Note: Goddammit, really didn't want to have another month delay between chapters. Yet, I just didn't write anything. No excuses. Ah well. Next chapter or two we are finishing this arc so maybe it's just the dingy apartments of Perfect Gardens getting to me. Anyway, Penny's alive. That's fun. Here's another chapter. Enjoy.

All it took was a loud crash for Yang's thoughts to shatter.

They were here, weren't they? That was her first thought. At long last, her backup had arrived. Although come to think of it, they hadn't been in their hell for very long, only a few minutes stretched to eternity by the lingering horrors. If Weiss and Blake and Winter were here, and if they were fighting for their rescue, it was a swift one, and there remained a distinct possibility that their nightmare would be over before even the first tremors came over her. That was her next thought: hope. A dull, pathetic hope that her teammates could do what she failed to do. Of course, even a small analysis would be enough to unmask that hope for the child's dream it actually was. And that led quickly to her next thought: dread.

Why would she ever think that they stood a chance? Those crashes weren't the sound of their rescue, but of their impending demise. Weiss and Blake likely didn't have their weapons. If they rushed here straight from their dinner—and they would have to given how quickly they arrived—they would be at a severe handicap. They didn't understand any of their enemies' Semblances, and it would take at most a single glare from Emerald to leave them traumatized and vulnerable within a maze of hallucinations. Then, there was the other fact working against them, maybe the most nebulous yet powerful of them all.

The universe hated them. Why wouldn't it continue to ruin their lives?

Ruby seemed to be going through a similar thought process. She was on her hands and knees, dry tears still on her cheeks, reacting with a squeak every time a new noise rocked the world above them. She tried to interpret them the best she could, read the battle purely through sound and her own intuition. Weiss would dodge here, she told herself. Blake would seek cover on this floor. Weiss would scream at her, blaming her for this whole mess. All of it was as equally pointless as wishing. There seemed to be an endless amount of smashing and screaming, and the shudders that went through her spine were like earthquakes. Her already fragile mind instantly went to the worst. She started to believe she was hearing the sound of her teammates—her girlfriend —dying. If only she had more tears to shed.

There was a sudden silence between blows, and Yang held her breath. With silence came clarity. If their backup really had arrived, then there was nothing they could do but wait. Still, waiting on the sidelines hadn't gotten any easier, and now, so close to the heat of battle, Yang felt her stomach twist into knots. She needed to be out there, defending the people closest to her. Without that…

She never realized just how small Ruby was. All those years brushing her off, keeping her away, and feeling animosity for every one of her successes poisoned her view of her sister. The mind games she played with herself left the image of Ruby sour, some evil genius who was always out to get her. It was hard admitting how terrible she was to her all those years. Seeing her now, helpless and in tears, reminded her of all the simple things in their life. She remembered when Ruby stubbed her toe when she was six and bawled her eyes out for hours. She remembered the time she made Ruby talk to a boy in her class that she maybe sort of liked, and unaware of her sister's sexuality and only partially aware of just how truly helpless the redhead was, she watched her flounder and stumble so hard that she thought Ruby would literally die of embarrassment. God, Ruby was only sixteen years old. She was supposed to have her whole life ahead of her. Yang was the one who was supposed to see her through it. And she failed. Judging by the silence from above, she assumed her teammates failed as well.

They really were going to die here. The last fog of hope turned to despair.

But then, something in Yang called to her; a part that she thought had faded away when her two halves merged. Her fingers curled in her palm, and there was a spark of rage from within the depths of her mind. Just a spark—but enough to light an inferno.

She was giving up? No… actually, fuck that.

She had been here, stranded and drained, deprived of everything she had, and she still managed to fight out of that. She stared down three different Grimm, faced a totalitarian overlord, and she was seriously going to let two bratty twins be the death of her? She was Yang Xiao Long, a goddamn superhero. After everything she fought for, to die like this would be an insult. If she was going to go out, she was going to go out screaming and swinging. She was going to break free of this, break her chains, and most importantly, break some bones. Her story would not end like this.

"Ruby, hit me."

Ruby was taken aback.

"W-What did you say?"

"Hit me. I need to get charged up."

"What are you—"

"We are getting out of here," Yang stated, rising to her feet and gazing unblinkingly at the stairs in front of her. "Look, in a few minutes, someone is going to open that door. It's either gonna be Blake and Weiss, or it's going to be those twins. If it's the latter, we need to be ready for them. They won't be expecting us to attack them, and it's not like we're going to get a second chance, so we need to be ready."

"But… why do you want me to hit you?"

"Because," Yang explained, grabbing onto her collar with her fingertips, "I'm going to tear this thing off of me."

Ruby's stomach dropped. " What?"

"Look, the last time I was in one of these things, I ended up seizing from Aura withdrawal," Yang explained. "I'm not doing that yet, so I still have to have some amount of Aura in me. If I can trigger my Semblance, I may be able to break this thing off of me before I get drained completely. Then, when the twins open the door, I rush them with everything I have, and we get the hell out of here. Understand me?"

Yes. No. Maybe. Ruby's mind raced a million miles a minute. Yang's reasoning was sound, but god it was risky. They were weak enough as it was. If Yang couldn't power up from her injuries, could Ruby really afford to make her even weaker? However, sensing Ruby's doubt, Yang screamed at her, ordering her to act.

"We don't have time to debate this, okay?" Yang pointed to the ceiling. "Listen! The battle is slowing down! If we get trapped in here with the others, it's all over. This is maybe the one chance we have to get out of this! Do you want Penny to die in vain? Do you want Weiss to end up like us? Ruby, you have to—"

"Okay, okay!" Ruby suddenly screamed, standing up. Screw it, she didn't have a say in the matter. Maybe the fear was making her woozy. Maybe she was clinging to a hope that didn't exist. But Yang's determination was contagious. They were going to get out of here, and Yang's Semblance was the last hope they had. Ruby took a deep breath, trying to overcome her nerves. "Are you sure you can trigger your Semblance with that thing on?"

"Yes," Yang lied. "Come on! If you don't hit me soon, I'm just gonna start throwing myself at things, so hit me already!"

There was another crash from above, and that was all it took to spur Ruby to action. This was such a stupid plan…

Ruby balled up her fists, hyped herself up, and after Yang egged her on one last time, Ruby socked her in the face as hard as she could.

Ruby's knuckles connected square to Yang's cheekbones. Yang stumbled back, barely absorbing the blow, while Ruby shook her fist in pain. A burst of pain ran through Yang's teeth, but then, amazingly, something else. Something small, but palpable. Energy. Yang's eyes lit up, then she stumbled upright.

"I felt something!" she screamed, recovering quickly and putting herself back in position to be hit again. "Ruby, more!"

"Are you sure—"

"Yes!"

Ruby took a deep breath, then reluctantly swung again. Her attack landed less flush, grazing closer to Yang's ear, and her older sister screamed at her.

"I said hit me! Really hit me!"

Ruby hesitated. Too many awful memories flooded back into her. Yang, covered in blood, even though it wasn't her own, desperately trying to hit herself. Ruby was promised that Yin didn't exist anymore, at least not like she used to. It was impossible to believe that now.

Yang growled in frustration, and with Ruby unable to play along, she threw herself shoulder-first into the closest wall. She screamed as she bashed herself repeatedly into the hard surface, trying anything to get the tiny sparks of energy to ignite into something more potent. Ruby stood silently, knuckles throbbing, as Yang battered herself, punching the steel, headbutting it, doing whatever she could to become alive. Another loud crash came from above, and sensing she was running out of time, Yang reared back her skull and threw it as hard as she could, dropping every last one of her inhibitions. She felt something crack in her skull, and her vision blurred, and she stumbled backward, the world splitting apart into two.

"Yang!" Ruby cried, rushing to her sister's side. Yang tried to sit up and brush away the comfort, but the sudden movement overwhelmed her with nausea. A thin trickle of blood emerged from beneath her blonde hair and ran down the bridge of her nose. "Yang, stop this. You're going to kill yourself."

"We're okay. We're okay."

She didn't exactly believe herself. Yang couldn't focus. She couldn't see the tears in Ruby's eyes. The words only sounded like white noise. No matter. If she could hear them, she would dismiss them. She would sacrifice herself a hundred times to keep Ruby safe. She owed her at least that much, if not more. But it didn't matter anyway. Neither of them was going to die. Like she thought before, it would be a waste. And now, as the faintest whisps of power inside her coalesced into something greater, she realized she wouldn't have to. She was going to thrive. Just wait and see…

Yang's fingertips fumbled as she reached at the collar. Ruby tried to hold her in place, but Yang swatted her away. Yang concentrated. She needed all of her Aura in her fingers. Let the rest drain from her body, her mind, her Soul, until there was nothing left. Let her fingers guide her.

"We… we know our body," Yang croaked. "We know our limits…"

She gently wrapped her fingers around the collar. She ran them along the edge until she found two indentations where the needles pressed against her skin.

"We just need enough… to break these…"

Yang craned her neck up, tensing it as much as possible. She had no hope of cracking the collar itself. But the pricks in her neck seemed small. Poor design. If she applied enough pressure to them…

She groaned, trying to pry some space between the harsh metal and her tender neck. She strained and pulled and pressed, using the ill-fitting collar's size to her advantage. Anything more than a prototype would be shaped to the victim's neck, but these were just slightly too large. With enough effort, she was able to push the tips of her index fingers into the crooks of her neck. There, she felt the smooth sides of the needles that pushed their violating toxins inside of her. She took a deep breath, focusing her strength. She had to finish this before she passed out.

"Come on, Yang. Come on. We got this."

With her finger pressed against the needles, Yang siphoned all of her Aura into the metal—and just before her energy faded completely, she felt something snap.

The needles broke cleanly off inside her neck.

The toxins faded.

Yang's eyes shot open.

A volcano erupted inside of her, starting from her fingertips and spreading throughout every muscle and tendon. The wooziness faded and the world collapsed back into a solid whole as her Aura worked to instantly heal what was broken. Ruby watched with both amazement and horror as Yang suddenly sprang up to her feet, her glowing hair lighting up the darkness of their prison. Yang looked down at her own hands, trembling with power.

"Y-Yang?" Ruby asked. "Are you okay?"

Yang did not answer. Instead, with another growl, she grabbed the now-useless collar and tore it completely free from her neck, breaking it like it was a twig. Ruby gasped as the hissing, sparking metal fell into the puddle on the floor, and Yang brushed the blood out of her eyes.

"Yeah," she said. "We're feeling pretty fucking okay."

Of all the things Ruby didn't believe coming out of Yang's mouth, she really wasn't sure if she believed that one. Unfortunately, it didn't matter if she believed it or not. No less than a few seconds after Yang freed herself, before she had the opportunity to do anything else, there was a banging coming from the door. Yang tensed up, curling her hands into fists. Her moment of celebration was brief. The door was being unlocked. Someone was coming for them.

"Ruby, get down," Yang ordered. Ruby was already down, quivering on her knees, but she remained frozen to the spot. Yang adjusted her stance, ready to pounce. She didn't know what was coming for them, but whatever it was, she needed to be on the offensive. She only had a brief moment to capitalize on the surprise. She was going to make it count. She muttered under her breath. "Come on, you sons of bitches. Open it… open it…"

Another bang. Another click. The door opened. The room was flooded with a blinding light, and Yang saw only a silhouette in front of her. It was all she needed.

Yang dug her heels into the earth, and pushed off with all of her strength, jumping straight past the stairs. She tackled the shadowed figure, carrying both of them into the center of the hall as her eyes struggled to readjust. She didn't need to see. She landed on top of the woman, and feeling her target beneath her, she pulled her hand back. Not wanting to give her enemy a chance to counter, she drove it straight toward where she thought her head would be.

"Yang, wait!"

That voice—annoyingly familiar.

Yang twisted her elbow at the last moment, and her fist missed its target, cracking the tiled floor instead. Yang's eyes adjusted to the light. Beneath her, she saw Weiss, panting, terrified, and furious.

"Weiss?" Yang asked with a start. She hurried to her feet and helped Weiss get back up as well. "Sorry, I didn't actually think it'd be you."

Weiss sneered. "Well, you called for my help, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Did you think I'd actually not rescue you in time?"

Yang didn't want to answer that question. Could she beat Weiss up if she needed to? Probably. But there was a fury in Weiss's eyes that she really didn't want to screw with. Despite her declaration, Weiss wasn't actually looking for her, specifically. No, the ire of Weiss's eye turned when Ruby, hearing the familiar voice as well, followed Yang up the stairs and stood surprised in the doorway, staring down the woman who she totally pissed off by coming here.

Weiss didn't blink as Ruby entered her field of vision. She didn't even say a word as she approached. She had said so many words on the ride over, both in the taxi and on the back of her toad; words full of detailed descriptions of what she would do to her girlfriend for getting into this stupid, terrible mess. Weiss marched over to Ruby with cold, indignant silence, and Ruby, mentally drained from her night of nightmares, prepared for the worst.

"Weiss, I… I'm so sorry, I—"

The ice queen pulled Ruby into her arms and held her as tight as she could. Ruby felt a warmth flood over her. Weiss whispered hoarsely, holding back her own tears.

"Don't you ever fucking do that to me again, okay?"

Ruby sighed and returned the hug. "I won't."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Ruby took a deep breath as she moved away from Weiss, and after giving the two girlfriends a moment of peace, Yang moved to remove Ruby's collar as well.

"Hate to break up the reunion, but we can't stay here," Yang reminded them.

"Right," Ruby said solemnly. A horrible thought crossed her mind: How was she supposed to explain what happened to Penny? "A-Are Blake and Winter here, too?"

"No. Just me," Weiss said. "I came straight from dinner."

"You beat the twins by yourself?" Ruby asked, amazed.

"Twins? I don't know what you're talking about," Weiss stated. "I just started looking around while everyone else was distracted."

That part Ruby didn't understand. Distracted? Distracted by what? Reality decided to answer Ruby's question, as another loud crash rocked the apartment complex from above. Ruby and Yang looked up. Of all the surprises they encountered that evening, the next one would truly shake them to their core.

Melanie nearly tripped over herself as she sprinted down the stairs, towing the desperate, screaming Emerald behind her. She sweated so profusely that Emerald nearly slipped out of her grip. Everything had gone to shit so fast that it didn't even seem real. Like a nightmare—a freaky, killer robot nightmare.

Miltia was dead. Probably. Almost definitely. Dead like a fucking doornail. She just had to piss off the psycho robot, and now she was gone. Did she have any idea how badly that affected her?

"What the hell! What the actual hell!" Emerald cried, stumbling after Melanie more than following her. "How the fuck is she still alive?"

"I don't know!" Melanie screamed back. She needed an out. Badly. With her free hand, she fumbled through the contacts on her Scroll. She really, really, really didn't want to have to do this, but she was left with no other options. Without Miltia, she couldn't heal, and she didn't feel like dying for such a stupid cause. She hurriedly found the contact labeled, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT CONTACT, and sent it a desperate text as she tried to navigate the stairwell.

"V, it Mel. Mil dead. Need u to come get us"

Her finger barely hit the send button when the sound of a jet engine came rushing behind her, and two metal feet slammed into her spine. She launched down the stairs, taking Emerald with her, the two bouncing down several steps before crashing on hard concrete. They looked up at their attacker in terror; the cybernetic Huntress with a skull face, standing silhouetted in the dingy stairwell, illuminated only by the glow of the fire from her legs. Melanie panted, struggling to find any air as Penny methodically descended the stairs after them. Emerald came to her senses first, pushing Melanie up to her feet and forcing her through the nearest exit before the cyborg could have her way with them.

They broke free into one of the hallways, though not one that was particularly helpful. They were on the sixth floor, not even a hair's breadth from where they began their escape. Emerald dragged Melanie now, running up to the open balcony and staring down to the abyss. It was a hefty drop to the lobby, one that even with Aura would leave them dizzy. Emerald scanned around for any other escapes, finding only another stairwell on the opposite side of the building, far out of her reach. Of course, even if it was two steps from her, that wouldn't dissuade the psychotic cyborg hunting them down—the same cyborg that threw open the doors behind them, entering the main hallway with a cold glare.

Melanie dove in front of Emerald, shielding her from harm's way.

"Em, grab the hostages and take my car from out back! The red sports car! Keys are in the glove box."

"And go where?" Emerald said fearfully, her eyes not breaking from the incoming danger.

"I don't know! Somewhere that isn't here!" Melanie shouted. "I'll hold her off."

Emerald was stunned at the sudden act of selflessness but didn't have time to question it. Even if Melanie could buy her a few seconds, it would be enough to save her from a gruesome fate. She took off sprinting around the inner balcony, scrambling to the opposite hallway. Penny watched with a dead gaze as Emerald escaped from her view, and she too was surprised that such a callous individual was going to let her partner escape. Maybe there was something good within Melanie, even if it was just some sense of honor regarding her investments. It made Penny hesitate for just a moment, not enough to matter to anything, but enough to think.

But of course, then Melanie had to open her mouth.

"What are you standing there for?" the twin asked bluntly. "She's trying to escape. Go get her!"

Before Penny could react, Melanie stepped up to the balcony, and putting her Aura into her bladed heels, she leaped up to the higher floor, swinging herself over the railing to the safety of higher ground.

Melanie's logic was, obviously, impeccable. There was no way that Penny would waste her time dealing with an inferior target like herself if she had to choose between her and rescuing her friends. As Emerald distracted the dumb robot, she would grab her sister—who hopefully wasn't too damaged—sneak up to the roof and make their great escape. She would have to come up with an excuse to her Mama as to why her promised packages weren't delivered, but she was always better at asking forgiveness than permission. As Melanie sprinted off to the stairs to the top floor, she smirked as she realized just how clever she was—

"Ahh!"

Penny blasted through the air, tackling Melanie to the ground. She scraped the twin against the hard floor before violently tossing her down the hallway, causing her to splat against the far wall. Melanie wheezed again, disoriented and spitting out blood. Penny was still stalking toward her. Still cold. Still vengeful.

"You left your own sister for dead," Penny said darkly. "What kind of monster does that?"

Melanie searched around for a weapon. She needed a weapon. Holy fucking shit, she needed a weapon right fucking now…

"She was your family, and you just abandoned her," Penny said. The servos in her face twitched as if trying to twist her face into an expression they could no longer create. Her voice was still perfectly in tune, but perhaps from an illusion of the mind, even it sounded distorted to Melanie's ear, hollow and artificial. "And then you try to sacrifice your ally to save yourself? And you lied to them while doing so? Is there anything decent in you at all?"

"S-Stay the fuck away from me!" Melanie screeched. She rose to her feet and bolted. She didn't know where she was going. Just not here. Literally anywhere but right here. Unfortunately, her path was cut short when a sword flew from out of nowhere and embedded in the wall directly in front of her. "Ahhh!"

"You are a terrible person," Penny stated. "You don't deserve to live."

"So? Who cares?" Melanie pleaded desperately. "You're really just gonna let Emerald get away with your friends because you want revenge?"

Penny briefly glanced toward the bottom of the complex, where Emerald would no doubt soon remerge. "It's strange," she explained. "My training tells me that I should go after her. She is the highest priority target. And yet, I feel myself overcome with something else." Penny glanced back at Melanie, and her voice cracked. "I think you reminded me what hatred feels like."

Melanie sneered. "You think you have the right to judge me for shit? You killed all of my men! My sister! You ruined everything, and you think you have the right to hate me? This was supposed to be a simple mission, and you ruined it! You ruined everything! Do you have any idea how furious Mother is going to be at me? It's going to take weeks to repair all of this, and you're judging me! You! A little, insignificant Huntress who has no business getting involved in any of this!"

"Astonishing," Penny said, taking a step closer. "You don't seem to even grasp what's happening to you. Your sister doesn't have a head and has more awareness than you."

Melanie's mouth twitched. So that was how Miltia died. Useful information. Melanie was careful not to move too rashly, but she knew she needed to get her hands around her neck…

"Penny?"

A voice cried out from beneath. The two warriors looked over the barricade. Three young Huntresses were standing there, gazing up at the confrontation. Melanie couldn't believe her eyes. Their collars were off. They seemed furious. She was outnumbered. Penny remained stoic, her focus only shifted when she saw another woman burst into the room. Down below, close to the others, Emerald finally emerged from the stairwell and face-to-face with three very angry Huntresses, she gasped.

"Oh, fuck this."

Before the others could react, Emerald turned and sprinted out of the building, racing through its backdoor. From below, Ruby could hardly keep track of what was happening. Penny: alive. One twin: dead. Emerald: escaping. Yet through all the chaos, she heard Penny suddenly bark orders from above.

"Go after her!"

It took a moment to register, so Penny screamed again.

"Emerald is the reason we all came here! We need to know what she took from Atlas! I've got this!"

Ruby wanted to stay behind. She just had Penny ripped away from her, and now that she was back, she was just supposed to abandon her? It seemed cruel. Yet something had fundamentally changed within the Atlasian soldier. Ruby couldn't make out clear details of her face from so far below, but there was something a little more broken within her. Another horror to the pile.

For some reason, she felt like she shouldn't be around for what came next.

"Ruby," Weiss said, grabbing ahold of Ruby's hand. "We need to get out of here. Come on."

Ruby stared longingly at Penny one more time. Somehow, that woman had come back from the dead. When all of this was over, she needed to know how.

Crescent Rose and Ember Celica had been discarded close by. The twins had been careless in getting rid of them. Yang removed the collar from Ruby's neck, and the two grabbed their weapons as they all chased after Emerald.

Penny watched them leave, then turned her attention back to Melanie. Melanie, confounded, broke out in a panicked, insane laugh.

"Did… did you just send away your backup?" she cackled, teetering on the edge of insanity. "You're nuts. You're completely nuts…" Melanie's smile turned into a scowl, and then she screamed in a psychotic rage. "You're completely fucking nuts, you know that!" She grabbed the sword embedded in the wall, and pulled it out, wielding Penny's own weapon against her. "I'm gonna cut your fucking head off and hang it on my wall, you crazy robotic bitch! I will teach you a new meaning of suffering!"

Penny was unfazed.

Weapon systems functioning was at sixty percent.

Jet systems functioning was at eighty-seven percent.

She smelled her enemy's fear.

"If you want to settle the score…" Penny held out her hand, gently flexed her fingers, and beckoned Melanie toward her. "Then come get me."

Melanie sneered. In a split second, her panic turned to rage. Challenge fucking accepted.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang burst out into the building's parking lot. Old, beat-up cars lined the broken asphalt. The cold wind hit them like a shotgun blast. Ruby looked around frantically. "Where did she go?"

"There!"

Yang pointed into the distance. On the far road, a red sports car sped parallel to the building, its loud engine waking up the nearest five city blocks. It glistened as it sped away into the distance, and Yang hissed in frustration.

"Dammit! She got away!"

"Not yet she didn't," Weiss stated. She pushed her way to the front of the pack, holding her arms out in front of her. Ruby and Yang waited as the winds suddenly shifted, and they felt a power surge beneath them—and then with a flash of lightning, the great toad appeared in the center of the parking lot, crushing everything in its wake. Ruby and Yang couldn't even take in its magnitude before Weiss grabbed her girlfriend's hand and raced toward the great beast.

"We're going after her on George?" asked Ruby.

"Do you have a better idea?" Weiss challenged. Ruby didn't, though she had been short on good ideas all night. George leaned forward for them, and they were able to scale his hind legs to get on top of his glowing head. When they reached their perch, Weiss nearly ordered George to move before she realized one of them was missing. "Yang? What are you waiting for?"

Yang was staring elsewhere. "You two go on ahead!" A slight smirk crossed her face as her gaze fell upon a vehicle in the corner of the parking lot, in better condition than the rest and unharmed by the large creature. "I got a different ride in mind…"