The Bet 8

Penny Polendina was happy!

She had only been in Vale for approximately 67 hours, 19 minutes, 52 seconds, and already, she had a great number of friends!

Who knew all one needed to do was to help a friend find another friend while also fighting off criminals?!

It was sensational!

Her father would be proud once she told him of this!

Apparently, it was a great way to bond because after all, it had only been 13 hours, 11 minutes, and 47 seconds since she and Team RWBY fought off Roman Torchwick on Vale’s docks, and Friend Ruby was already inviting her for breakfast with her other friends!

Sensational!

Penny even managed to rope in Friend Ciel with the excuse of it being an activity to improve relations between the academies.

And while Penny might not be able to eat like a normal girl, she could still convert food into energy with her internal biomechanical processors!

How it led her to her current situation of having a pancake eating contest with one Nora Valkyrie, however, Penny did not know.

Still, Penny was fully willing to embrace the current situation if it meant having more friends.

After all, having friends was the best!

And it was obvious that Ruby’s closest friends outside her team were those from Team JNPR.

“U-Ugh….No…..more.”

Penny paused as she heard the groan from beside her. Looking towards the source, she watched as Nora Valkyrie's face fell straight into her plate.

Plates rattled before silence dominated the area as Penny tilted her head.

“Does this mean I win, Friend Ruby?”

“Y-Yeah, Penny. You won.” Friend Ruby nodded slowly with her mouth wide open, but that was enough for Penny to celebrate.

“Yay!” She shouted, raising her hands high above her head with a smile on her face as she copied the motions of those exuberant girls she watched online.

“Wow, I didn’t think Nora could actually lose a pancake eating contest.” Jaune Arc said with wide eyes as Lie Ren nodded beside him.

“I thought it was impossible.”

“Ha! Pay up, P-money! My ginger won!” Yang Xiao Long interrupted, causing Penny to tilt her head at her as Pyrrha Nikos grumbled towards her.

Penny analyzed the words, cross-referencing the uses and meanings of pay up, ginger, and won in a matter of nanoseconds.

Naturally, she came to one conclusion.

“You were betting?”

Yang Xiao Long froze before turning towards her slowly.

“A-Ah, don’t mind us, Penny! Just an inside joke is all.” She said nervously, and immediately, Penny tried to pierce through the meaning of her words.

Inside joke, a jest or secret shared intimately within a group.

A group that Penny was not a part of.

She didn’t know why, but that thought cooled her processors down and gave her a sinking feeling.

Penny fell silent, what she did not account for, however, was the ensuing silence as everyone looked toward her for her response.

It was dominating even for her.

But she did not understand. Wasn’t she supposed to stay silent if she wasn't involved?

It got to the point, however, that they themselves were uncomfortable, and Penny watched as Blake Belladonna cleared her throat in an effort to change the topic.

“Keeping secrets, Yang? What are you even betting anyway?”

Before Yang Xiao Long could answer, however, a snort rang across the table.

“At least it’s not as big as being a secret Faunus.” Weiss Schnee cut in, getting Blake Belladonna to wince as everyone looked awkwardly at them.

“Come on, Weiss. She already said she was sorry.” Jaune Arc interrupted, but Weiss Schnee only rolled her eyes at him.

“Figures you would come to her defense.”

Penny saw Jaune Arc reel back at that, but before he could say anything, someone else came to his defense.

“Come on, Weiss. We’ve talked about this. I thought you were fine with Blake being a Faunus.” Friend Ruby groaned at her partner. 

Weiss Schnee, however, only crossed her arms while looking away from her.

“I am. I was just stating an observation.”

Not willing to pursue any more awkwardness with his old crush, however, Jaune Arc turned towards his friends.

“So….what were you guys betting on anyway? I wish I could have thought about that before we started.” He asked his partner, but Pyrrha Nikos only took her eyes away from him as she stuttered nervously.

“N-Nothing.”

Again, however, Weiss Schnee interjected herself into the conversation.

“I bet it’s about who gets to kiss you next.”

Penny’s eyes immediately snapped towards her, even as the table descended into chaos.

“W-What do you mean?” Jaune Arc asked with a blush, even as his eyes continuously glanced at both Yang Xiao Long and Pyrrha Nikos.

“See, they’re not even denying it.” Weiss Schnee answered, waving a hand at both girls, who suddenly couldn't help but look away from all of them with blushes on their faces.

Yang tried to whistle innocently, while Pyrrha cleared her throat loudly. Their defense, however, came from another person.

“The way I see it, you’re the one who keeps talking and sniping about Jaune.” Blake said meaningfully, narrowing her eyes at her teammate.

“And what are you implying?” Weiss raised an eyebrow, but Blake only smiled knowingly at her.

“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

“I beg your pardon?!” Weiss shrieked immediately as she glared at Blake.

Before she could even say anything else, however, the rest of the table was already giggling at her.

“Yeah, Weissy! It sounds like you want to kiss Jaune-Jaune yourself!" Nora Valkyrie laughed, making Weiss screech with a red face.

“Absolutely not!”

Friend Ruby, however, was already there to pat her partner and make her calm down.

“It’s okay, Weiss. You could start with a kiss on the cheek like me. That way, we could be kissing buddies!”

Before Weiss Schnee could even answer, however, Penny interrupted.

“Kissing buddies?”

It was the first interruption she had ever done, but something with her Decision-Making matrix tagged the term as important.

Silence once again dominated the table as Penny threw out her question. She took the opportunity, however, to search through her databanks and scan through the Dustnet herself to find out the words’ meaning.

Kiss, an act of touching the lips to signify love, desire, sexual attraction, affection, and/or greeting.

Buddy, a partner, close friend, a term of endearment.

Putting two and two together, Penny immediately decided that she wanted to be a kissing buddy.

“We’re Jaune’s kissing buddies.”

Penny blinked at the confession as everyone turned to the source.

“Yang!” Pyrrha Nikos shouted embarrassedly while Weiss Schnee only shook her head disappointedly.

“Have you no shame, Xiao Long?”

Yang, however only shrugged at that while winking at a blushing Jaune Arc.

“What? It’s not like it’s not already out there.”

“I’ve only kissed him once, you know?” Blake Belladonna interrupted pointedly, however, before glancing at the tables around them. “Only Cardin knows about that other than us.”

“So all of you are kissing buddies?” Penny blinked at that, as even she struggled to comprehend the situation.

According to her brief search over the Dustnet, kissing buddies were supposed to only stick with each other.

Yet evidently, that is not the case as the girls around her looked at each other.

“U-Uhm, only some of us. Me, Yang, Ruby, and Blake could be counted.”Pyrrha Nikos nodded nervously, acknowledging that one simple fact as a question kept quering itself inside Penny’s central processing unit.

“How?”

A hysterical laugh answered her question, and everyone looked at Jaune Arc who was only shaking his head at her.

“I ask myself that everyday.”

“Come on, Fearless Leader. O thought Renny already told you the answer.” Nora Valkyrie groaned into laigh beside her before looking at her team leader with a grin on her face.

Jaune jolted at that before turning towards Lie Ren who only nodded solemnly.

“Need I remind you it is all thanks to Cardin?”

“Right, thanks for reminding me guys!” Jaune Arc smiled as if that answered the question, but to Penny, it did not.

“I do not understand. How could Cardin Winchester cause….this?” Penny asked, waving her hand at all of them as frankly, even she did not know what to call them.

Dustnet searches had her labelling them as either a polycule or a harem, but Penny did not voice out either.

It would be rude to mislabel their relationship, after all.

It was then, however, as she tried to understand how things came to be that they reluctantly shared with her the details of a bet already fulfilled.

Her processors tried to make sense of the convoluted series of events, but it only made errors pop up in her eyes.

Clearly, she needed more information about this.

“So you all kissed Jaune Arc to fulfill a bargain?” She asked, but all she got were a mixture of answers that added load to her processors.

“He kissed me on the cheeks like this!” Friend Ruby happily raised a hand before leaning forward to kiss Jaune on the cheeks from across the table.

“Well, I kissed him on the lips because I wanted to like this!” Pyrrha Nikos declared determinedly before pulling Jaune Arc into a searing kiss beside her.

“Well, he kissed me because he wanted to!” Yang Xiao Long shouted challengingly, grinning as she looked at both Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc who wrre blushing after their kiss.

Penny looked towards Blake Belladonna at that. The last member who only stayed silent for a bit before shrugging.

“I kissed him to fight against racism.”

“Because you’re a Faunus.” Penny noted, connected the dots, even as Blake Belladonna winced at her blunt observation.

“.....Yes, Penny. Because I’m a Faunus.”

“I see, I understand it now.” Penny nodded as she connected information to cause and effect.

Coming to one conclusion, she turned towards Jaune Arc before opening her mouth.

“You’re a rake.”

“Excuse me?!” Jaune reeled back as he looked at with wide eyes.

“Finally! Somebody gets it!” Weiss Schnee immediately shouted vindictively, waving a hand towards her with a wide smile on her face.

Penny did not know why, but such an action did not fill her with joy.

“Uhm, Penny.” Friend Ruby called out, jolting Penny out of her stupor as she chuckled nervously at her.” What do you mean by rake?”

“Manwhore.”

Gasps rang out around their table at that as Penny tilted her head.

Nora Valkyrie, however, was suddenly leaning towards her with a glare on her face.

“Woah there, sister from another mother. Did you just call Jaune-Jaune a whore?” 

“Yes? Is that not what you call someone who has relations with multiple people?” Penny asked, getting looks confusion at all of them before turning towards Jaune.

“I….uhm…I don’t know how to reply to that.”

“No, Jaune. You are not a whore.” Pyrrha immediately replied, laying a hand on Jaune’s shoulders while looking at Penny sternly. “Penny, I think you might have the wrong idea.” 

“How so?” She asked, but the answer came from Yang Xiao Long.

“See, Penny, Jaune didn’t intentionally set out to kiss us.”

“He may have wanted it, liked it even, but circumstances only pushed him to do it.” Blake added with a nod to both Jaune and Pyrrha’s gratefulness.

“The bet?”

“Yes, Penny, the bet.” Ruby smiled, but Penny wasn’t convinced just yet.

“I’m not sure that changes things.” She said hesitantly, but Jaune only grumbled at her.

“I’m not a manwhore.”

“Nor a racist.” Blake smiled before looking back at Penny. “See, Penny, Jaune was the one to force Cardin to stop being a racist and apologize to Velvet. He did it for a higher cause. Surely, you could understand doing some things for others?”

Penny hesitated, her logic matrix warring against each other as the truth of Jaune Arc still kissing many women argued against the intention of doing it for the greater good.

The greater good, Penny had read such a concept, as the military of Atlas itself held onto a similar doctrine that prioritized Atlas as a whole over the individual.

Surely, this wasn’t so different to that?

What mattered, however, was if Jaune Arc knowingly chose to act for the greater good.

“What do you think about the Faunus?” She asked, making Jaune reel back at the sudden question.

“They’re….wonderful, beautiful people? Blake already said I’m not a racist, you know?” He answered hesitantly, but Penny only shot back with another question.

“And you would fight for their rights?”

It was then, however, did Jaune Arc’s eyes hardened with determination.

“Without a doubt.” He answered with steel in his voice, and Penny couldn’t help but nod as she looked towards Blake’s direction.

“And so you kissed him to help him win the bet.” Penny concluded, but Blake only smiled meaningfully as she looked at Jaune’s determined form.

“Yes. I rewarded him with something too.”

Penny hummed thoughtfully at that before a program embedded deep within her code pinged to life.

“What do you think about AI rights?” She asked mechanically before blinking as she noticed the source in her program.

It was from her father. 

Hidden behind numerous firewalls and masked by dummy accounts designed to look valuable.

Conditioned to activate when she found a person outside Atlas who had the potential of fighting for her rights.

It meant one thing.

Her father had wanted her to be free. 

Free from Atlas control and to be her own woman.

Penny’s eyes glowed before she hid the program back deep within her, all the while smiling mechanically at Jaune as he tilted his head at her.

“AI? Like the ones in CCT?” He asked, even as everyone there looked at them in confusion.

Penny, however, only shook her head at him. “More sophisticated ones, those with enough processing power to be able to achieve the capacity to learn.”

Jaune’s eyes widened before they glowed with the light of recognition.

“Ohh, Smart AIs! My sister-in-law was talking about them. Supposedly, you could theoretically create a Smart AI that has the capacity for sentience or semi-sentience if you have enough computing power! Only theoretical though.”

Incorrect.

It was no longer just theoretical. She, herself, was evidence that it was realistaclly possible, after all. 

Penny didn’t say that, however, instead, she only nodded with a smile on her face.

“What do you think about them?” Penny insisted, even as he shrugged unsurely.

“I don’t know? I suppose they could be wonderful people as well?”

Wonderful people.

Penny’s eyes lit up at term as her smile widened.

“But they are people, yes?”

“If they're as real as you and me, then they are people.”

Sensational.

Penny was outright grinning now, but there was one more thing she needed to know.

“Could they be your friends?”

“Are they going to fight the Grimm without enslaving us?” Jaune asked immediately, and Penny’s eyes widened a bit before she answered.

“Yes.”

“Then they are my friends.”

This time, Penny did not prevent the sound from leaving her mouth.

“Sensational.”

Static scratched at her voice box just as she mentally categorized Jaune Arc as friend, ally, and…..liberator.

“Penny?” He asked concernedly, but Penny only shook her head for one final confirmation.

“Tell me, Jaune Arc. What do you say about fighting with me for AI rights?” She asked before shaking her head once again as another plan formed within her mind. “No, how about we fight for the rights of every sentient being in the world?!”

She leaned forward enthusiastically, her processor pushing for movement and release as her Internal Fluid Driver inexplicably pumped vigorously.

Penny watched, however, as Jaune reeled back in shock. 

For a moment, she thought she made a mistake. That Jaune Arc was not the potential ally, friend, and liberator that he was.

That, however, was an impossibility with all the data she collected, and true to expectations, Jaune Arc nodded..

“Uhm….yes?”

It was a bit more hesitant answer than what he gave for Faunus rights, but perhaps that was because he didn’t see a reward.

Immediately, Pemmy thought of ways to convince him more and arrived at one simple answer.

Blake did it, so why couldn’t she?

And so, right in front of everyone there, Penny Polendina reached her hand forward, grabbed Jaune Arc’s collar, and pulled him back into a kiss.

“Mmmhm?!”

“What the fu-”

Penny muffled the sound from the outside world, and focused at the task at hand.

Using her connection to the Dustnet, she researched videos, instruction manuals, and guides, on how to kiss perfectly right at that moment.

And as she perused thousands of materials in the span of half a second, Penny demonstrated her newfound knowledge by kissing Jaune as best as she could.

“Jaune~” She moaned as she pulled him deeper into the kiss. Her tongue snaked forward to pry his lips open, and immediately, she tried to coax him to kiss back.

What followed next was a mixture of both auditory and tactile sensations to heighten the pleasure. She moaned loudly, praising his efforts as she snaked her arms behind his neck.

Apparently, it was good to stroke a man’s ego while pulling them into the kiss.

And before she knew it, his tongue was already entangling with hers as he kissed back.

“Mmhph!”

She let out a sound of surprise before diving back in with gusto.

Mission accomplished.

All that was needed now was to keep it up until they were both satisfied.

That was the thing, however.

Penny was a robot.

She didn’t need to breathe.

And after studying hours worth material in a span of half a second, she still did not know when to stop.

And so she kept going and going and going and go-

She blinked, however, when she felt Jaune Arc go limp on her hands as his tongue flopped weakly in her mouth.

Separating with a smack, and with saliva still linking the both of them, Penny finally realized what had happened.

“Oh my.”

Jaune Arc had passed out from lack of oxygen.

Right in front of his friends.

Right in of everyone, in fact.

And more than one pair of Scrolls was apparently recording their make out session.

Oops.

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Robotic Knight. I don't usually write these but this is the fic where unusual pairings can be written.

Skipped past the docks. For all intents and purposes, it happened the same as V1 canon, the only difference was, Team JNPR was late to the party like Yang and Weiss so they were not able to help.