Andrea Mache stepped out of her apartment, leaned her head back, and yawned, blinking away her sleepiness. It was a clear day, early in the morning, so the sun hadn't risen over the cliffs yet. There was a faint golden glow in the east, but down here, it became a dull diffuse light that barely cast any shadows.

She locked the door and headed down the stairs to the street. Luckily, she lived close enough to her job to walk. All she needed was her uniform, bag, and thermos full of coffee. Right now, the last one was the most important.

It took eight minutes to travel down the route she'd become familiar with over the past several years. The market stalls to her left, with most of the vendors getting ready for the day. The nearest waterfall in the distance, the sound of rushing water just barely audible. She took small sips of her coffee the whole way, the hot drink deserved to be savored, and arrived at the police station.

She entered and headed to her locker to store her bag.

Her partner was already there.

"Hey, Andrea!" Phil Helios smiled and waved. His blue uniform looked clean, almost brand-new.

"Hey," she said, and opened her locker. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, not too long. Just a few minutes."

"Hm." She gulped down the last of her coffee, then put her thermos with her bag and closed the locker. She faced him.

"Something wrong?" Phil asked. His wide grin only shrunk a bit.

"No." Andrea knew he didn't drink coffee, but while she still felt lousy, he was bright and alert first thing in the morning.

"Great! Then, let's head out on patrol."

She nodded, and they picked up their scooters and rode to their assigned precinct.

All in all, it was a boring few hours. Not that boring was bad. As cops, they wanted boring, but had Phil really needed to be so cheerful the whole time?

Up until noon, all they did was stay on the lookout for any trouble and help some people with small stuff. There had been some tourists who wanted directions, usually to the elevators that would bring them higher up, and Phil had greeted them happily and wished them a fun time in the city. He'd kept his liveliness even when they checked for traffic and parking violations.

It had given her less to do, since he'd go into any task with enthusiasm, but his attitude was grating. Even more so because she knew why he was so happy. She kept her opinion quiet though, she wasn't going to be a bitch and ruin his day just because his mood didn't agree with her. If he wanted to be glad, fine. At least it was better than the way he'd used to moan and groan about the way things were when he'd first started out.

While she kept her mouth shut, he was the one to bring it up. "Doesn't it seem like everything's gotten better?" Phil looked around the city, his eyes full and proud.

They'd just gotten their lunch, so Andrea had to quickly chew through the bite of beef wrap in her mouth and swallow before speaking. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, it's like the city's gotten more peaceful recently. Don't you think so?" He vaguely gestured with his hand, spilling a bit of lettuce from his chicken wrap on the floor.

"You're imagining it."

"Oh come on, you knowwhat I mean. Things have been happening recently. Everyone knows what some officers would get up to for some extra money, but until now, nobody would do anything about it. Now there's proof of what they're doing, and it's being shoved in our face and to the public. They can't maneuver their way out how they used to."

Andrea nodded. She wasn't as excited as Phil, but it was definitely nice to hear that dirty cops would finally rot in jail instead of having their friends in the system turn a blind eye.

"And it's not just that," he continued. "Gang violence has gone down too, and I hear that even the big families are in some trouble."

"Really," she said in an even voice.

"Yes, really! I hear things, you know. Police are finding more and more of their drug and weapon stashes. A lot of them are already burnt down too, and someone's handing the police anonymous notes with lots of detailed information about them. They have to be the same people who are giving the police evidence of its corruption."

Andrea nodded. That was more information than she'd expected from Phil, but he was still in the dark about a few things. Lots of those gangs and families were suspecting their own members of selling them out. For good reason, those stashes had stayed hidden because they were good at hiding them.

Many families also had ties with some higher-ups in the police, and there was definitely a lot more invested in finding the source of the notes rather than using the information in them to catch criminals.

"Are you saying someone's declared war on corrupt cops and organized crime in Mistral?"

Phil hesitated. "I don't know, maybe? Hey wait, so you admit it's real?"

"Dirty cops are being put away and the gangs are being messed with, sure, but you're in dreamland if you think that makes the city safer." She finished her food and tossed the paper wrapper in a nearby trash can.

"Why?" He frowned for what must be the first time in days.

"Cause it's temporary. You think any group can do this for long? Both the police and crime cartels are going to be after them. Two groups which, by the way, aren't necessarily mutually exclusive," she informed him.

"But nobody knows anything about them."

"Yeah, and that's impressive," she said. No way she was going to downplay that. "But it can't last, and there's gonna be blood in the streets when they're taken down. It's just the way things go."

Phil's mouth was a straight line. He looked out into the city, and they went out again after their lunch break.

The rest of their patrol wasn't very eventful either. Another tourist or two, some minor disagreement between stall owners about one of them using the other's space without permission. Phil did his job fine, polite and proper, but the enthusiasm had vanished.

Somehow, that was worse than the constant smiles and exclamations. She'd told him the truth, but . . . maybe she could have said it a little differently. What had even been so annoying about his attitude anyway? There was enough misery in the city already without her trying to add more.

Near the end of their shift, while they were sitting at a street corner, he spoke up again.

"The people going against corrupt cops and the crime families. Don't you think they're doing the right thing?"

"Yeah, I do!" Andrea cleared her throat, toning down the eagerness in her voice. "I agree with what they're doing, people who deserve to be in jail have avoided it way too many times, but good intentions aren't enough to change things."

"What if they had some help?"

She tensed, then narrowed her eyes. Watching him carefully. "What kind of help?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Me. I want to help them."

"What?"

Her shock seemed to put him off-balance. "I-I want to help them. Join them if I can."

"You gotta be-are you stupid? You don't know anything about them!" Had the fact that they'd be crushed by the city go in one ear and out the other with him?

"I know they're making things better. You said so yourself!"

"Yeah, but we don't know why. They could just be trying to make their own way as a crime cartel and remove the competition while distracting the police."

"If they are, then I'll found out for myself, but I don't think I'll need to. I'm sure they want to make Mistral a better place, and I want to be a part of it. I'm not going to sit back while the thieves and killers in charge try to stomp them out."

"You want to die with them? On an impulse decision like that?"

His hands tightened on the handlebars of his scooter. "It's not an impulse. I've been thinking about this for the past few days. If that's what it takes to do some real good, then I accept it."

Andrea scowled but didn't argue with the resolve in his expression. Of course he'd leap at a chance like this. How could she have forgotten the idiot he'd been when he joined the force? He hadn't grown up and learned, just waited underneath the surface for a chance to act out his stupidity. "Let's just go back. Our shift's about to end."

Once they returned to the station, they didn't exchange any more words. They didn't even meet each other's eyes when retrieving their belongings and leaving.

\\\\\

Andrea kept a calm expression, but her sharp eyes stayed on the lookout as she walked through the dark streets. It wasn't late enough into the night for the real creeps to come out, but anyone who walked through here needed to stay alert. There was graffiti streaked across many of the buildings and the more run-down ones had weeds growing. Most of the people here kept to themselves, and it was quieter than the streets she patrolled during her day job.

In a few minutes, she found what she came here for. An orange streetlight lit up the spider painted onto the column of one of the buildings, and she went around to its front entrance.

Inside was a bar and tables full of people. They were drinking and eating, nothing illegal being passed around even though it wasn't unheard of to find drug dens in this region. Many of them glanced her way, then looked aside without even pausing.

As far as she could tell, they all had spider tattoos on their hands. She wore jeans and a white shirt, since there was no way she'd come in here with her cop uniform, and approached the bar.

"Andrea, long time no see." A heavyset blonde woman sat behind a wooden desk. She greeted Andrea with a sharp glint in her eye and a warm smile. Her fan was folded up, and the two guards behind her nodded at Andrea's approach.

"I'm here for business." Andrea set down four hundred lien on the table.

"Not even a 'hello' back?" Lil' Miss Malachite leaned forward. "Do you have any idea what I'd do to any other cop just for looking at me wrong?"

Andrea snorted. "Good thing I'm not any other cop then. I want information."

"Okay then dearie, what do you want to know?"

"The people messing with the families' stashes around the city and trying to put dirty cops behind bars. Who are they and how do I find them?"

Malachite laughed. "Sorry, but I can't tell you that."

"Why? If you're asking for more money, then I want something useful before I give you more."

"I'm not raising the price, I'm saying that I don't have what you want to buy."

"Huh?" Andrea had been prepared for several responses. It wasn't easy to get Malachite to talk, so Andrea had been willing to negotiate, to blackmail, to threaten, to do almost anything really. But what was she supposed to do with no information?

"That's right. Whoever they are, they're good. I hardly have anything on them," Malachite said with a bit of acid.

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Andrea held back a smirk. Whoever these people were, they must be causing trouble for Malachite's operations too.

"So all of your 'spiders' are useless?"

Malachite glared at her. "Watch yourself dearie, don't think you're invincible just because you're allowed to come here and do business."

"Well I think my business is done, you don't have anything to offer me." Andrea rose from her seat and reached for her money.

Malachite held up a hand, signaling her to sit back down. "Hold on now, I didn't say that. Depending on what you want to know, I could still help."

"I told you what I want to know. You just said you can't tell me."

"You told me what you want to know, but you haven't told me why." Malachite opened her fan and used it direct some air at herself. "Is this for Atreus? I've never met the man, but I've heard things and he must be getting annoyed. What kinda perks is he offering you for doing this?"

"None of your business."

"Alright then, but working for the police must be awfully dull."

"And this is somehow supposed to be fun and well-paying?" Andrea pointed up and twirled her finger, referring to Malachite's business.

"For some it could be."

"Yeah, well I'm not interested in that. Do you have anything useful to tell me or not?"

"That depends on why you need it, which you're selfishly keeping to yourself. I can't tell you who they are, where they are, or even exactly how they're doing what they are." Malachite paused, obviously delighting in making her wait. "But I can tell you how to get their attention. Interested?"

Andrea nodded.

\\\\\

In the evening, Clark went through the red halls to Lionheart's office. He'd only been there once before, but he remembered the way fine.

If he'd been given a choice, he never would have stepped foot near the man. Ozpin had placed an enormous amount of trust in his old friend, and Lionheart had taken advantage of that to help Cinder infiltrate Beacon.

Clark hadn't been impressed by Lionheart when they'd met either. The others had noted that he was out of shape, understandably not very fitting for a huntsman, but that didn't bother Clark. The problem was that the man was defeated. He'd put on a smile when greeting Qrow and the other students, but his heart had been fluttering like a frightened bird. Even worse was the obvious subservience to Salem Clark had seen whenever Lionheart spoke to her through the Seer.

The only reason Clark was going to the man was because Lionheart had called him to his office. Clark doubted that it was some sort of trap, unless he had some magic or kryptonite on hand, Lionheart would know he wouldn't be able to hurt him. Even if he did, Clark doubted he'd try anything when Qrow and the others would notice his disappearance. Still, he checked the office with X-ray vision before entering.

It wasn't hard to figure out why Lionheart was calling him in, and Clark had discussed the meeting request with Qrow. There wasn't really any point in trying to get any information from him through it, Clark already watched him plenty.

They didn't have anything to gain by him going, but snubbing Lionheart might set off some suspicion. So, he went.

Clark arrived in front of the wooden doors and knocked.

"Come in," Lionheart said from inside.

Clark opened the doors and entered. He dipped his head in greeting. "Hello headmaster, you said you wanted to meet?"

"Ah yes. Please, make yourself comfortable." He held a warm drink in his hand, tea based on the smell, and gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk.

Clark took a seat.

"May I ask, what do you think of your time in Mistral so far?"

"It's interesting," Clark said. "The markets are fun to visit and the others like studying here."

"That's good. I suppose Ms. Nikos has much valuable advice for exploring the city."

"Yeah, she knows about the really good spots and the paths she used to when she wanted to visit them unnoticed. The Hanging Gardens, the Glowing Shore, and even a few of the caves." Clark said. Lionheart seemed to enjoy small talk, or maybe he was just to trying to get him to relax before talking about more secretive topics.

"That's good, there's a plethora of natural beauty to admire in Mistral."

"Definitely."

"Yes, it's too bad that my duties make me too busy to visit them regularly." Lionheart drank from his mug. "Now, I've already spoken to Qrow about this, but have you made any progress with Cinder or the Spring Maiden? Your speed must be incredibly convenient for investigation."

There they were, the subjects he really wanted to know about. Luckily, the truth was safe to share. "Yes, but I haven't had any luck. Cinder covered her tracks well, and wherever the Spring Maiden is, it's isolated."

"That's unfortunate. Oh well, there's no rush," the headmaster said. "Anyhow, the reason I've called you here is because of your actions in the city. At least, I'm assuming you're the one uncovering corrupt police officers and attacking the criminal organizations in Mistral."

"I am. Is that a problem?"

Lionheart's pulse quickened at Clark's intent gaze. "No no, not at all. I'm merely curious, why involve yourself in these matters?"

Clark narrowed his eyes slightly. He'd expected that his efforts in the city would be why the headmaster had called him in, but it was strange. Clark had been watching Lionheart, and this line of questioning hadn't been an order from Salem. In fact, Lionheart usually only made brief weekly reports to Salem, informing her that conditions hadn't changed with Clark and Qrow hadn't met any success tracking down the Spring Maiden.

Lionheart claimed curiosity, but Clark doubted it.

"I learned about the state of this kingdom a few weeks ago," Clark explained. "Organized crime and corruption are serious problems here, and while I don't expect to fix things myself, I want to help."

"I see. You're a very compassionate young man," Lionheart smiled. "I suppose I should have expected as much from your history as the Dart in Vale."

"Thank you, sir." Clark's brow furrowed in confusion. "Just to make sure, you don't have any problems with my actions in the city?"

"No, not at all!" Lionheart said with gusto. "In fact, I fully support them. A word of advice, it's not just the police that are corrupt, many heads of state in the capital are rotten as well."

Clark blinked. The bitterness in the man's voice was genuine. "Um, okay. Then if you don't mind, could I request some funding for supplies?"

"Hm? Well, perhaps. I may need to consider for some time."

"It's nothing too expensive," Clark said, and added a bit more to reinforce his case. "And back in Vale, Headmaster Ozpin offered a lot of help when I was the Dart. He trusted you, and I hope I can do the same."

Normally, Clark would have never even considered this. Mentioning a dead friend to get something he wanted was despicable, but Lionheart shared the responsibility in Ozpin's death and the attack on Vale. He didn't deserve consideration.

Lionheart had stiffened at the mention of Ozpin, and any trace of hesitation on his face vanished. Although it was likely more to gain Clark's trust than any guilt over Ozpin. He nodded. "Of course, of course. How much do you need?"

\\\\\

Ruby and Jaune arrived.

Then Clark and Pyrrha arrived.

The four of them stood in a rocky valley with a clearing in the center. It was a few hundred feet wide and surrounded by trees on all sides. The sound of running water was nearby, and the afternoon sun shone directly overhead, with a few puffy clouds decorating the sky.

Jaune and Pyrrha blinked multiple times and gave wide-eyed stares at their surroundings

"You guys alright?" Clark asked.

"I'm okay, that was just . . ." Jaune trailed off.

"It was a very strange experience," Pyrrha finished his thought.

Clark understood. Moving people at super-speed tended to result in some disorientation. He didn't think it was anything physical, his powers seemed to take care of any problems with acceleration, but suddenly being in a completely new environment could be shocking. Even if they were prepared for it.

"You okay, Ruby?" he asked.

"Yep, I'm good!" She'd been looking around with curiosity rather than confusion. Her own experience with super-speed had probably prevented the same reactions as the other two. "Where are we?"

"About five miles northwest of Mistral," Clark said. "It's somewhere discreet where we can experiment without anyone seeing. Do you guys all have your new weapons?"

They nodded. Jaune pulled out the new sword from his hip. It was an unmarked longsword that fit in the same scabbard as Crocea Mors. Apparently, he'd decided to keep that much, which should be fine as long as he didn't transform it while fighting criminals in Mistral.

Pyrrha also presented her shortsword. The same kind of weapon as her usual one, but this one had a gray steel blade rather than red and bronze.

"No shield?" Clark asked.

"None, this sword will be enough."

"Okay, and Ruby?"

Ruby took out two pistols from holsters on her hip. Where she also had Crescent Rose still in its compact form.

Clark nodded. "Do you have Dust ammunition?"

"The only Dust in them is for propellant, but I don't need anything more. Ammunition with elemental Dust is way more expensive now anyway."

"Alright then, seems like that's set. You guys mind waiting while I test Pyrrha's Semblance for a bit?"

"I'm fine with that," Jaune said. Ruby agreed.

"Good." Clark walked over to Pyrrha and pointed to the trees. "I've hidden some boxes with metal pipes in them over there. Think you can crush them from this far away?"

"I can, but it likely wouldn't be very precise."

"How come?"

"With my Semblance, feeling the metal's location requires concentration, and it helps immensely if I'm able to see it. From this distance though, it's difficult. Without being able to see them, I can only send a general wave of force to affect them." She waved an arm in the direction he'd pointed at.

With X-ray vision, he saw the pipes quiver.

"In this situation, I'd have to hurl them against a wall to crush them. However, if they're in a metal container, then it will move as well. Although not as much as what's inside if the container's heavy enough."

"So you think it'll only work if you affect guns in heavy safes?"

"If I were alone, yes, but I think I could do better if you were to describe what I'm doing to them." Pyrrha reached out with an arm and began to slowly turn to the left. "Can you tell me when I'm aiming directly at one of the boxes?"

"Sure." He waited a few seconds until she faced one of them. "Stop. Okay, a little more to the right. Perfect."

She closed her eyes. "I . . . I can feel them. I'm going to try to lift them without affecting the container."

"It's a cardboard box, so you shouldn't have to worry about that."

She corrected him. "Actually, I'll still need to be careful of the metal bumping the box. Do you have any metal containers? I'd also like to get practice with them. Otherwise when I try this with safes, I may end up moving the safe as well."

"Let's save those for next time."

"Very well." She slowly lifted an arm.

"Whoa. Hold on a second."

She lowered her arm and opened her eyes. "Did something go wrong?"

"They shot up out of the box." He made a quick upwards gesture with his hand, and the clanging of the pipes on the ground reached him. "Just wait a second, I'll go put them back in."

He raced over and rearranged the pipes, and once he returned, she explained what had happened.

"I must have overestimated the force I need to put on them. At this distance, it's harder to judge." She closed her eyes again and reached out with an open palm. "I'd like to try again. This time, you'll need to tell me whether to put in more or less force. I'll try to raise them up by a foot this time, slowly."

"Sure." He looked out into the distance. "Still a little too much. Down a bit . . . okay, perfect. They're a foot above the bottom of the box."

"I'm going to crush them now." She squeezed her fingers into a fist.

The various lengths of metal pipes creaked as Pyrrha warped and compressed them. After a few seconds, they were squeezed into a ball hovering in the air. Then, when she set down her arm, they dropped.

They tried again with the next two. Clark guiding her until she got a better feel for it herself. He'd probably still need to help her when they tried this for real, but this was much more convenient than his previous method of racing in and smashing.

"That was good," he said when she'd crushed the last set of pipes.

"Thank you."

"Still have enough aura for one more test?"

Pyrrha nodded. "What do you intend to do?"

"I have a few ideas I want to try out, but first I want to see how strong your Semblance is."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Simple, I want you to push with it as hard as you can. Does more metal make your Semblance stronger?"

She thought for a moment. "Up to a certain point, yes. I'm able to throw an iron weight harder than a metal pin, but once it gets to an object such as a car, I have to work against its weight to move it."

"Then I'll get everything we used so far." He raced back into the trees. The clumps of metal didn't add up to much, but he gathered them all anyway and melted their sides with heat vision. Once that was done, he forced them together and cooled them with his breath to join them together. Clark then crushed the metal until it formed a grayish-red ball a couple feet in diameter.

He flashed back to Pyrrha and held up the ball of steel and copper. "Is this enough?"

She gave it a curious look, then raised her arm towards it. The metal quivered a bit. "It's enough."

"Alright." He held the ball with both hands and planted his feet for solid support. "Now push it as hard as you can."

She seemed hesitant at first, only applying a level of force that Yang or Nora could have probably handled. However, once she saw that it didn't affect him, her eyes focused on him with an incredible degree of concentration. Both hands came up, open palms facing him.

Clark kept his arms straight. Soon, the ball was crushed against him like play-doh.

Drops of sweat appeared on Pyrrha's brow, and she dropped her arms. "That's my limit," she said, and looked at him with surprise. "You're much stronger than I thought."

"So are you." He looked at the misshapen metal in his hands. "I'm sure you could hurl a sixteen-wheeler at someone if you wanted to."

"With effort, yes, but it seems like that wouldn't even stagger you."

He smiled sheepishly. "It's not like that. I could catch it if I'm prepared, but otherwise it would knock me off my feet."

She smiled, an expression of understanding and amusement. "Yes, well, when you put it in those terms, I suppose I shouldn't make a fuss about it."

"Thanks. Anyway, I have some things I want to give to you guys." He turned towards the two who'd been waiting patiently and raised his voice. "Ruby, Jaune, you can come over now."

Once they met up, he walked over to a box with the supplies he'd bought with Lionheart's money. Inside were whistles, masks, and cloaks, which he distributed to the three of them.

He first explained the purpose of the metal whistles, which were meant for them to alert him during emergencies. They'd originally been dog whistles, but he'd modified them with a little heat vision to sound off at an even higher frequency. Too high for even faunus to hear them, and it would also have a better chance at catching his attention when he was using super-speed perception. Sound usually became a meaningless haze otherwise.

However, their new whistles still wouldn't work if he was going towards or away from them at any decent fraction of his top speed. That was why he was going to restrict their involvement to times when he wasn't likely to be using super-speed. Like when he had to use X-ray vision or super-hearing.

"Since we get masks, do we get codenames too?" Ruby said, already wearing the black mask. Like the others, it was smooth, featureless, and covered her entire face.

"Maybe we'll do that some other time."

"Oh hey, yours is different," Jaune pointed towards the remaining mask in the box.

"Really, how come?" Ruby leaned over to take a peek.

"Mine has specific requirements." Clark picked it up. His mask had large eyeholes and the bottom half open to expose his mouth. To demonstrate why, he put it on and let his eyes glow red for a few seconds. Then, he blew out some air cold enough to freeze some water vapor into a white fog.

Lastly, they had black cloaks to blend in with the dark. They should still refrain from wearing their usual outfits under them, but these would work to make them indistinct figures if anyone saw them. When they wore the cloaks, nobody could tell whether they were male or female, or even the fact that three of them were teenagers.

Ruby and Jaune tried the entire outfit on immediately, and the only visible difference between them were their heights. The cloak's hood hid the hair as well.

"This all seems very useful," said Pyrrha as she laughed a little at Ruby and Jaune's enthusiasm. "I'm eager to use them as well, when do you plan on bringing us with you into the city?"

"Sometime soon. I have a pretty big to-do list, so let's run through what you guys want to do," Clark said, and pulled out a large sheet of paper.