Clip clop clip clop.

The sound wasn't close, but in an abandoned town, Jaune didn't exactly need Clark's hearing to pick up hooves stepping across cobblestone streets. The five of them kept silent and headed to the sound. When they got close, their huntsman advisor held up a hand for them to stop.

He pointed at Jaune. "You, team leader, come around and look at this."

Jaune peered around the corner, and finally saw the bizarre Grimm. It was like a grotesque centaur, a large horse-like bottom half and a strangely humanoid 'rider' on top. The top half was limp, and its body was riddled with arrows and blades from other people who'd tried to kill it. There had been a scraping sound, and Jaune now realized it was from the arms of the Nuckelavee's top half sliding across the ground.

Jaune took a deep breath. This was only his second mission ever, and it was up against a rare Grimm that he really didn't know anything about.

"What's your plan?" The huntsman advisor asked in a low voice.

He kept his eyes on the Grimm as he answered. "It looks like it's headed near some alleys over there. We should lure it in one of them, make sure it can't run away."

"Okay, how do you plan to do that?"

Jaune turned to his team. He could count on the advisor to help them if he were in trouble, but right now, he could only use his team.

"Pyrrha, Nora, you two will go up ahead and get to the top of the wall at the end of the alley. When you get its attention and it goes inside the alley, Nora will fire her smoke grenades and Pyrrha will go down and attack its top half. I'll rush in from the other side and get its legs. Ren, you'll lay down covering fire from above."

"That's going to be my only role?" Ren asked. "I'm sure I could help more at a closer range."

"No offense, Ren, but Pyrrha and I are probably going to do more damage to it at close range than you are." Jaune held up Crocea Mors, and there was really no comparing its slashing power to Ren's daggers. "Also, I don't have any way to attack it at long range."

"Fine," Ren answered with hardly any emotion, but his jaw was stiff. It was only a small sign of annoyance, except Jaune usually wouldn't have expected even that much from him.

"Make sure to stay on top, Nora," Jaune met her eyes. She responded with a silent nod, and he knew that she got the message. The Nuckelavee was getting really close, so Jaune gave the order "Alright, go."

The three of them went ahead. Jaune watched Nora in particular, it would be up to her to make sure Ren followed the plan. She was acting weird too, but Jaune was still sure that he could trust her to do her job.

After this mission was over, hopefully Ren would feel better and Jaune would find out what was up with him.

Jaune snuck up as close as he dared. He needed to stay calm, if it got a hint of nervousness from him, it wouldn't go into the alley. They'd lose their advantage of its restricted mobility.

"Hey! Gross centaur freak! Up here!" Nora shouted.

The Nuckelavee turned its head, the horse one, and faced her. It and Nora seemed like the only spots of color with the gray sky making the entire town seem dull. The Grimm a mass of black and white, while Nora looked like a lone spot of brightness against it.

Its nostrils huffed out, and it launched itself forwards. The 'rider' half still wasn't reacting, just being jostled around while the bottom ran into the alley.

"Yeah! Come here, you stupid Grimm!" Nora shot down with her grenades. Pink clouds of smoke billowed out, followed by bursts of bullets from Ren. A scream, definitely not a human one, rang out. Did that mean the top half was active?

"Now Pyrrha! Be careful!" he said, although he didn't need to. Pyrrha would be fine, jumping and dodging this thing would be a piece of cake for her.

Jaune widened his sheathe into a shield. The Nuckelavee was way bigger than a normal horse and getting hit by a hoof would definitely be nasty. He saw a leg in the smoke and cut into it. Pyrrha sounded like she was doing a good amount damage too. The Nuckelavee had stopped screaming, but he could hear her cutting into it.

Then, a loud, screeching neigh pierced his ears. The legs flailed, kicking around wildly, although the leg Jaune had hit wasn't moving as strongly.

"Oof!" A hoof slammed into his shield and pushed him back, but he stayed on his feet.

The horse's whinnying died down, and so did the kicks, but there was hardly a delay before somethinglong and black shot out of the smoke. "Whoa!" He leapt to the side and saw that it was a hand. It flung to the side and hit the brick wall, cracking it, before moving off. Then, another one came out of the smoke and crashed into the wall again. Then again, and again.

The Grimm's arms could stretch, and it was spinning.

"Nora! Stop, we need to see!" Jaune said. She already had, but he said it to make sure. When he could, he slashed at an arm sweeping towards him. Blocking with his shield, then cutting it when it slowed down was best, but it didn't do too much.

The smoke was clearing, letting Jaune finally see Pyrrha on the other side of the Nuckelavee. She was having a similar issue. "Pyrrha, you and Ren need to shoot at it!"

She leapt back, her sword transforming midair. Once she landed, she fired at the creature, and a chunk came out of its shoulder. Ren's bullets made more than a few holes as well.

But that wasn't enough. It screamed, and its arms whirled around even more wildly. Chunks of the walls went flying along with pebble sized bits. Jaune and Pyrrha blocked them with their shields, but Nora couldn't.

She deflected most of them, she could deal with bullets after all, but there were too many and some of the pieces were very small. She yelled out, but with aura it was more a noise of discomfort rather than any actual pain.

That distraction was enough for the Nuckelavee to whip its arm around and hit her. Its claws wrapped around her body and pinned her to a nearby wall.

"Nora!" Jaune yelled. "Pyrrha, get-

"Raaargh!" Ren's scream cut him off, and the figure in green leapt down from the roof and landed on the Grimm's back. He frantically stabbed and cut into it, a far cry from his usual measured technique. "No! Not her too!"

His cries were accompanied by the Grimm's screeches, the sound so awful that Jaune wanted to cover his ears. Its top half went limp, the arm holding Nora retracting back and letting her free. Its bottom half kicked fiercely, but Ren seemed to be in too much of a rage to care. He held on and kept attacking the Grimm.

"The legs!" Jaune yelled. He couldn't tell them to go for the top half with Ren on it, and right now it wasn't doing anything anyway. "Pyrrha shoot! Nora hammer them!"

They listened, and he took careful steps forward. He'd attack too, but he'd have to be careful since he didn't have the same range as Nora's hammer. The Grimm slammed into the walls, trying to shake Ren off. "Damn it Ren, get off!"

He did, but probably not because he'd listened to Jaune's order. The Grimm hit him against a wall, and he fell down with a loud groan. Its legs were in bad shape though, hopefully there'd be no more deadly kicks. Jaune ran forward to slash at them, but Nora got there first, hitting one hard enough that bone cracked and split.

It fell, and Jaune leapt up to stab where he guessed its heart would be on its lower half. Then, he yanked his sword out and made sure to cut its top half too. Once the Grimm started to dissolve, he let out a relived breath.

"Ren! Ren!" Nora's shouted and Jaune looked back at them. She was kneeling down beside Ren, whose eyes were fixed on the fading Grimm.

Ren got to his feet, and in a voice so low that Jaune barely caught it, he said "Dead. It's finally dead."

"That was a goddamned mess," the advisor walked up and glared at Ren. "Be as moody as you want, but when you start disobeying orders, that becomes a problem." He turned to Jaune. "You, team leader."

"Y-yes, sir?"

"What's wrong with him? Why did he jump down and start stabbing when you didn't tell him to?"

Ren started to answer. "It's my fault, I-

"Quiet. I didn't ask you, I asked your team leader." He looked at Jaune expectantly. "Well?"

After a few seconds of silence, he had to answer truthfully. "I don't know."

"You must have noticed that he was acting out, and yet you didn't ask? Why not?"

"B-because I thought it would be rude to ask. I could tell that his reason was personal, and he doesn't have to share it."

The advisor snorted. "Ridiculous. Listen, you can play nice when you're at school, but not here. Not when lives are at stake. Your strategy was sound, but that doesn't matter if you can't count on your teammates to carry it out." He faced Ren next. "We're leaving. Before we do, you need to tell your team about whatever's wrong with you and whether it's going to affect any more missions you go on. And you're going to be in a good deal of trouble back at Haven too."

Ren nodded. "I understand, sir. I'll do as you say. Jaune, Pyrrha, I'm sorry. I should have told you this before we came here. No, even before I suggested this mission for us."

He told them about his and Nora's past. Kuroyuri wasn't just been an abandoned town for them, this was Ren's former hometown. Where he'd grown up, and where he'd first met Nora before it fell. They'd been the only survivors, all of Ren's family and friends slaughtered by the Grimm. Not just any Grimm either, but the Nuckelavee was the foremost in their memories. Ren even recognized one of the chipped arrows that remained after it had dissolved.

Ren bowed his head. "Please forgive me. I jeopardized the mission and put us at risk."

"Of course we do," Pyrrha said. "We're at fault as well. The advisor was right, we should have asked sooner."

'Yes, we should have. Especially me.' Jaune was the team leader. Even if he was the weakest, he had to at least be responsible for them. He'd given Ren the same courtesy for his behavior here that Clark had given Jaune for his dishonesty about his training before Beacon. Applying a kindness to a completely different situation where it could have gotten someone killed.

Some leader he was.

\\\\\

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

"If I'd had to keep listening to Myron and Petro's gloating, our alliance wouldn't have lasted another second," Nio said. He sat at the head of the other end of the table across from Diomed.

Diomed laughed. "Really, you expect me to believe that? I don't think I've ever seen you lose your temper."

"Just because I maintain myself doesn't mean I don't feel irritation at those two idiots."

"Hey, I agree. They're getting on my nerves too," Diomed took a bite of the steak on his plate and savored it. Damn, Nio's chefs really knew how to make them. "Pretty sure everyone else is feeling the same way too, but be careful. Some of that resentment's headed your way too. After all, you're the one who brought up moving our businesses."

"I know, but I'm sure they'll realize the wisdom of my suggestion soon enough though."

On Diomed's right, Iscon spoke up. "You're probably right, but the Interference's reduced activity the past few days is interesting. We haven't heard anything, have you?"

"No. After all, there's no way my contacts could be better than yours."

Diomed grinned. Nio was quick to flatter, but they'd been friends long enough to know what was genuine. There wasn't a single family in Mistral with an information network as good as the Thrace's, which was only possible because of the work the two brothers had put in over the years.

"That's too bad, it would have been nice to hear if a family had managed to find them," Iscon said.

"Yeah, but there's the old saying about things that are too good to be true," Diomed said. "Don't worry, those bastards'll be back and ruining things for us again. Then Myron and Petro will finally shut their mouths."

"That does give me some comfort. However, we won't have to be ruined if we play this right," Nio said. "Shifting our methods so quickly is difficult, but there are plenty of ways to minimize losses."

"Really? You'll have to tell me about them." Diomed watched Nio closely. It was always difficult to relax around Nio. Especially now, whether he handed over the information or gave some excuse for why he couldn't would push their friendship one way or the other.

"Of course," Nio said. "I'll send over the details. Keep it to yourself, though. If too many of us try to use these methods, they become much less effective."

"I appreciate it."

"I'm glad." For a few moments, the only sounds in the room were utensils hitting their plates. "Diomed, Iscon, this alliance between the families, do you think we'll actually manage to attack the Interference?"

"Maybe. Iscon and I found something that could help a lot. A few gangsters in jails have actually seen the Interference."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, the stories match up. Most just say that they were hit by bullets from a distance, nothing new. But others say that people in black hoods with swords broke up their fights, knocked them out, and left them for the police to find."

"Swords? So these people are huntsmen-level." Nio frowned. "You still haven't dug up any connection to the government?"

"Nothing."

Nio chuckled. "The information we uncover just seems to make things look worse for us."

Diomed had to agree. Getting people of that level was hard, each family only had two or three of them at most. Plus, most weren't even really as good as huntsmen. They had aura and weapons, but not the training.

"Yes, but this does give us a concrete chance to hit back at them." Iscon said. "Diomed and I came up with something that should be fairly low risk. It would likely require your family's cooperation, since we know you can run your men right. Do you want to hear it?"

"After speaking so well of me, I think I have to."

Iscon detailed the plan. Explaining how it was different from previous attempts to attack the Interference and that they had a good chance of recovering their men even if it failed. It had taken a good deal of money and asking around to figure out the reasoning behind the Interference dealing with the nobodies on the streets, and if it worked, it would be a huge payoff of catching an actual Interference member.

"Hmm, yes, that could work," Nio said. "I'm in, although I am wondering why you didn't bring it up in our last meeting."

"We think that our meetings are compromised." Iscon said.

"Yeah, at least one of those idiots is a leak," Diomed said, annoyed. "Or maybe they're working with the bastards."

Nio didn't seem too upset. "I doubt that, but I do suppose it would have been too much to expect all of us to keep those meetings to ourselves. That may actually not be too bad, since we may get another lead on the Interference through them."

"Is that why you invited us here?" Diomed asked with a small grin.

"Partially. Although that's a bit of an unfair accusation, it hasn't been that long since we last ate together like this."

"Maybe. I always feel like it's too long until I can eat your food again."

Nio laughed. "Thank you. Looks like it's almost time for desert, and we still have much to discuss. I'll try to get to the point. Do you think the alliance between so many families will really accomplish much?"

Diomed scoffed. "Come on, you know what I'm going to say. It's a fucking mess in there, and none of us want to put away our pride and do what someone else says. Including me."

"Except for those Eastern members," Iscon added.

"Yeah, except them, they're willing to roll over to anyone."

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Nio asked. "Be honest, we're not getting anywhere with so many of us arguing. We need someone to organize us, to give us direction so we can aim for the Interference properly."

Diomed paused, considering whether it was the right time to be direct. He made his decision. "Let me guess, you?"

"I won't say I haven't thought about it, but I actually think either of us would be acceptable."

Diomed's eyebrows went up. He glanced at his brother, and it seemed like he was caught by surprise just like him.

"There's no one else there who I'd trust to guide us," Nio kept going. "You get emotional, so no one thinks that you're trying to use them, but you actually have a good head on your shoulders. Thanks to your brother, you're used to listening to another's opinion and seeing the wisdom in it even if they disagree with you."

"I'm not sure. Even if you could somehow convince all of them to do what I say, I don't think I'd be all that good at it. Running multiple families is different from running my own."

"You wouldn't be alone in this. As usual, you'd have Iscon with you, and I'd be happy to advise you. Those Eastern members might be strange, but they could have interesting suggestions that could help us. They'd probably support you a good deal as well, since I doubt they'd have any complaints about you leading us."

"You sure you don't want to do it yourself? You know what I will and won't take from you if you're the boss, and I'd be willing to support you."

Nio smiled. "Thank you. If you really don't want to, I'll try for a leadership role among us, and I'll value any support and advice you offer. Although I honestly believe that you have the better chance. What do you say?"

Diomed bit his lip. "You've given me a lot to think about. I'll tell you my decision soon."

\\\\\

Orrin Dolus looked up as his new assistant, Antolaidus, entered the office. "Yes?"

He offered a bundle of files. "This is the information you requested, sir. And the matter with Christopher Petridis is being handled."

"Good." Orrin looked through the papers. "You can go now."

Antolaidus nodded and left. He was a suitable replacement for Petridis, who was still caught up in court. At the moment, it was easier to lessen his sentence rather than get rid of it completely. It might have been easier just to let him flounder, but he'd done his job well over the years. Besides, Dolus wasn't going to risk him revealing anything that the court didn't already have their hands on. Petridis would stay out of jail, even if he would find it difficult to work in the city again.

A Mistralian court causing Dolus trouble. Unless it were something serious, or some upstart trying to use them against him, he never would have thought it possible. He personally knew the judge on Petridis' case and speaking with him had been frustrating when they used to have an easy understanding.

Although the points he'd made had been understandable. Even under normal circumstances, sweeping this aside would have been troublesome. With the involvement of this 'Interference' and the number of corrupt policemen being uncovered, trying to play the court now might as well be the same as asking to be tried next. Dolus had covered his steps well enough that it seemed like the Interference was having trouble, but it seemed like the judge couldn't say the same.

Dolus read through the reports on the crime families. The Thraces, Ionas, Crepolos, and more. Even some Eastern gangs. It seemed like they were working more closely together against the new Interference. They'd also withdrawn a lot of their interactions with the government.

That alliance could build up to be a problem. Whoever the Interference was, it looked like they hadn't learned that trying to eliminate organized crime in the city was pointless. Especially when they could be useful at times for the government. However, that was only when they knew their place. Now that the boat was rocking, the families might become desperate and try things they usually wouldn't. In fact, some smaller street gangs had already started getting violent. It would be a lot worse for the city's stability if that spread to the families.

Dolus had spent long enough staying back. He'd waited to gather information on them, but that had turned out to be the wrong choice. All he'd learned were their actions, nothing on their identities or their methods.

Actually, as he went through more files, he amended that opinion. There were clues, minor ones that he normally wouldn't have considered.

In this case, beggars couldn't be choosers. Dolus dialed the phone on his desk and it rang a few times before a voice answered.

"Hello sir, I wasn't expecting your call. How can I help you?"

"Atreus, you're going to receive a set of instructions soon. They'll help mitigate the issues the police force is currently facing, and make sure you follow them to the letter."

"Yes, sir."

\\\\\

In a burst of speed too fast for human eyes to follow, Clark and Qrow returned to Haven. They stopped right outside the main building in one of the blind spots that Clark had memorized. Normally, he wouldn't have been able to stop on campus in full view like that, but most students were still out on their missions. Nobody had seen them.

"Thanks for the ride," Qrow said. "I'm gonna go talk to Lionheart. You want to come with?"

"No, I'll leave it to you. Besides, I still have a lot to do."

"Okay, but remember what we talked about."

"I will. See you later," Clark said, and headed back to the dorm with his box of armor. He walked across campus. By now, most of the trees matched the colors of the buildings with red, orange, and yellow leaves. Fall was well under way, and it made a beautiful sight.

Once he entered the building, he went to his room and stored his armor in the closet. Then, he looked over at his rarely used bed. Qrow had a point. Even if he didn't feel like he was pushing himself too hard, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to go to a therapist.

He'd find one later. First, he needed to work through the list of people who might know more about Dolus. Clark still hadn't met with that Bronzelight Inc. employee, and there were a good few hours until evening. When it was nighttime, he'd patrol the city.

He didn't speed out, instead taking his time to walk back down the stairs. The dorm had never been this quiet ever since they'd arrived. There were always at least a few people talking, laughing, or just hanging out. Even in the dead of night, there was the background hum of relaxed heartbeats and the deep, easy breathing of sleep. With so few on students on campus now, the silence was heightened even further.

It would be fine, though. They'd all be back in a few days at the latest.

Clark entered the city and went through his routine of going up to people and ending up with most of them telling him to leave or to stop asking questions. Then, of those willing to talk, even fewer had information that he could use.

The war between his list and his pen was a never-ending battle. It was close, and his pen had almost won, crossing out nearly every name. At the end though, Clark had pulled through and managed to find a few new ones.

'Yay.' Clark thought to himself, not feeling at all cheerful about his progress today. Thankfully, there was a break in the monotony that evening when he contacted Andrea after her shift ended. She'd gotten details on the families' methods of smuggling in goods and could have just left the information somewhere for him to pick up. However, she'd said she wanted to talk to him about something else.

They met at a cave near her apartment, and once she arrived, she handed him a folder.

"Thank you," Clark said, flipping through the material. Inside were maps, pictures of individuals, and likely times the material would be brought in. She'd also added her own notes, circling spots and marking routes. It looked like a lot was going to be brought in through the docks, but there were a few other methods such as using tourists. Those would be hard to deal with.

"You're welcome, but this comes with some bad news. . . I can't exactly rely too much on my source anymore. This information isn't cheap."

"I can help you if money is an issue." Clark wasn't exactly making that much, but he hadn't really spent much of the money from his missions a few weeks ago and working for Ozpin. Lionheart was probably his best bet now if she needed a lot.

Andrea shook her head. "It's not just that. I have a sort of complicated history with them, they'll get suspicious if I keep asking about this kind of stuff, and they'll eventually put two and two together and realize that their information is getting leaked to the Interference."

"I understand. I won't have you go to them again unless you think it's safe, but don't you have other sources you can use?"

She grimaced. "I do . . . but none as good as this one. And even if I tried to ask somewhere else, they're good enough that they'd even find out that I'm still asking around."

Clark watched her. The muscles in her cheek had tightened slightly, and her finger tapped her leg. "Does being unable to ask them bother you?"

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"I'm fairly perceptive," he said as a short explanation. "Is there some sort of personal relationship between you and your source?"

"Y-yeah, but that's not what was bothering me." She sighed and forced a calm expression. "It wasn't easy to convince you to let me join the Interference. Am I still all that useful without being able to find information for you guys?"

"Absolutely. I'll admit that I was skeptical of accepting you at first, but you and Phil have proven yourselves. In fact, you two are probably more important than I am. When the rest of the Interference has to leave, you're going to be responsible for making sure the changes we make stay permanent."

Her muscles relaxed, a good sign that he'd succeeded in reassuring her. "Seems like a lot to leave to two cops. You sure you don't want to recruit some more?"

Clark paused. "I haven't considered letting more officers join us, and I don't think I will. However, it would probably be smart to start looking around now for other like-minded police. Officers who you could trust to help you when the Interference isn't here anymore. Do you have a few people in mind?"

Andrea shook her head. "No. I'm sure there are at least a few more guys like Phil who want to do the right thing, but I wouldn't know how to find them. Even if I did, we need more than them. Average cops have to agree with us, I'll talk to Phil about it and get back to you."

Clark nodded. "Good luck."