Pre Episode[]
Luther: So, remind me why you guys are making me stick my head out the window, right in the line of enemy fire again?
Nova: You do realize you can still protect yourself regardless of that, right? I mean, what's the point of having an oversized knife attached to your gun if it can't even block bullets?
Theodore: And we really do need to get our friend's attention down there, so go on and make everyone notice you!
Luther: And what are you guys supposed to be doing while I'm out here risking my life?!
Alice: While you're out there like the neon target that you are, I still have the most important job to handle. We must continue the battle on the online front as well!
Nova: Oh yeah, our episodes have started to pick up some steam lately, haven't they?
Theodore: I see we have all the usual claims from both sides... Do you guys think we should just start putting Disclaimers at the start of each episode?
Alice: And why would I even consider doing so? That's letting the terrorists win!
Luther: Terrorists?! The hell are you talking about?!
Nova: Eyes ahead, Luth! That sofa's heading right for you!
Luther: Bloody hell!
*Gunshot*
Luther: This is just getting outta hand!
Theodore: And there's more where that came from! Look alive, friend!
Luther: Why would anybody bring a generator all the way out here?!
*Gunshot*
Alice: I propose another method of calming the masses. (No, I'm not gonna try to shoot anyone this time.) If they've been clamoring for another RWBY character to appear, then damn it we'll comply!
Nova: Whoa whoa whoa, are you SURE that's a good idea?! People are still pissed since the first RWBY episode Wiz and Boomstick did all the way back!
Theodore: If you thought our reputation was bad now, I can only see it getting worse from here... I have no problem with this.
Alice: It's good to see we're all in agreement then. Okay Luther, you can come back inside! I think you've attracted enough trouble!
Luther: Gee, thanks- GAH!
Description[]
This What If Death Battle features Labrys from Persona 4 Arena and Penny Polendina from RWBY.
Teenage android girls seem to be a rather common theme in many works, but sometimes they are only built with the intent to remain a secret. Or in these girl's case, fight off eldritch beasts for a living.
Interlude[]
Theodore: Sooooooo....
Nova: How are our dear viewers on this fine day? Any fans of a... particular series out there? Maybe even haters?
Luther: But hey, regardless of what shows or games you're into, you can't deny that androids are awesome! Especially if they happen to double as cute girls, right?
Alice: *Scoffs* Oh please, you should already know that I'M the only robot girl worth a damn here, right?
Theodore: (Nice to see your ego's gotten better.)
Nova: But what's the point of building any kind of robot without also giving the ability to kick some serious ass?
Luther: Like Yasogami's Steel Council President, Labrys!
Theodore: And the Altesian girl more curious than a sack of kittens, Penny Polendina!
Alice: I'm Alice, if you've somehow forgotten that already. I'm joined here today by my inferiors Nova, Theo's a Dork, and Luther.
Theodore: Wait, what?
Luther: It's our job to analyze their weapons, armor and skills, to find out who would win...
Nova: A DEATH BATTLE!
Labrys[]
Luther: So wait, who's this girl again and where was she in the earlier Persona games? I mean, I'd totally remember a cute face like that on-
Theodore: *Cough* Anyway, Labrys's existence wasn't exactly supposed to be known to the public in the first place. She's certainly been around longer than the likes of Aigis, but she didn't become an official/important character until we got around to the cannon spinoff fighting game!
Alice: So basically, she's Broly done right.
Nova: Labrys was created as part of the 5th generation of Anti Shadow Weapons by the Kirijo Group hidden away from the public eye. Her purpose? Well it's in her name, she's supposed to kill Shadows for a living.
Luther: But because the group of researchers responsible for her were a bunch of asshats, Labrys was forced into an arduous series of battles against her fellow 5th Generation units as a means to develop not only a means of combating Shadows, but a sufficient ego as well.
Theodore: Yeah, you guys are hearing that right. Labrys was already quite different from the traditional rule following robots most people would be used to. She did in fact grow feelings and a personality all her own, much to the delight of her creators.
Luther: Through her interactions and eventual befriending of a fellow unit that went by the name of #024, Labrys would go on to do just that, steadily learning more and more about the human feelings welling within her.
Nova: But how much do you want to bet all these experiments went horribly right, beyond the researcher's expectations?
Alice: What do you expect when you create an artificial life form that can feel for herself and proceed to treat her like shit?
Theodore: After being forced to destroy her now close friend #024, (While the asshole researchers were watching like it was a new Star Wars movie if I might add.)
Labrys finally hit the breaking point. Now choosing to follow her own dreams as opposed to the orders of her creators, Labrys triumphantly chose to escape from the hellish facility she called home!
Alice: And she pretty handily wrecked the place along the way! Heh heh heh... Stupid squishies!
Nova: Robotic superiority aside, this little fiasco didn't last too long before Labrys found out he was on an island all along! Why she didn't just swim to safety is beyond me, but this resulted in Labrys being prematurely deactivated for being "too dangerous." Come on, what's the point of doing science if you don't wanna take any risks? Booooooriiiiiiing!
Alice: Or as common sense would like to say: Rebelling against her clearly drunk off their asses creators. Labrys would go relatively untouched before finally being discovered by Mitsuru Kirijo about 13 years later.
Theodore: But wait, there's more! Due to interference from a mysterious third party, Labrys would immediately be stolen away and thrown into a TV and find herself in a mysterious school!
Nova: *raises hand* I-
Theodore: And NO, it wasn't Takumi! So, a few more plot points later, this school would turn into a fighting tournament (I guess the developers needed some excuse to get everyone to beat the crap out of each other.) and Labrys would become the new student council president? (Yep, I'm lost too.)
Luther: Long story short, a Shadow that embodied Labrys's repressed emotions was responsible for the entire fiasco! But with the almighty POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, Labrys would come to accept her alter ego and fully awaken the power of a Persona.
Nova: Jeez, who knew a spinoff character's backstory could be so complicated in a single game? But now that we're done with that, lets get to the important stuff! Like the fact that Labrys wields a freaking rocket axe in battle!
Alice: Oh yes, those thrusters on the side of the weapon are not for show. Labrys can either use them to fly through the air or give her swings some extra momentum. You know, basic physics. (Minus the whole axe jetpack thing of course.)
Theodore: But wait, even Labrys's fists are considered lethal weapons! With her Chain Knuckle, Labrys can demolish a far away target with a single punch, or reel herself over to her victim, Reverse-Scorpion style!
Luther: And despite how cumbersome these tools may appear, Labrys is still a surprisingly quick fighter in battle, easily closing the distance on her foes with her wide variety of momentum gaining attacks. In addition, Labrys's axe actually grows stronger with every blow it lands on an enemy!
Theodore: Why does that sound familiar?
Alice: Nuh-uh! We DO NOT mention the unholy can of worms!
Nova: The axe's power level will glow from blue to red as it becomes stronger, but it will go back down over time if Labrys isn't consistently landing any strikes with it. And believe me, you're in for a world of hurt if Labrys decides to give you even the slightest graze of her red axe!
Alice: But I'm sure many of you are wondering: Why does a robot like Labrys have such an extensive personality to begin with? (As an android myself, that is fairly offensive.) That's all due to the full sized Plume of Dusk located within her chest.
Luther: Pfft.
Alice: Oh, grow up Luth!
Theodore: Combine that with Labrys's unusually strong ego, and she also has access to her signature Persona, Ariadne. In addition, Labrys has absorbed all the information and experiences that has been stored in the plumes of all the ASW units she has defeated in her numerous tests, further contributing to her her rapidly growing personality.
Luther: So, basically she's Megaman X too. Minus the whole weapon copying shtick. Though that doesn't explain the cute Brooklyn accent she has.
Alice: It's a long, spoileriffic story.
Luther: Like we haven't been doing that already?
Nova: While Labrys is a rushdown specialist that prefers to tear her opponents apart up close, Ariadne is the complete opposite of that, specializing in a myriad of red projectiles and traps.
Alice: It's not like Labrys has any projectiles of her own, so Ariadne complements her fighting style pretty well. This Persona's arsenal includes barrages of energy lances, protective energy blades, and walls of damaging gears.
Nova: So she has gears... But are they guilty?
Alice: No, but your puns are literally starting to grind my gears.
Luther: Labrys is already one powerful (and hot) robo chick, but what if i told you this wasn't even her-
Theodore: We've heard the joke before, and that's not ENTIRELY true in this context. With that said, everyone say hello to Shadow Labrys!
Seriously, say hello or she might pull that on you too!
Alice: Oh yeah, remember this chick? The manifestation of Labrys's repressed emotions? Unlike most typical Shadows, this beast actually has a persona of her own, Asterius!
Nova: Shadow Labrys may share the same fighting style with her counterpart, but her personality is MUCH more brutal and unforgiving! And that's not even getting into Asterius yet!
Luther: Unlike most Personas, this one actually stays around at all times to protect it's master. It's actual attacks are just as brutal as you'd expect, ranging from fourth wall shattering punches, breaths of dark fire, frickin' laser beams, and a burst of dark energy covering the entire screen!
Theodore: And if Shabrys just wants to kill you outright? Well, you've already seen her drag an unfortunate victim to Hell. But why is this girl's Shadow still around if she already accepted it, you may ask?
Nova: In short, Shadow Labrys's memories and personality still remained within her counterpart's inner network. (In other words, Atlus REALLY wanted her to stick around for the sequel no matter what.) Now she'll gladly take over her other self's body in order to protect her when she deems it necessary!
Luther: Oh, and before we forget, regular Labby's got a brutal finishing move of her own! That being trapping her victim with Ariadne, before absolutely wailing on them by using her axe like an epic flail!
Alice: But naturally, Labrys does share the same weaknesses as every other persona user out there. Not only will she feel whatever damage her Persona takes, but enough damage will render it temporarily unusable. This is an even BIGGER problem for Shabrys, because she keeps her behemoth of a persona out at all times!
Luther: But other than that, it's not like Labrys has any glaring weaknesses to speak of. She certainly seems to rely on Ariadne a lot less than other characters in the series!
Theodore: Labrys's resume, while restricted to only two fighting games, is still just as impressive as you'd expect too! She can rip her fellow 5th Generation Units apart with her bare hands, casually break down reinforced steel doors with Ariadne, and break free from a set of restraints specifically designed to hold her down while breaking WAY past the limits her creators placed on her!
Alice: And most impressively of all, Labrys has been able to defeat the manifestation of humanity's desire for misanthropism Hi No Kagutsuchi by herself! Which happened to manifest itself as an enormous eldritch abomination.
Nova: Well, this IS Atlus we're talking about here. Labrys is one spirited girl that's most certainly more than meets the eye!
Labrys: Time for some educational discipline!
Penny[]
Nova: You know, part of me always dreaded the day when we would have to examine such a... huge point of controversy from our show's resume.
Alice: But I'm sure the other part of you is thinking the whole ordeal is just plain silly, right? I mean-
Luther: Okay, let's not ignite the fires of war again. Instead, why don't we shift our focus away from the main characters? Like say, a seemingly average, airheaded (and cute) girl named Penny!
Nova: Seemingly, eh? Fooooooreshadowing!
Theodore: It's certainly true that this girl's past is shrouded in mystery, but at least that means we don't have to spend too much time on it! In fact, Penny wasn't even supposed to be running out and about earlier on in the series!
Nova: But because of that, she'd soon find herself becoming close friends with Ruby Rose-
Alice: Somewhat against the latter's will I might add.
Nova: And even deciding to come to the young huntress's aid when she fought off members of the White Fang just later that night.
Luther: Ah, there's nothing like a good ass kicking session to strengthen the bonds of friendship, wouldn't you agree? Yeah, Penny seemed to get along pretty well with her new friends... only to make a mysterious disappearance right after the battle!
Nova: Hmm...
Theodore: Novs, if you're coming up with a conspiracy theory now, you'd best drop it.
Alice: Either way, Penny wouldn't meet her friends again till the second season, where surprise surprise, she's revealed to be a robot! As if that telekinetic sword control in the last episode didn't tip anybody off!
Luther: Penny was created under the eye of the Altesian government by an unknown father figure and General James Ironwood as the very first synthetic being capable of producing an Aura.
Theodore: Her actual purpose? To save the world from the hordes of Grimm that plague its every corner! ...While also keeping her robotic heritage a closely kept secret. Kinda dropped the superhero ball there early, Penny.
Alice: Eh, I'm sure we can all keep a secret, right? After all, that's the very reason her Old Man didn't want her wandering around in public.
Nova: But with that in mind, Penny's creators really wanted to showcase her awesome skills in the Vytal Festival Tournament that just happened to be coming very soon...
Nova: And oh boy, is this girl much stronger than she appears! Penny wields a small collection of blades that she just keeps around in her backpack at all times! Cause I guess it always helps to be ready just in case a fight breaks out!
Luther: Oh, but Penny doesn't just swing these babies around like any normal person would. She can control all of them telepathically because they're attached to her body with some impressively long cables attached to the hilts!
Alice: There are no strings on- Oh wait, she's got 'em all over her.
Theodore: She's got excellent control over them too, being able to move each individual blade around however she wishes! And because this is RWBY, every one of Penny's swords is also a gun. She can even bring them all together to charge up an extra powerful shot that'll really send er foes off their feet!
Alice: These are some pretty versatile weapons to be sure. Penny can even anchor them into whatever objects she sees fit to either control it's movement or tear it to shreds. Or she can just bring them closer to home to function as a makeshift jetpack.
Nova: I'm having a real hard time pinpointing who this chick's supposed to be based off of.
Alice: Oh, she was apparently inspired by Pinnochio.
Nova: Wait, seriously? That gives me an idea...
Luther: I don't like the sound of that... But at least it's good to know Penny's strength doesn't lie solely with her weaponry! Penny herself is strong enough to stop a truck with her bare hands, though admittedly not without any noticeable damage.
Theodore: But wait, there's a cannonical explanation for that! Penny was built to resemble an ordinary human in every way. This includes not only a human appearance and (albeit limited) emotions, but the ability to produce an Aura as well. And I don't quite mean the kind Lucario's famous for.
Alice: Aura is best described as the manifestation of a being's soul. Anybody, even the local the butt monkey is capable of using one if they put the effort into it. Aura has many uses too, though mainly, it's used as a means of defense to protect the user from otherwise fatal attacks or to heal minor injuries.
Nova: Penny herself is quite capable of the same feats, though her own Aura isn't exactly perfect by any means... So, why don't we go ahead and see how Penny did in the Vytal Tournament, eh?
Luther: Uh, what's with the choice of music here?
Alice: Don't question me, this is perfectly fitting.
Theodore: Now let me tell you, Penny absolutely demolished the competition single handedly! In fact, she did well enough to be chosen to represent her team in the tournament finals.
Alice: Pfft. Her "team"? Clearly, those useless squishies were just leeching onto their superior's successes to hightail it to the top!
Nova: Yeah yeah, robot superiority. That seems to be a theme here for some reason.
Luther: Things were looking pretty bright for Penny. The girl's enthusiastic demeanor never faded for a moment, even when she came to meet her next opponent, Pyrrha Nikos...
Nova: Who happened to be a metalbender.
Theodore: And if Wolverine's taught us ANYTHING, it's that you really don't want to go up against Magneto if you're entire body's made of metal!
Luther: But to be fair, Penny was really putting her foe on the edge... Until this happened.
Alice: So in other words, Pyrrha cheated and turned her into Quarters... What, too soon?
Nova: Penny may be powerful, but she's also one hell of a glass cannon. Her blades work wonders when it comes to actually protecting her, but as you've just seen, they can backfire BADLY.
Theodore: But other than the girl's shockingly poor durability, Penny's still a force to be reckoned with on-
Nova: Holy crap I've got it!
Alice: What is it this time?
Nova: Penny's NOT just a robot... SHE'S A GHOST!
Luther: Excuse me what? Do I need to grab the tinfoil hat again?
Nova: Don't you see? The incredibly childlike curiosity, the downright absurd levels of protection, the goddamn weapons, Penny contains the dead spirit of her unknown father's little daughter!
Theodore: What the hell are you on-
Nova: Think about it! Why do you think the Altesian military is so protective of her?! Why do you think Cinder's plan specifically involved wiping her from the equation? Her dad clearly didn't want to let his little girl go, so he secretly stuffed what was left of her into his company's newest project to keep her soul alive!
Alice: Okay, this is getting out of hand. She's not-
Nova: But the whole process left some unexpected side effects on the girl's soul! No longer the same person she was before due to likely losing all her memories, she ended up gaining the ability to transfer her soul to other robots in exchange! Sounds like it would be a big wrench in Cinder's plan to take over Atlas's robotic military, right?
Luther: There is SO much wrong with what you've just said...
Nova: But Penny's dad would be disappointed that the girl he once loved was never gonna be the same, so he branded her as a weapon! But everything starts getting really complicated when she got turned into Quarters-
Alice: I'm just gonna fast forward through all of this if that's all right with you viewers. This is gonna last a while... You'll thank me later.
Penny: I'm combat ready!
Interlude 2[]
Theodore: I think I might have lost all sense of time after that rant of yours...
Luther: No kidding. I know I stopped taking this theory seriously when she brought up the Illuminati-
Alice: Now that we're finally done getting lectured, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all...
Nova: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLE!
The Battle[]
Pre Fight[]
Location Classified (Of course it is.)
"Oh, what da hell happened back there? And why does this place look so familia?" a surprisingly well dressed silver haired girl spoke out, who just happened to be a heavily armed android by the name of Labrys. "Oi! Does anybody out there wanna go ahead and explain this to me?" The confused girl felt the urge to ask as she walked along a darkened path, not quite knowing what kind of eldritch location she had stumbled upon this time.
As if it was a signal, the sound of a television was the cue for the lights surrounding the area to activate in a rather beautiful sequence, soon revealing what appeared to be a sizable arena meant for combat.
"Oh, you've gotta be-" The android began to utter in disbelief before another voice cut her off in mid speech.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! And gentlemen that look like ladies by extension! It's time for the moment you've all been waiting for!" A new male voice roared out as if it was coming from an invisible megaphone.
"Sho-kun, is that supposed to be-"
"That's right! It's time for the long awaited sequel to the battle tournament that nobody asked for! What's the purpose you may ask? So two heavily armed titans of destruction can beat the crap out of each other for our viewer's amusement!" A female voice shouted out in much the same way.
"And who da hell is this supposed to be?!"
"I'm Sho. Sho Minazuki. And I'll be responsible for the awesome SHODOWN these next combatants are about to put on! Now our first combatant may not look like much, but you can sure as hell bet she's got an axe to grind with our competition today, eh? But don't think for a second that she's just gonna skirt past this first match easily! Everyone say hello to Yasogami's Steel Council President, Labrys!" The first announcer continued his speech, prompting a facepalm from Labrys upon spouting off a barrage of puns.
"Hey there, you'd better not steal the spotlight from your equally hot cohost, Yang Xiao Long! Now while our second combatant is sure to start this competition off with a yang, she's anything but guilty! In fact, she's very much in a cent! She may not make too much cents either, but nevertheless, I expect an equally metal greeting for our second combatant: Atlas's Puppy Powered Death Machine, Penny Polendina!"
Labrys's metal hand refused to budge from her face as the two commentators rambled on. But just as the two crazed teenagers had promised, another figure emerged from the opposite side of the arena with a rather goofy smile on her face.
"SAL-U-TATIONS, fellow combatant! It's such a pleasure to meet you!" Penny greeted as she heartily outstretched her hand to her robotic fellow.
"Well gee, same pleasure here. But are ya sure you're cut out for this kinda thing? It feels like I could tip ya over with mental thought alone with all the hot air comin' outta ya." Labrys returned the favor, expressing some concern for the ordinary looking girl.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll get the point of this chick soon enough!" Sho warned, prompting Penny to summon her collection of swords from her backpack.
"I'm combat ready! I hope you're prepared!" Penny shouted with glee as her collection of blades formed a protective barrier around her.
"Ow, the edge! Labrys had better have something up her sleeves to counter that or Penny's gonna steel a win from under her gyros!"
With a noticeable groan, Labrys reluctantly drew her giant axe from hammerspace, ready to meet her opponent head on. "Look, I don't wanna have to hurt ya, but I don't think we have a choice here." Labrys warned as she pulled off a few practice swings with her weapon.
"I wouldn't have it any other way! This is going to be so much fun!" Penny reaffirmed as she playfully twirled her arsenal around her body.
Having finally reached an agreement, the two combatants entered their usual combat positions, awaiting the announcer's orders to begin their duel.
3...
2...
1..
IT'S SHOTIME![]
Labrys took the initiative and jumped right at her opponent, using her axe's thrusters to provide a significant boost. Not one to let her foe score the first hit on her, Penny's blades intercepted Labrys the moment she tried to bring her axe down.
The silver haired girl was hard pressed to come anywhere close to hitting her main target at this point, so she kicked off the defending blades, using her weapon's thrusters to gain some distance from the veritable wall of defense.
"Ariadne!" Labrys called, summoning her signature Persona to attack Penny's weapons with a barrage of energy spears to cover her own forward assault. Penny followed suit, using her own arsenal to deflect any projectiles heading her way while weaving through the arena, summoning a select few swords to her side along the way to further boost her forward.
With a simple flick of her hand, the blades surrounding penny opened fire with their own volley of energy blasts, though they were easily batted away with a single swing of Labrys's axe. The distance between the two closed rather quickly, prompting Labrys to slide underneath an oncoming laser and give Penny a long ranged punch to the chest with her Chain Knuckle.
The maneuver was a rousing success! Upon making contact with her robotic foe, Labrys forcefully reeled herself closer to deliver a single haymaker swing of her axe strong enough to knock Penny a few feet back.
"Oh, and Labrys slips in the first hit! But eh, minus two points for forgetting to say get over here!"
"Shut up Sho!" Labrys reprimanded the announcer in annoyance as she took a moment to bring her weapon back to a comfortable position. Though Sho's ill timed comment gave Penny enough time to close the gap to her foe once again, using her own weapons as afterburners. The ginger's blades came crashing down on their target in a fluid pattern, resulting in a rapid sound of metallic collisions against Labrys's axe.
Labrys was hard pressed to stay on the defensive as the puppet blades continuously rained down on her weapon without giving her a decent chance to attack. The Persona user's stance was certainly cut short when one of Penny's blades swept underneath Labrys's feet and launched her sky high.
"I hope you folks like skydiving, cause she's not comin' down for a while!"
Capitalizing on her foe's vulnerable position, Penny's arsenal converged on the airborne android, all with the intent of cutting their target to shreds. Though Penny's plan didn't exactly come to fruition when she noticed her blades being deflected off course. Much to her surprise, Labrys was crashing down like a living guillotine axe first, forcing Penny to abruptly jump out of the way if she didn't want to lose her head.
A sizable crater formed on the floor as Labrys landed, but she wouldn't let her target escape so easily. Ariadne was immediately summoned to its master's side, covering the ground before her with an array of spiked gears. Penny herself was unable to escape the Persona's trap, opening herself up for another wicked swing of Labrys's axe.
Sure enough, Penny was barreling through the air upon contact with her foe's massive weapon. Deciding to take up a different plan of assault, she anchored two of her blades onto the invisible wall on the side of the arena so she could safely cling to it herself.
"I see Penny's somehow well aware of the Fourth Wall! Part of me wants to give her a nickel for figuring that out!"
Now that she was safely out of Labrys's effective reach, Penny brought the rest of her arsenal closer and spun them around to charge up a projectile of her own. She knew she wouldn't have much time to do so, see as how Ariadne has just been summoned to blast her with another barrage of energy spears. "Just a few more seconds... Perfect!" Penny exclaimed with joy as her swords finally stopped twirling and unleashed a massive laser beam directly at her foe.
"Penny used Hyper Beam! Will it be super effective?"
Labrys ceased her assault and rushed forward to avoid certain pain at the hands of Penny's airship busting attack.
"Nope. I guess Labrys just isn't a fan of laser eye surgery!"
Having expected her foe to steer clear of the obvious death wave, Penny detached from the fourth wall and rocketed her way over to Labrys, who was resummoning her Persona in anticipation of Penny's next move. Ariadne produced a glaring wall of blades in front of her master as a makeshift barrier, forcing Penny to cease all forward momentum to avoid getting skewered.
Yet before Labrys could swing her weapon again, Penny's own blades took a detour around the protective Persona and embedded themselves right in the being's sides, forcing Labrys to drop her current action out of sheer surprise. Having succeeded in forcefully dismissing Ariadne from the battlefield, Penny jabbed one of of her blades directly onto Labrys's right leg.
"Ouch! You know, Labrys used to be an adventurer like me... until she took a freakin' sword to the knee!"
With Labrys literally in tow, the silver haired android found herself being easily lifted off the ground, only to be slammed back to the floor with exceptional force thrice in a row. Looking rather satisfied with her handiwork, Penny reeled her target closer and delivered a graceful flip kick to the face. She soon commanded her weapons to converge on the now airborne victim to further extend her already ridiculous... well, you know.
"ULTRAAAAAAA COMBOOOOOO!" Sho roared with much energy in his voice as Labrys was sent flying backwards by the oncoming barrage of blades. Still managing to hold onto her weapon the entire time, Labrys halted her involuntary flight by grinding the blade of her axe of the floor, leaving a highly noticeable gash the entire way.
"Yeah well, I don't care how much this floor costs! You can pay for it yourself!" Labrys preemptively yelled, making sure she was clearly directing this line at the announcers.
"Welp. I guess you'll be grinding the bill, Sho!" Yang joked, barely holding back her laughter, much to the annoyance of her co-announcer.
"Oh yeah? What makes you think you can't lend a hand? Oh wait, you're about a punch too short! Ahahahahaha!" Sho rebutted with a drip of venom hanging from his voice.
Meanwhile, Labrys and Penny were engaged a pretty even projectile war with one another. One energy blast after another was either deflected away, dodged, or collided with another one entirely, resulting in a sizable explosion each time. Already figuring out this course of action would never go anywhere, Labrys called Ariadne in front of her once more. The duo reeled back slightly before charging through the veritable warzone with a burst of energy in the shape of bull leading the charge.
Penny had a very similar idea in mind, ceasing her energy blasts in favor of meeting the charging bull head on, even spinning a few of her blades in front of her to act as a makeshift drill. It was only a matter of time before the two unstoppable objects collided with one another. But much to Penny's surprise, Ariadne rushed out ahead of its master and broke through the gingers defenses, leaving her open for a savage jumping swing of Labrys's rocket axe.
The Persona user continued her pursuit as she lifted her target into the air, ending her combo with a single swing strong enough to slam Penny into the opposite wall. Now content with the damage she dealt out, Labrys safely touched down on the floor and began to put away her weapon as she noticed that Penny did not move from her position. She soon made a beeline for her immobile adversary with a look of concern sprawled across her face.
"Whoa there! The hell do you think you're doing!? Finish the damn job!" Sho's voiced rang loud and clear with a highly disapproving tone in his voice.
"What are ya talkin' about? This match is over! I ain't gonna kill a defenseless girl like that!! It just ain't right!" Labrys angrily protested upon taking in the announcer's words.
"Eh, don't say we didn't warn you. it's not like either one of you's leaving until there's a dead body in the arena."
"What are ya even... Oh please no..." Labrys began to rebut until she saw Penny rise from the corner as if she was a zombie. Her body was in... poor condition to say the least. Sparks were cracking, circuitry was showing, and Penny's happy demeanor seemed to have faded altogether. It was a miracle she was even functioning perfectly at this point.
"I'm... combat ready... I need to... complete my mission..." Penny coldly stated as she reequipped her arsenal of swords to her side.
"Hey, you don't need ta fight anymore! I know you really wanted to fight me but you're clearly not yourself anymore!" Labrys pleaded as her newly awakened foe made a beeline for her.
Labrys cautiously blocked Penny's oncoming assault with her axe, making sure not to start another offensive, lest she accidentally destroy the other robot.
"Hey, it's your choice. You either take your win and chop the ginger into quarters or let her cut you apart with her little butterknives. Come on, it's not like she's got a soul, eh?" Sho jokingly reminded Labrys as her slipping focus allowed Penny to score a clean hit on her.
...
Labrys's averted her eyes as she still refused to cut down the ever so determined Penny, now being forced to fight off a veritable swarm of the girl's puppet blades as if she was surrounded by a horde of enemies.
...
But her reluctant retreat came to a sudden close as an eerily familiar voice quietly boomed throughout the arena.
"What was that? We couldn't quite hear you over the sound of your-" The announcers started to question before the aformentioned voice spoke up even louder than before.
"Did I stutter?! I said that if my pansy of an other self ain't gonna do it, then I'LL DESTROY THIS LOSER MYSELF!" the new voice cackled as Labrys's body became shrouded in darkness.
When Labrys emerged from the shroud, her appearance had hardly changed at all aside from the glaring yellow eyes and shadowy aura... But then again, there was something MUCH more noticeable lurking behind her.
"THIS IS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE, ALRIGHT!" Labrys laughed as she gestured for the new figure behind her to let out a mighty roar. The ...thing protruding out of the ground just behind it's new master was the raging bull, Asterius. It was if Lucifer's guard dog had risen from the depths of Hell with the sole purpose of aiding a new master on the battlefield.
"Whoa ho ho! It looks like we've got a familiar new challenger-" Sho rattled on with amusement before the newly awakened Shadow Labrys rudely cut him off.
"And you can kiss my skinny metal ass! Cause I'm comin' after you next!" the Shadow warned as her Persona nonchalantly slammed the ground to attract Penny's attention, who was cautiously standing back to analyze this new situation.
"Heh heh.... Now, where were we?!" Labrys taunted, extending her arm in the classic come at me bro motion, prompting Penny to toss a circle of her blades at the Shadow. The demonic girl jumped over the swords with ease, signalling Asterius to take cover underground before it could be struck. With two swords still in hand, Penny engaged in a short clash with Labrys's axe, parrying each incoming blow as if her life depended on it.
The actual clash was short because Asterius popped out of the ground moments later to deliver a devastating right hook to the preoccupied robot, slamming her directly onto the screen for good measure.
"Hey hey hey! That was a 500 yen camera, asshole!"
"Can it, dumbass!" Labrys warned as she charged up another swing of her giant weapon to catch the still airborne Penny, who somehow bounced back to her original position after hitting the fourth wall. A single swing of Labrys's enormous axe was more than enough to send the smaller robot spiraling in the other direction.
Labrys let out another ear shattering laugh as she followed after her victim and commanded Asterius to blast the android with a red laser beam. Penny easily blocked the projectile with her weapons, despite having the laser burn up upon contact with the blades. The ginger haired girl launched a small wave of blades at the Shadow to halt her approach, but not only did Labrys weave around the blades with ease, but she even grabbed onto one with a mocking grin growing on her face.
The Shadow pulled hard, forcing Penny to stumble slightly as the two engaged in a makeshift tug of war with both combatants vying for control of a the blade at hand. Labrys's current position opened her up for a few well placed stabbings from three of Penny's blades, but it hardly bothered the Shadow as she continued to yank on the extended puppet blade. The rest of Penny's arsenal was hard pressed to even come close to hitting the enraged Shadow as her Persona was deflecting them with ease. Having decided to place her axe on her back, Labrys extended her one free arm and successfully struck Penny with another Chain Knuckle.
With one of her foe's own weapons still in hand, Labrys reeled herself in and struck Penny with the weapon in question, leaving a rather sizable "scar" along the girl's side. Looking pleased with herself, Labrys yanked the blade from it's "socket", successfully severing it from its old wielder as Penny frantically turned to her aggressor to counter the brutal assault.
Labrys only needed to duck under a single swing, since Asterius soon emerged before the two robots to deliver another savage punch to the opposition, once again slamming Penny into an invisible wall. Penny commanded her remaining blades to converge on the wide open duo, absolutely confident they would be at a disadvantage due to being surrounded on all sides. The blades all lit up for a split second before bombarding their targets with a barrage of green lasers...
But Labrys merely scoffed at what appeared to be Penny's greatest display of power. The Shadow dashed all around the surrounding area, deflecting any and all projectiles coming her way as Asterius charged up another attack with nary another command from its master. The end result would have looked very similar to a certain final boss's desperation attack from another JRPG as Labrys continued batting away the projectiles before they could strike her Persona.
After enough time had passed, Asterius unleashed a violent stream of darkness from the floor, completely obscuring the battlefield at hand...
"Whoa, what the hell happened in there... shit, the cameras are all dead! We've gotta replace 'em now!" The two announcers panicked, desperately wanting to see the aftermath of Asterius's rage.
...
Luckily enough, Penny herself was just out of the range of the Persona's blast. She could barely manage to stand up at this point, but she steadily made her way forward to examine the site of the attack. She needed to know if her foe was still active...
Penny's answer came in the form of another chain knuckle bashing her in the neck, once again forcing her up against the wall. The darkness finally cleared to reveal Labrys making a beeline for the ginger haired girl...
But Labrys stopped just short of making another collision, much to Penny's surprise. Even more shocking was the fact that the girl's eyes had changed back from yellow to red. The look on her face was one of both relief and sorrow as she turned her attention to Penny.
"Why?" was all she could even say at this point.
"It's nice to know she's still lookin' after me now. But I've gotta do this on my own. I bet you're pretty damn confused about all this, eh?" Labrys softly monologued before directing the conversation in Penny's direction.
"You've already won, right? Why have you not finished me off yet?" Penny asked with even greater clarity.
"That's the way it should be, is that what you're thinkin'? Well I for one can't stand that attitude. Yeah, that other part of myself may have thought the same thing, but I know there's still another way to go about these deals." Labrys continued, much to Penny's confusion.
"I think I see what you're trying to say. But what reason do you have for all of this?"
"Well, you remind me of an old friend of mine for one thing. And it's because of that that I wanna consider you a friend too."
Penny's voice lit up a bit upon hearing that. "Did you truly say that? Am I really a friend to you?"
"You bet! Ya don't see too many girls like me where I'm from anymore. And I'm pretty damn sick of having to do crap like this."
"But you have to finish me if you want to proceed to the next round, right? That's okay with me. I'm just glad I made another friend here!" Penny happily reassured.
"Heh. You sure are a bundle 'a energy! Well, you can probably tell already, but I'm really sorry for all this." Labrys laughed for a bit.
"That's fine, really! I've already made more friends than i could have ever imagined! So go ahead and finish your duty!" were the last words Penny spoke to her new friend before her neck was completely crushed in Labrys's fist.
KO!
Labrys grabbed Penny's head before it could fall from her body, making sure it would not touch the floor. "I'm gonna get to the bottom of this mess, ya hear me? And then I'll see what I can do about getting ya fixed up, kay?" the android confidently stated before finally moving past the arena's once invisible walls.
Results[]
Theodore: *sniff* Don't mind me everyone... I'm just... trying to clean some dust out of my eyes.
Luther: I'm really starting to worry about your sanity, man. But poor Penny though... again.
Nova: Yeah, she put up one hell of a fight but Penny was simply outclassed in too many areas to stand a chance of coming out on top.
Alice: Let's start with the fact that this was basically a two on one fight. Yeah, Penny's swords were pretty much designed to handle large groups of foes, but that's only a small refreshment against a robot as strong as Labrys.
Theodore: Penny's fighting style was perfectly suited to keeping targets at a distance, but Labrys is the polar opposite, preferring to overwhelm a foe's defenses to crush them from close up!
Luther: Penny's blades may be able to cut and even control airships with ease, but Labrys has been tanking attacks from even bigger eldritch abominations before that! I mean, have you seen the size of the fire streams Hi No Kagutsuchi's been spewing in Labrys's solo fight against him?
Nova: It's not like those ships were doing a good job of fighting back in the first place.
Alice: And speaking of durability, that really is Penny's Achilles Heel in this battle. Her Aura could certainly save her life in a good number of situations here, but it's far from perfect. Hell, getting snagged in her own cables was enough to tear Penny to shreds, let alone a few well placed swings from a giant f*cking axe!
Nova: Labrys is kind of used to dealing with robots like Penny anyway, even if the puppet blades were completely new to her. Labrys's experience with not only demolishing her fellow Anti Shadow Weapons, but also absorbing their memories gave her all the tools needed to deal with a fighter of Penny's caliber.
Luther: Compare that to Penny who despite her amount of screentime, hasn't participated in nearly as many battles of her own.
Theodore: Not to mention, Labrys even started holding back in her later test battles, being sure to disable her opponents instead of destroying them outright... But all that compassion gets kicked into an active volcano when Shadow Labrys shows her skinny metal ass!
Luther: Yeah, forget sparing her foe's lives, Shabrys here's just gonna keep demolishing her victims until she's satisfied! (Yep, she's definitely a dominatrix.)
Alice: So Penny was screwed once her foe decided to stop holding back, huh? Why does THAT sound familiar?
Nova: Oh, but guys! Aren't swords supposed to beat axes? This is a buncha bullshit!
Luther: Bwahahaha! Yeah, well I'm just gonna put this here!
Alice: That statement doesn't always hold up anyway, but we'll just leave it at that.
Theodore: All in all, Penny's impressive arsenal simply could not stand up to somebody that not only has the right counter for everything she's got, but has spent her entire waking life fighting warriors of equal caliber.
Luther: We haven't even brought Labrys's Personas up either! Penny could probably handle Ariadne well enough, but don't get even get me started on Asterius! (Yeah, we all know she could possibly break Labrys's Personas with enough effort, but that's only a temporary relief.)
Nova: I'm tempted to make another quarter pun, but I'll give Labrys here a penny for her troubles.
Alice: The winner is Labrys!
Post Episode[]
Nova: Ah... I think we've managed to satisfy everyone this time around! No more accusations of bias from now on, eh?
Theodore: sure, we've managed to quell the whole RWBY fiasco (for now at least) but you do realize we've just given the win to ANOTHER Persona character, right?
Nova: Wait, what?
Luther: We've just had THREE Persona victories in a row! People are starting to catch onto that pretty damn quickly!
Alice: And because of that, I do believe we should take the opportunity to further reinforce our doors. i can already hear a small group banging against them.
Nova: Lovely. Just lovely... Do you think anybody's gonna notice if I go out there and taze 'em?
Theodore: Don't you dare! Now hurry up and grab that board for me!
...
Alice: Oh hey, are you guys still watching this?
...
Luther: In that case, how about a little request? In the event you decide to place a comment below, simply add Time to Make History to the end of your comment to let us know you actually read the entire episode!
Nova: Sounds pretty reasonable to me. At least you weren't fishing around for dates again.
Alice: Thanks for your time! We hope you enjoyed yourselves! Allie out!