Emotionless steel gray eyes drifted over the faded drawing, the colorful illustrations now dull against the page. Eagle, Dragonfly, Armadillo, Raccoon, Badger, Spider, and Bat. The seven miraculous stones of North America. Each with the power to imbue it's chosen one with ancient powers, to bend the world to their will. He smirked, one hand touching the silver, bat-shaped brooch pinned to his cravat. It was not exactly to his taste, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Besides, when he got his hands on the other Miraculouses, he could choose however he wanted.

He had found the book, and the small box accompanying it, less than two weeks ago in his new attic. A house this large and old in DC had to have some secrets, though he never expected a small black and red blur to come to life when he opened the box. While initially startled by the tiny bat-creature who called himself Hexx, Clair had gradually begun to accept the new reality. That magic existed, that fairies existed, though Hexx called himself a Kwami, and that his little jewel was not the only one. And, with the power of all seven Miraculous stones together, the person who wielded them would become a God. And that was too good of a chance to pass up. That kind of knowledge, that kind of pure, unmonitored power? That was something he'd gladly trade his own life for. But, much to his frustration and disappointment, the other stones were not in his attic, nor were they anywhere else in the house. And Hexx had kept a tight lid on where they might be, only briefly mentioning a guardian of some sorts.

Well, it wasn't like this would deter him. He'd been studying the ancient book and getting a good grasp on his powers for the past 13 days. And from what he could tell, these stones were supposed to be given to the worthy. People who would act as heroes, to bring order in a world of chaos. Well, if a little chaos was what they needed to bring these so-called heroes out of the woodwork, then he would happily set the stage. And once he knew where they were, getting their stones would be a piece of cake. Hexx, of course, had pleaded and protested, saying that was not how his miraculous was meant to be used. Clair paid him no heed. Hexx couldn't stop him, and neither could any of these assumed heroes. He had a dream, a vision to fulfill. And he was never going to stop until he had his way.

And so that was how, on this disgustingly warm and sunny spring afternoon, Clair found himself following the school's librarian. One thing Hexx's powers allowed him to do was sense the darkness in people's hearts, so he could find the perfect candidates to use Discord on. Of course, he couldn't use it while he wasn't transformed, but he had a keen eye for social cues. Abigail O'Neil, 28, single and unhappy about it. Her blind date from last week had fallen through, and she had been mocked by her former classmates at her recent high school reunion. She was behind on her rent for her apartment, and in danger of being evicted. And what was more, she completely lacked any authority over the students in the library. Boys and girls of all ages at Coolidge High School walked all over her, talking loudly on their cell phones, rough housing, eating messy food and even defacing the books. She was stressed, she was frustrated, and she was down on her luck. And she was ripe for Discord.

Today was perfect. It was lasagna day in the cafeteria, and he had already used his connections to bring people into the library to eat. It was a disaster waiting to happen, and just like the Oracle of Delphi, his wicked predictions came true. Someone spilt their lunch all over Ms. O'Neil's peach silk blouse, staining it with tomato sauce and cheese. And just like he predicted, the rowdy boys nearby pointed, laughed, and even catcalled her. With tears streaming down her face, she rushed to the bathroom. And Clair followed calmly, hiding his delight like a knife under the cloak of a cool smile.

He checked that no one else was in the hallway, before he stepped inside the girl's bathroom. He could hear sobbing and the sink running, though he was hidden behind the wall of the first stall. Smirking, he dropped his act and pulled the brooch out from his pocket, fixing it to his necktie.
"Hexx, transform me." he said quietly, the Kwami being sucked from his pocket and into the ruby colored stone in the center. There was a flash of red light, and the almost silent sound of his cape unfurling. Obviously his voice had been heard, as the water suddenly turned off, and a frightened, tear-choked voice rang out.
"Who's there?!" It was Ms. O'Neil. Trying to keep his smirking to a minimal, Clair stepped out from the shadows, showing himself.
"Hello, Abigail O'Neil. Please, don't be frightened. My name is Vesper. You may not know me, but I know you. You're tired, down-trodden, and constantly terrorized by those wretched reprobates who dare disrespect the sanctity of the library. You feel powerless to stop them, harassed and mocked. I can change that. I can give you power beyond your wildest dreams, to take back what's rightfully yours. To give you the authority and respect you've always longed for. All I need is something from you in return, when the time comes. What do you say? We can accomplish great things together. His voice was smooth and silky, enhanced with the power of Discord. Ms. O'Neil at first looked like she was going to resist, but as soon as Discord took effect, her eyes changed a dull red, the same color as his own. Then she looked up at him with a dark smile, and he knew his efforts had succeeded.
"Of course, Vesper."

Aaron poked the package from behind the fence with the wooden end of the broomstick. The morning sun cloaked the Washington DC suburbs with a glorious yellow light, signalling what would hopefully be an awesome day, provided that it wasn’t ruined by this morning package. The boy squatted behind the fence in his impromptu hazmat suit which consisted of a Snuggie, a dust mask, swimming goggles, dishwashing gloves, and a bike helmet. Eventually, he decided that his home-grown bomb disposal technique would be too time consuming and chose to just take the risk of opening it in the house.

Mason and Pops had already left for work, the only remnants of their morning presence being a breakfast bagel and a note that read:


The text in upper case had a boldly scribbled underline to emphasise the exasperated pleading that came with the message. Bagel plate in one hand and package in the other, Aaron made his way to what was planned to be the guest bedroom. Boxes of homemaking goods were still unopened and strewn in the corner. He chomped down the bagel before opening the package. If what he thought was in the small box, he could not let his morning sustenance get tainted by the contents. But instead of the surprise stink trap he expected from his friends back in Chicago, Aaron was greeted with a small wooden box.

Now ain’t that curious, he noted.

Inside the box lay a neat little bracer, like the ones he’s seen archery people wear. But he dropped archery ages ago. Pops stopped him just before he tried the William Tell trick with Mason.

“No return address, no note goin’ with it. Recipient’s definitely Aaron Meyer, not Pops,”

But even then, Geoffrey Meyer wasn’t the sort of man to collect trinkets like this. Aaron would run it by the post office later. But for now he couldn’t help himself. He put on the bracer, the leather band fitting snugly on his wrist. And then things got weird. A small creature materialised from the centrepiece of the bracer. Aaron leapt back and landed on his butt. The creature stood, well levitated, with its posture straight and its hands behind its back.

“Greetings! I am Arrlo and you have just become the new holder of the Armadillo Miraculous.” It spoke as if it was delivering a tutorial message.

Aaron raised an eyebrow at the tiny being. “Excuse me?”

“Ah yes, this may be a lot to take in. You see, you have been chosen to become the Miraculous Hero of Protec- hey, what are you doing!?”

Aaron grabbed the miniature armadillo by the limbs, twisting and turning it around to further examine it. “What are you?” he squinted at it.

The creature lost any composure it had previously. “A Kwami! R-release me at once!” It struggled against Aaron’s grip.

Aaron paid it no heed. “Bipedal. Dermal plating reminiscent of an armadillo. Yes, many armadillo like traits, but humanoid in overall form,” he muttered his observations. “Hey, you said something about armadillos before, right?”

Before the kwami could respond, Aaron caught a glimpse of the clock in the kitchen.

“Ah crud, I’m late for school!”

He grabbed the kwami and stuffed it into the front pocket of his backpack, right next to his pencil case and a copy of Lonely Planet – Washington DC.

“We’ll discuss this as we ride! Try not to fall out!” The boy shouted to his new companion as he tore down the street on his highly modified bicycle. The kwami didn’t respond to the suggestion. He was too busy screaming and holding onto the fabric of the backpack for dear life as the pencils and other miscellaneous school items went flying out of the unzipped bag.

It was a normal morning at first for Tommy. He'd done his exercises, had a good breakfast, and proceeded to check the morning paper. Beside the paper, however, was a small box. "Another gift from mom?" he asked, looking over. "No card this time?" He shrugged as he carried it inside. "That's not like her." he said, beginning to open the box. Suddenly a bright light shot a few feet in the air from the box before floating back down as what appeared to be a tiny wolf.

"Something tells me this isn't a gift from my mom." he said, eyeing the fairy thing.

"No clue." the thing said to him in a surprisingly deep voice. "I'm Marrok. Got anything to eat?"

"I got some deer jerky." Tommy said, offering him a small piece.

Marrok zipped through the air, grabbing the food from the boy's hand, and began munching on it loudly.

"So, what's this?" Tommy asked, picking up the other item from the box, a wristband.

"That's a Miraculous." Marrok said, looking at it. He then began explaining what a Miraculous was and what it did, stopping every so often to grab a piece of jerky to munch on.

"So, I just have to say that one thing?" Tommy asked, looking at it. "Whatever. Just stay close and stay hidden. I have to go to school."

Marrok shrugged and jumped in Tommy's coat pocket.

As Tommy arrived at school, being one of the first as usual, he took a seat by where he normally met his friends.

While waiting, he kept his eyes out on everyone that came his direction. About ten minutes after his best friend was supposed to arrive, everyone but him was there. "Hey, where's Eddie?" Tommy asked. Everyone looked around, shrugging. "Guess he's late." One boy replied, looking off towards the gate.

Eddie sat in the library during lunch, hiding in a back corner as he opened the package he'd found on his doorstep this morning. He opened it to see a bracelet and a bright light. The light jumped up, becoming a tiny, baby eagle.

"You are too cute." Eddie laughed softly. "What are you?"

"I'm a Kwami." the tiny being said, his voice sounding very tired and devoid of energy.

"You can talk?" Eddie gasped in surprise.

The Kwami nodded. "My name's Beek." he yawned.

"Nice to meet you, Beek." Eddie smiled. "My name's Edvvard Erickson but my friends call me Eddie."

"Eddie." Beek nodded with a smile.

"What can you tell me about this bracelet?" Eddie asked, slipping it on.

"It's a Miraculous." Beek nodded. "It'll give you powers like a superhero."

"Really?" Eddie asked, wide-eyed. "How do I use it?"

"I'm hungry." Beek said, rubbing his belly with 1 wing-like arm.

With a sigh, Eddie pulled a piece of candy from his bag, a Cadbury Cream Egg, opened it and gave it to the kwami.

Beek ate fast, his eyes going wide. "That was really good." he said, speaking louder and faster, more energized off the sugar.

"Whatever, just tell me how to activate this thing." Eddie said with a huff.

"Oh, you just have to say wings spread." Beek nodded, beginning to fly around and look at things.

"Wings spread?" he said, questioningly.

Suddenly, Beek was pulled into the bracelet and Eddie's outfit changed.

Looking at himself, he noticed he had the general appearance of an eagle. "I'm a superhero!" he exclaimed as quietly as he could. "I need a superhero name." he said, beginning to pace. It took him a while but he eventually came up with something. "Talon." he nodded. He began moving about the library stealthily, watching other people who were being loud and messy. Just as he was going to begin trying to fix that, he saw a boy go into the girl's bathroom. Curiosity and determination to right the wrongs of the pervert filling his thoughts, he began stealthing over that direction, ready to confront the boy.

It was an average morning at the Jiang-Smith manor. Mr. Smith and his eldest son had left early in the morning to head to his firm, while Ms. Smith had bid goodbye as well for the day. This left Corrine to her own devices until the chauffeur arrived to escort her to school. The girl herself was currently attempting to navigate down the long set of stairs down into the foyer without tripping. Once at her destination, she gave a sigh of relief and straightened her clothes. Suddenly a familiar chuckle rang out, causing her to tilt her head in its general direction. Beside the door stood a middle aged man with slicked back hair and a suit, a book neatly tucked under one arm.

"Ah, mistress Corrine! How good to see you awake and alive. I was beginning to get worried you'd tripped and knocked yourself out again."

Corrine flushed and sent a weak glare towards the man, who simply grinned in return. His name was Thomas, her family butler and a close friend to Corrine. He was like an uncle to her, and was mostly the one to raise her.

"Oh, don't give me that face. Come, I've made breakfast for you, and it's your favorite." Looking around her butler, Corrine could see that Thomas was indeed telling the truth. On the table sat a plate stacked with pancakes and fresh apricots. On one of the chairs sat her school bag. Turning back to Thomas, she flashed him a small smile and quietly thanked him.

"It's no problem dear. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if that poor excuse of a driver is here yet. I swear, if he makes you two late again..." He responded, briskly walking out the door before popping his head in. "Oh, and don't forget to " After Corrine had nodded in agreement, he finally left, looking impatient.

Corrine walked over to the table and pulled out her chair, only for her book bag to fall out of it, spilling its contents on the floor. She sighed, and began to put everything back inside. Reaching for the last item, she stopped when her hand touched it. It was a plain wooden box that she had never seen before, with a note taped onto it. She carefully pulled off the note, bringing it closer to her face. The only thing it said was that it was addressed to her. Odd, she almost never got mail, especially without her mother checking it, and this looked untouched. Putting down the note, she delicately picked up the box and set it on the table, and after a moments hesitation, slid off the lid. A bright light shot out, blinding her. She stepped back, losing her balance and flailing her arms about in a desperate attempt to stay upright. Alas, the only thing the movement did was cause her to knock over her chair before she crashed onto the floor herself, landing in a jumble of limbs.

After calming herself, she slowly craned her neck to look back at the box. Floating about a foot above it was a small, raccoon like creature striking a dramatic pose.

"Well, that was quite an emotional reaction there! You ok?" The creature asked, looking like it was holding back laughter. Corrine didn't know raccoons could even make that expression. Then again, she had never really seen an actual raccoon. Mother always said they carried rabies and all kinds of dirty diseases... She shook her head, trying to focus back to the events at hand. Calming her breathing, she turned her eyes back towards the floating raccoon.

"Who-Who are you?" She demanded, attempting to sound assertive. The effect was ruined however by her stuttering.

"Who am I? Why only one of the greatest, most powerful creature on the face of the earth! I'm Priix, a Kwami!" Priix responded, closing their eyes and placing their hands on their hips dramatically.

Corrine raised her eyebrows in return. "A what? What on earth are you talking about?" This caused Priix to gasp, eyes snapping open to focus on the human girl.

"You've never heard of a Kwami?" This gained a head shake from the girl, causing Priix to sigh "Kids these days... Well, you know about fairies and fairy-tales right?" Another head shake. "What?! Didn't your parents teach you anything? Oh well, it doesn't matter, I'll tell you all you need to know." With that, the Kwami quickly began explaining while Corrine struggled to keep up with the fast paced fairy. Priix was in the middle of telling her about her transformation when a knock interrupted them. Corrine quickly plucked Priix out of the air and placed them gently into one of the pockets of her school bag, tucking the Kwami out of sight as Thomas stepped through the door.

"Misstress Corrine, the chauffeur is here, would you please go fetch your brother?" Corrine nodded, quickly grabbing her bag before ascending the stairs. After retrieving her younger brother, the two of them walked hand in hand towards the sleek black car, hopping into the backseat. As the car started off, all Corrine could think of was the small creature in her bag and wonder how this would affect her life.

Nacy was not a morning person. If there was one thing in all of the world that she hated, it was waking up in the morning. The only good thing there was about getting up, was breakfast. That was it. But even if breakfast wasn't a thing, Nacy still would have to get up to actually get things done. Even if she did like sleeping, she couldn't spend the whole day doing that. So, bleary eyed and still partially asleep, Nacy got up out of her bed and attempted to get to the bathroom. She was unexpected stopped when, as soon as she stepped out of her bedroom, she was tripped by something on the ground. "oof!" She exclaimed as she fell face first onto the floor.

Nacy was tempted to stay there, her sleepiness telling her that surely this was a bad omen for the day to come and that sleep would be much safer. But by now Nacy was too awake (and in a bit of pain from the faceplant) to listen. So she sat up and looked back to see what had tripped her. "Hm?" She mumbled when she saw it was a box that had gotten in her way. What was it doing outside her room? The mail hadn't come yet, so surely it wasn't a package for her. And even if it was, her parents wouldn't just set it right outside her door for her to trip over (they knew how she was in the morning) and her older brother was at college, so he certainly had no hand in this. Well, it didn't matter how it got here, it was here now and Nacy was going to discover what was in this mysterious box.

"Alright, time to see what was in here to trip over," Nacy said to herself as she slowly opened the box. She looked inside to see...just a choker. Huh? Well, Nacy didn't exactly see that coming but hey, it wasn't really that odd. It even matched her style. She picked it up to take a closer look at it, noticing it had a spider on it. Cute! But as Nacy was looking at the choker, something happened. Something suddenly came out of her spider charm, startling Nacy. "Holy-" Nacy exclaimed, dropping the choker as she scrambled back from the thing now that she could get a good look at the thing that was now floating in the air. It was...spider-like? White, with little red spines on its back? It was way bigger than any spider she had ever seen.

"Hello." The thing said in a soft, gentle voice that went against its scary appearance. Of course, the fact that it spoke also threw Nacy through another loop.

"Y-You can talk!?" She exclaimed in shock.

"Indeed." The creature said curtly, "I am Sprrix, your Kwami."

"K-Kwami? What is that? Why do I need one?" Nacy asked, utterly confused.

"Patience. You will be told in time. For now, you must get ready for school." As Sprrix said this, she floated over to Nacy's shoulder, gently landing on it, causing Nacy to shudder slightly. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess?" Nacy stammered, not sure anymore if she was awake or asleep. This seemed like reality, kind of at least. "Oh boy...this is going to be a weird day..." She sighed as she got up to get ready (putting on the choker as she did). As she was getting ready, Sprrix slowly started to explain herself and things called the Miraculous'. "So let me get this straight..." Nacy said as she was finishing getting ready by packing her lunch with food she had made last night (including some cookies that she usually gave away at lunch). "You want me to be a superhero?"

"Yes."

"I don't know, that's not really me..."

"You are the one that was chosen."

"Chosen by who!?" Nacy asked, but Sprrix remained silent. Nacy sighed. "Fine. I'll give it a try I guess. No promises if I'll stick with it." To that, Sprrix rubbed her head agasint Nacy's cheek. "I'll take that as an okay then. Well, I guess you'll stay here while I go to school?"

"No."

"...But...you won't exactly fit in at school..."

"No worries. Just continue to wear the choker." With that, Sprrix glowed brightly and suddenly her light shot back into the spider charm, leaving Nacy to stand there, alone and confused.

"Welp." Standing there feeling like she just stepped into the twilight zone wasn't going to get her to school, so she went outside and hopped on her bike and headed off to school.

The box was ordinary—small, wooden, square; perhaps some interesting intricacies traced in the lid if you looked hard enough. Nothing too special. Nothing too flashy. Nothing too weird. It didn't even have a label to show what it or its contents were. It was entirely ordinary, save for one little tidbit of fact:

It wasn't Quinn's.

Quinn stared at the box, fragments of sleep blurring her mind. Maybe she was still dreaming. Maybe this was just one of those lucid dreams where everything seemed real, until the rainbow elephants jumped from her closet claiming that she was their long lost relative. Maybe, just maybe, the box hadn't magically appeared at the foot of her bed. Blink blink. Nope. Still there. Quinn pinched her arm. Nuh-uh. Box was there. This was completely real.

With a groan, Quinn fell back onto her pillow. It could've been Isaac. He was always leaving around gifts for her. Except that they'd established that her room was a 'Quinn-only Zone' way before he even married Mom. Couldn't have been him. Not Mom either. As caring as she was, she was never the random gift giving type.

So where had this box come from?

Quinn sat back up, brushing a hand through her messy locks. She stared at the box. The box stared back. The two were caught in a staring contest worthy enough to be in the Olympics. Unfortunately, the box was a gold medal athlete.

"You're, uh, not going to blow up in my face, are ya'?" Quinn laughed nervously.

The box didn't reply. Probably because it didn't have a mouth. Or brain. Or any vital organs in general.

"Yeah, didn't think so." Quinn huffed. Hugging a pillow to her chest as a makeshift shield, she slowly edged towards the box. A hesitant poke with a toe resulted in the box only moving slightly away. No booms. No traps. Nothing...yet. Quinn tossed aside the pillow and scooted closer. Nothing continued to happen, which was a good enough sign that it was probably safe.

Sucking in her breath, Quinn flicked open the lid and closed her eyes. When nothing happened, she opened up her eyes and peered down. There, nestled like an egg in a nest, was an ebony, egg-shaped hair clip. Unexpected? Oh yeah. Unwelcome? Oh nah! Quinn picked up the clip, gently tracing the smooth surface. While she wasn't one to wear clips and jewelry, the clip seemed...different. Like when she held one of her aunt's heirloom brooches. There was a certain sense of heaviness to it, as if it seemed too valuable to lose but too important to never wear. Quinn stared, completely enraptured by the mysterious gift. Given the chance, she'd stare at it all day.

Except that'd be really boring to read and even boring-er to write.

A suddenly flashed filled the room, breaking Quinn's trance. She cried out in shock and dropped the clip, falling back in shock. The floor shook as the young girl slammed back-first into the floorboards. For a moment all she could do was lay there, stunned.

"G-goodness, a-are you alright?"

It took Quinn a full five minutes to register the unfamiliar voice.

"I'm perfectly fine!" Quinn shakily called back. Except, with her breathlessness and shock, it came out slurred like, "D'yim purr-fuggy fy'n!"
Still, whatever got the point across.

A squeak of surprise slipped out of Quinn's mouth as a black and white...thing poked it's head over the edge of the bed. It was a badger—that is, if badgers were three inches tall, had big heads and eyes, and floated. The creature...badger...thing's eyes widened considerably. "O-oh dear," she (Was it a she? It sounded like one.) squeaked. Her quiet voice trembled like a leaf on a wind-blown tree. "A-are you o-okay?"

Quinn shut her eyes. Less so from the pain of falling into hard wood, and more from the fact that there was a tiny badger-thing talking to her. "Y-yeah, just...gimme a sec." She lifted her head towards the closet. Nope. No rainbow elephants. This was real. Her head fell back to the floor with a dull thud.

The badger-thing winced, a blend of sympathy and apology swimming in her large eyes. "I-I understand y-you must be very confused—"

"Confused?" Quinn groaned and dragged herself up, rubbing her head. "Confused doesn't even begin to describe me right now." She pulled herself onto the bed, eyes still locked on the tiny floating badger. "Okay, first off: who and what are you?"

"M-my name is Prytt..." The badger-thi—er, Prytt's voice dropped in volume as she shyly lowered her head. "I-I'm a Kwami."

"Kwami?"

"A-a fairy of sorts. I-I sort of g-give you powers a-and transform..."

Quinn blinked as the little Kwami carried on rambling in an increasingly lower volume. A fairy. Who gave magic powers. Because why else would this morning be perfectly normal. She ran her fingers through her hair. "And...you came from that hairclip?"

Prytt nodded timidly. "The Miraculous."

Quinn reached for the clip, turning it over in her long fingers. This was real. This was real. She kept repeating the three words over and over as if they were some sort of magic spell that kept her sanity, or rather what was left of it, together. This is real. Smiling crookedly, Quinn tucked the haircip into her hair.

"As realty altering as this whole fairy-magic-powers thing is," Quinn dashed into her closet and hurried changed into more suitable clothes before grabbing her bag, "I still have school to deal with.". Quinn gently took Prytt and tucked her into her jacket pocket. "You can explain this whole...Miraculous...thing later, okay? Right now, we've got a bigger problem to deal with: school."

“So this bracelet thing here, it’s called a… um, ke-toh. Hmm, I don’t think that’s how it’s pronounced.”

Mouth full of lasagne, with occasional bits flying out onto the table, Aaron read the word out phonetically. He and Arrlo were sitting in one of the rare abandoned corners of the always rowdy library.

“It looks like Navajo archers used it but then… uh, it became jews- I mean, jewellery in 1870, around then. That’s when they started to add slivers of- nope, just silver.”

“So really, this,” he pointed to the brown jewel in the very centre, “is the most important part; the Miraculous part, if you will. The rest is just decoration,”

Arrlo looked up from the snack popcorn that Aaron had gifted him with earlier as an apology for the frantic ride to school earlier. They had made it to class mere moments before the teacher closed the door. Aaron had breathlessly delivered an excuse, something about waiting for a package for his father (“FedEx, you know how they are,”). Aaron would have preferred not to lie, but Pops had specifically requested that he didn’t get into trouble at school. Luckily the teacher had seemed satisfied with the excuse and let him go to his seat, where he then had to sheepishly ask the pretty girl with the raccoon earrings next to him for a pen. All his stationery had flown out from the morning commute, though luckily his tourist's guide remained.

“You seem to read very slowly,” Arrlo observed, having just finished his popcorn.

Aaron snapped back at the kwami, “Just give me a sec, okay?”

The little fairy flinched and the boy immediately felt regretful.

“Sorry, I’m kinda sensitive about this whole reading thing. Dyslexia blows,”

Arrlo relaxed and smiled. “It’s ok. There's nothing to be ashamed of, you know,”

“…yeah, but even so.”

Aaron droops his head and chuckles.

“Thanks anyway, though,”

A loud commotion happened on the other side of the library. Seemed like a lot of people are laughing about something.

“Why are we having lunch in the library anyway?” Arrlo inquired.

Aaron shrugged. “Everyone else was doing it. Thought I’d try to scope out any potential buddies. It’s already my third day here and I’ve got zilch.”

“Well you’re not going to make any friends here in this isolated little corner.”

Aaron scoffed indignantly, “I wanted to do some research first. Fine, let’s go dazzle some people with my flawless personality!”

They both cracked up from that statement. Aaron returned the book and made his way to the center. Whatever the ruckus was, it had already started settling down. But before he could try and join one of the cliques, Aaron noticed some sort of … eagle man?

“That’s weird,”

But Arrlo didn’t have a response. He was muttering to himself.

“Another user so close to my own? And so soon to his awakening? There’s no way…”

Well, that was no help. Maybe it was the school mascot? Or some weird DC tradition he didn’t hear about? The eagle guy started to move towards the girls’ bathroom.

“Aw hellll no! Like I’m gonna let that happen!”

Aaron briskly strode up to the eagle guy, grabbed his left shoulder and roughly twisted him around.

"Hey buddy," Aaron said, though his tone negated any sense of amicability from the latter word, "what do you think you're doin', huh?"

It's hard to focus on class after you've learned you're a superhero. Try as she might, Corrine just couldn't stop thinking about the events of the previous few hours. After all, she had no secrets from her parents, and nothing excited ever happened to her. And yet for some crazy reason, it had.

After arriving at school, Corrine had quickly made her way towards the girls bathroom to learn more about what was happening. Her Kwami, whose name she learned was Priix, had finished telling her about her powers and began explaining how she could transform. Apparently, all she had to do was call out for Priix to transform her, and Priix would go into the miraculous, a pair of raccoon tail earrings. She had tried to ask if they were any other users, but Priix had refused to shed any light on the subject. Corrine was going to ask why when the watch on her wrist began beeping, startling her. When she looked down, she saw that she had five minutes until the bell to signal the start of class rung. So instead, she had opted to carefully take out her pearl earrings, replacing them with the miraculous that Priix told her she would have to wear from then on. After she finished, she gathered up her bag with Priix inside and briskly walked to her classroom.

Once there, she greeted her teacher and handed in the homework from the previous night, forcing herself to maintain a calm demeanor. She sat down at her seat, careful so as not to tip it over and placed her bag down on the floor next to her. Just as she was setting her notebook and pencil case onto the desk, a new boy ran into the room. Corrine watched as the boy walked over to his seat, which was the one directly next to hers and asked for a pen. She curtly nodded and passed one over. She then opened her notebook and, placing her chin onto her hand, hoped that the class would pass quickly.

After what seemed to her like hours, The bell to signal the start of lunch rang. Corrine rose up out of her seat, grabbing her bag before following the flow of students out the door. She made her way over to her locker, hanging up her book bag on one of the hooks. She looked around to make sure none was paying attention to her, then swiftly extracted Priix out of her book bag and transplanted her into her lunchbox. Once done, she quietly closed her locker and started making her way through the hallway. She passed by the normal students lingering around, girls and boys grouping together to exchange stories and laugh. Corrine sighed, turning away. She couldn't help but be jealous of them. Their close friendships, the ability to laugh freely, the way they could display their emotions without consequence. She didn't blame them, but every time she saw her classmates carefree attitudes, envy curled in her gut. She missed it, the feeling of freedom.

Corrine shook her head, dispersing the thought. She had work to do. She began briskly walking towards her destination, the library. She wanted to see if her school had any mention or information of these mysterious Kwamis. She doubted that there was, even in the large collection of books that belonged to her school, but it was always good to try. Once there, she quietly walked over to the history section. She began to carefully scanning the shelves, her back to the rest of the room. She heard commotion, but decided not to check it out. The kids in her school could be quite the trouble makers, and most often didn't heed a word that the timid librarian said. After it quieted down a bit, she took a large, seemingly promising book off the shelf and began to flip through it, not noticing the odd situations going on right behind her.

She reacted better than he could have hoped.

Of course, he didn't get to see her transformation. Instead he ducked inside one of the girls stalls, closing the doors as he felt his strength fade away, his powers draining. He knew Ms. O'Neil was changing form, though he didn't know what she looked like herself, and he could barely hear his miraculous begin to beep over her near-demonic cackling. He saved himself the trouble of waiting and detransformed, hiding in the stall.

Outside the door to the girls bathroom, the boys barely had time to exchange words. For as soon as Aaron twisted Eddie around to face him, the door to the girls bathroom flew off it's hinges, knocking them both flat. A purple mist spilled out onto the floor, lights flickering and the air becoming alive with energy. From out of the doorway a tall, dark shadow loomed, her dark cackles reverberating throughout the hallway. A black heel clicked sharply against the ground, a tall young woman in a black and purple leotard and cape stepping out into the hall. All around her in rotating circles, books, pens, papers, and other objects flew, like a psychic gyroscope. Her eyes glowed a dark red from behind her mask, her hair standing up in points resembling a devil's horns.

The crash of the door had drawn out quite a few people into the hall, staring at the woman with hushed astonishment. The ruckus from the library, of course, continued nevertheless. With a grimace, the Almaniac floated into the library, her eyes a deep red with rage. The boys only noticed her too late, as the doors to the library slammed shut behind her, desks and tables barricading the door.
"No. Talking. In the library." she hissed out. With a flick of her hand, the books on the surrounding shelves came to life, pages flaying out and wrapping the unruly students like mummies, muffling their screams and shouts. With another flick, the cocooned boys were floated over into a pile behind her desk, pens and markers picking themselves up and beginning to scribble on them out of vengeance. The Almaniac cackled gleefully, floating down the shelves of books and mummifying every student she came across.
"No eating! No drinking! No skating, gum chewing, make up applying! No video games, headphones, crouching or slouching! Bad, bad, bad!" she giggled, bookshelves rattling and rocking as she passed.

---

From within the bathroom, Clair grinned, seeing the world through his akuma's eyes. Yes, everything was going perfectly. He'd let her have her fun, destress herself for a little while. Then, when she was satisfied, he'd take control of her, and use her to find the other six miraculous stones. He blinked, the red vanishing from his irises. For now, he had to get to a safer location than the girl's bathroom. And so, not noticing the two boys pinned under the door, he slunk out of the bathroom, disappearing into the worried crowd that had formed in front of the locked library. In the commotion that followed, no one would be able to remember exactly where he was. Just as he preferred.

Eddie felt the hand and spun with the turn, ready to dodge if someone was about to attack him. However, the boy he saw only asked him a question. "I saw-" Eddie began, only to be smacked by the door. "Guess I'm lucky." he said sarcastically, tossing the door aside with a groan. "As I was about to say," he said as he stood, "I saw another boy go in there. You can deal with the pervert while the hero deals with the villian. Pulling out his tonfas, he leapt at the Almaniac, aiming to strike both sides of her head from behind to disorient her. Whether that worked or not, he'd try to knock her feet from under her with a kick before pinning her on her belly. Being new to the hero thing, he didn't know what to do. "Who are you and why are you doing this?" he asked. He didn't know what to do but was able to block the paper aimed for his face with his tonfas. He wasn't paying attention to his surroundings much beyond his own movement and would have been caught by surprise if another hero joined the battle. He had seen most of the students escape and tried to keep her attention on him. "Stupid kids." he said, looking at the pile behind her desk. "They deserve punishment for being loud and messy in the library, yes, but that's too far." He kept on the defence, blocking the items coming for him. "I get you're angry. I would be too. This isn't the way to handle things." Looking around, he leapt out of the way of her next attack, landing atop a bookshelf that had been tilted. "Stop attacking people and I'll help you clean up."

"I saw another boy go in there. You can deal with the pervert while the hero deals with the villain.”

Aaron lay on the ground, too winded to say anything in response or give Eagle Boy the punch he deserved. Nobody talks down to Aaron like that. Jerkface didn’t even have the decency to check if the injured civilian (Aaron) had any major injuries. What if he died from head trauma, huh? Bet Bird Brains wouldn’t be so up himself after that. Obviously, this wannabe hero had never taken a first aid course. Whatever, at least he got the door off. Arrlo crawled out of Aaron’s hood, unharmed thankfully.

“I guess he was one of those other Miraculous guys you were talking about, huh?” Aaron coughed.

“It seems so,” Arrlo agreed, “but there’s also some sort of villain pilfering the library. That requires our immediate attention.”

Aaron sat up and groaned from the strain in his back. He was definitely going to find some bruises later.

“Right. Let’s show this Dodo Dude how a real hero works. Arrlo, plates ready!”

He transformed and headed to the library, where Bird Boy and Almaniac were engaged in mortal combat. Aaron in his new form took up a boxing stance, striking the projectiles with his gauntlets before they could hurt him. The other “hero” was jumping about the library like some sort of acrobat while trying to talk the villain out of her deluded frenzy. Hmph, showoff. The whole discussion thing could work though. But the chances of Almaniac listening to whatever emotional spiel he was going with was low. An appeal to logic would be the trick.

“Listen miss!” he called out, “You gotta stop this now, you’re going to end up destroying your precious library!”

Corrine had just put away yet another book, all hope of finding anything on the miraculous gone when the doors quite literally burst open. There was a woman's voice, and then screaming. Peeking out from behind the bookcase, she couldn't believe what she saw. A woman was standing there in some sort of odd costume, giggling as she tortured the children, wrapping them into cocoons. She turned, making eye contact with the miraculous floating next to her head.

"Priix... What the heck is going on?" She questioned, her voice a harsh whisper.

The raccoon made a humming sound, hands on its chin. It floated there for a minute before turning back to her, smile on its face. "Well Cori, it-" Priix began, only to be interrupted by Corrine's annoyed whisper of "Don't call me that". The miraculous glared before continuing its speech. "Well, it appears as if you've encountered your first villain faster than we thought." Glancing back to the chaos, Priix smirked. "And it looks like those two might need some help, so I suggest you transform quickly, before the entire library is destroyed."

Shocked, Corrine peeked back around the bookcase. Now their were to men, also dressed in costumes attempting to confront the woman. She turned back to her miraculous and shrugged.

"Guess there isn't a whole lot to lose. Priix, stripes on!" Corrine stared in wonder as her usual outfit was replaced by a full body suit. She turned to where Priix had been, only to see there was noone there. "Oh yeah, Priix said that they would get sucked into the earrings. Oh well, here goes nothing!" She muttered to herself and stood up and sauntered out from behind the bookcase. She grabbed the whip secured to her waist and flicked it towards the woman, smirking as it encircled one of her wrists.

"He's right you know. This isn't proper behavior at all for someone in the library" She called out in a singsong voice. "You should probably stop. You wouldn't want to be sent to the principal's office, now would you?"

Nancy was still trying to take what all had happened in during and even after her ride to school. How the hell could she be a superhero? Who saw her and thought "Yeah, that girl is deffinitly superhero material." Nancy knew for a fact she probably looked more like a villain than a hero. Nancy still trying to wrap her head around as she took her first steps into the school and then heard what was basically a small explosion coming from the boy's restroom. Nancy watched as some weird looking woman walked out and went into the library, slamming the doors behind her.

"A villain appears." Nancy heard Sprrix say from inside her hoodie. "You are needed now."

"What?" Nancy said as she quickly ducked into the broom closet so she wouldn't look weird for talking to herself since Sprrix was hidden (though everyone's attention was on the library). "I just got you, I'm not ready to just do it right now! I don't even have any training or anything like that!"

"You have everything you need right now, and you are not alone."

"I'm not alone!? You said I was the chosen!"

"One of the chosen," Sprrix said, that caused Nancy to groan.

"If there's others who can do it, why do I need to help?!"

"They need your help as well. The only way you will all succeed is by working together."

Before Nancy could argue more, there were more loud noises. It seemed the other heroes had arrived and were fighting. Well, maybe she wouldn't have to help too much...With a sigh, Nancy gave in. "Alright, let's just get this over with." And with that, she transformed. After which, she took a moment to look herself over as best as she could in a dim broom closet. She was definitely spider themed, and had a mask on (not covering her whole face, so she wasn't copying spiderman yet at least). But...wait...where was her weapon? She searched around but only found a...spool of string? Was...Was that really her weapon?

"You got to be kidding me..." Nancy groaned. So no cool, awesome weapon for her then. Only string. Greatttttttt....With a sigh, Nancy ran out of the closet to go and try to take down the villain. As she ran, she took the string and noticing it was kind of sticky, tried rolling it, and soon she had a little ball going that only got bigger as she made her way to the library. By the time Nancy burst in, she had quite a good sized ball on her hands. Maybe string wasn't such a bad weapon after all. And she saw immediately who she was supposed to use her weapon on. "Okay, let's get this over with," Nancy said as she threw her string ball at the weird woman, who was thankfully being held down by a different hero.

Quinn was late. Again. Not that she minded. Not really. She was used to the glare of teachers and titters of students at her late arrivals, and they vice verses with her ever constant pattern of nonchalant lateness. Quinn didn't care about that stuff. In all honesty, there were only two subjects Quinn remotely cared about and never dared to miss:

Lunch and Art.

Currently, she was in the former. Quinn lounged in the back of the library, a popular eating area, to eat her light lunch of three sandwiches and a muffin. Tall bookshelves loomed over, blocking Quinn from view from the main area. She was sure no one would come here. After all, the shelves themselves held the natural bane to all students--textbooks. It was the perfect hiding spot for a skipping student. Or in this case, a nervous fairy explaining the nature of superpowers.

Prytt hovered before Quinn, a packet of honey nestled between her paws. She carefully ate the golden syrup, flecks of it clinging to her cheek. "I-I know this is all sudden," Prytt said in her all too soft voice as she stared at Quinn apologetically, "b-but being a hero is a big responsibility. You were chosen because something good was seen in you. Something...pure"

Quinn smiled crookedly, brushing away the residue from the Kwami's cheek. "Yeah, I don't think 'pure' or 'heroic' is the best way to describe me. Have you seen my search history? But...thanks, I guess. Whatever the whole 'chosen' thing means." she leaned back, appetite for once lost. This whole superpower business was starting to make her head hurt. It all seemed so...surreal. Like something that happened in a movie, and not to someone like her. "Right, so. Run by me again how this whole shebang works again?"

Prytt nodded, her eyes sparkling. "O-of course! First, up you activate your ability by saying, 'Claws ready!'. Then you--"

Screams suddenly pierced the air, cutting off the rest of Prytt's words. The Kwami squeaked in fear and dove into the folds of Quinn's jacket, trembling fiercely. "W-what was that?!" she whimpered.

Quinn crawled over to the front most shelf, removing some books to peek through. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched the scene unfold. Books flying off the shelves, students entombed in a mass of paper, people running for their lives. And, smack dab in the center, a cackling woman was surrounded by a group of people. No...not just people. Superheroes! Or costumed weirdos. Or maybe both? Either way, Quinn quickly made her decision.

Quinn stuffed the books back on the shelf. "Sorry, but this looks like a hands-on experience sort of deal." She stood, a new sense of determination flooding through her. "Alright, Prytt! Claws Ready!"

A grin spread across her face as power surged through Quinn. It was new, wild, free. All her joy, all her passion, all her energy--everything felt like it was set on high. Her body felt lighter. Her senses felt sharper. Everything seemed so new. Looking down, it seems that her insides weren't the only things that had changed. Now she donned a new outfit, complete with a mask and everything. Quinn reached for her side, hesitating as she pulled out what looked like a metal frisbee. So this was what she was fighting with? It was definitely...interesting. She shrugged. Might as well learn how to use it soon.

Quinn rolled out of her hidey hole and towards the danger. Her previous hesitance was gone, replaced by a surge of emanating confidence. "Hey, Lady!" she called, sliding in along with the other costumed folks. "You've only got yourshelf to blame for this mess."

Tommy, with his lunch and a Bram Stoker book in hand, sat at one of the back tables, not completely out of sight but still easy to miss. He heard the raucous laughter coming from not far away. With a sigh, he stood and walked over to the table, slamming the book down to grab their attention. "This is a library." he said softly. "Why don't you have some respect and quiet down?" He didn't wait for their reply before returning to his table. Not long after, he heard screams. Looking up, he saw what appeared to be a supervillain. Followed by the appearances of kids dressed like animal-based super heroes. In order, an eagle, an armadillo, a racoon, a spider, and a bear. It was easy for him to dodge the flying paper and tables. He hid behind a bookshelf and pulled Marrok from the jerky bag he had been hiding in. "Quit eating and tell me what to do."

Marrok looked up at him with a blank expression. "Transform."

"Oh, yeah." he said with a chuckle. "Marrok, fangs bared!"

Tommy, having yet to choose his hero name, examined himself and smiled. "Chains. That's a new weapon." Shrugging, he leapt into view, grabbing the Almaniac's free arm with one of his chains. "I think those kids are right." he said, pulling on the chain as he got closer. "Respect the library and the librarian. Do not make a mess. Do not destroy the books. And, most of all, don't make any loud noise." He swung his other chain to wrap around her waist and pull her to the floor. "Come on, Ms. O'neil. Calm down, let everyone go, and we can get back to a normal day."

One, two, three, four, five. Five miraculous users, almost all of them. From where he stood in the science building, all the way across the school, Clair felt a twinge of smug satisfaction. Badger, Raccoon, Spider, Armadillo, and Eagle. The only one missing was Dragonfly, but they could be found easily enough. He closed the door to the science lab, locking it and blocking the door. He'd be safe in here, everyone would be too busy looking at his puppet. Watching the destruction that ensued.

The science room was an excellent location. It was remote, connected to the rest of the school through one lonesome hallway. The school building was shaped like a T when viewed from above, with the library on the other end. This room in particular had tall windows covered in canvas curtains, preventing onlookers from peering within. There was a constant battle raging over whether or not to destroy the 100-year old chalkboard and replace it with a new electronic white board, and so for now, the chalkboard stayed. So the room was rarely used, only twice during the morning periods. For the rest of that time, it was locked. But Clair had already planned that morning that no matter who he found to possess, this room would be his head quarters.

Breaking into it had been pitifully easy. He had gone to the second period class to ask the teacher some questions about his future science choices, and slipped a piece of scotch tape over the locking mechanism. The door would click like it had been locked, but the lock itself would still be jammed back into the door. After that, it was an easy matter of slipping inside amidst the chaos at the library. With so many people running away, no one would take notice of one boy slipping into a classroom. From there, is was a simple thing to remove the tape, let the door lock, and then bar it with a chair. If he was caught, he could always claim innocent and say he was hiding from the monster. Not that he ever intended to be caught, though.

He thought about waiting to see if the Dragonfly miraculous would show, but as the Raccoon wrapped her whip around Almaniac's wrist, he decided against it. She was becoming cornered, if the next phase of his plan was to be successful, he needed her out in the open. With that in mind he closed his eyes, reaching out to Almaniac. It seemed his puppet needed some hands on help from her master.

---

As the various heroes all gathered around her, the Almaniac grew suddenly still. Books dropped from where they flew through the air, hitting the floor with a clatter. She closed her eyes, and for a moment, all seemed quiet. The whistling of the air stopped, along with her laughter. For a moment, it seemed like all was well.

That moment soon passed.

The Almaniac opened her eyes once more, their red glow even stronger. The books picked themselves up off he ground, continuing their gyroscopic spins even faster now. She smiled, but there was something off in her smile, something foreign. If Ms. O'Neil seemed off before, she was completely alien now. There was something in her stance, in her smile, in the cold, sadistic gleam in her eye, that did not belong to her at all. They belonged to someone else entirely.

The unknown cold eyes scanned over all the heroes, the unknown smile growing only wider. When she opened her mouth and finally spoke, the voice was her voice, but the words very clearly not her words.
"So these are the heroes of this generation. How very quaint. You know, you're quite right. It is very inappropriate to be doing this to a library. So let's find a better place, shall we?" she asked, her eyes focusing on the Raccoon. With a sudden lash of her arm, she swung Corrine up and into the air, sending her flying, along with her whip.

Raising her arms and accelerating the books gyroscopic rotation, The Almaniac floated above the ground, before lifting up the tables nearby, using them to shield herself from any attacks the heroes might launch. The windows rattled in their panes, before finally bursting free of them, making way for her escape. With a few timely leaps, she leapt through the window, floating out high above the parking lot. Then, with a flick of her wrist, the tables flew to the windows, barricading them with untold strength and preventing them from following her.
"Lets make this a fight that everyone can see. I'll be seeing you "heroes" very soon." she called. And with a flick of her wrist, she floated higher, heading towards the Jefferson Memorial.

---

The school library was certainly eventful today. Not to say that it wasn't always crowded with students, seeing as how much of a doormat Miss O'Neil was. A lunch spent in the library always meant a brief period of freedom from teacher oppression. Nicholas would have found it distasteful to take advantage of a timid woman like Miss O'Neil, but he too sought respite from the monotonous drone of school life. He had been hoping that the library would be a bit more private today. His gaze shifted to his backpack, which rested on the floor beside him while he sat up against one of the book shelves. The strange box he had found this morning on his bedside table occupied his thoughts. Even the sound of cruel laughter following Miss O'Neil's public humiliation did nothing to avert his focus. Just who had sent the box? What was inside it? The questions gnawed at him, the insatiable curiosity sending a tingling sensation across his skin. He quickly checked his surroundings, taking note that the little nook between the shelves he'd burrowed himself into was adequately private.

With a deep breath, Nicholas pushed his hand into his open backpack and rummaged around. He felt a few textbooks, a bottle of water and some pencils. He was about to assume that he'd only imagined seeing the box when suddenly his fingertips brushed against the wooden grain of it at the bottom of the bag.
"Yo, Nick." At the sound of the familiar voice, Nicholas immediately removed his hand from his bag and stared up at his older brother. "What're you doing hiding here? You missed the show!" He glared at his brother, clearly not being into the whole tormenting weak willed women thing.
"Yeah, I bet you and your friends are real proud of yourselves." His voice was laced with spite, which resulted in his brother raising an eyebrow. He was about to open his mouth, probably to dish out some comeback or insult, but was called back to his group of friends before he could say anything. Nicholas was relieved that he was gone. Reaching back inside of his bag, he pulled out the small box. Opening the lid, he only had a moment to observe the strange ring and put it on his finger before a small, green light materialised beside him.

Shuffling away, Nicholas heard the sound of people screaming. Had they all seen the light as well? Was his hiding spot not good enough? Turning around, it became apparent that the cause of the panic was not from Nicholas' box but instead a strange lady who had entered the library and begun attacking people. She even appeared to be floating.
"You sure did take your time with summoning me." The voice spoke up so suddenly, and so close. It was a small voice, yet firm. Nicholas turned around and was greeted by a strange creature resembling a dragonfly. "Perhaps if you weren't so hesitant, you'd be able to help deal with this villain." There were no words. Clearly this was all just some dream. The small creature sighed, flying up to Nicholas' face and staring him down with those large, fly-like eyes.

"W-what are you?" Nicholas managed to stutter out, leaning in closer to get a better look at the creature. It had a pair of human arms attached to a very small body. Instead of legs, it had an elongated abdomen like you would expect a dragonfly to have. There was even a pair of wings that released a very subtle drone as they fluttered back and forth far too quickly to make out any details.
"I'm a Kwami. My name is Draxx. Nicholas I'd love to spend some time explaining all of this to you, but we are in somewhat dire circumstances. You need to transform and help the others." The young boy clasped the sides of his head. What was this thing, Draxx, talking about? Transform? The others? Yet before he could ask anymore questions, different voices spoke up from the direction of the villainous woman. Sure enough, there were several individuals dressed in what looked like superhero costumes. They appeared to be apprehending the woman.
"Wait, you mean them? How am I supposed to help them?" He turned back to face the Kwami, who looked to be growing more impatient with each passing moment. With a growl of frustration, Draxx flew up onto Nicholas' head and began pulling his hair. Nicholas winced. For such a little thing, he sure did pull hard.
"Yes them! I don't have time to explain everything else, just say 'Transform me'!"
"Transform me?" Nicholas questioned. As soon as the words left his mouth, Draxx dispersed into a bright light which was sucked into the ring that had come with the mysterious box.

His skin felt like it was on fire. He could feel his form melt away and then be reborn. His vision went dark for a second, but then it returned and suddenly he could see everything. It was like a strange kaleidoscope, he could see all around him perfectly. He looked down at his new outfit, feeling a little bit silly in the get up.
"Woah, this feels weird. Draxx, what happened to me?" He spoke, but the Kwami did not respond. He looked around only to see that Draxx was gone. He'd been sucked up into the strange ring. Nicholas was left alone with no idea what he was supposed to be doing. He poked his head out from behind the shelf just in time to seeing the villain address the other heroes and depart from the building. He ran out to them, staring up at the blockade on the windows.
"Sorry I'm late!" He stared at the others, clearing his throat before standing up tall with his shoulders squared. He was trying to seem more confident than he actually was about this whole ordeal.
"Let's not waste any time now! We should chase after her."

With the Almaniac on the retreat, Eddie looked at the others. He was just about to say something when he heard another voice. "So, there's six of us." he sighed, shaking his head. "If you're wanting names, you can call me Talon." He took in everyone's appearance, even the dragonfly, before looking at his wrist. He was waiting for everyone else to finish talking but, before everyone had a turn introducing themselves, he took a couple steps back and looked at the desk. "I think we should work on freeing the trapped students." he said, turning to walk towards the desk. "If you can't think of hero names, I might be able to think of something." he added, lifting the first student on the desk to begin pulling the paper from their face. He listened to the others, making mental notes on their names, offering suggestions as he found fit. Once all the students were free from the paper cocoons, he began humming and trying to lift the bookshelves that had been tipped. He looked to each of the others, shrugging. "Do any of you not care about knowing who we are under the costumes?" he asked, carrying a stack of books to one of the tables. "I think it'd be helpful. As long as everyone who knows is in the team. And our Kwamis." He didn't know for sure but he suspected each of them had a Kwami as well. Wonder if any of them are like Beek. he thought, his eyes wandering to the female teammates' bodies. Upon realizing he was practically staring at one of the girls, he slapped himself and walked back between the shelves to begin stacking books again.