I've got no strings

To hold me down

To make me fret

Or make me frown

I had strings

But now I'm free

There are no strings on me

Pinocchio, 1940.

Floating Array made another beeline for Glynda, cutting off all her escape routes with their impenetrable seven-sword formation like a fish caught in a net. Just as the blades were about to connect, a Glyph appeared midair, slowing one of them enough to give Ms. Goodwitch an opportunity to get to safety.

This was how the battle progressed for the most part: an attempt for these four to wear down the Defender of Remnant so they could subdue her without doing her harm.

Seeing the arrival of the Wyvern Grimm, though, they knew that holding back was impossible.

James Ironwood looked determinedly forward, knowing that it was time.

As he took a deep breath, his Aura flared, a steely blue flame raging coldly all over his person.

General James Ironwood was many things.

A General.

A Teacher.

A Killer.

A Defender.

A Machine.

A Man.

In other words, a walking contradiction.

That wasn't all that was special about him though: his Semblance, Mettle, was a concentration Semblance. In its passive state, it made him intensely focused on a single thing, basically giving him tunnel vision. When it was active, though, his focus allowed him to analyse things to their smallest details. This was why he and Russo had analysed the crime scene together earlier, with his eyes, nothing would slip past them.

He had been using this Semblance nonstop since his battle with Penny began. He had completely mapped out all of her movements and attacks and by covertly commanding those who fought with, they had the advantage.

Still, that wasn't enough to gain a victory in time. The city needed them now.

That's why he decided to use his second Semblance.

Yes, you read me right, his second Semblance.

Soul Furnace was a powerful Semblance that amplified the user's Aura several times for a short period of time.

With the flare, he jumped forward instantly, his actions almost imperceptible with their speed.

Penny wasn't one to be outdone so easily, though, and she moved backwards with comparative speed, deftly dodging while directing her blades at her mentor.

Due to Mettle, James found this predictable. He pulled out one of his guns and shot two of the blades off course, creating a convenient gap for him to slip through as he continued the pursuit, barely giving her any time to regroup.

The other three stood to the side, watching the fight with a level of awe. Although Glynda was the most experienced of them and closest to the power of a Headmaster, seeing them in action reminded her that there was indeed a gap between them.

I need to step up, too. You can't keep doing this to yourself, James.

Adam watched in the same mood of awe, happy that he didn't need to battle the Iron General himself.

With that speed, even running away is impossible,he said ruefully.Those Headmasters… they're all monsters.

Seeing the reaction of the other two, Winter couldn't help but feel a measure of pride; she was this General's most trusted aide after all.

Still…she thought, worried about the cost of his using this ability.

Ironwood moved even faster, catching up to the red and green streak that was Penny Polendina in seconds, making a grabbing motion but just barely missing her as she made a sudden descent downwards. He had miscalculated again.

Penny wasn't just a machine, she was a person. She was growing with experience with every encounter. That was why, despite having been one of the people most involved in training the synthetic human, he found himself barely able to keep up even with his Semblance.

Penny was a person.

The reminder hit him like a boulder and he failed to respond in time, her Floating Array connecting and sending him flying into the stands of the coliseum.

Penny was a person.

A person whom he loved.

Whom he had watched learn and mature.

A person who wanted to defend everyone.

Could he bring himself to kill her?

He asked this question as she used one of her blades like a vaulting pole, changing her trajectory suddenly and aiming a vicious kick at him which he caught with his metal arm. He had taught her that move.

Could he bring himself to kill her?

If she were a normal student, then the thought would never even cross his mind.

But shewasn'tnormal.

She was engineered, made in a lab, and programmed with a purpose.

If he destroyed her here, they could always make another one.

No!

Penny was a person.

Wasn't that what he had told her?

Had he just been lying to her then?

James Ironwood was many things.

A coward.

A childish idealist.

Above all, a failure.

But a liar… he refused to ever be that.

Especially not to her.

His blue eyes softened as the emotionless face of his beloved student approached him.

xXx

Penny found herself in a sort of haze.

Her actions were not her own.

She didn't want to hurt anyone, but she found herself doing that. She couldn't stop.

General Ironwood, please stop me… no matter what it takes.

Her memories came back in a deluge.

From her very first moments of consciousness.

It had been much like this; she was able to see everything around her, but she couldn't do anything, couldn't interact with her surroundings. She was a puppet without a master.

Time passed, although she wasn't aware of it. She only knew that she saw, and then she didn't see, and the cycle repeated.

One day, she sat up, gasping for air.

She didn't need to breathe, but her first motion was that when she woke up. Even then, she had been pretending to be a real person. It was her first instinct.

One of the first faces she had seen after waking up was that of the General.

His bright blue eyes. Eyes of accomplishment and approval had left the starkest of impressions on her artificial mind.

Those eyes had never left her,

In one way or another, they had stayed watching her.

Under his paternal gaze, she was content to die.

I'm sorry, General. I wasn't of any use to you.

They clashed.

xXx

Huh?

The red-haired robot stared ahead in surprise.

Her blade had gone through the General, but he didn't react.

This time, he didn't put his arm up to guard from the blow.

This time, he didn't tense up to dodge or counter.

This time, this time... He opened his arms to embrace her.

His arms just wrapped around her warmly, holding her to him and letting her feel his pulse through their embrace. The stable beating of his heart was warm and full of blood, but at the same time cold like clockwork.

"Why?"

Somehow her voice had made it through, she had found a way to break through the haze, and she asked the question in despair.

"I don't trade lives, Penny. Mine's the only one on the table."

Penny closed her eyes.

She had scarcely dared to believe it.

That she was a life.

Not just a life, but a life cherished.

Cherished by the man she had admired from her earliest memories.

He wouldn't trade lives. He wouldn't give up on her.

"Thank you, General."

Because of you, I lived a real life, even if it was only for a while.

The next moment shocked everyone as she threw the General away from her suddenly before turning to the other redhead in the group.

"I can't control myself for much longer," she said with a contrarily bright smile, "please stop me before I lose myself again. I want to die… as a real person, not a puppet."

Adam looked at her in surprise before nodding in understanding.

He slowly drew Wilt, its dangerous red glow bathing the entire scene.

"They look like those flowers you got me," she said, sadly closing her eyes as the blade passed through her.

Resisting control.

Fighting boldly.

Dying freely.

Penny Polendina was no more.

But she died a person.

Rest in peace, Penny Polendina.

Notes:

Requiescat in pace, Pope Francis.