It had been a long time, even by Ozpin's standards, since he'd felt like there was a chance to stop Salem for good. The young man before him was hardly more than a boy, but after spending the past few weeks getting the measure of him, Ozpin could finally see an end to millennia of conflict.
Several members of Ozpin's current generation of allies were also with them. James Ironwood, the commander-in-chief of Atlas' military. Glynda Goodwitch, a fellow teacher at Beacon. Qrow Branwen, a loyal and capable huntsman. Ozpin had invited them to the Emerald Forest outside Beacon Academy so they could meet their newest recruit in the fight against Salem.
The young man introduced himself and shook their hands. "Hi, I'm Clark Kent."
"Clark," James said, looking him over. "You're fifteen years old, correct?"
Clark nodded. He had a physique typical of huntsmen-in-training. Fit and well-muscled, but he hadn't trained as a huntsman at all. In fact, he hadn't even needed to exert himself in the slightest to achieve his figure.
Qrow spoke up, "And can you tell us why Ozpin brought us here to introduce you while hardly telling us anything about you?"
Ozpin answered him. "Clark is a very powerful young man. So powerful, in fact, that I hardly believed his abilities until I tested them for myself. He can be a huge help against our enemy, especially if we keep his existence a secret."
Ozpin had only known Clark for a few weeks. While that was enough to build a general impression, that wasn't enough for Ozpin to inform someone about Salem. However, he had told Clark enough for him to understand that there was an intelligence behind the Grimm. James, Glynda, and Qrow had been warned beforehand not to mention anything specific about Salem.
They gave Clark intrigued looks. The young man wasn't used to attention and looked away with a sheepish expression.
"Clark," Ozpin said. "Go ahead."
"Okay." The young man faced them again and readied himself. "Before I begin, you should know that my abilities don't work like yours. I have aura, which Ozpin unlocked, but I had these abilities before he unlocked it and they're not part of a Semblance. The first thing I'll show you is my ability to fly."
Clark hovered off the ground. It wasn't through the manipulation of air or manifesting wings, he just lifted a few feet into the air. Flight like that was fairly rare as a Semblance, but not completely unheard of. Glynda could do it in a fashion by using her Semblance on her own body, although she found it difficult and disorienting. Winter Schnee could fly by riding on one of her Semblance's summons.
"I'm also really fast," Clark said. In an instant he vanished and reappeared hundreds of feet away.
That caught the three of them off-guard. Ozpin smiled, he'd been similarly shocked at Clark's speed the first time he'd truly demonstrated it. The four of them could easily deflect bullets with their bare hands, but this level of speed was far beyond that.
"How fast is he?" James asked.
"I actually prepared a demonstration to show you Clark's speed," Ozpin said. He presented his scroll, which showed a hologram of a desert. "This is a live feed from a high-speed camera in Vacuo five thousand miles away from here. Clark will make a round trip to and from that location."
As huntsmen, they were able to catch the delay between Clark's disappearance from the Emerald Forest and his appearance in the Vacuan desert, but no civilian could have managed it. Clark waved at the camera and then vanished once more to appear in front of them.
"Five thousand miles and only about twenty-seven milliseconds . . ." Ironwood read off the timer which had been on the screen and his eyes widened. "That's-!"
"Very close to the speed of light," Ozpin confirmed. "Close enough to be negligible. This speed is only part of what will make Clark so formidable, he has other abilities."
The demonstration took the rest of the afternoon. Clark had a wide variety of powers, and finding their limits, or sometimes not being able to find them, ate up quite some time. His strength was demonstrated by him lifting a hill-sized rock formation that didn't even strain him. It had to weigh thousands of tons, but he casually carried it with a single arm. Even in the weeks of testing, Ozpin hadn't found an upper limit to his strength.
It was the same for his durability, which was independent of aura. Bullets, knives, missiles, bombs, none of what Ozpin had tried had left a mark. Only Clark's own abilities could hurt him to a minor degree. He could hurt himself with his own strength, and he could shoot beams of heat from his eyes hot enough to leave light burns on even his skin. He could blow air hard enough to uproot trees and freeze them solid. His senses were incredible. He could hear a conversation on the other side of Remnant, and he could read a book from miles away. He could even see through all known substances except lead.
"How did you get your abilities?" Glynda asked him once the demonstrations were done.
"I don't know, according to my parents I had them ever since I was a baby," Clark said.
"Do you have any siblings? If so, do they have powers like you?" Ironwood asked. He had his scroll out and had been taking extensive notes.
"I'm adopted. I don't know where I came from but . . . my adoptive parents say that I fell out of the sky in a charred metal ball."
Ozpin added, "I've investigated the matter myself, and I don't think we can find out where Clark came from, nor do we need to. What's important is his ability to help the people of Remnant."
With the demonstration over, Clark flew back to his home in a distant, rural region of Vale. Ozpin invited his three colleagues into his office to discuss future plans.
"Is it safe to discuss anything sensitive?" Ironwood asked. "That young man's hearing is uncanny."
"While I do believe Clark wouldn't eavesdrop, you are right to be concerned for our privacy," Ozpin answered. "That's why I've had lead panels installed in my office and we will be typing our discussion with each other."
They sat down and used their scrolls to communicate.
Qrow: Alright, I've been wanting to ask this ever since I saw him fly to Vacuo in the blink of an eye. Why can't he just fly to Salem and throw her into space?
Ozpin: For one thing, Salem would be able to survive that and return.
They reacted with confused looks. Ozpin had never told them about Salem's immortality, he'd always hinted that she could be killed but only after much difficulty. However, there was another way to permanently deal with her besides killing, a method which would be feasible in a matter of years with Clark's help rather than decades or centuries.
Glynda: How would she return from that?
Ozpin: The vacuum of space won't kill her and she can use magic to fly. Not near as quickly as Clark, not even as quickly as a Bullhead, but over time she could return.
Ironwood: What if Clark were to throw her into the sun?
Ozpin: It would be about as effective on her as it would be on me. She doesn't reincarnate like I do, but she would reappear.
Long ago, Salem had tried to escape her immortality by jumping into a volcano. She'd thought that even if it wouldn't kill her permanently, maybe she could gain respite from her unending life as the lava kept breaking down her body. It had worked for a few minutes, but then she'd reappeared in the Domain of Light.
Qrow: So then what's Clark supposed to do to get rid of her?
Ozpin: He can't rid Remnant of Salem, but he can pave the way for someone else to do it. A silver-eyed warrior.
Qrow looked up and glared at Ozpin.
Qrow: You better be saying you found another one besides Ruby. She's thirteen years old.
Ozpin: Every year we wait is a year Salem and her followers wreak more havoc on Remnant.
Qrow: The past ten years haven't been that bad.
Ozpin: I see that as a sign for concern. Lulls like this have always been followed by horrific schemes which take thousands of lives. However, I do admit that we need to wait until Ruby becomes more experienced.
Glynda: How long should we wait?
Ozpin: If there are no major incidents, then four or five more years would be best. Until then, Clark will be dismantling the plots of Salem's followers and learning how to camouflage himself as an ordinary huntsman.
They discussed into the night. Clark would spend the next few years training and completing important tasks to defend against Salem and eventually defeat her. Glynda would handle some of his training, and Clark would also gain experience in other Kingdoms such as Atlas and Mistral. He would need to learn how to carry himself like huntsmen. If Salem learned about his power, she might take drastic measures and plunge the entire world into chaos.
Over time, as Clark showed that he could be trusted, he would be a valuable defense for Ruby, the maidens, and the Relics. As Salem's plans were foiled and her subordinates were taken from her, he would then be able to show his true strength.
Ruby was a Signal student at the moment, but Ozpin would ensure that she be allowed to attend Beacon as soon as possible. Qrow demurred, but he eventually relented and said that he would encourage her to try her hardest to get into Beacon early. While Ozpin could wield his authority as the headmaster, it would be less suspicious if he accepted a highly talented student years early rather than a student who merely performed well.
At the end of their conversation, James asked a question that could be discussed verbally even if Clark listened.
"Ozpin, how has he existed for the past fifteen years without anyone noticing him?"
"According to the couple who raised him, he appeared during a meteor shower," Ozpin said. "He had his powers even then, but decided at a young age to hide them. He only ever used his abilities to handle the rare Grimm which would approach his hometown."
"So then how did you learn about him?" Qrow asked.
Ozpin smiled. "I'd like to claim that I discovered him through my own diligent effort, but in truth he introduced himself to me and said that he wanted to fight Grimm to the best of his ability."
"He just changed his mind about hiding his powers?" Qrow said, curious.
"There's a reason for that. Not too long ago, his friend was killed by Grimm on a trip to Vale."
It was a familiar story for the people of Remnant, but it hadn't always been. Once, the Grimm had stayed in the Land of Darkness while humans had prospered. Ozpin had once thought that even with Salem gone, returning to such an era of safety would take centuries, but now he felt that his current colleagues would live to see it.
No longer would Ozpin need to see young men and women fight and have their lives cut short. No more would he have to struggle to defend humanity against an unrelenting force of destruction.
For those of you who've read my other fic The Great Defender, that is unfortunately on indefinite hiatus. I may return to it someday, but don't count on it. This fic will be different, it'll be faster paced and hopefully completed before not too long.