Yorke Victorsson
[November 26th]
It had been a last minute decision to take the students to a martial arts arena. It was also a last minute decision to give them the following day off to rest. Having seen the students take part in their activities and show honest interest and effort in all of them, Ravenhead suggested that they be given a day to rest and relax. The last few days would be the most trying and demanding, and he felt they deserved this time to recover before then.
Not all of the teachers agreed with his suggestion, however.
"If we indulge them like this too often they'll become complacent." Madam argued, not quite convinced that a full day's rest was necessary. "Once we get back to Galafrei they'll have a week of for half term holidays. That seems like a more appropriate time for them to rest."
Ravenhead had expected this response, and prepared his argument to convince them "It's already been a long couple of days, and yet they've been working hard." He reminded the other heroes around him. "Not all of them have been star pupils, but most of them have behaved and taken part in the activities made available to them. True, we haven't exactly given them any especially demanding tasks yet, but simply being in a new place, away from home for several days can be exhausting in itself. They'll want this rest, and considering what they'll be doing tomorrow they'll be grateful for it."
"It's hardly indulgence." Dubstep added, raising a flat-tipped finger. "One day to rest and recuperate vill not turn them into couch potatoes."
"That may be true..." Aries responded, "...but we should still be careful about what we let them get away with. Letting them buy takeaways, for example."
He trailed of, as Dubstep's lips formed an embarrassed yet also smug smirk. "Vell, I made sure they paid for it themselves, and if they end up regretting that choice in the end they have only themselves to blame."
"What if they get food poisoning?" Aries countered.
Niko Mikhaelov's smug expression quickly faded into nothing. "Good point." He murmured under his breath.
"Let's just hope that their chefs were competent and their kitchen was properly cleaned."
"Anyway..." Ravenhead interrupted them, trying to get back to his subject matter. "...with that aside, letting the students take a break for a day or two will give them time to breath and plan ahead. They know what they're going to be doing, so perhaps they'll use this time to prepare and make sure they have all the clothing, gadgets and equipment they want."
"How many of them use gadgets?" Cyanide inquired. "Apart from Juno Kingston in the Seniors, and Jared Wreath and Maisie Collard in the Juniors, the other students mostly rely on their Quirks."
"They should use this time to do whatever preparing they need to do." Ravenhead corrected himself, a little annoyed to have a fellow teacher and hero picking apart his points. "It doesn't matter much what they chose to do, so long as it helps them and doesn't hinder any of the others."
"Ve'd best keep a close eye on the Andersons then." Dubstep suggested, his chuckle now returning.
"I suppose you are right, Yorke." Madam conceded. "Anyways, it's too late to change the situation. The activity meant for today has fallen through, so we might as well let them have the day off. It can't be helped."
Madam sounded oddly sad about that. They had been intending to take the students to visit one of several Hero Movement Museums stations around both sides of the wall in Galafrei and Scarow. However, that night some drunken fool had broken into one of the cleaner's cupboards at the back of the building, dressed themselves in a mop, several buckets, a few cones and an overall and had wandered about the museum, disturbing the night guards and claiming that they were a wizard. The museum's curator had announced that the site would be closed to the public until the mess could be cleaned up, which would apparently take some time as the drunk had knocked over several exhibitions, including: a vial of highly viscous liquid, a full-sized plastic dummy display of the heroes who founded the Hero Movement, a set of sharpened finger bones from the criminal Chimera, and several strands of unbreakable hair from the hero Keratin suspended in a glass case. In any case, they would not be visiting before they had to leave for Galafrei again.
"We still need to discuss tomorrow." Aries continued, wanting to bring attention to the matter.
The teachers had already discussed their plan for this final activity. It would take place on Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th, crossing over into the two days for a full forty-eight hour experience. The students would be split up into five groups – three groups of Juniors and two groups of Seniors; one group for each present teacher. With their teacher's assistance and guidance, the groups would get to experience real hero missions. They would be expected to take on any and all tasks placed before them as a group.
Of course the teachers would make sure that they were never given any missions that seemed too dangerous or complex for them. They would be getting small tasks or lower danger tasks for now. The problem was deciding on these tasks. Out of the seven members of staff at BHA, only five were taking part. Cutter had still not joined them, apparently stuck with his current mission which had proved trickier to complete than first thought. Madam was also not taking part, though that was no surprise to anyone. Nobody expected the headmistress to do the same menial work as the teachers.
"The nearby headquarters has agreed to let us involve the students in headhunting." Madam spoke up, her arms folded across her lap. "Thankfully they've not had any recent incidents to change matter. They've even lent us a couple of uncollected warrants, so we have an idea of who and what is currently wanted and walking free."
The warrants sat in a pile at the centre of the small polished wood table, and Cyanide had already started passed them across. From time to time the teachers would glance at the sheets and pick one up. Ravenhead struggled a little to lift them off the slippery surface without his talons ripping the paper, but Aries gave him a hand.
"I suggest we put all of the more serious cases to the side." Cyanide suggested, lifting up a sheet she had been holding, which depicted a criminal named 'Limpet', who was covered almost completely in open mouths full of human teeth. Underneath his crimes were listed as 'Multiple Murders, Attempted Murders and Cannibalism.' "We can start by excluding this one." She placed the paper face down at the side of the pile.
"You truly believe that the students are up for this?" Silver Streak asked, finally sturring from the grumpy mood he seemed to be in. None of them quite knew what had annoyed him.
"They can manage small tasks well enough." Aries told him. "You should put more faith in them."
"Faith." Silver Streak scoffed. "That'll keep them alive."
"Not sleeping well, Peter?" Dubstep asked, sassily. "Or is this daddy issues again?"
Peter Jensen Jr ignored the eastern European hero. He instead turned his eyes to the avian hero sitting two seats to his right. "Was bringing them to Scarow not enough? You want them to be put in more danger?"
The other teachers looked at Ravenhead as well. He stared back, knowing that they expected an answer. He could tell that most of them disagreed with Jensen's comments, but still they were curious of his thoughts.
"Bravery and determination are what makes a hero..." He reasoned philosophically. "...but experience is what refines one. None of us got to this point by sitting back and doing nothing. We need to encourage this in them too."
"Indeed." Madam agreed. "Youths need something to motivate them. They have spirit, determination, ideals, but they need a prod to make them move."
The other teachers gave her surreptitious sideways glances, knowing full well how she had made it as a hero. None of them had fathers who would pay massive quantities of cash to buy the best teachers and trainers in America so that their darling children could have everything they ever wanted and needed. They had worked hard to earn their positions.
"That's rich coming from you." Silver Streak whispered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Meaning what?" Ravenhead knew that he was trying to provoke him. He knew it, and yet he couldn't stop his feathers from rustling or his muscles from clenching.
"It doesn't take much bravery to sit in front of a camera and talk about why people should work hard to become heroes." Silver Streak told him defiantly. "Maybe your words of wisdom would mean more if you actually did any real hero work to back them up."
"Peter, this is not the time or the place for this!" Cyanide snapped at him, appalled at his behaviour.
The others weren't especially impressed by it either. It was rather taboo to mock another hero's work in mixed company, certainly in this sort of manner.
"If you two have a problem with each other, save it for when we get back to Galafrei." Madam interrupted before an argument could break out. Ravenhead was grateful for her intervention. He would have punched Silver Streak if she hadn't stepped in at that point. "Regardless of your issues with the subject, Peter, the assignment will go ahead as planned. There's no time left to change it anymore. We'll have to make sure that any risks are dealt with and the students are given the right prodding to move them forwards."
"Prodding a cow when it stands at the edge of a cliff will not help it fly." Silver Streak retorted in his own philosophical way. "You will only make it jump into the abyss. What then? What if they never manage to climb back out? What if the fall kills them?"
"Can we just remind ourselves that this is a metaphorical suggestion, please?" Cyanide interrupted him. "We are not trying to lead cattle to a slaughterhouse, Peter. We are attempting to train the next generation of heroes. As has already been said, if there are any warrants which the students are obviously not ready to take on, we will avoid them. We've been guiding them since September, and so far we've made sure they avoid the tasks which they aren't ready for.
"This is different." The metal hero pointed a thin finger at her, the golden band on that hand's ring finger twisting by itself around his taut skin. "We didn't have to worry about dangerous variables back in Galafrei. We do now that we're here, within the wall. You know what sort of people lurk in this city.
The other heroes had no response for that. The truth was, they did know. They had all worked in Scarow at least once during their careers. The awful things they had seen. The ways in which human beings could be so cruel to one another.
Silver Streak pointed his finger into the table. "Simply being here is putting them all at risk. It may only be seven days, but that's enough time for a disaster to happen. Until now we've been able to keep them sheltered, inside, away from this city and its inhabitants. But if we go through with this, if they go out into this city, if they meet the people that walk its filthy streets–!"
"Peter!"
Aries' voice cut through the growing snarl of Peter Jensen Jr. The two heroes glared at each other. Slowly Silver Streak calmed down, exhaling deeply. His eyes were still full of anger though, anger not just at Aries but at all of his colleagues... and perhaps at something else.
"We can't guarantee their safety here." The silver hero continued in a much quieter voice this time. "You may have forgotten this fact, but every time one of us goes out onto those streets we risk losing our lives. Every now and then, one of us doesn't come back. It's awful, but it happens. We can't do that to those kids. They aren't ready for that."
"It won't happen." Ravenhead reassured him. "Not while we are here."
"You think so?" Silver Streak stood up, his focus once more solely upon the avian hero. "I wonder what you would say to their parents if it did? You might be brave enough to stop criminals and fight crime, Yorke, but are you brave enough to look a grieving mother in the eyes... and admit that you fucked up?"
Ravenhead's beak twitched. He chose not to respond. Silver Streak was trying to upset him, trying to make him angry, and he would not stoke that flame. Apparently the metal hero was not done with his speech though.
"If one of those kids gets hurt, it is us who are responsible." He told them with a dark glare. "And if one of them dies... it is us who killed them."
He left the room after that, leaving through the sliding door. Briefly the room was filled with the bright light of the recreational room beyond, then it went back into its dim darkness, illuminated only by a single large lantern upon the table.
"Ignore him, Raven." Dubstep said, trying to raise a cheerful mood after that talking to. "Peter is... on his time of the month. Don't listen to his pessimistic words. Ve can take care of these kids, ve've been doing so for over three months now."
Ravenhead nodded respectfully. He was glad that at least the Russian man was able to shine a more optimistic light upon the conversation. All the same, he felt that Silver Streak had a point. They were putting the students in danger by bringing them to Scarow. He had known that beforehand, but he was starting to doubt himself. Had it been such a bad idea. So far everything had gone fine. None of the students were hurt or threatened or missing, and apart from that small scare with Jared Wreath and the climbing wall there had been nothing to suggest any sort of peril that the students were in. They would have to keep their eyes open though, just in case.
"Right then, shall we get back to the subject at hand?" Madam asked.
"What about Peter?" Cyanide said.
"We can start by compiling all of the warrants fit for the students, and putting aside the ones that are too risky." Aries told her. "Then, once he's calmed down, he can join us and decide which ones he'll have his group undertake."
This suggestion was reasonable, and the others agreed to it.
"Do you think the Senior students should be made to deal vith slightly tougher targets?" Dubstep asked.
"They are older than the Juniors, but they are not necessarily more experiences." Cyanide told him. "I think it would be best that we gave each of the groups the same challenge difficulty range."
"Khorosho." The Russian man exclaimed. Ravenhead didn't know much Russian, though spending time with Niko had allowed him to pick up a few words and phrases. Usually he didn't revert to them very often, as he had lived in England for a while now and preferred not to speak his first language around the other heroes if he could help it. Russians didn't have the best reputation in the world at the moment, for some time. Sometimes though a few words slipped through the cracks. If Ravenhead remembered correctly, Khorosho meant something along the lines of okay or good in a positive, conversational sense. You learn something new every day... though admittedly what you learn isn't always useful.
"Who's this guy?" Cyanide pondered, picking up another sheet from the pile.
Madam looked at it from beside her. "Meffu-zee-lah?" He read in confusion.
Aries took the warrant from her and looked at it himself. "Methuselah." He corrected her.
"Don't think I've heard of him." Dubstep pondered.
"Wait a minute..." Madam snapped her fingers. "I've heard that name before. He's that criminal who's been trying to take over all the gangs in Scarow. He even tried to take over the local mafia at one point."
That sounded serious.
"Has he succeeded?" Cyanide asked.
"I doubt it. That's a very big goal to set yourself. One man certainly couldn't do it." He put the paper upon the discard pile. "Regardless, I don't think we'll be sending our students out to capture someone who openly deals with the mafia. Any other suggestions.
"This one might be worth looking into." Madam suggested, pointing to one of the pages that Cyanide had laid out. "A small time criminal with an extensive record and multiple arrests for attempts at petty theft. It seems this time he's managed to get away, and the police haven't been able to find him." She pushed the paper across the table. "Perhaps that one would be more fitting for the juniors."
"It might be a bit easy." Aries thought. "The only tough part will be finding him, and even that won't be so challenging if he's been caught several times before."
"We should hold onto it regardless." Ravenhead told him. "What's the target's name?"
"James Yeoman." Said Aries. "Apparently he's known as Ratty. There's notes here about places he's been known to frequent and the kind of targets he looks for."
"There's another thief varrant here." Dubstep interrupted, waving a paper sheet gripped between his fingers. He looked across the table at Ravenhead. "I think this one's a friend of yours."
He threw the sheet across to him, and it rolled and glided through the air and onto the floor by his chair legs. Niko rolled his lip awkwardly. Ravenhead picked it up, thankful that he could grip the rolled up paper between his sharp talons. He opened it.
The moment he saw the face of the criminal he sighed in disappointment. A man not much unlike himself; covered in black feathers and with a long beak at the centre of his face, filled the mugshot displayed on the page. The name of the man was familiar too.
"Magpie." He muttered.
"He's at it again?" Aries asked, knowing too well who this individual was.
"It seems so." Ravenhead shook his head. "Damn him. No matter how many times we lock him up, he doesn't get the message."
"He's a kleptomaniac." Aries reminded him. "It's an addiction for him. He doesn't even need most of the stuff he takes, he certainly doesn't sell it. He's never going to stop. It would be best to just keep him locked up, or at least keep a close eye on him."
Ravenhead shrugged and smiled with defeat. "I suppose... but I had to try, didn't I."
"Do you vant this one, Yorke?" Dubstep asked, leaning his elbows on the table in intrigue.
"I might as well. I know him best. He's not dangerous, so the students won't be in any danger of him. I'll make sure that they don't bring anything shiny with them, though. Just in case."
"He steals shiny stuff?" Cyanide asked. She laughed slightly. "As you'd expect from a magpie I suppose."
"Does everyone vith an animal Quirk have that sort of habit?" Dubstep asked. "I mean, other than the look, you're not especially raven-like, neither is he especially goat-like." He pointed at Ravenhead and then at Aries. "I can't say you're an intelligent man, and I've never seen him eat grass either."
"Thanks for the complements, Niko." Ravenhead murmured hollowly. His colleague's cheeky grin got to him, and he ended up cracking a smile too.
"Ma'am..." Aries announced suddenly, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "I forgot to mention it earlier, but I will be in custody of Walter Thalassa once more over the next two days. I understand the concern for him being around the students, but to that extent he will have two armed officers with him the whole time..."
"And that did a lot of good." Niko interrupted. "Vhen Jared Wreath fell from that climbing vall, he ran straight at him. His guards veren't able to stop him. Ve're lucky he didn't try to kill the poor boy."
"I was there, Mr. Mikhaelov. I saw what happened." Aries responded. "Even if he had tried, he couldn't have done much to Master Wreath. I had made sure before letting him near the students that his muzzle was fastened tightly and securely. I will do so again tomorrow before he is allowed within twenty metres of the class."
"There are other vays to kill people." Niko reminded him. "More than just using your teeth. That may be his modus operandi, but you honestly think he von't attempt to use other methods?"
It seemed that with Silver Streak out of the room, Dubstep had taken his place as the concerned yet aggressive disapprover. That was not so far out of Niko's character, he had already expressed concern for the idea before. After that one moment of panic they had all been more cautious about the suggestion.
Madam, out of all of them, should have been the most concerned. This was her academy. She ran it. She organised it. If something went wrong, she would get the most blame. Yet as she had been before the trip, she seemed to be rather relaxed about the subject. It didn't create such worry in her as it did her employees.
"Niko, your concerns are reasonable, but perhaps we are getting a little too worried about a possibility that may never come to pass. Yes, Mr Thalassa is a murderer, and his actions thus far have been unusual. We should most certainly keep our eyes on him. However, he has claimed that he wants to change, to move away from that lifestyle. If Aries believes him, I think we should believe him to. We should try and help him get out of that lifestyle, even if at times he does something that makes us worry."
"Well spoken, Ma'am." Aries nodded in appreciation.
"Though I will add..." Madam continued, her voice quietening. "...if he should do anything to harm these students... absolutely anything... I will make sure that you face the same wrath as him. He is your responsibility, after all." She was glaring at the horned man, her expression more menacing than anything anyone could have expected. The teachers had all guessed that Madam Destiny Broadhurst had a darker side to her fluffy, pink personality, but they hadn't expected it to be so sinister. Kameron had never looked so terrified in his life.
"Yes, Ma'am." He gulped.
"Good." Madam stated, snapping back to her usual upbeat personality. "Now that that has been sorted out, let's get back to business."
And business went on for a few hours longer, consisting of scanning through the pile of warrants and picking out which would be appropriate for their students to take on. Then came the discussion over who should take on which of these warrants. Every half hour the teachers would switch out with each other to keep an eye on the students, most of whom were hanging out in the dining room or lounge.
It was eight at night when Ravenhead took his turn. In another two hours the students both Junior and Senior would all be ushered up into their rooms. Right now though they were all still awake, playing cards in small groups, watching news on the television, chatting in groups at tables and picking at cold takeaways. It was rather charming to look upon this scene. From a distance it looked to be peaceful. There were no fights breaking out, no shouting – at least not often or for long – no running around like lunatics, no alcohol in sight... nothing to directly suggest that there was anything afoot. It made him feel like he was the parent of a large, loving family.
Of course this didn't last very long. Eventually a fight did break out, between – of all people – Tate and Mitchell Anderson. The physical brother was squeezing at the see-through space where his twin's neck would be, only his fingers had passed through it. The non-physical brother was trying to push him back, and both of them were shouting in fury.
"You cheating bastard!" Tate yelled, trying to throttle the ghost.
"Sore looser!" Mitchell yelled back.
"You did not have a royal flush in your hand when we agreed to show our cards!"
"I so did! How do you expect me to steal cards when I can barely hold them?"
"Don't lie to me! You can hold those cards just fine!"
Proving his brother's point, Mitchell threw the remnants of the deck at Tate's head. Tate recoiled in surprise, swiping away the fluttering cards that fell down around him.
Before the fight could go any further, Ravenhead attempted to break it up.
"Anderson!" He stated firmly. That made them stop. The teachers had learned that simply shouting their surname made the twins freeze in fear. It was a good way of getting them to stop whatever shenanigans they were up to.
"Sir, Mitchell was swapping his cards." Tate complained.
"I was not!" Mitchell insisted spitefully.
They were just like children, the both of them. Technically they were, but sixteen year olds ought to act a bit more mature than this.
"You understand that if I punish one of you I will have to punish the other too." Ravenhead told them, picking the right cards to play against his opponents. "Seeing as how you're connected by the navel, I can hardly put you in different room away from each other. I could put you in a room with Mr Jensen though. I'm sure he'd enjoy that."
The twins went pale. They got the message.
"Sorry, Sir. We didn't mean to disturb everyone." Tate muttered feebly.
"Sorry." Mitchell joined it.
Ravenhead didn't like Silver Streak. He also did not like making that kind of threat. But both he could put up with if it meant that order was kept. He could at least manage these unfavourable things if he combined them. No one at BHA wanted to be left alone in a room with Peter Jensen Jr.
Tate and Mitchell sat back down, not bothering to pick up the cards they had thrown. The others at their table had watched the fight, and were now emerging from underneath.
"You two are ridiculous." Freya – the only one who hadn't been able to hide under the table – told them with an unstoppable laugh. "You'll fight over anything with anyone. You'll even fight with each other. We could make a sport out of that."
"Ha ha ha." Tate said dryly, not looking at her. His cheeks burned with embarrassment.
"Do you think we could play another game?" Payton asked.
Tate threw a card at him. It missed and fluttered down onto the table.
"We should make them gather the cards first." Jon said, not at all impressed by the childish behaviour of the Anderson. "Honestly, you two. You're training to be heroes, yet you act like five year olds."
"We can't all be stoic, intelligent colossuses like you and your uncle." Mitchell snapped at him. Jon was now glaring at them in anger.
Anyone know any other games?" Aaren asked before another fight could break out.
"I know rummy." Payton told her. "My dad and I used to play it when we went camping."
"All I know is Blackjack." Jared joined in, putting away his mobile phone. He had been staring at it during the fight, apparently texting someone.
"Isn't that the one where you try and match the cards?" Tate asked.
"No, that's snap." Jared told him.
"And you can't play that with one deck." Payton added.
"How do you play Blackjack?" Maisie asked, her question directed specifically at Jared. She had been quiet till now, barely noticing the fight going on around her. Her attention was focused instead upon two chopsticks, which she was snapping apart and trying to fix the wooden fragments back together. She was so enticed by this that she didn't notice that several cards had landed on her lap, or that there was remnants of sweet and sour sauce still on her lips.
Jared awkwardly turned to her. "Each player gets two cards to start with. The goal is to reach the number twenty-one without going over. You can increase your number by drawing more cards, but if you go over twenty-one you're out. The person with the highest number wins, and if two people have that number it's a draw."
"I'm not very good at maths." Maisie whined.
"It's not that tough. You just have to remember that aces can be both ones and elevens."
"Okay..." Maisie already looked confused.
"You'll get the hang of it." Payton reassured her.
"So, are we playing that next?" Freya asked.
"Sure, why not."
"Someone's got to get the cards back for us." Jon stated, eyes focused on the twins. They glared back.
"I'm sure you'd do it if you were able to move out of your chair." Mitchell said. "But then again, you might break the floor if you try."
Jon didn't respond to them. He knew it would only rile them up again. But Mitchell wasn't prepared to give up. He picked up the remnants of his Chinese takeaway and threw it across the table. Jon ducked under it, and it hit the wall harmlessly, leaving a patch of sweet and sour sauce behind.
"Stop with the wonton destruction!" Tate screamed comically.
Every single person at that table groaned in disbelief.
"I bet you think you're really smart right now." Payton muttered with a groan. Tate nodded with a wide smile.
"You'll have to clean that up now." Jon told them sternly.
"It looks like you shot someone." Payton jested, looking at the dark orange stain dripping down the wall.
The others actually laughed at that joke.
So did Ravenhead.
He was glad to see that his students were enjoying their time together. Though it was not total peace and quiet, it seemed that most of them were having a good time. He was very proud of them. They had all come a long way since the start of the year, some having larger hurdles to climb than others, and so far none of them had dropped out.
They were all starting to become the heroes they wanted to be.
He couldn't quite shake that nagging doubt, though. The concerns of his colleagues were starting to worry him as well. Had they made the right decision to come here? He had thought it was such a good idea before they left, but now...
He shrugged the feeling off. Of course it would be fine. There were six trained heroes looking after them, and it wasn't as if they hadn't prepared for any possibility. The police knew they were there, the Hero Movement knew they were there. If any of the students were to go missing there would be immediate concern and a thorough search for them. Nothing bad could happen to them, he was sure of that.
No... They would be fine.
Jared Wreath
[November 27th]
The next morning the students were being separated into groups. It annoyed most of them to learn that they couldn't choose which group they were in, instead the teachers were deciding. Unlike previous times, the classes would be separated, so the Juniors would be in different groups to the Seniors. But while many of the students were a little annoyed by this, none of them complained. There were too grateful for the chance they were being given.
Madam, Ravenhead and Cyanide had just finished explaining the plan for the next two days, going over concept, its purpose, the objective for the students and the general area they would be working. Most of the final task would remain in the Tivoli district, though some parts of it would take place at the edge of the district or in one of the neighbouring districts. Then came the calling of names for each group.
There were five groups in total; three for Junior and two for Senior. Jared was in Aries' group. It bothered him to hear that most of his friends had been put into other groups. Maisie, Aaren, Jon, Freya and the Andersons were in Ravenhead's group. The only other student he was friends with in his group was Payton. He was at least a little glad of that, but he had wanted to work with all of his friends for once. He had not yet had the chance to team up with Aaren and Maisie and Jon and Payton in a team of five. He supposed that there would be other chances for that, but it still bothered him.
"We can meet up again later anyway." Aaren reasoned, though she had already admitted to also being sad that he wasn't in their group. "We'll be able to chat about how our tasks went tonight."
"There's probably a reason for why we're in these groups." Jon told them. "Since the teachers picked them out. Perhaps you're with Aries because his targets are more suited to you."
That didn't exactly cheer Jared up. Many of the other students in his group were on the less capable end of the class spectrum. The other members were Niall Archer, Vikki Brail, Barbara Faraday, Anny Volksmarcher, Catherine Griffiths and Ty Urban. It wasn't fair to say that all of them weren't capable of putting up a fight, but most of them had talents that lay in other areas. He couldn't help but feel like he had been put in the bottom group, the one for the students who struggled the most. Again, that wasn't technically true. He knew that Payton, Niall and Barbara could fight well enough, as well as use their Quirks to their advantage in combat. Anny had also won her fight with Vikki in the Combat Exam, so she had to have some amount of skill. But even though he knew this, he couldn't help but feel that way.
"Perhaps." Jared agreed reluctantly.
"Can't we ask them to change it?" Maisie asked, sounding a little distraught to be separated from the only person she actually recognised as a friend.
"I don't think they will. They already told us we can't choose, and they picked us out for these groups." Jon said.
"Well, it won't be so bad." Tate stated with a grin. "At least now our group won't be dragged down by old Quirkless here."
None of the others were impressed by that comment. Jared did the wise thing and chose not to respond.
"Who knows, maybe our groups will run into each other." Freya suggested.
"We'll be working in different parts of the district." Jon corrected her. "Chances of us crossing paths are slim."
Jared tried to put on a hopeful smile, but he couldn't sustain it. "Well, I'll see you guys later, I guess."
"Yeah." Maisie said weakly. She looked like she might cry, but to Jared's impressed surprise she steeled herself and nodded a farewell.
As the majority of his friends were turning to leave, he reached out quickly and grabbed Aaren's wrist. In reflex she made her arm intangible the moment he touched her, but turned and stopped walking in surprise. His hand fell back to his side.
"Remember what I asked?" He asked, darting his eyes from Aaren to the back of Maisie Collard. Aaren followed his gaze.
"Yeah..." She whispered, looking uncomfortable about the question. "...I'll try, okay. I can't promise."
"Please, Aaren." Jared begged her. "Just... keep an eye on her, make sure she's okay."
As much as he could tell the request was bothering her, Aaren didn't let that discomfort get in the way of making a promise to her friend. She nodded with a firm expression. "I will."
"Thank you." Jared sighed with relief. He knew he could trust her.
Aaren turned, and with a final goodbye she ran to catch up with her now departing group.
"What was that about?" Payton asked.
"Nothing." Jared told him. He wasn't planning to let his other male friends see his concern, even though he knew that most of them were aware of his relationship with Maisie Collard. He had been questioned about it before, most often by Tate.
"Our group is leaving last, I think." Payton told him, deciding that pressing him further about that conversation wasn't worthwhile. "Don't know why."
"I don't think Aries is here yet either." Barbara interrupted. The eight of them were stood weighting in the reception, watching as Dubstep's group prepared to leave.
Within the eight Junior students stood near the doorway with the Russian hero, Jared spotted Jason looking back at him. To his surprise, the quick-tempered, aggressive young man gave him a passive and encouraging nod. Jared nodded back, returning the mutually respectful feeling. Jason had changed a lot since the Criminal Apprehension Exam. It had been such a short time to make such a drastic change. In fact he was hardly recognisable, save for the same red jacket and short black hair. Jared was proud of him. He had found a way to overcome his darkness. He had made a huge step towards becoming the hero he wanted to be. Now Jared had to catch up to him.
Something Supermassive had said to him during the interviews returned to the forefront of his thought.
"Everyone has a goal in life. Some people move quickly towards it and some move slowly, but everyone moves. It's okay to compete with someone else towards the same goal, but don't try and push yourself to move faster than you can go. Move at the speed which you need, not anyone else's."
That comment felt a little more relevant now. Seeing his friends be placed into groups away from him, groups that appeared to collect more capable, higher grading students. Even Jason had shot past him now, going from a raging psycho to a calm and determined hard worker – though the raging psycho part of his personality was not completely gone. He couldn't help but feel that he had to catch up to them, he had to walk alongside them. He had to push himself towards his goal faster, or else they would leave him behind.
But Supermassive was probably right. If he tried to move as quickly as they did towards his goal, he would most likely falter and fall... and if that happened he wasn't sure he could get back up. He was not gifted with a Quirk like they were. He didn't have that advantage. He had to find other ways of facing the same trials. And even if he was at the back of the race and got to the finish line years after them, he knew that they would be waiting there for him, cheering him on.
He had thought a lot about what Supermassive had spoken about during their interview with him. The story of how he became a hero, the reason why he had chosen his hero name. It made Jared look at himself and ask what it was he wanted to achieve. Why did he want to be a hero? What did he want people to think of him? He wasn't sure about that yet. He had thought at first that he wanted only to be the first Quirkless hero, but was that enough? He didn't even know what he wanted his hero name to be.
"Hey, Payton."
"Yeah."
Jared paused, chewing his lip uncertainly. "Have you thought much about what you would name yourself as a hero?"
Payton Moon smiled widely, and his thin silky wings shuddered in anticipation. "I think I'll be Moth Man!" He stated excitedly.
"Like the legend?" Barbara asked.
"Yeah." Payton hissed. "At least, they say he's a legend. No one's ever been able to prove he doesn't exist."
Unintentionally Jared had just opened up a massive can of worms that his group now had to deal with.
"You honestly believe all those dumb stories from eons ago?" Vikki asked, astounded.
"Well that's the thing." Payton told her conspiratorially. "Everyone says they're not real, there's no truth to them... but likewise, no one's ever prover that they aren't true. What if the government is just trying to hush it up to stop us all from panicking?"
"So you actually believe that things like Bigfoot, Nessie, the Moth Man, Black Shuck, The Jersey Devil and the Beast of Bodmin Moore are real?" asked Barbara, just as astounded as Niall and Vikki. Jared had already been through this conversation. He knew how it always ended.
"I'm just saying..." Payton tapped his nose. "...we don't know about everything out there."
"Payton, this is the real world calling you, please wake up!" Barbara declared with a strike to the boys cheeks. She shocked him a little, possibly by accident. The static electricity jumped from her hands to his skin. "If things like that actually existed we would have plenty of sightings. Hunters, biologists, zoologists, all kinds of people would have found actually, physically evidence by now."
"Everyone thought that coelacanths didn't exist." Payton retorted. "But then guess what? They discovered that they actually do."
"Coelacanths were considered extinct." Niall corrected him. "They weren't mythical, there was plenty of fossil evidence for them. There's none for Bigfoot."
"And this was all ages ago anyway." Vikki interrupted. "Haven't most people just accepted that none of that crap is real?"
"Evidently some haven't." Barbara muttered, and both of them laughed.
"Oh you laugh now, but wait till someone finally finds one of them." Payton said with a pointing finger. "Then who'll be laughing?"
"You read too many comics." Niall told him with a pitiful shake of the head.
"There's probably a bunch of heroes out there named after those legends anyway." Jared said with a shrug, wanting to mostly stay out of this conversation, having experienced it before. He could feel his brain cells rapidly dying. "Bigfoot is most certainly gone, and Nessie. I don't know about Moth Man, I've never heard of a hero named that before. Jersey Devil is a new rising star in America."
They fell quiet, having exhausted themselves with this argument.
"What about you, Jared?" Barbara asked him once the ridiculous conversation had passed. "What would your hero name be?"
Jared looked downward, thinking hard. "I don't know."
"You could be the next Progenitor." Payton began to chuckle. "Maybe not Progenitor Junior, perhaps..." He thought with a finger on his chin. "Progenitor Jay?"
"No. I don't want to be a Progenitor." But Payton had made him think. "What would the child of a progenitor be?"
The group thought about that, reaching into the extent of their memory and knowledge, rummaging around for a word that fit into that spot.
"A progeny?" Barbara suggested.
Payton snapped his fingers together. "How about Progeny Wreath?"
Jared shook his head. "No, it's too similar. I don't want to be associated with my dad. I want to be my own person."
"Okay. Then what do you want to be known for?" Vikki asked.
Jared didn't know. He still hadn't thought of an answer to that question.
"I think most heroes pick their names based on their Quirks." Payton said, then paused. "Though, in your case, that's not really a viable option."
"Thanks." Jared muttered sarcastically.
"You've still got time to think of a name." Barbara reminded him. "We haven't been asked to come up with one yet, and that probably won't happen for a little while at least."
He supposed that she was right. It wasn't especially common for a trainee hero to decide on their hero name before finishing their studies. Though he did know – thanks to Supermassive – that most academies asked their students to think of their hero name in the first year, so it was likely that Jared would have to have some sort of answer by then.
Ultimately the conversation was cut short by the arrival of Aries. He was followed once more by the cuffed and muzzled villain known as Megalodon, along with two armed police officers escorting him. Upon arriving Megalodon muttered something that only Aries and the officers could hear. One of them nudged him in the stomach afterwards, which made the villain grunt, though that slowly turning to a chuckle.
"Alright, everyone ready to go?" He asked in declaration. Though the question was posed to the remaining eight students, Jared noticed that his eyes were focused more on the two students at the back of the group: Ty and Catherine. He couldn't hazard a guess why.
"Why is that criminal with us?" Vikki spoke up, asking the question that sat on everyone's mind.
"I told you before, Victoria, that Mr. Thalassa is here to help us." Aries reminded them. "Originally the intent was for you to study him and develop an understanding of the criminal mind. Now, however, he has found a second use. He knows the streets of Scarow rather well, and on top of that his nose is excellent at picking up specific scents. He will be helping us capture our targets today."
That sounded a little unconventional and risky of the openly cautious hero. Surely the police could have simply lent them a sniffer dog, especially considering they were willing to lend him a known criminal. But then again, Jared doubted he could instantly figure out what scent a dog had caught from its barks alone. That was one area where using the criminal made sense. But then the problem with that was communication, and the shark headed criminal may well decide not to supply it.
Aries waved a hand to quieten them. "I have already thought this through, so you don't need to be concerned. I understand it's unconventional, but I believe it will be beneficial." He turned to the criminal behind him, whose arms were kept together by tough metal and whose mouth was wrapped in leather straps. "He's agreed to behave this time... haven't you?"
The criminal gave him an unnerving smirk. "Yessir." He said, almost mocking the hero.
Aries ignored the sarcasm and mocker, turning back to the group of students in his care. "We'd best get started then."
Their first target was a man named James Yeoman, though more commonly referred to as Ratty. He was a small time petty criminal who operated to the northern end of the Tivoly District, and was wanted for multiple thefts and one attempted mugging. His Quirk gave him the ability to very slightly compress his body, which allowed him to squeeze into tighter spaces than most people could fit. He had a habit of getting drunk off of alcohol he had either stolen or bought via selling the stuff he had stolen, so he usually reeked of it. He was known to flee at the first sign of trouble, and could be differentiated by a whiskery moustache and oversized incisors – hence the nickname.
This information was all available on the warrant that Aries handed to the group. The students looked at it. This seemed like a relatively easy first target. The only challenging parts would be finding and catching him, and even then they had ways around that. Apparently Megalodon had a fantastic sense of smell, and there were eight students in total ready to chase after the criminal if he tried to run. Jared was certain they would have the man by lunchtime.
With this data on their target taken in, the group set of, with Aries and his pet shark-man leading the way.
"What are the chances we'll find this guy quickly?" Vikki pondered as they walked.
"Dunno, but Mr. Morse doesn't think it will take long." Barbara whispered back.
"If there's anyone fit to search for criminals in the undercity, it's Aries." Payton told them encouragingly. "It's part of what he does as a sleuth hero. He get a lay of the land, figures out ways to sneak close to the target without them seeing, then detains them before he's seen by anyone else. They're a bit like assassins actually."
"Except they don't kill their targets." Niall reminded him.
"Well, they're not supposed to." Payton a greed a little darkly, "But who's stopping them?"
Jared looked ahead at the hero leading their group. They had walked several blocks now, leaving the hostel behind them. At this point they were approaching a dark labyrinth of alleyways, with rooves and balconies and verandas that almost extended into the buildings opposite. Barely any light made its way through that concrete canopy. This what where they were going, into that deep, dark maw.
"Stay close everyone." Aries called back to them. "We don't need to get lost in here. If you notice anyone missing, call it out."
They could go missing in here? Now Jared was feeling a little more anxious. They passed buildings with black garbage bags piled up in their doorways. A few people looked out through their windows at them, then abruptly closed the curtains. Something horrible was dripping from one of the balconies, forming a puddle in the middle of the path which the students cautiously stepped around. This was one of the most eerie, uncomfortable, disturbing, upsetting place Jared had ever been. The sooner they were out of this alley the better.
Then, up ahead, they heard movement. Something scuttled through the trash. The class stopped, staring at it, paralysed with anxiety and tension.
A rat crawled out. It spotted the students, squeaked, and ran into a drain.
"Aw." Barbara squeaked. The others looked at her. "What? I like rats. They're not so bad." She said defensively.
"I wouldn't keep that one as a pet, though." Payton muttered, unable to ignore that it had crawled out of a bin bag.
"Everything okay?" Aries called back, having stopped a few metres ahead of the stalled students. They hurriedly caught up with him, trying not to get lost in this maze of concrete and black plastic and awful liquids and smells.
After several minutes of walking, the group was suddenly stopped. Aries raised an open hand, instructing the students and officers behind him to halt. Something was going on. The hero turned to the criminal beside him. Jared noticed his flat triangular snout was shifting and wriggling. There was an audible sniff. As the criminal turned to look at the hero, Jared could see a toothy smile on his face. Those serrated blades made him shudder. He could still remember looking up into the criminals face moments after falling from the top of the climbing wall. That image would never leave his mind.
"What do you smell?" Aries asked.
The criminal lowered himself down onto all fours, almost like a dog. It was strange to see a great white shark do this, as they were fish, not mammals. They didn't even have legs. Megalodon sniffed a few more times before he answered.
"I... smell someone... a person... no, two!... and somethin' strong, sour..." He paused, and his smile grew wider. "...booze... that's definitely booze!"
"That might be him." Aries declared. "We'd best investigate. Come on, we need to move quickly."
Immediately the class started jogging, keeping up with Aries but not running so fast that they tired out quickly. The shark-headed criminal was leading the group, following the smell of alcohol, running ahead of the class on two legs once more. Jared could see something glint in his eyes as they turned a corner. It could have easily been a reflection, but perhaps he was getting excited to be on the hunt.
They turned another few corners, following the shark's nose. But then he began to slow down. Jared saw his eyes widen momentarily, making the white sclera around his massive black pupils briefly visible. Aries slowed down beside him, looking concerned. Had he done this before? Then the criminal began to smile... and his eyes rolled over into white.
Immediately Aries had his hands on the criminal's muzzle, pulling it tight and backwards. This effectively restrained the criminal, hauling him backwards, almost into the students directly behind them. The officers were immediately on the scene, helping to restrain the shark.
"Blood..." Megalodon muttered, almost sounding inebriated. "I... smell blood..."
Any normal person would have said that with concern or fear... but he sounded excited! He spoke like a predator ready to make a kill.
"He's going to frenzy!" Aries shouted at the officers. "Pass me the Epipen, now!"
Jared was not sure what was going on, but he and the other students were very concerned. Something had happened to the criminal, and now their teacher was on full alert. He took a thin cylindrical object from the officer holding the criminal's left arm and stabbed it into the side of his neck. Only a second later Megalodon was calming down, his heavy breathing, gritted teeth and whitened eyes fading away, back into his normal expression.
Five seconds later and they were letting him go, as if the last few seconds hadn't happened.
"What was that?" Vikki was asking in panic. The others were no less startled.
Aries turned to them, apologetic and awkward. "Sorry that you all had to see that." He said as if trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. At that moment the shark man vomited loudly. "It's his shark biology, you see. He reacts strongly to the smell of blood. Sometimes it's enough to make him snap."
"Snap?" Payton muttered, disturbed.
Aries held his head, not wanting to divulge this information but having no other choice anymore.
"It makes him go into a frenzy. At that point, he becomes violent... and will attack anyone he sees."
The group were silent, staring at the shark in horrified shock. This man was aloud around them. Any one of them could have accidentally cut themselves at any point, and he could have snapped and attacked them.
"It's honestly nothing to worry about." Aries reassured them, though that sounded completely incorrect considering what they had just learned. He continued to press this belief on them. "One shot of tranquilizer helps calm him down. It's not enough to knock him out but it helps him snap out of his frenzy. He doesn't like going into it. I doubt any of you would either."
That was at least a little more relieving, though it didn't at all get rid of their nervousness around the criminal. They were relying on a single vial of tranquilizer to stop that man from snapping into a frenzy. None of them dared to imagine what might happen if they didn't have it on them the next time he smelled blood.
Aries put a hand on the man's grey shoulder. It was possibly the most unnaturally comforting thing they had ever seen him do for someone who had committed murder multiple times.
"The smell... it's this way." Megalodon spoke up after having a moment to break. "Just a few corners away from 'ere. I can still smell it." He seemed to be feeling nauseous, struggling to hold in his stomach's contents and stay standing on both feet.
"Come on. We may still be able to catch him."
Aries continued on with his students, and the shark continued to follow them. He was now at the back of the group with the officers, still under their supervision. Jared was feeling more and more that this task was not as safe as it had seemed. He trusted in his teacher, but that didn't mean he was infallible. One wrong move and all of them could be put in serious danger. But he decided not to doubt Aries. He could have, but how would that have helped the situation? They were a group, and they had to stay together in this place.
They turned several corners, following the directions the criminal had given them. Finally they turned a corner, and each of them came to a stop.
Two men stood at the centre of the alleyway, hidden in the dark. Their forms were visible as silhouettes against the faint glimmer of sunlight from above.
They knew now where the smell of blood had come from. One man was lying on his side, face buried in the ground. The other man held his arm upwards in a tight grip, with their left foot pressing into the individual's armpit. As they pulled harder and pressed heavier, the man on the ground began to scream, the sound of bone being moved from its joint bouncing off the walls.
Jared stood staring at the scene, never having expected to see something this brutal. The standing man had a fist coated in blood, possibly the victims or his own, possibly both. He raised it and punched the man on the ground, who yelped weakly. He could feel his mouth drying up. He wanted to shout, to scream, to stop him... but he couldn't. All the strength in his body was gone.
Aries took a step forwards. The group had not yet been noticed. The standing man was too focused upon his actions to hear their footsteps. The horned hero cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Hey, you there!" He bellowed.
The standing man froze, turning sharply towards the group. Jared could hear the sound of hissing as the man inhaled.
Then he bolted, turning and running for the alleyway behind him.
"Halt! Police!" The officer's sped past the group, chasing the man who was now trying to escape. Aries also began to run, though he was moving to the injured individual lying silently and motionlessly on the ground.
Jared and the other students followed him. The only person who didn't was Megalodon, who appeared to be avoiding the overwhelming smell of the man's blood. The two officers quickly returned to secure him. The man lying on the ground was covered in bruises, his face barely recognisable underneath the blackened swellings forming on his skin. But even with all of that bruising, Jared could tell who this man was. There was no way he could mistake that moustache, those teeth. This man was James Yeoman.
This was Ratty.
"Then who was that man?" Catherine aired nervously. It was the first time she had spoken all day, only to say what all of them were thinking.
"I want all of you to stay calm and keep together." Aries warned them. No one argued with him. They were all too uncertain of what was happening to disobey at that moment. "That man might have been one of Ratty's victims looking for revenge. That's the best outcome. It's also possible that he was a rival thief trying to get rid of competition. Worst case scenario... he was working for a criminal group, and we've just gotten in his way. Regardless of who he is, we need to track him down and question him." He gestured for the officers to bring Megalodon to him. "Can you catch his scent?"
"Maybe. 'e wasn't 'ere very long." The criminal croaked, trying not to inhale through his nose. "I need to get away from 'im, though."
Aries understood perfectly, and stepping away from his huddling students he lead Megalodon and his guarding officers to a clearer part of the alley.
"I'm getting' somethin' now." The shark man told him, sniffing lightly at the cleaner air. "Male... possibly late forties... strong body odour... somewhere close ahead, moving quickly yet not getting far... faint traces of bl-"
"That's enough." Aries told him quietly. The criminal stopped sniffing the air, looking tired out. His eyes were baggy and puffy, as if he'd had an allergic reaction.
Aries turn back to his students, folding his arms.
"Okay, this just became a bit more complicated. Whoever this man is, we need to find him. Whatever reason he had for attacking our buddy Ratty here, we need to know it. So, as heroes your next task will be to help me capture this man. I understand that you're in shock right now, but I need you to be strong, okay."
The class unanimously nodded. They were indeed shaken by what had happened, but they seemed to be recovering from it already, though some did so slower than others.
"Why didn't you just command him to stop, Niall?" Payton inquired as the class started to calm down.
"I was too shocked to think of that." Niall admitted with embarrassment. Until now he'd had no trouble making such commands of anyone or anything, no matter the situation. Perhaps seeing a real criminal beat someone half to death was enough to make him forget about his Quirk for a panicking moment.
"Well, isn't that convenient." Victoria muttered spitefully. She had taken the shock worse than most of the others.
"Okay, everyone focus now." Aries snapped. They returned their focus to him. "We're going to get start moving again now. I'll take the lead, and Megalodon will accompany me, with our police friends remaining here to secure Mr. Yeoman. Make sure to stay together and don't stray off. We can deal with this if we work together."
"Should we wait for backup?" Payton asked.
"We don't need it. This person isn't likely to have a seriously dangerous Quirk. If he did, he probably would have used it on Ratty already." Aries' spoke with optimism and courage, yet his expression was more direly serious than any of them had ever seen. "Remain on guard, though. We don't know what's capable off, and we need to find that out before we can make any proper attempt to capt- JARED, COME BACK!"
He didn't stop. He wasn't sure why he started running. He wasn't sure why he was ignoring his teacher's instructions. The sudden sensation had come over him. The need to give chase. He knew that his target was close, he knew that he wasn't getting far. He wanted to catch him. He wanted to stop him.
Was this the hero he wanted to be? A hero who ignored orders ran recklessly into unknown danger?
Perhaps it was.
Either way, he wasn't stopping now. Not even as the cries of his teacher and friends got further away. He could hear them run after him, but eventually that faded away too. Even the light from the sun above the canopy was gone. He was running into the dark all by himself... and he had no idea why.
He stopped running when he turned a corner into a dead end. Instinct had told him to follow the obvious pathway through the alleys. The more turns he took the closer he was getting to his target. Finally he could hear running ahead of him. Splashes as feet landed in puddles. He kept up the chase, following the target, or what he assumed was the target. Then he turned into the dead end, and skidded to a halt.
Ahead of him was a chain link fence almost three metres tall. Barbed wire was wrapped around the top, hanging loosely downwards like a fringe of hair. A man was attempting to climb it. He couldn't get a footing on the metal, and kept slipping down to the bottom.
He had to be the man he was chasing.
Jared approached.
The man turned around, staring at him. His features were hidden under a thick coat, shadow hiding his face. Blood splats were marked to the lower area of the midnight blue fabric. This was almost certainly him. He was the man who had attacked Ratty.
"You've got nowhere to go." Jared warned him, reaching his hand into his pocket, where he was hiding his stun gun.
The man who had been trying to run from him hissed in irritation.
"Dumb kid! You're interrupting the course of justice!"
The man didn't sound English. He didn't have an English accent. Neither was his accent Scottish, Welsh, Irish, or any other kind that could be associated with the British Isles. Jared couldn't quite place it. It reminded him of Dubstep for some reason. Eastern European maybe?
"The course of Justice?" Jared realised what the man had said. Why would a criminal bring up the course of justice? What was there justifiable about attacking a man?
In his confusion, he hadn't been paying attention. The criminal moved suddenly, snapping Jared out of his thoughts. He was immediately alert and brandished his stun gun.
"I'm warning you!" Jared snapped, trying to be authoritative.
The man looked at the weapon. In the dim light he could see a pair of dark blue eyes looking through the hood of the coat. Another hissing intake of breath.
Then the man raised his right arm.
I'm not going to leave a long message here this time. I'm just going to pose my question leave it be.
Question: Who is your least favorite character, and why? (This can be a character you personally like the least or a character you think is the worst written. I don't mind which.)
In case you can't tell, the rest of this arc will be about the final task set over BHA's last two days in Scarow. A lot's going to go down, and it's going to get rather heavy... so prepare your buts.