Slowly, Penny lowered her cell phone. She knew what she wanted to do. Get rid of those dragon hunters as soon as possible. She was going there alone. She'd had enough. She had enough because she didn't want to put her friends in danger anymore, she had enough of the dragon hunters constantly chasing her and Fontaine.
And most of all, she had enough of this cluelessness of not knowing what was going on and what would happen next. She wanted it all to end. Fontaine had put herself in danger more often than not and Penny had always enjoyed HQ's protection. Now Penny would finally be active instead of Fontaine.
She didn't need anything, she just needed her own power, nothing more. So she left all her technologies here, except for her HQ gloves. Since it was dark, a black camouflage simulation would surely help her to remain undetected.
Otherwise, she left her cell phone on the nightstand. Even when it began to vibrate, she only glanced at it with a quick sigh and recognized Fontaine's name. She silently turned away and closed the door to her apartment.
It was time to end it all. Penny had stayed out of this affair for way too long, rarely helping Fontaine. She had never told her how guilty she actually felt about it.
This would be the only way Penny could make up for it. She didn't just want to be involved because she had to be, or was forced to be since she had ended up on the dragon hunters' list.
She wanted to help because she could, because she wanted to. She wanted to voluntarily to show Fontaine that she would always support her, come what may.
Sighing, she descended the stairs. She had already called a cab to a more public place so Marinette wouldn't possibly see her leave. But Penny had picked out some quieter routes to walk there.
As soon as she was outside, she turned directly into an alley next to the building, trying to get as far away as possible without being seen. That no one would see her would be important. At least no one who could tell Fontaine or Marinette where she was headed.
Think of the devil. When she turned back into a bigger street and finally got some distance to Marinette's bakery, she got a message on her gloves.
She opened it and saw that Finn was trying to call her. Penny sighed heavily and simply declined the call. She wanted to get to the secret place before the others. Penny looked at the coordinates on the map again more closely.
There was a parking lot nearby. Penny would have to be let out by the cab somewhere nearby, then she would find a good hiding place. She would have to get an overview before she blindly launched an attack.
Or if she launched an attack at all. But in any case, she wanted the element of surprise on her side. She had to watch the dragon hunters quietly and, if need be, attack and wreak havoc. Maybe even capture the leader.
She reached the place where she had ordered the cab and waited. Less than five minutes later, the car arrived and Penny got in.
"Where to?" the driver asked and Penny showed him the parking area on the map.
"This way, please. Up by Clermont," she said and the driver nodded, then entered the location into his GPS.
Penny then sat back and just waited. She watched out the window as the buildings passed her by. It was really slow going in the city by car. Something interrupted their drive all the time, a traffic light was red or they didn't have the right of way at an intersection.
It was really exhausting, but when they finally got on the highway, she was able to breathe a little easier. She was nervous and unsure, but definitely determined. She was scared because she didn't know what was going to happen, but she was determined to see this through.
It was evening when she paid the driver and finally got out. It was chilly out here, even though it was summer. She immediately set off in the direction of the coordinates, but avoided the public paths and climbed through the undergrowth.
Finding the meeting place was easier than she thought. Penny had expected a large, lengthy search, but not a clearly visible campfire. Were the hunters even allowed to just build a fire out here?
Penny assumed they couldn't care less. When she arrived and observed them from a distance, she saw that there was more behind the single fire than just a campfire. There were several campfires and a few primitive looking structures.
Penny assumed they had set this up over the afternoon and would probably have it gone by morning. But why set up a whole arena? That looked like they were planning a longer stay.
Unless ... . What if they had really set up there? But why hadn't anyone else noticed? If this really was a permanent base, Penny had to make sure it was no longer habitable.
Slowly, under the cover of a large bush, she opened her brightly lit holo-pad so that the hunters would not be attracted to the bright light. She activated the night cloak. Fortunately, she had tried that about a year ago at HQ. If she transformed now, the cloaking simulation would hide her dragon form as well.
So she did. Quickly, she was covered with a full-body black veil and then slowly transformed. The dragon hunters were not allowed to see anything. And Penny was determined to try to find information before she started.
She carefully and quietly climbed up a big tree with her big - now black - wings, with her claws it was no problem. The problem was rather that she bumped into branches with her wings everywhere.
But she had to go up, because if she would fly from below, it would be too loud and too conspicuous. Besides, she couldn't just fly through the treetops. That would also be too loud.
She had to climb up slowly and as quietly and carefully as possible and then take off. That would be the only way.
When she had miraculously managed to get through the treetops unnoticed, she finally took off and disappeared into the dark night sky. She felt so watched and seen, so unprotected, but she had already experienced through several training sessions that, as a dragon with that black color, the camouflage simulation made her absolutely invisible unless she got too close to light.
Most importantly, she knew that the hunters had a harder time seeing the sky because the torches and campfires provided a lot of light. Therefore, the extra light affected their eyes and Penny was completely hidden even though she was flying so openly over the camp.
She hovered back and forth for a while, getting a picture of the layout of the arena. There was a large square in the middle and a high fence around it. It all looked almost very primitive. Like a bandit camp out of a fantasy series.
Penny wondered if the dragon hunters had been inspired by the Middle Ages. Because of dragons and such.
She continued to fly over the arena. Sometimes she flew a little closer and tried to listen in on all the things that were being said with her communicator, but so far dragons hadn't been a topic of conversation at all.
She had an amplifier in her ear through her holo-pad, so she could stay at a safe altitude and still listen in on all the conversations. But it took a long time before everyone finally gathered. Penny checked the time. It would still be half an hour before the meeting would begin.
Penny slid down without hesitation and activated the amplifier. No one was wearing different clothes or being treated or greeted with any particular respect so far. Where was the leader in all of this?
Someone finally entered the small stage and stood in front of the large crowd. Silence fell among the hunters.
"Welcome to our meeting!" the man announced, spreading his arms. Penny suspiciously flew a little closer. "I know we were supposed to discuss something very important, but unfortunately something came up with the boss."
Penny bit her lower lip in frustration. It was because of the assumption that the leader would be present that she had come here in the first place, after all.
"But, we have another guest of honor today," the man informed the confused hunters, suddenly pointing to the sky.
Penny's heart stopped for a moment.
"Welcome a real, live dragon among us!" he shouted, and suddenly a floodlight was turned on. Penny squinted her eyes with a groan as the glaring light blinded her. She heard screams below.
Penny knew she had to get out of here now. How the hunters had spotted her or knew she was here was beyond her. She tried to look down despite the blinding light and saw only the flash of something else bright.
Her eyes widened in shock as a harpoon flew at her. Penny tried to dodge it, but the harpoon mercilessly hit her and drilled deep into her flank.
She loudly cried out in pain and tried to fly against the pull and remove the harpoon. But the barbs only dug further and further into her flesh and the hunters began pulling on the harpoon's rope.
She cried out in pain and couldn't help but try to counter the pressure a little to ease the pain a bit, but the dragon hunters only kept pulling until Penny finally landed on the ground, gasping.
Immediately, more ropes wrapped around her body to hold her down, but a few individual hunters pulling on those ropes wouldn't be enough.
Penny reared back with a roar and opened fire. She knew how to restrain her fire so as not to kill anyone, but enough to put people out of commission. She concentrated her firepower and spewed a large ball of fire.
Upon hitting the ground, the fireball exploded, releasing a powerful blast wave that knocked the dragon hunters to the ground.
Penny jerked her head to the side and launched the next group of hunters into the air. The only obstacle that hindered her was the harpoon. With each movement it stabbed her deeper in the side, but she had to fight.
She turned and glanced at the huts and the edge of the arena. Determined, she narrowed her eyes. With all her firepower, she unleashed a storm of fire on the wooden racks. No one would miss those if they were gone.
Suddenly, a net emerged from her right side and wrapped tightly around her mouth. She shook herself and tried to remove the net with her claws, but another harpoon was shot into her stomach.
She paused and groaned loudly. The sheer force of the impact knocked Penny to the ground. Before she could recover from the shock and pain, more ropes had been thrown around her body.
A couple of fighters jumped on her back and tied up her wings so she couldn't fly again. Penny breathed exhaustedly and a short time later lay on the ground completely bound, two harpoons in her flank.
She was breathing heavily and the blood loss was getting to her. The man who had made the announcement earlier stepped forward.
"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you capture a dragon. Really well done!" he praised the crowd and the hunters cheered enthusiastically.
Penny looked at the ground with a growl. Somehow she had to be able to get out of here and escape. But even if she did, she couldn't fly for long with this injury, and she couldn't run for long either. She was certainly not allowed to change back.
A sudden, loud roar caused the dragon hunters to pause in confusion. They looked around and looked up into the sky. Penny followed their gaze and the hunters pointed the floodlight at the sky, but nothing could be seen.
Penny looked around nervously and as intently as possible. She didn't recognize anything, but her vision slowly blurred a little.
Branches crashed to the ground in a rage as Fontaine flew towards the hunters full of hatred and dashed through the crowd, the walls of the arena falling to the ground with a creak as Fontaine threw herself against the large wooden beams with all her might.
The pressure on one side eased and the ropes loosened as the hunters jumped in shock and surprise. The man from earlier was shouting some orders to the other hunters. He was very angry.
But Fontaine was more so. In a flash, she disappeared again with her long body among the other structures and only the loud crashing and splintering of wood could be heard. Penny looked around.
Too quickly for the hunters, Fontaine had reappeared, flying a tight circle and slamming her tail violently against a group of hunters who crashed to the ground screaming. More ropes came loose.
Penny got new courage and struck out hard at a couple of hunters on her wing after that rope also loosened a bit. Screaming in panic, they were pushed several feet away from her and landed hard on the ground.
Despite the terrible pain, she squirmed and freed herself from the remaining ropes, but the harpoons were still stuck in her flank. Turning her head slightly, she saw the man who had spoken running toward her.
She cried out loudly, ready to attack him, as he threw himself against her head, firmly pinning her to the ground. Penny lacked strength as new dragon hunters threw ropes around her and pulled her to the ground.
Penny breathed in and out in panic as she spotted the syringe in the man's hand as he put all his weight on her head and pushed her down. Penny screamed loudly for help, but Fontaine was too busy with the other hunters, whipping at them mercilessly with her tail and knocking them back with her powerful jet of water, slamming them hard against the walls that were still standing.
Screams filled the air, Penny twisted her neck back and forth, but the man had a firm grip on her horns and pulled her head back mercilessly until he finally let go of one of the horns and wanted to shove the syringe into her throat.
Suddenly a black figure obscured the glowing moon in the sky, the silver staff gleaming menacingly in the moonlight as Cat Noir elegantly landed next to Penny's neck and heaved the man off of her with one powerful blow.
Cat Noir gave her a quick nod and refocused on his angry opponent. Penny tried to break free again and now that her head was clear, she had the opportunity again. She opened fire and created a wall of fire to keep people away for at least the moment.
Exhausted, she slumped back to the ground, powerless. She looked at Cat Noir, who was struggling with the man, he was good. Better than the other dragon hunters. He was mad as hell and suddenly pulled out a gun without warning.
Penny wanted to rush to his aid in a panic, but at that moment Ladybug joined in and swiftly snatched the gun out of his hand with her yoyo. She quickly threw it to the ground and tried to hit the man again with the outstretched yoyo, but he quickly dodged it and looked around indecisively.
Before Penny could react further, she felt hands on her neck again, but this time smaller, gentler and warmer. They breathed human life back into her aching body.
Hopefully, she looked up and caught sight of Finn. He smiled at her encouragingly.
"You've looked better, too," he said with amusement. Penny couldn't help but smile a little as he supported her a bit as she rose back up on her shaking legs and tried to stand.
The man desperately tried to defend himself and grabbed a broken beam on the floor. He lunged out wide, but Ladybug jumped up in time and hit him with her yoyo.
Enraged, he tried to fight his way forward, but under the strong blows from the two superheroes, there was only one possible direction. Back. Slowly Penny swayed a bit, trying to keep her balance.
"Penny!" it suddenly came from the shadows and she noticed the bright glow from the rocket boots she hated so much. She laughed in relief.
"Talon!" Talon safely landed next to her and immediately supported her chin.
"Thank God, you're all right!" he gasped, out of breath. Fontaine was still holding the rest of the dragon hunters at bay, but now quickly closed in on them.
With a mighty swipe of her tail, she hit the hunter who had been fighting Ladybug and Cat Noir.
"We need to get out of here now. Most of them are already fleeing," she said, immediately grabbing Penny's shoulders. "I'll carry you," she said, and Penny let her head hang low.
"Thank you ..." she said weakly.
As quickly as all this had happened, it was over. Fontaine flew a long distance with Penny and had Talon, Finn, Adrien and Marinette on her back. When they were far enough, Fontaine slowly lowered them back to the ground.
Penny immediately slumped down, exhausted, and Fontaine found a small pond where she put some water in her mouth.
"Are you okay?" Marinette asked in a panic, coming up to Penny's face. Adrien, Finn and Talon were also standing with her, looking at the harpoon wound.
"Kind of," Penny said, exhausted.
"Why did you come here alone? We were supposed to come together," Finn asked, and this time he sounded much sterner than before.
"I'm sorry," she said and Talon and Adrien pulled out the first harpoon. Penny suppressed a pained cry. Fontaine, meanwhile, had finished the healing gel and came to her.
She leaned over her and Penny knew what that meant. She leaned her head back and opened her mouth so Fontaine could give her the healing water. Immediately, as Penny gulped it down, she breathed a sigh of relief. It felt excruciatingly good and restored some of her strength.
Adrien was considerably more hesitant, but he too managed to pull out the second harpoon. He threw the thing away in disgust.
"These dragon hunters really seem to mean business," he said, and Penny nodded.
"You never should have gone out here alone!" Fontaine finally said angrily, and Penny hung her head with a guilty lump in her stomach.
"Hey, I'm sure she had a good reason, even if I still don't approve of it," Marinette said, trying to keep the peace and slowly stood up.
"No reason is good enough to just go off on your own!", Fontaine just hissed angrily and turned away again to make another round of the healing water. Penny felt incredibly bad.
She gratefully looked at Marinette.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drag you guys into this. I thought I could do it alone," she said wearily and Adrien joined her.
"You don't have to deal with such a big thing alone. We're a team and that includes relying on and trusting each other," he said quietly and Finn nodded.
"If we hadn't known where you were, this could have ended terribly," he said and Penny nodded.
"Thank you for coming. I shouldn't have come here alone," Penny said ruefully and she heard Fontaine sigh more relaxed as she kept the water in her mouth. She seemed to calm down a bit.
"There's one more thing, though," Talon commented and Penny looked to him. "We weren't actually going to come here," he explained. Penny's eyes widened.
"You weren't?" she asked incredulously. Marinette shook her head.
"We were going to call you to discuss everything, but you didn't answer. Fontaine talked to her parents, and after a little research, they found out that the dragon hunters had a well-developed security system equipped. So they would have detected us no matter what form or where or when," she said and Penny sighed deeply.
"I was pretty stupid," she said guiltily.
"Not stupid. Rash," Finn said encouragingly, tickling her nose.
"But why did you go off by yourself now?" asked Adrien and Talon nodded strongly.
"I'd like to know that, too," he asked demandingly and Penny sighed.
"I just wanted to help. I felt like I wasn't contributing anything and Fontaine has always had these problems. I was just always fine with it. I felt bad and I wanted to make up for it," she said and Fontaine slid the gel onto her wounds. Penny exhaled in relief.
"Bullshit," Fontaine then said harshly and Penny lowered her eyes. "Never ever would I ask you to do that. That was pure coincidence. You were safe, I wasn't. You had other obligations and I had my own. I'm not blaming you for anything," she said and Penny nodded slowly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you," Penny apologized.
"You've worried us enough since you left MetroCity," Talon said in a huff, crossing his arms.
That actually made them all laugh a little. Once again, everything had gone well. But next time Penny would be smarter.
And so they made their way home and called a cab to get back to Paris. They all needed a good night's sleep.