1 — RAFI'S WAKE-UP CALL
Rafi sits on the edge of his twin bed, phone screen cracked, walls covered in Raven posters — moments he filmed, frozen mid-swing, mid-kill.
He replays the last threat — a video message.
No voice, just grainy footage of his mom's house, front door spray-painted with a black feather.
Rafi's fingers tremble. He tries to type another post — Raven Nation, we see you — but deletes it.
He pulls the camera off his desk, drops it in the trash.
In its place, he lines up new things — knives, homemade throwing stars, a cheap black hoodie.
If he can't film the Raven… maybe he can be her.
---
2 — MENDOZA'S NET
Detective Kate Mendoza leans against a precinct vending machine, flicking through case files.
Photos: Grackle's butchered body. Tunnel security cams. Blurred feathers in the mist.
Ward stops beside her, balancing stale coffee.
Mendoza (low, cold):
"You know, sir — every time we get close, she slips. Like she knows where we'll be. Maybe she's got someone on the inside. Or maybe you're the inside."
Ward bristles — but sips his coffee like it's armor.
Ward:
"If I was the inside, you'd have a body bag with her name by now."
Mendoza smiles — no warmth.
Mendoza:
"We both know she's not unstoppable. Just another corpse waiting for my folder."
---
3 — SELENE AT WORK
At the morgue, Selene stitches a John Doe. Jess watches her, eyes flicking to the fresh cut on Selene's shoulder.
Jess whispers:
Jess:
"You keep bringing pieces of them home with you."
Selene doesn't answer — her fingers never pause.
Across the room, Danny hums nervously, logging files.
Outside the swing doors, the city screams in headlines — BUTCHER FOUND DEAD. FLOCK AT WAR?
Kate Park's article bleeds through every screen — theories tangled with secrets too close to truth.
---
4 — WARD'S SILENT PROMISE
That night, Ward sits alone in his parked car, rain hammering the windshield.
He watches the Nest from a distance — just enough to know Selene made it home.
In the glovebox: an old photo of Selene's father's murder scene — the first file that broke him.
He pulls it out, runs his thumb over the faded print.
Ward (to himself, quiet):
"No more dead girls in masks. Not on my watch."
---
5 — MICAH DIGS DEEPER
Back at the Nest, Micah's screens spit static. One feed flickers: old Flock storage logs, redacted medical records — PROJECT FLOCK, SUBJECT: TALON.
A sketch: something half-human, half-machine, claws longer than swords, eyes replaced with cold lenses.
Micah leans back — the glow washing him sickly green.
Micah (mutters to the empty room):
"Oh boss… what the hell did they build next?"
---
6 — THE FLOCK BREATHES
King Crow sits in a velvet chair, feathers drifting from his sleeve.
A new man stands in the dark — an emaciated figure, needle scars up his arms, grin cracked wide.
Crow (soft, pleased):
"Grackle is gone. You're next, Dr. Lyric. You know what to do."
The man nods, licking his lips — scalpel tucked in his coat like a pet.
---
7 — THE RAVEN WAITS
On a warehouse rooftop, Selene watches the city pulse — steam rising off her cloak in the night drizzle.
Inside her pocket, a piece of paper — Micah's decrypted notes: TALON.
She clenches it until the ink bleeds into her glove.
Below, a news screen flickers — WARD PROMISES CITYWIDE CRACKDOWN ON THE RAVEN.
She almost laughs.
Behind her, wings flick open — feathers catch the wind.
Selene (to herself, dark, resolved):
"Come find me, then. Just try."
---
END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE