Clark relaxed in Beacon's courtyards and flicked through articles on his scroll. For once, he wasn't looking for the phantom. Nope, this time he was reading about himself. Or rather, the Dart.

Meaning of the S & Shield? The Dart's Not Knocking Out Anymore. S Stands for What? Awake and Tied Up.

The media had blown up with stories ever since he'd changed his ways of dealing with criminals. Instead of just rushing by at super-speed, he now used heat vision to etch in the crest of the House of El where he'd helped out.

After that, there couldn't be any doubt that he existed, and most people had reacted positively to the evidence. He wasn't one for fame, or infamy, but he needed to be more concrete for them. Let them know that he was there.

He'd debated over whether or not to use the crest, but it was part of his heritage. Even if Jor-El could be a jerk, his birth family still had values he was proud of.

It also gave criminals pause now that they knew for certain he was around. He'd also changed how he apprehended them. He could control his strength well enough to make knocking them out quick and easy, but he'd read a few articles on the dangers of that method. He was always careful, and so far, nobody had been seriously injured. But as the number of people he stopped got bigger the chance that one of them would suffer serious head trauma was too high.

Clark's new method was just grabbing anything nearby, and tying criminals up at superspeed for the police. Street signs and fence posts were what he normally used, although he had to be careful not to rip out anything important like stop signs.

He'd even used freeze breath on a couple.

\\\\\

"He's bragging!" Councilor Owen Asenich fumed at the table, his face red. "He's not satisfied knocking out criminals anymore. He's leaving his damn mark all over the city!"

"Calm down." Maria Floren, his fellow Councilor, said in an even voice. "Has there been any progress on your part in our plans to deal with him?"

"None." His jowls wobbled as he shook his head. "Trying to investigate him directly is almost pointless. Nobody knows who he is or what he looks like, and he doesn't leave a trace unless he wants to."

Maria nodded, that corroborated her own efforts. "And our . . . other endeavors?"

"No response so far."

She sighed. Maria was not as open as Asenich was with her frustration, but she certainly felt it. The Dart had forced his way into her home, without any resistance, and taken her to the Emerald Forest. If he'd wanted to, he could have left her there to die.

From what she'd seen, he could have ripped her apart with his bare hands. Just like how Cedar Monroe had done to those power plant workers weeks ago. Maria had been curious regarding how a man with no record of aura or combat training had become so powerful, but the Dart had forced her to put her investigations to rest.

"Utterly useless, the lot of them!" Asenich shouted, and his large body shook with his rage. "We need to do more, find better people."

Despite his tantrums, Asenich was not a stupid man. He'd been on the Council far longer than most previous Councilors. He knew how to play the game and played it well.

At first glance, it may have seemed like Asenich had invited Maria to his home to rant and rave about the Dart. Maria would admit that he was currently doing so, but there was more to this meeting. They both knew the importance of the Dart's new methods. It was a mystery as to what his symbol meant, but by marking them, he was making waves. Nobody could ignore him now. Even with his identity unknown, he could gain public acclaim.

"We have to be careful." She said. "The actions we take against him could turn out worse than we think if they're discovered. He has connections after all." Referring to the Dart's final instruction to give any suppressed news to Ozpin and General Ironwood.

"Really? Have you found anything to confirm it?"

"No, but are you really willing to risk it?"

Asenich scowled. "You're right, it's too dangerous." He admitted.

Exactly. The connection to Ozpin was more likely, since the headmaster had calmly spoken to the Council about meeting the Dart. He wasn't one to allow disrespectful treatment such as being ordered by a stranger, and he was certainly powerful enough to fight.

Yet the headmaster hadn't made any of his own moves against the Dart. Maria's sources had confirmed that the only others asking questions about the vigilante in any organized way were Asenich's people.

The connection to General Ironwood was less concrete, she and Asenich only had the Dart's statement to go off of. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility, Ozpin and the Atlesian general were close friends. That didn't necessarily prove anything. The statement about Ironwood could have been a bluff to fool them, but the alternative was too risky.

Ozpin and Ironwood each had the resources to uncover most of what Asenich or Maria could do against the Dart. It wasn't possible to be too cautious in these circumstances.

"I have influence on the news." Asenich brought up. "I'm sure you do too. We could change public opinion on him, get the people to hate him."

"No." She said. It was an idea that had merit, but the Dart wasn't an upstart politician they could mudsling. "If he tracks it down to us, it could be a disaster. Do you want him to invade our homes again? Besides, even if it works, all he has to do is go back into hiding. I doubt either of us would be satisfied with that."

"I certainly won't, but what do you suggest?"

"That we wait."

He scoffed. "In other words, you want us to do nothing?"

"No." She corrected. "I suggest we wait. Our agents have been working on this for less than a week. The Dart is elusive, and they'll need time. I doubt the other plans we have in place will be successful, but one may get lucky and succeed. In the meantime, we'll give the Dart the appearance that we're compliant. Perhaps find some story to suppress and send it to Ozpin and the general as proof."

He glared at her, obviously he had other plans in mind. "And if I disagree?"

She met his hard eyes. "You're no fool Asenich. You saw what he could do. I'm not willing to risk my life recklessly, and neither should you be."

Asenich grit his teeth, but nodded in agreement. "Very well. I'll play along, but only for a number of weeks. Until then, I'll make sure to get rid of the men scouring through my home for any trace of the Dart."

\\\\\

Clark stood on top of the apartment building in central Vale as he watched over the city. It had been a slow night, which was good. He'd only found a few criminals to take care of. Their feet had been suddenly encrusted in blocks of ice, and their weapons knocked out of their hands.

Clark was making progress. Crime rates really had gone down after he'd started burning his symbol into walls or sidewalks with heat vision. It took a bit longer to deal with them this way, but it was worth it.

"No! No! Please, let me go!" A shrill voice cried out from southern Vale.

Clark jumped off the building and sped off to the voice's source.

\\\\\

Argenta woke up with a groan and looked around. Where am I? she wondered and brushed away her silver hair from her eyes.

This wasn't her apartment. She was in a small room, about the size of her bathroom, and there was a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. The walls were gray and covered in graffiti. There weren't any windows, just a single door.

She winced as she got up. Her head ached and she felt like she was going to throw up.

Argenta tried to remember what she could. She . . . she'd been out with friends, drinking and talking to guys at a bar. Having fun like she usually did. Obviously, she'd had too much to drink, since the last thing she remembered at all was walking out and planning to go back home. She must have passed out somewhere.

The realization of where she was finally got to her. Oh God, oh god, had she been kidnapped? Her scroll! Where was her scroll?! She needed to call the police. She felt her pockets, empty. Then she desperately looked around the room, but couldn't find it. There was just a water bottle, some snacks, and a bucket in the corner.

It was okay, it was okay. Iris and Diane would notice, they'd call the police and she'd be fine.

She ran up to the door and pounded on the metal. "Hey! Hey! Where am I? Let me out!"

There wasn't any response, so she sat back down and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

She must have spent hours in that room, and it had been impossible not to panic at first. But she couldn't maintain that frightened mindset for long. She took a few deep breaths, and sat in the corner. When she got hungry, she ate some of the crackers provided.

She thought about what would happen after the police found her. Her friends and parents would have been worried, but everything would be fine. She'd missed her classes, but her professors would understand.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Wait! What about her dog Manny? What if he didn't get food? No, no, Iris would take care of him. She loved that adorable little furball almost as much as Argenta did.

It would be a day or two before Iris noticed though. Manny had to be really hungry right now.

Hours later, Argenta had to swallow her pride and use the bucket.

Eventually, the doorknob turned, and she stepped back as it opened. She froze when she saw men enter. One of them was bald and had tattoos all over his head, and the other was a faunus with white horns coming out of his head. Both of their faces were covered with bandanas, and they had guns.

They went behind her, and one of them prodded her with his gun. "Move forward."

She couldn't move, it felt like her legs would give any moment.

"Are you stupid, bitch? He said move!" One of them hit her in the face with his gun.

Argenta cried out and fell to the floor.

"Get up." She felt rough hands grab her and pull her back on her feet.

"Walk." He said.

Argenta whimpered as a man shoved her forward, and she started walking. Another man was outside, and he turned and walked. Her steps were shaky, but she managed to keep pace.

They were in a big room, in a warehouse somewhere. She looked around, but she couldn't see well out of her right eye. It was starting to swell, and she didn't want to imagine how bad that would look in a mirror. There were packets of powder on the tables, some old couches up against the wall, and a dirty old fridge by the furniture. The windows were dark, Argenta realized it was the middle of the night.

They walked out, and she gasped when she saw more gangsters. Over twenty of them, and all of them had their faces covered by bandanas. Each one of them had a gun. Pistols or machine guns, and they surrounded her.

"No! No!" She tried to run away, but two of them grabbed her. "Please! Let me go!"

One of them lifted her, and she kicked and screamed. She hit someone, and heard them grunt, before she was thrown on the ground. The side of her body exploded with pain and she groaned weakly.

"Listen." One of them said. "You're go-

Then, everything changed.

Suddenly, she wasn't on the ground anymore, surrounded by people with guns. She was on her feet, and in a street with apartment buildings on either side.

"Are you okay?" A voice called out.

She jumped, and turned to see a figure in a dark alley.

"It's okay. You're safe now." He said in a soothing voice. "You're hurt. What were they doing to you?"

Argenta fell to her knees and burst into tears. "I-I don't know, they just took me and l-locked me in a room. They took me outside, a-and all of them had guns!"

"Okay, okay, it's okay." The man slowly walked up to her, and put a hand on her shoulder as she kept her head down and cried. "They won't hurt you anymore. I'm going to bring you to a police station, okay? I'm the Dart, it'll only take a second. Once you're there, you can explain to them what happened."

She felt a slight lurch, and looked up. She was by a police station, just like he'd said.

The Dart. The Dart had brought her here.

He was real.

\\\\\

Clark raced back to the warehouse as quickly as he could. He could feel the heat in his eyes already. He was mad. No, beyond that. He was furious.

The first thing he did when he returned was use heat vision to destroy any lights. Streetlights, the lights inside the warehouse, anything. Then, in another fraction of a second, all of their weapons burned in their hands.

Before a full second had even passed, he flashed behind each one, and knocked them down onto the ground. Hard. He didn't knock them unconscious, but they all landed on their stomachs.

Lastly, he set a couch in the warehouse on fire, so that there would be some shadows for him to hide his face. He stood exactly where the woman had been, in the center of the semi-circle that they made.

"Keep your heads down. If even one of you raises them or gets up. . ." Clark's fist hit into the ground like a cannon, and the boom made them lower their heads even further. To the point that their foreheads touched the ground.

"Which one of you is the leader?" he demanded.

They all remained silent, but Clark noticed that one of them had a bandana wrapped around his head that was a different color than the others. His was black, while the others were red.

He shifted forward at a blinding speed, stopping just as his foot was inches from the kidnapper's eyes. "Is it you?"

"Yeah." He answered in an even voice, but Clark heard his heart pounding in fear.

"You kidnapped a woman, and beat her." Clark said, and waited a moment to see if he would say otherwise. "Why." Not a question, an order.

Before the man could answer, one of the others started to reach for his gun. It was too hot for him to hold, but he didn't seem to realize that. Or maybe he'd risk it anyway.

Clark shifted again, grabbing the weapon and holding the man's wrist in a tight grip. "Stay still." He said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Clark then crushed the gun in his bare hand. Slowly, so they'd hear the metal grinding. He dropped it right next to the man's head, and threw down his arm.

The few who'd had similar ideas laid their hands flat against the ground.

He walked back to the leader, watching the others to make sure they wouldn't make any moves. Clark could see each bead of sweat on their necks, and the pounding heartbeats were impossible to ignore. They were scared.

He pushed down any pity he felt, their fear couldn't have compared to that woman's.

"Explain. Now." Clark ordered. "What were you trying to do?"

"T-to get you here."

Get him here? They hadn't been trying to kill her? They'd used her as bait?!

Clark clenched his fists, and breathed in through his nostrils before regaining composure. "So when I got here, you were going to try and shoot me."

"Y-yeah, we were."

"For what?" Clark said in a cold voice. "Revenge? Is one of your buddies in jail because of me?"

"No, it's not that."

"Then why?!" He yelled, and they all flinched.

The leader responded frantically. "Th-things are bad for people like us! Now that you're here, we can't do like we used to and people are mad, they want to get rid of you. B-but we don't, we don't got any beef with you! We just wanted the money!"

"Money? Explain."

"There's an offer. Anyone who takes care of the Dart gets three hundred thousand lien. Claim it, wait a few days so they can be sure, and we get the money."

"Who offered the reward?"

"I don't know. Nobody does. But it's real, word got out in the street."

"If you don't know, then how would you have claimed the reward?" Clark asked in a carefully controlled tone, his patience was wearing thin.

"There's this guy, he's called Junior. He's the one to go to for info, he'd know."

"Where can I find him?"

"Downtown. He runs a club, address is 807 Turret Rd."

Clark nodded, making note of the information. "Okay, now get up."

The leader paused for a moment, and slowly rose to his feet. He looked at Clark, but his face was hidden in the flame's shadows.

"Pick up your gun." Clark said, and waited as the confused man carefully reached down and grabbed it. He kept his eyes on Clark, probably expecting some kind of trick.

The man held it, but kept it aimed down at the ground. At least he wasn't stupid, he'd realized how fast Clark was.

"Aim at me, and shoot." Clark said.

The man didn't hesitate, bringing up his weapon, and firing at Clark.

The bullets pinged off of Clark, one even hit his face and bounced off.

The man kept shooting, as if one of his shots would eventually work, but none of them did. Clark had come a long way from when bullets used to bruise him. He could feel them squash against his skin, and even the few small flakes of metal. But no pain.

The man eventually used up all his ammo, and looked at Clark with wide, frightened eyes.

"Get back down." Clark said.

The man dropped his gun and scrambled to flatten himself.

"Take your scroll out of your pocket," ordered Clark. "You're going to call the police, and you're going to say your name, the name of your group, where you are, and what you just tried to do. Until they get here, you're going to stay flat on the ground, and none of you are going to resist arrest. I'll be watching. Got that?"

"I do! I do!" The man tried to nod, and shook his head up and down with his forehead hitting the ground. At any other time, Clark might have found it funny.

The leader dialed the police and followed Clark's orders. When he gave the dispatcher all of his information, he looked at Clark for approval, and ended the call when Clark nodded.

"When all of you go to jail, you're going to tell everyone what you saw tonight. The police, news reporters, other criminals, you'll tell them what I'm capable of. Understood?"

"Yeah! Yeah!"

"Got it!"

"We will! We will!"

They all shouted desperately.

"Good." Clark burned the crest of the House of El into the ground, this one fifteen feet wide. He dashed away to a nearby building and kept watch to make sure they kept their word.

\\\\\

Black Mamba Mike's heart stopped racing, but even as the cops cuffed him and shoved him in the car, he couldn't relax. He could still feel the Dart was there. He was watching. Watching to make sure they behaved.

The Dart. Holy fucking hell, the Dart. He and his boys had been so sure that they'd end him. It was all supposed to be a bunch of crap on the news about what the Dart could do. Yeah, he was making things bad for them, but he was just a guy. No way he could take on twenty-four of them ready with pistols and autos.

They'd even had a plan with that college girl that one of them had found. Simple. Make the bitch cry out for as long as it took until the Dart showed up. Then, fill him with bullets. Mike had thought it might take hours or even a few days.

He hadn't thought that the guy would get here before they even started. Or that he'd just knock Mike and all his boys off their feet in a flash.

Mike hadn't been stupid enough to hope when the Dart had let him pick up his gun. He'd been sure it was a trick, maybe the guy would appear right in front of him before he even got the gun up and break his fingers.

Mike shuddered as he remembered the crunching and mangling of the gun that one of the Snakes had tried to use. What had been worse was when the Dart had just stood there as Mike shot him, like the bullets were nothing to him. One had hit him in the face and just bounced off.

Nobody on the streets could take the guy. Except maybe Torchwick's crew, but no one had seen him for weeks. He was smart, he must have run.

The Snakes were fucked, done. The police had rounded them up and found the stashes in the warehouse. The few members who hadn't been here tonight would be eaten up by the other gangs while Mike and the rest rotted in jail.

"Hey, you alright back there?" The cop driving asked.

Mike nodded, he couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened.

A couple guys had fought back when the police had come. Newer blood, young idiots who weren't even street-smart. When they'd pushed against the police, the Dart had tossed them around. Nobody had seen him, but it couldn't have been anyone else.

This had been a fucking screw-up, money wasn't worth it. The Dart was unbeatable.

Mike would get the word out, just like he'd been told to.

\\\\

After the police had rounded up every one of the South Snakes, Clark returned to Central Vale. At the moment, he stood on top of a tall office building.

His eyes were closed, and he focused completely on his hearing. Listening for any sounds of trouble, of someone screaming for help.

Of someone who was suffering like Argenta had. Just because some greedy crooks wanted a reward for the Dart's head.

Clark had tried to do what he could for her. He'd found her purse inside the warehouse. The wallet inside had been empty, but her ID and scroll had been in a nearby drawer. After he'd found them, Clark covertly returned the belongings to the police station where he'd dropped her off.

Clark had caught a glimpse of her still there, and she'd looked to have calmed down. The police had given her a ride home. Since she likely felt unsafe going back on her own.

That made Clark even angrier. An innocent person, who might jump at shadows even in the safety of her own home because others had inflicted something terrible on her.

And it was Clark's fault. The gang had taken her because they'd tried to get at him. Someone was mad enough to offer a lot of money for him.

"Hey, get away from me!" A woman screamed in the distance.

Clark rushed to the sound of the voice. Ready to repeat his actions with the South Snakes.

He arrived to see three women alone, staggering on their feet. They were drunk.

"Get away!" One of the women pushed another who was leaning on her, she was the one Clark had heard. "I don't want puke on this dress."

Clark left, and returned to the same building in a fraction of a second. It took slightly longer for him to leap back on top of it.

He was getting jumpy. He'd waste too much time if he went to every person that raised their voice. The tone was important, and he needed to wait a few seconds for context.

Damn it, he knew that. He'd been doing this for weeks. Even now, he could hear a loud party to the east, a group of teenagers screaming and laughing to the west, a couple arguing about something with raised voices, and more, so much more. Each taking moments to make sure weren't anything serious.

Clark had thought about going downtown and scanning the buildings with X-ray vision, but he'd immediately put the thought away. He wasn't going to spy on people and invade their privacy on the off chance that there was a person in trouble.

He'd have to do what he could like this, and he was not going to let anyone else end up in the same situation as Argenta. Clark hoped that the South Snakes' warnings would be enough to stop other gangs.

It would take a few days to make sure. Until then, Clark would stay in Vale and keep his ear to the wind.

Then, maybe the Dart would ask Junior a few questions.