Ruby did her best to dodge, only suffering a scratch on her cheek. It cut deep, however, leaving a stinging pain and blood to pour out. Nevertheless, Ruby's attention was directed towards her attacker.

She could not make out any details in the darkness, yet the silhouette was small and lithe, feminine. The legs and arms were lean, yet seemingly bulged with muscle, whilst the assailant's core was slender. From the head, Ruby could see a long ponytail hanging from the right, though the lopsided weight did not seem to bother the attacker.

In the attacker's hand was a long and slender rapier, the object that Ruby saw just before. Even in the low light, it glinted menacingly, occasionally shining a brief light on the assailant. They were distinctly feminine, yet their body seemed strange. Covered head to toe in what seemed to be white body armour, Ruby could see that either the attacker was smaller than she initially thought, or that body armour was actually fused to their body.

Ruby did not have long to think of that, however, as the assailant rushed forward with an almost blinding speed, thrusting her weapon forward. So fast were the attacks that Ruby was only able to dodge because of her semblance. Even with that advantage in speed, she suffered many cuts to arms and body. Ruby could tell from the strikes the strength this person possessed was inhuman for someone of their size.

She did not have any time to think more, however, as the attacker charged forward at an incredible speed, her sword poised for another flurry of strikes. Ruby did her best to dodge, yet it was too fast even for her. The rapier's point cut through her clothes with ease, leaving tears and bloody scars across her body. The pace at which this person moved left Ruby exhausted, and she began to move sluggishly. With incredible flexibility, the assailant bent low and kicked Ruby straight in the gut with enough force to send her flying a few dozen metres back, into a pile of black bin bags. They cushioned her impact, yet there were also broken bottles and metal tins in them, cutting into her back in agonising pain.

Ruby was winded, unable to stand up. Her attacker showed no hesitation in going for the killing blow, launching forwards ready to impale her target.

However, Penny suddenly appeared between them, grabbing the rapier in a firm grip. The attacker stopped dead, she and Penny taking a short moment to regard each other and decide their next move. The gynoid then twisted her wrist, snapping the rapier like a twig. The attacker had let go of the hilt, jumping away as shards of metal flew through the air. Penny went on the offensive, rushing forward at speed to match her foe and began throwing fists. The attacker, even disarmed, was skilled enough to be able to dodge and block the assault.

"Ruby!" Yang called, as she and Nora rushed over to the still groaning girl. "Hey, stay with me. Can you hear me?" the blonde said, gently pulling her sister out of the rubbish and holding her up.

"Y-Yeah…" she moaned, wincing as she felt pain surge through her body. "How did you know?"

"Blake sent me a message. She's on her way here. I also messaged Jaune, he's bringing Ren, too." She glanced back to the battle. Penny's brief moment of advantage had swiftly faltered. The attacker was once again setting the pace, swinging her fists and legs in a series of punches and kicks that indicated a proficiency in some martial art. Penny, fortunately, was able to keep up, yet she spent more time defending herself than she did attacking. "I don't think we're going to be able to help her…" Yang observed.

"Who the hell even is she?" Nora asked.

Ruby groaned, "Your guess is as good as mine. Blake sent me a message telling me to meet her here, yet it seems to be that girl rather than Blake herself."

"And Penny?" Ruby and Yang glanced at Nora. "Ain't no way that girl's human, not with that performance. It sounds like metal hitting metal."

Ruby focused on the sound. Nora was right, the sound whenever the attacker's fist or leg was blocked by Penny resulted in a distinct clanging sound. Not quite the sound of a sword meeting a sword, or of a hammer striking a car hood, but each strike resulted in the tell-tale clang of metal striking metal.

"We'll tell you and Ren about it later," Yang stated. "Do you think white-hair has prosthetics?"

Ruby was not sure. It made sense, yet, when comparing the shape of her arms and legs to the rest of her body, it looked like her limbs were a part of her naturally, as opposed to grafted on metal appendages, like Ruby's own legs.

Regardless, it was clear that Penny was struggling. Whilst her control over her body and her strength and agility were superhuman, she lacked the technique her opponent possessed. This became quite apparent when she baited Penny with a feint, a strike towards her face, then stooped low and delivered a powerful kick to Penny's core. Whilst she maintained her stability more successfully than Ruby had, she was still pushed back a few metres.

"We need to do something!" Nora said, though her guess as to what to do was as good as her friends; somewhere between bugger and all. Penny and the attacker just moved too fast, so fast that if any of them were to get involved, they'd most likely get in Penny's way than help, and the attacker looked plenty skilled to take on more than one opponent.

Yet, there was something strange to Ruby's eyes about the fight. The attacker seemed to be holding back somewhat, not in the sense she was not giving the fight her all but more in the sense she seemed to want to subdue Penny, where it was apparent she had wanted to kill Ruby.

"Freeze!"

They all turned their heads towards the entrance of the alleyway. Standing there was Sergeant Nikos, pointing her handgun and flashlight at the two fighters. Behind her were Jaune and Ren, each looking concerned. "Hands in the air. Now!" Nikos shouted.

With the light of the flashlight on Penny and the attacker, they all finally got a good look at her. Ruby was correct, her body did not look like it had prosthetics. Or, rather, it was not her limbs that were prosthetics. Metal and silicone covered her from head to toe, sticking to her lithe frame so close that she appeared like a robot herself, like her entire body was a prosthetic. Her body armour, if that's what it was, was painted snow-white, though it was sullied by the dirt and grime of the alley. Covering her head, though allowing her lopsided ponytail out, was a white helmet with a visor obscuring her face.

"Hands in the air!" Nikos demanded again, "or I'll be forced to shoot!"

The attacker did not seem to listen, merely turning back to Penny. As such, Nikos pulled the trigger, the muzzle flash briefly illuminating the area as the bullet sped out towards its target. However, the attacker swiftly pulled left, avoiding it as the bullet flew past Penny and into a wall.

Nikos was briefly stunned, giving the attacker enough time to approach Penny and resume their fight. Nikos quickly collected herself and began firing again, yet each time, the attacker managed to avoid the rounds, much to everyone's amazement. Penny was not so fortunate, suffering a few rounds colliding with her body. They did not inflict much damage on her, but they proved too distracting. As it looked, Penny was about to be overwhelmed.

"Ruby!" a voice cried from above, as Blake approached from the roof of the warehouse.

Her voice once again caught the attacker's attention, as her mind worked to process a new factor in the situation. Nikos took the opportunity and fired again, this time landing a direct hit on the attacker's shoulder. This allowed Penny to grab her foe and force her into the wall, cracking it with the force she exerted. Sparks emerged from the attacker, the force damaging her body. Not stopping, Penny then ripped the attacker in two. Rather than blood and cartilage, the attacker's ruptured body erupted in electricity, wires and metal.

Penny dropped the upper body, allowing it to fall to the ground. It was clear the attacker was still alive, slightly twitching as if trying to get comfortable, yet whatever fight was in her now vanished.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" Nikos asked, her shock a mixture of horror at Penny's violence and confusion at the body before her.

"I determined her body to be mechanical in nature."

Nikos stared at her in disbelief, before sighing and pulling out her radio, "This is Charlie-2-0-6, target has been subdued, requesting backup."

As she was talking, the others approached, Ruby leaning on Yang's shoulder for support. The silver-eyed woman turned to her ward, "Open her helmet."

Penny nodded and ripped the visor off. Rather than a mess of wires similar to her now torn middle, a human face greeted them; pale as frost and eyes as blue as ice. Her expression was one of resigned disinterest.

Blake gasped, "A Schnee…"

Nikos groaned, "Oh, for the sake of the gods… Why did it have to be a Schnee?"

Ruby shook herself free of shock, "Why did you attack me?"

"I was ordered to retrieve the android known as PENNY," the Schnee replied simply, "I determined the easiest way was to eliminate Red Hood."

"Red Hood?" Nikos asked.

"Android?" Ren gasped.

"Like a robot?!" Nora cried excitedly.

"Er, No!" Penny squeaked before hiccuping.

"Cat's outta the bag now, Penny…" Yang sighed.

The sound of police sirens filled the air. They were far away, but gave them all pause.

"We can't let the police get here!" Blake stated.

"One's already here," Jaune meekly added.

Ruby turned to Nikos. "Sergeant, can you let Penny, Blake and the Schnee go?"

"What?" Nikos cried in shock, "I have to bring you all in!"

"We can't let Penny go back to the Schnees," Yang stated firmly, "We'll fight you for her."

"That would make us all accessories to violence against an officer," Ren stated.

"Sergeant," Ruby began, fixing Nikos with a stern look, "Please."

The policewoman looked at them unsurely. She glanced at the broken body of the Schnee and then at the bullet holes in Penny's body. The sound of the sirens was getting louder. Sweat began forming on her brow.

Then, she sighed in resignation, "Fine. But you best explain everything to me later."

Ruby nodded, "I will. Blake, Take Penny and the Schnee to my flat." Blake nodded, and left with Penny, the gynoid carrying the Schnee's body away.

"What about the bodycam footage?" Ren asked.

"We just need to break the thing, right?" Nora said.

"It would look weird if just the camera was broke," Jaune added.

"Then we rough the cop up, too."

"That sounds like a bad idea."

"It's alright," Nikos said, surprising them, "Do it."

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked.

Nikos nodded, "If it gets out I skirted my duty and let those three get away, getting sacked will be the least of my problems."

Ruby nodded, "Yang, go gentle, at least."

Yang was smirking a little too much as she wound up her arm, "Sure. As gentle as I can…" So she unleashed a few punches on Nikos, enough to leave some bad bruises, but not enough to indicate she was the one to do it. They destroyed the body camera, as well.

Soon, the police had arrived, tending to Ruby and Nikos' wounds before taking them all back to the station for questioning.

Ruby sat before the police chief. A large, rotund man with grey hair and a bushy moustache covering his upper lip. Based on the three pips on his rank-slide, Ruby guessed him to be a chief inspector in rank.

"So, you were attacked by an unknown assailant?" he asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Can you describe to me the events that led up to this?"

Ruby nodded, "My friends and I had decided to have a night out. Everything was normal as we hit the club, when I got a message from another friend asking me to meet behind the warehouse. I was a little suspicious, yet went anyway. That's when he called me and told me that he didn't send the message, giving me enough time to dodge the first attack. However, I was quickly overpowered.

"Thankfully, my friend messaged the friends I was out with tonight and they alerted Sergeant Nikos. She managed to arrive on time and subdue the attacker."

"Yes," the chief said, "Pyrrha's report says the attacker's torso had been ripped in two, revealing them to be an android of some kind. The legs we recovered indicate as such, too. What happened to the torso?"

"White Fang arrived, Chief Inspector Port," Pyrrha replied, standing straight nearby, "I did what I could to fend them off, but they left with the torso."

Port groaned, "Which indicates that they were responsible for the attack. It's worrying they may have combat droids at their disposal. Any idea why they'd attack you, Miss Rose?"

Ruby shrugged, "Not that I'm aware of."

Port regarded the two silently, clearly having some doubts about their story. Still, he seemed satisfied. "Thank you. You may return home now, Miss Rose. Pyrrha, you can have the rest of the night off to recover. It's not easy or pleasant holding off White Fang on your own."

"Thank you, sir." With that, the two left.

"Where should I meet you?" Pyrrha whispered.

"At my flat, Jaune can give you the location."

Pyrrha nodded, having received Jaune's contact details earlier.

So, Ruby returned back to her flat, where Blake and Penny sat whilst the Schnee lay on the bed. Eventually, her friends and Pyrrha had rendezvoused at the flat, too.

"Now," the policewoman began, "tell me everything."

Ruby glanced at Ren and Nora, who looked equally as expectant as the policewoman. Then there was Yang and Jaune, who appeared to be approving of telling the other three, though for Jaune it seemed to be more out of pressure rather than a genuine belief. As for Blake, she appeared incredibly apprehensive about informing more people, especially a police officer, though Ruby could see the quiet resignation in her eyes, a look of knowing there was no going back now.

Finally, Ruby turned her gaze to Penny. Her ward was smiling at her, absolute trust gleaming in her eyes. Whatever decision Ruby made, it seemed Penny would trust her wholeheartedly.

Behind the gynoid was the Schnee, still missing her lower half. The look on her face unnerved Ruby, because it was a look that put her at ease. Those icy-blue eyes held an amused glint in them, one that seemed to say that she did not care in the slightest about what was happening, that she did not care she failed in her task and was now held captive by the person she tried to kill. At most, she only appeared to be interested in how things would play out.

Ruby turned back to Pyrrha and exhaled, "Alright. So, it all began with the Polendina facility. The White Fang was paying me to infiltrate and find out what was being researched there. Turns out, it was Penny here, a robot with her own aura. Yang and Jaune helped with the escape, and we decided that she should not be handed over to the Fang."

Pyrrha nodded, "A good call." She then turned her attention to the Schnee, "And as for you?"

"I was ordered to recover the PENNY unit and eliminate the one responsible for her capture."

"Your name?"

"Weiss Schnee."

The group was stunned. "Hang on," Yang started, "Didn't she die?"

Pyrrha nodded, "To White Fang bombing."

"Actually," Blake said, "We didn't kill her. Adam claimed responsibility, but even we don't know what happened."

"That," Weiss began, "would be because Weiss Schnee was converted into a cyborg unit." The group were silent as they stared at her. "The brain of Weiss Schnee was removed and transplanted into this unit. Mr Schnee felt that if such an action were to be made public, the ethical ramifications would lead to the removal of the company's fortune, power and influence. So, the death of Weiss Schnee was staged and officially recorded as an unfortunate result of a terrorist attack."

"Which would mean escalated measures to destroy the White Fang," Ren added.

"And there's no way either Adam or Sienna would deny being responsible," Blake noted.

"The perfect cover up," Nora said.

They fell into silence again, each one realising the gravity of the situation at hand. None more so than Ruby, as it was evident that the Schnee's knew she was responsible and the only reason she was still alive was because they had not seen a chance to kill her yet.

"I'm glad I didn't report this, now," Pyrrha sighed, "This is a massive mess…"

"I thought a cop would want to report this to their corpo bosses as soon as possible," Blake said, her voice dripping with hostility, "After all, that would mean a fat promotion, wouldn't it?"

Pyrrha scoffed, "For the higher ups. Of course, my report would be snatched up and used for their promotion, whereas I would be left down here. For the low ranking officers, we don't even appear on the radar. It's the commissioners and chief constables who cosy up with people like Jacques Schnee. The rank and file don't like the super rich just as much as anyone else."

"Yet you still do their dirty work."

Pyrrha glared at the faunus, "Between them and terrorists, who murder people, I'd say we've chosen the lesser evil." The tension in the room began to rise.

Ruby cleared her throat, drawing their attention, "Regardless, the fact of the matter is that this all stays secret. I'm sure we can all agree that neither Penny nor Weiss should be given to the Schnees or the Fang, yes?"

"Yes ma'am!" Nora saluted.

Ren sighed, "I don't see why this should even concern us…"

Yang patted his back gently, "Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do."

"I suppose…" Ren stood up, "Anyway, I say we should retire for now."

"What about the Schnee?" Blake asked.

"She'll stay here." They all turned to face Ruby. "They're already after Penny and I. If she stays here, then at the very least none of you will get in trouble for it."

"Now hold on, Ruby," Yang said, "That's way too dangerous."

"I agree," Blake added, "I was also involved in the Polendina mission, so I bear just as much responsibility."

Ruby shook her head, "If we want to keep them away from Adam, then you can't shelter them."

"And what about the Schnee?" Yang continued, "How do you know she won't throttle you at night or call for help?"

Ruby gave another glance at Weiss, that same apathetic look on her face. "I don't think she cares enough."

Pyrrha clapped her hands together, "For now, they stay here. Whilst it is a concern that they are together in one place, I refuse to endanger civilians," she cast her gaze at Yang, Jaune, Ren and Nora, "or hand them over to the Fang. As it stands, this is the best possible haven for them." She made her way to the door. "I'll keep my ear to the ground, see if I can find out if the Schnees want us to capture them. I doubt they'll tell us, but I'll do my best." With that, she left.

"We'd best be off, too," Ren said, dragging Nora away."

"Rubes," Yang called, though she faltered when her sister looked at her. "Just… stay safe, yeah?"

"I will, Yang."

Yang gave a sad smile, and left with Jaune and Blake.

Ruby sighed from exhaustion, and turned to Penny, "You alright with this?"

Penny nodded, "Absolutely, Ruby. I know that things will turn out for the best."

"If only I could have that optimism…" The runner turned her attention to the cyborg. Again, that disinterested look was present.

Ruby sat beside Weiss, "Why is it that you don't seem to care?"

"About what?"

"You could call the Schnees or something."

"Perhaps I am waiting for the perfect opportunity."

"You aren't. You didn't care that you lost your legs. You don't care that you were captured. You don't seem to care about anything. So, why?"

A small smirk appeared on Weiss' face, though it was gone as soon as it came. "I have no attachment to Mr Schnee or his company."

"But he's your father."

"He is the father of Weiss Schnee."

"And that's you, right?"

A forlorn look crossed her pale face, as she turned her gaze to the window, "Am I? Or am I just an automaton that is pretending to be her?"

Ruby's shoulders sagged, as she sighed again. On boy, she thought, here we go again…