He strolled through the streets. For most people, doing that here at night was a dangerous decision.

There were eyes on Him, but that was normal here, He guessed. To them, He was a new face. Someone they might be able to shake down for some cash or a guy to watch out for, and since he was tall and fairly well-muscled, just someone to keep an eye on.

The thought made Him chuckle. Them worrying about him was like an ant worrying about getting trampled by someone's foot.

Luckily for them, He was only passing by. Most of the people in this district weren't even worth His attention anyway. The streets were covered with ugly graffiti and littered with trash. Underneath that stench, His sensitive nose could catch whiffs of the drugs that the idiots around here took. When he looked through the walls and inside some of the buildings, catching the addicts acting out in their highs.

He cut off his X-ray vision, seeing enough, but He still heard their annoying hooting and hollering. Not to mention that besides them were the other nobodies. A lot of them were teenagers high on the little power they got from a knife or gun instead of a drug. Although He noted with interest that there was a rogue huntsman or two, easily identifiable if they had their aura up. If they didn't, it was clear by the way they moved. Even when relaxed, they controlled their muscles with a dexterity that just wasn't present in a normal person.

He stopped by one of the houses. He hadn't planned to, but He and Cinder were planning to clear out some of the established criminals here eventually. Now was as good a time to start as any. Plus, there was something else He wanted to try.

Once the door opened, He barely even glanced at whoever opened it before He sped up. A good shove forced the man back at the ones behind him, which would take care of them too when they collided. Although before he did, He still had plenty of time to get rid of everyone else inside. It would have been easy enough to force an arm or hand through them, but using their bodies or any objects inside the house as projectiles avoided stains.

In an instant, everything that he'd set into motion raced off and slammed into the people and walls. Besides bones breaking and flesh being squashed, bottles and needles shattered. The room had been dirty already, but now it was covered in splotches of red. Although He'd stepped aside from any blood that would have landed on him.

"What the hell?" There was a voice upstairs. The only other living person in the building besides Him, and the reason why He'd made a detour here.

In a few seconds, he came down the stairs. His face exploded in shock when they saw the room. "What the-who the hell are you?!"

As His answer, He picked up one of the guns that had been lying around and threw it at the rogue huntsman's face at a fairly decent speed. Well, decent by huntsman standards anyway. As expected, even though he moved to dodge, aura instinctively came up to protect the region.

Then, he fell over dead, confirming what He'd thought. He'd already known that aura wasn't very resistant against heat vision, but the amount of heat he'd just used was the same as it would have taken to kill a normal person.

That was because He'd sent the heat vision in through the eyes and into the brain, leaving thin, burning pits inside his skull. Aura hadn't blocked it. Nice to know, He still had enough kryptonite to power Him for a good while, but He needed to plan ahead.

He left the building, and now turned his eyes to the two He'd come here to meet. They'd gotten some rooms in a pretty nice place, which must have been pricey here. The building was big, not much to look at on the outside, but inside it was clean and well-furnished.

It wasn't Roman's place. Based on the other people inside, the owner provided rooms and other services for the criminals in this town. Once He walked in, a woman at the desk greeted him. After explaining that He was a visitor here and which room he wanted to go to, she called Roman and confirmed that He could come in. This place took its security seriously, a pair of guards escorted Him to the door.

Once they arrived and Roman opened the door, they left. He was dressed more casually than usual, in a plain white shirt and long black pants. "Sorry, didn't know you were coming."

"That's fine, I didn't give you a heads up. Is Neo here?" He knew she was, but still asked to be on the safe side. X-ray vision and super-hearing had proven very useful against them, and it pretty much only worked when they didn't know about those abilities.

"Yeah, right here." Roman tilted his head towards a couch inside where Neo was sitting. As Roman let Him in, her eyes tracked Him. Not as fearful as they used to be, but still constantly aware of Him.

It might have been fun to change that, but not now. Not when He had an offer for them that they probably wouldn't accept if he scared them off.

"Hey." He didn't smile when greeting her. Clark's usual dumb, innocent grin usually put them on edge, probably made them think He was trying to hide something. To be fair though, He usually was.

Neo nodded back to Him politely. He sat down a good distance across from her.

"You want something to eat or drink?" Roman asked. "They keep some quality stuff stocked up here."

An offer of food and drink. That was how he tended to open when Cinder visited him, and he used the same respectful tone with Him.

He didn't need that, but it was appreciated. "No, I'm good. Actually, I'm here to give you a couple things."

"Really? What is it?" Roman's voice was curious but also guarded.

"First is a warning. We're not in Vale anymore, and since Clark's zooming around the city of Mistral like a moron, Cinder feels like she doesn't have that much use for you two anymore. And you can probably tell how she feels about loose ends, especially ones that know about her and Salem."

Judging by their looks, they'd picked up what he'd put down. Poor them. If Clark hadn't gone through Mistral's crime efficiently, Cinder would have sent them there with some tasks for her plans for Haven.

"I had the feeling she was being too quiet," Roman said. "Thanks for the warning."

"You're welcome," He replied. "Let me ask you something. If she sent Mercury and Emerald after you two, who would come out on top?"

"Hmm, I'd say-

"And no lying. You're good at it, but remember, I'm better at catching them," He said. This time, he let his teeth show as a bit of warning.

"Them," Roman said. "Assuming we encounter each other in a street and fight, Neo and I have a chance, but not a good one."

"So your only chance is to run."

"Yeah, but I'm not putting a lot of hope on that either."

"Wow, you're really stuck between a rock and a hard place, huh?"

Roman nodded. He squirmed at having to give honest answers, and his discomfort came with an adorable response from little Neo. Her eyes focused on Him, not with outright hostility, she wouldn't dare, but she was clearly irritated.

Alright, He'd let them have a break. "Luckily for you, I'm good at breaking hard things."

It took a moment for Roman to see what he was offering. "You mean, you're giving me a way out?" Surprise and skepticism filled his and Neo's expressions.

"Specifically, a way out of your current situation with Cinder," He said. "And it's simple, I'll vouch for you."

Roman blinked at the offer. "That'd be nice, and I don't want to sound ungrateful, but why would you do that?"

"I'm not doing it for free, of course," He replied, clearing up their confusion. To them, gifts given freely were suspicious, but give and take was standard.

"Okay, I'm interested. How exactly are you going to vouch for us?"

"Don't worry, it'll be more than enough to get Cinder off your back. You're gonna help us set up here, but there's going to be some downtime until we put our plans into action. So, rather than Cinder thinking about getting rid of you during then, I'll tell her that I gave you some tasks. I might give you a few real ones, but nothing like what Cinder had you do with the train and the Atlas ship back in Vale. The two of you will have plenty of time to relax."

"Sounds like a very good deal for us," Roman and Neo exchanged a look, apparently getting each other's agreement. Then, he turned back to Him. "What would you get in return?"

"I'm not asking for much. I just want you to carefully think about what would happen if I butted heads with Cinder or any of her friends." He looked to the side and let his eyes glow red for a little effect.

There was a little stutter in their breath, but they quickly relaxed. It had been a good choice to aim it away. They were probably thinking of how heat vision could cut through bodies like they weren't even there, aura or not. When really, His little experiment earlier had shown that he hardly needed to try against anyone who wasn't Clark.

Well, except for Salem. X-ray vision had given Him a very strange view of her, but still confirmed she was human. However, listening to her little minions had also verified that she was very old. Combined with how He'd seen her cells behave, she was probably immortal, which explained their confidence that she'd succeed.

Salem had magic too. Both Clark's memories and the knowledge He'd gleaned from other prisoners in the Phantom Zone showed that magic was tricky to deal with. He hadn't seen her use much of it besides the Seer Grimm, but it was safest to assume hers wasn't as straightforward as Cinder's. She probably had sneakier stuff than elemental magic and summoning weapons.

He'd have to be careful with her, but He could do it. She might be immortal, although it might be fun to see if she could recover from being burned to ash. Even if she could, that didn't mean he couldn't throw her into space. That solution was more than good enough.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I don't need an answer now," He said. "Just think about it. You're both smart though. You can figure out what a yes or a no will lead to, and when you give me one or the other, I'll take that as you accepting what comes your way."

There, a nice way of saying 'yes or else.' Except the 'or else' wasn't just the threat of Cinder over their heads. It was Him too.

It was a bit mean when He thought about it. Before, they'd been between a rock and a hard place. Now, they were about to suffocate under a pile of rubble, and He was the only one who could pull them out.

\\\\\

The Interference hadn't been at all what Andrea had expected. Before that night at the Umbrella Rocks, she'd thought it would be more daunting, more secretive, and more difficult to join than she could imagine.

Instead, a man with a friendly, reassuring voice had appeared and accepted them after asking a few questions. Not just that, he'd told them so much, that the Interference was a small, temporary group.

Normally, she'd have called all those actions stupid, but Farmer certainly hadn't been. He'd watched them and judged their answers carefully. What criteria he'd used was a mystery, but she found it hard to doubt him.

And why had she talked so much about how terrible this city was? It was easy to blame Phil, since he'd started off saying so much, but that was a weak excuse. Farmer had looked at her, asked if she wanted to say more, and she'd spouted off like a hose.

Why had she done that? She wouldn't have even shared that much with Phil, and she'd said it in front of some stranger. He seemed trustworthy, but she should have known better than that!

Andrea shook her head and focused on her current task. She needed more information about Farmer and the Interference if she didn't want to go round and round in her head with the same questions without getting any answers. Here, she might get some.

She was going into position for the mission Farmer had given them before his sudden exit. Their current long-term target was the police chief, Simon Atreus, who'd kept his position by maintaining the status quo and licking the boots of the Council. This mission was only the first step in taking him down, but it was an important one.

"Phil," she waved to her partner. Like her, he wore casual clothes instead of his uniform. Just as Farmer had instructed.

"You ready?" he asked, the nervous question sounded like it was more to reassure himself than check up on her.

"Yeah," Andrea answered anyway and reached into her purse for the walkie-talkie that Farmer had given them. It was a pretty good three-way device that had had a large enough range to reach anywhere in the city. "We're in position."

"I see you," Farmer replied. "You can walk around for the next twenty minutes, but stick together and make sure you can come back to the elevator quickly."

"Understood," Andrea said and put the walkie-talkie back.

"So, is there anywhere you want to go?" Phil asked.

They were on one of the middle levels of Mistral, which meant lots of tourist traffic. The courtyard in front of the elevator was already full of people walking around or taking pictures, and the colorful market stalls were visible from here. Noise filled the street too, and occasionally Andrea could catch a word or two from one of the louder vendors.

"Not really, let's just stick around here," she said. There wasn't enough time to go anywhere else, and she wasn't interested in exploring.

"Sounds good."

Besides the crowds, the courtyard also had some good views of the city. Like anywhere else high up and far away from the lowest levels. While she looked out into the waterfalls and cliffs, Phil went to one of the statues in the center. It was made of bronze and formed a tall man in heavy armor, pointing his spear up into the sky.

Then, she walked over to him. "You a fan of him?"

"Not really."

She blinked twice at the unexpected answer. "How come?"

"Well, I looked up to him a lot when I was younger like a lot of other kids. After all, he's Acrisius Vlahos, the hero who turned back the Beringel Horde, rallied huntsmen against pirates, saved the city, and a whole bunch of other stuff."

"What changed your mind?"

Phil kept his eyes on the statue. "Reading up more about him. He was an amazing huntsman, but he didn't show a lot of regard for those who went on hunts with him. Exterminating Grimm was the focus for him, not protecting the people so there's a terribly high fatality rate for the huntsmen who went with him. That's not all, he hated faunus. It's not proven, but historians think that he refused aid to a few towns with high faunus populations."

Andrea frowned at the statue, seeing it in a new light. "Huh, they don't teach that in school."

"No they don't." Phil faced her. "You know, he reminds me of the Interference."

"Really?" Her eyes widened. "You think they're actually assholes or something?"

"No no!" He shook his head quickly. "I don't think that at all. I think that they're good, great, I want them to be, but I can't help worrying sometimes that I'll be blindsided if there's some deeper truth to them."

Andrea patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll remind you to keep your eyes open."

"Thanks," he smiled faintly. "Hopefully, I'm right about them, and I'll be able to show you that sometimes it's good to have a little faith."

Faith. It had seemed insane that Phil trusted the Interference so easily, so it was good to know that he wasn't blindly following them. Still, she needed to stay alert for both their sakes. The Interference seemed to have good intents, and while it would be nice if that were true, it almost never was in the real world.

Their walkie-talkies crackled and Farmer's voice came through. "It's almost time, are you two ready?"

Phil took his out first. "Yeah, we're ready."

"I see you. Petridis is approaching from Third street and will probably be there in about three minutes. You've seen his picture, and right now he's wearing a white dress shirt and green pants. He also has a brown briefcase with him. Did you get that?"

"We got it."

"Good, I'm ready to assist you if necessary. From now on, we'll maintain radio silence unless it's an emergency."

They followed his instructions and headed down Third street. Their interception of Petridis had to look like an accident. If any other police found out it was planned, then Atreus would find out, and officers that got in his way tended to disappear.

That piece of news had been a surprise to Phil. Not as much to Andrea, she hadn't been certain, but there used to be talk about Atreus' rise to his position years ago. Although back then, she'd talked to very different people.

What had been a surprise was how Farmer had warned them before asking if they still wanted to accept the mission.

Another thing to think about. How could warning them help the Interference? Kindness alone could hardly be the answer, but she couldn't think of any self-serving reason. It couldn't just be a question of whether they were dedicated, this was an important move on attacking the root of the problems in Mistral.

A minute or so down the street, they saw Christopher Petridis. He was wearing the clothes Farmer had described, and he was a thin man with average height. He was also an assistant to Councilor Dolus and a liaison between him and Atreus. At least, according to Farmer.

They were only a few steps away from him. And then, it was hard, but they walked past him.

"Hey, wait a second," Andrea said and turned around. "Excuse me, sir? Sir?"

Petridis faced her with an unsure expression. "Do you mean me?"

"Yes, are you Christopher Petridis?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I am. Why?"

She took out her badge. "You're under arrest."

"What? What for?" He flinched away when she approached with the handcuffs that Phil handed her. She usually didn't carry those off-duty, and neither did Phil, but it wasn't completely unbelievable for him.

"You'll be able to hear your charges at the station," she said. "Phil, where's the nearest one?"

"Uh, I think there's one on this level about four blocks away." He pointed to the direction and reached forward. He was doing okay at acting so far. "Here, I'll handle him, and you be on back-up."

"Wait, wait," Petridis let out a frustrated huff as they kept marching forward. "Look, I know that weird things have been happening with cops recently, but I have somewhere important to be. And I have friends! Powerful friends. Let me go and I can get some money sent over to you, lots of it."

"If you're trying to bribe us, then that's another charge against you," Andrea said from behind him. Her pistol was out, but held low.

His eyes shot wide open at the gun. "You-you can't be serious. There's no point in doing this, I'll be out anyway. I'm telling you, f you speed up right now, you two can get pretty well off!"

Andrea shook her head. Even with Petridis' connections, the evidence that Farmer had given them would be hard to fight in court. And if he tried it now? When the Interference had the public focusing on dirty cops in the force? He'd probably weasel his way into some leniency, but his career was done for and his bosses would be under suspicion.

\\\\\

The test had gone well. Clark watched Phil and Andrea bring Petridis to the police station and follow the routine for an arrest. He was talking to the officers here, trying to cut deals with them instead, but they didn't accept.

That was because Clark had distributed copies of the evidence he'd gathered on Petridis to police all over the city. About fifteen minutes before Phil and Andrea had made the arrest, he'd flashed around and dropped off the envelopes with evidence of Petridis' crimes. Records of large amounts of money transferred to Petridis from various corporations and families, flash drives with testimonies from the few relatives of silenced individuals that Clark had been able to find, even a few images of Petriis in suspicious locations. Much of it also implicated Chief of Police Simon Atreus and Councilor Dolus.

It had taken Clark weeks to gather it all. Christopher Petridis was an aide to Dolus. Who, as far as Clark could tell, seemed to be the most influential figure in Mistral's government and just as crooked. However, while there were hints, finding anything substantial on his corruption was difficult. Even harder than it was for Atreus. Their subordinates and associates had easier trails though, and if enough of them fell, they'd be dragged down with them.

Although if Jade Ophel had shared her husband's findings, maybe Clark would have been able to discredit them directly.

The evidence on Petridis would have to be a start. Pretty much every officer in the city had received it, even those off-duty. That had been necessary considering that Petridis had just met with the chief of police on Dolus' instructions on how to deal with the Interference. Arresting him just after the meeting would have been suspicious otherwise. It still was, actually, but hopefully not enough for Andrea or Phil to be in danger.

It seemed like Dolus had Chief Atreus under his thumb, sending an aide to basically give instructions to him. However, they'd been careful to avoid any incriminating wording. Dolus wanted the chief of police to be more active on the group that was interfering with them. Put up more security cameras, try a few gambits to lure out the Interference and arrest any suspicious figures who show up. Not really that different from what the criminal families had already started, although this was more organized.

Clark wouldn't have even needed to listen in. He was always careful to check with X-ray vision and super-hearing, so while they might put some more sophisticated plans into action, he wouldn't need to worry about it.

However, the fact that the meeting had still taken place proved that Phil and Andrea were sincere. Clark had told them that he planned to make a move against the chief of police, and even after telling them the time, Dolus hadn't changed his plans to send Petridis to the chief. Sacrificing Petridis just to have one or two agents infiltrate the Interference wasn't worth it.

Phil and Andrea left the station, and when they were far enough away from other people, Clark broke radio silence and contacted them. "There's an alley up ahead to your right. Go inside and I'll meet you there."

Clark reached it first and waited. It felt strange meeting people during the day with his dark outfit and mask, but he couldn't exactly wear his normal clothes. When they entered, he raised a hand in greeting. "Good work you two, you passed."

"Passed?" Phil asked.

"Yes, you're both trusted members of the Interference now."

Andrea seemed to realize what he meant. "Wait, so this was some kind of test?"

"It was. I wanted to see if you would warn Petridis and prevent the meeting between him and Atreus that allowed you to arrest him after he left. You didn't, so you passed."

"Well, damn, good to see you guys have some precautions on letting people join," Andrea said.

"Yes, I wouldn't have let just anybody work with us," Clark said. Some pride filled their eyes at his words.

"So, what do you need us to do next?" Phil asked.

"For now, that's uncertain, but I'll contact you," Clark answered. "Before that though, I'd like to address what you mentioned at that statue. The one of Acrisius Vlahos."

"Really? Um, what about it?"

"You compared the Interference to Vlahos, so I'd like to address any misconceptions you might have about us."

"Oh, that!" Phil winced. "I'm sorry, I don't really think you're secretly racist or anything. I'm sure you all good people who want to do the right thing."

"Thank you, but that's not what I meant. You seem to think very highly of the Interference, and while we're flattered, we're not deserving of it. We're people with a lot of resources who want to use them to help, and we're not even very sure how to use them."

That caught Andrea's attention, but Phil just nodded at Clark's words. "Yeah, I understand. Before, when I didn't know that much about you guys, it was easier to let my imagination run wild. It won't happen again."

"That's good. Again, thank you for your help today, and goodbye." Rather than leaving by super-speed, Clark jumped up. He could have reached the top of the building in a single bound, but instead he hopped from side to side on the ledges.

He heard rather than saw their surprise, but it was easy for them to accept it as the work of a huntsman. Although if they'd seen him seemingly vanish once he reached the roof, they might have reconsidered that thought.