Work Text:
"One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four."
Those were the thoughts that were going through the mind of Mia Mizoguchi. Mia, better known by her nickname Maps, was busy balancing perfectly on the sectional beam. It was a Saturday so she didn't have to worry about doing homework afterwards.
After a little while, the instructor looked over at the clock. "Ten more minutes until class ends!" The black haired woman loudly stated to the six teenage girls in the room.
"Yes Mrs. Thorne." The fourteen year old girl nodded as she hopped off of the platform, and walked over to the gymnastics rings station. "Doing good Caroline." She said to some girl who was doing a successful handstand split.
"Thanks." The brunette nonchalantly said as she continued her hand stand as she closed her legs back up.
Maps made it to where the rings were, and hopped up to grab them. As she did some small flips while hanging on, she wanted to do something more daring. Even if she was good, she has never successfully done a double back flip. "You think I can make it this time?" She enthusiastically asked Mrs. Thorne.
The female instructor nodded at the girl's excitement. "I don't see why not." Even if the student would most likely fail today, it would at least be progress for her to eventually succeed.
With that, Maps started to do some more hanging flips to gain momentum for the back flips. After a little while, she hopped off while letting go of the rings. She was able to get in the first back flip before landing on her back during the second one.
Mrs. Thorne rushed over to help up Maps. After making sure she was okay, she sighed in relief. "Did better than last time." The instructor encouragingly told the girl.
Maps thanked the woman as she was happy she was slowly improving. She took the rest of the class time to slowly do some stretches.
The small clock hand moved from one to two, and the large clock hand moved to twelve. It was now two o'clock which meant it was time for the parents to arrive to pick up their kids.
Mrs. Thorne finished helping another girl with her cartwheel before looking back at the clock. "Alright everyone, head to the changing room. Your parents should arrive in the waiting room once you're done." She told the teenagers.
The girls in the room sped off away from the training room to go change out of their gymnastics outfits. Maps quickly changed into her normal clothes, and made her way to the waiting area.
In the waiting room, there were three people sitting together. Henry and Bella, who were Maps' parents, and her older brother Kyle. All of them had black hair and brown eyes. Henry was busy reading a newspaper while his son and wife waited patiently.
Maps eagerly walked into the waiting room, and towards her family. "Hey mom, hey dad, hey Kyle." She happily said as she waited for them to get up from their seats.
Bella smiled softly as she stood up with the rest of her family. "How was your day honey?" She politely asked as the four of them walked out of the building, and into their white mini van.
Maps sat in the back seat while making sure to buckle up. "It went well. Making progress on that double backflip. I only landed on my back this time." The teenage girl eagerly explained to everyone.
Henry chuckled a little as he entered the car with his family. "Do you need another ice pack?" He jokingly said to his daughter while adjusting the rear view mirror.
Maps playfully rolled her eyes. "No worries. My back is fine. You don't need to waste ice on me." She assured her dad as she reached over, and grabbed the newspaper he was reading.
"Still think you need em. I remember you telling us a scraped knee wasn't "that bad" when it was about as red as a melted snow cone." Kyle remarked to his younger sister.
"As long as it's proven otherwise, she's fine." Bella said while being amused by the conversation as she started the car, and eventually was on the way back to their apartment.
Maps smiled as she vibed to the song that was playing on the radio as she, and her brother continued to talk to one another. Even if gymnastics was fun, she was a little more excited to head back home though.
Once the car parked near the apartment, the family made their way inside. They walked into their room after saying hello to the other residents of the building.
Maps read the newspaper as she made her way up the stairs to where they lived. She was intrigued when she saw a small article talking about the mysterious Shadowbird being spotted in the city again. "Hey mom, did you buy the foam, fabric, and feathers I wanted?"
Bella nodded as she opened the door for everyone. "Oh of course. You need me to help you out with cutting the fabric?" She asked her daughter as she walked to the kitchen area.
Maps excitedly ran over to the kitchen counter, and smiled as she grabbed the shopping bags. "You're the best mom!" She exclaimed as she hugged her parents, and rushed over to her room.
Bella and Henry smiled at the hug as they watched their daughter rush out of the kitchen. The father with the mustache looked over at his son. "I think she needs help with sewing."
Kyle nodded as he walked to his room to get all the sewing stuff from the closet. Once his hands were full, he walked over to his younger sister's room, and used his shoulder to knock on the door.
"It's open!" Maps called out from inside her room. She was currently sprawled out on the floor, cutting the yellow fabric in the shape of a cape. Besides her was a little sketch of what her superhero outfit would look like.
Kyle nodded as he used his elbow to nudge the door open. He placed his stuff on the floor, and peaked over to see what his sister was looking at. "Is that what you're going to wear?" He asked while chuckling a little.
Maps nodded as she continued to cut the yellow fabric. "Yup. You like it? The name's Red Robin." She happily told her brother as she finished the cutting, and placed the yellow cloth on a mannequin.
Kyle laughed a little at that name as he got up to get some snap buttons he brought with him. "Sounds kind of silly. You sure you wanna be a hero?" He asked her as he began to sew the buttons on.
"Of course I do. I wanna help out, and protect people." Maps eagerly explained to Kyle as she began to trace the shape of her hand on some green fabric. "Besides, I think that Shadowbird hero needs a helping hand or two."
Kyle was a little surprised at the mention of this Shadowbird person. "Sounds scary. You sure you wanna be helping him? What if you get hurt?" He asked with worry as he helped his sister finish cutting the green fabric, and began to sew the gloves up.
"How many times do I have to say yes? Of course I wanna help him." Maps told her older brother as she put her hand I'm between the cloth so he could sew the left glove closed. "Besides, I promise not to get hurt too bad. I'll be careful, and I'll quit if things get seriously dangerous."
Even though he didn't completely trust her promise, Kyle knew he couldn't stop Maps so he just had to accept it. He finished sewing the green glove shut before helping his sister with the other glove, the foam mask, and the feathers on the cape.
Maps helped out with tracing the right hand on the green fabric, cutting out the yellow foam to look like a mask, and hot gluing the yellow feathers onto the back of the cape. The duo spent about an hour putting the finishing touches on everything which included cutting the seams on everything, making sure the feathers were secure, and added white lenses to the mask. Eventually, everything was finally finished. "Mind if you head out for a minute or two?" The teenage girl asked the older teen since she wanted to try everything on now.
Kyle nodded as he put all his sewing stuff away, and carried them. "Don't take forever." He joked to his sister as he walked out the door with his stuff in hand.
When her brother left, Maps went to work on putting her outfit together. She put on light blue shorts, yellow slip on shoes, and a red t-shirt as a base for her costume. Everything was coming together as she suited up. Her green gloves, her feathered cape, her mask with a little beak nose guard, her yellow utility belt she found on sale. It was looking good so far. She put the final touches on her look by putting a fake gold colored flower in her hair, and attaching a custom R pin she made a while back. She was astounded at how she looked when the teenage girl looked in the mirror.
She really did look like a true hero.
"You can come in now!" Maps excitedly called out to her brother as she was admiring how she looked. Grabbed her phone to quickly take a bunch of photos to send to her girlfriend, Olive. She twirled around her cape, and adjusted her mask soon after.
When he heard the younger siblings voice through the door, he gently knocked a little before opening it. "Wow. Looking great." Kyle told her as he was happy with the end result of the outfit.
Maps smiled brightly at her brother's compliment. "I'm totally gonna show mom and dad this!" She excitedly exclaimed before opening the door, and rushing out of her room.
Kyle thought she would've waited longer before rushing over to their parents, but decided to follow along with her anyways. He was just curious if his sister really was going out to find the Shadowbird guy.
Bella was busy watching television in the living room while her husband was busy making some grilled cheese for dinner. The mother turned her attention away from the television when she heard the familiar footsteps of her daughter.
Maps happily entered the living room as she adjusted her mask. "Hey mom, look what me and Kyle made! What do you think?" She eagerly asked her parents while doing a cute little pose.
Henry stopped what he was doing as he looked over at his daughter. "That looks absolutely adorable! You and your brother did a great job." He complimented Maps' outfit.
Bella nodded in agreement as she tried to contain herself at how cute the outfit looked. "I love the costume. Looks very retro. It's gonna be a killing for Halloween." She stated with joy as she was ready to take out her phone for pictures.
Kyle soon caught up with Maps to the living room. "Thanks ma, but I don't think she'll be using it for Halloween." He said to his mom as he glanced over at his sister, signaling her to tell their parents about her reason for wearing this.
Maps flinched a little when she remembered the reason she came here, and nodded. "Look, I made this outfit cause I wanna be a hero. I wanna help and protect people in Gotham City. Besides, I wanna see if I'm improving my gymnastics skills." The teen girl explained as she quietly fiddled her thumbs.
Both parents were rather surprised by this. They knew their daughter loved to help people out, but not to this extent. "That's so sweet and thoughtful dear. We're so proud of you for wanting to help out so much." Bella kindly complimented her daughter despite not really getting what a real hero does.
"Make sure to not scrape your knee while helping people down the street." Henry added as he also thought that being a hero meant wearing a silly costume, and helping out the community. They clearly missed all the parts with supervillains and stopping real crimes.
Maps felt a little awkward at what her parents thought superheroing was like, but she didn't feel like correcting them. "Thanks. Going to head out soon to scout out the area. I'll be back by dinner." She eagerly told them before giving her mom a hug, and rushing over back to her room.
"Take care sweetheart!" Bella called out to her daughter before getting up from the couch. She headed to the kitchen to help out with her husband's dinner.
Once his younger sister left to go to her room, Kyle quickly followed behind as he was confused on why his sister wasn't heading to the door to leave. He knocked on the door, and waited for him to answer.
Maps rushed over, and opened the door. "Oh. Hey Kyle. What's up?" She casually asked her older brother while the window to her room was half opened.
Kyle took notice of the opened window which got him very suspicious of what Maps was planning. "Please don't tell me you're heading out through the window." He said to her while trying his best not to facepalm.
"Look, most heroes from books and movies leave through here. It's also a way cooler way to exit." Maps explained to her brother while walking back to open the window all the way.
Kyle just sighed as he shook his head at the statement. "Sure it may be cool, but I doubt it's a very safe way to leave." The teenage boy remarked as he was tempted to stop his younger sister.
Maps finished opening the window after a few seconds, and looked back at Kyle. "I'll be fine. Besides, our room isn't even that high up. I'll make sure not to fall off of roofs." She assured him as she looked at the sunset.
Kyle may have thought this wasn't a very bright idea, but there was no stopping his sister now. "Just don't do something stupid. Got it?" He sternly said to her.
"Got it!" Maps gave a thumbs up to her older brother before slowly climbing out of the window. Since it was the second story of the apartment, it wasn't that high up from the ground but she persisted with climbing on top of the apartment building to get a better view of the place.
Kyle closed the window as he watched his younger sister make her way to the rooftops. "Does she really have to be so extra?" He said to himself before walking out of her room, and was on his way to his own room. "Guess it just runs in the family."
.
The sky was a lovely mix of shades of orange and pink as the sun began to set. The northern side of Gotham was less bustling than the south side but it was still pretty. There was just one Red Robin on top of one of the buildings, waiting.
Maps held up her unfolded map of all of Gotham as she looked at the x's on the drawn on notebook paper. Each one of the marks were of known sightings of Shadowbird, and she was on the lookout for him in the area with the most x's on it.
While the girl was intent on looking at the map, there was a sudden person that passed by. Even though they went by fast, it looked like they had a cape, and were on a grappling hook.
It was them.
When Maps saw them pass by, she quickly folded up the map and shoved it in one of the pouches on her utility belt before sprinting after them. She made sure not to run too fast while making sure to be careful while being on the roofs.
The caped hero was headed to the highest building nearby. After some time surveying the area, they rushed off. Oddly enough they had seemed to be heading south, presumably to another area away from here.
Maps was confused as she eagerly followed in the direction they were heading off to. When she got near the hero, the girl screeched to a halt when she saw there was a massive gap between the rooftop she was now on and the next building in front of her. She took a deep breath while closing her eyes, and got a running start before jumping as high and fast as she could.
After a few seconds, Maps opened her eyes only to find she was currently hanging onto the ledge of the rooftop for dear life. "Should've known it was too long." She sighed to herself as she flinched when she felt her hands slip a little before quickly trying to pull herself up.
Of course, the hero's attention was caught by this, and they quickly grabbed onto one of the rookie hero's hands. They pulled them up where the girl could get a better view and confirm it was indeed him. Shadowbird.
Maps was in sheer amazement as she was helped up onto the rooftop. As she stood back on her feet, she quickly looked up only to see the bird masked hero was already going back to what they were doing earlier. "Hey, wait up!" She called out as she ran after him.
Shadowbird simply thought the girl was just some kid in a costume roaming around the city. He was put off when it seemed like she was following him. After a little bit of running, he stopped in the middle of the top of an apartment building while having his hand close to his katana.
Maps caught up to him, but quickly stopped herself when she saw how he was ready to pull out his weapon. She raised her hands up while making sure not to make any sudden movements. "It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." The teenage hero assured him.
Shadowbird hesitantly let go of the handle of his katana as the girl spoke. "Shouldn't you be busy with playing video games or anything else that isn't as dangerous as this?" He asked the newbie with confusion since he didn't think people her age do this often.
Maps knew it was a good time to ask her question right away. "Well, I kinda came here to see you. I know it may seem a little weird for a random girl to ask you this, but I was wondering if I coul-"
"No." Shadowbird stated in a matter a fact tone before she could even finish her question. He began to make his way to hop over to a nearby building.
Maps was incredibly confused by the answer since she didn't even get to finish it. Maybe other people have asked the same question before. "Why not?" The teenage girl asked as she followed where the hero was going.
"Look, you're not the first person to ask this. I'm sick of always having to say yes." Shadowbird began to rant as he kind of let her follow him. "I've had four people join my team. Heck, two of them happened not too long apart. I just need a break from people asking me to join the Teen Titans."
Maps just raised an eyebrow at the exploration. "Pardon me, but I wasn't actually going to ask to join your team. I didn't even know you had one until now." She told the hero as she felt awkward about the misunderstanding.
Shadowbird stopped walking as he was shocked by what she had said. "What were you going to ask then?" He questioned her after a few moments of silence went by.
Maps mentally prepared herself a little before stepping forward. "I'm Red Robin, and I'm actually wondering if I could be your sidekick. It could make crime fighting a little easier for you." The raven haired girl told the bird masked vigilante.
This was certainly not the question Shadowbird expected to be asked, even if it kind of made sense. "You're too young to do something that dangerous." He scoffed softly before hopping over to the next rooftop.
Not taking no for an answer, Maps followed, and hopped to where the hero was. "Look, I know it's dangerous. I think I can handle myself. Besides, a little gymnastics skills are pretty useful." She assuredly said to him while making sure to keep herself humble.
Shadowbird shook his head as he began to get visibly annoyed. "I doubt some flips help you against criminals that are stronger and bigger than you. You're just not ready." He coldly told Red Robin as he continued walking.
Maps sighed softly before looking up with a fire in her eyes. "Then help me be ready. I want you to train me so I can be a worthy sidekick." The teenage girl sternly said to the hero in black.
Shadowbird stopped walking when he heard what Red Robin had said. He was rather surprised at how passionate she was about being his sidekick. "But why?" It was all he could ask.
"Not to be rude, but you kinda seem miserable fighting alone in Gotham. I think every dark and broody hero like you needs something to balance it out. There has to be light in the darkness." Maps explained it to the bird masked vigilante while sitting on top of the building.
Shadowbird sat down right besides the rookie after hearing her speak. "What if you get hurt badly on a mission? What if your back's against the wall when you face something more dangerous than you think. What then?"
Maps looked down to see the streets below her as she thought about it. "Then I'll just get back up and push myself further." She optimistically said while looking up at the sky.
After some moments of silence, Shadowbird nodded before looking over at her. "We start tomorrow, seven during the night." He told the rookie hero before standing up.
Maps eyes widened with a mix or both surprise and delight. "You really mean it?!" She exclaimed as she quickly got up, and started to bounce up and down.
Shadowbird nodded softly as he looked over at the setting sun. "I'll be on top of this building. Just remember, you won't be my sidekick if you're not ready, even after training." And with that, the hero in black ran off towards the buildings in the distance.
Maps was basically stunned to silence as she watched Shadowbird leave. "Wow. I'm ready gonna be a sidekick." She excitedly said to herself as she watched the sun fully set. She couldn't wait to get started...
.
"Let me get this straight. He said yes?" Olive asked the other teenager from the phone. She was definitely confused, and a little shocked to say the least.
Maps nodded softly as she was pacing around her room, and talking to the other girl on the phone wearing comfy pajamas. "Yeah. I think he appreciated my enthusiasm." She confidently said to her girlfriend.
Olive chuckled a little at Map's remark. "I bet so. I'd have someone as enthusiastic as you as my sidekick if I was like them." She playfully remarked to her girlfriend. "Do your parents know about this though?"
"Yeah, they know. Even if they see it being way less dangerous than it actually is." Maps told her while beginning to wonder what her parents would think if they knew just how serious it got.
"You sure they won't find out if you come home with a broken bone or bloody nose or something?" Olive asked the other girl with clear concern in her voice.
Maps sat down on her bed as she heard the white haired teen's question. "Babe, I know it might worry you but I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't happen. Besides, I think it will take me a while before my training is done." She reassured her girlfriend.
Olive could be heard yawning softly from the other side of the phone. "Alright. I'm gonna call it a day. It's getting pretty late. Love you." She said to the raven haired teen before making a little kissy noise.
Maps blushed softly, and did a little kiss noise back. "Love you too." She said through the phone while smiling sweet.
"Bye!" Olive cheerfully said through the phone to her girlfriend. Immediately after that, she hung up from the voice call.
With that, Maps hung up from the voice call as well, and turned her phone off. She stretched her arms before plugging her phone in. The teenage girl peaked her head out of her room. "Night Kyle!" She called out to her brother.
"Goodnight!" Kyle called out from the other room.. Soon, the sound of a lamp getting turned off could be heard from the room next door to his younger sister's.
Maps smiled as she closed the door, flopped down on her bed, and tucked herself in. The black haired teenager turned off the lamp as she tried her best to fall asleep, yet she couldn't. She was too excited for the next day, couldn't wait for the sun to rise, couldn't wait for her training with Shadowbird to start.
She couldn't wait to be a sidekick.