Three days later, Weiss had her head on her hand, obviously bored as she waited out the minute left on her holographic clock displayed from her desk in the classroom of Professor Port, who was telling a story about when he was young... again. Jaune then came up to Weiss from her right side.

Jaune: "So, Uh, Weiss..." He started, trying to find the right words to say. "I was wondering, after this, why don't we get a bite to eat?" No answer from Weiss, she was too busy staring into nothing. "I,
uh, I-I also got two tickets to the new Spruce Willis movie, I heard that it's awesome." He smiled, trying to get Weiss' attention, but STILL no answer. "...And then after that, I thought we could study together, I mean, you're smart and I'm... Y'know..."

Jaune had no time to finish, because the the clock in front of Weiss gives a shrill beep as it changes from 3:59 to 4:00. Weiss' bored expression soon turned to happiness, and she dismissed the holographic clock with a wave of her hand. Port was temporarily unaware of the alarm.

Port: "And then, I-" He stopped telling his story, posing as a terrible monster about to attack when he realized the alarm went off. "Oh!" He straightened himself as the students began to leave. "Timed that one wrong, I guess; well then, the stunning conclusion will have to wait, until next time."

Jaune: "Hey, Weiss, did you hear me?" Jaune asked, seeing Weiss packing up her Scroll and walked away.

Weiss: "No, no, no, yes." She answered all his questions in order, not even looking at Jaune.

(YN): "Eesh, that was cold." He muttered.

Yang: "I think you overused that one." She commented, walking past (YN).

(YN): "Ooh." He oohed quietly, and stood up to follow Yang.

Upon hearing this, Jaune groaned in a sad tone and bumped his head down on the desk as the girls and (YN) walked behind him.

Yang: "One day." She reassured Jaune, walked past him while she ruffled his hair slightly without batting an eye towards him.

|—————————|—————————|

Once they made it back to their dorm room, the girls and (YN), who is currently in the bathroom, put on their new attire for the mission.

Ruby is wearing a of a long-sleeve, light gray shirt with black belted cuffs near the ends of the sleeves. Over top of the gray shirt is a black pinafore with two vertical lines of red stitching that resemble the lacing on a corset. She wears a red skirt with a large black print of her emblem on the side and matching black tulle underneath. Her stockings and shoes remain the same as her original outfit, though the boots lack the red trim that decorated the top. A few pieces of metal arranged in the shape of a rose are attached to the shoulder of her left sleeve, and her cloak's hood has been wrapped around her neck in a scarf-like fashion, while the rest hangs down like normal.

For Weiss, she is wearing a white, double-breasted pea coat with black piping, cuffs, and buttons over a white, pleated full skirt with black lace trim. She also wears a pair of white, thigh-high boots with black heels and lace-topped black stockings.

For Blake, she is wearing white, V-neck, zip-up crop shirt with a black hem and three-quarter sleeves. Her emblem is printed in off-white on the left side of the shirt. She wears black leather pants that have a vertical gray stripe on the outer side of each leg and a black belt. Attached to the rear of the belt is a black piece of fabric that covers her from hip to hip. Underneath this is a longer, translucent, purple piece of fabric. She also wears black high-heel boots with two straps and buckles and purple under roles, reaching to mid-calf. She retains the black ribbons on her forearms and her black bow.

For Yang, a deep-collared cream vest worn over a low cut black shirt; both are covered by a dark gray shrug with a raised collar, three-quarter sleeves adorned with a single black stripe down the outside of each sleeve, and gold cuffs. A black mini skirt is worn under the cream vest. A pair of crooked black belts with gold accents are slung around her hip, with a purple piece of fabric attached to the left-rear section of the lower belt. She wears thigh high stockings attached to her miniskirt by garter-belts on the front and back of each thigh, decorated with four golden studs above her knee and her emblem on the outside of each thigh in gold. She also wears black ankle boots with multiple buckles and white ribbons on the back tied in a bow. Around her neck is a purple pendant set in silver.

Blake: "I thought that class would never end." She sighed, tightening her black ribbons on her arms and passing by Ruby and Weiss on their beds as she approached her bunk bed.

(YN): "Hey, is it safe to come out yet?" He asked behind the bathroom door.

Ruby: "Yep, we're all set." She called. "You can come out now."

(YN) opened the door and walked out of the bathroom with his new attire. His outfit has a striking resemblance to his original outfit, but has matching navy blue long sleeve compression shirt and pants with dark brown fingerless gloves, and utility belt with three pouches. His armor is now lightweight and in a light blue color with sliver trimmings, covering his arms, chest, lower legs and boots with silver trimmings, and his emblem is located at the center of his chestplate.

Then he pulled his pistol from his holster, transforming it into sword form while deploying his shield, setting it to diagonal mode, both have been re-colored. His shield had become navy blue with the overlay painted light blue with silver trimmings while the sword had its cross guard and pommel painted light blue.

|————————[PAUSE!]————————|

Author's Note: "Think of your new outfit is an inspiration of the Jedi Commander armor, but with the chestplate of a Phase Two Clone Trooper.

And also, your alternative color scheme is based on Steve Roger's Stealth uniform and the shield's re-color from the Winter Solider."

|————————[RESUME!]————————|

(YN): "What do you guys think?" He asked, gesturing to his new attire.

Yang: "Looking sharp." She smirked, looking at him up and down. "Love the re-color."

(YN): "Thanks. I thought it would suit me for this mission." He thanked, transforming his sword into pistol form and putting it back into his holster while deactivating his shield. Ruby heavily blushed as her eyes looked him up and down, looking at his muscles through his shirt.

Yang: "Ooh, like what you're seeing?" She giggled. as her younger sister grew more flustered.

Ruby: "No, I don't!" She shouted, but froze when they were all looking at her.

(YN): "You okay, Ruby?" He asked, tilting his head. "Your face is all red."

Ruby: "U-Umm y-yeah, I'm fine!" She replied before she quickly shook her head to get rid of the blush.  "I-I agree with Yang, you look really great!" She complimented with a thumbs up.

(YN): "Thanks, Ruby." He thanked her.

Ruby: "Alright, guys, today's the day. The investigation begins!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, jumping from her top bunk and landing in her feet, making Weiss jump back on her bed.

Weiss: "I'm glad to see we're taking this SO seriously." She remarked sarcastically.

Yang: "Hey, we've got a plan. That's...moderately serious." She reassured Weiss.

Ruby: "Right! Everyone remember their roles?" She asked, looking at everyone in the room.

Weiss: "You, (YN), and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies." She answered with pride. "Seeing as I'm in the family," She placed a hand on her chest "it shouldn't be a problem."

(YN): "I meanwhile will try to search in the police archives." He added. "Anything about Torchwick last moves or anything related to his connection with the White Fang could help us."

Blake: "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members." She stated, placing her hands behind her back. "If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

Yang: "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows EVERYTHING going on in Vale." She informed, crossing her arms. "Getting information out of him shouldn't be TOO hard."

Ruby: "Great! We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found." She finished, then pumped her fist. "Let's do this!"

???: "Yeah!" An unknown voice was heard.

Everyone look over at the open window to see Sun Wukong hanging upside down by his tail, outside the window, smiling.

Blake: "Sun!" She yelled, shocked and alarmed at his appearance as everyone took a step back.

Yang: "How did you get up there?" She asked.

Sun: "Ah, it's easy; I do it all the time." He shrugged.

Weiss: "You do WHAT?!" She shrieked, thinking what he possibly meant by that.

Sun: "I climb trees all the time!" He clarified quickly, ignoring Weiss' scowl at him before he flipped into the room and onto his feet. "So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

Blake: "WE" She took a step forward. "are going to investigate the situation... as a TEAM." She emphasized their positions.

Ruby: "Sorry, Sun. We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." She apologized.

(YN): "Yeah, the club's already full." He claimed.

Sun: "Psh! That's dumb! We should always get friends involved!" He insisted before he pointed his left thumb behind him. "That's why I brought Neptune!"

The girls and (YN) lean out to the side of the window to see Neptune standing precariously on the ledge outside their room, cool as can be.

Neptune: "Sup?" He greeted them.

Ruby: "How did you even get up here?" She asked, cocking her head.

Neptune: "I have my ways." He responded, before he sees how high up they are and suddenly became nervous. "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now." He pleaded.

(YN): "I got him." He gave a hand out to Neptune, which he grabbed rather tightly, and pulled him into the room safely.

Neptune: "Thanks, man." He thanked (YN) gratefully.

(YN): "No problem." He nodded. "Next time, just take the stairs." He recommended.

Neptune: "I'll keep that in mind." He nodded.

Ruby: "Alright, me and (YN) will go with Weiss; Sun, you can go with Blake." She told Sun as she pushed Neptune past Weiss, and Neptune slipped her a wink. Weiss looked mildly shocked but then comes to her senses quickly. "And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"

Weiss: "Actually, Ruby, why don't you and (YN) go with Yang?" She suggested, just as Ruby pushed Neptune, who is stiff as a board, up next to Yang. "After all, she is your sister. Plus if you're going to the shady side of town, it would make sense to have more fighters there."

Ruby: "But, Weiss, who would go with you, then?" She asked while Yang stopped Neptune from rocking back in forth as he is still frozen with fear.

(YN): "Yeah, who else will be your backup." He added.

Weiss: "Well... I guess Neptune could come with me." She smiled with a shrug, to which Neptune puts on a suave look and pointed at her. Ruby seemed to ponder this for a second before she snorted and breaking out laughing.

Ruby: "Nah!" She rejected the suggestion, and then started walking out the room while pulling Weiss by the back of her dress.

Weiss: "But! But!" She pleaded, sticking her arms out fruitlessly trying to get back to Neptune.

(YN): "Sorry, Weiss. No cuts, buts, or even a coconut." He chortled, following behind them out the room.

|—————————|—————————|

Around ten minutes later, (YN), Ruby, and Weiss were currently walking down a crossroad which was near a giant monumental tower that loomed over the sparse trees growing streets below.

Ruby: "Wow! I forget how big the transmit tower looks up close!" She shouted with excitement as they are near the tower.

(YN): "It sure is." He agreed with Ruby.

Weiss: "You should see the one in Atlas." She smirked.

Ruby: "That was the first one, right?" She recalled.

Weiss: "Correct. Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit System to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another." She explained. "It was their gift to the world after the Great War."

Ruby: "Oooh, look at me. My name's Weiss. I know facts. I'm rich." She joked around, acting high and mighty, and she started snorting into her hands.

(YN): "That's so you." He chuckled with Ruby, pointing at Weiss.

Weiss: "Don't be a pest." She scowled at her, a little annoyed. "Besides, the only reason we're here is because YOU like the tower so much. We could have just as easily made a call from the library."

Ruby: "I know, but it's so cool!" She squealed. "Oh, I'm gonna take a picture." She pulled out her scroll, but fumbled with it and it falls out of her hands.

The Scroll bounced a few times along the pavement before it stopped when it hits someone's feet. That same person turned out to be their friend, Penny Polendina.

Penny: "Oh." She picked up the Scroll and hold it out to them. "You dropped this." She spoke.

Ruby: "Penny?!" She gasped in shock.

(YN): "You're here?!" He exclaimed, also in shock.

Penny: "Uhhhh." She stuttered, similarly surprised.

Ruby: "Where have you been?" She asked. "We haven't seen you since the night at the docks!"

(YN): "Yeah, where did you even go the other night?" He added questionably. 

Penny: "S-sorry. I think you're confused." She lied, trying to act like she doesn't know them, but then suddenly hiccuped, making the Scroll bounce out of her hand and into Ruby's hand. "I've got to go." She quickly turned around and walked away.

Weiss: "What was that about?" She questioned, turning to the two.

(YN): "I have no idea." He answered. "She never behaves like that, right?"

Ruby: "I don't know. But I'm going to find out." She replied, and started walking in Penny's direction.

(YN): "I'll go with Ruby." He told Weiss while joining with Ruby "You go make your call. We'll meet up with you later."

Weiss: "Wait!" She called out, reaching her hand out to them, but to no avail. She can only shake her head at them. "Ugh!" She sighed angrily, lowering her hand.

Meanwhile, Ruby and (YN) ran up to Penny as she descended down the steps until she got in front of them.

Ruby: "Penny, where have you been? It's been weeks!" She asked her.

(YN): "What's going on? Why're you ignoring us?" He questioned, adding in. Penny turned to the two.

Penny: "There seems to be a... misunderstanding." She lied, still pretending like she never met him or Ruby before, and continued to walk away.

Ruby: "What?!" She exclaimed, confused.

(YN): "Misunderstanding?" He repeated, confused as well. "Penny, wait." He jumped down the steps and got in front of her. "What misunderstanding?" Ruby then slide down the rail bar in the center of the steps and got in front of Penny too when she reached the bottom.

Ruby: "Penny... is everything okay?" She asked, but Penny keeps walking away. (YN) then energetically speeds in front of Penny, preventing her from leaving.

(YN): "Penny, stop and listen to us." He pleaded.

Ruby: "Penny, please stop!" She begged, running up to Penny and grabbing her arm. And this time, Penny did stop, finally choosing to listen as she looked at her and (YN), then hang her head down. "Look, I don't know what's wrong, but you have listen to us. Those guys we fought at the docks; we think they're up to something big, something BAD. We need you to tell us what happened to you that night. Please... as a friend." She pleaded.

(YN): "Come on, Penny, you can talk to us." He added on, placing a hand on Penny's shoulder.

Penny looked at the two and sighed before looking around at the people around them swiftly. She then walked up close to Ruby and (YN) and leaned in close.

Penny: "It isn't safe to talk here." She whispered to them. (YN) and Ruby looked at each other briefly before looking back at her.

|—————————|—————————|

Meanwhile, Weiss walked into the central elevator of the CCT to complete her objective. She walk past one cylindrical terminal with several computers on it as she head for the elevator booth and step inside as the doors closed in front of her.

CCT AI: "Hello. Welcome to the CCT." It greeted politely from a panel near the door. "How may I help you?"

Weiss: "I'd like to go to the communications room please." She requested.

CCT AI: "Absolutely. Could you please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?" It politely ask again. Weiss placed her Scroll on the terminal and several beeping noises are heard as she is verified. "Perfect. Thank you, Miss Schnee."

As the elevator goes up, Weiss' face frowned, but then she tried to put on smile, but shakes her head and tried to put a better smile on with her eyes closed before ultimately returning to a frown.

She eventually make it to the communications room. The room has many terminals for people to communicate with people in other areas or other kingdoms. There are four symbols on some computers that aren't in use - twin axes and wreaths, three flying swords pointing down, a spear and shield inside a fragmented circle, and a precise winged shape.

Weiss walked up to the front desk and a hologram of a woman with brown eyes and brown hair curled to right side and wearing a black suit appeared in the seat.

CCT AI: "Welcome to the Beacon Cross Continental Transmit Center." She greeted in a polite manner, acting almost like a real person. "How may I help you?"

Weiss: "I need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas." She requested.

CCT AI: "Absolutely." She started typing in her keyboard. "If you could head over to terminal 3, I'll patch you through." She instructed, showing a polite smile.

Weiss: "Thank you." She thanked with a smile and nodded before walking over to the designated terminal, passing by other people on other terminals.

When she reach the terminal, which looked like a high tech computer, Weiss sat down in a chair, and breathed a heavy unhappy sigh with a sad face, but puts a fake smile on before the terminal comes on. A moment later, the terminal came on, and on the screen is a blue-eyed, orange-haired woman in a gray military-styled suit with the Schnee snowflake rotating behind her.

Schnee Corps Operator: "Thank you for calling the Atlas-" She didn't realize who she was talking to before she looked up. "Oh, Miss Schnee! Good afternoon!" She greeted, surprised at Weiss being there. "Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well."

Weiss: "No thank you." She denied pleasantly. "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a short list." She plugged her Scroll into the slot of the keyboard, sending the list over to the other end. The Operator looked over the list on her side of the screen.

Schnee Corps Operator: "I see. If you don't mind, what may I ask is this for?" She asked, getting curious.

Weiss: "School project." She lied.

Schnee Corps Operator: "Um, there are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am." She noted, feeling uneasy.

Weiss: "Then I'll be sure to handle them with care." She assured her.

Schnee Corps Operator: "...Right. Very well, the data's being transferred to your scroll now." She conceded to her.

Weiss: "Wonderful. That will be all then." She smiled, picking up her scroll.

Schnee Corps Operator: "Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to your father before you go?" She asked. Weiss lost her smile for a second.

Weiss: "Yes, I'm sure." She replied, quickly putting on a forced smile.

Schnee Corps Operator: "Well then, have a nice day." She nodded before the screen goes off and Weiss' forced smile turned into a real frown.

|—————————|—————————|

Somewhere in the city, Penny was waiting out in front of a two-story local café with patio furniture, looking worried until a hand taps on her right shoulder and she looked over to see Ruby with a bit smile and (YN) behind her. This caused Penny to smile a little and the three begin walking through the city.

Penny: "I wish I could help you, guys, but I don't know anything about those men." She claimed.

Ruby: "Well, what happened to you that night?" She asked worriedly. "We were all together, and then you just disappeared. Were you kidnapped?"

Penny: "Oh, no! Nothing like that." She replied quickly reassuringly, shakes her head while slightly shaking her hands.

(YN): "Well, then where did you go?" He asked next.

Penny: "I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but-Oh, you have to understand, my father loves me very much. He just worries a lot."

Ruby: "Heh, believe me, I know the feeling." She muttered out, rolling her eyes.

(YN): "You're not the only one, my mom can be a worrier sometimes." He stated. "It's good to have a father that cares you." He commented to Penny with a smile. "Nothing wrong with that." Penny smiled back a little.

Ruby: "But, why not let us know you were okay?" She asked.

(YN): "And why did you pretend not to know us back at the tower?" He added in, genuinely curious about Penny's behavior.

Penny: "I... was asked... not to talk to either of you. Or Weiss, or Blake, or Yang. Anybody really." She confessed.

Ruby: "Was your dad that upset?" She questioned in concern.

Penny: "No, it wasn't my father..." She began until they heard a sound of microphones announcing something, and they turned around a corner to look over at the town square.

There was a large platform set up in the middle of the plaza. Two large metal storage cases with the Atlas crest on the doors, each with three shiny Atlesian Knight-130s in front of them, were at the back corners of the stage. In the center of the platform was a holographic image of General Ironwood.

Ironwood[Hologram]: "The AK-130 has been the standard security line of Remnant for several years. And they have done a fine job, wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?" He asked with the robots taking a bow to the clapping audience of people gathered in the square. "But, the Kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and fine? Well, that's just not good enough, is it?"

The two cases open up behind the AK-130s, revealing six new android soldiers with more slender, humanoid appearance than the AK-130's. They were clad in white armor, with their black robotic workings visible underneath. Their armor was thin at the midsection, neck and joints, but their chest and legs appeared well-protected.

Ironwood[Hologram]: "Presenting the Atlesian Knight 200." He introduced the new androids, which kick over the older robots, standing on them, and making the crowd clap again. "Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary." He continued as the new androids do flex's and poses as the demonstration for the crowd. "These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone. Now, the Atlesian military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that undoubtedly require...a human touch."

Penny: "Guys..." She gulped, motioning to the two, who continued to look on in awe.

Ironwood[Hologram]: "So... Our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce...The Atlesian Paladin!" He announced, and disappeared as a larger machine takes his place.

The Paladin was a massive mechanized battlesuit, able to house one pilot in the body, and its armaments notwithstanding.. It was equipped with at least two arm-mounted Dust cannons capable of rapid charging and firing, rear-mounted ten-tube rocket launchers, and twin-barreled anti-personnel automatic cannons attached to the aforementioned energy cannons. The body is a little funky on the arms and legs, and under each Dust cannon is a fold-out arm area, which unfolds to form large fists for close quarters combat. The crowd clap again at the site of the new weapon.

Ironwood[Hologram]: "Now, we can't have them here for you today. But these mechanized battle suits will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!" He exclaimed, making the crowd applaud again.

Ruby: "Woah." She wowed, hunched and jaw-dropped in sheer awe at the site.

(YN): "That's really cool." He commented impressively.

Penny: "...Guys, maybe we should go somewhere else." She suggested concernedly, taking a small step back from the town square.

Just then, at the side of the stage, a pair of Atlas human soldiers noticed Penny and her friends. They wear body armor that covers their upper bodies. It is a white-gray color, with blue highlights along the helmet and arms. Their helmets cover their faces almost entirely, barring their mouths. Their pants are black, with some gray areas on them, and they have a belt with a few pouches, a handgun strapped to their hips and a sword in collapsed mode strapped to their lower backs. They are also seen with rifles strapped across their backs.

One soldier pointing her out and the other calling in backup. Penny backed away and then turned and started running away across the street and down a back alley, much to Ruby and (YN)'s confusion.

Rudy: "Penny?" She looked over her left shoulder to see Penny running away. "Wait! Where are you going?!" She called out, but turned to look back to see the two soldiers running towards them.

(YN): "We gotta go! Come on!" He urged Ruby, grabbing her hand and they both run after Penny, and away from the soldiers.

As Penny turned right down the alley, (YN) and Ruby run to catch up to her down the winding ally, with the two soldiers not too far behind.

Atlas Solider: "Down here! She went this way!" He called out, gesturing to his partner.

The trio ran across the street into another alley. The soldiers keep chase until a honking car nearly ran over one of them, but the first soldier managed to brace his hands against the hood of the car, somehow managing to stop the vehicle in the process as the second soldier ran past him after Penny.

(YN) looked back at this before looking ahead at Ruby and then Penny who turned left down the alley. He noticed some wooden boxes held up on a wooden platform, and thinking quickly, pulled out his pistol, transforming it into sword form and sliced the wooden platform, making it fall to the ground with the wooden crates blocking the alleyway from the soldiers, and then continued his run with Ruby and Penny.

As they keep running, Ruby sees Penny ahead of them, and then jumped and started running along a wall on her right while (YN) telekinetically moved two dumpsters together with both hands to form a barricade behind them and jumped and front-flipped over the dumpsters. Ruby then used her Semblance to ricochet off the wall over to Penny.

Ruby: "This way!" She pointed to her right. "(YN)!" She called out, and (YN) energetically speeds over to them, grabbing them both by the waist.

(YN): "Hold on!" He warned them, grimacing before the three disappeared in a flash of blue energy currents.

(YN) speeds away as fast as he can through the alleyway while carrying Ruby and Penny, but the strain is too great, and then suddenly tripped on a rock, causing him to crash into the ground, dropping Penny and Ruby, with Ruby rolling out onto another street. She slowly sits up and rubbed her head until she heard the sound of a truck horn behind her and stands up, turning around to see a cargo truck coming at her.

(YN): "RUBY!" He yelled, and energetically zoomed over to get to her. "Damnit! I'm not gonna make it!"

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Penny pushed Ruby out of the way, and then holds her hands out. In a split second when the two make contact, the impact caused the ground beneath her crack and crumble into pieces as a crater is form in the ground and the truck is lift off the ground for a moment in a little ways by Penny's sheer strength.

By this point, (YN) reached Ruby, but both of them look on in shock as Penny puts down the truck, the driver stared in awe at the crumples in his hood, just like the Huntress who got saved.

(YN): "Whoa..." He breathed in awe and slightly shocked.

Ruby: "Penny?" She uttered, her eyes widened with worry, uncertain, and maybe a little fear.

Penny: "Are you okay?!" She asks the driver, who nodded in confirmation. She backed away and looked at Ruby and (YN) and sees their frightened expressions. "Um, uh..." She stuttered, looking at her hands.

Then Penny looked at the bystanders murmuring to each other in an attempt to understand what just happened. In her panic, she ran from the Atlas soldiers still chasing her down and bumped into Ruby and (YN), knocking them out of their stupor as she  tried to get away again.

(YN): "Hey, wait!" He hollered, reaching out to Penny.

Ruby: "Penny! Come back!" She called out and they run after her again, leaving the scene.

The people looked at the destruction Penny caused with her bare hands and the Atlas soldiers arrive in the scene and find they lost them.

|—————————|—————————|

Eventually, Penny came to a stop at one point in the alleyway before looking around, searching for somewhere to run to next.

Ruby: "Penny!" She shouted as she and (YN) caught up to Penny. "Please, what is going on?! Why are you running?! How did you do THAT?!" She asked exasperatedly, trying to figure out what's going on.

(YN): "Come on, you have to tell us what's going on!" He added.

Penny: "I-I can't! Everything's fine!" She exclaimed nervously again, tripping to reassure them, but started to hiccup. "I-I don't want to talk about it!" She hiccuped, crossing her arms and turning her head away.

Ruby: "Penny, if you can just tell us what's wrong, we can help you!" She pleaded.

Penny: "No. No, no." She muttered, retreating from the two. "You two wouldn't understand."

(YN): "Then let us TRY to understand." He insisted. "Penny, you can trust us." Penny finally relented.

Penny: "You two are my friends, right?" She questioned desperately, coming up to their faces. "You promise you're my friends?"

Ruby: "I promise." She replied softly.

(YN): "You have my word." He sweared. Penny was silent for a second, and then, looked down at her hands.

Penny: "Ruby... (YN)... I'm NOT a real girl." She revealed, staring sadly at their faces as she showed them her palms. Her skin have ripped away from the toll of stopping the truck, revealing the gray metal underneath.

Both (YN) and Ruby were completely astounded by Penny's secret. Neither of them didn't have the words to say for a moment.

Ruby: "...Oh." Was all she uttered.

(YN): "Well... that explains a lot." He remarked bewilderedly.

To Be Continued...