Going through the articles from the Highwood region had been bad enough, but now that Clark had decided to widen his range, it was ludicrous. There were just too many news stories to go through. He had to judge every murder, disappearance, and strange occurrence.

He was in Ashbury's library, and honestly, he'd spent way too much of his time these past couple weeks in libraries looking at computer screens. He wondered how high the stack of newspapers he'd read would be if he printed them all out. He didn't know exactly how fast he read at superspeed, and the fact that even that hadn't turned up anything on the second phantom wasn't encouraging.

What was worse was the thought that Vale's Council might be suppressing the news to prevent panic. Making Clark's task even harder.

His scroll vibrated and showed that Qrow was calling him. He walked out, not wanting to disturb the other people in the library, although there were only a couple this morning.

"Yeah?" said Clark.

"It's time to take care of the remaining Grimm," said Qrow. "After we finish off the ones that got through, we're gonna support the huntsmen at the wall. So you'll need to use what you learned yesterday about keeping your powers under wraps."

"Got it."

"Good, meet me at the Bullhead in a couple minutes."

Clark walked to the aircraft and greeted Qrow when he arrived. The huntsman smelled of alcohol again, but he seemed perfectly alert. Their aura had healing properties, maybe that also helped them handle intoxication.

As they were about to leave, another set of footsteps approached. Familiar, light ones.

"Clark! Clark!" Cyan ran up to them excitedly.

"Who's the kid?" asked Qrow as the boy approached them.

"I talked with him for a little bit yesterday. He admires huntsmen and wants to be one when he's older." Clark explained before he turned to Cyan. "Hi, do you need help with something?"

The blue-haired boy bounced up and down excitedly. "Can I come and watch you guys hunt Grimm?"

"No." Qrow said immediately.

"B-but please?" Cyan brought his hands together to beg. "I'll be totally safe with two huntsmen, and this will be my first time actually seeing Grimm!"

"This isn't fun and games kid, go back home." Qrow answered harshly. "Besides, shouldn't you be in school?"

"I-it's the weekend." Cyan answered, he gulped nervously, and Clark could actually hear his heartbeat rising, probably because he was afraid of the coarse huntsman. He turned to Clark with more enthusiasm. "Pleeease, I'll be out of your way. I'll do anything!"

"Sorry Cyan, but I agree with Mr. Branwen." Clark said. "It's not safe."

"But-

"Really, I think it would be better for you to just stay here." Clark put a bit more firmness into his voice.

Cyan slumped over. "Oh . . . okay." He walked away from the Bullhead with his head lowered.

"Come on, let's go." Qrow tilted his head towards the Bullhead.

\\\\\

More Beowolves, some snake-like King Taijitu, and a few Boarbatusks. Those were the remaining Grimm that had entered the walls, and they'd eliminated them in a few hours. Clark had continued with his method of breaking leg bones to stop movement. Although that hadn't been an option against the King Taijitu, so for those he'd just acted as a support. Distracting the serpentine Grimm for Qrow.

The huntsmen had just slaughtered the Grimm Clark had taken down without a word. After they'd finished, he'd asked the pilot to keep the Bullhead grounded for a bit so they could eat.

Before that though, he brought Clark outside of the Bullhead so the pilot inside wouldn't hear them.

"Clark, we need to talk." Qrow said.

"If this is about how I fight the Grimm, that won't change."

Qrow glared at him. "Well it'll have to, we're going to the wall now to assist a team of huntsmen. They're not going to accept your attitude, and they're probably going to be a lot more vocal about it than I am."

Clark bit his lip. "It's not an attitude. They're my beliefs, I won't kill."

"Damn it Clark, I know you're new here, but you have to get it through your thick skull. The Grimm are monsters. Even the kid back there knew it!" Qrow pointed to Ashbury. "If we don't protect the workers when they fix the turrets, then the Grimm will get through and go on a rampage."

"I know that, I'm not stupid. I just . . . it's hard to explain."

"Well do it, because right now I'm starting to think that there's no point in you being here." Qrow said. "If you won't kill Grimm, then Ozpin will never send you on solo missions where you don't have to hold back. Towns full of people might die because you won't save them."

Clark took a deep breath. "I . . . I understand. Let me just think of the best way to say this."

After a few moments, Clark began. "Sometimes, it scares me when I think about what I can do. There were people back in my world who had powers, and a lot of the time it seemed to change them. They used their abilities to hurt people. Even one of my former best friends. His only powers were intelligence and wealth, but I saw how he used them. He played with people, spied on them, I'm sure he even killed some of them."

"And what about me?" continued Clark. "There have been times when I wasn't in the right state of mind, or when other people with my abilities appeared. I've seen what they can do. And while I don't remember all of it, I know some of what I did when I wasn't myself."

"Killing's something I can't do. I won't let myself. I don't care what the reason is, I always try to find a better way. And there always is one." He sighed. "I've thought about it though, if I'm in a situation where I can't see a better option. If a group of Grimm ever attack innocent people and I can't bring them out of harm's way? I'll do it. I'll kill the Grimm if I have to. But only if I have to."

Qrow stared at him for a few moments. "Fine. You know what? Let's go inside and eat, I'm starving."

Wait, what? "You believe me? Just like that?" asked Clark.

"Yeah, I do. It might be stupid. Hell, I hardly know you, but I know that you care about people. You'll do what you have to in order to save them." Qrow said. "Actually, you kinda remind me of someone I used to know. She did all she could to help people too."

They went back in the Bullhead, and Qrow took out a sandwich that he'd bought in town.

"You gonna eat?" the huntsman asked him.

"No, I'm not that hungry." Clark answered. If Qrow was trusting him to protect people, it was time that he gave some trust back.

"You sure? Did you eat something in town? If not, you're gonna have to keep your strength up."

Clark shook his head. "I'm fine. I can go . . . a while without food. Just another quirk of my biology."

"Really?" Qrow tilted his head. "A good nose, good eyesight, what else is there about you that you didn't mention?"

Clark cleared his throat. "Well, there's the fact that my powers are derived from sunlight."

Qrow blinked. "So, you're like a plant?"

Clark grinned. "I . . . guess so? Never really been compared to one before."

"Yeah, it's not something I thought I'd say to someone either. Anyway, we need to come up with a reasonable backstory for you and why you won't kill Grimm. But if we're lucky, we might be able to avoid the problem completely. We're gonna have to stick close so I can clean up the Grimm you leave behind. They'll notice, but hopefully it'll look like a teamwork thing."

\\\\\

Nicholas tore through the neck of an Ursa with his sword. Lopping its head off with brutal efficiency before moving on to the next.

Brun was on his right. The tall, muscled man hacking through Grimm with his axes. They'd only met a few days ago, but Nicholas liked him. He could respect another huntsman who used simple, reliable weapons rather than the flashy mechashift ones that most in their profession used.

He was also mostly silent during fights, allowing both of them to focus on properly doing their job. No childish taunts at the Grimm or overexcited whoops at killing. He communicated when necessary and could be counted on to have his partner's back.

They finished off the last of the Grimm, but still stood at attention. Waiting in case more showed up.

"All clear!" came an excited voice from the radios strapped to their belts.

Nicholas wiped the sweat from his brow and brushed away a few blond hairs from his eyes. "Good, I could use the break."

"So could I." Brun covered his eyes as he looked up at the approaching aircraft. "A Bullhead's here. Think it's our support?"

"Probably, we'll know for sure in a few seconds."

"Hey!" Sera's voice rang down from the top of the wall. Even though she could use the radios, she didn't like the way they made her voice sound. "Come on up you two, time to meet the newcomers!"

Brun chuckled. "Of course she'd be the first to greet them."

Nicholas nodded. Sera's friendliness had been obvious to all six of them over the past few days.

They walked up to the wall and took the lift to the top. The other four were already greeting the incoming huntsmen, of which there were only two. Nicholas recognized Qrow Branwen. He worked directly for Ozpin, and while they'd never met personally, Nicholas knew that he was skilled.

The other one though, was he a teenager? More likely a young adult, but that wasn't really much of a distinction. Nicholas saw the confused looks on the others and knew that they were likely thinking the same thing he was. Why had a student been sent here without them being notified?

"Hi, I'm Clark Kent." The black-haired young man extended his hand to Nicholas after greeting Brun.

He shook his hand and noted that he had a strong grip. "Nicholas Arc. You and Qrow are our backup?"

"Yep." Qrow said. "Just us."

Nicholas narrowed his eyes. "Both of you are qualified?" It was obvious the question was meant more for the young man.

"Yes." Clark answered. Not a hint of arrogance, or offense at the question of his skills. That showed a bit of promise and maturity, and Qrow didn't contradict him. Nicholas accepted it for now.

"Okay, I assume the others have introduced themselves?" Nicholas motioned to the other five. Besides him, four huntresses and a huntsman had been assigned here.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Clark and Qrow nodded.

"Good, come with me, I'm going to give you a rundown of this operation." Nicholas turned and walked away from the others, who went back down inside the wall.

Nicholas went back on the lift and the other two followed. They stood by an inactive spotlight as Nicholas pointed down to the roughly patched hole that the Grimm had torn through the wall. "That's one of the three main points we're defending. We can't let Grimm through, and during our day shifts, we have at least two of us on the ground defending that point."

"Meanwhile, we always have one or two lookouts on top with ranged weapons. Sera, the one with platinum blond hair, has a sniper rifle. Lily and Violet also have weapons which mecha-shift into guns, and the three of them are the ones who'll usually be up here. You saw my sword, Brun's axes, and Lapis has a mecha-shifting spear-dagger. So we three are mostly on the ground."

"If any Grimm happen to reach the top, it's up to the ranged fighters to protect the two turrets." Nicholas indicated the enormous weapons on either side of them. They were a couple hundred feet apart, and at the moment had several people fixing them.

"So those are our objectives. Defend the hole in the wall, the turrets, and the people repairing them. We've been told that the turrets might be fixed as early as tomorrow. The wall will take longer, but the side facing the Grimm has already been patched. Once the turrets are fixed, we leave, and they'll depend on the turrets to defend them."

After that, Nicholas briefed the two about the rotation they had. During the day, it was two on the ground and one lookout on top, but that changed at night. Grimm were somewhat less active then, but still came. That's what the spotlights mounted on the wall were for. Fighting Grimm in the dark wasn't easy for the majority that weren't faunus, but the Grimms' glowing red eyes could still be spotted against the flat grassland. Lookouts were essential to aim the spotlights. Shifts were also longer during the night, but easier. They all had radios for communication, and used certain channels during their shifts. And there was a universal one that was only used in emergencies. He handed a radio each to Qrow and Clark.

Now, Nicholas needed to know their weapons and abilities so he could decide how to best add them to the rotation. He learned that Qrow's weapon was a mecha-shifting sword, gun, and scythe. His semblance could inflict bad luck. Make enemies slip or trip up.

"And you?" Nicholas asked Clark as he wrote them down.

"I don't use weapons, I'm a hand to hand fighter." The young man said.

Nicholas raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? What about dust?"

Clark shook his head.

Well, that was interesting. The few hand to hand fighters Nicholas had usually still used weapons such as claws or gauntlets. And the fewer who hadn't had still used dust woven into their clothing.

"Semblance then?" asked the blond huntsman.

"Right. I have one that gives me boosts of speed and strength."

"To what extent?" asked Nicholas.

"Um, fast enough to do this." Clark flashed around them in a wide circle. Covering the distance in about half a second. "I can also jump off the wall and back up if I need to."

"Really?" Nicholas considered for a moment. "Show me." He pointed to the edge of the wall, it was eighty feet tall. If this kid was exaggerating, he'd need to learn what it might cost him or his allies.

Instead of backing down, Clark nodded calmly and jumped off.

Nicholas' eyes followed Clark's descent as he fell. Most people's aura would take a big hit from a fall like that.

Thud. Clark landed on his feet, and he seemed perfectly fine. The impact had kicked up loose dirt, and the ground had sunken in around him. He took a few steps away from the dip in the ground and then looked up and flexing his legs. He leaped, and when he got to the top of the wall, the afternoon sun actually blinded Nicholas as he watched him. Clark had jumped over their heads.

Yet he landed right in front of Nicholas. "Was that good enough?" He asked with a smile. Although still no arrogance in his expression.

". . . Yes." Nicholas said. That had been impressive, he'd admit it. "How many boosts do you get, and how does it affect your aura?"

"A couple dozen, and it drains my aura by three or four percent with each use."

Hmm, the young man would have to use it sparingly then. He might recover some during the hours on his shift, but probably not enough to offset constant use.

"By the way," said Qrow, who came up and patted the young man's shoulder. "It would be best if you put Clark and I together. We work better as a team."

\\\\\

"Hiya there!" A long-haired platinum blond woman cheerfully approached Clark on top of the wall. She wore blue leggings, a white, long-sleeved shirt and bracelets, and looked to be in her late twenties.

Clark waved. "Hello Miss Velant."

"Just call me Sera. In fact, just call everyone here by their first names, it's faster." She tilted her head. "By the way, what are you doing up here? Is it your shift soon?"

"No, mine's in a couple hours. I'm just watching Mis-, I mean, Lily and Lapis."

"Hmm, I'm pretty sure Lily's married you know. And Lapis has a girlfriend."

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like . . ." He trailed off and calmed down once he saw her teasing grin. "That was a bit cruel." He added good naturedly.

"Sorry. Too bad though, I expected at least an embarrassed blush from you. Guess it's not that easy to fluster you."

He shrugged. "I guess not."

"So why are you watching them?"

"Just trying to learn. See how they fight."

"From all the way up here?" Sera put her hand on her forehead as she narrowed her eyes and looked down. "Don't really think you can see much."

"My eyesight's not half bad." He said. I really need to learn to lie better. Qrow had noticed just yesterday that his eyesight was better than average. He had to keep a lid on which powers to show.

"You're trying to learn by watching them, huh? Are you still a student?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am, but I'm also technically a huntsman." He answered.

"Technically?"

"I'm from a nomadic tribe in northern Vale." He easily repeated the backstory. "Headmaster Ozpin noticed my talents and thought that I could do a lot of good by helping him. My ID says I'm a huntsman, but I don't really think of myself as one. Fighting Grimm is important, but I don't think I'm suited for it."

"Well, it's not for everyone, but I'm impressed you're giving it a try." She said. "Also, even if it's only 'technically' to you, getting your huntsman license at nineteen is impressive. We've all been scratching our heads since we thought someone had sent us a Beacon student without telling us."

"Well, don't relax yet." He said with a nervous smile. "I'm still not very experienced."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll do fine." She said reassuringly. "Want some pointers?"

\\\\\

"You ready?" Qrow turned to his partner as their shift was about to begin.

"Yep," said Clark.

Qrow smirked. "You gonna leap down from the top of the wall again?"

"No, I think I'd prefer my shoes not to be covered in dirt and grass." Clark said. "I'm not usually that showy, but I got the feeling that Mr. Arc was skeptical about me."

"Yeah, you surprised me too kid. How high can you jump anyway?"

Clark shrugged. "I don't really know my upper limit. It gets hard to control where I land when I jump that high, so I didn't have a lot of opportunities to practice it. I didn't want to accidentally land in a place where someone could see me."

At the top of the wall, they met with Lily, who was the lookout for their shift. She would tell them on their radios about any approaching Grimm and their ETA.

For the first fifteen minutes of their shift, Qrow and Clark just stood around waiting. Qrow knew that was actually the norm for missions like these. A lot of the time, it was just plain boring. You couldn't always expect constant waves of Grimm just coming at you, and you wouldn't want to. That would be exhausting.

The lack of action was also good because it would be easier to hide Clark's stance on not killing Grimm. There'd be less of a chance that someone would notice something off about his fighting style. Still, even if he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about it, Clark still helped Qrow kill them. Although Qrow couldn't avoid thinking that it defeated the purpose of not killing the Grimm if breaking the their legs led to them dying anyway.

Qrow asked him about it during their shift, and Clark had tried to explain his reasoning with an example. Say there were a pack of rabid dogs putting a town at risk, and without cures, the authorities decided to euthanize the animals. If that were his town, Clark would help gather the dogs and bring them to the proper authorities. He personally wouldn't be in danger, but the people of the town would, so it was his responsibility to give them the option to decide how to protect themselves. Clark would want them to try and find another way, but he wouldn't force them.

That kind of thinking pretty much proved that Clark still thought of the Grimm as normal animals. Apparently, where he came from, people didn't have their aura unlocked. So the fact that the Grimm didn't wasn't a big deal to him. He didn't understand how it was indisputable proof of souls.

Regardless, it was still dangerous to let the Grimm live for too long. They'd just keep growing and getting smarter, they'd start to learn. Those were the ones to watch out for.

"A group's headed your way from south-southeast." Lily said from their radio. "Still a few miles out, so it'll be some time."

"Understood." Qrow answered. Clark replied the same into his.

Eventually, they spotted Ursai on the horizon. They didn't come as quickly as the Beowolves did, but they were louder. As they got closer, Qrow counted thirteen of them. He hoped that didn't mean anything, considering his semblance.

"Alright Clark. Just like we practiced earlier, we're gonna stick together." Qrow said as he raised up Harbinger. "There aren't as many as there would be in a pack of Beowolves, so it'll be faster for you to just throw them into each other while I finish them off with bullets. Make sure to call out when you do so."

"Got it."

They met the Ursai head on, Qrow's speed matched by Clark as the two of them ran forwards. Once the first Ursa approached, Clark signaled that he would pick it up and throw it into the ones directly behind it.

Clark just picked it up by its leg and flung it effortlessly into the rest. It snarled at him and kicked the air before it fell into several more Ursai.

Qrow finished four of them off with a hail of bullets. They penetrated easily and the Ursai faded away into nothing. He then transformed his weapon into a sword again as he stabbed through an approaching Ursa and pulled the blade out before it had even begun to disappear.

"Again to your left!" Clark announced. Followed by enraged roars and the weighty thuds of Grimm weighing hundreds of pounds slamming into each other.

That gave Qrow the chance to eliminate another three Ursai with his rounds. He and Clark repeated the process a couple more times, sticking close together as they took care of the remaining five. Clark was more independent this time. He'd adapted a few lethal techniques so it wouldn't kill them, but they still did a lot of damage. Qrow had never seen fingers rip through flesh before.

"Man, I'd forgotten how much easier it is working with a partner." Qrow said.

Clark smiled. "Glad I was able to help."

"Yeah, thanks. Isn't this kind of frustrating for you though? You'd probably be able to finish off a group like that in a flash."

"I could." Clark agreed. "But I won't, and I don't really mind that it took a bit longer. In fact, this might have actually been faster than me carrying all of them away."

"This was also safer than trying to put them away." Qrow pointed out.

"For you, yes. But I'm still not changing my mind."

Qrow just sighed. "I still don't get you kid. So you think it's alright for me, but not for you?"

"Well . . . not exactly." Clark rubbed the back of his head. "But I acknowledge that you don't have the choice of safely relocating them. It would be wrong to judge you for doing what you have to in order to protect others."

Qrow clenched his jaw. "Clark, I don't know how else I'm going to change your mind besides forcing you to watch the Grimm slaughter an entire town. They kill people, and you can't just put them somewhere far away and hope that'll stop them. They come back you know, and when they do they'll have gotten a little more experience, grown a little stronger, become a little more dangerous. And you can't be around to push them away for us each time. Hell, at some point even you might not be able to."

Qrow's words were having an effect, he saw how Clark's brow furrowed in thought. He continued. "The Ursai we just fought might not seem like much to you, but as far as we know, the Grimm don't stop growing. If you let them live, they'll become bigger threats. Eventually, the huntsmen who has to kill them next won't be able to, and a whole lot of people will die."

For a few seconds, Clark remained silent. "I . . . haven't really considered that." Clark said, and he firmly looked him in the eyes. "I'll think about what you said."

Qrow nodded. "Good."

Over the next three hours, Qrow killed the Grimm as Clark supported him. Qrow noticed that the young man had fought differently after what he said. He was fiercer, he didn't hold back as much when he knocked the Grimm around. His expression was more focused, and a few times, Qrow had wondered if Clark would actually do it. Use his monstrous strength to force his fist through the chest of a Grimm.

He never did. Only using his power into taking away mobility.

That attitude only appeared when the Grimm did. Clark's mood didn't really change during the down time as they waited. It gave them the chance to talk, and it was surprisingly easy to talk to him. Unlike certain other teenagers, he actually seemed to want to listen. Qrow told him stories about his nieces and their complaints about detention, and also got Clark embarrassed when he told him how Ruby was a very avid supporter of the Dart.

Clark also told him about his home. How he'd had to use his powers to stop others who abused their own. A sports coach who could control fire, someone with telekinesis. Hell, it was like he was fighting people with rogue Semblances. He'd had friends he could trust to help him too. Some normal people, others like a rich guy who put on a hood and glasses and went out to fight crime with a bow and arrow, and another friend who had an aptitude for computers. According to Clark, if she were here he could probably find the last phantom a lot faster.

Finally, their shift ended, and they headed back up the wall. Clark went down to his room first, but Qrow had been stopped by Nicholas.

"I saw you two out there, you're acting as a crutch for him." Nicholas stated with crossed arms.

"I don't know what you mean, we're just a team." Qrow said.

Nicholas snorted. "A team? Maybe, but I got a closer look." He held up a pair of binoculars. "He didn't kill a single Grimm out there. You killed them all for him."

"And is that a problem?"

"Qrow, considering you've lived this long I'm not going to call you an idiot. You know why it's a problem."

Welp, there went that sorry attempt at misdirection. Of course Qrow knew why it looked like a problem. To Nicholas, Clark was just a kid with a powerful semblance and a buttload of aura who was putting himself in danger by not killing the Grimm. The reality was that Clark was a lightning fast, invincible, super strong alien. He wasn't at risk from Grimm, and putting him on solo missions would allow him to go all out. Qrow was also sure that Clark wouldn't let them hurt anyone either.

Too bad he couldn't say any of that. "Just . . . trust me, there's more to it than you think." Qrow said. "He can handle Grimm on his own just fine. He has an actual huntsman license for a reason. Just put him and me together for a few more shifts. The turrets will be fixed tomorrow and we'll be out of your hair."

Nicholas frowned. "This is more than him being able to fight Grimm on his own. Which I haven't seen any indication of him being capable of. If he's a huntsman, he has to work with others."

"I know. But now's not the time," answered Qrow.

"I don't see why not."

"Look, he can learn teamwork later. Right now, it's not a good idea."

"No. He needs to learn as quickly as possible. Before he gets himself or anyone else killed."

Damn it. The blond bastard wasn't going to budge. Qrow had no other choice. "Look. Clark was raised in a nomadic tribe with weird beliefs. He has this principle of no killing, not even the Grimm."

Nicholas's nostrils flared. "What? Then why is he even here?"

"You saw how strong and fast he is. He's not killing them, but he's a huge help. To be fair, he wasn't happy to do that much, but I think I'm starting to change his mind."

"This isn't the time or the place for that." Nicholas sighed. "Fine, I won't team him up with anyone else, especially if they can't depend on him. I'll need to change the schedule, but you and Clark still have the four a.m. shift."

Qrow almost wanted to blame him for giving them that one out of spite, but he couldn't. Nicholas was uncompromising, not petty.