As always, the interior of James Ironwood's ship was spotless. The pristine, white surfaces had been maintained every time Ozpin had come aboard. Which had been rather often these past few months, yet no matter how polished the floors were, they never gleamed. Always giving off a dull, lifeless appearance.

It must be draining for James to work in such an environment.

The general lead Ozpin to a room. Not to his office, Ozpin would have recognized the way there. They were going to a remote part of the ship, one of the many signs of the caution James was taking. As they walked, the number of soldiers they passed dwindled.

They reached a nondescript white door, and James used a physical key rather than his scroll to unlock it. "In here." He said, and lead Ozpin inside. It was a spacious room, larger than Ironwood's office, but empty except for several metal desks.

James gestured for Ozpin to sit down at one of them, which had a screen flat on its surface and a keyboard. The headmaster sat, then James did at an identical desk across the room. The screens and keyboards lit up.

These must be the preparations James had made after Clark had revealed his other abilities. The other desks likely for Qrow and Glynda.

The general typed first at his desk. Not once did his face so much as twitch. His eyes and jaw had been set in a grave expression since the moment Ozpin had answered his request for a meeting.

Ozpin's desk displayed a message.

James Ironwood: This room has lead shielding on all sides, it used to be a medical imaging lab, so it was easy to modify. I've made sure to cover any possible gaps, so it's safe for us to communicate here. Type your name and then it'll accept your messages.

Ozpin saw the prompt for his name, input it, and pressed enter. Then, he saw a message line.

Ozpin: I understand. Now, why have you called me here?

James Ironwood: Amber is dead.

Ozpin's eyes widened, and he looked up from the screen to the general. The somber expression was all the confirmation he needed.

Ozpin: How?

James Ironwood: As we agreed, I covertly placed Amber on a Bullhead to the location we decided on in Atlas. Last night, it was attacked.

James continued typing his next message, but Ozpin felt a sickening certainty of how it had been accomplished.

James Ironwood: A high-speed object destroyed the Bullhead. Too fast to be a missile, almost like a small meteor. Except it came from under the ship.

He had been right. Ozpin: Clark's phantom.

James Ironwood: Yes.

Ozpin's mind ran through the ramifications, and James waited patiently as he did. This confirmed that the phantom was allied with Cinder Fall. In time, perhaps he'd be introduced to Salem and become a direct subordinate. That would be catastrophic, even if Ozpin could rely on Clark to fight against them.

The Fall Maiden's death, it would be safest to assume that both halves of her power were now in Cinder Fall. Yet they should still watch for reports of elemental semblances in young women, just in case. In addition, the Relic at Beacon would have to be more tightly defended. Ozpin had disapproved of the Atlesian forces before, but now they might prove to be necessary. Hopefully only as deterrence, and not for actual combat.

However, those were only temporary. After the Vytal Festival, Beacon would require another way to shore up its defenses.

James Ironwood: I've managed to convince the Council that it's necessary to move Amity Coliseum closer to Beacon. They'll both be easier to defend that way. I've also had my ships circle more closely around both.

Ozpin frowned, but he didn't argue against James' decisions.

Ozpin: I understand, but do remember that people find large ships looming over them rather unnerving.

James Ironwood: I will, but we must also consider what to do when my ships leave.

Ozpin: Yes, the Relic.

For the next few hours, they discussed how to better defend the Relic of Choice. Since it was the one contained at Beacon, Ozpin had already taken particular care when hiding it. Even he wouldn't have been able to quickly retrieve it if the Fall Maiden were with him. Cinder Fall would be still be able to reach it if she had the time, but the delays Ozpin set up could make all the difference.

James was dissatisfied with that, as was Ozpin. Yet the actions available to them were few and unfavorable. James couldn't allocate his soldiers to Beacon after the Vytal Festival. Ozpin was reluctant to agree on that course of action, but if the situation were dire enough, he might have relented. Vale's Council was another matter, they wouldn't permit foreign forces to remain at the Kingdom's capital for so long, and more than a few citizens would speak against the Atlas soldiers as well.

Moving the Relic would be difficult without the Fall Maiden, since she was necessary to take it out from its vault. Transporting such a large object could be done, but keeping such an operation secret would be near impossible. Cinder had already uncovered the fact that the Fall Maiden had been in Beacon's basement. Ozpin would not risk her using Clark's phantom to destroy the Relic's transport so she could easily claim it.

James was displeased by Ozpin's assessment, but it was the truth. The Relic was safest at Beacon, under Ozpin's direct watch. James couldn't change that.

As Ozpin's lower back ached from the inflexible metal chairs, he made one final point.

Ozpin: I believe we should inform Mr. Kent of the maidens, Relics, and Salem.

James frowned and his forehead creased in his disapproval. He looked back down and quickly rapped out a message.

James Ironwood: I don't think we should.

Ozpin: He's proven himself to be a trustworthy individual.

James' head shot up. His eyes were narrowed, and his disbelief was clear.

James Ironwood: Trustworthy? He lied to us about his capabilities, and I have reason to suspect he still is.

Ozpin: He admitted to his secrecy, and even told us he knew about us tracking him. If he wished, he could have kept that knowledge to himself and misled us. He is an alien, but his behavior and mannerisms are incredibly human. He has shown himself to be an honorable young man. If that is a front, I am completely fooled by it, and I have millennia of experience.

Ozpin: Tell me, why do you think he's still lying to us?

Ozpin couldn't discount the possibility, Clark was too powerful to risk it.

James Ironwood: The inconsistencies in his descriptions of his powers. I've spoken to scientists about hypothetical machines that could replicate them, and the things he's done shouldn't be physically impossible.

Ozpin: Such as?

James Ironwood: He claims he's solar powered, but I'm told there's only so much energy he should be able to receive from sunlight. It should take days for him to gather enough energy for his eye beams to last so long and hot enough to vaporize metal, but he does it easily. His strength and speed can't be derived from sunlight either, he has to be using something else. His food can't be the source either, I've been told it has to be something like atomic energy or even antimatter.

Antimatter? Ozpin: I don't know what those mean.

James Ironwood: Alternative energy sources to dust. Extremely rare ones that are much more powerful and dangerous. That's not all, his "X-ray vision" doesn't work at all like X-rays. Lining this room with lead might be useless, for all I know, he could be watching us and reading through our conversation right now.

Ozpin: Can you explain how?

Ironwood took out a sheet filled with what appeared to be notes and began typing. Looking back and forth from his screen and the paper as his fingers tapped the keys.

James Ironwood: X-ray machines need a source of X-rays and something to receive them. We tested that he doesn't emit them from his eyes, and X-rays aren't immediately available like visible light. There should be no source for him to use. Even if there was, the rays should pass right through objects like paper that he can clearly see. His vision can also somehow penetrate feet of concrete or steel when actual X-rays can't, and the slightest amount of lead blocks his vision when a percentage of actual X-rays would still pass.

James Ironwood: There's also more, but that's not what's important. He's not telling us the truth about his abilities.

That was intriguing, but Ozpin was no scientist. He had no way to judge James' statements. However, there was much in this world that didn't follow scientific laws. Magic, aura, semblances. Clark's abilities didn't seem to fall under any of those categories, but they could still be akin to them.

Ozpin: I'll have Qrow inquire about these inconsistencies. It's possible that Clark himself doesn't know about them.

James Ironwood: Are you serious? You want to alert him to our suspicions?

Ozpin: So far, they're only your suspicions, and Clark is an ally. He should be treated with a certain amount of trust.

Ozpin: However, that is not the sole reason why I intend to inform him of our secrets. Consider what we're doing here, the measures we've been forced to take to keep our conversation hidden from his and his doppelganger's senses. He can eavesdrop and scout with unparalleled ease.

James Ironwood: The potential as a spy is obvious, but I don't trust him.

Ozpin: Perhaps you should. I spoke with Leo after Cinder attacked the CCT. He only managed to stammer out weak excuses for how she and her team had genuine Haven records. If he has turned, Clark would only need to catch some stray words or secret messages to confirm it. That knowledge is invaluable, as would be our ability to mislead Salem by feeding Leo false information.

James Ironwood: I know the advantages of someone with Kent's senses, but he can't be trusted with our secrets.

Ozpin: How could our secrets interest him? This world isn't his, he has no wish to spread the knowledge of Salem. He's only interested in stopping this phantom and returning to his world.

James Ironwood: He's an alien, we don't know what he's really thinking.

Ozpin: Perhaps, but we need his help. Certainly against another, even more powerful alien working with our enemies.

\\

Next to a clean whiteboard, a wooden table supported a strange collection of papers on its surface. Maps of Vale with spots circled and comments written in red marker, newspaper clippings, magazine stories, printouts of blogs and websites, and pictures of alleys and street signs with their posts warped and bent. Everything had some mention or connection to the Dart, and atop it all sat the latest news about him. With two teenagers looking it all over.

Ruby and Jaune had brought all of those materials to a study room they'd reserved in the library. The perfect place to review all they knew about the Dart and make theories with the information from the latest story on him.

Ruby's team found her healthy, definitely healthy, enthusiasm for the Dart annoying. JNPR was cooler with it, but it wasn't easy for Jaune and Ruby to talk quietly when it was about someone as cool as the Dart. It was disruptive, even for Ren, and he was childhood friends with Nora.

"I knew he had a good reason!" Ruby held up the newspaper article proudly. The title made it clear, Grimm Under the City Gone! No way the Dart would abandon people in need. No matter what all the nasty, angry people online said about him after the Breach.

"How'd he do it?" asked Jaune in awe. "There must have been hundreds of Grimm in the tunnel, and he just killed them all?"

Ruby had already read the article, so she gave it to him. Jaune hadn't been able to before she'd called him over.

"I don't think he killed all of them." She said. "The Atlas drone found Grimm tracks going back to Mountain Glenn, he probably led a bunch of them back there."

"Mhm, makes sense." He said while reading. "That's the safer thing to do."

"Man, it must have been awesome." Ruby said with a smile as she imagined the scene. "Running down the tunnel with Grimm on his tail, shooting back at the ones who get too close."

"Yeah . . ." Jaune said absent-mindedly. "Whoa, wait. How far is Mountain Glenn from Vale?"

"Umm, eight miles? Why?"

"He ran all that way?"

Ruby nodded slowly, wondering if Jaune remembered who they were talking about. "Probably, he's the Dart. He's super fast."

"Yeah, but does he have the stamina to run all that way? He couldn't have been going his top speed that whole time, the Grimm aren't fast enough."

Jaune had a point, it was a long distance to go. Ruby's speed semblance certainly wouldn't have lasted the whole way.

"Ooh, maybe that's another hint about his semblance!" Ruby said. "Hold on, let me write it down." She took out a notebook and flipped to the right page. She swiftly wrote down the clue.

High stamina. Can run for miles.

"No, I think it's something else." Jaune said, equally as excited. He grabbed a marker and stood up at the whiteboard. "Yep, it would be just like this." Jaune's body was blocking most of what he was drawing, but from the bits Ruby could see, she was certain . . . that she had absolutely no idea what it was.

"Tada!" Jaune moved to the side and presented the board. On top was the word 'Dart-cycle', and below that was . . .

"Is that a bike with S's on its wheels?" guessed Ruby. It was a good thing Jaune had written what it was called, she would have been lost otherwise.

"It's more than just a bike with S's on it." Jaune said. "It's the Dart-cycle!" He said with gusto. When Ruby didn't seem to share his excitement, he cleared his throat. "Okay, hear me out. He probably has a bunch of cool gadgets if he's a superhero, right?"

"Uh-huh." That was already confirmed. All real Dart fans knew that he had a laser gun, probably from Atlas like Penny's.

"Well then, why not a motorcycle? Running around in a tunnel for miles is gonna be tough on anyone, so he had to have something to ride. And there's no way he could fit anything like a car, since the article says he went in through a manhole."

"But what if he can run in the tunnels for that long?" suggested Ruby. "He runs pretty far around the city in a single night."

"Yeah, okay, but he speeds around for most of that. There's no way he could do the same with the Grimm chasing him. They're a lot slower compared to him."

"But we have no idea what his semblance is, I think it also includes increased stamina."

"Increased strength, speed, and stamina? That's so overpowered though." Jaune then said in a lower breath. "I could really use a semblance like that."

Yeah, so could Ruby. She was already plenty fast, but she could use some extra power. Being caught by a single White Fang goon was embarrassing. Even if it totally hadn't been fair since she'd lost her weapon.

But there was no point in being jealous. Or was it envious? Weiss probably knew which one was right.

"Anyway, the Dart-cycle is the hill I will die on." Jaune proclaimed. "Or . . . bet twenty lien on."

Ruby giggled. "Okay, you're on. If we find out he has a Dart-cycle, you get twenty lien. If a year goes by and there's no sign of it, I get twenty lien."

"That's fair." Jaune nodded. "Let's get back on track, what can we learn from this?" He held up the news article.

As they talked, it turned out to be quite a lot. Whoever wrote it had clearly gone in-depth on the discovery. The drone had found a break-in at the train's concrete wall, which happened to have a utility line a few feet on the other side. When police had gone down to investigate, they'd found hand-shaped marks in the metal walls. They'd been torn apart and welded together. Another sign of the Dart's strength, and apparently his laser gun had a weld setting. Or maybe he actually had a welding torch like some people had first thought.

There was something off though. There had been scorch marks at the cave-in, but nowhere else. Which didn't make any sense when he had to have been using his gun to fight Grimm. No signs of any other weapons either, no bullet casings, explosive damage, or remains of Dust usage.

What did that mean? Maybe he'd needed the full power of his gun to collapse the tunnel, but hadn't he gone in with any other weapons? There seemed to be no sign of them, and using something like a sword would have been crazy against that many Grimm.

Ruby and Jaune had scratched their heads at that one, but accepted the conclusion. The Dart either hadn't used weapons against the Grimm, or he'd used a weapon like a sword that hadn't left any signs. The lack of weapons seemed to be a constant with him. More people were catching glimpses of him recently, and none of them had ever seen his laser gun. Even when he usually used it to put up his mark in a nearby corner right after.

The two brainstormed with the whiteboard and recorded what seemed important in their respective notes. Although at one point, Jaune accidentally got some red marker on his chin when he was deep in thought. Which was hilarious.

After what had to be minutes, but the lying clocks said had been a couple hours. Jaune's scroll buzzed with a message.

"Already?" He put his scroll away and explained to Ruby. "I have to leave. I promised, we're training some more tonight."

"Again? You guys are doing it a lot more now, huh?" Ruby hinted with a smile. Even she could tell how Pyrrha felt about him.

As usual, Jaune was the only one who didn't. "Yeah, she's a really great friend. We have to up our game for the Vytal Festival's soon."

"Yeah, so do we." Ruby said. "Is it with your whole team, or just the two of you?"

"Just the two of us. Anyway, see ya later." He packed up his half of the papers and stuff and left.

Ruby said her goodbye and gathered her own things too. She made sure to clean the white board and handed the key to the room to the librarian.

She went to a computer and uploaded the ideas she and Jaune had come up with to some online forums about the Dart. A few people had already gotten some of the same ideas, but there were counterarguments she and Jaune hadn't considered. Like it being easy enough to shoot into a massive horde of Grimm, so the laser would have hit them rather than scorched the walls or ground. There should have been at least some stray shots though. At least when shooting the Nevermore.

Lastly, Ruby held up the image of the message that the Dart had burned into the walls. It was short, but it was the first time he'd left writing behind. It didn't give any real insight on what his personality was like, but it showed that he cared.

First was his cryptic S. Then below were the words:

I'm sorry I wasn't there to help.

\\

Four Beowolves charged out from the trees. All ready to attack the lone man who stood against them. They advanced in unison, more a coincidence of their matching speeds than any pack hunter strategy. They got closer and closer . . .

A chilling blast of wind rushed by, and in moments froze one of the Beowolves. The others continued forward, and the burst of air swung over. Covering one Beowolf, encasing it in ice, and moving onto the next that still blindly rushed forward. In a matter of seconds, all four of them were confined in hunks of ice.

"Hey, I did it!" said Clark. He looked excitedly to his teacher. She'd asked him to try this until he succeeded.

"Yes, very impressive." Ms. Goodwitch said with approval. "You managed it in several attempts."

"Oh, actually, I took some time to practice beforehand." He explained.

"Really, where?" She studied the area. Already, they were surrounded by sizeable shards of ice from his previous attempts. If he'd done so nearby, there would have been similar signs.

"Deeper in the forest. I melted the ice afterwards," said Clark. If only someone like Ms. Goodwitch had been on Earth. She was used to teaching students with abilities and how to best apply them. She knew hand to hand too of course, but Clark probably wouldn't get a lot of chances to use it against the phantom. Again, flight really was a game changer. So she'd suggested that they work on honing his powers. Her questions about the specifics of his abilities, like how he pursed his lips when using his breath powers, had prompted him to consciously consider what he did.

He'd tried expelling air with different configurations of his lips, which had felt kind of silly. Still, as a result, he could aim and control the blasts of air better. He could also inhale large amounts of air faster. In fact, earlier he'd accidentally made Ms. Goodwitch stumble with the sudden intake of air.

That had been embarrassing. Although she'd seemed more impressed than annoyed.

Anyway, Ms. Goodwitch had also helped immensely with teaching him how to better apply his other powers. Like his strength. The surrounding area was a mess of fractured craters and flattened trees from his earlier activities. Being strong meant more than just punching things hard. He could slam the ground and topple Grimm. He could slam his hands together in a powerful shockwave that knocked over trees. That one especially would help against the phantom. At the very least, it would unsettle him.

"I suppose you won't kill these Grimm either?" she asked. Already her crop was pointed at the Beowolves.

He shook his head, and she swiftly fired off four telekinetic blasts that shattered the Grimm. By this point, his stance on killing the Grimm was run of the mill to everyone. Even the general glared at him less about it.

"You do realize that the Grimm are soulless creatures." Ms. Goodwitch added.

"Because they don't have aura?"

"Yes, all living things possess it. Grimm don't."

Clark gestured to himself. "Ma'am, I don't seem to have aura. The people in my world don't either. Does that mean we're not alive?"

A few moments of silence passed.

"No, I suppose not." Ms. Goodwitch said eventually. "Although according to you, it's an entirely different universe. I would be foolish to apply the rules from my world to it."

"So would I, but I'm going to keep the one about not killing." Clark said. "I understand that these creatures constantly try attack people, and I won't stand by when they do. But I'm not going to just kill them while training."

"Then you will kill them if you must to defend others?"

"If the Grimm attack people, then I'll do what I need to in order to save them." He said the next part with a bit more difficulty. "Even if the only method is to kill the Grimm."

Ms. Goodwitch seemed satisfied by the answer. "Your heat vision." She said. "We've already seen how powerful it is. How well can you control it?"

"I've vaporized bullets, and focused the beam accurately enough to only affect them and not the room I was standing in. I can control temperature pretty well too. I can widen the beam to warm a person up on a cold night, boil water, or melt steel."

"You can see while the beams come out of your eyes?"

"When they're in infrared it's easy, but when they're hot enough to be visible I actually have to use X-ray vision to see through them." He said. "Good thing I have that power too."

"Yes, it is." She said dryly.

Since they didn't have any guns nearby, Ms. Goodwitch had to take his word for his level of accuracy. Instead, he demonstrated that he could do more than set things on fire, he could also use his heat vision to push objects away. They used rocks, although the bigger ones tended to explode from the sudden, intense heat before moving.

Ms. Goodwitch also suggested something he'd never thought of before. Using freeze breath and heat vision simultaneously to create a steam cover. He usually didn't need a cover, since he was fast enough to just run past people without them noticing, but it could be a useful skill.

Clark took in a deep breath, and his eyes shone red. Then, he exhaled a blast of chilled air. Simultaneously heating it up with heat vision.

What came out were shards of ice that quickly turned to water droplets.

Okay, looked like it was easier said than done. His new . . . fog breath? Steam vision? He could decide on the name later. It was not just as simple as using freeze breath and heat vision at the same time. Fine-tuning the temperature and direction of either of those powers needed concentration, doing them together took time to get a hold of.

The next few tries were bad. Heat vision was easier to aim and adjust temperature wise than freeze breath, so he focused his effort there instead. He started to get better. Steam formed rather than warm water, but the aim was off.

Eventually, he did it. He made a decent smokescreen in a couple minutes.

Still, it had potential. Get some practice in, and he'd probably be able to make one a lot faster. The phantom would see through it of course, but X-ray vision took a moment to concentrate. Clark could do a lot in that moment.

That was the point of training his other abilities in addition to super-speed and super-strength. Those two and heat vision were probably the only ones that the phantom wouldn't shrug off, but his other powers could pave the way there. A sudden blast of freeze breath to the face would be a mild annoyance, a steam cover would give Clark maybe half a second before the phantom used X-ray vision, and then he would swoop in with his physical abilities.

He could have practiced making steam for hours. Since it didn't need heat vision anywhere near full intensity, he didn't require time for his eyes to cool down. However, he had to stop on his twentieth attempt, he heard footsteps closing in. Human ones, rather than the animals or Grimm he usually ignored.

There was also the clink of armor, and Clark counted four heartbeats approaching. He looked through the trees to find four guys a few hundred feet away. Students, since they carried weapons and looked a little younger than Clark.

"Is there something wrong Mr. Kent?" asked Ms. Goodwitch. She'd been mostly silent during his attempts, only offering suggestions on what he could try to improve.

"There are people coming this way." He said.

She seemed confused for a moment, then nodded in understanding. "Ah, your desire for secrecy. You may go, I suppose we've already done plenty."

He nodded. "Thanks for your help today."

"You're welcome. While you have many abilities, they're rather straightforward. It was easy enough to apply knowledge from a few similar semblances I've encountered."

"Lucky me." He waved goodbye and sped off to a nearby cliff.

He checked his scroll, and it turned out to be a few minutes before they'd planned to end anyway. He'd promised to meet Penny in a little bit, apparently the general had assigned her an instructor in socializing. She wanted to hang out with Clark to see how well she was doing.

Before he left, Clark checked in on why the four students were in the Emerald Forest. He hadn't really noticed people coming here before. He listened to the conversation taking place between Ms. Goodwitch and the students.

"Ms. Goodwitch!"One of the students spoke, and there was more than a little fear in his voice.

"Team Cardinal." She replied. "May I ask what you're doing in the Emerald Forest?"

"Um, we thought it would be a good idea to train here together. Everybody's at the training grounds, and we don't want them to see our moves before the tournament."

Tournament? Right, the fighting tournament at the Vytal Festival. Team CFVY had mentioned it before.

"I see." Ms. Goodwitch said.

"Ma'am, what happened here?"

Clark winced. Okay, he'd left quite a bit of a mess. That wouldn't be easy to explain, although Ms. Goodwitch seemed like she was ready to. Since she hadn't moved after Clark had warned her about them.

"I find it necessary to hone my skills on occasion." She said.

"Umm, what about the ice, and the burn marks over there?"

"Dust."

"Oh. Didn't know you used that too."

"Well I do." She said in a cold tone. As if they'd be foolish to doubt her. "Now, I think it would be best if you found another portion of the forest to train in."

"Y-yes ma'am."

Clark chuckled. He hadn't really seen much of Ms. Goodwitch's stern side, but he could understand Qrow's wariness.

As funny as that interaction had been, it had held important information. More people would probably go in the Emerald Forest now for the same reason as these four. Clark would need to find somewhere else to practice.