Jared Wreath

They had been sat talking for almost an hour and a half now. Their encounter with the criminal known as the bomber felt so long ago.

Jared had spent this time trying to explain his plan to the other members of the group. He was currently going over his fifth explanation. The issue was not that his plan didn't make sense, as eventually a few members of the team had come to understand what he was saying and seemed to like the suggestion. The problem was that Jared wasn't sure how to describe it. Explaining things had never been one of Jared's strengths, and right now it was most definitely holding him back. But by this point it seemed that most of Team 1 – at least the members who were paying attention – were following his idea. They sat in a circle of six at the edge of the pavement, having found a few chairs in the buildings nearby, and discussed the plan once more.

"So, let's get this straight." Said Rylie, counting the pieces of their plan upon her scaly fingers. "You want one of us to confront this guy by themselves, and the other six surround him on all sides and take him by surprise?"

"Putting it simply…" Jared agreed "…that is the plan."

"That's all?" Rylie exclaimed, disappointed.

"You missed out all the detail." Jared insisted. "I said that one of us, probably the person least suited to fighting our target, should approach him and grab his attention. While they are doing so, the rest of you will move into any advantageous spots, surround the Bomber and attack him together."

"That's still not much of a plan." Elijah told him, arms folded in doubt.

"A plan does not have to be complex to be good." Aaren said in Jared's defence. He was grateful for that.

"Why did it take us an hour and a half to come up with this?" Rylie muttered.

"Because you weren't listening, and you keep interrupting." Aaren snapped at her. Rylie's tail visibly curled nervously underneath her arm. The seat she was perched on did not provide a hole for it to hang through.

"I think it's a good plan." Madge interrupted, adding her own support for Jared's efforts. "Simple, maybe, but it's strong enough to work."

"But the big issue is where the Bomber is going." Rylie said. She paused, mouth half open, and turned sharply to Jared once more. "Hold up, you said you had an idea of where he was going."

"I do." He said. He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a small pamphlet, unfolding it into a Z shape and holding it open and flat between both hands.

"What's that?" Rylie asked, looking at the many words and colourful pictures on the page.

"It's a travel pamphlet." Jared explained. "For tourists. It contains information about several sightseeing locations and landmarks within the city, specifically inside this COZ."

"And how does that help us?" Rylie asked sceptically.

"Shut up and listen already!" Aaren hissed at her. Rylie hissed back, though out of nerves and not of anger.

"I think the Bomber might be after one of these landmarks." Jared told them, his eyes turned down towards the pamphlet.

"How'd you figure that?" Elijah asked curiously.

"It was something that Madam Broadhurst said before the exam. 'It is likely he will attempt to destroy one of the historical structures on the site'." He recounted the words of their headmistress just before the exam had begun. "I suppose it's not too hard to pick up that hint, but there aren't many historical structures or landmarks in the COZ." He paused, turning over the pamphlet. "But there is one."

He slid a finger down the page and pointed to the image of a golden statue, standing lonely in the middle of a marble plaza. It depicted the figure of a man standing heroically, drabbed in muscle-revealing spandex, a golden cape flying behind him. It didn't take much for the group to realise who the statue was supposed to be.

"Heracles?" Rylie muttered, not sure what to make of this. "So… this guy wants to blow up a statue of Heracles?"

"He's this country's most famous hero." Aaren reasoned. "A Major symbol for the Hero Movement. I can imagine that a criminal may want to destroy such a symbol.

"It's a bit of a flimsy theory, thought." Rylie continued, not exactly convinced.

Jared rubbed the rim of his nose in thought. It hadn't felt quite right since the Combat exam. A lot of blood had spewed from it after being punched by Mitchell. It looked slightly wider between his eyes, and whenever he saw his face in the mirror he was certain it was wonky. It was likely that it had broken on that day, though after Doctor Cutter's examination there had been no mention of great injury to it or even the suggestion that it was out of line. Perhaps he was imagining it, but after he'd been struck in the face by the Bomber's healing orb it had been itching and aching. The impact had done something to agitate it.

But he couldn't focus upon that right now. He had to keep his attention on the exam and the plan which he was formulating with his teammates. He moved his finger from the ridge of his nose to the pamphlet, and prodded the picture of Heracles' statue three time.

"We need to take into account what we know about this guy." He stated, with a brimming confidence greater than any he had mustered in front of his peers before. "Madam said that he's wanted for arson and destruction of property. I wasn't sure if that meant he would try and fight us if we confronted him, but we've already found the answer to that question. The thing is, though, I don't think he's especially interested in us. He never showed any real interest in fighting me or Jason. He only seemed to do so because we attacked him, and the moment more Aaren and Rylie showed up he fled. Therefore, his goal isn't to defeat us. We're just in his way." Jared turned his eyes down upon the pamphlet. "It's more likely his goal is to destroy something within the COZ itself, most likely something valuable or important."

"Okay." Elijah said, following the explanation. "But why the statue?"

Jared moved his finger across the page, to a small segment of map which was printed beside the photo of the plaza and the Heracles statue. It depicted the edge of the COZ's eastern district. A small red dot a few blocks from the wall depicted where the plaza was located.

"It's located on the eastern side of COZ." Jared continued. "That's the direction the Bomber is heading. It's also the only landmark that might be of interest to the Bomber past here." He lowered the pamphlet, folding it up once more. "I'm certain that our target is headed that way, and that the statue is his target."

"And what if you're wrong?" Rylie asked in an uncertain tone.

"Then I'm wrong." Jared accepted. "But I'm pretty sure I'm not. It's possible he's already there, so we need to start chasing him soon."

"We still haven't finalised this plan." Rylie insisted. "Who's distracting the Bomber, who's surrounding him and who's attacking him?"

"I was going to discuss that in a moment." Jared said.

"Well you're taking your time." Rylie retorted. "Like you said, we might not have the time to sit around talking."

"Hey Riley." Aaren said.

"Yeah?"

"I was just thinking…" Aaren said sweetly. "Your tail."

Rylie looked at her tail. "What about it?"

"There are some species of lizards which can detach their tails, did you know that?" "Aaren told her, her voice retaining its unusually cheerful tone. "They do it when they're threatened by predators."

"No…" Rylie murmured, concerned by Aaren's odd behaviour. "…I didn't know that."

"It's made me curious…" Aaren continued. "Can your tail do the same?"

Rylie's eyebrows raised fractionally. "I… don't know." She admitted slowly.

"Well, we can always find out." Aaren said, her sweet voice now finally revealing the bladed tongue it concealed. "If you keep interrupting, I'll be happy to test this theory, and I won't stop pulling until it comes loose!"

Rylie got the message. Her tail curled tightly around her chest, and she clenched it between her armpits. She looked back at Aaren timidly, and then turned away, afraid of the girl's gaze.

Aaren smiled triumphantly. She turned back to Jared, who was both impressed and a little unnerved. He had seen Aaren angry and annoyed before, but he hadn't seen her threated someone this way before. It shocked him that she had the talent to subtly unwind a warning like that.

"Continue." Aaren said, acting as if nothing had happened. Jared broke eye contact with her, coughed nervously, and continued with his explanation of their plan.

"If we're going to try and surprise the Bomber, we need someone to get his attention first, and distract him so that the rest of us can jump him from all directions." Jared explained. "Fighting him alone we don't stand much of a chance. If we fight together our chances will be better, and if we manage to take him by surprise then we might be able to capture him with little work at all." Jared closed his eyes, taking a sharp breath to steady his nerve for what he would suggest next. "I don't have a Quirk, and because of that I'm the least suited to fight the Bomber. I should at the very least do what I can to distract him."

The group looked at him.

"Are you sure?" Aaren asked. "If he attacks you, we won't be able to help."

"I'm fine with that." Jared told her stoically. "It's more important that we pass this exam. It doesn't matter if I get hurt. I will happily take all the attacks he can dish out if it help you bring him down." He shrugged with a small, nervous smile. "Besides, I have fought with him already. At least I know I can hold my own against him for a small time." He held up his arm. "And I can always use this." He added, showing off the leather glove and its pneumatic piston ram. It sat comfortably upon his right hand, and the fingers flexed smoothly and comfortably. "I haven't had a proper chance to try it yet, but it should at least make the Bomber think twice about fight me up close."

Aaren looked at him uncertainly. It was strange for Jared to see concern for himself on another person's face. He had never seen it on his father's face, and most people he had known growing up were uninterested in even giving him the time of day. It made him realise that, regardless of his faults and failures, there was someone within his life who truly cared about him still. He was not oblivious to the possibility, but in the stew of teenage anxiety and selfish concern it can be easy to forget that someone does indeed care that you exist.

"Alright." Aaren said. "And the rest of us will attack the Bomber directly."

"That's the idea." Jared agreed.

"It won't work." Elijah interrupted. "It's too simplistic. Six trainee heroes charging one experienced criminal. We might succeed, but it's not very likely. He'll have ways of avoiding us. You said that he used air grenades to throw himself out of range of your attacks? It's likely he'll just do the same with us."

"Then we plan out how we attack him." Aaren suggested.

"We should have at least two lead attackers." Elijah told her, applying his much older strategical mind to the conversation. "Having one would be too risky if the Bomber managed to defeat them, but if we were all lead attackers we wouldn't be able to surprise him or trick him. If the two strongest members of our team took most of the attention, the rest of us could dart in and make quick, unpredictable strikes while his attention is on them."

"We should use our Quirks to our advantage." Aaren added in agreement. "I can pass my limbs through any material, which I can use to surprise him. I also have over eight years of martial arts training, so I know how to fight another person."

Eight years! Jared had not known that she trained for that long. That was half of Aaren's life spent in a dojo, learning how to use her arms and legs to take down opponents who were probably twice her weight and size. Now his experiences with her during the self-defence classes became much more extraordinary. How much had she been holding back on him?

Aaren turned to Elijah. "You next." She said with a gesture.

Elijah Zylstra straightened his back, looking proudly down upon the surrounding seated students. "I have some experience with fighting." He admitted in a humble yet also prideful way. "Not as much as you, young miss, but enough to face this criminal in melee combat. As for my Quirk, it is my true gift to our team. I have Enhanced Agility. I can clear a four-hundred metre track in twice the time an average person could. I can jump twice as high as an average person. I can manoeuvre, evade, dodge and slink more effectively than the average person could dream of doing. With my agility this criminal will not able to land a single hit on me."

"Yet you didn't get here fast enough to catch him." Rylie pointed out.

Elijah ignored her.

Aaren nodded at the older, spiky white haired man. "Then you should probably be one of the people to focus on fighting him.

Jared imagined that Elijah would agree with her, but instead he shook his head strongly. "My fighting methods rely on my speed." He admitted. "In stationary combat I'm not so effective. I will be much more useful to you waiting out of sight, and then striking swiftly while his back is turned."

Aaren continued to nod. This suggestion certainly sounded like a better one. "Okay then." She said, and now turned to Madge. "And you, miss."

Madge gave her a kindly smile, her wrinkled cheeks glowing pink. "I'm not really much of a fighter." She admitted. "But I do have one thing I can do that will help us."

"And that is?" Aaren asked.

Madge stood up, unfolding her arms from her white fur coat. "I can defend." She told them. And then she activated her Quirk.

Jared had not seen in in proper application yet, and now he got the chance. Madge's face was swiftly covered in a rapidly forming calcium sheet. It seeped from her skin and hardened upon contact with the air. After a second the entirety of her face was shielded behind a mask of bone. She held up her hands. They too were covered in hardened bone, from wrist to fingertip, with space only between the joints allowing for movement. Madge stood there in a suit of bone armour, no longer an old lady but a fearsome entity.

"This is my Quirk. Bone Armour." She stated in a voice that was gruffer and more masculine than her usual sweet, elderly voice. Jared wondered if her body had changed at all underneath that armour, but he didn't let his curious thoughts go too far down that route. "I can keep it up for quite some time, but it won't last for ever. If it takes too much damage it will start to crack and break away. I also have drink plenty of milk to keep it healthy."

"Rather ironic, isn't it." Rylie muttered. "The old lady has the best bones out of all of us."

"I will smack you!" Aaren muttered back, this new threat much more direct. Rylie acknowledged it and returned to being quiet.

"That would be pretty useful." Jared complemented her. "Do you think the Bomber's explosive would break it?"

"After a time." Madge said honestly. "If he managed to land a few hits in the same spot." She folder arms, and the bone armour suddenly flaked away into dust, revealing her normal elderly body once more. "But I'm prepared to risk it. I may not be to experience in hand-to-hand combat, but I can take more hits than the rest of you. For that reason, I should be one of the two who face our target head on."

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"Are you sure?" Aaren asked. "If you're not cut out for it, you don't have to do it. He might really injure you."

"I can survive whatever he can dish out." Madge reassured her. "And even if I can't, I'd rather that I was hurt instead of any of you. I am just an old woman. You lot still have the rest of your lives ahead of you. It would be awful if that criminal were to cripple or even kill you before you got a chance to achieve your dreams."

Jared was rather moved by her statement. She was putting the rest of the team before herself. Jared had never met either of his gradmothers. His mother's mother had died before he was born, and he wasn't completely sure if his father even had parents. But if he had been given a choice of who would be his grandmother, he would have chosen Madge.

"That's sorted then." Aaren announced. "Madge and I will do most of the fighting, Jared will do the distracting, and the rest of you will strike when you get the chance."

"Hang on, what about me?!" Rylie blurted out in surprise. "I don't get a choice?"

"No." Aaren said sternly. "You're annoying and you don't listen. I very much doubt you could do much against the Bomber. In fact I'm rather concerned that you'll give us away before we get the chance to attack. I'm only letting you join us because we need to work together, all seven of us."

Rylie exhaled a visibly steaming breath, and from the edge of her thin lips her sharp teeth began to appear. "All seven of us." Rylie repeated. She then turned on the two silent members of the group. "You're including them in this?"

Ty and Jason had been mostly separate from this discussion. Ty had at least been listening, and had been present in the circle, but he had said absolutely nothing this entire time. He had provided no input or suggestions, and had made no arguments about any decisions. It seemed that he either had nothing to say or did not care about the exam, and both possibilities were bad for the group. As for Jason, he hadn't even tried to work with the other members of the team the moment the exam began. Though he had physically recovered now, he was still in mentally and emotionally wounded. He had attempted to do everything by himself, and now he was doing nothing by himself. He was sat on the other side of the street, legs crossed under him and his head hanging low, his blue eyes staring hatefully at the ground. Not one member of the team expected him to help in any way, and so they had given up on trying. He was refusing to talk to them after his breakdown. He still had not fully calmed down. Every so often he would grab a small pebble, throw it above his head, and smash it with a blast of air.

"I am." Aaren responded, with a more serious and stern expression and tone. "But that is only if they actually plan to assist us. If they don't want to fight I can't make them, but then they will most likely fail this exam. But that will be their fault, not ours." Aaren turned back to her. "I hope at the very least you will try and assist us, won't you?" She asked in an almost mocking voice.

Rylie's anger subsides slightly, though it did not completely go away. "I never suggested I wouldn't." She said through gritted teeth.

"Okay then." Aaren said, now smiling at her companions. "So, we have a plan finally. Then let's get moving. How far is the statue from here?"

Jared glanced back at the map on the pamphlet, and looked quickly at the many streets and alleys detailed on it. "Quite a distance." He told her. "At least thirteen major streets, several alleys and a couple of squares and highstreets. Maybe fifteen minutes if we run."

"Then the Bomber's probably there already." Rylie stated in alarm. "We won't get to him before we can stop him."

"We might." Jared told her encouragingly. "We should still head there and move fast. There's a chance he hasn't already destroyed the statue."

"Then if we're done planning…" Elijah said as the group rose to their feet, "…we should start moving."

"You're going to fail!"

They all turned to Jason. He was looking up at them now. Red stains marked his cheeks and the veins in his eyes were troublingly visible. His teeth were clenched, and around his lips were the dry marks of tears.

"You can't beat him! None of you are good enough! You're all idiots to think you have a chance."

"Ignore him." Aaren whispered to the others. She had already told them not to respond to Jason's shouts and insults. It would not help matters to start a fight within the group. Sadly Jason was not deterred by a lack of response.

"You're all so pathetic!" He snorted, snot falling from his nose. "You think you're something special? You'll lose the fight, and then you'll lose the exam! You'll accomplish nothing!"

Jared looked at him. He didn't feel anger or fear, or annoyance or humour. Looking down at the snotty, tearful, furious Jason Jones filled him with nothing more than pity. He sympathised with him. Something awful had happened in his life, and because of that he was trying to take it out on everyone around him. Jared had once hated him. Now he just felt sorry for him.

It should have done as Aaren suggested, and left him alone… but he couldn't stop himself. He turned back to Jason, took a step away from the group, and looked down on him with sympathy.

"We might accomplish something." Jared told him, with more optimism that anything he had ever said to himself. "We may fail, but so might anyone. We have to try, or else we will never succeed."

"Jared." Aaren whispered to him. She had seen him step away and confront Jason, and as he'd expected she was concerned by this. Jared again considered turning away… but he didn't.

Jason looked up at him, his eyes narrowing into a glare and his teeth baring furiously. "You will never succeed!" Jason snapped back. "Because you're Quirkless! You were born to fail."

His words stung a lot, but Jared pushed past them and let them slide off. He knew that Jason was trying to strike him personally, but he wouldn't let him. Something needed to be said to him. Someone needed to say it to him.

"That may be true…" Jared told him. "…but I won't accept that. I'll keep fighting, keep trying, until I make it… and no one will ever stop me! I will become a hero!"

"You'll become a body in the ground!" Jason snapped back. "You moron! That criminal will eat you up! You're nothing more than a fly for him to swat!" He paused, hissing through his mouth as he exhaled breath. "Yet you think you can still win?! You really think you can make it as a hero?!"

Jared looked back down at Jason, giving him a stern, determined expression. "I do." Jared told him. "And I will."

"Then your brain must not be working properly!" Jason continued.

"Jared, don't…" Aaren whispered again.

This time Jared held up a hand. He wanted her to trust him. He had been thinking about what Jason had said to him before. A lot of thoughts had gone through his head, until eventually he had realised him. He needed to tell Jason. He needed him to understand.

"I'm sorry about your sister." He said, calmly, slowly.

There was a terrifying pause, as Jason Jones slowly turned to look at him, and erupted into rage.

"What?" He shouted, the force of his Quirk somehow escaping from his mouth.

Jared was shaken for a moment, but he held his ground. He knew what he was doing, and he was prepared for any way which Jason chose to react.

"I'm sorry that your sister didn't get accepted into the Academy." Jared continued, saying these words with expressive sentiment. "Truly, I am. She was your sister. She was important to you. You wanted to take this course together, but that didn't happen. Really, I am sorry."

Jason continued to stare up at him, exhaling rapidly with a growing fury.

"You're not sorry!" He snapped quietly. "How could you possibly be sor-?"

"But…" Jared interrupted sharply. "…I am not responsible for that!"

Another pause, just as terrifying as the first.

Jason held his breath, then let out a single deeper exhalation. "Not responsible?" He repeated. "You are! You're Quirkless, and yet you are here instead of her. You don't deserve to be here! She does! This is your fault!"

"I had nothing to do with your sister's failure to get into the academy." Jared told him calmly, confident in his argument. "I know this because I barely got accepted myself. I'm only here because one of our teachers offered me an extra place deemed for students who were less capable but they thought deserved a chance anyway. I stole no one's spot! I am here because someone gave me a chance, and I will never forget that!"

"You're still a Quirkless bastard..." Jason snarled "…who's taken a spot which someone more worthy should stand in!"

"The same could be said for everyone." Jared argued back philosophically. "Any other people could take any of our places and do well as a hero… and yet we stand here right now! That's not because we stole this place from someone else. It's because this place was given to us by people who believe we can make it, who want to see us make it!" He thrust a finger at Jason. "You're here because someone thought you had what it takes to become a hero! They saw something in you! Don't take that for granted!"

Jared could feel six pairs of eyes staring at him, including those of Jason Jones. He continued to glare up at him in rage. But then, to everyone's surprise, he began to calm down. He slouched back and looked down at the floor again, the fury in his heart subsiding finally

"It's like the short girl said." Jason told him suddenly. "If we don't work together, we fail the exam." He looked back up at Jared, and in his eyes Jared saw not anger but self-pity. "How could I ever work with you?"

A third and finally silence passed over the group.

Jared felt a hand take him by the shoulder. He turned to see Aaren attempting to pull him away. "We've wasted enough time." She said. "We should get going. At least the six of us can try to pass this exam."

Jared didn't resist, and followed the other five away from their planning place. He looked back at Jason once more. Something about his last statement made him wonder. It sounded less like he was referring to Jared being the problem… and more to himself.

So I'm uploading this chapter in two halves. The second half, which is the battle, had ended up being much longer than I thought it would. For that reason I'm splitting it up. I may post the two as one full chapter later, depending on how long the second half ends up being. I'll try and finish it by the end of this week, then I'll upload it, or maybe reupload this one with both halves. Till then, hold on to your seat belts, cos you're going for a ride!