Hey guys, sorry for being slightly late in posting this chapter!
That being said, thanks for 100 reviews! It really means a lot to me that over 100 people (or maybe a bit less, some of you guys reviewed more than once lol) decided to comment on my fic.
For this chapter, I will focus on Spy X Family. It's the anime that's been a big hit this year. For me, I loved it, and I found the entire main cast to be hilarious. For anybody who wants to get in, or just started - don't worry, this viewing will only cover the first episode.
This chapter is by far my longest - going over 13,000 words! Hopefully it's still a fun read. I figured that more content is good, right? You guys can consider the long length as thanks for 100 reviews!
I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR ANY OF THE SOURCES THAT I WILL HAVE THE CHARACTERS REACT TO. That being said, all of that is implied since it's fanfiction.
Operation Strix (SPY X FAMILY)
"I seriously hope this one is more light-hearted…" Jaune said. The last two worlds they were shown focused on very cruel and evil people.
"Fortunately for you, this one is." Chrono stated, making Jaune and many in the audience feel slightly easy.
"Nice! What's it about?" Yang asked.
"The show that is coming up is about family. And spies."
"Spies? Cool!" Ruby said, with stars in her eyes.
"How does family relate to that however?" Penny questioned, confused.
"Well if I explained it more, it'd ruin the viewing - since the context is explained."
"Oh."
"Anyways, I'm starting the viewing."
The audience began to pay attention to the screen.
The screen sprang to life.
On the highway in a city, a diplomat's car was in a hurry to get into the meeting in Ostania regarding further peace talks. The diplomat implored his driver to be faster. "I need to be at the embassy, ASAP!"
"I should have you be there in 20 minutes, sir!" The driver replied, before driving even faster. However, he noticed they were on the bend. He let go of the gas and tried to press on the brakes, but he noticed they weren't slowing down. He then mashed his foot on the brake pedal again but nothing worked.
"The brakes aren't…what-"
The driver's comments alarmed the diplomat. "What's going o-, hold on! Driver! Keep your eyes on the damn roa-!" he said.
The driver looked forward in fear when he noticed they were close to the bend and even if he turned they would smash into the concrete. The car smashed through the barricade that had once covered the bend and fell thirty feet down onto the streets below. As it landed, the car exploded.
Many in the audience either winced or gasped at the accident. Except for the people in Salem's group and the criminals.
"Oh my…those poor people…" Kali said.
"Damn. RIP to those two," Neptune stated.
"That must've hurt," Qrow commented.
"Damn," Raven added on.
"I thought this was a fun viewing?" Nora questioned.
"What a bad time for the brakes to not work. That car must've been a bad product," Weiss concluded.
Ozpin thought otherwise. Perhaps it was sabotaged. After all, it had a diplomat. The car shouldn't have been faulty. This could explain why spies are in this particular viewing.
"Apparently, one of our diplomats in Ostania has died in a car accident."
In a prestigious room filled with top intelligence individuals of Westalis sat in a meeting to discuss what had occured. The one at the front of the table, who just spoke, sighed. "Though, we suspect he was assassinated by the East's far-right political party."
Ozpin let out a hum. It seems I was right.
"That makes more sense now that I think about it…" Weiss said.
"So I guess those guys at the table are enemies with Ostania?" Nora asked.
"Probably," Ren said. "Why else would they assassinate a diplomat?"
The large television screen flashed to the countries of Westalis and Ostania being landlocked with only the remnants of a large wall separating the two dividing these two. "It's becoming clearer by the day that they're trying to push us into an all-out war. To protect the people of Westalis, we need to know exactly what their plan is."
In response, one of the others on the table gave a suggestion to the head at the table. "Let's put HIM on the job. With stakes these high, we need to use the best agent on our roster. Twilight."
"Why would they want a war?" Ruby asked.
"Two reasons. Hatred, or money…" Qrow said, growling out the second word.
"Money?"
"There was a lot of lien to earn in military contracts back in the day. Before the academies. That's partially why the academies were made - to prevent war from becoming an industry. Otherwise, you'd be seeing A LOT more for-profit companies not willing to save villages because they were poor."
Too bad it failed in some ways…Winter thought, scowling as she remembered her father having a monopoly on dust, and therefore the ammunition of weapons as an extension.
As the meeting was taking place, the scene shifted to a dark alley. In the alley, an informant was meeting with a top leading government official named Edgar. In Edgar's hand were photographs.
"Just as promised," the informant said as he gave a folder of photos to Edgar, "photographic proof that the minister of Foreign Affairs wears a wig. Including the negatives."
After receiving it, Edgar chuckled evilly and smiled like a shark finding fresh blood in the water. "Very nicely done. With these, he'll be forced to resign."
"Seriously? A toupee would cause a resignation?" Mercury said with a scoff.
"In some places, lying like that can be the cause for a scandal. People can be fickle like that." Cinder pointed out.
"Well, until next time!" Edgar waved goodbye, and then walked back into the alley, getting back into his car and quickly driving off. As the informant was walking away,he heard a voice call out to him. "Hey!"
Upon seeing the person whose voice belonged to, the informant was shocked, with his eyes widening.
Edgar was right back in front of him whilst being flanked by two bodyguards - much to his confusion. Edgar had his arm forward as if he expected to be handed down something. "So how about you hand over those goods you promised me?" Edgar asked the informant, much to the latter's shock.
"What?"
"Huh?"
"I might've drunk too much. Time to put away the flask."
"But I thou-"
"It's a joke, man. Don't overthink it."
Many were confused by what just happened. Except for one.
"Oh my god…" Ruby said.
"Oh no…" Yang recognised what her sister was about to do and covered his ears.
"Wasthefirstguythespyandhemadeafacemasktoconcealhisidentity?Hediddidn'the?Ohmygoshthat'ssocool!" Ruby squealed.
"Sheesh! Red, don't they teach you to speak clearly in pre-school?" Roman snarked, annoyed by her outburst.
Ruby wasn't listening however, she just realized that she saw a spy in action!
The informant, dumbfounded, pointed to the car that was leaving and to Edgar, who was still standing in front of him. "Huh?! I-But…you were just-!" Then it clicked. The informant put a hand over his face to stifle a scream of frustration.
"He set me up!"
Emerald snickered at the informant's groan of despair. I wonder how many people I stole from, had the same exact reaction…She never liked having to scrounge about to survive, which is why she was thankful for Cinder, but stealing from the people who looked down at her back when she was a street rat - that always put a smile on her face.
Meanwhile, in the car, the other 'Edgar' removed his disguise by pulling out the face mask. It revealed a blonde man with disheveled hair and a nonchalant expression. The man then put on glasses, and styled his hair to be sleek and straight.
A narrator then voiced over the scene. "Codename: Twilight. A Spy of the Highest Caliber."
"While the nations of the world waged a fierce war of information in the shadows, this master of disguise, man of a hundred faces, survived only by the skills he's honed.
Ruby let out an even louder squeal. She immediately went to Taiyang and grabbed his arm.
"DAD! IT'S YOU! YOU'RE A SPY!" She pointed to the screen, which was showing Twilight driving in the car.
Tai was shocked. "Uh…wow. Yeah. I am!"
"That's pretty cool, Dad. You got into one of these before any of us!" Yang pointed out.
"Of course. Your dad is pretty cool!"
"Not as cool as me, I appeared first!" Qrow joked.
"You were evil though!" Tai responded, taking the winds off Qrow's sails.
The scene then cut to a fancy restaurant.
Twilight was now at a table across from a woman who was talking to him. The woman wore a small red headband, a pink dress, had several jewelry on, and had blonde hair. They were having dinner together.
"Daddy's been in such a foul mood lately because someone stole his toupee pics or something. I mean, honestly, what a bore," she told him. This was Karen, the daughter of the Edgar man who Twilight impersonated.
"No way…he dated the dude's daughter just to get those photos?" Neptune said in shock.
"Damn, that's pretty rad, Mr. X!" Sun commented, complimenting Tai.
Taiyang puffed out his chest in pride. "It kinda is, isn't it? Back in Beacon, people joked that I was-"
"Too much information!"
"For Gods' sake, shut up!"
Both Qrow and Raven were frantic in stopping Tai.
If he told those two about the rumors of him having a harem with the entire team…Qrow thought. [1]
As Twilight took a bite of the meal he ordered, the woman spoke again. "Robert? Are you listening?"
'Robert' nodded lightly, keeping up with his fake identity. "Hm? Yes. How unfortunate."
After he spoke, they were interrupted by the sounds of clapping. At a nearby table across from them, people were celebrating a man proposing to his girlfriend.
"Oh, would you look at that? Could that be us one day?" She asked 'Robert' whilst looking at the scene dreamily.
"Karen, let's break up."
Raven snorted. "That's a bit blunt. Especially from you," she joked to Tai.
"Hey! I can be blunt!"
"She's right. You'd be a lot more gentle." Qrow pointed out.
Yang narrowed her eyes when she saw Raven and Tai conversing like they were old friends. She thinks she can just go back to talking? After…after what she did?!
"HUH?!" Karen looked at 'Robert' in dismay and shock.
Wiping his mouth with a cloth now that he was done with his meal, he continued. "I'm afraid you're just not that intelligent."
"Uh-" Her astonished face already said what he expected as a response, and so 'Robert' quickly picked up his coat, and left.
"Bye. Best of luck now."
Most of the audience openly laughed at Twilight's lack of tact.
"Hahahaha! He said that so casually!" Roman said in between laughs.
"And after she was talking about marriage too!" Mercury added.
"Ah. This is gold." Roman commented, wiping a tear from his face.
"ROBERT!" Karen also got up and shouted at him.
"HEY! YOU CAN'T JUST WALK OUT ON ME!" The woman exclaimed.
Seeing the scene, the people celebrating and the newly engaged couple looked on, feeling awkward.
"COME BACK HERE!"
"That's rough, buddy," Neptune said.
"In front of all those people too…" Pyrrha said, feeling bad for Karen.
Now in an alleyway after having left the restaurant - and wearing his coat and hat, Twilight had looked at the file he had gotten that contained Edgar, Minister of Foreign Affairs', most damning secret.
'Sorry Karen, but I have no further use of you. Or your father. As of tonight, I'm also done with 'Robert'. Dreams of marriage and a normal happy life? I threw those away the day I became a spy. Along with my true identity.'
He took off his glasses and threw them into a flaming garbage bin, along with the photos.
"So he has no real name?" Glynda said, surprised by that revelation.
"Damn. That's hardcore." Coco commented.
Ruby felt conflicted. On one hand, she was happy to see her dad play a spy. But to throw away a normal life? I don't know…but then again, is the life of Huntress normal? And besides, it's not actually dad. Doesn't make him saying that there that much easier to hear though…
Her thoughts were interrupted by Yang and Tai. Both of them squeezed her shoulders in reassurance.
"Thanks," she whispered to both of them. They flashed her a smile in response, which said 'any time'.
In the next scene, it was now a new day - as seen with the sky of day appearing in the glass roofs of a train station. The station had a train heading for departure - with the location being Berlint.
At the station, Twilight arrived, now wearing a brown trenchcoat and hat, and sat down on a wooden bench next to an old man who was reading the newspaper. The spy was also carrying a paper, as well as a suitcase and some coffee.
As the spy put down his paper on the bench, the old man folded his and put it over the other one. Both then grabbed the other - an exchange.
"Meow." The old man said, as he took off with the new paper. As the spy sat down, he realized the code - it was new orders from Westalis. 'Must be Cipher C.' [2]
"So they use Ciphers?" Blake said. Just like back in the White Fang….
"But how did he get that from that?!" Jaune exclaimed.
"No idea. It's not like I know what spies are taught."
"Really? I thought you of all people would know. Becau-"
"Because you're so sneaky of course!" Yang interrupted Jaune, before giving her a glare.
Jaune laughed sheepishly. It was the library all over again. I keep nearly spilling out Blake's secret. I thought her telling her parents and Roman saying the entire family were terrorists got the secret out, but now that I think about it, most people think he was just being racist…
"The train bound for Berlint is now departing on Track 5." It was an announcement from the train station.
Now on the train, Twilight was reading the newspaper using the Cipher to get the message. The newspaper had headlines such as 'TENSIONS' and 'COLD WAR?'.
'Good day, or perhaps good evening, Twilight. Excellent work on your last assignment. For the good of our country, the minister lived to see another day, all thanks to you. Now then, here is your next mission.'
As Twilight turned to the back of the newspaper, he saw a prominent figure in Ostania, and took a sip of the coffee he had.
'Your target is the head of the National Unity Party - Donovan Desmond - a grave threat to the truce between East and West. You'll need to get close and probe for any seditious activity. In order to achieve this, you must get married and have a child'.
Upon reading that last part, the spy spat out his coffee and started coughing. Fortunately, his message was not destroyed from this. "SAY WHAT!?"
Many in the audience let out laughs again at the irony of the situation, and Twilight's reaction.
"What are the odds? Especially after what he said earlier?" Qrow said jokingly.
"That sounds hilarious. Hey. We need you to infiltrate and spy on this guy. So get married and make a baby. Stat." Sun said, imitating an executive as well.
"That'd take nine months though! And the child would need to be at least 6 years old to go to school!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Oh. Maybe he can adopt?"
In spite of what he read, Twilight continued to read using the cipher.
'Due to his suspicious nature, Desmond is almost a complete recluse. His only social appearances are at events held at the elite private school his son attends.'
The screen briefly changed to show the gates of the school - Eden Academy.
'They serve as informal get-togethers for the upper echelon. Politicians and industrial leaders. You will have your child enroll in this school and infiltrate one of these social gatherings. However, the enrollment deadline is drawing near.'
"Of course it is…" Nora grumbled.
"Yep. Twilight will need to adopt then!" Sun concluded.
Putting down his cup of coffee now that he took another sip, Twilight proceeded to read further.
'In one week to be precise.'
Upon that last part, the spy tore the paper in anger. "I'M SUPPOSED TO HAVE A KID IN SEVEN DAYS?!"
While many of the hunters in training were chuckling at the display, Goodwich facepalmed.
"Maybe don't exclaim your mission out in public? And so loudly?" She said in an exasperated tone.
However, when Twilight saw all the worried or scared glances directed towards him due to his outburst, he decided to alleviate their alarmed states. "Ahem, sorry."
Twilight continued to read the cipher. 'We are calling it Operation STRIX. It's the key to maintaining peace between East and West. And perhaps the entire world. You're the type of hero who casts no shadow, your great deeds never seeing the light of day.'
Twilight narrowed his eyes as he read more.
'Although you won't receive any medals or public fanfare, don't forget that your blood, sweat, and tears make everybody else's day-to-day lives possible.' The camera shot showed a family adjacent to the seat of Twilight in the train.
Those words resonated with many of the hunters-in-training. They weren't in it for fame, but for saving people and helping lives.
Yes..this is why I became a huntress…to fulfill my destiny! Pyrrha thought.
Meanwhile, Roman just scoffed at that entire notion. What's the point of helping others then? What type of idiot risks their lives for strangers?
Now finished with the paper, Twilight let out a sigh and looked out the window. 'Alright…I threw away my identity when I became Twilight, so I'll take on the role of father, if it means the world will be a safer place.'
As the camera panned out to show the train heading to Berlint, title cards appeared.
MISSION 1: OPERATION STRIX
"Operation Strix? Weird name." Ruby commented.
"What's a Strix?" Jaune asked.
"A type of Owl."
"Ah. And since owls are nocturnal and come out in Twilight…I'm assuming it relates to the spy himself?" Oobleck concluded.
"Probably."
Now at Berlint, Twilight was now looking to buy a house for himself and his new family. "This is one of our single-family apartments, the unit comes furnished, has central heat and air, and um…sir?"
The spy was looking around different corners and spaces throughout the living room, much to the confusion of the housing agent.
'No wiretaps, securable escape routes.' Twilight thought to himself as he looked outside a window in the home. He smiled as he looked at the housing agent. "I believe I'll take it!"
"He's efficient and smart in considering that immediately." Glynda complimented.
"But wouldn't that be kinda suspicious?"
"Not at all, Ms Rose. He can just say he was checking the house for cracks or something."
Roman laughed in his head. He learned to do the exact same thing whenever he bought safe houses for his operations.
"Excellent, Mr. Forger. Now if you'd sign these documents."
As Twilight proceeded to sign the documents, he thought about his new identity.
'Loid Forger. Occupation: Psychiatrist. That's the role I'll be playing. A man with a loving family and a happy home.' His new signature was shown as he wrote it.
"That's a weird way to spell Loid. It's usually Lloyd," Jaune stated.
"Oh you're one to talk," Weiss retorted. "Shouldn't your name be John?"
"I'm sure you and your family will love it here!" The friendly real estate agent stated to the man now known as Loid Forger. "So tell me, do you have a boy or a girl?"
"Uh, guess I'll be deciding that soon!"
"Huh?"
'It all sounds like a real burden for a spy…'
"Heh. Sounds like those jokes we saw on the CCT last week, right?" Neptune said to Sun.
"Oh yeah!"
"What joke?" Blake asked.
"Oh…it's kinda dark. It goes like this: At a playground, a woman asks a man 'which kid is yours?' The man replies 'Haven't decided yet.'"
Blake snorted. An abduction joke? How droll…
A doorbell rang as the scene transitioned to the front door of a building. It was soon opened to show an old balding man with a mustache. His cheeks were red, denoting his drunkenness. "Hmm? So, you wanna adopt, do ya? *hiccup*"
"Indeed I do. I heard that your orphanage was looking for families." Loid replied. "You see my wife and I-"
"Yeah, yeah. Just grab whichever one you want."
Loid was shocked by his unconcerned expression and actions. "Wha-"
"Right this way." The drunk opened the door, and led him into where most of the children were.
"How appalling." Weiss stated, glaring at the screen. All those children, in conditions like that?!
Tch. Typical for humans to treat their own like that…Adam thought, looking at the state of the orphanage.
Cinder felt some old memories from her past pop into her mind. The days at the orphanage…having to fight older kids for them to stop picking on her…getting punished for fighting back…she gripped the arm of her chair tightly.
Upon seeing the environment of the orphanage by walking through it, Twilight was shocked. 'What a horrible environment… but a place this shady is more likely to have incomplete records. It'll be easier to come up with a backstory. I'll make this mission work, even if it involves a child. I would've preferred to handle it on my own, but no matter how skilled I may be, disguising myself as a child is out of my range.'
"I should mention I'd like a child who can read and write, if that's possible."
"I hate to admit it, but he's right." Qrow said. "It would be easier."
Probably why that hag chose me…Cinder thought, thinking back to her past again and growling internally.
The drunk stopped walking to respond. "Yeah? I gotcha. Anya here is the smartest one we've got."
A small girl with pink hair, wearing a simple black dress, and two hair ornaments on the side of her head was shown. That was Anya. She was sitting on the floor, holding a pink chimera doll, and looking at the two men in fascination.
"She don't talk much, but she's a good kid."
"Oh my god…she's so cute!" Yang cooed at the young girl on the screen. Anya had awoken something inside the blonde huntress that only Ruby and Tai had seen.
"Oh no…" Tai said.
"She's doing it again…" Ruby said, groaning. She used to do that to me all the time!
"I can't lie…she is pretty adorable!" Jaune added.
"What type of doll is that though?" Ren pointed out.
"I dunno. It looks like a pink Manticore with horns," Pyrrha said.
"A Manticore?" Nora asked.
"We learnt in Grimm studies! Professor Port took down a pack of those in one of his stories. Unless he faked it…"
'I'd love to get this weird, creepy little brat out of my hair once and for all…' the drunk's thoughts were heard, as he looked at Anya in a sneering manner - betraying his spoken words.
"Come on, Anya. Say hi!"
Yang growled. "What a prick!"
"I know!" Weiss agreed. "How could you think that?!" She added on, incredulously.
"Maybe he just doesn't like kids?" Mercury tried to give an answer.
"Then why is he working in an orphanage?!" Yang, Weiss, and many others said at the same time.
"Wow. So angry. I had no idea Schnees liked kids that much. I thought you were all cold-hearted." Mercury joked.
Weiss rolled her eyes in response.
As Anya got up from sitting on the floor, Loid voiced his concerns. "Um, excuse me…"
'Eden College only accepts students aged 6 and up. This girl looks no older than 4 or 5.' The spy thought as he looked at the young orphan.
"6!"
Anya's sudden exclamation of her age confused Loid he only thought of it. He did not say it out loud. "Uh-"
"I'm 6!"
Even the drunk was surprised. "You're 6 years old? Huh…"
"Weird…" Roman said.
"It's almost like she read his thoughts…" Cinder said.
"That's because she did," Watts said. When the others looked at him confused, he explained himself. "Obviously, we can hear the thoughts of the man, but there was a small sound effect that was heard when the girl looked at him. This obviously implies that she can hear him - therefore meaning he has some kind of telepathy."
"Well damn. That'll make the spy mission harder!" Coco concluded.
Many agreed, they couldn't really argue against Watts' conclusion.
Loid was still skeptical. 'She's quite small for that age…''
As if she heard that, Anya decided to stand on her tippy toes to look taller. Afterwards, Anya quickly went to the nearby table, put down her doll, and grabbed the newspaper, showing Loid the crossword section.
'Hm? The newspaper? Hm…I thought the crossword puzzle would be too difficult for a child. Of course for me, it's more like child's play.'
Loud proceeded to look at Anya working on the puzzle. '1 down is Homeostasis, 1 across is Casual Closure: the one below that is Symplectomorphism.'
"Symplecto-what now?" Jaune asked, confused.
Watts sighed and explained. "A symplectomorphism transformation of phase space that is volume-preserving and preserves the symplectic structure of phase space."
When Jaune looked at him in confusion, Watts dumbed it down for him and spoke slowly. "Math. Stuff. Relates. To. Space. Features. Transforming. And. Structure. So concepts that are too complicated for you."
Jaune glared at the scientist due to his condescending explanation. "Hey! No need to be so rude!"
"Don't be an idiot then." Watts retorted.
To Loid's surprise, she had scribbled down and completed it really quickly while proudly showing it to him - much to his astonishment.
'She completed it?! With that kind of intellect, Eden's entrance exam will be a breeze!'
Emerald snorted. "He's getting duped."
"Eh, to be fair, you don't expect some random kid to be a telepath," Mercury pointed out.
He turned back to the drunk whilst gesturing towards Anya. "Sir. I'll take her! About the paperwork-"
"Don't sweat it. Just take her home already..."
As the drunk said that reply, Anya put down the paper and took back her doll.
Loid was concerned by the response as he looked back down towards Anya and got down to face her. 'As a spy, getting that part of the mission done so easily worries me.' "So, is this okay with you?" He asked Anya.
"That orphanage owner is SOOOOO shady…" Nora said, annoyed that a man like him is technically the caretaker of all those kids.
"On the bright side though, no need for paperwork!" Jaune said, trying to make her feel better.
"Yeah! You're right!" It worked.
Anya looked at Loid and her thoughts were heard. 'A spy? On a mission? So cooooool~!' She looked at him in amazement as her cheeks reddened and her eyes brightened.
Watts smirked. He was on the money.
Cinder growled. Call her petty, but she wanted him to be wrong just so she could rub it in.
"She must've heard everything…" Ironwood said.
"That's not ideal for Twilight…" Ozpin added.
The narrator's voice appeared once again. "This little girl is a telepath. Test Subject 007. She possesses the ability to read people's minds. This gift was accidentally created in an experiment by a certain organization. Since fleeing them, she's been without a place to truly call home."
"EXCUSE ME?!"
"WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?!"
"A TEST SUBJECT?!"
"ON A KID?"
"THEY EXPERIMENTED ON A CHILD?!"
Many of the adults, and the hunters-in-training expressed their outrage over the fact that Anya was essentially a lab rat.
"She's like 4! That's so messed up!" Sun added.
Even Salem felt a twinge of sympathy for the child. Despite living for millennia, she remembered being locked up in that tower for all her life until Ozma freed her. So she was glad that Anya managed to escape, especially without the help of somebody like her ex-husband.
The newly formed father and daughter left the orphanage, with both of them saying goodbye to the other kids by waving at them. Now at their new place, Loid decided to give Anya instructions. "Listen little girl."
"Anya!"
"Listen, Anya." Loid corrected himself. "Starting today, you will be my daughter. If anyone asks, you've always been my daughter. You understand?"
"Yep!"
"So please make sure you address me as Father," Loid added.
"Papa!" Anya said with a smile.
"Close enough."
"Awww~. I remember when you guys called me Papa!" Tai said, hugging Ruby and Yang.
Yang reciprocated the hug, but Ruby went red and tried to get off. "DAD! STOP IT! I'M NOT A KID ANYMORE!"
"You'll always be a kid to us, Rubes!" Yang responded.
"No! I'm a big girl now! I! DRINK! MILK!"
"Huh. Is that so?" Taiyang said. He let them go and pretend to cry. "Oh how they grow up so fast!"
"Yeah. If Ruby is so big now, you must be ancient, old man!" Yang retorted.
"Yea-HEY!"
Yang snickered.
Taiyang sighed, as Qrow chuckled at his family's antics.
Raven felt a bit of melancholy before stifling it down and letting out a scoff.
Now inside, an older lady greeted the newfound family. "Hello there young lady. Aren't you the most precious young thing?" She cooed.
Loid introduced himself. "We're the Forgers, and we've just moved in." He greeted her by tipping his hat.
"I'm Anya! I've always been Papa's daughter."
"Oh. Uh-"
'Didn't need to say that…' Loid had internally said that in his mind when the old lady looked confused at what Anya had just told her. "Come on, let's go inside."
The audience laughed at Anya taking Loid's orders so literally!
"Aw man! I used to do the same thing!" Sun said, in between laughs.
"Really?" Blake asked.
"Yep! Back when I lived in Vacuo, my cousin Starr told me to 'bring a plate' after a training session at her dojo. Imagine her shock when I actually brought a plate, a fork, and a spoon. She meant for me to bring food from the house!"
Blake chuckled. "Oh my god! How did you mess that up?"
"I was five, okay? I had no idea!"
He opened the door to their new home, and turned on the lights. Anya immediately went inside and was shell-shocked. "Is this my house now?"
"It is!"
The young girl immediately went towards one object in particular. "A TV!"
As Loid closed the door, and put away his hat and gloves, he told her that she could turn it on if she wanted to.
Turning it on, the television broadcasted a cartoon of a spy wearing a mask, a brown raincoat and a top hat with a silencer pistol in his hand. She pointed at the screen to the spy and then sat down to watch. "I really like this show!" The show was called 'Spy Wars'.
Loid looked at the cartoon. 'Coincidence?'
Her eyes brightened. "So cool!"
"So THAT's how she knows about spies," Qrow commented. "I doubt that she just learned about it from reading Loid's thoughts.
Loid then thought of his next plan of action. 'I'll secure everything we need, which includes a forged ID for her.'
The spy then began walking to the door. "I'm heading out for a bit. Just sit tight, and watch your show."
Tai raised an eyebrow in alarm. "Um, other self? That's not a good idea! That's bad parenting!"
"He can't hear you, Tai!"
Taiyang sighed and agreed with Qrow. "I know…"
Qrow patted his back. "Besides, I'm sure he's just awkward about it since he's a spy and all. Twilight probably doesn't know anything about kids!"
"What, like you when I first had Yang?" Tai said with a smirk.
"Oh for the last time…HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT BEER ISN'T A SUBSTITUTE FOR MILK?!" I had it back in the tribe!...Shit, maybe Tai and Summer had a point.
Anya got excited and stood up, as she thought that he might be doing his mission which will be exciting. "An adventure!" She exclaimed, as he went towards Loid and attached herself to his leg.
She squeezed even harder when he tried to kick her off in response. "It's not an adventure, it's a shopping trip!" Loid exclaimed.
Jaune smiled. "I remember back when I thought shopping trips were adventures…"
"You thought they were adventures?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah! Plus, my mom always told me that it was my mission to get certain stuff from the groceries - I didn't figure out it was a trick until I was 10! I had so much fun though anyways."
Pyrrha found his story amusing.
The scene switched to the marketplace of Berlint. Both father and daughter were heading on the trip, with Anya excitedly walking. "Papa! I wanna pistol with a silencer!" She asked, looking back at him in anticipation.
"Sure. If there's one on sale." He said offhandedly.
"Ahhh. The old 'if there's one on sale' trick…" Taiyang said.
"Weird…you always do the same to me whenever I ask for stuff from Weapon Magazine…wait a sec-HEY!"
Taiyang chuckled at his youngest daughter getting mad at him.
"DAAADDD! Why would you do that?!" She said, pouting.
'To be a master spy, one must act normally and not draw any attention. Today, we're a regular inconspicuous family-'
"AH! PAPA! PLEASE! SAVE ME!" Anya exclaimed.
Loid looked around in alarm. 'That's not inconspicuous!' The spy turned father went forward to get her, but an old lady beat him to it.
"Maybe don't focus less on your inner monologue, and more on paying attention to your kid, pal!" Roman said, earning chuckles from some of the audience.
"Now sweetie, make sure you've got a good hold on your daddy's hand, okay?" The lady told Anya, as she picked her up and carried her back to Loid.
As the two continued walking after that an awkward silence descended onto the two as he held her hand with his left.
Loid had gone into thinking about this new development, now knowing he had to hold his 'daughter's' hand when walking. 'Having one hand tied up will make it tough to counter an enemy ambush, but I can manage.'
Anya looked at her father in shock. She came to a conclusion. 'An enemy?!'
She promptly let go of his hand, which confused Loid ("Hm?"), and then she looked around for something before going to hide under a board sign for a nearby cafe.
"What are you doing?" Loid asked.
"I'm hiding!"
Neptune's eyes widened as he realized something. "Oh! I saw how this is going to go…Anya is going to hear all of his thoughts and since she's a kid, she's going to react to them in weird ways! Genius!"
Everybody looked at him in confusion.
"You just figured that out?"
"You'd think an intellectual would get that sooner…"
Neptune deflated. "You guys are jerks."
Utterly bewildered and alarmed by her actions, Loid began to think again. 'Did I do something to make her hide from me!? Maybe I held her hand too early…does she hate me? This is bad…I need to maintain a good relationship with her until the mission is over!'
A certain sound effect was heard, signaling that Anya had now begun listening to Loid's thoughts. 'Basic diplomacy dictates that I know more about her. Understanding the other party is the first step towards peace.'
Anya *totally* understood what he meant. 'Understanding me means we'll have world peace!?' She was shocked at this completely logical revelation.
Therefore, the young girl got up from hiding, and approached him. "Um…I really like to eat peanuts! But carrots are…uh, gross."
"Heheh. Kids are so stupid…" Nora said, smiling at Anya's antics.
"Peanuts though? When Almonds are right there? She is right about the carrots though. Blegh," Jaune said.
"What are you talking about, Jaune? Carrots are great! They're very nutritious!"
"Man, all you care about is nutrition, that's why you think those smoothies of yours and those energy bars are good! It's like you were born without taste buds!"
"Yeah!" Nora agreed.
Ren sighed. They'll learn eventually…
"Uh-uh?"
Seeing his confusion from what she was trying to accomplish, Anya tried to show off her intelligence again. She looked at a Bakery and pointed at it. "Bacon from Bacon-ry!"
Seeing the sign, Loid responded by staring at her and with a flat look. "A Bakery. I'm afraid they don't sell bacon."
Anya, shocked by this, flushed in embarrassment.
Then, the young girl was shown paying for a poster with a single coin.
"That costs a dalc. A 10-pent coin isn't enough!" Loid told her.
She flushed again in embarrassment since Loid had to pay for it.
"I wish a Bakery had bacon…" Yatsuhashi said.
"I wish posters were that cheap! Our room needs more fashion!" Coco exclaimed.
"NO!" The rest of her team replied. We already have 100 posters all over the walls…Fox telepathically told their leader.
"And? That's not enough!"
He then cupped his chin and stared long and hard at Anya. 'Maybe the crossword puzzle was a fluke. She honestly doesn't seem all that bright. I wonder if I can trade her in for-'
"NO PAPA! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Anya began to sob and shout.
This put a stop to Loid's thoughts. "What is wrong with you?!" Loid exclaimed at the girl. He was getting annoyed by her behavior.
He then subsequently panicked when he noticed the attention they were getting due to her outburst. As she continued to cry, Loid growled in frustration.
"Woah…" Ruby said.
"I get her reaction. She might be scared of going back to the orphanage, especially with that brute running it…" Weiss pointed out.
"Indeed. And the thoughts must've made her paranoid of it," Penny added.
He facepalmed. "Now what?" Then it clicked. "I'll get you peanuts if you stop crying!" He said to Anya.
This managed to work as Anya immediately stopped. "I love peanuts!" She stated with a smile.
"Works like a charm," Tai remarked. Whenever Ruby cries, just buy her cookies. At least, that's how it used to work…
After having bought peanuts and other groceries and walking, Anya then began to get tired. Loid then his back turned away from her when she said. "Papa…I feel so tired I can't walk anymore…"
Loid turned back to look at her. "Huh?!"
With Loid now holding her, Anya was fast asleep while gripping his suit. Loid was holding her with one arm while the other was holding onto the groceries. The spy looked like he was done. 'It's not working. I don't understand why she behaves like this. I think I'll need some sort of instruction manual.''
Adam burst out in laughter - much to the shock of the rest of the theater. "Sorry, I just found his face hilarious. He looks so dead inside!"
"..."
"..."
The White Fang leader got annoyed at the silence and glared at everybody. "What do you want from me?" He growled.
Coming to this conclusion, the scene fast-forwarded to Loid now leaving a library with books, groceries, and Anya.
Now back at home, the spy was in his casual attire, and sat on the couch as he began to read the stack of books and guides on the table.
He opened one, and began to look at the pages. Meanwhile, Anya was in her room, asleep. The door was left open so Loid could watch over her.
"The key factor in child-raising is trust. Rather than scolding them, look at things from their perspective. Children have trouble putting how they're feeling into words. Try to understand them."
Loid finished the book, and began to read another. "No interrogation tactics?" He said in exasperation. "Are all the parents out there always on such difficult missions?"
The parents in the room snorted at Twilight's words.
"Sometimes!" Ghira said.
Blake's cat ears went down in embarrassment.
"Oh don't worry, honey. The good outweighs the bad," Kali reassured her.
"Nurture their self-esteem to give them a better future. By giving them the ability to think for themselves, their lives will…"
He then stopped reading the book as he stared at the still asleep Anya and sighed. 'Soon as the mission is over, I'm sending her back to the orphanage. That's how far our future goes…'
"Cold," Sun remarked, many nodding in agreement.
"I guess Anya annoyed him too much," Jaune mused.
The next day at the Forger residence, Loid and Anya were having a 'chat'.
"NO, PAPA! I DON'T WANNA! DON'T MAKE ME STUDY!" Anya shouted out hysterically.
Nora let out a whoop. "Yeah! You tell 'em!"
"Ms Valkyrie!"
"Sorry Ms Goodwitch! But a four year old studying is just a bit excessive."
Loid was holding a booklet and looking at Anya. "I need to accurately measure your intelligence before you take the entrance exam." The spy said his reasoning to the young girl.
"But I don't need to study to take some stupid old test! I'll just read people's-" 'I'll read their minds!'
Thinking that Anya would read people's answers, Loid responded with a stern gaze. "I hope you're not planning on cheating. Listen, if you don't get into this school, then…" 'My mission fails.'
"Probably shouldn't tell him that…" Emerald said.
"Eh, she's a kid. She's bound to say stuff like that." Mercury pointed out.
He put down the booklet, but Loid continued to look at Anya. But it didn't last for long. "Okay."
Loid then walked away, much to Anya's confusion ("Huh?"), and then put on his coat and hat. "I'm stepping out."
He then pointed at her. "And you're staying right here! You're not coming with me! Not today."
Anya looked shocked.
After he finished what he said, Loid opened and closed the door. Immediately after that however, Anya went forward and began to open the door. Loid, who was walking down the stairs in front of the apartment's entrance, heard her and looked back. "Uh..? Hey!"
He then went back towards the door, startling Anya. "I said stay put!"
"Could've just…you know…locked the door…" Neptune said.
"Hey, maybe he did," Sun argued.
"I didn't hear a click to indicate a locking of the door, so I doubt it," Neptune pointed out.
"So? Maybe you just don't have good ears like me!"
"Oh come off it. You have a tail, not extra ears."
"Hey-"
"And if you did hear the lock, you wouldn't have said maybe!"
"True…but maybe he locked it without us hearing! And if so, maybe Anya was smart enough to unlock it!"
Neptune almost conceded…but he had another point. "With that key though?"
"Fine. You win."
However, a short montage soon appeared of Anya following Loid throughout the building.
Anya tried to hide behind a green container - but Loid saw her ("I see you! You think you can hide from me?").
Then she tried to hide behind the stairs - and failed ("There!"), as well as an entranceway in the ceiling - which also failed ("There!").
After seeing him notice her again, Anya once again had sparkles in her eyes. 'Papa's so good at hide and seek! This is fun!'
The montage ended with a shot of the apartment building - and Loid triumphing. "Ha ha ha! Try to get out of that!"
"Oh God…did he put her in a trap or something?" Pyrrha asked.
"Maybe…Twilight does seem new to the dad thing. So he might've not known that a thing like that would look bad," Ren pointed out.
Now at the place he was meant to be, Twilight was asked a question.
"Wow…so that's why you're late?" A man with an afro and glasses said as he just stared at Twilight. That man was Twilight's associate - Franky Franklin.
"I ended up putting a barricade in front of the door, and trapping her inside." The spy explained, as a visual depicting exactly that, appeared. Anya trying to get out could be heard.
"Hopefully you don't get busted for child abuse!"
Tai crossed his fingers. He sure hoped his other self wouldn't be busted too!
"A barricade? That's a bit overboard. He could've just locked the door…" Weiss said.
Neptune and Sun overheard her but chose to stay quiet.
Twilight put down his hat and began to vent, crossing his arms. "How could anyone know what children are thinking? And the whole tactic of crying until they get their way is maddening."
"I hate to break it to you, pal, but crying's like their job."
Franky then got out an envelope and gave it to the spy. "Anyhoo, here's what you wanted. An application exam appointment, and a copy of the test! I went through hell getting these…"
Twilight put the cheat sheet away, on his person. "I appreciate it, Franky. If she can memorize the answers, we'll have a real shot of passing."
"So after all that talk of not looking at other's answers, he resorts to having her cheat anyways?" Glynda scowled.
"His mission is to get her into the school, not for her to necessarily succeed. A bit callous on his part to prioritize the mission over her education, but expected," Ozpin pointed out. And besides, I'm pretty sure Twilight was worried about her getting caught, not actually cheating. Unfortunately
Franky then gave Twilight another document. "Got some intel on the girl. Dug up the records, stuff the orphanage didn't have."
Twilight then looked at the document whilst Franky continued to mention details. "Not a thing about her birth though…or her real age or parents either. It's strictly from the last year."
The documents corroborated what the informant was saying. It listed her age and parents both as 'UNKNOWN'.
However, there was one major detail that caught both of their attention. "It says that she's been adopted and returned four times now. She's on her third orphanage." Franky concluded.
"Anya Williams, Anya Levski, Anya Roche…" Twilight read out all of her names.
"Damn. A past like that would definitely give her abandonment issues…" Qrow muttered.
Hearing what his uncle said, Yang's heart ached for Anya. Sucks you have to know that feeling too…She hoped that Twilight would have a change of heart, whilst she would normally be mad, having her dad be the spy made her uneasy instead.
Emerald also felt a bit bad for the girl. She remembered being unwanted in orphanages as well. It got so terrible that she just ran away and resorted to scrounging around poor districts. That bastard better take care of her or else….She thought.
"Changes names like you! You guys are a perfect match!" Franky joked.
Twilight gave him a glare.
"Uh...relax! I'm just kidding! Just focus on your mission. She may be a cute little kid, but watch that you don't get too attached to her, you know?"
Twilight put away the document and picked up his hat as left. "Your concern is touching."
However, Franky wasn't done. "What the-? Hey!" Franky then sighed as Twilight was already gone. "Stiffed me…forget kids. Who in the hell knows what spies are thinking?"
Deciding to stop thinking depressing thoughts, Yang decided to pounce on a golden opportunity. "Anya does!" She said, resulting in many of the hunters-in-training laughing at her jokes.
Yang smirked. Heh heh. They LIKED that one…
Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Anya was laying on the couch. She looked bored, as the ticking of the clock could be heard due to how silent it was.
As she looked at the SPY WARS poster that Loid bought for her, she could only think of one thing. 'This is boring…I thought spies were a whole lot cooler...like we'd be looking for bombs and stuff!'
"Yeah…there's barely been any action!" Mercury said, complaining.
"And I thought the last viewing was kinda boring…hopefully some action arrives at the end like last time!" Roman added. Neo nodded in agreement.
Then, Anya remembered last night. She overheard Loid while he was doing the dishes.
'I can't have her messing with my spy equipment. So I'll have to lock it all up…the code is 6-1-'
'1-0!' Anya remembered.
Ruby paled as she thought of something. Weiss noticed and asked her about it. "What's wrong?"
"Oh! Um..nothing, really…" Ruby replied. "I'm just glad that nobody in Beacon has a mind-reading semblance."
Many of the hunters-in-training immediately voiced their agreement.
"Oh my gods, yes!"
"Thank goodness there's nobody like that here!"
"Phew!"
Meanwhile, Salem was thinking about what Ruby just said. I've been alive for a thousand years and I've still never met a person with that semblance. They'd be so useful for espionage…
She then rummaged through Loid's room, humming a tune ("Pum-pum-pum~! Pum-pum~!") before eventually finding a case and using the code on it. When she opened the case, she gasped in delight.
"A SPY RADIO!" She began to play with it, pretending to be a spy. "Sending secret messages!"
"Oh no…" Qrow said.
Tai facepalmed. "Well this isn't good!"
Meanwhile, the scene switched to show a building containing Ostanian Intelligence. It appeared to have men looking for signals.
"Boss! We've intercepted a new transmission."
The boss then answered. It was Edgar. "Using the West Cipher?"
"No…doesn't seem to be." The man responded, looking away from the radio and towards his boss.
However, he looked back when he heard a message. "Wait…it's saying 'This is Twilight Here.' Hang on? Twilight?! This is the frequency Western Intelligence uses!"
Upon hearing that, Edgar seethed in rage, but his subordinate wasn't done. "Hang on! There's more - 'Catch me if you can!'"
"GET A LOCATION ON THE SOURCE! STAT!"
Cinder scoffed. "This is preposterous. How could some brat know how to use that kind of technology?"
Watts looked at her like she was an idiot. "Are you daft?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard what I said."
Cinder growled and was about to retort before Watts interrupted her.
"Hush. If you actually bothered to pay attention, you would've noticed that Anya is actually pretty smart. After all, she was able to complete the crossword earlier."
"So what? She just heard what that spy said!"
So hearing him means she is able to spell Symplectomorphism all of a sudden?" Watts fired back with a raised eyebrow.
Cinder sputtered before coming up with a reply. "Well, she mistook a Bakery for having Bacon. That's very stupid!"
"Probably because the concept of a Bakery is new to her…she isn't 'stupid' for the sake of being stupid, she's stupid due to lack of experience - she's only 4." Watts explained. "Unlike you…you're remained as incompetent as you've always been. That's why your plan is going to fail. You're trying to defeat an unbeatable enemy whilst not changing."
Cinder glared murderously at the scientist. "Why do you even care anyway?"
"I couldn't care less. But idiocy such as yours irritates me."
Now done playing, Anya closed the case and wiped the sweat off her forehead - she was satisfied with her work. However, she then looked around the mess she made in the room, and paled immediately.
Her thoughts went to Twilight. 'Now that you know I'm a spy, I'll have to make you disappear!' Thinking that her father may 'take care' of her for what she did, Anya panicked and began to frantically put everything away.
Afterwards, she sighed. "If he finds out I do telepathy…he'll make me leave…" Anya said morosely.
"I doubt Twilight would do something that drastic…right?" Nora said whilst chuckling nervously.
"I hope so. He doesn't seem THAT cold," Jaune added.
The young girl then thought back to her past.
'Anya, you can't tell anyone about your power, remember?'
The flashback was visualized, with a younger version of Anya looking at three scientists.
'It's time for you to study again, Anya.' The one with blond hair announced.
'Aw! But I wanna draw!'
The other scientist with black hair gave her a cold glare. 'Don't concern yourself with childish things! We need to figure out how to use your special powers for world peace!'
When she heard that, tears began to well up in Anya's eyes. As she began to whimper, the scientist continued.
'There's no time for tears. Playtime's over and you need to study.'
Thinking back on that memory made Anya start to cry in present time as well, as she began to wipe her tears whilst in Loid's room.
"So that's why she hates studying…" Yang said, feeling even sadder for the girl.
"Because it reminds her of her past…" Weiss added. She felt sympathy for the young girl. Her past back in Atlas was very rough as well. She may have had riches and servants, but it didn't stop her from being isolated and lonely. Sure, Winter was there, but having her father stop her from having fun and being a child in order to learn 'proper decorum' ended up with a miserable childhood. And that decorum rubbed off on me even if I didn't want it to. I was so haughty when I arrived at Beacon, I even expected Pyrrha to be happy to be my partner! Oh how arrogant of me…The Heiress thought with a frown.
After a bit, Twilight got back - bringing more groceries, and coming out of a cab.
As he walked towards the apartment, Loid could only think of one thing. 'I hope she hasn't trashed the apartment…'
The spy then noticed that the barrier he had placed in the front door…He then realized 'Oh yeah. Gotta move this.'
However, Twilight then noticed something peculiar. "Huh?" His eyes narrowed.
"Oh shit. Someone went into the apartment." Qrow said, immediately alert.
"How do you know?" Jaune asked.
"The rope is gone. I thought it was weird for a rope to be there, but now I get that it's like a seal in medicine containers - to see if it was tampered. In this case, Twilight now knows that someone moved the barrier."
"Oh…." Jaune said in realization. That never really occurred to him.
"That being said, the lack of rope means that the people inside weren't good at covering their tracks. Overall, Anya trying to follow Twilight might've helped him in the end - in realizing that the apartment was compromised.
"Yeah! Although…it was-
"Probably compromised BECAUSE of Anya."
"Probably compromised BECAUSE of Anya, yeah. Right." Qrow said after Jaune said the same thing.
Inside the apartment, the barrier could be heard being moved, and the door began to open.
Twilight opened the door fully and the apartment was shown. Two men could be seen - one hiding behind the front door, and another behind one of the couches in the living room. As the spy took a step inside, the man behind the door then made this attack.
He tried to stick Twilight in the head, but the spy ducked - making the man only hit his hat. Twilight responded by punching the man with an uppercut since he left himself wide open with the swing he did.
The other man then got out of his cover behind the couch and tried to shoot the spy, but Twilight used his groceries as cover, getting out a can and throwing at the shooter right as he dodged to the side. The can ended up hitting the shooter square in the face, disorientating.
Before the man could recover, Twilight had already gotten a chair from the dining room table, and smashed it on the man's head, knocking him out.
"Finally! Some action!" Roman cheered.
"Damn! He's got some moves!" Coco said, showing approval at Twilight's fighting skills.
"Immediately using the groceries as cover, and getting a chair whilst the second guy was distracted. A simple but effective strategy." Goodwitch noted.
"Indeed," Ironwood agreed. "All in the span of a few seconds to think. He has great decision making skills." Not many soldiers in Atlas can do that…
"Who the hell are these guys!?" Twilight said.
After dropping the remnants of the chair, Loid rushed to Anya's room whilst calling out her name. "Anya! ANYA!"
The spy looked through the entire place, from room to room, to no avail. Eventually, he found the Chimera doll dropped on the ground in his room.
'Kidnapped…,' he concluded. He then looked back to the men he knocked out, gritting his teeth in anger. 'Who sent these thugs here? And why?'
'I gotta find her! Alright, calm down.' Twilight put a hand on his chin whilst thinking, walking into his room. He saw his spy equipment strewn about. 'Obviously, this location's been compromised, so first off, I need to secure somewhere safe. As for Anya…'
'There's lot of other children out there…we just have to start over from square one-'
The rest of Twilight's thoughts were not heard since one of the men woke up and swung a weapon at the back of an unaware Twilight. A whack was heard, and then darkness.
The audience was silent. Twilight was just winning and he immediately let his guard down…
"Are you kidding me?" Yang exclaimed in incredulity.
"Why? Why would you let your guard down?" Weiss shouted at the screen.
Glynda, who just complimented the spy, rubbed her forehead in annoyance. "Students, please don't let your guard down. That's simple stuff!"
"Yes, Ms Goodwitch!" Many students voiced back.
Meanwhile, Qrow looked at Tai and spoke. "You'd do the same, wouldn't ya?"
Tai chuckled nervously. "Heh. Yeah, probably. If Yang or Ruby were in a situation like that, I'd probably be more shocked than him!"
"Who the hell's the brat anyway?" Edgar asked. He was looking at a shopping cart that contained a tied up Anya, whose mouth was covered with tape. She looked to be on the verge of tears.
"Is it Twilight's kid or something?"
One of his men responded. "We have no clue. She was where that message came from, so we nabbed her."
'So the secret message?!' Anya thought, coming to a realization.
The henchman continued to explain.. "She was holed up in the apartment with a barricade up in front!"
"Do you know why?"
"Beats me!"
After the explanation, Edgar seemed indifferent. "No matter. I think she still might prove useful to us as a hostage. We could force Twilight to steal the foreign minister's toupee off his head."
Yang and Tai were glaring at the man. "Tch. Bastard." Taiyang spat.
"Could be worse…what if he wanted to kill her?"
"Don't. Even. Say. That.."
Jaune held up his hands defensively. "Alright, alright. I got it, Mister..." Xiao Long? Rose? [3].
Fortunately, Taiyang looked away before Jaune finished so he just let his sentence fade away.
"Boss…maybe we should ditch the whole toupee thin-"
Before one of his men could finish what he was saying, Edgar coldly shot him in the face. As the other men looked in shock, Edgar explained himself.
"Transparency is essential in government. So toupees are a no-go."
Anya's face paled when she saw the murder. Despite that, she could only think of one thing - Edgar's gun. 'Pistol with a silencer!'
Edgar then put away his gun. "Besides, the minister is a traitor who has been secretly backing the West." He then lit a cigarette. "And anyone who takes a traitor's side must be a traitor too!"
Anya came to a conclusion. 'He's gotta be a real bad guy!'
"I mean…I can't fault her deduction skills!" Yang joked, trying to diffuse the tension.
"Still though, shooting him? Do bad guys always treat their henchmen so badly?" Ruby asked.
Watts looked at Cinder pointedly. He was aware of her antics.
A van screeched to a halt outside of the building, and one of Edgar's men informed the boss. "Boss! Looks like Wen and his crew are back from the apartment!" [4]
Now inside the building, Wen tossed a captured and hooded Twilight to the ground. "We got him."
"Nicely done." Edgar said, pleased.
"This dude sure as hell moves like a pro…" Wen said, massaging his chin and neck in pain. "He's the real deal!"
"Get yourself together man…" Edgar chastised him, before turning his attention to Twilight - with Anya looking at them all. "Now that I have your attention Twilight…" Edgar said as he leaned down towards the captured spy with a smirk, "Why don't you return those photographs you stole from me?"
Edgar then took off the hood covering Twilight to reveal…"Wen!" Edgar exclaimed, shocked.
"Oh!"
"Stupid! Why didn't I think of that!"
"Well I'll be damned. He didn't get knocked out!"
"Color me shocked."
Many in the audience who were shocked that Twilight got knocked out were immediately feeling happier, now that he was actually not.
"Did he switch places with the other guy, then?" Coco asked.
"Only seems logical." Velvet surmised.
'Wen' was also massaging his head and neck in pain. It seems that Twilight did get hit but still managed to fend off the attackers. Ozpin deduced. Impressive.
The man wearing Twilight's suit was not the spy, but rather Wen himself. Due to his gag, the man was unable to speak.
The other men gasped in shock upon seeing his face.
"What's going on?!" One of the men said. He then looked at the cart. "The kid's gone too!"
Meanwhile, Edgar was once again seething in rage. "HE GOT ME AGAIN!"
Roman chuckled. "Yeah he did!"
Meanwhile, the Fake Wen was carrying a now untied Anya, as he closed and locked an exit in the building, as he escaped. The man was gritting his teeth. 'This was a mistake...going into enemy territory put the mission in jeopardy! I'm not fit to be a spy.'
As Anya sniffled in distress, the thoughts she heard made her realize that the Fake Wen was actually Loid. After hearing her 'father's' thoughts on this particularly dangerous action for him, she left even more distressed. 'Papa!'
Anya started bawling out which shocked Loid. However, he was still wearing the mask of Wen, and responded accordingly with a glower. "Shut up kid! You're okay! I'm not gonna hurt ya! You don't have to be scared!"
Instead she cried even more and even held onto his shirt. "PAPA!"
"I get she's a kid, but wouldn't Twilight find that weird?" Ruby asked.
"Um, not really sis. A kid crying and calling for their pops isn't weird at all. It's actually pretty normal!" Yang pointed out.
"I know that…" Ruby said with a pout, "I mean if she's pretty smart, wouldn't she suspect Twilight of finding that suspicious due to his spy thinking skills-thingy?"
"Hmm…when you put it like that…"
The spy's glower deepened due to this. '... This is why kids suck.'
'Yeah…I guess I know why the sound of them crying makes my blood run cold.'
As Twilight was running, a flashback began to visualize.
'Because it reminds me of my own rotten childhood...'
A younger Twilight was shown, crying amidst a pile of rubble in a ruined city. The destroyed cars and buildings made the scene look desolate.
'Not a single person out there ever tried to save me. I was completely alone and powerless in the world. The only thing I could do was cry. I thought I left all that baggage behind, but I guess you can't do that forever. Something's going to trigger those memories…'
Many eyes widened and a lot of the teachers and hunters-in-training felt sympathy for the spy. Even a lot of the faunus, and Adam felt bad too. He unconsciously touched his scar once again.
Mercury felt a bit uncomfortable seeing Twilight's memories. He didn't know why.
As the two got out of the building, Twilight, still as Fake Wen, kneeled down to put down Anya, and got out a piece of paper. He then scribbled down information and instructions for the girl to follow. "Now listen to me, little girl."
"Anya!"
"So listen Anya. Me and my pals there - we're all pro tag players. When we see someone who looks like they can play, we challenge them to a game."
Twilight was crafting an alibi. However, Anya knew the truth. 'Huh. Papa is a liar...'
The spy then pointed with his pen to a straight road on their left. "Look, if you start heading down this street and turn right, you'll find the police station." Twilight then held up the paper he was writing on to Anya. "If you can hand this paper over to the police officers, you win the game! You got that?"
"Ah. The game technique. It was fun to use for a while, until you two got smarter!" Tai said whilst ruffling Ruby's hair and avoiding that for Yang, since she'd get angry.
"Daaaad!"
Jaune smiled at the scene. I guess every kid goes through the game technique!
'If she shows them this, she'll be put in a better orphanage. I can't have a kid be mixed up in this mission. Gotta rework the whole plan.'
Anya accepted the paper, but when she heard the second part of Loid's thoughts, she looked scared again. She was about to protest but Twilight interrupted her, as he got back up.
"Alright! Now run!" He told her, pointing towards the street.
Anya then ran towards the station.
Loid saw her run as he went back to thinking. '... I'm not cut out to be a spy? No…I just should've never put this kid in danger. How could I forget that I'm working to create the kind of world where kids won't have to cry like that? THAT'S WHY I'M A SPY!'
He turned back to the direction of the abandoned building, as he scraped off the mask of 'Wen' and threw it aside. Meanwhile, Anya had turned around and heard his thoughts. The young girl's eyes widened in amazement.
"So cool!" Nora said.
Jaune looked at the man in awe. That was the type of person he wanted to be.
Many of the teachers were smiling at the man's thoughts. Twilight was a good man. Taiyang was smiling widely especially - since it was technically him.
However, Mercury found that uncomfortable feeling turning into annoyance. Seriously? What a shitty reason!
Emerald saw Mercury's scowl and smirked. "Why do you look so mad?"
"I'm not mad, what are you talking about?" He snarked.
"Oh come on. You disliked what Twilight was thinking right?"
"Of course I do! The world treats you like that, and you decide to do some goodie-goodie bullshit?" He scoffed. "And why is that girl looking at him like that? It's annoying!" Mercury's eyes then widened. Was he…bitter? Bitter that Anya might have a better father than he did? That Twilight chose to be a good person despite a bad past unlike his shitty old man?
Yeah right. I'm just overthinking it. His stomach continued to make him feel uneasy.
Meanwhile, back inside the building, the door that Twilight locked was busted open - and out came a bunch of Edgar's henchman.
Edgar shouted out his orders in a rage. "Don't let him get away!
One of his henchmen told the others - "We're gonna drag him out of here and show his face to the whole-!"
The man did not finish his sentence as he set off a wire trap, and the entire area became surrounded with flour that went up and covered the room.
"Okay…where the hell did that come from?" Roman said. "No way he had enough time to set that off!"
"Oi. Don't underestimate the skills of Twilight!" Ruby said to the crook.
Roman rolled his eyes but had a smile. "Yeah yeah…whatever you say, Red."
"It's a trap!"
"When did he…"
All of the henchmen and Edgar tensed up, expecting Twilight to strike amidst the chaos.
One of the men coughed. "Is this flour? Or-"
His question was interrupted, as he was knocked out.
Another man heard that, and aimed a gun in the area where the strike came from. "Is that Twilight?!"
"Don't shoot! It'll blow!" Another man warned the other.
However, the other guy had his gun grabbed, before getting knocked out by a palm strike to the face.
Twilight then methodically took out the rest of the henchmen, leaving only Edgar - who was still trying to find him.
"Smart tactic to choose flour since it's flammable," Penny pointed out.
"What in the-?!" Edgar said in shock. The dust from the flour cleared, showing all of his men down, and groaning in pain. "You're kidding me!"
A gun was then pointed at the back of his head. Edgar put his hands up in surrender. "Turn around and you're dead." Twilight said. He looked irate, and his blue eyes were hardened like chips of ice.
"Damn. He looks serious!" Sun said. "I'm kinda scared, to be honest."
Raven saw how Twilight looked, and felt a bit sad. Why couldn't Tai be like that? If he was, he could've…
"Twilight…" Edgar growled.
"Good day. Or perhaps, good evening, Edgar. Tell me, how's Karen doing?"
Edgar's face became even pale at the mention of his daughter. "How do you know my daughter's name?"
"It's my job. That's what spies do. I know her height, weight, shoe size, favorite food, and the location of every mole on her body. She's got nothing on YOUR rap sheet, but I know all the time she's broken the law-"
"That's absurd! My Karen would never-!"
"That's what all parents say about their kids," Qrow said with a roll of his eyes. Although…he looked at Yang.
Said person sighed. "You're never going to forget that, huh?"
"Oh I will! If you can control your temper."
"Edgar!"
The single utterance of his name stopped the retort. "I also know how much you care about your daughter. So listen."He pressed the gun even more onto Edgar's head as the spy began to shake in rage. "If you want your precious girl to have any kind of a normal life…then you will leave me the hell alone!"
To accentuate his point, Twilight shot the gun that was next to Edgar's foot, making it clatter further to the side.
Edgar looked at the gun in shock.
"If you want that, go home. NOW."
"I'd cut my losses and just leave him alone if I were him," Roman said. "That's all I'm gonna say."
Now outside the building, and carrying his jacket in his hand, Loid was walking to the station when he noticed Anya down on the sidewalk playing with a colony of ants.
"Anya?"
"Papa!" She ran to him and immediately hugged his leg, holding him tightly. "PAPA!"
"Uh…you're still here- I mean, what are you doing outside of the house? I, uh, just came down here to do a little shopping!" Loid said, trying to keep his cover. "But I guess they're out of business…"
'Papa's a big time liar.' Anya thought, as she was still hugging Loid.
"So she stayed behind," Ghira uttered.
"Yeah. It made sense. She wasn't going to leave after she heard his thoughts," Kali said.
"I was just out playing tag with some old guy," she said, looking up at the spy now.
"Oh…Did you have fun?"
She went back to hugging his leg. "It was kinda scary. I wanna go home. Back to our place, Papa."
This shocked Loid, as his eyes widened at Anya's statement. "... You do? You're sure?"
"If you leave me behind, I'm gonna cry."
At that point, Loid remembered reading Anya's document from Franky. 'Anya Williams, Anya Levski, Anya Roche…'
"I see. Okay, well let's get home then." He patted her head. In response, she looked up at him in shock, with tears welling up in her eyes. Despite that, she was happy.
Many in the audience felt happy to see Twilight accept his role as a father. All of their thoughts could be encapsulated by the words of a certain blonde huntress-in-training.
"Awwww! They're so cute! I love it!"
"Though we should move out of that dangerous apartment." Loid added. "I actually saw a venomous snake there."
"I don't like snakes!"
Now in a cable car, Anya smiled at her father. 'Papa might be the world's biggest liar, but he's a cool liar!'
"I wanna live in a castle." Anya enthusiastically stated, giving her proposed place of living.
"Sure, if there's one for rent. But once we're there, you've gotta study." Loid reminded Anya.
The girl groaned in response.
"As long as you memorize all the responses it'll be fine! Easy enough." He assured her.
The screen turned to black.
"Soooo! You guys enjoyed this one?" Chrono asked.
"Yeah! It was so wholesome and fun! Unlike the last two!" Nora said. Pretty much everyone was in agreement.
"It was okay…" Mercury said.
Since there was no real discussion this time, Chrono continued. "Alright! Well then, it's time for the next viewing!" Chrono announced, before grinning widely. "And this one…it'll be good!"
Ozpin didn't like the smile on their host's face. "How exactly…?"
"Because this time, I'm showing you all A POTENTIAL FUTURE~!"
And that's it for Spy X Family! I thought it was obvious to have Taiyang be Twilight/Loid Forger. It just made the most sense. There was no need to subvert expectations by having someone else be him (like with Ironwood being Landa in the last chapter) since this chapter was more easy-going. I could've used Jaune since he's also blond like Twilight, but I figured that it'd be weird to do with Taiyang being an option.
I found the themes and conflict that Twilight goes through being very relevant for many characters such as Mercury, since for him, I can see him being bitter and somewhat finding Anya annoying, and him being in denial in regards to his bitterness. Then there's the expected reactions of Taiyang equating Twilight's experiences in fatherhood with his, and Yang finding Anya adorable etc.
[1] - A common fanon joke. Since Taiyang married both Raven and Summer of Team STRQ, people joked that Qrow was also part of it. Kinda weird though, since you know…Raven and Qrow are related.
[2] - Not sure if this was already figured out, but I think the reason 'Meow' results in Cipher C (at least in the Dub) is because CATS MEOW. What does Cat begin with? C. BOOM, FIGURED IT OUT!
[3] - Always found it a bit weird that Ruby and Yang have different last names despite having the same dad. So I figured Jaune would be confused as well.
[4] - They said 'Wen' (at least that's what I think they say) in the dub, instead of Nguyen. It fits more too, since Westalis and Ostania are basically Germany in the 60s. A guy with an Asian name there would seem a bit weird (I know Wen sounds Asian too, but it could pass off as German too - e.g. Wenne).
AND NOW TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS/SUGGESTIONS FROM REVIEWS:
Oropher420: That's pretty much the headcanon I have too. Basic being 'the common language' seems like a good fact too. Grimm forcing everyone to speak the same language makes sense, especially since in canon - conflicts between people had to be stopped whenever Grimm got involved too.
netapel: Those are great suggestions! I haven't thought of using Kingsman, and Ozpin as Galahad makes A LOT of sense. In fact, I could see Colin Firth being Oz in a live-action version of RWBY (should it ever happen). I'll keep that in mind. As for Spider-Man, Sun as the titular character is a pretty good fit, he seems like the type of person who can quip (that being said, I don't think he really did quip in battle in the series lol), and the idea of a monkey faunus have spider powers in another show would make for a hilarious reaction.
mastergamer14, Zekken182: You guys nailed it! It was in fact Taiyang. If I revisit Spy X Family in another chapter, you can also expect Raven to be Yor. I think seeing the remnants of Team STRQ (and Yang) see Raven as a good mom in Yor would be comedy.
See you guys next time!
NEXT CHAPTER: PvP (RWBY CANON)