It was a nice Saturday morning. Overcast, but with enough sunlight peeking through the clouds to make it a bright day. Clark and the others were outside the city for another group sparring session, not far from where they'd had their first one.

Clark faced three students, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora from about thirty feet away. Halfway between him and them, Ozpin stood, ready to explain the rules for the spar. Everyone else was off to the side to observe and wait for their turn.

Ozpin began. "For this spar, Clark will rein in his strength and speed. He will still be stronger and faster than any of you, but only to the degree of an elite huntsman. He will only be fighting hand-to-hand. No weapons, heat vision, or other abilities."

Relief rippled through the three and even the students sitting nearby.

"Mr. Kent, you must treat their weapons as if they are capable of hurting you. Dodge, block, and deflect as much as you can."

Clark nodded. He didn't have his gauntlets or armor for this spar because they probably wouldn't last long if he fought the phantom again. Also, he still hadn't replaced the gauntlet he'd lost. Ozpin had said that might change for future spars, but he was perfectly fine with the decision.

"Now, are there any questions?" Ozpin asked.

Nora raised a hand. "Yeah. Clark doesn't have aura, right? How do we know who wins?"

"If unlocking his aura continues to be difficult, we'll most likely use a system where he loses after taking a certain number of hits. For now, the spar will go on until he reduces his opponents' aura. Is there anything else?" Ozpin waited. "Very well, the spar will begin at my signal. First, I'd like to get some distance."

He jogged a good distance away, since Oscar's body wasn't up to the task of dodging or deflecting bullets yet. He stood behind Qrow, who had his sword out to block any stray shots.

"Begin!"

The three of them came together in a tight formation. Wary at first.

Clark chuckled. They'd see soon that they didn't need to be. He leapt forward at a speed no one here but Ruby and Qrow could manage. Pyrrha stepped forward, and his fist collided with her shield. The hit knocked her back a few feet.

Ren had leapt to the side and starting firing. At this close range and at the speeds Clark was restricted to, it was a challenge to dodge them. They swept by as Clark ducked and weaved.

He heard Nora's hammer come down and he spun around and caught it by the haft. His feet dug into the ground, but she still pushed him back. He threw it aside but not fast enough to avoid Pyrrha rushing in and swinging her sword at his wrist.

The blade bounced off, and immediately Ren's knives came in scraped his shoulder. Clark leapt away to retreat. Ren came in after him, but a good kick sent him reeling back.

Pyrrha fired. Clark just barely stepped aside from the shot, but then Nora's hammer slammed into his side. Throwing him aside.

Clark frowned. He'd expected it, but wow. This really was impossible without super-speed, there was too much to keep track of.

The two girls raced after him. Clark met them and swerved at the last second to focus on Nora. He kept jumping around, trying to keep her in between him and Pyrrha. He was somewhat successful, except Ren attacking him from off to the side made it harder than it already was. Still, Clark managed to break through her defense and punch her in the gut. There was hardly any time for him to react to Ren, but a solid elbow sent him tumbling.

That gave him maybe a few seconds to focus on Pyrrha. If he had more time, he might have broken her defense, but Nora had recovered. Just when Clark tipped his head to the side to avoid Pyrrha's sword, Nora's hammer rammed him. He fell and rolled out of the way.

"Stop!" Ozpin shouted. They froze. It took a few more moments for the tension to flow out of them, and that was when he spoke again. "After I give each of you some advice, you'll start again."

Clark was first. He walked up to Ozpin, who insisted on speaking with him away from the others. "Yeah, I know, if I wasn't tough, they would have slaughtered me."

"Yes, especially if those blades had been enhanced by magic. However, do not be discouraged, fighting against a group is a difficult task. Though I do not see why you're neglecting certain abilities. For example, your ability to create shockwaves by clapping. It's perfect against multiple opponents, why not use it?"

"There, um, isn't really any reason," Clark said. It was obvious and kind of embarrassing that he hadn't thought of it. "It's kind of unfair though, isn't it? I could just keep clapping and knocking them away."

"That is true, but you should still use it. When you spar those three again though, only use it twice. In addition, you should also focus on disrupting their teamwork rather than attempting to fight one-on-one and reacting when it's interrupted. You did well to keep Ms. Valkyrie between you and Ms. Nikos. In the same manner, each move should be made with all enemies in mind. Staying aware of them should be easy enough with your senses. If you have an opportunity to kick one, propelling them into another, use it."

Clark nodded. "Keeping track of three people isn't easy, but I'll try."

"Admittedly, it difficult to put into practice even though it may sound simple. Waiting for the right chance may result in all of them attacking at once, and you must still avoid their blows."

"I'll do my best." He looked over at the three of them, who were being congratulated by the others for doing so well against him. He'd expected them to show him up, though. He might seem unbeatable if he used his full strength and speed, but when he was at their level, he was an unremarkable fighter.

"I'll be offering them advice now. Is it possible for you to be this close and not listen in?"

"Sure, there's some geese a few miles from here, I'll just focus on them until you're done."

The ends of Ozpin's mouth lifted. "I had forgotten what it was like to hear you casually mention such feats. I'll go to them, then. Expect the three of them to be a good deal more formidable when I'm finished."

"Dang, I was hoping you'd tell them to go easy on me." At that, Clark returned to where he'd started the spar while Ozpin spoke to all the students. Qrow also pitched in a bit, but even when he was watching them, Clark mostly just heard geese switching places as they flew by in their characteristic V formation.

Their talk took five or so minutes. Then Ozpin called for the spar to continue.

After getting into position, Pyrrha and Nora rushed him with Ren following in the back by a few feet. When Clark clashed with them, he focused on Nora again. Not really much of a choice when he could barely handle Pyrrha on her own.

They'd wised up to him trying to hide from Pyrrha behind her. Ren shot at him at times, when he was sure he wouldn't hit his teammates, and Nora didn't attack. She only blocked Clark's blows while Pyrrha's slender weapon thrust forward in javelin form. Even from behind Nora, she could attack.

A few bullets hit him, but Nora only had a relatively thin haft to block him with, so he broke her defense and punched her in the gut.

"Tagging in!" Ren shouted. He raced in while Nora jumped back, Pyrrha keeping Clark busy.

Clark swept between the two of them as they lunged and swiped with their weapons. In the middle of avoiding them, he blocked Ren's blades by stopping his forearms and shoved him into Pyrrha.

"Coming in!" Nora called out. She swung her hammer at Clark and Ren fell back. Letting the two girls fight him in close combat while Ren kept his distance and fired bullets into the fray.

So that was what was going on. Pyrrha was their strong point. She could easily keep Clark busy while the other two switched in and out. Ren was the better choice for distance, since he had guns and his blades had the least range advantage over Clark. When Ren was in close with Pyrrha, Nora would wait until she had a good chance to get Clark with her hammer.

Avoiding that and the blades was mostly doable, but the bullets were a real problem. Plus, if Pyrrha had to, she could use her weapon's shotgun form to fire her own.

Clark waited for the next switch. It came when he'd caught the haft of Nora's hammer, cutting the arc of her swing short. Pyrrha couldn't get in position in time to stop him from landing a blow on her, but he jumped back anyway from Ren's shots. He'd hoped for that.

"Tagging in!" Ren said.

Not yet. Not until Clark got closer to Pyrrha, and Nora and Ren were equally far away.

'Now!' Clark slammed his hands together. The burst of air hurled them back, and he chased after Pyrrha. She landed on her stomach, and in the next instant, he was there.

"Sorry." He stomped on her back and she cried out in pain. The ground rumbled at the hit and her aura flared. It hadn't been enough to take it all away, just a sizeable chunk.

Ren had already scrambled to his feet and fired at Clark, separating him from Pyrrha. This time, he and Nora attacked Clark at close-range, probably to give Pyrrha time to recover.

It worked. They got in his way long enough for her to get up and reenter the fight. Which was fine, since it turned out to be a chance to put Ozpin's other advice into practice.

As he'd predicted, it was difficult. Neither Ren nor Nora stood in the same spot for long, and he actually got pushed back by a hammer blow when it was the easiest weapon to avoid. The opportunity came though, Nora was moving to the side and Ren had come in close. A good kick sent him tumbling into her path.

With that, he actually got the chance to focus on Pyrrha for the next few seconds and get a good hit on her. It normally wouldn't have been that easy, but the hit from earlier had slowed her down somewhat.

The messy fight continued. Clark didn't use his thunderclap a second time, although bringing his hands together was an effective feint if he wanted them to retreat. After the first few times, they tended to tense up rather than fall back, but even then, it was still a useful move.

Getting Pyrrha out had been the key. She was their strongest fighter, and two opponents were much easier to handle than three. Even dodging Ren's bullets became a breeze, and he had way fewer opportunities to reload. Nora was the next to go, and with a solid punch, Ren's aura dropped to zero as well.

All in all, it had taken less than half an hour. Not at all like Clark's previous spars where he'd minimize an opponent's aura loss to get the most time with them. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were exhausted, although probably not as much as they would be after a marathon spar. They collapsed on the floor and wiped the sweat off their foreheads. Bottles of water were quickly emptied.

"Well done," Ozpin said. "That was a marked improvement from before."

"Thank you," Pyrrha said.

"You guys did great. By the way, are you okay with your clothes, Clark?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, I expected this." Clark looked down. His jacket was in shreds, and his undershirt was riddled with holes. His pants had come out fairly well, but a few bullets had still gone through them.

"So is it going to be our turn next?" Yang asked.

"Yes, but before that, let's discuss the fight and what should be worked on."

Nora raised her hand. "Ooh, I'll go first! The next time I fight Clark again, I need to stay back more to really get him with Magnihild. I didn't have any room to swing it and get a strong hit going. Plus, he kept grabbing it."

Ozpin nodded. "A good point. You'll have to coordinate with your teammates to better allow for that. Anything else?"

"How come you didn't do your clap thing more?" Ruby asked Clark. "Pushing them all back at once is super helpful."

"Yes, so helpful that I restricted him to using it only twice." Ozpin turned to face Clark. "However, though you did well to bluff with it, I am interested to hear why you didn't use it again."

Clark shrugged. "There wasn't really a reason. I just thought I could do okay without using it again."

"Once was already rather devastating," Ren said. "We were too dependent on Pyrrha as well. We need to be prepared to react if any of us goes down. Although with our leader, that won't be much of an issue."

"O-oh, yeah," Jaune said. "Don't worry, I'll be ready when we get around to four-on-ones."

"You mean four people whacking me while I fail to dodge."

"Actually, you did very well against us," Pyrrha said. "Even unskilled individuals can prove challenging when they're in a group."

Yang raised a hand. "For future fights, could there be a way for Clark to act more like our attacks are hurting him? Here, he was pushed back and knocked around like anyone else, but he just powered through hits that would make anyone else hesitate."

"That's a good point, but having him make accurate reactions would prove difficult. In addition, one of the Salem's servants you may encounter in the future has a Semblance that nullifies pain. In fact, as a relentless foe, Clark's natural state is better preparation."

"It's kinda scary to think about a guy who'll just keep going no matter what you throw at him," Jaune said.

"Yes, but I'm certain you can overcome that fear. When you're ready, the three of you can spar Clark."

"Oh, I'm ready now." Yang punched her gauntlets together.

The other two readied their weapons, and Clark ripped off his clothes. It wasn't like they'd survive much longer anyway.

\\

Nio's plans for Pellina had gone up in flames. He hadn't expected it to go smoothly when he'd been forced into redirecting routes to go through there, but this was ridiculous.

Powerful huntsmen had fought just outside the town. That was the rumor, at least. Since nobody else could explain the destruction hardly a mile from Pellina. It didn't matter, what mattered was that government flunkies had shown up and started asking around. His only choice had been to recover what he could, which was damn little, and cut off the rest.

That wasn't all. Trying to find the bastard who'd shoved him into this mess had turned up nothing. The Ionas' business had dwindled, and if this continued, it wouldn't be long before their influence followed.

Nio began the call that he'd scheduled. The situation was infuriating, but it was still salvageable. A few things had gone as planned, he just needed to make sure to maintain that regularity.

On his computer screen, Zhang Xiaoping of the Blood Orchids appeared. "Hello, Mr. Iona."

"Mr. Zhang." Nio smiled and lowered his head. "How have you been?"

"As well as any of us can be with the Interference still present."

Nio chuckled. "I suppose that's true, but I'm doing even worse." Normally, admitting that would have been foolish but lying was pointless when Zhang could find out anyway. "I've run into some difficulties, so I'll require more assistance if we want to reach our goal."

"Our goal." Zhang's expression was flat, but his voice held a sneer. "Working as a unified group is our only option, but so many of you would rather refuse and bicker. Remember Mr. Iona, I only agreed to an alliance because you seemed to be an exception. I will not give any aid unless you show me you can make progress."

Nio bit the inside of his cheek, hiding his irritation. Generally, Zhang was easy to work with. His methods differed, but these past few months, he'd shown that he knew what needed to be done. The only reason his demand sounded unreasonable was because so many of Nio's operations had been derailed recently.

"At our next meeting, I'll make a proposal for Diomed Thrace to be our leader. Mr. Zhang, the only thing I ask is that if you decide to support us, do it then."

"Thrace? That big angry man? Why would you choose him?"

"I've known him for years. Yes, he has a fiery temper, but it doesn't affect his decision-making. He's got a good head on his shoulders, and his brother is rather crafty as well."

"How am I supposed to know that what you say is true? Even if you're sincere, I have no reason to think so highly of him."

Nio raised a finger. "I can give you several. Firstly, he supports the idea of unifying us under a leader. He's open to the idea of taking that role, though reluctant. Secondly, if you recall, he and I were the ones who secured the only sighting of Interference members. There are also a number of his activities you can investigate, although he's done well to keep his fingerprints off of them. Such as when he crushed several gangs encroaching on his territory. I recall two who were named the Deep Blue and Hard Skull gangs."

Zhang watched him for a few seconds before speaking. "I will verify your claims. However, even if I do support him, how will you convince the others to agree? You families don't think highly of the Eastern gangs, even though we have seats in the meetings."

"That won't be as troublesome as you may believe. I'm sure you know how our most vocal opponents are preoccupied?"

"I do."

"Yes, and of course, that's not the only factor I'm depending on. Even though the families were upset at the idea of moving operations outside the city, they've seen that the alternative is hopeless and have adapted. I've also built up some good will after I revealed that bribing government workers is still possible, albeit more difficult, so I'm sure you can see that we'll still be able to make our case."

Zhang nodded. "I can. Very well, if what you've said about Diomed Thrace is true and he has the qualities to make a suitable leader, I'll support him when you make your announcement."

"Thank you very much. Could I also count on you to inform Chen Yu and see if he'll give his support as well?"

"You can."

\\

Their warehouse had gotten some new furniture. Bare, simple tables and chairs, but they were clean at least. When the same couldn't be said about the building, Andrea appreciated that.

She and Phil were sat at one end while Farmer was at the other. This meeting had been convenient. They had updates they wanted to give him, and he'd said he had something to tell them as well.

Farmer went first. "The Interference is going to reduce its activities. Especially during the night."

"Reduce? By how much exactly?" Andrea asked.

"Exact numbers are difficult to give, but I can say it'll be around a quarter less. We won't be able to keep up our previous surveillance, so more crimes will probably slip through."

"Can we ask why?" Phil said.

"Yes. You know the Interference has few members. In addition to that, up until now those few members have been overworked. Many of us haven't been sleeping or eating properly, so we decided that we can't sacrifice our health. Not even for this."

"Really? Then I completely understand, you guys have to look after yourselves," Phil said.

"Thank you. However, this probably won't change your tasks much. Since I hope joining the Interference hasn't impacted your health."

"We're fine. The only health trouble we'll get is what'll happen to us if we get found out," Andrea said.

"Then I guess that's the best we can do. Now, what did you two want to tell me?"

Phil grimaced. "We have some bad news. Police are accepting bribes again."

"They are? How? We've been watching the city during the day and haven't spotted any."

"We don't know how you patrol during the day, but even if you're watching just as closely as before, it's not going to work. The police have gotten sneakier with bribes."

Even through his mask, Farmer's face showed a deep frown.

Andrea went on with her explanation. "Basically, the system that's set up now is that if someone wants the police to turn a blind eye or something, they send them a message to where they can pick up some money. It's usually some normal place like train station lockers. It started a while back, but now rates and communication have been streamlined. Even so, it only works with the big fish who have a sort of history with cops, not just any street gang."

"That'll make it much harder to gather evidence, and it'll be impossible for us to watch officers closely enough to even see it for ourselves. Do you know how many police are involved in this new system?"

"Not too many. I think only the lieutenants and higher ranks of a few central stations are in on it. Corruption trickles down though since they can order sergeants."

"Even so, this is bad. Especially when it's right after we decided to lower activities." Farmer's fingers clenched into a fist, his lips pressed tight.

"I'm sure we can manage though." Phil had an uncertain, but still hopeful face. "After all, didn't the Interference get the Petro family heads arrested recently?"

"We did. That's one reassuring victory at least. By the way, have either of you found any officers who might be counted on to speak up against corruption?"

Andrea and Phil winced. "No, we haven't," she said. "We've tried, but neither of us are exactly well-liked by our coworkers."

"Would a deadline help? I've already told you that the Interference is temporary, but maybe something more concrete would be better. Two months seems reasonable enough to find at least one."

"We'll make sure to branch out more," Phil said. "But . . . does that mean the Interference might be gone then?"

"No, not that soon. Although I can say that it's unlikely that we'll still be around for a year."

The news unsettled Andrea. A year? The Interference had done a lot in a few months, but there was still so much left before they could make any permanent changes. With them working at a slower rate too, what could they actually manage in that time?

"Farmer, we also have an update on the department's investigation into the Interference," she said. "They've moved on from questioning officers. These are only rumors, but I've heard that they're forming a task force to deal with us."

"We can handle that. I'm more concerned about the questioning. Are you sure they still don't suspect you?"

"Phil got off pretty easy before, so I think he's good. They had their eye on me because I grew up in the lower levels and would have a motivation, but nothing's happened since."

Farmer nodded. "Thank you for all you've told me. We're going to change a few things. I hate to ignore them, but we won't be able to do anything against police who are using the new bribing system. We need to focus on the higher-ups. Chief Atreus specifically."

Andrea's eyes widened at the news. Beside her, Phil showed the same surprise. Going after the chief had seemed like a far-away goal, something they'd work on only when the Interference was really running out of time.

"The rest of the Interference will handle that, but anything you two finds is welcome. Andrea, feel free to use any of your sources that you feel safe with. Also, if Phil is the one the police least suspect, then he should be the one asking around for reliable officers. Understood?"

They answered together. "Yes."