RWBY: Dark/Metal

Cinder strained to help the girl stand. She did not look it, but she was heavy. Cinder helped the limping girl over to a chair at their table and gently set her down into the seat.

“T-thank you,” the girl shuttered between sobs.

Cinder bent down to get to her level. “What’s your name?” she asked in the kindest voice she could muster.

The girl looked at her with large, wet eyes. “Penny,” she answered.

“Hi, Penny.” Cinder smiled. “My name’s Cinder. Over there is Emerald, behind the counter is Roman, over at the table is Adam, and over in the corner is Mercury.”

Roman nodded slightly while Mercury stood still with a look of concern on his face. Emerald walked over and placed a hand on Penny’s shoulder.

“Hey Penny,” Emerald said gently. “May I ask what you’re doing all alone? Where are your parents?”

Penny hung her head. “I don’t know. We were living in a basement after the bombings; my father, my mother, and me. But we went out to look for food, and then there were all these Grimm… so many Grimm…” Tears ran down her face as she began to choke up. “We… we got separated… but not before one of those Boarbatusk ones rammed my leg… I found a crutch in an old medical tent, but It’s been three days and I still haven’t found them…”

Emerald put her hand on the girl’s head and ran her fingers through her orange hair in a comforting manner. “Shh…” she soothed, “It’s going to be okay. Would you like something to eat? Maybe some water?”

Penny shook her head. “No… I had to eat a rat this morning because I was so hungry, and now I don’t feel good.”

Cinder reached into her pocket. She was glad to feel a piece of cloth still inside. She pulled the cloth out and dabbed the tears on Penny’s face away with them. “You poor thing,” she said sweetly. “Well if you change your mind, just ask any of us. And if you feel you need to throw up, just yell and we’ll bring you a bin. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be alright now.”

Just then, a load moan and a mumble came from the hall. All eyes turned to see Salem stumbling over, muttering to herself and glancing at the walls with confusion and caution.

“…prepare your guardians, build your monuments…” she mumbled loudly.

Penny recoiled a bit in the chair. “Who’s that?” she asked.

“That’s Salem,” Cinder replied. “She’s a little sick too. We’re helping her get better.” Cinder hated having to lie, but if there was anything to make Penny feel safer and more comfortable, she would do it. She glanced over at Emerald. “Emerald?”

Emerald nodded, already knowing what Cinder was asking of her. She walked over to Salem and put her hand on Salem’s shoulder. “Come on, Salem. You still need more rest.”

Salem’s vacant eyes slowly moved over to Emerald as Emerald turned her around and began leading her back down the hall.

“Guardians. Monuments. Guardians. Monuments. Guardians! Monuments!” Salem rambled as she walked, almost yelling towards the end. Emerald led her down the hall and into her room.

Roman leaned over the counter. “Do you need anything, Penny? Bandages, ice packs, a blanket?”

Penny nodded. “A blanket would be nice. Thank you.”

Roman reached over to a small cupboard next to him and pulled out a thin blanket with a picture of the moon sewed onto it. He handed it to Cinder, who draped it around Penny. Adam watched in silence.

“Penny,” Cinder asked, “do you know which way you came from? If you know, we’ll be able to help you find your parents.”

Penny sniffled slightly. “We… were living not far from Beacon Fortress. We were about an hour’s walk from home when the Grimm attacked… then I just tried to keep walking straight.”

Roman nodded and looked up at Cinder. “Somewhere over on the east side?”

“Sounds like it,” Cinder replied, putting her fingers on her chin.

Penny shifted in her seat. “How long have you all been here?” she asked.

Cinder glanced back down to her. “Ever since the bombings, really. Before Salem got sick, she set us up here… and we’ve been surviving ever since.”

Penny nodded. “How many of you are there? Is it just you six? Because there were only three of us in the basement, and we could barely get enough to just take care of us.”

Cinder sighed. “Right now, yes. There are only six of us right now. There used to be more, but they had to leave.” Cinder figured she’d just reference Tyrian and Hazel, and not bring up Neo. She wanted Penny to feel as though they could keep her safe, and telling her that one of them died brutally probably would not help.

Penny shivered, then stood up. “Do you have a bathroom I could use?”

Cinder nodded and started to speak, but Mercury cut her off.

“Hold up,” he said in a grim, fast tone. “I have some questions for you.”

Cinder rolled her eye. “Come on, Merc. Don’t stop the poor girl from using the bathroom for this.”

“No.” Mercury barked back at her in the most defiant tone Cinder had ever heard him use. “She’s going to answer my questions.”

Cinder sighed and shook her head, but let Mercury continue.

“You said you’d been wandering for three days. You’ve only eaten once during that?”

Penny nodded. “Yes, I couldn’t find anything until this morning.”

Mercury scowled. “You also said you lived with your mother and father. What are their names?”

Penny looked at the ground. “My father’s name is James. I actually don’t know what my mother’s name is. I’ve never heard anyone say it.”

Cinder was getting angrier and angrier at Mercury’s treatment of their guest. “Mercury, that’s enough! You’re going to upset her!”

Mercury’s angry gaze snapped over to Cinder. “One more thing,” he said slowly and deeply. He looked over at Penny with the most menacing glare Cinder had ever seen him give.

“I know you aren’t who you say you are. I had suspicions at first, but now I have my confirmation.” he said through gritted teeth.

Penny looked up at him. “What… what do you mean? Why do you think that?” she said with fear in her voice.

“Because you’re standing there,” Mercury said slowly.

“What’s wrong with her standing there?!” Cinder practically screamed.

Mercury glanced over at Cinder briefly, then fixed his eyes back on Penny. Then he said, slowly and quietly, “Isn’t your leg supposed to be broken?”

Lord Ozpin stormed into the laboratory. He was going to have Oobleck’s head on a platter for not delivering by his deadline.

Dr. Oobleck was standing next to his operating table, wiping blood and mucus off of the metal. He stood straight as Lord Ozpin stomped in.

“Ah, my Lord.” He grinned slightly. “What can I do for you?”

“I thought I told you to have your experiment ready by the end of the week,” Lord Ozpin growled loudly. “Goodwitch’s is already deployed. Where’s yours?”

Oobleck raised and eyebrow. “Didn’t they tell you? I completed it last night. I did not wish to disturb you so late in the night, so I arranged for its deployment around the same general area as Goodwitch’s project. It should be there by now. Port was supposed to relay the information to one of your Huntsmen or Huntresses this morning.”

Lord Ozpin’s brow furrowed in frustration, but Oobleck had done what he asked. The blame… the punishment… would have to go to someone else.

“I see,” Lord Ozpin huffed angrily. “I trust you’ll see to it that Port is punished accordingly?”

Oobleck nodded. “Of course, my Lord.”

Lord Ozpin did not waste another second. He whirled around and stormed out of the laboratory.

Oobleck shrugged. At least he was not the one taking the heat for this. While it would be a shame to lose the extra help, Oobleck never really liked Port anyway. Oobleck reached over to a countertop nearby and picked up a rusty hacksaw on the table. He eyed it for a moment, then glanced away.

“Oh, Port!” Oobleck called.

A hush fell upon the room. Both Roman and Cinder froze, with Cinder’s eye still on the girl. Emerald had just reentered the room, and stared at Penny in confusion. Adam leapt to his feet and threw his hand onto his sword handle, but stood still in anticipation. Mercury stood still as well, but his heavy breathing was noticeable, and his hands were clenched in tight fists.

Penny stared at Mercury for a moment, a look of concern still on her face. Suddenly it changed, turning completely serious and grim.

“Well done, Mr. Black.” Penny said, her reply slow and solemn. “What made you see it before the others?”

Mercury’s expression did not change as he replied. “You weren’t limping right,” he said.

Penny’s brows shifted down. “I see,” she replied. Her voice sounded different; it was colder, more… metallic. “And how would you know that?”

“Because…” Mercury said, his expression growing furious. “I’ve been limping my entire life!” He threw his hands down and grabbed onto his pant legs, tearing away large pieces and revealing a pair of metal prosthetics underneath. They ended with his weaponized boots, which covered his metallic feet.

Cinder gasped. She knew Mercury had prosthetic legs, but she never seen them. She had not realized the damage had been so extensive. She knew the prosthetics were complex, but not as sophisticated and sturdy as what she was seeing.

As Mercury and Penny stared each other down, everyone noticed something change about Penny. Slowly but noticeably, her sea-green eyes turned a deep red.

“Congratulations.” The voice that came out of the girl barely resembled like the one that they had heard before. It was slow, tinny, and echoed in her throat. “Even with half of your body mechanical, you’re still more human…”

Suddenly, Penny reached up and sunk her slender fingers into her face, right below her right eye. She clawed at the skin, then pulled with a loud ripping sound. Emerald audibly gasped, and everyone took a step back. Penny pulled the skin away from its face, eventually removing a large strip that stretched from its brow to its chin. As the tear finished, everyone could see what lied beneath: a metallic skull, with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and a horrifying red eye peering from the socket.

“…than I am.” Penny growled in its metallic voice.

Without warning, Mercury raised his leg and slammed it into Penny’s chest, firing the blasts from his boots as he kicked. Penny took the full force of the impact and slammed a few feet into the wall behind it.

“Grab Salem and go!” Mercury shouted, raising his fists.

Penny stood back up, then charged and tackled Mercury in his gut, causing him to gasp for air as he was thrown down to the ground, crashing onto the floor. He winced in pain as his back slammed against the hard stone, then opened his eyes to see Penny raising her fist above his face. It threw the fist down, and Mercury swerved his head out of the way just in time. The fist slammed against the stone with a loud bang and crack. Penny lifted its arm to reveal the stone had cracked under the weight of the impact. The skin from its knuckles and fingers had been shredded by the blow, revealing four metallic digits curled into a tight fist.

Suddenly Penny attacked with the other fist, throwing it down towards Mercury’s face again. Mercury again barely dodged, the fist crashing like a meteor onto the floor next to him.

Suddenly, Penny was thrown off of him as Cinder dropkicked the machine from the side, slamming it into the counter. Roman saw his opportunity and vaulted over the countertop, sliding his injured legs across it. He carefully set down on the other side, glanced around briefly, then grabbed Penny’s crutch and used it to help himself quickly limp towards the hall. Emerald flew towards him, throwing his arm around her shoulder and helping him up and into the hall to retrieve Salem.

Cinder stood still as the metal monster got back up. She had never seen anything like this. This was all her fault. If she had never stood up to Lord Ozpin the way she did, he would have never resorted to this. She did not even have her swords; they were still in her room.

Penny leapt to its feet, then swung a fist at Cinder. Cinder dove out of the way. Mercury raised his leg to kick again, but Penny grabbed it and whirled around, carrying Mercury with it with superhuman strength. It released his leg, causing him to fly into the table and crash down o top of it, splitting the table in half with a loud snap.

As Penny was turning around, Adam attacked. He unsheathed his sword and sliced at Penny’s abdomen. The blade cut through the clothes and struck the machine, but was not able to get through it. Penny bent over and recoiled from the impacts, but made no noise. Adam swung again at the robot’s face, but it threw its hands up and clapped them together as the blade was nearing, catching the sword and preventing it from making contact. Penny threw the blade aside and rushed forward, but was suddenly struck from the side and forced back.

Cinder, Mercury, and Adam turned to see Salem, Emerald, and Roman at the opening to the hall. Emerald was supporting both of the others, and Roman had his cane raised with the end open and smoking. He lowered the cane, then lifted the arm he had draped over Emerald.

“Cinder!” he yelled, throwing what was in his hands on the ground next to her. Cinder watched as her swords clattered onto the floor. She wasted no time reaching down and retrieving them.

“Emerald!” Cinder shouted. “Take Roman and Salem out the back way. Head for the emergency checkpoint, and don’t look back!”

Emerald’s eyes widened in concern. “But Cinder, I-“

“Do it!” Cinder shouted, cutting her off. She then turned to face Penny again. Emerald silently nodded, then did her best to pivot around and go back down the hall to the back exit.

As Penny stood, its clothes and skin around where Adam had cut tore and sagged off, revealing a mess of metal and wires beneath its humanistic façade. As Cinder raised her swords, Adam readied his, and Mercury straightened his stance, Penny lifted its hand. The hand sunk into the wrist, and was quickly replaced with a metal clamp holding a circular saw blade. An unseen engine revved, and the saw began spinning. Penny’s other hand vanished, and a short blade that looked like a half-scissor rose out of its arm.

Cinder was the first to attack, throwing her blades down at the robot. Penny raised its saw and blade to block the blow, the saw scraping and sparking against the swords. Penny pushed Cinder off as Adam swung towards the stomach area and Mercury dropped to kick the legs. Penny used the blade to block Adam’s attack, and dropped the saw on top of Mercury’s leg, grinding and scratching at his prosthetics. Cinder took the opportunity to rush forward and stabbed at Penny’s stomach area. The blades sliced through the skin and lose clothes, but were halted when they struck the solid metal of Penny’s endoskeleton underneath. Nevertheless, Cinder pulled and tore the skin and clothes off of the machine, revealing more wires encased in a small metal sphere underneath a set of shiny grey ribs. Penny Glanced down at the damage, then rammed its head into Cinder’s chest.

Cinder gasped as she felt the impact strike her, knocking the air from her body. She felt her breasts sting and sternum crack as the metal skull struck her, knocking her backwards. She raised one of her hands, still holding a sword, over the point of impact and winced as she skidded to a stop.

Penny threw both men off, then swung the saw at Adam’s neck. He raised his sword just in time, blocking the spinning blade and managing to jump away. Mercury raised his leg and kicked Penny square on the bottom of its jaw, causing it to slam into its skull and throw its head back. Penny staggered backwards a bit. Then lowered its head and glared at the three.

“Targets: three,” it said in a somehow even more robotic voice than before. “Threat level: low to moderate. Initiating Firebomb mode.”

Cinder lowered her swords slightly. “Firebomb mode? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

A red light suddenly glowed from within Penny’s ribcage. It adjusted its jaw. “It means… you… are… terminated.”

Suddenly a loud beeping sounded from Penny’s body. All three of them had encountered enough bombs to know what was happening.

“Run!” Adam yelled, sheathing his sword and turning to sprint to the back entrance. Cinder and Mercury began to turn too, but Penny rushed forward and tackled Mercury to the ground. It raised its saw and held it over Mercury’s head, then brought it down. Mercury closed his eyes and prepared to die, but was surprised when it did not happen and he instead heard the sound of metal grinding on metal. He opened his eyes to see Cinder holding her sword’s flat blade between the saw and Mercury’s skull. The beeping grew faster as Penny swung its blade at Cinder. Mercury took the opportunity to throw the robot off, causing it to miss Cinder. Mercury leapt up and kicked it once in the face, causing a metallic squeal and crack as he dislocated its jaw. Mercury turned to run to the back exit, but Cinder grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“We won’t make it to the back exit in time! Jump over it and go to the front!” Cinder yelled.

Mercury obeyed and vaulted over the recovering machine, throwing open the large metal door and rushing out. Cinder jumped over as well. Penny raised its blade as Cinder jumped over it, cutting her calve as she passed over. Cinder yelped and landed on the ground, then limped slightly before reaching the door.

Just then, the beeping turned into one long squeal. Cinder knew she did not have time to make it to a safe distance. She jumped outside and slammed the door, then held onto the door for dear life.

The explosion was somehow even bigger than Cinder thought it would be. The impact struck the door like a wrecking ball, bending the metal while simultaneously heating it up to scalding temperatures. All around, the stone and dirt that concealed their hideout was sent flying out in a hail of earth, followed by a wave of fire. It was as if Lord Ozpin had dropped another bomb directly on their base. Cinder cried out in pain as the impact slammed the door into her, burning her exposed skin as she held on. Fire arced on all sides of her, but the door held firm and did not let any engulf her. Fiery light engulfed her vision, forcing her to close her eye to not go blind. Even though time seemed to slow, she hit the ground sooner than she expected. The door crashed to the ground and bounced away and out of her grip. She slammed on her back onto the stone and concrete of the demolished street, painfully bouncing once before skidding to a stop on the sharp gravel. Her swords, which had miraculously stayed in her hands, clanged on the ground, and Cinder released her grip on them and let them fall out of her burning hands.

Cinder winced and panted. Every inch of her exposed skin felt like it had a second-degree burn, and the back of her head, legs, and arms stung from the impact and were cut from the scraping stop. Blood trickled from her nose and ran into her mouth, tasting of dirt and sweat. Tears ran down from her eye. Her eyepatch felt like it weighed a million pounds. With every bit of strength she could muster, Cinder reached up and ripped the eyepatch off, feeling hot air rush into her empty socket.

Cinder lay there, her eye shut tight and panting. She coughed as smoke filled her lungs. She wanted to die. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eye to see Emerald hovering over her, a look of shock and worry frozen on her face.

“Cinder!” Emerald cried. “Can you hear me?”

Cinder could hear her, but was too weak and pained to properly reply. She opened her mouth to attempt it, but only let out a long guttural moan.

Emerald reached down and pulled Cinder up. Cinder winced as every part of her body cried out, and more tears poured from her eye. Emerald put her arms under Cinder’s back and legs, lifting her up. She staggered forward, attempting to hold Cinder’s weight.

Then, Cinder saw through her blurry vision Adam run up. He said something to Emerald, then turned around and bent down. Emerald strained, but dumped Cinder’s limp body onto Adam’s shoulders. Cinder cried out in pain, but Adam stood upright. Cinder glanced over, and saw Emerald run over and pick up Salem on her back. Roman was on Mercury’s back. As soon as Adam hurried over, they all began running in the same direction.

Every bounce from Adam’s stride was excruciating. Cinder’s joints popped and squeaked as her limbs flailed, and blood leaked from her nose, forehead, and back. All she could hear was her sharp, quick breaths through her chapped, dry lips.

They had not gotten far when they suddenly skidded to a halt. Cinder looked up and saw Mercury, Emerald, and Roman staring with horror at something in front of them. Salem’s eyes were shut tight in fear. She heard Adam’s breathing quicken. Then Cinder noticed that Roman’s eyes were filling with tears. They ran down his cheek as he clearly began mouthing “No no no…” Cinder tried to ignore the pain in her body and turned her sore neck to face in the direction everyone else was. As soon as she did, her eye widened and she whispered to herself.

“No,” she whispered. “That’s impossible.”

Standing at the end of the street, illuminated by the pale moonlight, was a figure. It was short, with outstretched limbs, pale skin, and a blank expression. However, it was instantly noticeable the crude stitches that ran down the length of its body, across its arms, and all over its face and circling its black eyes. But the worst thing of all was that Cinder recognized the clothes, the face, and the pink and brown hair. Cinder heard Roman begin to sob.

“Neo?” he said weakly.

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