Maisie Collard

[November 27th]


"Alright, listen up!" Ravenhead announced the moment his group of students were out of the hostel. The eight teenagers came to a halt at the edge of the street and looked towards him patiently. "Our first target for the day is an old friend of mine. His name is Robert Corvid, though he's known by most people as Magpie, and he's wanted for multiple accounts of petty theft."

Barely ten seconds into the actual task and already Maisie was confused. Heroes and criminals could be friends? Was that even possible? Was her teacher being sarcastic? Sometimes she's heard her father refer to people he didn't like as his friend, it always confused her. The tone was what made it sound wrong. He sounded angry when he said it. Ravenhead didn't sound angry though. In fact his cheerful voice sounded no different to usual. Was he being serious then? Her head spun. She felt that it might explode with the struggle of understand.

"That must be a very unusual friendship you have." Tate stated with a chuckle.

Ravenhead laughed back at him, which for him wasn't so unusual. Unlike some of their other teachers, he was one of the ones who could take a joke. "Actually he and I go way back. He was one of the first criminals I caught. We've been meeting up to relive that day ever since."

That made Maisie even more befuddled. He regularly met up with a criminal he had once caught? What did he mean by reliving that day? Her forehead was thumping now, her brain working overtime.

"Pass this around." Ravenhead handed Philip Keel a warrant, upon which their first target was depicted. Maisie had to wait for the page to be passed back to her before she could read any part of it. Maisie had to take a second look to make sure she wasn't imagining it. The man whose photo was upon the page looked almost exactly like Ravenhead. He was covered in black feathers all over his body, and he had a dark coloured beak just like her teacher. There were a few small differences though. This individual had white feathers mixed in with the black ones, not so much on his head but mostly upon his chest and the exterior of his wings. His beak looked smaller too, narrower and shorter than Ravenhead's, though it was tough to compare through just a photo."

"He looks like you, sir." Freya stated what they were all thinking.

"He does." Ravenhead agreed, seemingly finding this to be a humorous suggestion. "It's because we have similar Quirks. We have different genus. I'm part Raven, he's part Magpie."

"Are there many people with Quirks like yours?" Jon asked curiously.

"A few." Ravenhead told him wistfully. "We call ourselves the Corvidae Family. We keep in touch." He laughed to himself, and then quickly realised that his students didn't get the joke. He coughed and returned to the matter at hand. "Magpie's the sort of black bird of the group... though that's not saying much, most of us are black birds." He chuckled again, though quickly jumped back to his point. "I don't imagine he'll be especially hard to find. Usually I simply have to follow his trail of breadcrumbs."

At that point Maisie's mind burst. Now she had to mix Hansel and Gretel into this somehow. What was he talking about? She couldn't follow a word her teacher was saying. Friends, birds, magpies, breadcrumbs...

"Are you okay?"

Maisie snapped out of her thoughts. Aaren was looking at her, her hand hovering awkwardly above her shoulder. The others had moved on, following Ravenhead across the road and down the street. She looked at the slightly more muscular, slightly more confident, slightly more intimidating young woman trying to check up on her.

"Uh... I'm Fine..." she muttered awkwardly.

"Are you sure?" Aaren asked.

"Yeah..." Maisie murmured, made uncomfortable by her interest.

Aaren removed her hand, but continued to stare at her with concern and confusion. "Okay then." She looked back at their classmates who were now crossing over the road some metres away. "We'll be left behind if we don't catch up."

The two young women ran to catch up with their class, making sure to check that no traffic was headed their way before darting across the road. Thankfully their group had stopped for a moment for Ravenhead to check their surroundings and figure out which direction they had to take.

"If I remember correctly..." The avian hero clucked, his beak tapping together in thought. "...He tends to work around the Tivoly District, usually to the west." He paused, and raised a talon in realisation. "I forgot to mention, he likes shiny stuff. If you have anything shiny on you, I'd suggest you hide it away until we've caught him. If he takes it from you, you might not get it back."

Maisie checked her dress, which was devoid of pockets or crevices. She had a small handbag in which she kept her phone and a few ten pound notes. It didn't shimmer, so there was no danger of this criminal trying to steal it, and so long as she left her phone inside and the bag close to her there was no chance it would be stolen.

"Sounds like this guy's playing up to stereotypes." Aaren muttered.

"Makes sense, though." Tate told her. "Someone who's prone to stealing and also looks like a bird. Magpie's the best name for a man like that."

"It's not like everyone who is part animal behaves like that animal." Rylie interrupted the conversation, her tail whipping behind her with frustration. "I mean, I may be part lizard but I don't eat people, do I."

"That's up for debate." Aaren muttered under her breath.

"I thought most lizards ate bugs or plants." Jon said. "Only the larger ones eat meat. Which species do you take after?"

Rylie looked at herself, examining her scaly body from tail tip to forehead. "I'm not sure." He said once a few seconds had passed. "Though I've never had much of a desire to chow down on a plate of crickets."

"I suppose she has a point." Freya joined in. "Payton may have moth wings, but we've never caught him chewing on a pair of socks."

"So some people with animal Quirks take after their animal and some don't. So what?" Mitchell interrupted. "Does it even matter? Stop chatting and start moving so we can get to the fun stuff already. Let's go catch a criminal!"

"We've caught criminals before." Freya reminded him. "The crusher was a criminal."

"The Crusher was an actor." Tate corrected her.

"That's not the point. Even if he was an actor, he was playing the role of a criminal so that we could catch him. The experience was much the same."

Maisie hadn't heard this argument yet, though Jared had mentioned that the Andersons were annoyed by that reveal. She wasn't sure why it angered them so much. She was actually rather glad that the first criminal she had faced was just an actor. If they had been a real criminal, they probably wouldn't have gone so easy on her. She might have been seriously hurt. She was still rather apprehensive about facing an actual criminal even now. She'd had to force herself to go with everyone. If it wasn't for Jared's attempt to encourage her and the others making sure she was following she would have stayed behind at the Hostel. Ravenhead may have reassured them that this individual, Magpie, was not dangerous, she couldn't calm the anxiety in her heart.

"You're drifting away again." Aaren told her. Maisie glanced at her. Again the rest of the class had moved on, and she had fallen behind. For some reason the red-haired girl had stayed behind with her.

"S-sorry." Maisie murmured pathetically.

Aaren gave her an unreadable look. It made Maisie uncomfortable. Almost certainly this more confident young woman was judging her, looking down on her for her inability to concentrate and follow the group.

"Come on." She offered Maisie a hand. Maisie looked down at it. Her skin was much paler than Aaren's. Clearly she had spent more time in the sun. Maisie didn't like being outside too much. In the spring or autumn it could be quite nice, but in the summer it was too hot and in the winter it was freezing cold. She couldn't manage either of those temperatures. It was cold now that it was November, but not quite so cold that Maisie found it debilitating. How did Aaren manage it, wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt? Sure, she needed that sort of clothing for her Quirk to be unhindered, but did she never get cold?

Maisie followed after her, walking at the back of the group. She didn't feel as vulnerable as she probably ought to, this part of the district was quite nice. The buildings were still a little run down, but at least they were rather pretty. The architecture of Scarow was quite interesting and eye catching, in a rather melancholy way. Most buildings were coloured grey, but in unique shades and with a slightly monochrome style to them. There was a sort of slanted design to them, as if they were about to fall over. Perhaps some of them were. That thought made her speed up her walking, worried that she might be crushed while walking under their shadows.

Doing so made her walk into Aaren's back. "Ow." The girl muttered, and glanced back at her with annoyed eyes. "Careful."

"Sorry." Maisie squeaked meekly.

She wasn't sure where she stood with Aaren. The red haired girl always seemed to treat her so coldly, keeping her distance and watching her from afar with judging eyes. Yet on occasion she would show some small fraction of warmness or kindness. It was tough to predict why, when or where this would happen. Today she had been overly conversational towards her, for seemingly no reason. She was clearly trying to check on her, trying to make sure she was okay. Maisie had no idea why she was doing that. She couldn't figure Aaren out. That girl was like a Rubik's Cube.

Jared was friends with her, so by proxy Maisie felt that she ought to be her friend as well. It never actually felt that way though. All conversations between them felt so awkward, as if the both of them were walking upon tightropes. She wasn't really sure how she felt about Aaren. She didn't hate her, but neither did she like her. She hated to admit it, but she felt jealous of Aaren. Somehow that girl had created the sort of friendship with Jared that Maisie had always wanted. They were close to each other, closer than they probably knew. Whenever Maisie saw them together, chatting together, laughing together, it made her blood levels rise. Her hands clenched and her feet dug into the ground. Her father had told her as a child that jealousy was an ugly emotion, and was used only by ugly people. Maisie tried not to feel that way, but she couldn't help it. She looked at Aaren and she felt hate.

Aaren hadn't actually done anything to make her hateable. It wasn't her fault that Maisie disliked her. But even so, something about the way she spoke to Jared, and the way Jared spoke back to her, made Maisie feel... unwanted. Every time she saw them talking she worried that he was being pulled more and more away from her. She couldn't bear the thought of that. He was the only friend she had!... Well, actually, that wasn't completely true. She enjoyed talking to Freya when she was around, and she got along well with Jon and Payton. She supposed that, to an extent, they were also her friends. The problem was that she didn't have the kind of friendship with them that she did with Jared, and every moment of every day she feared that suddenly that friendship would be over. They didn't talk as much as they once had. At the start of their friendship they had called each other regularly, and chatted away about anything and everything. They hadn't stopped talking to each other, but every time they did they had less and less to say to each other. She could feel that connection they once had now slipping from her fingers. Slowly but surely they were moving away from each other. That scared her more than any criminal or villain.

But perhaps she could do something to fix this. They had some time to spend before Ravenhead found their target. They could use this time to get to know each other. Maisie didn't enjoy social situations, but she could endure them if it was for the sake of a friend.

As subtly as her awkward body and anxious mind could manage, Maisie stepped up beside Aaren. Almost instantly Aaren turned to look back at her. Her eyes met with Maisie's, and instantly she looked confused by the glare she was getting.

"Hey, Aaren."

Aaren's confused look grew more confused. "Hi." She said back.

"How are you?"

"I'm well."

"Good."

Maisie paused, swallowing her anxiety and embarrassment. She knew she was making a dog's dinner of this conversation already, but she had to keep going.

"How are you?" Aaren asked, now taking the initiative to get a conversation going. Maisie was grateful for that, and her anxiety died down a little.

"I'm okay." She paused, and smiled awkwardly. "I'm a bit anxious, actually."

"You'll be fine." Aaren reassured her. "It's only a petty criminal we're chasing, not some dangerous villain."

Coming from Ravenhead or Jared, this statement would have been reassuring. Coming from Aaren, somehow that aspect was lost.

"It's sad Jared isn't a part of our group." Maisie spoke up.

"That's how it is." Aaren said emotionlessly. "He and Payton are with Aries. We'll be able to catch up with them later at least, and most of our friends are in this group anyway."

Maisie nodded, though she felt that Aaren had kind of missed the point of her statement a little.

"You were with him for the Criminal Apprehension Exam..." Maisie paused, noticing Aaren's surprise. "...did you... get on well...?"

"Why?" Aaren asked, confused. Maisie didn't answer, instead looking away with embarrassment. She knew just how strange that question was, but she couldn't think of a better way to word it. "I suppose." Aaren said after a few seconds. "He was fine to work with."

"Good." Maisie muttered, having to rub her eyes. She felt that she would cry if she said something that stupid again.

"What about you? You were with Team 3, weren't you? Who was in your team?"

Maisie turned back to Aaren, surprised by the question. "I think I was with..." She paused, trying to remember the day. She didn't exactly have a poor memory, though she did quite often forget small details. Usually this was only an issue with remembering people's names or faces. "Payton, Barbara, Lu and Mr. Hauser were there. There was also another guy from Class Senior... and Catherine as well, I think."

"I see." Aaren said mildly. "And you caught your target in the end?"

"Yeah."

Again the awkward silence returned, sitting between them like a wall. Maisie tried to think of something further to say, but her mind couldn't come up with anything. The few options she had - the weather, the environment, the task at hand – all sounded so fake and uninteresting. She didn't actually want to know what Aaren thought about them, and she doubted Aaren want to know what she thought either. She looked at the ground, watching her footing, and tried to think of something more to say.

"I hope you don't mind if I ask you this..." Aaren began after almost a minute of silence. She spoke so suddenly, with a voice so unusually curious for her. "...but what is your relationship with Jared."

Maisie blinked, astounded that Aaren was the first one to ask that question. She had been trying to think of the right way to say that for the last minute.

"I don't understand." She said uncomfortable. She had a feeling that Aaren was trying to imply something, but she didn't know what. "We're friends?"

"Just friends?" Aaren persisted.

"I think so." Maisie contemplated. How was she meant to define their relationship? She and Jared had been friends before they started studying at BHA, and their goal to get into the academy was what had united them. She cared about him, and she knew that he cared about her. He was often checking up on her for reasons she wasn't quite clear about. She didn't know why he did that. Perhaps that was part of being someone's friend, though she never saw him do that for any of the others in their social group. Maybe he thought of her as something more than a friend, like a best friend?

"I just wanted to ask..." Aaren continued, sliding her hands into her shorts pockets. "...because you seem to be very attached to him... and I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Why had she said that? Did she know how Maisie felt? Could she tell that she didn't like her, that she was jealous of her? "I'm not hurt." Maisie murmured feebly.

Aaren looked away, smiling sadly. "I've seen you glaring at me." She told her.

Maisie felt her heart drop slightly. So Aaren had caught her staring, seen her expressions. She hadn't been aware of that. She'd thought that Aaren didn't know. Now she just felt bad. She hadn't wanted her to know that. She wasn't proud of it.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Don't take this the wrong way..." Aaren said, giving Maisie a sideways glance, "...but I think you're being too clingy with him."

Maisie looked back at her. "Clingy?" She repeated.

"The way you behave around him... it's not normal." Aaren explained, trying to show a hint of empathy in her voice. "People don't behave that way. It's just... well, it's strange."

Maisie's eyes widened, and within the depths of her pupils a flame ignited. Her orange irises were aglow. She growled through her teeth like a protective lioness, her gaze fixed upon Aaren. She had been angry before, but not quite like this. Usually her anger was mild and momentary, passing annoyance at a faulty gadget or a failed project. This was a new feeling for her. She felt rage welling up in her heart.

"You don't know a thing about me!" She snapped, almost shouting the words. Aaren stared at her with astonishment, not expecting such a violent outburst. "You can't call me strange! I'm not strange! I'm normal! How could you call me that?!"

Aaren, who was a little startled by the shouting, raised her hands apologetically. "I only meant-"

"I care about Jared!" Maisie screamed, catching the unwanted attention of the other group members, her teacher and a few passer's by. "He's my friend! My best friend! I want to look out for him! I want him to know that I care about him! What's wrong with that?!"

"Maisie, I didn't-" Aaren wasn't going to get a chance to respond. Maisie was too enraged to listen to her. She threw her arms around, shrieking at her classmate with the wrath of a hurricane wind.

"What do you know about him?! What do you know about friendship?!" She bellowed, almost punching Aaren in the face as she thrust a finger at her. Aaren flinched, having to look down her nose to see the digit. "You don't know anything about Jared! You're just a leech, sucking the life out of him! You're using him to make yourself look better! What friends do you have other than him?! You're stranger than I am! Why don't you just go away and leave him alone!"

Maisie breathed heavily, her chest ascending and plummeting with each inhale and exhale. Her shoulders were hunched and her eyes didn't move away from Aaren's shocked expression. She knew that the others were looking at her but she didn't care. She had needed to say this. She knew how she felt about Aaren now. The rest of the group knew too. Soon enough the entire school would know.

Aaren said nothing for a few seconds. She looked at the ground after that. She began to sniff quietly. Then, rubbing her nose, she looked back up and confronted Maisie with a firm, steeled glare.

"I was trying to be kind to you." She stated taciturnly, clearly restraining whatever emotions were going through her brain. "He asked me to do that, you know. He asked me to keep an eye on you, to support you when he couldn't be there to do so. I agreed to do that for him, and I'll continue to do so, even if you hate me for it." She reached out, gripped Maisie's finger between two of her own, and lowered her arm down with little resistance. "So understand this, Maisie... I care about Jared, and no matter what you think of it I'm going to keep caring about him. Whether you like it or not, he is my friend. When he needs me, I'll be there for him, and when I need him, he'll be there for me. That's what friendship is. He'll always be there when you need him... Can you say the same?"

Maisie's voice caught in her throat. She could have continued to shout at Aaren, and to an extent she wanted to, but she couldn't make the words leave her larynx. She didn't notice at first, but quickly she realised that her anger had subsided during Aaren's speech. Instead of rage, her heart was filled with... shame.

"Is everything okay, you two?" Ravenhead asked, peering past the other six group members to look back at the arguing girls.

"Fine." Aaren muttered, letting Maisie's finger pass through her hand. She took a step back and turned away.

Maisie continued to stare at her. The glow in her eyes had faded now, and instead of fire there was only patient water. It started to seep down her cheeks.

"That was quite a show." Tate said, impressed. He paused as he saw Maisie start to cry. "Well, you don't need to cry over Wreath. There's plenty more fish in the sea." He paused, a sly grin spreading across his and Mitchell's face. He placed a hand on Maisie's shoulder. "...and one of them might be swimming up beside you right now!"

Maisie looked up at him, and her brow narrowed disapprovingly. "Go away, Tate." She muttered, and shrugged his hand away.

Tate was surprised. That was the first time she had fought back against him. She was gaining confidence, or her anger was making her more aggressive. Either way, the fact that she had denied his advances was new. Neither of the Andersons knew what to do about this. Perhaps it was time to move on to someone else.

"Go on ahead, everyone. Follow the street to the next turning and wait for me."

Maisie looked up to see Ravenhead approaching. She tried to hide her sadness, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

Maisie snivelled. "Nothing." She whimpered, and shook her head. There was no point pretending, he could see her tears. "I did something mean."

"What happened there between you two?" Ravenhead pressed. Maisie didn't answer him, covering her face further and choking down a coughing fit. He sighed, stood up straight and patted her on the back, careful not to scratch her with his talons. "Would you like to go back to the hostel?" He asked.

Maisie shook her head sharply. Though she hadn't been keen to capture any criminals, she also didn't want to be alone. Jared wouldn't be there. Aaren was right about her, in so many ways. She relief too much on Jared. She wanted to run right to him, to hug him and be reassured. But he wasn't here. She couldn't rely on him forever, and at some point he would have to rely on her. She couldn't do that right now. Thanks to Aaren, Maisie knew that she had to make a change. If she stuck with Ravenhead and his group, there was the chance that she could do just that.

Ravenhead nodded with concern. "Okay." He turned her around and together they started walking to catch up with the rest of the group. "Once we get into today's task I'm sure you'll cheer up. When we get back to the hostel you can apologise to Aaren if you need to."

She wasn't sure if she wanted that. She doubted Aaren would accept her apology. They had both shouted at each other, but what Maisie had said was so harsh and unnecessary and untrue. Aaren hadn't shouted at her, though. She had tried to be kind. That was what upset Maisie the most. If she had shouted back her anger would have felt justified. But now she was the bad guy... and she hater herself.


"He's over here!"

The group had been searching for a while, and eventually they came across a small plaza to the west of the Tivoly District, in which a bunch of stalls had been set up. Apparently this was a market, and Maisie had never seen anything like it before. Ravenhead had explained to his students that quite a few Scarow citizens made their money through these open stall markets that were set up in plazas and squares. People would rent out a stall and sell whatever they had. Sometimes it was things they had made, sometimes it was things they had bought... and occasionally it was stuff they had acquired illegally. Large businesses tended to stay away from Scarow, and because of that there were very few shops or chains anywhere. Without the shadow of larger corporations, smaller businesses were able to flourish in this environment. It was also a perfect place for pickpockets, thieves and petty criminals.

Because of their target's habit of stealing shiny things, most of the trainee heroes had been keeping their eyes on places they knew would sell that sort of stuff. There was a jewellery stall towards the south end of the plaza, and to the north east was a silverware stall with partially stained cutlery laid out for sale. This was why they had stopped here. If anything would attract a small time thief, it was a busy market such as this one.

Maisie was reminded of how supermarkets and shopping centres could be around Christmas, except here there was no roof to protect them from the weather, and the stalls were much more tightly knitted into the space available. She had doubted they would find their target in a place like this. This was not the only market in the Tivoly District, let alone in Scarow, and there were far too many people around to see any distinct faces within the sea of skin. She was one of the few students who had decided to stay back from the crowd, rather than push into them and try to search for the target inside. She broke into a sweat even thinking about trying to push through that mass of people. At least she wasn't alone though. Freya, Jon Laverick and John Quincy had also decided to keep their distance. The other four and their teacher were mingling with the masses at that moment, looking for their target or anyone even slightly suspicious.

And then the shout had gone out.

It sounded like one of the Andersons, though it was tough to make out over the noise of the thronging shoppers. A moment later the twins came into view, Mitchell passing through the startles civilians with Tate pushing past them some feet behind. Another figure came scampering out of the masses, not too far from where Mitchell had emerged. At first Maisie had mistaken him for Ravenhead. Before she could realise that this figure was several feet shorter than her teacher and wearing baggy trousers and a torn shirt instead of the hero's usual cloak and suit, she noticed instead the white feathers mixed into his plumage.

"Over here!" Tate bellowed, throwing his arm out in the direction of the avian figure and hitting several unsuspecting people in the process. "He's trying to get away!"

"Should we help-?" Maisie began, only to be answered by the other three sprinting – or rolling in Freya's case – in the direction of the fleeing criminal. Not wanting to be left alone, she followed after them.

The other group members were emerging from the crowd now. Ravenhead was first, as people were moving out of his way, obviously recognising him as a hero. Shortly after him appeared Aaren. Rylie was behind her, and finally came Philip Keel, who was continuously apologising to people for unintentionally stabbing them with his spines. Their emergence, excitement and energy had attracted the attention of the crowd, and now the trainee heroes had an audience to watch the pursuit.

Maisie had no doubt in her mind that this man was Magpie. The chances of two people in Scarow looking like that must have been very small. Any fear that they were chasing the wrong person was absent from her mind, and while she was not keen to hurt them or to scare them, she continued to put up the chase. The only problem came with her lack of stamina and athletic skill. While Jared had apparently been getting better in this area, she had been getting worse. She struggled to keep up with the others, and since they were all focused on catching their target none of them considered slowing down so that she could stay with the group. The moment the criminal turned a corner into an alleyway, Ravenhead followed him, as did her classmates, and she was left behind.

She did the best she could to keep up with them, only just managing to catch a glimpse of Jon Laverick before he turned another corner into a further alley. Beyond that she had to listen for to the instructions they were shouting at one another. As she would have expected, Ravenhead was creating the plan to capture their target.

"Jon, Philip, you stay back here, block off his exit."

"Yes sir!"

Rylie, Aaren, cover the left alleyway, herd him back around."

Yes sir!"

"Freya and Quincy, you block off his route. I'll follow him and lead him back to this point."

"Yes sir!"

"Tate, you and Mitchell prepare to grab him once he's cornered."

"Why do we have to do the grabbing?"

"Yeah, why us? Why not prickly pear over there?"

"Just do it!"

"Yes sir!"

Maisie was sweating and panting when she finally saw Jon Laverick and Philip Keel ahead of her. They were doing as Ravenhead had instructed, blocking off the entrance to a small open space between several alleys. She almost stumbled into Philip's spiny back, and she squeaked as her cheek narrowly avoided a nasty puncture. The two boys jumped in startled surprise.

"Maisie, what happened to you? We were worried." Jon asked, glancing back in case the target was coming back towards them.

"I got left behind." Maisie panted, leaning forwards with a hand on her chest. Her lungs felt like they might pop like balloons.

"Well, just stay back." Philip instructed, barely glancing at her after his initial shock. "That bastard thief could come this way any moment."

Maisie looked up. Other than the two male members of her class, no one else was there. Then the plan she had heard Ravenhead shouting was being carried out. She wondered how well it was going, and hoped that this criminal hadn't done anything to hurt any of them. The anxiety in her brain made her suspect that he was the one that was trapping them.

"How do we stop him?" Maisie asked, still breathing rapidly. The sound was distracting Philip, and he gave her an annoyed glance.

"I don't know. I'll tackle him, I suppose." Jon told her.

"I'll shove a few quills in his legs." Philip stated, grabbing a handful of hollow spines from over his shoulder. "That'll stop him from running off again."

Maisie certainly hoped he wouldn't have to do that. Ravenhead had shouted something about the Anderson's grabbing him once he was cornered. The part of her brain that stored and stoked all her anxiety doubted that this plan would go off without a hitch. Even if it had a trained and experienced hero managing it, it would almost certainly go wrong in some way.

From the right alley they heard running footsteps, growing slowly louder and closer as they echoed of the concrete walls. Maisie felt a tenseness in her stomach, and her diaphragm tightened. The moment had come. The target was headed towards them, and they had to stop him.

They saw him turn a corner. Robert Corvid, the criminal known as Magpie. He wasn't as intimidating as Maisie had first thought. His photograph extenuated the size of his beak, and his black, glassy eyes seemed lifeless and menacing as they stared at the camera. Right now, however, she felt none of that intimidation. The criminal was running flat out, worn soles slapping against the wet stones underfoot, sweat dripping between the feathers on his face and eyes wide in a knowing fear. His beak was much smaller in real life, almost half the size of Ravenhead's, and his white plumage certainly helped to remove any threatening aspect of him. There was also the scream, which was better described as a squawk. Magpie's mouth was hanging open, and from it he was letting out a startled and panicked crowing. It sounded rather like laughter, which clashed intensely with his scared expression. Before seeing him Maisie had been very anxious. Now that he was running towards them she couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Ravenhead skidded around the corner he had come from, his well-kept boots launching him across the floor regardless of its slippery surface.

"Nowhere to run, Magpie!" The hero shouted as he quickly caught up with the criminal.

Magpie didn't respond, though he did continue to scream. He only stopped screaming when he ran head first into an invisible wall. He had been aiming to begin another circle through the alleyways in the hopes of losing Ravenhead and his students. Instead he had been stopped by nothing, and he rebounded off it with a flattened beak.

John Quincy stepped out of the shadows, his third eye open and focused upon the point at which the criminal had struck nothing. Freya was beside him, ready to act but realising that she probably didn't need to. From the alley ahead Aaren and Rylie were appearing, running to reunite with the group. Finally came Tate and Mitchell, who appeared shortly behind Ravenhead. As the criminal was surrounded, the hero came to stop, just at the edge of the right alley.

Magpie glanced around in all directions, looking for any possible route to escape. There wasn't one. The gutter piper were old and too worn to climb, the bricks were too loose or too compact to gain footing, and it appeared that his feathered arms were not capable of flight. Still, he wasn't giving up so easily. He raised his talons in front of his face, protecting himself.

Ravenhead shook his head in pity. "Alright, Magpie, we've got you cornered. Are you going to come quietly now?"

The criminal hissed through the edges of his beak. "Never!" He muttered in a voice that was much higher in pitch than any of the students had expected. Maisie covered her mouth to stop her laughter escaping.

"We've warned you many times. You've been out for three days. Do you really want to go back to the slammer so soon?"

"I dunno what you're talkin' 'bout." Magpie crowed. "I was just doin' some shoppin'. I wasn't tryin' to rob anyone."

Ravenhead didn't believe a word he said. "Okay then, turn out your pockets."

Magpie gulped. He clearly was not good at hiding his emotions. The panic was evident on his face. He slowly dived his hands into his pockets and pulled out several handfuls of necklaces, chains, rings and earrings, all made with different jewels and metals. He dropped them on the floor, into the grubby coagulating water.

"Oh, how'd those get there?" Magpie said, trying to feign innocent surprise. "Someone must've planted them on me."

"Just like last time?" Ravenhead mocked. "You know I have to turn you in, don't you. What would your parole officer think?"

"Now look, Raven, Please..." Magpie took a few steps back, only to walk into Jon Quincy's invisible wall. "You know I can't help it, right. I'm tryin' to stop, but it's tough. They're just so... shiny!"

At that, he lunged, throwing himself onto the ground and scooping up the jewellery he had stolen once more. The students were startled by the sudden movement, but Ravenhead didn't appear surprised at all.

"Should I grab him now?" Tate asked, looking a little eager considering his protest earlier.

"I don't think you'll need to worry about that." The teacher told him. "He won't give us any trouble." He turned back to the criminal. "Will you?"

Magpie glared up at him. "No trouble..." He repeated, rising to his knees, then to his feet. A necklace slipped out of the pile in his arms, and the criminal quickly scooped it up again with his beak. He blinked with it hanging from his beak for a few seconds. Then he jolted his head sideways and threw the necklace into Ravenhead's face. "...for me at least!"

The criminal ran for the invisible wall, charging into it and rebounding once more. Maisie couldn't stop her laughter this time. She couldn't fathom why this dumb bird man thought that would work a second time. If this was his escape plan then it was no wonder he was so often caught. John was not finding it quite as humorous as she was, as he had to hold the barrier up. Nothing that Magpie did had any effect on it. All he succeeded in doing was tiring himself out and giving himself concussion.

Finally, when he had realised he was going nowhere, the criminal gave up. He stepped back, tilting from side to side, struggling to balance on both feet. Stars were visible floating around his head.

"I think he's fooled around enough for today." Ravenhead gave a nod towards the Andersons. "Now you can grab him.

"Yay!" Tate exclaimed in his own foolish and childlike way. Letting a moron capture another moron was rather poetic in a way, or at least Maisie thought it was.

The twins didn't get to enjoy themselves however, as a moment later someone fell from the sky. The entire group of students, and even their experienced teacher, all jumped in surprise. The falling individual landed on both feet, creating a small shockwave of air that battered and pushed the students off their feet. Some of them fell over, but some were lucky enough to stay standing. Maisie wasn't one of those lucky ones. She finally stopped tumbling and tied her skirt before trying to stand up.

"Ghaaak!"

The strangled squawk was the biggest surprise of the moment. A third bird person had appeared in the alleyway, though they were quite different from Ravenhead and Magpie. Though Maisie could only see their back from where she lay, she noticed straight away the additional limbs protruding from the new figure's shoulders. A pair of black wings, separate to their arms, were stretched out wide and filling that entire part of the alley. The figure's arms were normal human arms, with four rounded fingers and one stumpy thumb on each hand. In fact the rest of his body was – as far as could be told from the clothing they wore over it – no different to a normal human's. There were no feathers anywhere other than the wings, no talons, no beak, no beady black eyes. He was almost normal.

It took a few seconds for Maisie to realise that this new figure was gripping Magpie's scrawny neck between both hands. There was where the squawk had come from, and why it had suddenly cut off. Magpie himself was trying to break free, but his attacker's grip was too tight to break.

The students looked at each other, and then at their teacher for guidance. Ravenhead didn't focus on them. Instead he kept his eyes on this new figure. Once the initial shock of his arrival faded away, the expression on the heroes face was recognised annoyance.

"Crow." He muttered.

Hearing his name, the new figure glanced backwards. He saw Ravenhead, and shot him a wry grin.

"Raven." He greeted back. With a swift movement he slammed the criminals head against the solid concrete wall, and Magpie fell slumped and quiet. "Long time, no see."

"Who is he?" Freya asked, rolling her wheelchair up beside her teacher.

Ravenhead glanced at her, at his students, and inhaled after sighing quietly. "Everyone, may I introduce an old friend of mine." He announced, with none of the respect or love that a man might show for someone who was actually their friend. "This man is Augustine Crow. He's another avian hero, like myself."

"Friendship isn't the right word for our affiliation." Augustine Crow corrected the raven-headed hero, slapping him on the shoulder. "Rivalry would be a better word, don't you agree."

"Yes." Ravenhead muttered bitterly, rubbing the area where he had been struck.

Ravenhead had a rival? That astounded Maisie. Who could possibly compare to her teacher, her hero, the man who had given her and Jared a chance to chase their dreams?

"You didn't have to knock him out like that." Ravenhead said in a scolding tone, looking down at the unconscious criminal. "He was going to come quietly."

Crow shook his head, glancing at his rival with pity. "You and I know him well, Raven. He wouldn't have done that. He would have kicked and screamed all the way to his cell." He stretched his arms nonchalantly. "Well, the job here's done. Nice work cornering him for me. I'll take care of this from here on."

There was a pause of surprise from the hero. "I'm sorry?" He said.

"I'll take him to the nearest police station from here." Crow reiterated. "You and your little class should hurry back to the street, before any more dangerous criminals show up."

"But you can't do that!" Aaren shouted confrontationally. "He was our target! We caught him! We should be the ones to arrest him!"

The two older heroes gave her an empathetic look.

"Does it matter who turns him in?" Crow asked rhetorically. "So long as he goes back into his cell, the one who puts him there is unimportant. Isn't that right, Ravenhead?"

Ravenhead nodded slowly back at him, though he didn't look at all pleased about this decision.

"Sir, we worked hard to capture that thief." Freya stated. "We can't just let him take that from us."

"That plucked bastard's trying to steal our glory!" Tate added rambunctiously.

Soon enough the other students were joining in with the disapproving statements.

"It's practically theft!" Shouted Philip.

"We're the ones who tired ourselves out trying to catch him!" Rylie snarled.

"We worked as a team for once." Muttered John Quincy.

"What sort of a hero takes another hero's success?" Jon Laverick demanded.

Out of the eight students only Maisie was quiet. She wasn't sure why the others were so upset. The hero had a point. What did it matter who turned the criminal in, so long as he was actually arrested? Wouldn't arguing over who had that job just give that criminal a chance to escape? But seeing all her classmates so angry at this newcomer, so enraged at his suggestion, made her feel isolated and left out. She feared that speaking up would turn her into a target. So she stayed quiet and waited for the situation to resolve itself.

Crow hauled the unconscious Magpie up over his shoulder and hung him like a limp kitchen cloth down his back. "I'll have to take the plebeian route out of here." He muttered. "Seeing as this idiot's weighing me down too much to fly."

"We can't just let him go with our target." Aaren continued, almost pleading with Ravenhead to do something about the matter.

Her teacher simply sighed and closed his eyes. "Let him go." He stated, to everyone else's surprise. Even Crow was a little shocked by his decision.

"This is new, Raven." He muttered, giving his rival a backwards glance. "Not putting up an argument this time?"

"Like you said, it doesn't matter who turns him in." Ravenhead repeated, his beady eyes glaring narrowly at the other avian hero. "Just make sure he's put back where he belongs."

"As if I would do anything else." Crow's black wings began to flap, creating a sharp blast of air that rebounded off the walls of the alley. Sharply they folded in behind his back, almost disappearing against the shadow of his black blazer. "Have fun with your teaching job, Yorke. Catch you around sometime."

With no further protesting, the winged hero disappeared down the alley which Maisie and her group had come from, taking the unconscious thief with him. When he was gone, the students immediately began complaining.

"Crow..." Mitchell muttered angrily. "More like vulture!"

"I never said every member of the Corvidae family was nice." Ravenhead said, more to himself than to his students.

"Why did you let him go, sir?" Freya asked, moving her wheelchair towards her teacher.

"It wouldn't have been beneficial for us to argue over who had rights to the target." The hero explained emotionlessly. It was obvious even to Maisie that he too was a bit annoyed by Crow's sudden appearance, his theft of their thief and his sharp disappearance.

"We could've taken him if we wanted to." Philip stated with ire in his voice. "There's nine of us and one of him. We could've forced him to hand over that criminal."

"Heroes should not fight other heroes." Ravenhead told him immediately. "That will only lead to bad things."

"All the same..." Rylie spoke up, "...we could've done more to stop him. That guy was our target, after all."

Ravenhead didn't respond to her this time. He hummed quietly, not looking at all pleased.

"What do we do now?" Jon Laverick asked. "We don't have a target to catch or turn in."

The eight students turned to their teacher, who didn't look back at them. After a moment he looked up and gave them a wide and optimistic smile with the edges of his beak.

"Now, we get started on the second target." He announced with a sudden cheeriness. "Once we're out of this alleyway I'll explain who we're after next and we'll come up with a plan to catch them."

Though this didn't appease the group's general displeasure with what had just happened, the idea of moving on to another target did soothe that annoyance to an extent. They were less argumentative after hearing that, and none of them put up a fight.

"Are you alright?" Ravenhead whispered to Maisie, having just realised that she was back with the group. "We couldn't find you for a moment back there."

"I got lost." Maisie told him timidly. "But I found you again."

"Good girl." Ravenhead told her with a cheerful smile and a pat on the shoulder. "You're getting better and figuring things out for yourself."

That sounded like a complement, but all it did was reassure Maisie that she did indeed struggle to figure out what she was supposed to do in even the simplest of situations. If someone wasn't telling her what to do or where to go she froze up. Initiative and instinct came second to anxiety and fear. But then if Ravenhead thought she was getting better at this then perhaps she was. She had decided to keep looking for them, which was unusual for her. If she'd gotten lost from her parents or class in the past she had stayed where she was, panic consuming her mind and body and rooting her to the spot like a statue.

"That man, Magpie... why did he steal all that jewellery?" She asked.

"He can't help himself." Ravenhead told her, sounding sympathetic towards the criminal. "He's a kleptomaniac."

"What's a klepto... klepter... what's that?" Maisie asked.

Ravenhead sighed with a small chuckle. "A kleptomaniac is a person with an uncontrollable urge to steal. They can't help themselves. It doesn't matter if they need what they steal or not, they just do it. Our friend back there didn't need those necklaces or rings, he just wanted them. He took them because they were shiny."

That made Maisie shudder a little. The poor man hadn't been able to control himself. She could vividly remember him lunging at the pile of metal and jewels like a rabid, half-starved animal.

The worst part about it was how much it reminded her of herself. She had a tendency to take anything electronical and start pulling it apart without even checking if it belonged to anyone. She had been excluded from the IT classes at her secondary school because she kept breaking and taking apart the computers, keypads and mouses. She hadn't even thought that this was wrong until now. The only aspect of it that she had felt guilty about until now was the anger and disappointment her parents felt towards her. The actual thefts and vandalism didn't bother her, but now with this comparison she felt guilty and ashamed. She would have to try and do better from now on. She had to stop herself from taking what she wanted. At the very least she had to make sure it didn't belong to anyone, and pay for it if it did.

"I think he was right." Maisie muttered, moving that difficult subject out of her mind and focusing instead on another that bothered her. Ravenhead glanced at her, not sure what she meant. "That Crow man. He was right, wasn't he?"

Ravenhead suddenly looked a little disheartened by her statement. He glanced away for a moment, only to look back at her and put on a small smile. "Yes, he was." He said half-heartedly. "Glory doesn't matter in the face of success or defeat. That should come after a job is done, not before."

"You and he are rivals?" Maisie asked further. She hadn't been aware to that idea till now. She thought that her teacher was a beloved, brilliant hero with no rival. She often forgot that he was only the number ten hero in Britain.

"Since our days the academy." Ravenhead told her. "Two heroes with similar Quirks and similar talent yet different methods and ideals. Of course we were going to clash."

"What is a rival?" Maisie asked him.

Ravenhead smiled at her. "A rival is someone you compete with." He explained. "They're someone who aims for a goal that is the same or similar to yours and has enough skill to equal or even outdo yours. They're someone who will push you to be better just so you can stop them from beating you."

Maisie found that description a little menacing. He made the idea sound so nasty, so malicious. Did people have to fight with each other to reach their goals in life?

"Rivals are good things, though." Ravenhead continued, seeing Maisie's startled expression. "They push you to do better, to become stronger. Without rivals we would have little to keep us motivated."

That part struck a chord with Maisie. She supposed that it was not so dissimilar to being a close friends. Encouraging someone you care about sounded much more appealing that being their rival, but even she knew that not everyone got along all the time. Sometimes people just didn't like each other, and because of that perhaps some of them became rivals.

"Should I have a rival?" Maisie asked uncertainly.

Ravenhead paused, looking at her with concern. "It depends." He told her finally. "If you think you can manage a rivalry with anyone you could try. Perhaps you aren't ready to compete with others yet. I think you should focus on improving yourself before you try competing with anyone over anything."

Maisie would have taken that to heart if her mind hadn't been weaving thoughts like a spinning wheel. She had learned a lot about herself today, more than she had expected, more than she had in the rest of this year. There were two major thoughts on her mind.

The first was on the subject of her gadgets, and the resources she obtained to make them. Perhaps she too was a kleptomaniac, or perhaps she was just impulsive. She could talk to Jared about this. He would know what to say. He always knew what to say. Then she could try talking to her parents. Her dad wouldn't be happy. He never was. But if she made an effort she could learn to resist or control that impulse, that desire to break things apart. If she could do that, then perhaps she could become a better hero at the same time.

The second thought was about the subject of rivalry. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she already had a rival. Not in the sense of training or hero work. In that regard she was too far behind everyone else to ever be their rival. No, her rival was in the area of social relationships. The argument she'd had with Aaren earlier that day resurfaced in her mind. If they hadn't been rivals before, they certainly were now. Maisie had made it clear that she didn't like Aaren, and Aaren had returned that dislike. But they had one thing in common. They both respected and cared about Jared. They were competing for his care, his attention, his friendship. Maisie had never felt a sensation such as this. She wanted to protect him from that red-haired harlot. She wanted to keep him as her friend, not as Aaren's. Never before had she felt such a desire to hate another girl.

She swore to herself, she would protect Jared from Aaren! Should would not let her rival steal her best friend!


The next chapter is going to be where the serious stuff starts happening. I won't spoil what's coming, I'll only warn you to get ready.

I don't really have a question for this chapter, so I suppose I'll leave the one from the previous chapter again.

What song would best fit as an intro track for this story? (Either a theme or ordinary track)

Go ahead and get creative with your answers.