Clark leaned forward in the plush, red seat in the front row of the stands. He wasn't a fan of fighting for sport, but he'd promised to support team CFVY by watching.
At the moment, they were up against a team from Atlas named S-L-T-T. Sleet. The two teams were placed in an arena with two different environments. Half was filled with small mountain peaks, while the other was covered in ice.
The Atlesians in the ring were teenagers, but they certainly didn't act like it. They were just as stiff and rigid as their headmaster. They were well-coordinated but lacked any passion. They fought with each move calculated and communicated. Like soldiers rather than the flamboyant huntsmen and students Clark had seen so far.
Coco blocked a stab with her purse and shook her head at the opposition. "Come on, you gotta do better than that. Does Atlas only teach their students how to be read like a book?"
They didn't rise to her bait, although Clark spotted a couple frowns. Her insult had been spot on. Their moves were predictable, even for a novice fighter like him. That didn't necessarily mean they were bad, since CFVY still had a rough time getting past their solid defense. Although their offense was lacking.
Coco eventually managed to eliminate one of them by using her mini-gun. Which ate away at their aura pretty quickly. Clark hadn't actually seen the weapon in person before, but it was certainly powerful.
Much of his thoughts were repeated out loud by Professor Port. Who was announcing the event.
Yatsuhashi punched one of the Atlesians in the face, and the young man tumbled back into the ice.
"Yeah! Whoo! Beat those Atlas bastards into the ground!" An enthusiastic Valean fan yelled right by Clark's ear, while also managing to spill popcorn all over the ground. He wasn't alone, many more in the crowd surged and cheered.
Some of them did at least. There was a good portion of Atlesian tourists cursing at the state of the fight. Team CFVY all had above seventy percent of their aura remaining while the three remaining on the other team all had below fifty.
SLTT, or rather, STT was certainly reserved in the face of such bad odds. The same couldn't said of their fellow Atlesian citizens.
Clark watched closely to see how the three were planning to turn the tide. They were certainly skilled at Dust manipulation, and there was plenty of ice dust around to use.
One of the Atlas team launched blocks of ice at CFVY. It worked to delay them for a few moments, but not for long. Coco could easily rip through the chunks with her mini-gun, while Yatsuhashi could shatter them with his enormous sword. Fox and Velvet were agile enough to dodge the projectiles, and they were the ones to make the fight up close and personal.
Both found a partner, while the remaining member went up to try and attack Coco. Her weapon was powerful, but the recoil and weight made it difficult to change direction. It wasn't too difficult for the young Atlesian man to dash from side-to-side and get close to her.
Yatsuhashi was forced to defend her, but he wasn't fast enough. Singe of Atlas made it through with his dagger, and stabbed at Coco. She managed to dodge a couple, but she had to resort to aura for the ones she couldn't.
Yet she didn't seem the least bit concerned.
"Surprise." Coco said in a low voice and winked. Clark was the only one in the audience who could have seen or heard it. She swung her mini-gun around, which had already transformed into purse form, and knocked her attacker out.
"My goodness!" Professor Port's voice boomed from the speakers. "Singe has been eliminated! Only two of his comrades remain, can they hold up against the full might of team CFVY?"
Fox and Velvet looked to have the upper hand already, but with their teammates' assistance, they won. Fox's opponent had his aura cut down to fourteen percent, while Velvet's opponent was knocked out of the ring. Courtesy of a combo move from the faunus and Yatsuhashi.
"Hell yeah!" The vocal fan by Clark's side shouted.
Clark didn't really mind it, since lots of people in the crowd were equally as loud and excited. Like them, he stood and eagerly clapped. He wasn't nearly as invested as some people (a few fans even sounded like they were crying), but he was proud of his friends' victory.
He left the enormous, floating Coliseum and got a ride down to Beacon. There were plenty of stands on campus for the festival, and he'd agreed beforehand to meet the team there to congratulate them.
Well, he'd been willing to either congratulate, or console them in case they lost. Even though they'd had plenty of confidence in their victory. Especially Coco.
He heard them coming down several minutes after he had, it was easy to focus on their excited voices over the crowd and the aircraft. He waited by the landing pad, along with several other tourists who were probably waiting for their friends.
The Bullhead landed, and team CFVY was the first to come out.
"Hey guys." Clark greeted them with a wave.
A hush came over the nearby tourists.
"Hi-
"Hey, it's team CFVY!" A tourist cut off Velvet. He rushed past Clark and was followed by a bunch of others.
"Can I have your autograph?"
"You guys were totally awesome!"
"Who's going to go in the double's rounds?"
"You're even hotter in person!"
Clark blinked in surprise at the reaction before he realized the reason for it. The Vytal Festival was a huge event that was televised all over the world, and the tournament was an integral part of it. The students fighting had become celebrities.
At least, the students who weren't celebrities already. Clark had heard that there were high expectations for a girl named Nikos, and the heiress of the SDC was competing as well.
Clark waded through the crowds and approached the team. His stature and physique allowed him to do so without anyone challenging him. Although there were a few upset looks.
Velvet and Fox were uncomfortable with all the attention, but Yatsuhashi was handling it well. Meanwhile, Coco was pretty much reveling in it.
Clark got behind Velvet and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. "Will I have to wait in line if I want an autograph too?"
She turned to face him and pleaded. "Don't joke! Just, I don't know, help me! I can't do this."
"Alright alright." He stepped forward and appreciated that Fox also got closer in a protective stance around the faunus. "Everyone, please. Give her some room." Clark directed to the crowd.
There were a few grumbles, but the two young and physically capable men went unchallenged. However, a few were bold enough to continue looking on at Velvet with predatory gazes. Clark glared at them.
They paled and averted their eyes.
Maybe he'd flashed his eyes red for a moment, and maybe he hadn't. If anyone asked, he'd deny it.
Not that Velvet couldn't take care of herself, but she looked so vulnerable and uncomfortable that Clark couldn't help his reaction. Strangely enough, Fox seemed well-practiced at guarding his faunus teammate.
There were plenty of nice, and polite fans though. Fox and Clark moved aside so they could speak to Velvet, and more than a few young faunus girls looked on with awe. She must be an inspiration for them.
Clark had seen more than a few instances of faunus discrimination as the Dart to realize the extent of their struggles. Even now, a few humans gave them dirty looks.
Velvet knelt, a pen and paper in her hand provided by a fan. "Nimph? That's a very pretty name." She said when signing for a girl with fins on either side of her head.
Clark focused on his other teammates. Coco could easily take care of any creeps on her own, but that didn't mean she couldn't use help dealing with them.
"Your beret is so pretty, and you look totally cool with your sunglasses. I want to be just as pretty as you when I grow up." A young girl said.
"Kid, with your sense of fashion, you won't have any problem." Coco replied. "Besides, you're plenty cute already."
Nearby, a ginger teenager looked on at Yatsuhashi with sparkling eyes. "Oh wow, you're so strong."
"You noticed." He grinned and flexed an arm. "You can touch them if you like."
Several young women cooed and ran their fingers over his biceps.
Yeah . . . looked like those two were handling things just fine.
Eventually, the crowd left. There were still a few people who looked on and whispered, but they didn't approach.
"Whew, glad that's over." Fox said.
"Hmm, I dunno. I could have gotten used to that." Coco commented. "Anyway, we should hit the showers. The ice in the arena helped, but it's a hot day. All that fighting left me sweaty. What about you guys?"
They all agreed. Velvet subtly turned her head to the side and sniffed. Her face wrinkled, and she stepped away from Clark.
He hadn't mentioned it, but they didn't exactly smell like roses. He didn't mind the smell too much, it was expected after all their activity.
"You guys go on ahead then. I'll be waiting here." Clark said. "Try not to get swept up in another crowd."
About twenty minutes later, all members of team CFVY had returned in fresh clothes. Which were a lot more casual than their fighting outfits. Shorts and t-shirts rather than armor or zippered vests. Velvet wore a short-sleeved white top, and a bright red skirt that ended just above her knees. It showed off more skin than Clark was used to from her.
Coco flashed him a knowing smile. Oh no. She'd caught his eyes lingering on Velvet.
"It really is hot out, you okay in that jacket?" asked Fox. The question took Clark's mind off his mistake.
"I'm good." Clark replied. His red jacket probably wasn't meant for the summer heat, but he liked it. "I saw some fair games, should we try them out?"
"Maybe later. I could use some ice cream first." Coco said. "It's the best way to celebrate our victory. How about it, team and Clark?"
Ice cream sounded like a good idea to everyone. They found a vendor nearby, although CFVY was interrupted a few times on the way by fans. Which allowed Clark to slip past and buy his first. He got a cone, as did Fox and Coco. While Yatsuhashi and Velvet each got theirs in a cup.
They all sat down at a round table with a built-in parasol shading them from the sunlight.
"You got vanilla?" Coco raised an eyebrow at Clark's choice.
"Yeah . . . is there something wrong with that?"
"Just seems like a boring one. Then again, what else would you expect from good old, reliable Clark?" She teased.
He rolled his eyes and gave his ice cream a satisfied lick. "I like it, even if it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that yours does." Coco's chocolate-flavored ice cream (there was no way she'd chosen that flavor without considering her name) had rainbow sprinkles, caramel, and nuts.
"It's rude, judging a man by the ice cream he favors." Yatsuhashi said, in the same tone he usually gave sage advice. He might have been mistaken as serious if it weren't for his small smile.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Totally." Fox added. "By the way, when's the next fight?"
Velvet checked her scroll. "In a bit over an hour. Leaf, L-F-F-F of Shade vs. Crown, C-R-W-N of Haven."
"You guys are going to watch it?" asked Clark.
"Obviously." Coco replied. "Gotta scope out our possible competition."
"I think I'll sit that out. I don't really have a problem watching your fights, but I'm not really comfortable watching people brawl on a stage."
"You disapprove of the tournament?" asked Yatsuhashi.
Clark shrugged. "Not exactly. I just expected differently when I heard that the Vytal Festival was about international cooperation."
At least no one seemed to get any serious injuries in the fights. Clark would have been even more uneasy if there'd been blood or broken bones.
"Well I think it's beautiful that people from different kingdoms can come together for a common goal." Coco wiped a fake tear from her eye.
"I'm serious though." Clark said. "Isn't there something else people could do besides fight for the festival?"
"Maybe, but the tournament's a big tradition." Velvet said.
Fox brought up a finger. "Plus, love of violence is kinda universal."
Clark sighed. He didn't really mind people watching wrestling or any other type of legal combat sport, but it just seemed wrong for a huge, international event. Couldn't Remnant have something like the Olympics instead?
Then again, Remnant wasn't Earth.
He was the first to finish his ice cream, and he casually tossed the cone in a nearby trash can. It bounced off the far rim and settled inside.
Coco whistled. "Nice throw."
"Thanks." Clark said absentmindedly as he narrowed his eyes. He'd meant to throw the cone straight in the center.
It probably didn't seem like a big deal to most people, but when he'd spent his whole life controlling his strength and a few years in high school perfecting his aim for football, a non-perfect toss couldn't be overlooked.
As he was considering it, his eyes widened in shock when he spotted something in the crowd.
"Sorry guys, but I have to go check something." He excused himself and left, going off at a light jog. Velvet and Fox asked why, but if it weren't for his enhanced hearing, he wouldn't have heard them at all. He had to investigate this.
"Excuse me! Excuse me!" He called out. The woman he was calling out to didn't turn back, probably thinking he was asking for someone else. He cut her off.
"I'm sorry." He apologized quickly as the woman stopped and gave him a questioning look. "Where did you get that shirt?"
On her white shirt was what appeared to be a black capital 'S' emblazoned in a shield.
The crest of the House of El.
"My shirt?" She brought a hand to her chest and her eyebrows bunched up in confusion.
He nodded.
"Um, at a stand over there." She pointed behind her and to the right.
"Thank you." He made his way to the stand, leaving the puzzled woman behind.
Clark hurried to the stand, at a painfully slow pace with so many people watching him. He dodged anyone in the way, and when he reached it, the bright red sign was the first thing he noticed.
Dart Merchandise! Show Your Support For Vale's Crime-Fighting Hero!
Inside were shelves and tables with mugs, t-shirts, jackets, pens, posters, an obscene variety of products. Each one had at least one El crest on it. A majority of them were in black, but more in every color on the rainbow and then some. Like pink or glittery silver.
He gaped at the sight. Mouth slightly open before he recovered and shut it.
"Excuse me," Clark called to the vendor. A green-haired man in his twenties, a name-tag showed his name was Tom. "Where did all this stuff come from?"
"Errr . . . what?"
"The clothing, the stationery, the accessories." Clark said. "Where was it manufactured? Where did it come from?"
Tom shrugged. "I dunno man. I just sell it."
"Okay, then who's in charge? The owner, or the manager."
"Well, Mr. Volpen's the one who hired me, and he's not here right now. You want his contact information?"
Clark nodded. "Sure."
"Alright, let me just some paper and . . . here." The vendor got a small blank note from a drawer and began writing with a pen. It had the El crest on the clip. Clark stared at the writing tool as the man wrote down a scroll number.
"Here you go." Tom handed it to him. "You want to work here too? It's not a bad job, and great if you're a Dart fan like me. You get a five percent employee discount."
"I'm not exactly looking for a job." Clark responded, although his eyes were set on the paper. After thanking the man, Clark walked off. Putting the number in his scroll as a contact.
Who was selling merchandise with the Dart's symbol on it? Clark didn't mind it too much, but it was a bit disrespectful to make money off it.
Jor-El had been, and probably still was, a jerk, but he didn't represent the whole family. Clark was the last member of both the House of El and his species. That meant something.
He'd be fine with the merchandise if the money was well-spent, like going to a charity. Maybe he could convince the seller to do so, but he doubted that would work for anyone else who had the same idea. Going to court wasn't an option either, unless he wanted to throw his identity out to the public.
Maybe he could leave a message with heat vision when stopping another crime? Some people would respect that, but there would always be a couple who cared more about making a profit.
Clark was so focused on considering his options that he almost didn't notice a pair of familiar footsteps approach. They got within ten feet before they caught his attention.
He turned to face Velvet.
Surprise ran through her face before curiosity won over. "Clark? What was that about?"
Clark shoved the paper in his pocket. "Um . . . I needed to ask a few questions about Dart merchandise I saw. Sorry about leaving so suddenly."
She tilted her head slightly, and looked at him with curious eyes. "You're a Dart fan? I never knew that about you."
He shook his head. "No, I was just . . . curious." He inwardly groaned, was making lame excuses another of his powers?
Instead of questioning it, Velvet giggled sweetly. "Alright Mr. Curious, well the others are going to try out some of the fair games like you said. We should probably go along."
"Right." He nodded and followed her lead.
"Be careful with Fox though." She warned him. "He's already going on about how the games are rigged against the players."
"That's a pretty cynical view."
Not that it was totally inaccurate, if the games were like a few of the ones at the fairs back in Smallville. Luckily, Clark had X-ray vision to find any signs of cheating. Which he'd used only to check for that, not to win.
"Oh hey, there they are." Velvet pointed and waved with a bright smile.
Okay . . . maybe a little to win something.
\\\\\
Clark bounded up the cliff in a single leap. This time, his feet went a little bit above the edge rather than sailing straight over.
The cliff was . . . about five hundred feet? Clark checked his scroll and got a height reading, he was about 637 feet above sea level. Then, he hopped off the edge and his feet impacted the forest floor. He checked the scroll again, that had been a 513 foot drop.
Gauging his strength to the degree that he jumped up onto that height wasn't easy. A slight change could make the difference between slamming into the rock face or landing on the trees up above.
What made it even more difficult was the fact that Clark's strength wasn't constant. As he grew older, his powers developed.
When he'd been fourteen, bullets bruised him. At fifteen, they no longer even made him flinch, and he'd kept on getting tougher. Meanwhile, his heat vision became more powerful, and he could run faster and longer without getting tired. The abilities he'd already possessed grew while he continued to gain new ones.
He was twenty now, how much further did he have to go?
He had no idea, and that was why he tested them every month. That earlier toss with the ice cream cone showed that he hadn't judged his strength correctly. For Clark, that was a sign of danger.
When he could accidentally crush bones like twigs, he needed to always be alert.
He repeated jumping up and down the cliff a few more times. Now that the Vytal Festival had begun, far fewer students came to train in the Emerald Forest. They were watching the fights instead, or enjoying themselves at the fair. He could come here and practice.
Clark landed on the edge for a final time, satisfied that he had enough control for that height. He'd already tested himself with smaller distances, jumps between twenty and a hundred feet only had an inaccuracy of a few inches. He'd gradually worked his way up to this cliff, and decided that was enough for leaping. He probably wasn't going to need to jump over a mountain anytime soon.
Now he needed to work on what had prompted these tests. Arm strength.
First, he took out a paper notepad and wooden pencil. He wrote, adjusting his finger strength so that he stayed between making barely visible gray marks and breaking the point. He had an easier time making sure that the pencil didn't snap, and he didn't even need to pull out the extra ones he'd brought.
After writing a few paragraphs, Clark brought out his scroll. It had a program that could measure pressure on the screen, which was incredibly useful. It was pretty frustrating though, since it was sensitive enough that the numbers kept changing no matter how much he concentrated. His grip was always varying by at least a couple pounds, which he supposed was acceptable enough for a handshake.
Next, he collected some rocks. A few of every size between pebbles and boulders. Throwing the pebbles with accuracy was the hardest, and that task took the longest amount of time to perfect. Although the practice with them helped with the larger rocks, and the boulders were heavy enough that he could toss them with some abandon.
The remaining one was pretty close to a sphere and had a diameter twice Clark's height. That, he put some serious effort into.
"Hnngh. Hah!" He heaved and hurled it into the distance. He'd already checked the area, and it would land in an empty, mountainous region.
A couple minutes later, Clark heard it shatter on impact miles away. Far enough that human ears would have only noticed a distant thud.
He grinned sheepishly. Okay, maybe that had been a bit immature. Even so, he didn't often have the chance to use his full strength. Even during his recent training sessions with Ms. Goodwitch and Qrow. Those were to hone his skills rather than brute strength. They also helped him gain further control of some of his other abilities, so he could skip those for today.
Clark picked up some of the rocks and began crushing them in his hands. His grip strength had gotten significantly stronger than the last time he'd tested it. Crumbling rocks between his fingers was easier now.
For the next while, he fine-tuned the control of the powers that needed it. His hearing and breath abilities were already good, so he worked on heat vision. He'd gotten better at aiming powerful beams, but he hadn't worked on low-level heat in a while.
The scroll was handy for that too. It had an infrared camera that could measure temperature. Besides using it on the rocks he heated up, he played around with it for a bit so he could learn how to use his own infrared vision to judge temperature. There was an obvious difference when an object was hundreds of degrees hotter than its surroundings, but Clark wanted to be able to judge something like weather. He could use it to know if he should feel cold if all he wore was a t-shirt, or whether it was too hot for a jacket.
He could easily use a weather forecast to check, but it was an easy source of training for his vision. It would be a little while before he got the hang of it.
His use of X-ray vision was getting better though. Activating and focusing on what he wanted to see came more easily to him now. Qrow had mentioned that it didn't seem to operate with normal X-rays, and the realization had allowed Clark to combine 'X-ray vision' and other vision. It seemed to be more an ability to let him see through things rather than detect X-rays, and it worked for more than visible light. He could see ultraviolet light through glass when it shouldn't pass through, he could see gamma and actual X-rays from space when they normally couldn't penetrate the atmosphere and Remnant's magnetic field.
Lead still blocked that ability though. Even when blocks of concrete or steel didn't.
He checked the nearby trees and surroundings with X-ray vision. Looking through the trees, then inside the trees. He'd already gotten a little practice in earlier at the fair.
He'd only used it to his advantage once though, Clark wasn't going to cheat at all the stalls. Even that didn't really comfort him that much, and he'd intentionally gotten a smaller prize than he could have. A stuffed lion.
He'd been the only one in the team to get anything from that game. Which had consisted of pulling from dozens of different strings to win a prize. He'd jokingly offered it to the team as consolation. They'd accepted and insisted that Velvet hold it for them.
The implications would have been obvious even if the three of them hadn't shot her and Clark small smiles.
He sighed. Really, they were a handful.
Clark focused his attention back to his vision. There weren't really many uses for being able to see in most of the spectrum. Except for being able to easily recognize kryptonite radiation.
He still made sure to look at his scroll in radio every once in a while to make sure Ozpin wasn't using it to track him again. Other than that, his spectrum vision was more for fun discovery rather than practical use.
Although . . . there did seem to be something different about his vision recently. It normally happened when he was studying the Kryptonian crystal. This time though, he'd try it with something else.
Clark walked up to a tree and pulled off a bit of bark. He stared at the piece in his hand intently, trying to activate the newest facet of his vision.
"Come on." He said to himself and squinted. A few seconds later, his field of view changed.
Were those . . . cells?
\\\\\
"Did you watch the fights earlier today?" Ozpin asked.
From the screen, the headmaster of Haven Academy nodded in response. "I did. I must say, your students have a certain flair in their fighting."
Ozpin smiled briefly. "Yes, they rather enjoy having the eyes of an audience."
Leo chuckled. "Certainly. They're still young and want to show off rather than use strategy. Then again, the matches would be boring if everyone was as stiff as Ironwood's students."
"Although not all Atlesian students seem to follow that trend." Ozpin recalled team FNKI's fight earlier that day. "Also, I must congratulate you for finding such a quick replacement for team CMSN. Regarding them, has much progress been made on our investigation?"
Leo's smile held, but there was a certain nervous quality in his eyes. "Well, you must understand the troubles I'm having. The few records we had of them were forgeries. Their home addresses, their families, all lies! They might not have even used their actual names for all we know."
"Yes, I suppose so." Ozpin agreed. "However, few Haven students seem to recall their presence earlier in the year. Not even at their scheduled classes. Why weren't they disciplined?"
"I-I-" Leo spluttered, and looked around as if to search for an excuse. He gave up. "I don't know."
"Such lax security does not give me confidence."
"I realize that. There's no need to fear though. From now on, I'll be certain to be on top of things."
Ozpin sighed. If what he feared was true, then he couldn't be hasty when expressing suspicion. "You don't deserve the blame. We have been close friends for a long time, and you've always been dependable. The most recent of Salem's servants slipped from my watch as well."
Leo nodded quickly. "They did. Thank you for your trust in me."
There wasn't even a trace of guilt in Leo that Ozpin could detect. Did that mean he was wrong to suspect him? Or was his old friend further gone than he suspected?
"Thanks to the added security of the Vytal Festival, the Relic here is secure." Ozpin said. "We also have measures in place for after the festival, but they are subject to change." A reasonable excuse for why he wasn't telling Leo of them. "However, our next concern should be the spring maiden. She's unprotected at the moment, and we can't expect anonymity to hide her forever."
"Yes, you're right. Do you have any leads on her location?"
"In fact, I do." Ozpin lied. "After the Vytal Festival, I will be sending Qrow and another individual to search for her in Mistral. I trust you'll be offering them your support as headmaster of Haven?"
"Of course. However, I'll need to have an idea of where they'll be looking. My influence tapers out the farther one gets from my academy."
"I've already taken that into consideration. They'll be looking in a region about seven miles northwest of Haven. I can't get into the details, but there have been certain reports that seem promising."
Leo took in the false information attentively. "That won't be a problem then. It should be an easy matter to convince Mistral officials there to allow Vale huntsmen in. There's no shortage of Grimm to fight after all. Who is this other individual?"
"A new member of our circle. Young, but certainly dedicated. His heart lies elsewhere, but I have high hopes that he can be convinced to focus on our cause."
"Hmm, it's an interesting picture you're painting. Who is he?"
"Clark Kent." The name didn't elicit a reaction from Leo. "A rather new employee at Beacon."
"Ah, then I look forward to meeting him."