dr Pietro Polendina? I need his help for a friend's medical emergency.''
''I- I…'' Penny fell to her knees, her head low, as she tried to process her father's fate at the attacker's hands. ''Father is…'' She looked toward her father's body, her face making her shock and pain obvious even with the lack of tears.
Gemini noticed where her eyes went. He didn't know what Dr Polendina looked like, but he could take a guess as to who the corpulent, dark-skinned dead man was.
''Well, shit. What do I do, now?'' Gemini thought.
/-/
''Well, shit. What the fuck hit me?'' Augur said, once he dragged himself from the Grimm pool in the Land of Darkness.
/-/
The soldiers were quickly taken out of the fight, followed by the handful of Specialists presents.
Sibyl was strong, but without the protection of aura, she had to be careful when confronting a large group of opponent, as a single well-placed bullet could send her back to the Shrine of Darkness. And by careful, she meant bringing a lot of Grimm with her and overwhelmed the other side of the fight, leaving them no chance to shoot her.
With a light touch of a finger, the door of the Vault opened for her.
Honestly? She had hoped Atlas would have put up more of a fight. Unfortunately, through its history, Remnant never had to fight other armies, at least not like Earth did. Even their 'Great War' was more the two sides' armies meeting, fighting for like 15 minutes, before the Grimm joined the fight, and it turned into a contest of who received the least losses against the Grimm, with both armies ignoring each other to focus on the Grimm. That was why King Ozias killing 1 000 enemy soldiers was so shocking to Remnant, even if those were rookie numbers when compared to Earth's battles.
As if the lack of incentive to perfect war against an enemy that could plan and strategise wasn't enough, everyone having a different semblance meant that armies in Remnant's history had an incentive to favor a warrior's individual skill, since standardising the troops would have meant they wouldn't be free to exploit their semblance as much as they could.
As such, Remnant's approach of warfare was closer to the barbarian tribes of Europe, prizing individual skills over unit formations, than it was to, say, the Greeks and their phalanxes or the Romans. Atlas was actually Remnan't first attempt at a standardised military.
To be fair, they did an excellent job in updating their industrial complex and their logistics, so that part was running as well as the best militaries one could find on Earth. They also had taken destroying large groups of Grimm efficiently to an art form. It was just that their usual method of dealing with Grimm, an enemy that simply charged straight at them without any planning, didn't cut it when facing an army that could see the trap coming, feint, plan ahead, etc.
A shame, because now she was left having to come up with an excuse on the spot because she ran out of ideas. If only he was here…
She took the Staff of Creation without trouble. Technically, as long as she didn't summon the spirit in it and used its power to create something, the relic wouldn't stop generating dust energy to keep Atlas afloat, or so mother had explained it worked. Either way, getting the relic was only the means to an end, not the actual objective. Nor was it crashing Atlas.
As she flew away on the Teryx' back, she left the other Grimm to stay around the Vault's entrance, with orders to not hurt the already defeated soldiers and huntsmen. Some of them did die during the fight, but killing the rest when they were in no state to fight back didn't sit well with her.
Her scroll rang.
''Lady Sibyl.'' Watts greeted from the other side of the line. ''I'm glad to see everything went well on your end. A shame it wasn't the case for Augur.''
Uh? ''Brother's task was to scout Penny and confirm your intel that her soul was Atlas' fragment. How could he have messed that up?''
Their actual objectives were to acquire the Winter Maiden's magic and take the relic hostage to coerce Penny in following them to Evernight Castle, where mother would take Penny's soul and create a Grimm like her with it.
Sibyl didn't like this plan, she didn't want to hurt Penny, but she couldn't disobey mother. She could only hope that the 'Grimm' created from this soul fragment would still be the same person as Penny was. Penny, just with a Grimm body instead of a robotic one.
''It seems he decided to engage Ironwood and Pietro's pet project of his own accord.'' Watts answered.
What? He was only supposed to do that if he believed he could kidnap her by force. But that was much harder than forcing her to choose between her life, or the entire kingdom, since neither Augur nor herself could touch Penny without the risk of absorbing the Soul Fragment, which ran counter to their objective.
''I assume he was forced to retreat or that Penny managed to land a lethal blow on him?'' Looks like it was up to her.
''Not quite. There was outside interference. Jacques' son-in-law came in and killed Augur, saving our target.'' Watts said, unaware of the true significance of what he told her.
Jacques' son-in-law… Gemini Torchwick.
Father was here!?
Sibyl felt her heart skip a beat. Her eyes moved to the bone-like wristband on her arm.
Father was here. There was hope.
/-/
I knelt next to Penny, who was still staring at her father's body.
''Hey… We can't stay here. You're in danger.'' I said, in a soft and hesitating voice. If she's been targeted, then staying here was just waiting for other enemies to find her.
''I… I…'' Penny tried to say something, but was too distressed by what happened to know what to say or do.
I put my hand on her cheek, turning her eyes away from the sight she was focused on. ''I know it hurts, but we can't just stop here.''
Unfortunately, it didn't have the effect I hoped for. Instead of pushing her to action, something in her artificial eyes shifted, her head slumped down, and she stopped moving as I watched her green aura go from her body to my hand. I took my hand back and stopped touching her, but it didn't stop the process.
What the hell? It was only supposed to do that when I touched a fragment of my aura.
''Wait, what just happened?'' Ruby asked.
''I don't know either!'' God, please, tell me I didn't just kill Penny!
''Uh, hello?'' Another voice spoke in my head. ''I'm Penny. Who are you?''
What?
''I'm Ruby? How did you get here?'' I heard Ruby said.
''I don't know? Where is this place?''
''Oh, we're in Gemini's head.'' Ruby told Penny. ''I'm kind of haunting the place until he can find me a body.''
''Haunting? Are you a ghost?''
''Boo!''
''Sensational! My database said nothing about ghost being real. How interesting.'' Penny said. At least she was taking things well. Also, good to see the surprise shook her out of her previous stake, but...
''It's great that you're still here, Penny, but does anyone have any idea what just happened?''
''Eh? That voice… Gemini Torchwick, right?'' Penny asked.
''Yes, happy to meet you. Though I wish we were meeting in better circumstances.'' I said. ''I'm sorry that I'm repeating myself, but what happened?''
''Ah, it appears that you have incorporated my soul into yours upon physical contact.'' Penny said.
''I noticed that.'' I said. ''What I'm confused about is why and how it happened. This is only supposed to happen when I touch an aura fragment.''
''A what?'' Ruby asked.
Oh, right. I think I never explained those to Ruby. ''My semblance simulated a collectible quest by splitting off my aura and sending pieces of it in other places.''
I had kept my ears on the ground in case another fragment appeared in public, but nothing. Father even went and asked Junior if any were found in Vale, but that yielded nothing either. Even other kingdoms' news never mentioned any. So they were either in outer towns, to0 far away for news of it to reach Vale. Except, if that was the case, then these towns would have at least asked for a huntsman or someone else to investigate, and news would have likely reached Vale after 2 years.
That meant the wildlands were the only place left, and going there was a death sentence.
''Wow, really? Did you find any?'' Ruby asked.
''Only two, before I went to train on Patch, haven't seen sign of any since then.'' I answered.
''I see, so you are FAE.'' Penny said.
''FAE?'' Why was Penny calling me a fairy?
''Yes, FAE. Short for Foreign and Alien Entity.'' Penny clarified.
''Uh… I mean, it's not inaccurate.'' Ruby added.
''I'm sorry? I think I need more explanation, because I'm still confused.'' Also, 'foreign' and 'alien' were synonymous, so that was a stupid designation due to being redundant. I guessed 'FAE' sounded better than 'FE' or 'AE'.
''Around 2 years and 7 months ago, an unidentified and incorporeal crystal-like object appeared in this lab. After studying the object and what little information was available, it was determined that it, and other objects like it, were but smaller parts of one being's soul. That being has been given the designation 'FAE'.'' Penny explained in full.
''… I have a feeling I'm not going to like this, but… that aura fragment you said appeared in this lab,'' which was clearly not here anymore, considering I didn't see it anywhere, ''it has to do with why you're currently in my head, doesn't it?''
''Considering you said that you reintegrate the pieces of your soul with touch, it seems to be the case, yes.'' Penny said. And now I was starting to get an idea of what happened to the crystal of the lab. ''When my father created me, he used the soul already available to do so, instead of fracturing his own like he originally planned.''
… That was the first time I heard anything about Penny's soul being made from someone else breaking apart their own. That just sounded like an extremely reckless and dangerous idea to me. The sort of things only a mad scientist would do.
Although, given the end result of that project, I supposed I shouldn't be surprised that Dr Polendina was doing SCIENCE, instead of regular science. Not that it was a point against him, per se. SCIENCE was the superior form of science, after all.
''Alright, then.'' I sighed. ''Any idea on how to put you back in your body?''
''I… You want to do that?'' Penny asked, the painful hope obvious in her voice. ''But why? Isn't it your soul?''
''Yes. It's my soul.'' There was no point in denying it. ''That means I'm the one who has the right to decide what to do with it. And I decided to leave it to you.''
''But…Why? I- I'm not a real person.'' I couldn't see Penny's face as she said that, but her sadness was so obvious, it hurts.
''Don't say that!'' Ruby exclaimed. ''I think you're just as real as Gem and I.''
She meant 'Gem and'- Wait, no. Ruby got it right! She was finally able to valean. I was so proud.
''I agree with Ruby.'' I said without hesitation. ''You seem just as much of a real person to me as anyone else does. Sure, it may be impossible for anyone to verify if others truly are people, but the one thing I can verify for certain about reality is that I am able to think. And because I think, I know I am real. I think, therefore I am. Penny, if you can think, then that's how you know you are a real person. So, can you think?''
''I… I can.'' Penny said.
''Then you're a real person, and don't let anyone ever make you think otherwise.'' I said. Plus, the fact she hadn't ceased to exist despite hvaing her soul, a part of mine, being re-absorbed back into me was enough proof for me, if Descartes wasn't enough. ''Now, you, getting back into your body. It's kind of important. So if you have any idea how, I'm open to it. Maybe the same way your soul was given to you in the first place?''
''No, that wouldn't work. We theoretically could, but it would require to calibrate the machine used, so it only put in the same part of your soul that served as mine. Otherwise, you'd be putting not just me, but yourself and Ruby as well.'' Penny said.
My eyes shifted between the corpses of the various scientists in the room, sprawled all over the place, and not always in one piece. Right, the only people who'd know how to use the equipment in this lab were all dead.
''What about Biscuit?'' Ruby asked.
''Who?''
''Biscuit.'' Ruby said. ''That's the name of the mouse. Well, the name I gave her.''
She named the mouse? I supposed there was no harm in that. Biscuit it was, then.
''Yes, Biscuit would be transferred with the rest of us, too.'' Penny confirmed. ''But it's fine. While we were talking, my program analysis subroutine was going through the programming of your semblance. I discovered a hidden function of the 'Archive' part of your semblance that would allow you to put me back in my body without issue.''
''I see. So I only need your instructions, then. Very well, what do I need to do?''
''First, you need to connect my body to a device you can use your semblance on. Your scroll would do, you just need to use one of the cable installed in my body's back.'' Penny said.
I went and knelt behind her body, trying to see where said cable was. ''I don't see any cable.''
''The access to the cable is hidden by the clothes. You need to unclasp my dress to find and use it.'' Penny said, her words causing me to freeze.
''Wha wha what? Gem can't undress you!'' Ruby said.
''What do you mean? Of course he can, he has fingers.'' Penny said, not catching Ruby's meaning.
''That's not the point! It's not appropriate!''
''An erroneous statement. It is the only solution that satisfactorily solves our current problem. How could that be inappropriate?'' Penny asked, sounding absolutely certain of herself.
''Don't play innocent!''
''Ruby, Penny's not playing. She really is that innocent.'' I said, stopping… this, from going any farther.
''Wait, really?'' Ruby asked.
''I can confirm that I have never broken any of Atlas' laws.'' Penny said, confirming what I told Ruby, though not in the way she thought she did.
''… Fine, let's just get this over with.'' Ruby surrendered.
Agreed, this needed to be done anyway. I only needed to view this like a medical procedure of some sort. It was only going to be weird if we made it weird.
I struggled a bit to unclasp her dress' straps (God, would this be so much easier with two hands), but managed to do so anyway and lift the blouse under it to expose her back. Thankfully, I didn't need to look at the front of her body. I didn't know how detailed Dr Polendina made her body to look like a normal human one, but quite frankly, I didn't need to know.
I found the cable, it was behind a small latch that had to be opened, but before I could take the cable, I heard footsteps from people running towards us. I looked back and saw two figures reach the door of the lab.
As soon as they saw the state of the room, and me next to an unresponsive and partially naked girl, the two women pointed their crossbows at me.
''I don't know how you're here kid, but you better keep your hands where I can see them, and off of that girl.'' Robyn Hill said, glaring at me. I didn't remember the name of the other woman, but it was the tall one with dark green, somewhat spiky hair.
I raised my only hand above my head. ''Wait, I swear this isn't what it looks like!''
''Really? Because it looks like you're in a room full of murdered people, and taking advantage of this poor girl. Creep.'' Robyn said.
''And we said both hands, I'm only seeing one.'' The other woman said.
I quickly moved my shoulder cape, exposing the clearly empty sleeve under it.
''Oh… What happened to your arm?'' Robyn asked.
''I saw the army of Grimm attacking Atlas and decided repelling it would be too easy with two arms, so I cut one off to have a challenge.'' I said, earning me two deadpan look from the women. And the sound of Ruby facepalming in my head.
''No, seriously. What happened.'' Robyn insisted.
''Barely survived an attack from a serial killer. My arm didn't. Came to Atlas to get a combat graded prosthetic, amongst other things. Then I saw a big green laser coming from here and decided I might as well come lend an extra hand here.'' I resumed.
''I see… More or less the same as us, then. We were trying to regroup with Fiona and May, when we saw the laser, too. So Joanna and I came here.'' Robyn said. ''It looks like we missed the action, though. What exactly are you doing to that girl?''
''Trying to help her. It's kind of a medical emergency.'' I said, putting the cape back in place.
''Can she confirm that?'' Joanna asked.
''No. That's kinda the problem I'm trying to fix.'' I said, before releasing a sigh. ''Look, can you just let me do my thing? If I touch a part I shouldn't or fail to get her to wake up, you can go back to suspect me, but I'd really like to get this done and forget how embarrassing this is.''
''… Fine. But one wrong move, and we're taking you into custody.'' Robyn agreed.
Good. With that, I opened the latch and took out the cable.
''What the-?'' Joanna said, both her and Robyn caught by surprise at seeing a cable come out of someone's body.
''Some kind of Atlas top secret project. Not my place to explain, but if anyone asks, you're probably better off claiming you saw nothing.'' I said.
Having only one hand, I held my scroll with my teeth as I used my hand to try and connect Penny's cable to my scroll. It didn't go in, so I flipped the USB cable the other way. It still didn't work, so I flipped it again, and it worked without issue. Typical.
With that, I put my scroll on the ground and activated my semblance. I was immediately greeted with new information.
You killed Augur. 400 xp.
Literally who? And why did I get so much xp?
It didn't end with this, though.
Congratulation! You found 1 Soul Fragment.
Your max Aura went up by 500. You can now use the 'Chat' functionality.
Chat? Didn't I already have a message option? That felt kind of redundant. Or maybe the message was more akin to receiving an e-mail, while the chat was more like a phone call?
Also, I was starting to suspect that the time I heard Penny's voice, in that dark room, may not have been an hallucination.
Either way, the Game continued and showed me the main menu.
Stats
Perks
Archive
Chat
Message
Close Menu
Penny said it was a hidden function of the Archive, right? I touched the Archive option.
Images
Musics
Videos
Upload
Download
''Okay… so what do I do from here?'' I asked, Penny, feigning to think aloud.
''Pick Upload.'' Penny told me.
I did as she said, and saw the usual subdivision of the options, along with the search engine to research the material to upload things from my semblance to an electronic device. Except for one difference. After following Penny's next instruction, searching for the word 'soul', I noticed something that wasn't here before.
Ignoring the search results like Soul Eater or the RWBY's wiki page on aura, my eyes went straight for the news results.
Biscuit's soul
Ruby Rose's soul
Penny Polendina's soul
Uh, so I guessed I only had to pick Penny's soul? I sure wouldn't put a mouse in Penny's body, and for Ruby… This wasn't exactly the body I had in mind for her, nor did I think putting Ruby in Penny's body was even remotely close to a good idea.
I selected Penny's soul, and I waited a minute or so, for the transfer to occur.
Then Penny's body jerked upright, as her motor controls reactivated.
''So? Everything is well?'' I asked Penny.
''Yes, all of my systems are operational.'' She confirmed. Good, that was reassuring to hear.
With that, I closed my semblance, though not before taking a look and noting that, despite putting Penny's soul back in her body, I still had the 'Chat' option in my menu. I lost the 500 aura, though, and was back at 6 000. Eh, I was fine with that result. Or at least, it didn't bother me more than Penny staying 'dead' would have.
''Good. And… How are you holding up? With everything that happened…'' I said, worried about her.
''I… I don't know. Father is dead, I'm all alone now… I don't know what to do.'' Penny said, looking down.
I hugged her. ''Hey, none of that, now. I know it's painful, but you're not alone.'' I whispered in her ear. ''You've got me and Ruby. We won't be abandoning a friend.''
''Y-you meant it? We… we are friends?'' Penny asked, looking at me with big, hopeful eyes.
''Sure we are! You can count on us.'' Ruby said as I nodded.
''Oh, thank you, friend Gemini and friend Ruby!'' Penny exclaimed, giving me a hug in return. She squeezed a little too much, so it was a bit painful, but I survived.
''Wait, did you just hear what Ruby said?'' I asked.
''Yes, thanks to the 'Chat' program, it seems I can talk to friend Ruby even if I'm back into my body. I believe we can also talk together no matter how far away we are, now.''
''Oh, that's awesome.'' I said. Having a direct line to talk with Penny anytime we wanted was great. ''But, uh… I'm sorry to ask something like this of you, but I kind of need a new body for Ruby. I was planning to ask your father for help, but…''
''Of course. I'm sorry, nobody in Atlas has the expertise to do what my father managed to do. But if you don't mind waiting.'' Penny said, before going through the things on one of the lab's tables. She took a large, blueprint of- Oh, I saw what she was going for. Penny came back to me with what she had taken. ''There, these are the blueprints of my body. If you can find someone skilled enough in robotics to build it, then you will be able to save friend Ruby.''
I took the offered blueprints. ''Thank you, Penny. I owe you big.''
I didn't know who would be able to make the robotic body… But I knew who knew.
''You don't?'' Penny said, confused. ''You just saved my life yourself. Besides, isn't that what friends are for?''
I couldn't help but smile. ''Yes, you're right. You are a great friend, Penny.''
''I am? Sensational!'' Penny said, overcame with joy. Bittersweet as the current situation made it.
''Excuse me? This feels like I'm interrupting a really sweet moment, but Joanna and I are still lost.'' Robyn said.
Before Penny or I could say anything, however, someone else spoke loudly, coming from the hole I had left in the wall with my airship.
''Then be lost no more! For I am here!''
All four of us turned in the direction of the voice, beholding a pale figure in a dark dress. I was the only one here who knew what Salem looked like, and I knew this wasn't her, or if it was, then she was much shorter and younger-looking than in the show on top of having changed haircut.
But even If Robyn and Joanna didn't know about Salem, it didn't stop them from taking note of the unnatural appearance of the girl and correctly assume she was an enemy. The first thing they did was shot a crossbow bolt at her.
The Grimm girl, surprised at the unexpected attack, barely managed to dodge the shots, waving her arms as she lost her balance and fell face first onto the ground.
… Who was this?
And crap, please tell me the strange staff on her back wasn't what I thought it was.
''Gem, look at her chest.'' Ruby said, pointing out the green aura crystal between the Grimm's boobs.
''Yeah, I noticed.'' I said, keeping my voice low. If the situation was more relaxed, I'd make a joke about Ruby telling me to look at another girl's chest, but it really wasn't the time right now. Raising my voice, I spoke to the Grimm girl. ''I don't know who you are, but you might want to state your identity and intentions.''
She quickly rose to her feet. ''Of course, of course! I am Sibyl, your and Salem's daughter from the future! Father, I've traveled back in time to warn you about two androids who will destroy the world!''
''Excuse me!? What's that stuff she's saying about you and Salem having a kid!?'' Ruby yelled in my mind, though I hoped she was pissed at this 'Sibyl' rather than me. I literally didn't do anything.
''I call bull.'' I said without delay. ''I mean, really? Did you think I'd believe that? I can literally see the piece of my soul sticking out from your body-''
''Is that what that crystal is?'' Robyn mumbled as I talked. Poor woman was keeping track of so much stuff while having no idea what those were. She was a politician, though, so I had no pity to spare for her.
''- and 'came from the future to warns about androids'? Really? You just copied Trunks' backstory!''
''Wait, since when do underwear have backstories?'' Ruby asked, confused.
''Alright, fine. Yes, I was just making a Dragonball reference.'' Sibyl admitted.
''Dragonball?'' Joanna said. Neither Sibyl or I dignified her confusion with an explanation.
Sibyl instead continued to talk. ''I'm actually a Grimm created by Salem, using one of the piece of your soul. Father, I challenge you!''
''Challenge?'' Salem created a Grimm from one of my aura fragment. Holy crap, that was all manners of bad.
''Yes, if you win, I will not only retreat with my army of Grimm, but also give back the Staff of Creation. If you lose, or refuse the challenge, then I will take you prisoner and bring you to mother, along with using the relic to drop Atlas on Mantle.''
''What!?'' Robyn and Joanna yelled in horror.
I raise my hand to signal them to stop, as they were about to shoot Sibyl and start a fight.
''Don't, if you start a fight, she might decide that counts as us refusing the challenge.'' I warned.
They tensed, but didn't fire. ''What guarantee do we have that she'd keep her word, even if you won her 'challenge'?''
''None, but if you knew what the only way to obtain the staff was, then you'd know the four of us stand no chance of beating her in a real fight.'' I said.
Sibyl grinned, and green flames appeared around her eyes. ''I expected no less from you, father. I have indeed become the Winter Maiden.''
''What? Winter Maiden? But that's a fairy tale.'' Robyn said.
I sighed. ''That just show that you don't know enough about the situation to be in a position to make decisions.''
Robyn's eyes switched between Sibyl and I, as the woman thought about what to do.
''Fine,'' she ended up saying, ''but whatever that challenge is, I really hope you won't mess up.''
I hoped the same. ''Sibyl, name your challenge.''
My 'daughter' grinned even harder, showing off her left arm. The wristband shifted, revealing it wasn't one solid object, but made of many pieces that now extended. Part of it extended away from the arm, before the black of a Grimm spread out into a familiar shape.
''Father! I challenge you to a Duel!'' Sybil declared, a Grimm Duel Disk at her arm.
I couldn't help but grin as well, showing teeth with a predatory look. If it was a Duel, then I was confident I could win. ''A Duel it is, then. Have at you!''
''Wait, I don't get it.'' Robyn said.
''We're going to gamble the fate of this kingdom to a card game.'' I explained. ''Believe it or not, this is our best option.''
Robyn and Joanna looked at me as if I was stupid.
Fair.
/-/
''General.'' Ironwood heard from the other side of the military radio.
''Winter.'' He replied, his tone mournful. ''You're still alive? How?''
''I'm sorry, general, I was defeated. For some reason, the enemy left me unconscious instead of killing me.''
''I… see.'' He really didn't. Why bother sparing an enemy only to drop them from the sky and kill them soon after. ''Anything else to report?''
''I- Yes, general. The opponent I confronted… she didn't look human. Her skin was too pale, had dark veins across her face, and black sclera.''
Ah, he recognized that description. So it was Salem herself who came?
In the room cleared of Grimm, as his soldiers looked over the ones who had been defeated previously, James Ironwood felt only emptiness as he stared into the opened entrance of the Vault of Creation, and it's missing content.
She just came in and took it, as if the entire kingdom wasn't a threat in her eyes. And she proved it wasn't. Had it ever been?
All this, only for things to end here…
They never stood a chance, did they?
''Also, the enemy left me a piece of paper. It contains… her number?'' Winter continued, unaware of the General of Atlas' unusually defeatist thoughts and how her words snapped him back to paying attention.
''What?'' He asked, unsure he had heard that right.
''It says she's only 14, but that she'll be legal in 4 years and to call her then for a date.'' Winter said, just as confused as Ironwood was. '' I'm not sure what to think of this.''
What?
If he was going to die along with the kingdom's destruction, then couldn't the world at least have the decency of making sense during their final moments? Was that too much to ask?
Also, what?
''I'm even less sure what to think of how the note ends. It says: ''Maybe next time you can be the one choking me, UWU.'' What does this mean?''
James would have died happier not knowing about that last part.
/-/
''Ugh.'' I grunted in pain as the prosthetic connected to my nerve.
Missing an arm kind of caused a problem when it came to dueling, but thankfully this lab, being specialised in robotics, had a ton of robotic limbs lying around. So Penny managed to find one that was almost the right size for me. It was a bit longer than my other arm, but it would do if it was just to play this one Duel.
''Your injury hasn't completely healed, so I can't recommend keeping this arm for more than one hour, otherwise, the risk of infection will rise drastically.'' Penny warned me, as she helped with installing the arm on my body.
''Thanks, I expected as much. Don't worry, though, I'm taking it off as soon as the Duel is finished.'' I said.
The five of us had moved on top of the building's roof, because doing this Duel in the middle of a room full of cadaver was… No thanks.
Robyn and Joanna were firm on thinking that this was a stupid situation, but the threat of having an entire city dropped on your house turned out to be pretty effective at making people go along with stupid things. Who could have guessed?
Putting my Deck in my Duel Disk, and the Disk on my temporary arm, I faced Sibyl, who was standing at the other side of the field.
''Well, time to save Atlas by playing cards. You feeling ready for this?'' Ruby said.
''Oh, I sure do. I can't afford losing now, can't I?''
''Nope.'' Ruby said. ''Well, I guess it's a good thing you plagiarise Yu-Gi-Oh to bring it on Remnant. I'm not usually a fan of stealing, though.''
''Hey, neither Earth's or Remnant's copyright laws extend outside their respective planet. I didn't break any law.''
''Uh-huh. Sure, if you say so.'' Ruby said, sounding unconvinced.
I shook my than waste time on this, I had to focus on this Duel.
''Are you ready, father?'' Sibyl asked from where she was, raising her voice enough to be heard.
''As ready as I'll ever be!''
She kept calling me father. It kind of bothered me, to be honest. Because I wasn't sure if she genuinely saw me as her father (which wouldn't be too inaccurate, in its own way), or if it was just a tactic to destabilise me.
Either way, it was time to-
''DUEL!'' Both Sibyl and I screamed, drawing our five cards as we did so.
Yes, Yu-Gi-Oh is more important to the plot than just Gemini getting Lien through it.
On that subject, I've forgotten to say it in C20's AN, but I closed the poll concerning the tournament. The result: 8 votes in favor of going full ham with the Duels. 2 votes in favor of having the tournament. 5 votes in favor of having a few Duels in the fics, but not too many. 4 votes in favor of hating having Duels in the fic.
Overall, the response was 10 positive votes in favor of people who seem to like having Yu-Gi-Oh in the fic, and 9 votes of people who seem to not like it.
Of course, the poll itself wasn't the one taking the decision. It was only there to help me get an idea of whether going through with it was a good idea or not. Ultimately, the more I thought about it, the more I realised there were character conflicts and resolutions I couldn't have without the tournament.
For exemple: I can't have a Weiss vs Whitley in a dramatic fight where they'd resolve their sibling issues and make up afterward, because that 'fight' would be over in 1 second due to Whitley being a civilians. But I can have that drama in the children card game.
Obviously, said tournament would happen after the Withered Rose arc. Trying it now would just lead to Yang crashing the event to try and kill Gem.
Speaking of the Withered Rose arc. Yes, as you can see in this chapter, it's not going to be as easy and quick as 'talk to Pietro', 'get a new body for Ruby'. Otherwise it wouldn't be a full arc.
It's not like I made any secret of it, either. I mean, why would I have set up Yang being out for Gemini's blood if it was for her to see Ruby alive and well before she even got the chance to act on wanting to kill Gem? Narratively, that would make no sense.
Plus, I literally told you last chapter that this arc was fashioned after the 'trip in the underworld' mytheme. And that mytheme include the protagonist go through a transformation during that 'trip'. That's the arc where Gemini goes from 'somewhat decent, but sometimes an asshole, guy' to 'actually a good-hearted hero'.
If Pietro had lived, Gemini wouldn't get his character development and would have remained someone who's content of his character wouldn't be able to defeat Salem. It would have literally lead to a bad end.
Sometimes, misfortune needs to happen to achieve a greater fortune that wouldn't be reached otherwise.
Next chapter is going to be called 'The Executive Producer'.