A/N: Loosely based off of fanfic 'Anomaly' by The Hero of the Found at the beginning. And BTW, this is this second-to-last chapter of the week, so I hope you enjoy!

I don't own these shows or the idea for Maine's appearance.

0oooooooo0

Sidewinder

"Hey, Meta. Settle a bet, wouldja?" The leader of the simulation red team asked as the Meta gripped his throat, tapping his chest, "Does that thing look kinda like a big cat to you?"

Agent Maine looked to see the other two of red team just as they pushed a Warthog off the cliff, then he felt the tug at his chest before being pulled into the snow, dragged along by the hook he now realized had been attached to his chest.

Up ahead, he saw that the orange trooper was close. As he passed, Agent Maine grabbed the sim trooper's leg, perhaps of instinct, hoping it would save him, or perhaps to take him down with Maine. But his friend managed to grab him, the orange one kicking loose before Maine fell to what he assumed was his death. He turned to face it like a soldier.

WARNING: TIME DISTORTION UNIT (TDU) ACTIVE

What! He hadn't been able to use that unit without an AI. What was going on?

WARNING: MALFUNCTION IN TDU

Agent Maine's eyes widened just as he was about to hit the ground, then closed his eyes, meeting the cold embrace of what he assumed was death. It sure did feel like falling unconscious.

0ooooooooo0

What seemed like ages later, Maine awoke, seeing a clear, blue sky up above him. He raised his arms, which ached in protest, then wiggled his fingers. Check. Next, he propped himself up and looked at his feet, moving them around. Good. He tried to stand, succeeding for a full second before toppling into a tree.

Maine growled, using the tree as support, then looked around, seeing nothing but forest. He cursed mentally, then checked his motion tracker. Nothing.

He thought of the series of events before he arrived here, where ever 'here' was. Perhaps the TDU malfunction sent him back in time, or to another planet? Had he actually died and this is what happened. He ruled out the second option, if he had died, he'd have his voice back, most likely. Either way, it looked as if Fate had given him a second chance, something he had hoped for as he fell.

For a second, he was surprised. Remorse wasn't his strong suit. Then again, everything had changed recently. He had a second chance. Usually only those who deserved to change got those, right?

Observing his surroundings once more, Agent Maine looked to the trees. I need to get to higher ground. He told himself, then saw the tallest tree around. That should do nicely.

Maine jogged to the tree and started up, only now noticing his wounds from the fight on Sidewinder had somehow healed. He shrugged it off and climbed to the top. Ah, this is much better.

From his position, Maine could see a nearby city, tall skyscrapers towering in view. Maine smiled, now knowing that this place definitely was not Covenant-inhabited, but was owned by the humans.

He set the city into his vision, then dropped down, heading for civilization. He'd make sure to make the best out of his second chance.

0ooooooo0

273 Ironrose (AKA Father of Innovation)

"…so that was the first time I met Carolina."

"Wait, her name was already named after one of the states?" Ruby asked as she cleaned Crescent Rose, which was in pieces on the floor. "The states of… America?" She tested the word out.

"Yep, the good ole US of A." York told them. "I was born in Texas, just before it separated as its own state. At the time, it was the second-biggest state. Just another place I call home."

Sun spoke up and he hung from the loft by his tail, "I still can't believe you're from another planet." He told the Freelancer. "You look exactly like a human."

"I am a human. Although, there aren't any Faunus on our planet, though there was the rare oddball that would graft wings into people's DNA or tested other stuff like that." York told them. "So, I remembered that name forever, the club and the girl. Carolina."

"After the state." Ruby pointed out knowingly

York, his Battle Rifle was in the same state, nodded. "As far as I knew, that was her real name. That or her father told her to start using it instead of her birth name."

Blake was sitting cross-legging next to Ren, both with their eyes closed, a few yards away. "And you didn't see her until you arrived in Project Freelancer?"

"Yes. I was one of the first to arrive aboard the ship, and-"

"Wait, they had you on a boat?" Weiss asked.

"No, they had us on a Charon-class space frigate, the Mother of Invention."

"Charon-class?" Jaune questioned.

"It was a light space frigate meant for transporting troops and fleet escort roughly 1,607 feet in length, 512 feet in width, and 460 feet in depth, and heavily armed."

The students all whistled at the size, then waited for York to continue. "Hey, D, can you pull up a comparison of the MOI to the largest Atlesian airship?"

On the projectors, the Atlas military's largest airship was displayed, then a larger, more threatening-looking behemoth stood next to it, triple the airship's size.

"Anyway, they put us in armor at first, so we didn't recognize each other at first…"

*Flashback*

"Mother of Invention, this is 479er calling in. Agent New York is on board and ready for orientation, please acknowledge." The voice of the female pilot echoed through the speakers to its lone passenger.

"Acknowledged, 479er, this is Mother of Invention." A calm, almost reassuring voice responded. "We will have the welcome mat ready in hanger 3."

York took a deep breath as 479er responded. "Acknowledged, Mother. Over and out."

"Hey, rookie. Get ready, we'll be landing in a minute and fifteen." She called through the intercom.

Indeed, a short moment later and the pelican touched down lightly, York only felling a light bump. The guardrail lifted from his chest and he stood, rubbing his eyes as he walked towards the rear bay door, which opened with a hiss before revealing a man in a tight black-and-grey suit with almond skin. "Greetings, Agent New York." The man said, the same voice that had spoken on the radio. "You may call me the Counselor."

"Nice to meet you, Counselor." York told him.

"Let's continue with orientation. First, let's start with a tour of the basic facilities in the Mother of Invention. Then we'll begin your augmentation and get you suited up for a test run of your new armor. We took all your dimensions and have it specially designed and colored, to help pick you out of the crowd."

"Wonderful." York said, though the tone of his voice didn't agree. "Let's get through this quickly, I want to get settled in, get some grub, and go to sleep."

"Alright, Agent New York, we'll get started immediately."

York sighed. "And there's another thing. I think I'm gonna go by 'York'. It's a lot shorter than New York."

"Okay, Agent York, I'll be sure to make note of that on your file." The Counselor told him. "Please follow me."

The new Freelancer trailed after the counselor into the Mother of Invention, through the cafeteria, training room, firing range, gym, medical bay, bridge, war, and briefing rooms and the locker rooms before showing him the barracks.

"Each of the Agents have their own room, where we placed the effects each on ordered." The Counselor told him. "You'll be pleased to know that you books, manuals, and other objects have already been delivered and are ready for your personal touch."

"Cool." York told him, seeing a woman with brown hair walk out of her room, dressed in workout gear, giving him a size-up as she passed, he smiled.

The counselor continued the tour by showing the staff barracks and his and the Director's quarters. "Only go to the Director's rooms in dire circumstances, otherwise come to me."

"Understood."

"Now, let's get you to augmentation."

*Flashback pause*

"What was augmentation?" Nora asked.

"They stuck a bunch of needles in me and altered my body, made it stronger, more durable, basically made me even more awesome than I was." York explained. "It was very painful and morbid, so I'll skip over that bit. So, next they got me into my armor…"

*Flashback resume*

"Alright, Agent York, let's get you into your armor." The Counselor suggested as they approached the door. It opened with a hiss, revealing racks of armor placed back to back, five on each side in ten rows. Some racks were already empty, where past Freelancers had already come and retrieved their new suits.

The counselor led York over to a certain aisle and pointed down it. "Your armor should be in this aisle, just look for your name and suit up, then we'll take it for a test run."

"Yes, sir." York spoke, then turned to look at the armor on the racks. It didn't take him long, just a few seconds and it seemed like it called to him. He suited up quickly, and then the Counselor asked him a couple questions while he ran a diagnostics check.

"How does the suit feel, Agent?" He asked, "Comfortable?"

York grinned underneath the helmet. "Like a second skin, sir. Feels like I could take on the world in this thing."

"It comes equipped with motion trackers, night-vision, and a slight zooming capability." The other man informed, "As well as energy shields. They will fade after taking heavy fire, but they will recharge if you take cover."

"Understood."

"Now, let's get you to the training room. You need to learn to use this suit."

York smiled again. "Feels like I was made for it."

"Actually," Now the Counselor smiled. "It was made for you."

*Flashback End*

"Wait, why'd you stop?" Yang asked as York got to his feet, his newly cleaned and reassembled weapons in his arms.

"Because you kids need to be getting back to school." York told them. "That, and I'm a troll with cliff-hangers."

"But-" Nora started.

York had turned away as he spoke. "Make sure you all come back next weekend," He told them, then looked back. "We just got to the good part."

0oooooooooo0

City of Vale

"Once again, another sighting of the Gargoyle has been reported by a Faunus who told us he was saved by the vigilante during a vicious attack by a group of anti-Faunus idealists."

Maine looked around him to look at a TV screen, where a man with fox ears atop his head spoke. "I knew it was the Gargoyle, as soon as he appeared. He just came out of nowhere, and started beating up the five guys who were mugging me. He was in full gold armor with silver trim, and he…"

Agent Maine, whose armor was concealed for the most part by a hooded trench coat, smiled underneath the hood, for the first time in a long while not wearing his helmet. Gold armor with silver trim vigilante? Wonder who that could be?