A/N: WARNING! This drabble is...well, I don't want to call it dark, but its certainly grisly. So... Read this note, would you kindly?

I dislike the idea of shunting such a promising idea off the plot bin, but with the upcoming Revival of "Gimme That Fire" from said bin- which is the long awaited NarutoxYang story everyone's been after my arse for now-I have my hands full.So here's another idea that...I'm not quite sure will become a story or not. Still, I wanted folks to at least see it. Maybe its a tease of something that's coming. Maybe not. Haven't decided yet.

In other news, I'm finally moved in, and heartbroken for it. I hated to leave the old place behind; I had so many good times there...T_T

As ever, I own no references, quotes, memes or themes. Not a wit or a one.

I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in the world.

Hope this makes you smile~!

"It is not a sin to be born into this world. C'mon. Don't let this beat you."

"RISE."

"Don't screw this up the way I did."

"RISE!"

"Move! Fight! Save them!"

"RISE!"

~?

Third Time's The Charm

Lifeless eyes snapped open.

Penny blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice.

She felt stronger somehow. More alive than ever before. How strange.

She had...passed on, hadn't she? She remembered telling Jaune to...do what he did. He had honored her request. She'd felt his blade, Crocea Mors, pierce her chest. She recalled that. She remembered dying, giving her life so that the power might go to someone better. Stronger. And so it had. She had. Given her power to Winter then faded away with a smile. It was not the end she'd craved, but an end nonetheless. Through her death, the others would have the strength to fight on. Such was her end.

Until it wasn't.

Something -no! Someone!- had stopped her. For a fleeting instant, she recalled bright blue eyes framed by whiskered cheeks and shaggy blond hair. A crooked grin shone out at her. She couldn't remember his name. She felt as if she should...as though, in another life, another story, he was someone near and dear to her heart. But no, it was as if someone had reached inside her with a pair of scissors and simply snipped out the memory of his name. Regardless, the specter had smiled at her, spun her around, and shoved her back out of the light.

"Surprised?" that strange voice touched her again, bringing a tear to her eyes. "Don't be. Of course I'd help you...even if you're not the Penny I know. Now...breathe."

"How...are you doing this?"

...sorry. Can't tell you. Its a secret. Now up you go."

Penny complied and sat up, touching one hand to her aching head. Her eyes burned in a way they never had before, even with the powers of the maiden; for her eyes were no longer green. They were red. The rest of her was...not. When she looked down she found that entire body shone like the sun itself; wreathed in intricate black marks she couldn't comprehend, yet knew where an intimate part of her. She didn't understand them. They did not belong to her, and yet now they were of her melded to her soul in a way she didn't understand.

"This is your third and final life, Penny." one final whisper caressed her mind. "Give her one for me and Steel. Go for the head."

Tears poured down her face. "I...do not understand. Who are you?"

Laughter filled her mind. "Fight. Penny. Win."

And then there was only silence.

Penny stood slowly.

...yes, sir."

"WEISS!"

Winter's scream pierced the air to her left. Someone hurtled off the platform. Someone clad in blue and white.

No. Not this time. Not like the others. Her restored body acted accordingly. She raced forward and flung herself into the black without fear, not even knowing if she could still fly. Her healed heart pounded in her veins like the drums of a great hunt. She didn't simply leap. She dove. Her body became a streak of golden light and hurtled past Winter -idly noting her vivid burning blue eyes!- then dove deeper still in a fraction of a second. She stretched her arm out, close, closer, closest...!

"I have you!"

A frail weight landed in her arms. Golden flames flared to life beneath bare feet and Penny soared out of the black.

"Penny?!" Weiss stiffened in her arms, gazing up at her aghast. "But I saw you...

"Die?" She saw a glowing reflection gleaming back at her within the those startled cerulean orbs. "I got better."

The Schnee huffed. "I can see that! And not a moment too soon!"

It was the work of moments to deposit Weiss in Jaune's arms. Friend Jaune looked just as shocked as she felt.

"P-Penny?" he all but stammered the word out. "Is that really you...? But you...my sword...I thought...

"I might be dead." she wrinkled her nose. "But I don't feel dead~!"

"So...Ironwood's puppet still had a trick up her sleeve?"

Penny's sixth sense -how odd! She hadn't had that before!- shrieked a warning. Danger! Once more, her body moved of its own accord. A glowing hand snapped up, intercepting a fireball. Firm fingers closed around the smoldering sphere and snuffled it out like a tiny candle in the wind. There was no pain. The flames which had once caused her excruciating agony only tickled. She pivoted one one heel and turned, bringing her glowing gaze to bear upon the culprit.

"Cinder Fall." Something hardened in her heart as she spoke that wretched name. "You...I do not have the words to describe the depth of hatred I feel toward you."

Yang. Blake. Ruby. Each had fallen from the platform. Because of her. There was no miracle to save them. Were they dead? Were they alive? She didn't know. Her eyes drifted to the Relic of Creation. If there was a way to save her friends, surely HE would know. They just had to get the relics off the witch. Easily done.

Her brow furrowed. "You should've stayed dead."

Dead? Oh. Right. She was human. But she didn't feel human. Not anymore. Penny glanced down at her chest. She could see the blood there, even against the gold and black. But it was just that. Blood. Though the fabric of her dress was tattered and torn, she was already hale and whole. Better, even! She felt like she could carry Atlas itself on her shoulders. Maybe even more than that. But before that...

"I got better." she chirruped the words happily, summoning a fresh whirl of blades behind her, gold as she had now become. "Unfortunately for you! Now, then, I have a request!"

Her smile grew as a shadow fell over Cinder.

"Would you kindly die?"

To her credit, Cinder realized her peril. Surrounded as she was, she tried to escape. She did not succeed.

Winter's saber SLAMMED through aura and hacked Cinder's human arm away at the elbow. The Fall Maiden slammed forward, a snarl forcing itself through grit teeth. She whirled, bringing her Grimm arm to bear, only for Crocea Mors to slam into her stomach. She stumbled to one knee, visible eye bulging, blood bursting from her lips. Fire flamed in her eye. Weiss didn't give her a chance to use it; in a streak of silver, Myrtenaster pierced her thigh, pinning her to the platform. Cinder lashed out blindly, to no avail. Down an arm and a leg, she could only do so much.

Penny saw her chance and pounced.

Strong hands drove the Fall Maiden down to the ground, grabbed her by the skull, and began to pull. Muscle tore. Cartilage creaked ominously. Cinder's neck began to stretch in a way no human's should. And then it started to tear. She screamed; an awful keening sound that tore at the ears. Flames and claws tore at her face, at her ears, at her soul. Penny hardened her heart against it. Her victim ranted, raved, and even began to beg, toward the bitter end.

"No, wait! Please...Mercy! I'm sorry...!"

"You are?" Her brow furrowed. "Good. I am not. Goodbye, Cinder of Fall. You will not be missed."

No one looked away. Not Weiss. Not Jaune. Not even Winter.

With one final wrench of her wrists, Penny pulled.

Blood sprayed through the air.

She was only mildly surprised when light burst from Cinder's headless corpse. Even in death, she was still a Maiden. Unsurprisingly, the power gravitated to the last woman she had thought of. Or hated, in this case. Penny had all of a moment to brace herself before slammed headlong into her chest. Her eyes burned with new life once more. She accepted her newfound gifts wholeheartedly and plucked the relics from their enemy's corpse. A bit bloody perhaps, but they were still quite functional.

He function was achieved. The enemy had been eliminated.

Penny held them high, not quite certain what to do with them. From the looks of the others, neither did they. This was a Pyrrhic victory perhaps, but a victory nevertheless.

Vengeance was theirs; she was prepared to face her fate as a Maiden once more, whatever came. She was still combat ready, thanks to that stranger. If only she could remember his name. She'd never seen him before, yet he seemed quite familiar with her, downright friendly even. As if he knew her. Intimately.

Somewhere in the back of Penny's mind, across two entirely different universes, something sparked.

A name sprang to Penny's mind; one she'd never known. A lonely tear rolled down her cheek.

Her lips parted, and on a threat of breath, she spoke it. "Naruto...?"

A/N: Aaaaaaaand there we go.

What we have here is a "What-If scenario" in which the Naruto from "Far From Home" contacts the cannon iteration of Penny and essentially saves her life.

Looks like Cinder Fall...lost her head. The punmaster returns! I regret nothing!

Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write. So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review...Would You Kindly? And Have some new previews!

For potential tales, of course.

As ever, a disclaimer:

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

THAR BE SPOILERS AHEAD!

BEWARE!

(Previews!)

"Protect her. Promise me.

The dying young woman -Raven!- pushed the infant into his arms.

"Don't let her grow up like me. Let her live. Let her be spared...please...even if its only here...

Naruto blinked.

"Promise me!"

Cinder shrieked. "That's not fair! You're only one man!"

"Um...did you miss the part where I said I'm a shinobi? We don't fight fair! And where you see one, I see many!" More portals opened behind him. "Ruby Rose! You called for reinforcements?! Here they are!"

A fist slammed forward.

"Charge!"

R&R~!