Author's Note:

Ok guys, I fucked up real bad in the early days of this story. I didn't have any end goal or anything, and I feel like the story really suffered because of that. Fortunately, I have one in mind now, and we're going that direction now.

Other than that, I just have the usual begging; review, follow, that stuff. I'd like some input on how Yang came off, because that's important. She's dead now, and I want her fighting style to change accordingly. Also her personality, that's important too.

Thanks for reading!

Tears rolled down her face as she stumbled through the dark alleyways, sobbing softly to herself. How could they do that? How could they even suggest something like that? He was her friend, and she wouldn't turn her back on him. They saw what he had done as harming her somehow, as if it had been painful or somehow detrimental to her health. It made no sense, she felt better than she ever had! Even Ren, her most trusted friend, had sided with Ozpin. Why couldn't he understand, or just accept it? She had done it all for him. Mean thoughts echoed in her mind about what she would like to do to Ozpin for saying something like that, but she kept them down for the most part. And besides, she knew that it hadn't been Ozpin's original idea. He didn't know that much. It had to be Naze's.

Thinking of the boy only made her angrier. There was just so much arrogance about him, like he knew everything. She hated people like that. There was nothing she could do about it though, because Tiny had told her that she wouldn't stand a chance in a fight with him. That's why she was out walking now, in the dead of night. She was looking for a good place to call some of Tiny's friends who would help her beat him. Tiny had told her that she needed a big building, secluded and abandoned, for them. Nora thought that was a little strange, but didn't question it. She had absolute faith in her little buddy.

As she walked, she carried Magnhild by her side in hammer form. She didn't like the dark alleys, even though she could see just fine. There was just something about them that was creepy to her. The night air was cold, making her skin prickle, but she mostly ignored the feeling. With a sigh of frustration, she looked around her again, almost preying to see an abandoned building. None revealed themselves. Her foot hit the ground, sending a few particles of dirt into the air. She had been looking for hours, and still nothing.

Tiny whispered in her ear again, saying "Maybe it's best if we head back. You need your rest, after all." Nora nodded begrudgingly. She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to keep looking. Most of all, she wanted to meet Tiny's friends. Maybe if she got one for Ren, he might be able to see why she liked Tiny so much. That would be good.

Her aura tingled in a peculiar way, and she knew it as meaning that there were eyes on her. She stopped and pivoted around, looking for the unwelcome intruder. At first there was nothing, both ends of the alleyway clear, but then she focused her energy into her aura, enhancing her perception.

Two glittering, floating eyes appeared at the far end of the alleyway, by the street. Nora knew instantly that they had something to do with Naze, and her hands tightened around Magnhild as she got ready to strike out at them. Tiny voiced some objection to what she was about to do, but it was lost in the face of thinking about being watched by Naze. The head of Magnhild flew through the air quickly, sideways so that the eyes would be crushed between it and the wall. The hammer met brick with concussive force, sending a few chunks of material flying in the midst of a cloud from the broken material, and Nora felt a small sense of satisfaction.

Than the dust fell away, and the eyes were still staring at her, undaunted. Nora felt a momentary confusion, not sure how they had avoided her attack without moving. After a few seconds, she realized that one of the eyes was halfway inside the back of Magnhild. She pulled the hammer back, making a note that the eyes were not quite physical. Tiny said "There, see? No harm-"

He was cut off by a single footstep from behind Nora, towards which the girl turned, a harsh scowl on her face. She found Naze standing there, arms behind his back, simply peering at her from behind those fake, dead eyes that she hated. His blade was on his back as it always was, and he had an expectant look on his face. Nora's first instinct was to charge him, but Tiny's voice spoke up again quickly, telling her why that was a bad idea. "He's bound to have a plan. Even if he doesn't, he could outmatch you. You'll look like the aggressor, and if someone is watching, they'll think you're crazy." All of this made sense, and Nora backed herself down, breathing deeply to try and calm herself down.

Naze nodded slightly, as if he had heard Tiny's words, and said in an even voice "Hello Nora. How does this fine night find you?" Nora narrowed her eyes, expecting some kind of trap, but Naze only looked up at the distant moon, hands not moving from behind his back. "It seems you're lucky. I saw a weather report that said it would rain tonight."

Nora wasn't going to play whatever manipulative game he was setting up, and instead spat "What do you want?" in as hostile a voice as she could. Naze looked back at her, tilting his head inquisitively and saying "Want? Why whatever gave you that impression?"

Nora gave an exasperated look before shaking her head and saying disdainfully "You always have something you want. You always have an agenda. I think that's horrible." A wry smile came across Naze's face, and he replied with a sharp edge to his voice "And you don't? I'm afraid I must stop you there, Nora. You have quite a lofty agenda ahead of you; making someone love you is not an easy thing. Nor is it any less subversive than what I do. If anything, you've taken a far more drastic route. You've altered your body, your mind, even your soul has been touched by the filth you've polluted yourself with." These words filled Nora with rage. How could he talk about Tiny like that?

Naze waved a hand dismissively, hand getting tucked behind his back as soon as the gesture was finished. "But that's not what I've come to talk about. In fact, I'm not here to speak with you at all. I'm here to speak with the demon who's taken you as a host. We've some matters to discuss." Nora fixed him with a suspicious stare, but she felt Tiny's curiosity peak. She asked him what he thought would be a good thing to do. Tiny thought for a moment, then started to assert control.

Nora felt her mouth move, and her throat working, making words, and at first she was concerned. After she realized that it was Tiny speaking through her, however, she calmed down. She didn't mind him using her like that. In fact, she thought it felt kind of good. She let him use the muscles in her throat and diaphragm, but the words that he made were low and growling, almost as if he didn't quite know how to use them. "What could you want with me, monster?"

A smile of irony came across the puppet's face, but he ignored the comment and said "I would very much like to know what you plan, demon." He gestured to Nora's body and continued "It's very clear that you are changing the girl, and I want to know for what. Why do you need such a "charismatic" host? And, before you make the inevitable threats or challenges, I would ask you if you really believe that it was chance that the girl wandered here. A wandering mind is easy to lead, and an alley is an excellent place for an ambush."

Nora's eyes flicked around the darkness, but he could tell that it wasn't Nora moving those eyes. They moved a bit too harshly. The girl looked back at him, a lip lifting in annoyance, before growling out "You wouldn't dare."

Naze raised an eyebrow and said in a voice that seemed to call the demon a fool "You doubt the ability of a lich to commit an atrocity like murder? Of all the beings to do that, I didn't think the first would be a demon." It was clear that the demon was starting to become angered, but it smirked with Nora's mouth like it had some secret that Naze didn't. "A real lich, perhaps. But not a flawed one like you. Not the embodiment of a mistake."

Anger was not an emotion that Naze had ever felt in particularly large quantities, he was much more prone to things like paranoia and fear, the things that had dogged him through life, when he felt anything at all. As a result, he was more taken aback that the demon was aware of this flaw, and he immediately began wondering how it might've found out about it. He was careful not to let this show, however, and gestured to the thick shadows that lay around the area. From these emerged two forms, confusing for the eyes to even look at. They had numerous limbs, bright burning eyes, and forms constructed out of a smoke so thick that it almost seemed to be solid. Whether the demon knew what the poltergeists were or not, he couldn't tell, but he knew the important part. They could hurt him. While a poltergeist was little threat for a major demon, Nora was not infected with a major demon. She was controlled by a minor one, bloated on her own power.

"We can continue the childish insults, or we can address our business, and you can be rid of me. It's your choice." The offer was clear, and both Nora and Tiny found it very attractive. The demon croaked through Nora's throat "Very well. Is that your only question, or will you stuff me in a bottle again?" Nora's hands tightened around the handle of the war hammer, but she stayed the strike. Naze shrugged, saying "I would imagine that removing you would take quite a bit of both effort and time now, and I doubt that it would be worth either. Now, the question, if you please."

The poltergeists floated idly, but their eyes seemed to stab into Nora with a vicious intensity, like they were waiting for the moment to pounce. The demon looked from one to the other, as if sizing them up, before giving another small growl and saying "I intend to sway people. Why else would I do what I have?"

Naze pondered what the end goal was. Could it plan to start some kind of cult? That wasn't out of the question, it had happened before. If it set about summoning other demons, than the problem could snowball out of control quickly. He was also slightly annoyed, because he knew that the small, information-less answer was, at least to the demon, a satisfying one. He knew that he wouldn't get much else from it. With one terse gesture towards the alley again, he said "Go, then, parasite. Go back to your schemes, and I shall return to mine."

Nora turned and left without another word. Naze watched her go, mind working to unravel the demon's plan. If it was doing anything, he wanted to know. He started walking back to Beacon, taking a different route so that he didn't run into her again.

Yang's foot tapped impatiently as she waited for Ms. Goodwitch to finish her lecture. Apparently in her absence, there had been a few accidental injuries during sparring matches. She reminded everyone of the need for proper safety procedures, and of the need to pay attention to your aura in a battle.

She looked over at Cardin, who was kicking back in his seat, talking with his friends, a stupid grin plastered across his face. At least they matched. She felt something shake her shoulder, and turned to find Ruby giving her a somewhat worried look. "Yang, are you alright? You seem really angry, or something."

She shook her head, turning her whole body to face away from Cardin. "No, no, I'm fine. It's just…" her voice trailed off, and she glanced over again at Cardin "…we've seen him bully a lot of people so far, and I think it'd be good to give everyone he did that to a little payback. Plus, you know, I really want to see how I hold up now that I'm-" she put a finger under the collar of her shirt and drew it up, leaning her head to one side and rolling her eyes back, creating the image of a hanged corpse. Ruby giggled, Blake grinned, and Weiss gasped, saying "Yang, don't joke about that!"

Yang laughed and waved a hand dismissively, saying on a joking voice "Relax, Weiss! If I can't joke about that, than what can I joke about?" A look that all three of her team mates recognized came across her face, a dumb smirk crossing her lips. Blake let out a preemptive groan, and Yang delivered the pun that she was so proud of. "Can't you Schnee how important a sense of humor is?" Ruby giggled again, and Weiss let out a long sigh, obviously struggling to keep from becoming upset.

Ms. Goodwitch called for the return of attention, and everyone looked towards her, listening to what she had to say. "Now, with that matter out of the way, it's time to return to our normal activities. So, if I could have a volunteer…" Yang stood, raising her hand up and saying "I'll go!" Glynda fixed her with a questioning gaze before giving a small shrug and saying "Very well, and who would you want to face off against?" Again Yang's answer came quickly, as she pointed at Cardin, a cocky look in her face, and said "Him."

All of team CRDL turned to look at her with somewhat fearful eyes. Normally he would accept the challenge without question, but there had been a few rumors spreading about Yang recently in relation to her resurrection, and most of them had told of a gaining of supernatural abilities. She didn't consider any of them true. Sure, she had learned some magic, but that wasn't really supernatural, it was just something no one else knew how to do. And, on top of that, she didn't know if her aura would still work. She had come up with a few excuses, but if she were to be totally honest with herself, she would say that she was scared to find out the answer to the question "would it still work".

CRDL had little choice other than to accept, which they did, nervous faces following their leader as he walked down into the lowered arena, his massive mace over his shoulder. Yang followed, making sure that the single gauntlet of Ember Celica that she still wore was battle ready. When the two reached the floor, Ms. Goodwitch stepped back, and the lights dimmed, only illuminating the circle that the two combatants would fight in.

They took their positions across from each other, Cardin bringing his mace off of his shoulder and brandishing it at his side while Yang struck her brawling pose, feet spreading and one arm pulling back. Both waited for the call to fight. "Begin!"

As soon as the teacher's voice rang out in the room, Cardin charged, mace raised offensively to one side. Yang gave a few jabs with Ember Celica, sending steaming bolts of dust at him, but they were either dodged or blocked by quick movements of the mace's handle. In seconds, Cardin was within melee range, and clearly intended to continue pushing his advantage. He made a swipe with the head of the mace, which Yang dodged nimbly to the side, than rose it above his head, the look on his face clearly indicating that he was going to bring it crashing down.

Yang was off-balance from her roll, and knew better than to try and roll again. Instead, she braced herself for the hit that would come, years of instinct taking over. She raised her arms and placed them in the path of the strike so that they would bear the brunt of the force. The grey metal arced down towards her, and it occurred to her that this would be a good way to see if her aura still worked or not.

Yang had never heard a sound that really made her stomach turn, or struck her at a basic level, but the sound of bone cracking beneath the mace, muffled by the flesh that protected it from the air, would've been it if she still felt things like that. It echoed off of the walls, and she felt her arm buckle in on itself. The strike stopped when it met her metal arm, and she pushed it away from her, not missing a beat, and throwing a punch with the solid appendage that smashed into Cardin's face, probably much more like a truck than either one suspected.

The force of the blow surprised Yang, but she didn't let that distract her. Cardin was thrown back, tumbling head over heels on the ground as he went, and Yang took the brief respite to examine her flesh-and-bone arm. She held it up, and was quite surprised to find the hand dangling limply, wrist completely shattered beneath Ember Celica's metal. She gave the limb a few experimental shakes, and the digit simply flopped uselessly like a glove filled with gelatin. She tried to move a few fingers specifically, but nothing happened.

The situation was so outlandish, so ridiculous, that she couldn't help but laugh. She knew that she probably looked completely insane, but that didn't really matter to her. The fingers dangled so uselessly that there was just something innately humorous about it. She glanced up at the stands, and what she saw instantly snapped her back to total sobriety. Everyone, including Professor Goodwitch, had a horrified look on their face, but it was her sister's expression that really got to her.

Ruby was covering her mouth with both hands like she was going to be sick, wide eyes affixed on Yang's shattered hand. All color had drained from her face completely, and she was almost ducking completely behind Weiss. Yang changed her entire way of behaving, adopting a more serious approach to the battle. It was clear that her aura didn't protect her, and she hadn't felt her semblance do anything, but she still had tricks up her sleeve. She was out one weapon, but still had another in reserve.

She refocused on Cardin, and saw him finish getting back to his feet, looking dazed. She wasn't about to give him any more time to recover. She pulled feelings of intensity, anger and the want to protect her sister, feeling her soul burn brighter and hotter. Then, using the skill that Naze and his books and taught her, harnessed this power in a physical form, throwing another punch at Cardin.

The fire was also more powerful than she had intended, just like the punch, but she didn't mind either. A quick gout of fire exploded from her metal fist and burned its way to Cardin, making the air pop and crackle with heat. The fireball hit Cardin dead center, knocking him flying again, this time with black scorch marks on his grey armor. He rolled a few more times once he hit the ground, and Yang looked up at the score screen.

Cardin's bar was about a third of the way down, and hers hadn't budged from being full. She smirked. Maybe she could get used to this. It was practically impossible for her to lose. She put a hand on her hip, broken one dangling at her side, and waited for him to get up, doing her best to look both impatient and uninterested. She failed on both accounts, she was sure, but she didn't care about that either. She was having fun. With a few more grunts and groans than were necessary, she was sure. She also saw a thin line of smoke snaking up from his hair, and had to fight the urge to laugh again.

Cardin shook the dazed look off his face, replacing it with one of fury. Yang had always been obnoxious like this. It seemed that dying only made it worse. His fingers tightened again around the handle of his mace, and he let out a roar, charging forward, but paying immense attention to Yang herself. If he let her get something like that off again, he was screwed. What had it even been? Was there dust in that arm? He had never felt a dust attack like that. Not even his aura had really protected him, that was more his armor. He could already feel blisters from the scorching heat forming on his hands. He was lucky that his head had escaped the path of that thing, or else he might have died too.

He shook his head, saying "Focus, Cardin. You have to win this!" to himself under his breath. He strengthened his aura as much as he could, and felt his limbs grow lighter and stronger. His charge quickened, and before her knew it, he was within striking distance. With a grin, now confident that he could land a few more blows, he unleashed a flurry of attacks. First a stab that was meant to displace her, which she sidestepped. Then a swing from the stab, which she ducked under. Then another swing, which she weaved under like a boxer. He caught a glimpse of a radiant smile, and got the distinct feeling that he was being toyed with. He didn't like it.

He felt anger, but he knew better than to let the feeling go to waste. With adrenalin pumping through his veins, he launched into another rapid volley of strikes. Yang ducked, dodged, and sidestepped every one, but he didn't mind. He was setting her up this time.

He feinted a swing at her head, then suddenly changed direction with a turn of the wrist. Yang was fast, but was only able to lift one leg before the metal head of the mace crashed into her other one. Again, the crack of bone rang out through the air, and Yang's eyes widened as she fell to the ground, support being swept out from under her. She caught herself with both hands, broken one only folding uselessly back on her arm, but metal one catching her weight quite well. She looked up, and saw Cardin bringing his mace above his head again, and she knew that if he brought it down, the fight would probably be over.

With a might effort, she conjured fire again, shooting it out at Cardin faster than he could hope to dodge. It was weak in comparison to her last attempt, but was sufficient to make Cardin stumble back, shielding his face with an arm. As soon as he lost the advantage, Yang pushed herself back up, putting most of her weight on her unbroken right leg, using the left one only for balance.

She felt the limb fold slightly, even under only the weight that she used to steady herself. Cardin recovered from her attack, and gave her a look of horror when he saw the cocky grin that was still on her face. His eyes darted quickly from her broken leg to her hand, than to her face again. There was something very disturbing about that look, especially coming from someone as damaged as she was. The match should've ended as soon as he had broken her hand. He hadn't even known that would happen. Why wasn't she using her aura?

Cardin's fingers loosened as he started to become paralyzed with fear. Yang noted this, waiting a few seconds for him to snap out of it. He didn't, and Yang shrugged to herself, figuring that now was the time to end the fight. She took a step towards him, and stumbled as her weight shifted onto the broken leg, which was not able to support her weight correctly. She was just able to get her good leg back under her to prevent taking another tumble. After a few seconds of making sure that she was still able to stand still without falling, she took another tentative step, quickly shifting weight from one leg to the other.

The result was what she imagined to be a somewhat frightening slow shamble, making her look like some kind of zombie, making it very clear that the damage to her physical body was not having any effect on her actual workings. Her foot dragged behind her, making an eerie scraping sound as she continued towards Cardin. This sound seemed to worsen the fear that Cardin felt, making his fingers twitch and take a step back. Suddenly, reason seemed to return to him, and he cried out "I quit! She wins!"

Yang gave him a disappointed look. "Come on, really?" Her voice was a little more mocking and a little less joking than she intended, but she didn't come off as malicious. Cardin only looked back at her with wide eyes before shaking his head and saying "No. That's wrong, and I don't want to see it." He then turned and started to walk back to his seat, dragging his mace on the ground behind him. Yang followed, struggling slightly to make her way back up the stairs and having to pull herself up using the railing. When she retook her seat next to Ruby, she tried to avoid the horrified gazes from her teammates. It was obvious that she wasn't in any pain, but it was also obvious that she should've been on the floor screaming from her injuries.

Finally, the pressure of the looks grew too great, and Yang turned to them. "Look guys, I'm fine, alright? I know this looks really bad, but it's actually not. Naze can fix this in a second, so until then I just need to take it a little easy." Two more duelists were called, and made their way down, bringing the attention of everyone but team RWBY away from Yang and back to the class. Weiss let out an exasperated hiss and said "Yang, "really bad" doesn't even to begin to describe what you look like. How could you let all that happen? Why didn't you really defend yourself, like use your aura?"

Yang looked down, knowing that if her heart still beat her cheeks would be turning a bright red color. "I don't think I can use my aura anymore. I tried out there, and it just didn't work. But I can still fight, though!" she was quick to provide the positive note, not wanting to appear weak. "You saw me out there! I can take anything, just like before. The only difference is that now I can run on full all the time, not just after taking a few hits." Blake and Weiss looked at each other doubtfully, and Ruby was staring silently at the bent leg, and at the limp hand. Yang felt a terrible darkness, a shadow of doubt, pass over her soul. Was she doing more harm than good like this?

She reached out and put her hand on Ruby's shoulder in a comforting manner and said "Hey, Ruby…" the girl continued to only look at the injuries, and Yang moved the hand from Ruby's shoulder to her chin, tilting her head up so she had to look at her. "Ruby, listen." There was a deep, heartfelt quality to her words now. "This-" she gestured to her body "-isn't really me anymore, you know?" A worried expression came across Ruby's face, and she heard Weiss and Blake both start to move behind her. She let her hand fall from her sister's face and held it out, palm open, doing her best to focus as much of her soul in the single area as possible. The cold metal started to glow with a strange, almost faded light. It was unearthly, but held numerous feelings within it. Ruby looked down at the light, and felt that she was looking into her sister's living eyes, and that they were looking back through a thin veil of mist. "That's me."

Ruby reached for her palm, but Yang closed it before she could touch the light. She hardly knew anything about what could happen if her soul was touched, and she didn't particularly want to find out. She pulled Ruby into a one-armed hug, wishing more than anything that her nerves would register warmth and love that stretched beyond the physical sensation that she knew Ruby was giving off.

They didn't.

Penny walked through the halls of her dwelling, looking for Mr. Ironwood. She wanted to ask him something about what had been going on recently. Everyone seemed on edge, and she wanted to know why. It made her worry when other people worried, and she didn't like feeling worried. She wanted to know if there was anything that she could do to make anyone less worried. She had already looked everywhere that she would normally find him, and all that was left was the room that all of his "important" business went on in.

The door to the room was heavyset, and she had never seen past it. Instead of a lock, a small pad next to the door read biometric signatures from the hand, and was only set to open when Mr. Ironwood put his hand on it. Penny had always wondered what was behind the door, but she knew that it was something strange. Mr. Ironwood handled both a school and a military, so any work that he took on other than those two tasks must have been very important, which was probably why no one else was ever allowed in.

She approached the door somewhat hesitantly. She wasn't really even allowed in the hallway, but the question had been standing out to her all day, and no one else had answered it for her. It was somewhat irritating, but she knew there must've been a good reason.

She stepped slowly and nervously, hands together, trying not to make a sound. The polished tile floor made it difficult to keep the volume of her footsteps down, but if she walked slowly enough, she could do it. As she drew closer to the door, she noticed something that had never happened before. She could hear voices, and it seemed that the door was slightly ajar. An apprehensive feeling deep down made her skittish, but she still persisted. Curiosity won out over caution.

As she came close enough to touch it, she became able to make out Ironwood's voice, saying "…are completely anomalous. No cause can be pinned down, and it's an energy that we've never seen before. It must have something to do with the undead, I know it! I can feel it!" Something thudded against a table hard, making her jump "We have to know what they're planning. If they are preparing some kind of offensive, we have to be prepared. Being taken off guard by them would be nothing less than a death sentence. And, given the enemy, I think that most people would rather not die to them."

Penny looked down as she thought about these words. The undead? That meant Naze. What was he doing?

Ironwood continued speaking after a brief pause filled with another voice too muffled to hear. "Yes, the Shaded Forest in Menagerie. I want the nearest units ready for any engagement, and I want scout teams moving in on the source of that energy. Avoid contact, but if attacked than use of extreme force is authorized. Understood?" There was another muffled crack of a voice, and he finished "Good. Ironwood out."

With that, the other voice vanished, and the clicking of boots started to approach the door swiftly. Penny shuffled to the side quickly, making no noise as she did so, and just before the door, the clicking stopped. Ironwood's voice muttered to itself "Oh, damn…" the door slid open weightily and noiselessly on well-oiled hinges.

Ironwood walked out, and turned to push the door closed. He was halfway finished with his task before he glanced to the side and noticed Penny. He stopped for a brief moment, only glaring at her with an implacable look, than closed the door the rest of the way. After the door shut, and numerous locks clicked into place, he turned to her with a carefully controlled expression and said "Penny, how long have you been standing there?"

Penny's eyes widened as she struggled to find an answer. Was he asking for a specific measurement, or a general one? Should she include now in the count? She became aware of an increasingly impatient look dawning on Ironwood's face, and she said "Not long. Only a few seconds."

He looked at her, as if waiting for something, than nodded. "It's alright Penny, I'm not mad. I just wish you wouldn't eavesdrop like that." He gestured to the hall and started walking. Penny joined him. "Now, since you were here, I assume you must've been looking for me. Is that correct?" Penny nodded and said "Yes sir. I wanted to ask you a question."

The General raised an eyebrow and said "Oh?" in a quizzical voice. This gave penny some encouragement, and she said "Can you explain why everyone seems to be so on edge recently? I think it has something to do with the undead, but I'm not sure why that would make everyone nervous." Ironwood stopped and took a deep breath, a thoughtful look coming across his face. Then he put a hand on Penny's back and continued walking. "People react this way because they are afraid. They might not be afraid of the undead themselves, but more of what they represent. They show, to most people, an impossibly strong, unwavering force that couldn't be diverted or defeated, and that perception is reinforced by them being dead, as death is also an unstoppable force." His eyes went back to the hallway before him. "At least that's how I see it. How do you? What do you think about them?"

After a brief moment of consideration, Penny smiled, remembering the time that Naze had said that they were friends. He had told her that he was undead, and she thought that that meant a lot. "I think that they are trustworthy, and I believe them when they say they want to gather and spread knowledge. I think that that is a goal everyone should support, because it doesn't make any sense not to."

Ironwood continued walking in silence for a few moments before posing the question "Do you think that they've been totally transparent with us? Given us every side of the story?" This question made Penny think for a few more moments before she shook her head, saying "No, I don't think they have, but-" Ironwood cut her off, nodding and saying "Exactly. That is why people fear them. They are making and carrying out plans without making their full intent known. This is a poor way to conduct any relations, and I feel that the only proper way to respond would be in kind. This is understandable, don't you agree?"

She didn't answer. She knew if she did that her hiccup would give her away as being untruthful. Ironwood didn't seem to notice however, and nodded. "Yes, I think that giving them a taste of their own medicine is only fair. Unfortunately, the only way that they've really communicated with us is through that girl. I wish their leader would throw his cowardice aside and talk."

Something seemed to occur to him, and he gave a sidelong glance at the figure to his side. "You haven't spoken to that undead boy since the last time, have you?" The question was asked idly enough, but the hugeness of it was clear and powerful enough. She had been told never to talk to him again, and now she was being asked directly if she had. There was no way out. She had to try and lie.

"N-no, of course n-not." Her diaphragm spasmed, and a small, high pitched sound was forced out of her throat. She had done her best to stop it, but there was nothing she could do. It was completely out of her hands. Her eyes drifted to Ironwood, almost fearful, awaiting a response.

He didn't look at her again for some time, and when he did it was a somewhat tired look. Penny started to get worried, and said "Please don't get mad! I…" she paused, trying to find the words to convey her meaning "I didn't seek him out! He just appeared, and I-" A sharper look from Ironwood told her of her mistake, and her hands flew to her mouth. He asked "Where did this happen?"

Penny wished that she could simply not answer, but it was impossible. "I saw him like a ghost-" she was cut off again by the howl of a siren, and all lighting in the hallway turned a dark red. She knew what that meant. Something was going very, very wrong. Before anything else could happen, Ironwood pulled his scroll from his belt, hitting a single button and holding it out in front of him. There was a short wait before the face of a guard appeared on the screen, and it looked like he was panicking. He barked a few short words to others out of view before Ironwood said commandingly "Report!"

This grabbed the man's attention easily, and he looked back at the scroll. "Yes sir, sorry sir! It appears that the complex is under attack, sir! A corpse has just been discovered, sir, and it's one of ours!" Penny put her hands together and drew them close to her body, hoping that this would bring some kind of comfort. Ironwood instantly launched into delivering a rapid series of commands before turning to Penny and saying "Go to your room! I'll handle this." And looking back to his scroll.

Penny obeyed, setting off down the series of hallways that would take her there. She passed a few soldiers on the way, all of whom were running, weapons drawn, responding to orders sent through their helmets. Penny pressed herself against the wall as best she could, giving them room to pass. She didn't want to interrupt any of their work. It was when she turned the last corner, entering the hallway that would take her to her room, when she ran into something that worried her.

A dark figure, just like the one that Naze had spoken through before, was looking directly at her. She froze, not sure what to do, and it started to move towards her. As it moved, Penny noticed distinct differences between it and the last thing that she had seen like it. This one was more solid looking, and looked far less human. It instead appeared to be a kind of floating torso, with a huge number of arm-like appendages coming from all over its body, both the front and the back.

It spoke, and the voice was much more smooth sounding than the last one, saying "Naze asks for your cooperation." while simultaneously moving slowly towards her. She felt a strong trepidation, but she also wanted to do whatever she could to make the situation better. She decided silently to herself that the least she could do was to hear the strange creature out.

"The criminal held here, Roman Torchwick, will escape unless you intervene. This intervention will not be direct, but rather you will enable forces sufficient to stop this. Are you willing?" Penny was taken somewhat off guard by this. It would depend most on what she had to do, but if she had to give an answer… "Yes, tell me what I have to do."

She expected to be told some action, to be given some directive, but not for the figure to suddenly lurch towards her without stopping. Before she was entirely sure what was going on, her senses started to go haywire, becoming totally alien even to her. Her balance failed her, and she fell to the ground. Immediately she started attempting to right herself, but her movements were made useless by random twitching in her limbs that kept her on the floor. She fought to control the movements, but it soon became clear that there was no way to do so. A cloud of fear settled over her. What had she agreed to?

Her body continued to twitch, but another sensation entirely had begun to grow in her mind. She felt as if her own thoughts were being pushed aside. The feeling frightened her, and she pushed against it with all her might. Just as suddenly as it had started to grow, it dwindled and died, leaving her once again in control of her own faculties. The dark figure drifted out of her body, and its eyes fixed on her like it was annoyed. "You promised cooperation." It spoke with a strange, reverberating quality to its voice.

Penny picked herself up off the ground, pulling her legs back and kicking them up with enough force to take the rest of her with them. "I-I said I'd help you, not whatever that was." Without hesitation, almost like a machine, the thing replied "Than retrieve something to draw with. It is required if you wish to assist."

Penny was confused, but nodded none the less. Whatever it had just tried to do had obviously not worked. She still wanted to help, though, and she trusted that the thing had meant no harm towards her. Her senses returned to her, and there didn't seem to be any long lasting damage, so it was all alright.

She continued to walk down that hall towards her room, motioning for the thing to follow her, saying "I have some things in my room I could use. What do I need to draw, anyways?" The reply to her question came again almost like a machine, saying "You are required to scribe a rune of translocation, allowing soldiers to arrive and provide support, guarding the prisoner, Roman Torchwick. Solders will vacate the premises once the threat is eliminated." It was growing clearer that the thing wasn't exactly an easy thing to communicate. Penny got the feeling that it was merely repeating back things that had been told to it. She didn't particularly care, though, because this gave her the opportunity to show Ironwood that the undead weren't as bad as he thought. Maybe she would even be able to make Ironwood trust them a little. That would be nice if they could get along a little better.

She opened the door and walked into her room, immediately going to her drawing supplies. She got a small bag of colored pencils and walked back out into the hall, finding the ghostly figure still waiting outside. She held the bag up to it, and it turned to the wall, saying "Draw this symbol precisely as indicated." as it said this, the numerous arms started to work, tracing vague lines and shapes. Penny quickly tried to copy them, going as swiftly and carefully as possible. She hoped that she really would be able to show Ironwood that the undead could be trusted.