Halo, it's time for the newest chapter. Enjoy the reading.
It was already evening, and the storm created by Salem's Grimm whales produced lightning, followed by thunder. Ominous dark clouds covered the night sky, but far out on the tundra, in a Dust mine where the Amity arena was hidden, they were working on it without resting.
Amity was the only hope for the people of Mantle, as it was the only way to call for help from the rest of the Remnant and warn them of Salem's existence.
Pietro was the only one who knew how to finish the Communication Tower, but Maria, Penny, and Lance were there to help him.
Penny and Lance went to the mine to plant the bombs for the launch.
- Dad? - Penny called Pietro worried.
- Penny? - Pietro answered.
- That doesn't seem like a good idea. - Penny was afraid of what her father was planning.
- I agree, - Lance, who helped Penny assemble the bombs and place them on the Dust-filled rocks. - there is a high chance that it'll backfire and we'll destroy Amity ourselves.
- You know, - Pietro didn't share the two young people's concern. - there is a difference between a good idea and the best idea. Unfortunately, we have no other option. We have enough functioning systems to deliver a message and keep Amity in atmospheric orbit. But our engines cannot reach the target altitude alone.
- Fortunately, - Maria also spoke on the radio. - we have a few hundred tons of thrust!
- As soon as we get into transmission range, we activate the stabilizers and restore global communication and send the recorded message to the rest of the world. - continued Pietro. - Then we just have to get Amity out of this mess.
- We understand that, - Lance still doubted the success of the plan after he too planted a bomb in a pile of raw Dust filled rocks. - but you know, when you think about the fact that we are planting explosives in a mine full of Dust, the combined explosion of which would be enough to turn half a city to the ground, it might seem a little dangerous. There is a chance that we ourselves will blow up our last hope.
- You don't have to worry about this at all. - Pietro was confident. - I calculated everything in advance and accounted for all foreseeable problems and I am at least 80% sure that the explosion will not cause any serious damage to Amity.
- And the remaining 20%? - Lance was afraid of the answer in advance.
- Well... - Pietro must have just shrugged his shoulders on the other side. - there is always a minimum error percentage.
- Encouraging.
- But what if no one can come and help Atlas? - Penny was still unsure of the plan as she installed another bomb. - If I stayed here with Lance, maybe...
- Penny, - Pietro clearly didn't want to hear about his daughter going back to Mantle. - we have already had this conversation. - Penny was devastated that she couldn't go help her friends. - I'm your father, - Pietro's voice tightened. - and I say you belong to Amity.
- Yes, sir. - Penny obeyed and turned off the radio.
- You know he just wants to protect you, right? - Lance got into the air car, in the driver's seat.
- Of course. - She sat next to Penny in the front seat. - But I'd like him not to overdo it. I know I have to protect Amity and the Maiden power, but I don't want others to get hurt because of me.
- The only one that gets people killed, - Lance pointed out of the car window at Salem's Grimm whales. - it's her.
- You know I understand. - Penny couldn't be cheered up.
- Yes, - Lance hung his head with a sigh. - unfortunately, I know.
They returned to Amity, where Pietro and Maria had already finished building the tower. They got out of the car and went to the two old ones, on the platform in the middle of the arena, which they raised high.
Penny sat sadly on the edge of the platform and waited while Lance, unable to say anything to her, preferred to stay in the car.
- All systems are ready. - Pietro confidently checked the tower and pressed the terminal keyboard, then turned to the girl. - Penny, Amity needs access to launch... - He pressed a button. - now. - Penny walked over to the terminal that was waiting for the general's permission, then transformed her finger into an attachment, which she plugged into the terminal. - Yes, it worked!
The Amity suddenly moved and began to shake.
- So, - Lance got out of the car and proudly went to the team. - did it work?
- Yeah, but I didn't have time to put seat belts on, - Pietro explained as he started typing again. - so I recommend that you hold on.
- On what?! - Lance couldn't see anything to grab onto, but the countdown had already begun.
He had 30 seconds to find shelter.
Maria got into a large construction robot that looked like a Paladin, only without weapons, while Lance got into the car and buckled his seat belt.
Unfortunately, the joyous moment didn't last long as a yellow fireball was seen flying up outside Amity.
Penny landed on the ground and Lance got out of the car to see the cause of the hole in the ceiling. It was another flying car and a familiar terror was traveling on its nose.
- Where do you think you're going? - It was Cinder, her eye glowed yellow and both hands were covered in flames.
Lance and Penny didn't hesitate to fight her. Lance had already started the car, which he took off and Penny was about to follow.
- Penny, don't! - Pietro was afraid of his daughter, but she knew what her duty was, so she went down to the arena with Lance.
The two Maiden faced each other as Cinder got off from the car and Adam and Emerald got out of the vehicle, but Mandy remained in the driver's seat.
- Don't you dare touch her. - Lance raised his shield and took out his sword.
Unfortunately, before anyone could do anything, the countdown ended and the explosives in the mine detonated.
The tundras of Solitas were lit up in daylight by bright explosions of red, white, yellow, purple and blue, and Amity's drives turned on. The blast's shockwave took its toll, sending the Amity aloft as its shields held on.
Unfortunately, the sudden change in gravity forced everyone to the floor and they couldn't move.
- I was hoping that your other friends would be here as well. - Cinder fell to one knee, grinning evilly and tried to get up. - But it seems - Until she could stand up, she started summoning black glass swords on the ground. - they left all the work to you. - She turned to Penny, whose power she clearly wanted. - And you're just a tool that's being used!
- You're talking?! - Lance rose to Penny's defense, although he couldn't move either.
- You don't know what you're talking about! - Penny shot back at Cinder.
Amity's thrusters shut down and it successfully landed in the atmosphere, where it was able to float on its own and gravity was restored.
Cinder waited for that, as she's standing up and launching all of her summoned swords at Penny.
Penny backed away and waved her swords in front of her to ward off Cinder's blades, but she was backed further and further into a corner.
Lance immediately took out his high caliber pistol and fired at Cinder. Cinder was enraged by the Red Knight, but Adam and Emerald were already there to stop him from rushing to Penny's aid.
Emerald threw one of her chain picks on Lance's arm and pulled the pistol out of his hand with the other, then Adam fired his katana at him, which Lance hit back with his shield, then Adam caught it in the air.
Lance could only take out his sword at the last moment, with which he parried Wilt's blow and an amazing sword duel developed between Adam and Lance.
Emerald didn't stay idle, she got behind Lance and opened fire on him, which disturbed him, but his armor protected him, but this gave Adam the opportunity to take a hit in his breastplate.
Lance blocked Emerald's shots with his shield, while he parried Adam's with his sword.
Emerald came up with a new idea, as she rehooked the chain pickaxe into Lance's left arm and pulled his shielded hand to the side with all her might, which threw him off balance and made it increasingly difficult to resist Adam's attacks.
Lance, without his shield and left arm, had a hard time with Adam, but he held his own, even when Adam jumped to the side and tried to land a blow, Lance either parried it or his armor protected him.
Suddenly, a second, a third, and more Adams appeared, surrounding Lance from several sides. Lance was aware of Emerald's Semblance and knew that all the other Adams were illusions, although he had no idea which one could be the real one.
The first Adam charged, which Lance quickly cut down, but it was only an illusion, as were the second and third, but the fourth stayed away and opened fire on him with Blush, causing him to stagger but stay on his feet.
Lance finally freed his arm from Emerald's chain pickaxe and focused on two sides again.
Cinder, meanwhile, continued to attack Penny with an army of black glass blades, but suddenly, Maria, with the huge machine, jumped in front of her to protect the robot girl.
- Leave her alone, you... - She started towards Cinder, the flying car came at her from the side and pushed the giant robot aside.
Penny and Cinder faced each other again and clashed. Cinder attacked first and launched herself off the floor, straight at Penny, who quickly dodged and caught her on the run.
Cinder angrily changed direction and flew after Penny, leaving the arena.
- Stupid, . Maria was still struggling with the air cart Mandy was piloting. - dumb machine!
She finally managed to slam the aircar into the ground with its nose, but Mandy shifted into reverse and began reversing, slipping out of Maria's robot's grasp. Maria, as soon as she got the machine on its feet, looked around and noticed too late that the car was speeding towards her again and she didn't have time to defend herself, so the robot fell backwards.
Mandy quickly got out of the car and teleported to the cabin of the plane, which she opened and was surprised to notice that a very old lady was sitting inside.
- And what do you want? - Maria just cheekily threw it at Mandy.
- Um... - Mandy didn't know what to do, she didn't expect to meet a grumpy, barely alive old woman. - excuse me, old lady, but...
- I'll show you "old lady"! - Maria yelled angrily at Mandy and hit her with her cane with surprisingly great force, from which the faunus girl could only dodge at the last moment.
Pietro watched helplessly at the starting battles and feared that the warring parties would do serious damage to Amity.
- Please, please, please! - Begging, he started typing on the terminal to check Amity's status. - That's it! - He was relieved to notice that they had successfully entered the atmosphere, where thanks to the reduced gravity and Amity's Gravity Dust, it was able to stay aloft on its own.
Accompanied by an explosion, a warning message started counting down from 3 minutes.
- Are we sinking?! - Pietro felt horrified that the Amity began to sink, but he didn't give up and started typing again, doing his best to keep the Amity above the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, the explosions that were the side effects of Cinder and Penny's fight made this more and more difficult.
Penny successfully lured Cinder out of Amity, but she didn't have time to catch her breath, as Cinder was constantly on her trail and pelted her with fireballs non-stop. Penny wasn't idle and returned fire with her laser cannon, from which Cinder had to dodge, but still, she continued the chase.
As soon as they got close enough, Cinder summoned glass swords and attacked Penny with them, but the robot girl defended herself with her floating swords and flew further and further away.
Cinder became more and more angry and covered her two swords with fire, then directed them at Penny with two or three slashes, one of which she dodged, one just brushed her, but the third one hit her and in order to prevent her from falling, one of her swords was stabbed into the Amity's wall and with the buoyancy of the rocket boots she pulled herself up and was aloft again.
Cinder transformed her swords into a black glass bow and fired three flaming-tipped arrows at the girl, who dodged them, but when the arrows exploded, it was feared that she had damaged Amity as well.
Penny realized that Amity could be seriously injured because of their fight, so she had to lure Cinder as far away as possible to arrange their fight elsewhere. She flew off, heading east, Cinder clearly followed her.
Penny raced through the clouds at an amazing speed as Cinder followed her at insane speed and kept shooting fireballs at her, but Penny dodged them skillfully.
Cinder was getting more and more annoyed that she kept running away and not being able to stop when she suddenly realized something and stopped in mid-air and turned around. Penny didn't run away, she wants to lure her away from Amity so they don't harm it.
Realizing this, Cinder gave Penny an evil smile before heading back towards Amity. Penny quickly turned and followed her.
Lance didn't give up and held his own against Emerald and Adam. He and Adam proved to be equal opponents, as Lance had a strong defense and great physical strength, while Adam was fast and agile and attacked wildly, and Wilt clashed dozens of times with Golden Sting and Scarlet Rook, but they were simply unable to rise over the other.
However, Lance's job was made more difficult by Emerald constantly intervening and helping Adam against him, or by creating illusions with his chain pickaxe or Semblance, and he was pushed further back.
Lance finally transformed his sword into a spear and his diamond-shaped shield into a larger, rectangular one, which made it easier for him to push Adam back and catch Emerald's chain pickaxe with his spear, then pulled on it and she flew towards him. Emerald raced unstoppably towards Lance's shield, which she could still dodge if she came at the right angle. Unfortunately, this plan got ruin the moment Lance's shield sprouted three spikes and struck her down.
Emerald fell to the ground and her aura turned off with a green flash.
- One down. - Lance stated as he twirled the spear in his hand and turned to Adam.
Adam put Wilt back into his sheath, but still clenching the grip angrily, then charged at Lance like a raging bull.
Mandy was still grappling with Maria and found it very strange how fast, agile and a good fighter the 80 year old woman was. Maria parried her daggers and kicks with no problem.
- Okay, I tried to... - Mandy couldn't even finish, because Maria swung her cane at her again, which she dodged with a teleportation to appear behind her.
- No use! - Thanks to her Semblance, Maria sensed where Mandy would appear, so she quickly turned around and blocked the girl's kick with her cane and pushed her back.
Maria had a good laugh and felt in her element again, as if she had been reborn in the heat of battle. She transformed her cane into a scythe and attacked Mandy with it, who could hardly resist her, so she teleported again.
- Seriously?! - Maria again felt Mandy appear next to her this time, so she quickly jumped aside and dodged Mandy's blow.
Mandy put away her daggers and took out her bow, then shot at Maria, who easily dodged the arrows with her Semblance and Mandy was already starting to feel awkward. Mandy was a master with a bow and this old woman dodged her shots as easily as if she were an amateur.
She was already very annoyed by this laughing old woman, so she took out her daggers and teleported again.
- Quite transparent! - Maria felt for the third time where she was going to appear, so she jumped up and after Mandy appeared again, she attacked, jumped right on her face and ran away from her.
- Stop messing around Mandy! - Adam shouted there.
- If you want, we can exchange! - Mandy rubbed her face painfully.
Cinder returned to the Amity and began to melt the metal support pillars, causing the Amity to sink faster, one after the other, knowing that Penny would do anything to protect her, this gave her a new idea.
- No! - Penny caught up with her and opened fire on her with two laser cannons, which Cinder dodged. - Why are you doing this?! - They stopped in the air and Penny tried to talk to her. - Why do you serve someone like Salem?!
- I don't serve anyone! - Cinder shouted with a crazy grin and looked at Penny like a predator at its prey. - And you wouldn't either, if you weren't programmed that way!
- That's not... - Penny knew well that from the moment she was born she was programmed to help others and it wasn't her decision to begin with. - I decided to fight for the people who care about me! - But over time, she understood what love, friendship and responsibility are, which she made her primary function by her own decision.
Unfortunately, the molten metal pillars that Cinder had melted were getting weaker and weaker and the communication tower didn't last long. Penny dug her swords into the ground and pulled Amity up with all her strength as she used both hands to shoot ice at the melted pillars to solidify them again. She fought to protect Amity, the last hope for the people of Mantle.
Cinder didn't remain idle and attacked the defenseless Penny in the air, wrapped her legs around her waist and tried to catch her head with her hands. Penny tried to keep Cinder Grimm's hand away from her with one hand while she continued to shoot ice at one of the melted pillars with the other, all for Amity.
Cinder grabbed Penny's hand with her human hand, which kept her Grimm's hand away and heated it, burning her glove, causing her to give way and finally, she put the Grimm's hand on her face.
Cinder began to drain the Maiden power from the girl, who screamed with her mouth taped shut and flew around trying to shake Cinder off her, but eventually her eyes started to glow green and she summoned 6 ice swords around her, which she pointed at Cinder and pushed her away, but Cinder still cupped the outstretched Grimm's arm over Penny's face. Penny didn't stop, she let Cinder back to her, then kicked Cinder in the chest with her legs, in the right place and at the right time, with the help of her rocket boots, which made her go and slam her against the wall and nail her with her ice swords.
- Cinder! - Emerald, recovering from her battle with Lance, rushed to Cinder's aid.
Cinder didn't care about Emerald, she just gave a devilish smile to indicate she was using her Semblance.
Mandy then successfully knocked out Maria, who was distracted by Penny falling to the ground injured.
- Okay, now seriously... - Mandy thanked the gods that she finally caught Maria, but Penny's green laser beam stroke her to the car and her aura turned off with a purple flash.
- Two down, - Lance smiled under his helmet as he looked at the weakened Emerald and passed out Mandy, then back to Adam and up to Cinder. - two back.
Adam just grunted, then left Lance and charged at Penny, who quickly parried all of the faunus man's blows, then pushed him back with her swords. Penny fired her laser cannon again, but Adam just waited for that, taking Wilt out and absorbing the entire beam, preparing to fire it back somewhere else.
Penny braced herself to defend, then to her surprise, she swung at Lance, turning a green laser into red, but channeling it's full power at him. Lance lifted Scarlet Rook and ducked behind it, needing all his strength to ward off this blow.
As soon as the beam ended, he dropped to one knee and panted tiredly, but was able to get to his feet. This attack weakened his defenses and slowed him down, making it much easier for Adam.
Adam was able to make Lance back up and land more and more blows on him.
Penny saw that Lance was in trouble, so she rushed to his aid and attacked Adam in the back with his swords, who quickly reacted and dodged the attack, but Lance, who changed his shield back into a smaller diamond, gave him a hit and knocked him back.
The two of them pushed Adam back together, who defended and reacted lightning fast, but he didn't have much of a chance against Penny's eight swords, Lance stabbed him in the chest with his spear, which distracted him so much that Penny knocked Wilt out of his hands and Lance punched Wilt with his shield and send it to the floor.
A dark red flash indicated that Adam was also on the floor.
Three black glass darts pierced the floor next to them and exploded. Cinder returned, her one eye on fire and staring at Penny.
Penny and Lance felt that they could defeat Cinder together, but a jolt indicated that the Amity was still sinking and the support pillars melted by Cinder couldn't hold much longer.
- Go, - Lance said to Penny and glared firmly at Cinder. - I'll take care of her.
Penny was worried that Lance wouldn't stand much of a chance against Cinder in his current state, but Amity was the most important thing right now, so she complied.
- Aw, - Cinder almost felt sorry for Lance, who she didn't see as a serious opponent after Adam weakened him. - the little pawn tries to hit the queen.
Lance, running out of options, had no choice but to put away his sword, disarm and throw away his shield and used his Semblance. He took a deep breath, began to concentrate, his muscles swelled, his height also increased, a dark red aura covered his body and when he opened his eyes, they glowed red.
- Hit this pawn, b*tch! - His voice was deep and dark, which scared even Cinder.
Cinder didn't wait long before firing two flaming glass swords at her that exploded on impact.
Penny looked back worriedly after hearing the explosion, but when the smoke cleared she saw that Lance was unharmed and continued to freeze the support pillars.
- How...? - Cinder could hardly believe her eye, as Lance shielded the two swords by bending away from one, then grabbed it before it hit the ground and knocked the other aside.
Lance assumed his Berserker form and growled angrily at Cinder, whom he was determined to destroy.
- I never thought that such power could exist. - Cinder just smiled at Lance and liked his form, then summoned at least two dozen glass swords, which she shot at Lance.
Lance launched himself unarmed into the multitude of swords that came at him, catching one and knocking the others aside. As soon as he knocked one sword away, another came and many more, but in time the rest exploded when Lance hit him, but not enough to hurt him in this form and Cinder was very shocked when he jumped through the smoke, straight towards her.
Lance slashed from below, which caused him to dodge a sword flying towards him, only to have it spin and explode in the air, then he twirled Cinder's sword in his hand and caught a second one, and now he was defending himself with two swords and was getting closer to her.
Cinder angrily shot a firebomb at him, which landed with a huge explosion and Cinder was already sure that Lance was dead, that's why she was surprised to see two of her own swords flying towards her, which she had to dodge.
- You think, - Cinder clenched her fists angrily. - this pathetic little pawn could stand in my way?! I'll kill you all one by one if I have to, to get the power that belongs to me! - She took off, knowing Lance couldn't fly. - Follow me here if you can.
Seeing that Cinder was in the air, Lance jumped on top of his own flying car, placed his hand on top of it and the red aura surrounding him began to flood the car, which seemed to bring it to life, its headlights also began to glow red and it rose by itself and chased after Cinder.
Cinder rose up, summoned a pile of flaming weapons and pointed them at Lance, but Lance took control of the car and dodged them all and flew past Cinder's head, who they locked eyes with for a moment.
The weapons that Lance dodged changed direction and headed back towards the Red Knight, but Lance evaded them again with several maneuvers and aerial stunts. With his Semblance, Lance took perfect control of the car's weapon system and fired two smaller missiles at Cinder, but even the missiles were covered by the red aura.
Cinder had never seen such power before in her life and soared away from the missiles, but Lance let out a loud roar like a wild animal before the missiles turned off, changed direction, turned back on and aimed at Cinder at full speed.
Cinder was forced to maneuver through the air to avoid the missiles, which simply didn't stop until they were caught. Cinder quickly changed direction, getting higher, but the missiles were still in her wake, racing erratically but getting closer to Cinder, who changed direction again, this time in a downward, plummeting flight towards the Amity, the missiles in her trail.
She hoped to take advantage of Lance's attack to lead him into the Amity, so she landed on the Amity and before the missiles could hit her, she quickly jumped into the air, but Lance quickly reacted, not to save the Amity, but to not wanting to waste ammo, he quickly pulled up the missiles, which started chasing Cinder again.
Cinder had had enough of these two tracer missiles so she fired two glass swords at them causing them to explode in the air but Lance headed towards her again.
- Under normal circumstances I would enjoy this battle, - Cinder almost enjoyed fighting Lance. - but now I have a lot of important things to do.
Lance roared again, which could be heard throughout the clouds, and put the car into higher gear to catch Cinder, who had changed direction and was able to maneuver more easily on her own than Lance with his aura-possessed flying car. Wherever she went, Lance was at her heels, true that she couldn't turn in the air as well as Cinder, but he was at least as fast and able to keep up with her.
Lance got closer and closer to Cinder who already heard the rumble of the car behind her and looked back with an evil smile causing Lance to roar again like a hunter about to catch his prey and fired again, six missiles this time.
Cinder almost disappeared into the sea of endless clouds, so Lance had no idea where she was, so he directed the missiles that shed their red aura in all directions, but none of them hit Cinder.
Lance stopped in the air and looked for Cinder, but he couldn't see her anywhere and the missiles didn't hit anywhere.
Suddenly, a huge cut and the car got cut in half and Lance belatedly noticed that Cinder appeared behind him with a huge, flaming glass broadsword, which she used to cut the car in half. Lance didn't care about the fall, he just aimed the missiles at Cinder, but she summoned a stack of glass weapons that fired the missiles.
Lance let out one last roar before falling down and being swallowed by the clouds. Cinder smiled with satisfaction that she could finally be alone with Penny, whose power she could absorb, and headed back to Amity.
Penny was grateful to Lance for distracting Cinder while she could fix the arena's support pillars, but she was afraid that it was already too late.
- Dad, are you okay?! - Penny asked Pietro worriedly.
- The stabilizer is damaged. - Pietro looked disappointed towards the terminal which showed the sign "The Radiation Signal Lost". - We lost our chance. - Penny quickly ran to the terminal and she herself could hardly believe what had happened. - At this speed we will descend and land in the northernmost part of Solitas and...
Suddenly, Lance's roar could be heard from above and Penny noticed that Lance was falling through the clouds, as a red lightning ball. Penny didn't hesitate, took off and rushed to her friend's aid.
Penny went into full speed, speeding through the clouds and catching Lance in time to quickly turn around and head for Amity, but something terrible happened.
Lance Berserker's form was still active and while still in the air he grabbed Penny by the shoulders with one hand and her face with the other and his aura began to take control over her body. Penny was terrified, not by the aura that was starting to take over her and not by the fall, but by the fact that Lance, her friend, had attacked her.
She frantically tried to get out of Lance's grip and flew back and forth until they crashed into the floor of the Amity Arena with Penny on the bottom and Lance on top. The crazed boy channeled more and more red aura into the robot girl's body, who screamed and screamed helplessly, but just couldn't get out of Lance's grip.
Suddenly, with three explosions, Lance let go of Penny and flew forward before falling to the floor. The red aura around his body died out, his muscles and his body also collapsed and he didn't move anymore.
It turns out that Cinder was the one who saved her, she didn't want that thing what Lance turned into, to destroy her or harm the power of the Maiden so she thought it's best to get him out of the way.
Penny knew well that Cinder didn't save her out of kindness, but she was worried that she wasn't looking at her, but at Emerald, who knew full well that she didn't have enough aura left to fight, but she hoped she could still conjure illusions.
Penny rose up in front of Cinder, who summoned a black glass spear into her hand, but suddenly more and more Cinders appeared, at least two dozen of them and they all surrounded Penny.
Penny focused, her eyes blazing green, then summoned a storm cloud that charged her swords with lightning. The army of Cinder was about to attack, but Penny, thanks to her robotics analyst, knew exactly which one was the real Cinder and fired full force with her lightning-enhanced laser cannon, pinning Cinder completely against the wall and shooting her with an electric laser.
Cinder screamed in pain as Emerald ran towards her helplessly and by the time she got to her, Penny stopped firing and Cinder fell to the ground unconscious in a yellow flash.
- No, no, no! - Emerald's heart broke when she reached the unconscious Cinder, but she was relieved when she found out that she was still alive, but she didn't forgive what Penny did to her. She angrily shot at the robot girl, who easily dodged the shot, but was horrified. learning that he had shot the Amity's gravity generator, causing it to raise an alarm. Penny angrily pointed her swords at the girl, but she warned her before attacking. - I know I can't beat you! - Penny was touched by Emerald's determination and courage, she saw the same passion in her eyes as in her own. It's when someone wants to protect someone important to them, just like herself, that's why the light went out of their eyes. - But I can fill that sh*t full of holes before you could do that! - Tears began to flow from the girl's eyes, desperately, she would be willing to protect Cinder until her last breath.
Penny lowered her swords, signaling her release. As she watched Emerald carry Cinder on her shoulders, she wondered how was it possible for someone as evil as Cinder to feel such strong love.
She didn't have much time to think about it, since Amity was sinking more and more and something had to be figured out.
Both Mandy and Adam gathered themselves, but none of them had enough aura left and when they saw Emerald with the unconscious Cinder, they knew they had to retreat.
- What happened? - Adam asked.
- We have to get out of here! - Emerald warned them.
- No problem. - Mandy turned on their own flying car, which they used to come here and which she used to fight against Maria. - The Amity is sinking and the old doc said there was nothing they could do. - She sat in the driver's seat.
- Then, mission accomplished. - Adam also sat in the first seat with satisfaction.
- Just get us out of here! - Emerald instructed Mandy as she carefully placed Cinder in the back seat. - Quick!
Mandy didn't need more, she started the car, which took off and they left the sinking Amity.
Lance opened his eyes under his helmet and looked around in horror, he didn't see Cinder or her people and he didn't know what happened to Penny. Fearing the worst, he hurried to the control terminal where Pietro, Maria and Penny were there, mostly unharmed.
- What happened... - Seeing the sorrow and disappointment in their eyes, Lance knew they had bad news.
- The Amity is sinking and there's nothing we can do. - Pietro answered, but Lance was most worried about the fear in Penny's eyes.
- Didn't I...
- You did something... - Penny replied, taking a few steps back from Penny. - Your aura wanted to take control of me.
- What?! - Lance couldn't believe it.
- Your Semblance has evolved further. - Penny explained. - You were able to bring the flying car under your control and... - Penny tremblingly grabbed her shoulder where Lance had grabbed her earlier.
- I didn't hurt you, did I?! - Lance took off his helmet and looked worriedly at Penny.
- No. Not... - Penny felt it would appease Lance if she lied, but she wasn't good at it. - really. - Lance knelt on the ground in frustration. - But you saved me! - She tried to calm her down and cheer her up. - If you hadn't distracted Cinder, I wouldn't have been able to fix the beams on the communications tower and…
- In vain. - Lance interrupted. - Your father said the Amity was going down, so it was all for nothing.
You could feel the sadness and helplessness in the air, but Penny clenched her fists firmly and knew what she had to do.
- I can still fix it.
- What? - Maria and the others also looked at her in amazement.
- Our message only lasts a few minutes. - Penny was sure of herself and what she was going to do. - I can try to maintain Amity while...
- It's out of the question! - Pietro forbade it. - You are injured and in no condition to do such a thing! Even the temperature outside...
- This is our only chance, it's now or never! - Penny protested.
- That'd be a lot, even for you. - Lance didn't agree either. - Besides, you're Winter Maiden, if we lose you...
- I'm the only one who can try! - Penny interrupted him and her eyes lit up. - Just like a real Huntress!
- She's right, boys. - Maria understood and knew that there was no other option. - We must not forget the whole picture...
- I'M NOT INTERESTED IN THE WHOLE PICTURE! - Pietro blurted out. - I WANT TO PROTECT MY DAUGHTER! - He started to sob, because Penny is now preparing to sacrifice herself and he couldn't bear the thought of that. - I already lost your brother and once you too. - No one could really feel what Pietro felt, since none of them had children, but thinking about it, it must have been a terrible feeling. - And now you're asking me to go through this again? - He took off his glasses to wipe the tears from his eyes. - No. - He even took off his hat and then looked at his daughter, who felt terrible that her father was sad because of her. - I want to see the chance to live your life.
- But Dad, - Penny walked over to her father, caressed his bearded face and whispered softly. - that's what I'm trying to do. - Pietro took his daughter's hand and squeezed it one last time, gently, fearing that he wouldn't be able to see her again and sadly nodded that he accepted his daughter's decision to put saving others before her own life.
- Fine. - He finally answered, then Penny pressed a gentle kiss on her father's bald head, as a farewell.
- I'm sorry, - Lance and Maria both came closer to say goodbye. - that I couldn't do more. - He laughed sadly. - I'm a bad protecter knight.
- You were just fine for me. - Penny hugged Lance and gave him a kiss on his forehead too. - You are my second best friend after Ruby.
- That's a pleasure to hear. - Lance hugged her back.
- Will you promise to take care of her? - It was Penny's last wish.
- I swear. - Lance assured.
- Thank you. - Penny finally turned on her rocket boots and left Amity.
Penny made it to the clouds and heard the thunder that Salem's Grimm whales made and knew that this was what awaited for the people of Mantle if she didn't succeed and that gave her extra motivation. She looked up at the clear, starry sky, lit not only by the moon, but also by the northern lights of Solitas, which was a wonderful sight. She knew that she was protecting not only this beautiful landscape, but also its inhabitants, and if she died, thanks to her death, many more lives could be saved.
She flew, all the way to the bottom of Amity, which was slowed down by huge gravity Dust crystals and maybe with their help, she could still push the Arena above the atmosphere.
She put her rocket boots on full speed and started pushing Amity herself with her hands, which may have seemed crazy, but it didn't deter her. She felt that Amity was going higher and higher, but not enough, she also had to use the power of Maiden in order to exert more power and put all her energy reserves into pushing the Arena.
- Come on, Penny. - Pietro saw on the terminal screen that Amity was growing.
- It will work. - Lance believed in her too.
- THIS IS IT! - As soon as the terminal indicated that global communication was working again, it was a huge relief for them.
Pietro didn't hesitate and immediately launched Ruby's message, all over the world.
All of Remnant went into receivership and all televisions and Scrolls picked up this one message and couldn't turn it off.
- Okay, you're on it. - Blake's voice was heard, then Ruby appeared on the screen, a little nervous, but trying to be confident.
- Um... - Ruby nervously scratched the back of her head and then began what she had to say. - Hello, my name is Ruby Rose and I'm a Huntress. If we've done everything right, I'm now speaking to the entire Remnant. Dr. Polendina can tell you more later, but for now you should all know that the kingdom of Atlas is under attack. Things are dire and we need help, but please don't panic. This isn't some new enemy or an invading kingdom. It's a force we've faced before. For centuries. Salem. She's behind the terror organization of the White Fang, the hacking of the Atlas robots during the fall of Beacon, the attack on Haven, and she even controls the Grimm worldwide to destroy the Hunter Academies. I know the Maidens and relics sound pretty...crazy, but I swear Professor Goodwitch from Beacon and headmaster Theodore from Shade can explain everything. Maybe they can even help organize a counterattack, but... unfortunately... General Ironwood can't be trusted anymore and he doesn't care about the rest of Remnant anymore and because of his fault, there's a good chance that Salem will destroy Atlas soon , if we don't get help. But you should know that this could only happen because we didn't have time to prepare for Salem and because Ironwood divided Atlas. But now you will have time to face him unitedly! Just because she can't be killed doesn't mean she can't be defeated. If she was really that powerful and invincible, she wouldn't have been so cautious until now. She knows we are a threat to her! So, even if... even if Atlas falls, you can't give up! I hope that the Amity Tower will help us all come together because that's the only way we can win in the end...
This message was heard by people all over the Remnant, in Mistral, Vale, Vacuo, and Atlas alike.
Ironwood couldn't even listen to Ruby's speech painting him as the devil, he was more interested in Watts' progress in hacking Penny.
- Your trick of tracking Polendina seems to have worked well. - Ironwood reported as he sternly walked up to the scientist who was working on the sword stolen from Penny by the Ace Ops.
- This is good news for us. - Watts worked serenely to remove a tiny green chip from the sword. - Penny's swords work on a similar principle to Amity's firing terminals. In order to be able to control them all, they have to communicate with each other - Finally, he inserted a red chip marked W, which worked immediately.
Penny used all her strength to push Amity up as long as her message lasted, but suddenly, a strange feeling came over her, her eyes turned red for a moment and she was unable to control herself and began to fall.
The human part of her regained her strength and brought the robot part back under control to fly back and push the Amity further.
- Penny, what's going on down there?! - Pietro called the girl worriedly.
- I... - Penny's eyes went back and forth from green to red and it was getting harder and harder for her to command herself. - I don't know!
- Penny, come back! - Lance called out to him worriedly after the message ended.
- Penny...- Pietro said worriedly. - you did it, dear. Come back. We can go home together on Amity!
- I... - Penny tried hopelessly to push Amity, but something took control of her and she felt weaker and weaker. - I have to go!
- Where?! - Lance asked confused.
- To the Vault! - Her eyes continued to alternate between red and green and tried to resist the unknown urge. - No! - She was clearly scared, feeling weak and desperate and looked up at Amity hopefully. - Dad! Lance! Help me!
Eventually she ran out of power, shut down and crashed.
- Penny! - His father shouted on the radio. - What happened?! - Penny didn't answer and Pietro sounded more and more desperate. - Please, honey, say something!
Penny fell from the atmosphere in flames, straight into the surface of Remnant, where she would soon crash. She closed her eyes and felt that the end had come for her and said one last thing to his father.
- I love you.
- PENNY! - Pietro called out desperately for his daughter, but there was nothing to be done.
Amity did its job, sending a message to the entire Remnant about the existence of Salem and how much danger Atlas is in and the other kingdoms, if they can't send help, at least they will have time to prepare. It was all thanks to Penny's sacrifice.
- Penny... - Pietro felt the worst had happened when Penny's transmission stopped.
- I... - Lance, who gathered his weapons in the meantime, felt responsible for the robot girl. - Are there any vehicles here? - Lance couldn't find his own flying car, which he and May got from the academy.
- They are there, they belonged to the workers. - Maria pointed towards one of the exits.
- I'll bring your daughter back. - Lance promised after taking back his helmet.
- I'm begging you. - Pietro put all his trust in Lance.
Lance was not idle, he immediately got into the first flying car, took off and set off to find Penny. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult, he just had to find a large, smoking crater.
At the bottom of the crater he found Penny's smoking body, although he had no idea if she was alive, as there was a large gash on her stomach and she was swimming in some green liquid.
- Penny! - Lance parked the car at the bottom of the crater and got out to better examine the unconscious girl. - Don't die for me! - When he touched her, he couldn't feel her pulse, although he remembered that she was half machine and that couldn't necessarily mean the worst.
He absolutely had to take her to a doctor or someone who could examine her. Luckily, Ruby and Weiss had texted him before they left the team to hole up in the Schnee mansion and Weiss gave him a pass to enter.
He immediately put Penny in the back seat, started the car, which rose up and headed for Atlas.
Watts crossed his arms in satisfaction as he saw the virus he had implanted in Penny's system come to life and begin to take effect.
- Global communication has suddenly stopped. - Harriet reported to the general.
- Penny doesn't answer. - The general noted that Watts had not fully taken control of the robot girl, but still, Watts was proud of what he had done. - What did you do?
- Exactly what you asked for. - Watts answered as he raised Penny's sword. - It's possible that Penny's system is rebooting. As for the tower, - He looked at a monitor where he saw the sinking Amity. - it's possible that Pietro isn't the genius you thought he was... - Ironwood angrily slammed his Scroll on the ground, which shattered.
- We can't wait! - The general announced. - You will find it, - He looked to the side, towards the woman who had just come out of the infirmary. - Winter.
- Sir? - Winter waited for the instruction in a new armor, but looked worried towards Watts, who smiled slyly as he stroked Penny's sword.
- Until Penny answers or stands before the Vault, we cannot trust her status. - The general explained. - Take the Ace Ops. I look forward to your continued report. - Winter and the Ace Ops just saluted and then left. - Take him back to his cell. - He turned to Watts, but neither he nor anyone else saw that while turning off the computers, he picked up the general's broken Scroll from the ground, trusting in his knowledge that he could still do something with it.
- With pleasure. - Harriet was happy to drag the scientist back to prison.
The rescue team's momentary joy only lasted until Ruby's message ended and the transmission was interrupted.
- That was the broadcast! - Yang said, not understanding why her Scroll lost its signal. - But why was the broadcast lost?!
- I think it has something to do with it. - Roman and Neo worriedly looked out the door of the hut.
- What the... - Ren could hardly believe his eyes.
- There's another one! - Jaune looked out as well, then the whole team rushed out to take a closer look at what they were seeing. - Come on, that's it!
Finally they stopped and looked in horror at the horror that lay before their feet.
- What is this? - Ren and the others were both horrified and amazed at what they saw.
A tar black river cut through the tundra and as Yang stepped on a rock that fell into the river, it swallowed it and for a moment, they glimpsed the mask of a Grimm.
- It's... a Grimm. - Yang stated. - A river of Grimm... - She and the others could hardly believe their eyes, but what worried them more was the direction of the river. - And it's heading straight for the kingdom.
- So this is what Salem is preparing for. - Roman saw through Salem's plan. - She makes us and the general fight eacether, then strikes the weakened winner.
The worst prospects began to take effect, the river slowly began to encircle the entire kingdom, making escape impossible, while Atlas and Mantle fight each other, Salem does exactly what she can do best to disrupt the power of his enemies.
She's just waiting.
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