Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.


While Velvet Is Enjoying Her Vacation in Lental

A subway train made its way to its destination in Atlas. Once it stopped, the doors came open as the passengers walked out of the train.

One man in particular walked up a stairway until he made it to the surface of Atlas. His name… was Loid Forger.

He walked toward a cafe, where he got himself a coffee and sat down outside at a table. A woman sat behind him reading a magazine.

"You're late."

"Heh, apologies Sylvia. The subway train was a bit slow."

"Tch, Atlesian tech… they say it's technologically advanced, yet I can't trust that statement as far as I can throw it." Sylvia mumbled. "I don't care what Ironwood says."

"You tried throwing some of the tech, didn't you?"

"New and improved cybernetic tech that can have you throw a baseball at the speed of sound? Sounded too good to be true. The moment I threw that ball, it only landed a couple of yards. "A prototype", they say… yeah right…"

Loid chuckled. "So… got something for me?"

BGM: Erosion (Persona 5)

"Yes, actually. There have been some rumors floating about that there is a secret lab within Atlas. Apparently, this lab houses thousands of orphaned Faunus children to not only enhance their semblances, but create weapons of war."

"Sounds lovely…"

"Not only that, but this lab had secretly been made by Honest. The same man who overlooked that enslavement camp five years ago."

"The same one that was supposedly destroyed by a King Taijitu?"

"The very same. The fact that it happened just moments before you arrived…" Sylvia sighed. "I blame myself for that… we were too late to save them."

"I know. I tried looking for survivors after the Grimm departed but I couldn't find anything."

"And of course, let's not forget the other time we tried to rescue a Faunus."

Loid closed his eyes. "Seryu." He said. "The whole thing had burned to the ground by the time I got there."

"I personally believe that Seryu is innocent. That trial case confirmed my theory. She was hit in the head and that deplorable man made her situation worse. I wanted to look into why Jacques Schnee would do such a thing, but by the time we got around to that personal mission, the prison blew up. To my surprise, Seryu was the one who did him in. We had assumed Seryu died in the fire."

"Yes. And just when we thought we could save her and get her treatment, the Winter Ops beat us to the punch."

"Indeed." Sylvia nodded. "I don't know how these people managed to get one over us…"

"So. You need me to go in there, shut it down and grab as many orphans as I possibly can."

"Yes. They all deserve better homes."

Loid chuckled, finishing his coffee. "I'll make sure of it."

"One other thing. Supposedly, Honest has ties with the Marigolds, and they had funded this project for him."

"The Marigolds, huh… good to know."

Sylvia smirked. "Your semblance will be a key factor for this mission. It proved to be very beneficial in the past, considering it changes your face to anyone you've seen only once."

Loid chuckled again. "Indeed."

"To this day, I don't know how you manage to get by without having an identity crisis."

"Heh, I know who I really look like." He said, standing up and then walking away.

End BGM

Loid casually walked through Atlas, keeping an eye on any building that looked suspicious. I shouldn't be too surprised. Any of these buildings may hold the lab in question.

He would then look directly at Atlas Academy. "Hmm…" He mused. "Hey Sylvia, is the lab in the Academy by any chance?"

"According to my sources, no. But it's close to the Academy."

"Good to know." He nodded and walked around the perimeter of the academy until he found a small building near the academy. He walked over to it and saw a guard blocking the entrance.

"I don't even know what's in this building…" He mumbled to himself. "No one's allowed to go in… it's insane. I just want to know what I'm guarding." He said, and then Loid backhanded the back of his neck to knock him out.

Loid dragged him away, took off his helmet and looked at him, prying open his eye lids as he nodded, then his face turned to match his as he walked over, and found a retinal scanner. He looked directly into it and the door opened after it scanned him.

Loid walked in, casually whistling as he looked through the building until he found an elevator. He smirked and then walked into it, pressing a button that said "basement" and then went underground.

"I'm in."

"Good. Hold on a second… that elevator is…"

"What's up?"

"That's no ordinary elevator."

"What exactly do you-" Suddenly the elevator stopped once it hit the ground and then immediately jerked to the left, enough to cause Loid to lose his balance. "Mmmph!"

"An elevator that goes sideways? …Shit, it's going into the academy! Deep within it!"

"So it is in Atlas Academy." Loid said. "Probably so secret that none of the military know about it."

"I wouldn't be surprised… Honest is a tricky son of a bitch. I wouldn't put it past him if he pulled one over the Ironwoods."

Ding!

BGM: Three Days to Live (Team Fortress 2)

Loid walked out of the elevator, checking his surroundings. He would see a staircase that leads up to the upper floors. "Typical, they have a staircase that lead up to the upper floors."

"Probably highly classified for even the ones who run the place. I wouldn't hold it past Esdeath if she's infuriated that she can't gain access to all of the academy. Same with good ol' James."

With a nod, Loid walked through the hallways. He noted that unlike the hallways that were lit up and filled with blue color, the walls were black in color with red lining. The floor was dark blue. "This is definitely a secret area. The walls and flooring are different." He snapped some photos and sent them to Sylvia in his scroll.

"...This is definitely a far cry from the somewhat friendlier interior of the Atlas Academy."

"Indeed." Loid nodded as he continued until he came across a black door. He used the retinal scanner to get in and walked inside.

End BGM

Loid's eyes widened, seeing what was before him. "...Sylvia. What did you have in mind when you heard orphaned Faunus children? Like, what did you think the environment would be?"

"Oh, orphans in cages. Why?"

Loid snapped another photo and sent her the picture. "You're way off." He said, staring at orphaned Faunus in test tubes in green liquid.

BGM: Right Behind You (Team Fortress 2)

"WHAT THE HELL?! They're not just enhancing their semblances for weapons of war, they're genetically modifying them into perfect soldiers! Shit! What the hell are Honest and the Marigolds planning?!"

"No idea, and I'm not liking this one bit."

"Same here. This is going to take longer than I thought."

"We'll do what we can." Loid said as he quickly walked ahead, desperately searching for a machine to open them all up. He found no such luck. "Damn…"

"I don't like that "Damn"."

"There's no control panel that can open these up all at once. I'm gonna have to do it manually."

"That's going to take a while. Hope you don't mind an all nighter."

"Oh, don't worry. Like some all nighters will slow me down." He said as he went right to work, searching for the one to work on first. As he tried to figure out where to start, he saw one that immediately caught his attention.

Test Subject 007

Anya

Age: 8

Faunus species: Owl

Semblance: Mind Reading (Potential for Telepathy and Telekinesis)

Loid clenched his fist. Something about this girl in particular was enough to make his blood boil. Sure, all the other Faunus was enough to make him angry, yet this one… he felt the need to save her first.

He searched for a button on the tube, before finding a retinal scanner as he did so. He was unaware of a camera silently emerging from the ceiling and watched Loid.

"Open Test Tube? Yes/No"

Loid hit "Yes" on the test tube as the liquid drained. As he watched, he noticed another test tube behind Anya's. He looked over and saw a Great Pyrenees behind her that was also in a test tube. A dog? He wondered, instinctively doing the same thing for the dog.

Test Subject 8

Bond

End BGM

The test tube opened up as Anya fell to the ground. Loid immediately caught her and removed the oxygen mask from her body. "Nnngh…" She groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, seeing Loid in front of her, but was blurry. "...Papa…?"

BGM: Here With You (Mirai Nikki)

"No, I'm not your father." Loid said gently. "I'm here to set you free."

Anya said nothing, but she smiled once her vision cleared and hugged him, softly crying into his chest. Loid gently rubbed her head as he saw Bond walk to them, shaking off the liquid in his fur and sat down, nuzzling Anya from behind.

"My parents… they were taken from me… last I saw them, they were going to some camp in the woods…"

Loid closed his eyes. He knew what she was talking about. The same camp that the King Taijtu destroyed.

"Can… can you be my papa… for me…"

Loid looked at her in surprise before chuckling. "Of course, kiddo." He said, gently patting her head. He took off the little horn accessories on her head and saw they were tufts of feathers. Ear tufts… definitely a horned owl faunus. He thought.

"Thank you…" Anya sniffled as Loid got up.

"Alright… before we go, we need to save the rest of these Faunus. Think you can help?"

Anya wiped her tears. "Of course! We'll help you out, papa! Right boy?"

"Woof!" Bond barked.

Loid chuckled. "Good, now we can-"

End BGM

Suddenly, the alarm blared.

BGM: RUN, RUN, RUN! (Persona 5)

"Huh?" Loid wondered as he saw a camera on the ceiling. His eyes widened. That wasn't there earlier! He thought as the camera moved into the ceiling.

"What's going on down there?"

"Sylvia, my cover's blown. There's a camera that can go in and out of the ceiling at any time. It caught me busting out a Faunus!"

"WHAT?! Damn… I thought for sure there weren't any cameras in there! You could only save one?"

"Yes!"

"Abort mission! Get that Faunus out of there, and hurry! I'll meet you in Mantle!"

"Right!" Loid nodded. "Let's go!"

"Right!" Anya nodded as they started to escape, but then as they reached the door, several security guards came in, dressed in dark attire.

Damn! These must be the highly elite guards. Probably have weapons that can disintegrate semblances in one hit!

Disintegrate semblances?! Anya thought in shock, having read Loid's mind.

The guards quickly shot at Loid, forcing him to take cover as Anya and Bond hid with him, he brought out his pistol and shot at the guards. Unfortunately, his bullets couldn't pierce through them. Crap, the Dust Bullets can't do anything to these guys!

They can't?! Anya thought in horror.

The trio quickly hid deeper into the lab, but they were soon cornered as the guards aimed at them. Loid quickly got in front of Anya and Bond and glared at them.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

The guards suddenly went down as they saw a new batch of guards. "Quick! This way!" One of them said as they quickly escorted them away from the lab as they quickly went into the elevator.

End BGM

"Who are you?" Loid asked as one of them took off their helmets.

"Name's Robyn. We're the Happy Huntresses." She said as the others took off their helmets. "This is Fiona, Johanna and May."

"Hello~!"

"Hey."

"Yo."

"Ah, so you're the vigilantes I've heard about." He said.

"I knew there was something fishy going on deep within the academy, but I didn't think it'd go this far." Robyn said.

"There was a tip regarding that Honest and the Marigolds were responsible for that lab." Loid said.

"Rrrgh… of course it's Honest…" Robyn said in disgust. "I'm not surprised the Marigolds are working for him." She turned to May. "Sorry, May."

"Hmm?" Loid raised an eyebrow.

"The Marigolds are a rich and powerful family in Atlas. They were allies for the SDC. However, unlike Jacques Schnee, the Marigolds fully supported grave robbing." May grumbled. "And of course, the Marigolds are close friends with Honest. I should know… I'm a Marigold myself."

"Oh…"

"Or at least, I used to be. I grew tired of their corruptive ways and I chewed them out for it. To my so-called surprise, they said I was weak. I'm "too soft" for a Marigold. So… if that's how they wanted it to go, then I refused to be called their son… and I refuse to be called their daughter either."

Loid smiled. "Good for you."

Anya blinked, tilting her head. May was a man but turned into a woman? Ooooh, that must be an awesome semblance! So cool! She thought.

Ding!

Everyone walked out. "By the way, you don't have to worry about those Faunus."

"Why's that?" Loid asked.

"Oh, let's just say I gave Esdeath an anonymous tip~!" Robyn said with a cheeky grin. "Let's hurry." They walked off in a hurry.


With Esdeath…

Esdeath hurried down the stairs, only to be blocked off by a security door.

"Access denied for anyone. That includes the Ironwoods."

Esdeath's leg turned to ice and kicked the door hard enough for it to fly off its hinges and hit a wall. "Should've gotten rid of this damnable door a long time ago." She said as she hurried down as several troops came down with her.

As she got closer, several Elite troops blocked her. "General Esdeath! Apologies, but we can't let you through." One of them said, but Esdeath gave them an ice cold glare that made them shudder.

"Lower your weapons if you know what's good for you. You wouldn't want to get on my bad side…" She said as the Elite troops dropped their weapons as Esdeath walked past them. She then snapped her fingers as they were encased in ice.

"Ack!"

"Just so you don't try anything funny." She said as she walked through the corridor. The moment she laid eyes on the darkly covered path, a wave of uneasiness hit her as she swiftly picked up the pace until she went into the lab.

She let out a gasp, seeing the thousands of orphaned Faunus in test tubes. Her horror was met with swift anger… and it was slowly building as she trembled in rage as several Atleasian troopers walked in.

"Holy… what the hell is this?"

"How long was this under our noses?"

Esdeath swiftly turned around and marched straight for the Elite Soldiers, pulling one of them out of their icy prison and shoved them into a wall. "What is this?" She demanded.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Don't you give me that bullshit! Now tell me what you know…"

"I… I'm sworn into silence!"

"Tell me right now or I will freeze apart every atom in your body and destroy you from the inside until you're nothing but a human rug."

The Elite soldier froze up. "Y-you would do that?!"

"You want to find out?"

"No! No, I like my insides!"

"Good. NOW TELL ME!"

"Okay! It's a lab that stores thousands of orphaned faunus made to genetically modify their semblances to make them into perfect soldiers! Weapons of war!"

"How long has this been going on!"

"T-ten years…!"

"You mean to tell me you have been trafficking orphans into Atlas, bringing them underneath the academy and storing them here… JUST TO FUCKING MODIFY THEM FOR WAR?!"

"Yes! It… it was all Honest's idea! The Marigold's funded the project too! It was their idea to store them underneath your noses!"

Esdeath trembled in rage, throwing the soldier to the ground as she let out a loud scream that echoed all over the Atlas Academy.


At Mantle…

"There you are." Sylvia walked over to them. "I see you had a run in with the Happy Huntresses."

"Yes. They busted us out of there."

"Indeed. However, because of that technologically advanced system. We have to lay low for a while. Someone will be looking for you."

"I know. We'll have to keep our noses clean." Loid said.

"Do you have any family?" Robyn asked.

"No. When I was in my youth, the Grimm destroyed my village and I'm the only survivor. I was picked up by huntsmen looking for any survivor. It's how I became… who I am today."

"We know you're a spy. Our lips our sealed." May said.

"Still, it sucks that you're the only one left in the family." Robyn said.

"Actually, that's where you're wrong." Sylvia spoke up. "We've kept this hidden from Loid for so long, but feels like now is a good time as any." She turned to him. "Are you familiar with Zhang?"

"Zhang Taiyang Xiao Long? He was a relative, last I checked."

"He's still alive. In fact, he's at a household in Patch. You could lay low there for a while."

Loid chuckled. "I see. Kept them hidden from me so I could focus on my work."

"Indeed. As for me, I'm going to lay low for a while myself. I have a safe house in Vale." Sylvia said.

"Come on Anya. Let's go see our family." Loid said.

"Yeah!" Anya smiled.


Several hours into the present later…

"And, that's how we got here." Loid explained.

"Mmm…" Zhang had his arms folded. "I'm having a hard time believing this." He said.

"Why's that?" Tai asked.

"I've lost contact with my family and older sister when I decided to be a huntsman, due to my mother not wanting to lose family in such a profession, especially after the Great War. Before my sister passed, she had written me a letter saying that she bore a son named Loid. Which surprised me considering of how old she was… when I heard that village she was in was destroyed, I dropped everything to see if I could find any survivors… I found my sister buried in the rubble."

Zhang opened his eyes, looking at Loid. "You must be the same Loid that my sister had told me about, yes?"

"The very same." Loid nodded.

"Hmm… heh." Zhang smirked. "Tai, meet your long lost cousin."

I can definitely see some of the resemblance… Summer thought as Tai and Loid shook hands while Anya and Oran, who was in his pajamas, were coloring together.

Tai smiled. "You can stay here as long as you need to, Loid."

Loid nodded. "Understood."

"Hmm…" Ruby looked over at Anya, her back to her. "So she's an owl faunus…? I wonder if she could turn her head a hundred and eighty degrees…" She wondered.

"Who knows." Yang shrugged.

Immediately, Anya slowly turned her head ninety degrees to look at Ruby directly behind her. Ruby let out a shriek and jumped into Summer's arms, who looked just as freaked out.

"Geez…!" Yang exclaimed while Byleth, Dorothea, Bereto and Maia looked extremely uncomfortable, all the while Anya gave Ruby a smug look.

"Heh."

"Cool!" Oran smiled.

"Color me impressed." Raven said as Anya went back to coloring non-chalantly.

"Cool trick… heh, look at the bright side… at least if someone tried to snap her neck, she wouldn't die." Qrow said.

Rosalina looked at him in complete horror. "Qrow, why would you say-"

"No no, he's got a point." Raven said.

Rosalina groaned. "That's it… you guys are banned from babysitting…"

Raven smirked. "Yeah, well, that doesn't work out until you and Tai are officially married."

Rosalina lightly facepalm, sighing in annoyance. "Loopholes… how I both adore and loathe it…"

Loid chuckled. "I have a feeling… that there's never a dull moment around here."


One week later…

"Hmm?" Arceus looked at the Lake Pokemon in surprise. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes!" Uxie nodded. "Someone actually made a time machine and went back to the land of Hisui."

"Not only that, but we caught wind that they're going to destroy the balance between humans and Pokemon." Azelf explained. "The natural friendship Pokemon have had with humans for centuries will be destroyed."

"What should we do?" Mespirit asked.

Arceus closed his eyes. "We have no other choice. We must stop this perpetrator from destroying the balance by any means necessary before it is too late."

To be continued in: RWBY: The Hisuian Legend


Originally titled: "RWBY: Legends Arceus" but I thought "Nah, I can do something better than that." And here we are!

Ibuki: Ooooh boy, this is gonna be good!

Shout out to Log for coming up with this Gaiden idea!