With Serpentine holding one end, Talon used the hook-like claws to grab the other end and pull hard. It snapped easily enough but the boot did not notice the small, flying, bat-like creature beginning to fly away. He was focused on the Instructor to see if he was changing back. He was beginning to sob before getting enraged and lunging at Talon. The students had frozen, unable to act without any commands.

The bat began flying away, heading towards the mall's exit. It seemed to be trying to had somewhere.

The sudden lack of resistance sent Serpentine tumbling backwards rolling head over feet twice before coming to a stop at the feet of the frozen students. Jumping upright Serpentine staged herself to continue the fight before realizing the incapacitated state of her opposition. Confused Serpentine stood down looking around the expanse of the mall. Fruitta was further away looking exhausted, and Talon seemed to be dealing with the still furious Mr. Johnsen. Apparently breaking his whip had been the solution after all, the man was devoid of his powers and his minions were stilled. A sigh of relief escaped Serpentine and she relaxed, a cheery smile working its way onto her face. Who knew what they would’ve done if their desperate plan failed. All three of them together really struggled taking down just one bad guy. They might’ve been defeated altogether if the fight had continued unchecked.

Serpentine’s roving eyes caught a tiny fluttering movement emerge from the whip’s broken pieces. It flew like a miniature black bird but flitted madly about drifting away towards the mall’s exit like a smoky apparition reminding Serpentine of a flying mouse. Mentally noting the thing’s departure Serpentine limped over to where Talon stood over the defeated Mr. Johnsen only then realizing just how sore the brief clash had left her.

“Fruitta, Talon. I think I saw his kwami escape out of the mall. It looked kind of like a rodent, but it had wings. So some kind of bird, I dunno what it has to do with a military drill sergeant though. I'm drawing a blank on the correlation.” She drew to a stop next to the others, placing her hands on her hips. “We did it, I think…” Serpentine gave the other heroes a thumbs up, not entirely sure what they were supposed to do from thereon out. However the sounds of rapidly approaching police sirens adequately answered her unasked question. “We ought to leave him for the authorities to handle, uh Fruitta, is that your necklace beeping?” Serpentine recalled from her earlier conversation with Ossar that after using her ‘special’ power the kwami contained within the Miraculous would be depleted and after five minutes the suit would give out and the kwami would have to eat in order to recharge. Perhaps the beeping was a warning, meant to inform the wearer of this impending possibility.

Furitta observed as the whip broke - noticing what seems to be a small creature of some kind with wings flying away. Not really knowing that it was something important, aside from maybe being a kwami, there really was no reason to follow it. But at least it was over - the Instructor was now incapacitated and his minions weren't even moving anymore. Her ear twitched, an odd instinctual action she thought, as police sirens were speeding towards them.

She looked back down at Serpentine who was now trying to string together information for a conclusion. "I don't either. That's pretty odd. I'll look into it further with my kwami." She said, but never descending from her position. She was well aware of the timer that had been ticking down for quite a while now. Poyzz made it very clear that if she wanted to keep her identity and her loves ones safe, then she should remember that activating her special power would make the suit count down from five minutes and deactivate no matter where she was. It was an unfortunate setback, but one she could understand.

Furitta nodded as she stood up. "Good job team." The words poured out of her mouth before she could even decide on what to say. Well, it was fitting anyway. They were a team now, whether they liked it or not. They'll end up together in every exchange with villains unless three appeared all at the same time, forcing them to be apart. She inclined her head towards them. "Thank you for the assist, both of you." As if meticulously timed by destiny, the beeper went off - her necklace pulsating brown in the beat of the beeps. Serpentine even pointed it out. Shame. "Seems I have to go now. See you all... sometime later. Stay safe."

Shooting out a wire, it latched itself onto a building and then she looked back at the two and gave them a salute. Dropping it, she gave Serpentine a smirk. "It's Furitta."

She then disappeared from view. Landing into one of the abandoned alleys, the transformation wore off and Poyzz came out of the necklace - tired and hungry. Alex knew what to do now at least. A small smile spread to her face as she allowed Poyzz to sit down on her shoulder before departing for home.

Talon held the defenseless teacher-turned-villain to the ground as the police rushed in. "I got the bad guy but the students are still in need of help. Take them to the hospital and lock this guy up. I gotta get some questions answered." As the police grabbed and cuffed the Instructor, Talon began looking around for the girls. After seeing Furitta had left, he jumped over to Serpentine with a frown. "Where'd Furitta go?" he had really not paid attention to anything during the struggle. After her answer, he shrugged. "Then I guess I'll have to learn her powers later. What can you do?" he motioned for her to follow as he began walking towards the exit.

Once the coast was clear, Matthew walked in and grabbed the whip as the tiny bar flew into it. "Time to return." he said, sliding it in his bag to deliver to the villain. "This battle isn't over."

At first Serpentine had been concerned the law enforcement would scrutinize the costumed heroes to a greater degree, maybe even taking them to the station as witnesses to the battle. However the boys in blue seemed far more concerned with the villain and his the score and a half minions to educate themselves on the odd appearances of two inconsequential children. They must not believe that Serpentine, Furitta, and Talon could’ve defeated the reported super villain on their own even though Talon made the claim and was standing over Mr. Johnsen when they arrived. And as if to pour salt onto an open wound more than one cop whispered about the return of Rouge-Bat being the cause for the villain’s downfall. For her part Serpentine looked a little pouty about the police’s lack of faith, arms crossed and her lower lip stuck out. She cheered up considerably however, cheeks blushing red when Talon approached her.

“Who, Furitta? Yeah she left.” Serpentine explained, tapping the snake necklace around her neck. “Her miraculous power was draining I think. Because she used her special ability, remember when she got really fast. That was really cool! And when you broke the whip that was awesome, and Mr. Johnsen was flailing around and yelling.” Here Serpentine raised her arms above her head, making a mockingly deep voice to mimic the vanquished teacher. “Hrr, give me back my whip you naughty children grrr. Hahaha.” Serpentine fell into step beside the eagle themed hero as they made their way towards the exit, her thoughts turning to what he’d said when she first joined them. He’d thought she was cute. Serpentine hoped that was a good thing, and for the first time considered telling Talon the truth about who she really was. The thought was banished quickly however as Ossar’s warning came back to her. No one must ever know the truth.

“Well I think one of Furitta’s powers is going really fast.” Serpentine commented once the conversation turned to what their abilities were. “We saw that in the fight. I’m not really sure what I can do, or how it works. Os- er I mean my kwami told me I could confuse everyone’s eyes, ears, and noses. That I have the power of deception to a great degree. Whatever that means, he wasn’t very straightforward about it. I’ve got these though.” Serpentine tapped the double battle fans folded and sheathed at her hips. “They proved handy during the fight, oh and I can see infrared which is cool. What about you Talon? What’s your abilities?”

"Other than my awesome power of flight," he smirked, "I can make a wall of stone as some cover to hide behind." he wanted to test it out but knew it wasn't a very speedy power and drained his time. "I bet it'll be good on some villains but the evil teacher back there had too many students." He began spinning his Tonfa fast, beginning to lift from the ground. "Hop on. I'll give you a ride to where you're headed." he waited for Serpentine to accept or decline the offer before either giving get a ride home or returning to the ground as he tried getting to know her as a friend.

Shaking her head Serpentine watched as Talon rose briefly into the air, offering to give her a lift. Looking pensive she declined the request, waving the winged hero farewell. "I think I'm going to stay down on solid ground, I've never been too fond of heights. Besides I haven't got very far to go. Thanks though. See you around I guess..."

Alex watched Poyzz as he chomped onto the beef jerky that the girl had provided the Miraculous. When he told her that he wanted to eat, she took him out to a fast food chain and tried out a variety of food until he finally budged and told her that he wanted some beef jerky - it was just that he wanted to not seem choosy at first. Hey, what do you know, the guy was pretty nice anyway. She took him back to the house so that no one would see him.

As the Miraculous of Curiosity chomped on his beef jerky, he commented offhandedly. "Whew, good thing you guys finished off that Akuma huh?"

There was a small silence as Alex scribbled the last parts of her homework - her mind going on overdrive because of the lost time spent trying to defeat the Instructor. She leaned back onto her seat as she spun her pencil around her fingers before looking at the Miraculous. "Yeah. Police got him too." She pointed out. "He even had that weird costume. Tonya told me that it was Mr. Johnsen." Alex didn't really see under the mask, and it's been a while since she had him as a teacher, so she didn't get it immediately.

Poyzz paused from his eating and then floated towards her. "The police got involved? I mean... how? Shouldn't he have turned back and no one else would know?" He pointed out.

A flash of worry came across Alex's face. "Turned back? When we left, he was still in his costume. Ah, but don't worry he's been properly dealt with." He reasoned with the Miraculous, finding herself growing more and more worried as time passed by with unconfirmed suspicions building up all too quickly for her liking.

Poyzz smacked his small paw onto his face. "I forgot to tell you about the Akuma didn't I?" He muttered in disbelief as he took another beef jerky as if preparing himself for another fight. Alex leaned forward to her Miraculous and listened intently; if anything, to try and piece together what wrong they did. "Y'see, what you fought wasn't a Miraculous User like yourself and those others. He's an akumatized person, born from negative feelings and that shiz." He wriggled his fingers to emphasize the point. "Now, you need to purify the Akuma so the akumatized person would return back to normal. You didn't purify anything, did you?"

Alex slowly shook her head as the horrifying thought dawned upon her mind. "Then... you mean... Mr. Johnsen is still a villain and could escape prison any time?" She questioned, heart beating faster.

Poyzz nodded. "With the order, yeah, he could."

"Damn, we need to warn the others." She said as she stood up. "I can contact them using the Miraculous right?"

Poyzz nodded his head again as he sat on her shoulder, having finished his beef jerky. "Before that though, did you see anything flying around? A bat?"

"Yeah, I did." Alex replied. She was pretty confident that the others noticed it as well.

Poyzz sighed. He knew what would happen and who was the cause of it now. But that didn't mean he could say anything to her. It was against their own rules. Poyzz just wondered if they could figure it out themselves. "You need to purify that. Don't worry you guys can figure out how. Good luck, Alex." He bumped his head against hers.

"Thanks." Alex then transformed into Furitta and then took out her communicator which was on her left gauntlet. She then began to call the other users as she leaped out of the window and onto the rooftop of the building next to her house.

"Hey guys, we have a problem. A big one." Now she was down to hoping that they didn't de-transform yet.

"I won't let a lady walk alone." he said, walking besreal Serpentine. "At least, not until we get really close to your place and you don't want me seeing where you live. If you want, though, we could show each other or secret identities." He knew he was rambling. He just didn't want silence. He waited a bit for her to speak in reply, only beginning to ask about her if she remained silent.

As the pair walked, Talon heard a noise coming from his tonfas. Pressing a button, he answered the call with a curious frown. "A problem?" he asked Furitta, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head. "You're gonna have to elaborate."

-----

Instructor sat in his cell, angry. "I'll show them." he grumbled. "They'll regret going against me." It didn't take too long before the bat returned, carrying the pieces of the whip. Using the bat's help, he repaired the weapon before using it on one of the guards to regain his freedom. He knew the mall would be out for a while. Best try the next popular teenage hangout. Luna's Lunar Lounge.

“That’s very kind of you, but I really don’t live that far from here.” Serpentine said between her teeth. Now that they were just walking and not fighting a supervillain she was starting to feel a little self-conscious in her suit. They were drawing some attention from other pedestrians, a few of which commented on how, “It ain’t Halloween yet y’all.” Luckily they were few and far between and Serpentine only had to grin sheepishly at a few people as they passed.

Talon didn’t seemed concerned with her slight objections, and began fumbling for something to talk about. What put Serpentine to pause was his suggestion that they should show each other their secret identities. “My Kwami said I should never tell anyone my secret identity…” Serpentine didn’t really sound convinced at her own words. She was surprised that Talon would bring this up now, she’d been thinking about it herself only moments before after all. How harmful could it be to tell him? She couldn’t deny that she was painfully curious to know who the boy behind the mask was. And Furitta’s too for that matter. Still, she’d only had a secret identity for little more than thirty minutes, and it seemed a bit too fast to be giving up that secret so soon.

Just then Talon’s weapon began signaling an incoming call, and Serpentine raised an eyebrow at the convenience of the tool. Her own battle fans must have that feature as well, and sure enough moments later her left fan began beeping, but she ignored it for the moment looking around Talon’s shoulder to talk to Furitta. “I’m here too Furitta? What’s the issue, did another bad guy spring up already?”

Alex was quite relieved to hear the two respond - and much to her luck and convenience, they were already together... or well, still together. "My kwami explained to me what we did wrong." She first started, keeping a lookout for anything suspicious or a horde of teenagers either running away or systematically moving - but so far, there was none. That was much to her relief. "To make the long explanation short, we need to purify the Akuma..." She looked towards Serpentine. "Remember that flying thing coming out from the whip? The bat? That was the one." She then tuned back her attention to the both of them. "We needed to purify that to turn Mr. Johnsen back to normal. Since we didn't, he's still in his akumatized form and will continue wreaking havoc... and I don't think the police can stop him."

She then paused. "Now, we need to break that whip again and purify that akuma." Alex still wasn't quite sure how to do that, but Poyzz said she'd figure it out. And honestly, she was just hoping that the others knew how to. OR else, well, they'll be there for a long time. At least she could use her special power again, but this did worry her a bit. Shaking her head ever so slightly, she returned her attention to the two. "I have a location or two where my fri-" She caught herself and cleared her throat. "Where teens usually hang around. But I' not too sure if it would be the Instructor's next target. You guys have any suggestions?"

Talon looked back and forth between the girls, confused. "Something came out of the whip?" He thought about what Beek had told him. "We have to destroy it." he nodded. "What did it look like?" he asked in curiosity. "Was it a bat?"

-----

Screams came from the direction of the coffee shop. It seemed Instructor was back at it again already. Furitta happened to be closer than the pair. Instructor was laughing as he cracked his whip again and again.

From the mall, his first set of zombified students began moving towards the shop, creating a panic in the streets near Talon and Serpentine. As they got closer, it would be obvious to the heroes they had already gathered quite a few teenagers. Many of the students ignored them but a few began trying to grab them.

The first cries hinting at something bad happening reached Serpentine and Talon fairly quickly. Glancing over her shoulder Serpentine gulped at the sight of a number of changed students rounded the street corner ambling over to where the two heroes stood.

“I think I might have an idea.” Serpentine told Furitta and Talon as the students drew closer by the second. “You guys have to trust me though, and Furitta you need to find us. We’re on the corner of Fifth and Wenburry, about a block from the mall. Anyway one of us needs to get ourselves captured, and they’ll take the captured hero straight to him and the other two can follow. We can defeat him the same way as before, then purify the akuma this time. And yeah it did look kind of like a bat Talon. It flew away once his whip broke, remember I told you.”

Now the students were getting very close. Serpentine kept one eye on them as she spoke to Talon and Furitta. “Now, who wants to be bait?”

Bella could only stare in faint confusion and shock at the small, partially opened, box that sat upon her dresser, her standing one the other side of her very large room. What she thought was just another present from her parents turned out to be a living, breathing, autonomous...toy called a Kwami. Of course the second she tried to originally open the box, this 'Kwami' had another plan, and waited for the box to be opened just a crack before busting through and screaming at the top of its lungs about partners, friendship, magic, and so on. Luckily, with no one in the house, Bella had free liberty to scream at the top her lungs, resulting in scaring the Kwami and sending it back to the box it came from.

And this is where we are now, Bella rooted to the floor in one spot and the Kwami in the box, peeking curiously at the blue haired girl. They remained like this for quite a while actually, that is, until the distraction of a resounding whip cracking and screams of other people through the open window facing the nearby outlets plenty of blocks away.

Giving the Kwami a side glance as she turned and hurried over to the window to possibly see what was going one, Bella placed her hands on the sill and frowned. Without a doubt, it had to be another crime...as if this wasn't enough for her to handle. Now she was at home, alone with what she thought was akin to an alien and was essentially helpless. Like most kids, she thought of ways that she would help on her own, but unless she was like the superheroes that usually saved the day in real life and in the comics, she couldn't do anything...

"...Do you want to help?" Startled by the sudden voice and how close it was to her ear, the bluenette jumped and stepped back a bit, her hands clasped tightly over her chest. Upon closer inspection, the Kwami looked like a rabbit, though she probably only got that when she saw the thing holding out a rabbit pendant, probably for her to take. Not sure on how to answer, Bella kept her lips sealed, and instead watched the Kwami's movement as it slowly got closer. "Come on! That's why I'm here! You got the stuff to be an amazing superhero! And the only thing you have to do..." Trailing off, the Kwami flew forward and circled around Bella's head with a happy squeal. "...is put this on and say, 'Hoppi, Ears Up!'" It explained quickly before practically shoving the pendant into the bluenette's trembling hands. "Come on! Come on! Hurry! People are in danger right this moment and only you can help them!" The Kwami continued to ramble on to Bella, who was even more confused now than a few moments ago. What kind of sick present did her parents give her?!

---

Bella was unable to hide the pure shock from showing on her face, as she was literally hopping from roof to roof as if it was nothing. Of course she was following the direction of where she head the screams and cries for help, but she was probably having a bit too much fun for her own good. She didn't really understand what was going on, but if she could help people with this, then she'd be happy to oblige.

Once she spotted the hordes of teenagers walking methodically through the streets of 5th and Wenburry, Bella crouched down and tried to stop herself, but this only lead to her losing her footing and thus falling off the medium sized building she was on. She honestly thought she was going to die, judging by the scream that left her mouth as she clutched onto her new green rabbit hoodie, but luckily(?), some of the teenagers managed to break her fall. Unfortunately for her now, she was now in the midst of a situation she had no idea how to take care of.

Eyes now wide with fear as she staggered to get back on her feet, Bella was rooted in place once again, unsure of what to do next or if she could even protect herself...

Furitta could already hear the chaos close to her. She began to make a map of the area in her head. The closest area would be... Luna's Lunar Lounge. Wasn't Hannah heading there earlier? She just hoped that Hannah was smart enough to head back home due to the incident in the mall earlier. The last thing she wanted was to fight one of her friends, even though she technically could just avoid her and that she wouldn't really be hurting her. Shaking her head once more to get the thoughts out of her head, she listened to Serpentine's suggestion.

"A bait?" She responded in an unsure voice. While the plan wasn't really all that bad, Furitta thought that maybe they could just storm the area. It ran too many risks in the plan. While she was thinking of what to reply, she was already heading to their position to meet up with them. "Fine, I'll do it." She replied, knowing that she could at least trust herself enough to know that she wouldn't get her Miraculous stolen or anything of the sort.

That was when she heard a loud scream and saw a... bunny girl (?) fall from a building. The teenagers managed to break her fall but now they were clambering all over her. Good thing she managed to escape. Considering how she looks in her getup, Furitta could tell that it was another one of them. Well that was good. However, it didn't look like she was even ready to fight - unlike herself and the others who felt the urge to fight to protect with amplified bravery even without formal training in fighing. Now that she thought about it, it wasn't exactly the brightest idea.

"Well then, I'll see you two later." Furitta told Serpentine and Talon through the communicator before deactivating it. She landed beside the Bunny girl. "Hey good to mee you. Furitta's the name. I'm gonna get captured by those guys so don't worry." Furitta at least wanted to explain their situation before charging so the Bunny girl wouldn't feel the need to come to her rescue. Charging straight towards the mass of glassy-eyed teenagers, she fought them off to get their attention on her and not to the Bunny girl.

When one of the teenagers caught one of her attacks, it all went downhill for her fight there as they managed to subdue her. Furitta didn't struggle as they began to drag her towards the Instructor. Good. That was good. Time to wait for the others to come to her rescue.

Bait? Talon wasn't sure he'd heard her right. But Furitta volunteered and ended the call before he could object. "I'm not entirely sure bait was necessary." he sighed. He heard a scream and looked over to see Furitta talking to another costumed person. She was Fred like a rabbit, which made Talon guess she had a miraculous. "Grab my legs and hold on tight." he said, beginning to spin his tonfa again. He waited for her to grab on before flying over to the bunny girl, letting Furitta get captured. "I'm Talon. This is Serpentine. Welcome to the team. Let's get back up to the roof. It'll be safer to talk there."

Fortunately, before she could make an even bigger embarrassment of herself, Bella was graced with the presence of another person dressed with an animal motif similar to her own. Was she...was she suppose to be a weasel or something? Unsure of if she should asked the masked woman what kind of animal she was in a time like this, said woman beat her to the punch and introduced herself as well as what she was going to do.
"C-Captured? But why?" She asked, but the other was already charging in, pulling the attention of the teens away from herself and onto her.

Maybe with the both of them they could have done something together, or possibly found refuge for people in need. Was this apart of some plan she had? And if that was the case, then wouldn't that mean she probably had other friends that could bust her out? Just as the thought crossed her mind, Bella was startled once again to see two people flying in the air towards her. Now it becoming a habit, her first instinct was to grab the front of her hoodie and pull it down in front of her face, scared that these people might recognize her, but then a realization dawned on her. That Kwami thing said that no one would know it was her unless she explicitly said it herself, so it didn't really matter how she acted around these people, right? Who knows, maybe they might be just like her in some ways...

Bella stepped back a little bit to give the two newcomers some room, playing with her fingers to calm her nerves. Seeing how casual they were being confirmed Bella thought about the 'capture' being a plan of some sort. With two more names she tried to remember, Bella frowned slightly, realizing that she needed a superhero name as well. Nothing came to mind at the moment so she kept quiet about herself and instead focused on getting up to the roof.
"Um, alright..." Bella spoke clear for once as she recalled how she was able to jump so far earlier before bending her knees and hopping up on top of the building she fell from with one jump.

Her landing was more of a stumble, but she managed not to fall, which was a sign of improvement, right? It was there that she was given a much better appearance of the two and while she could tell the tall boy was a sleek looking bird or some kind (an eagle?), she had no clue what the girl was suppose to be. Judging by the name, Bella would assume a snake, but once again, she kept quiet about it and instead focused on understanding what was going on...that is, until her mind went back to Furitta.
"Are you guys friends with that other girl? Wh-What if she gets hurt or something while we're talking? And those brainwashed p-people down there need help too, r-right?" She questioned, her expression dripping with worry.

Releasing Talon’s legs Serpentine tucked and rolled as she landed on the roof top. At least she attempted to duck and roll, her landing was more of a crash and burn. Picking herself and hoping Talon and the newcomer hadn’t been watching to closely, Serpentine shook off the queasiness of the brief flying episode. No matter how powerful she was in the suit she still didn’t like heights. She tried not to think about how high up they were at that very moment. Or about how she would get back down, most likely clinging fearfully to Talon’s legs.

“Yes we are, and hopefully she’ll be okay until we can get to her.” Serpentine assured the newcomer. “Nice of you to show up and join us, we were just about to go beat up a bad guy… Again. Except, this time we didn’t know where he was exactly. Which was why Furitta got herself captured. But its all part of the plan, we just have to follow them and they’ll lead us straight to Mr. Johnsen. Then we can destroy his whip and purify the akuma somehow. We’re still working on that part though.” Serpentine realized a little too late that this rushed babble would sound like nonsense to the ill-informed. Slowing down Serpentine took a few calming breaths, reiterating on what was important. “We’ve got a plan, and we know what we’re doing. I think, but we also need to act fast.”

She turned towards Talon. “Hey Talon, do you think you could trace Furitta from the sky? You’re the only one who can fly. We can follow your directions from the ground.”

Furitta followed the students as they practically pushed her towards Luna's Lunar Lounge. She could see people she knew in there and could hear some crying from another side. Right, a lot of them were being dragged inside. She wondered where the other heroes were because she was pretty damn sure that they're getting closer.

But then, she was pushed towards a room inside the Lounge. "Hey!" She shouted as the door closed. Furitta immediately slammed her body against the door. What the hell. She thought she was getting dragged directly to Instructor.

Or was she being held her as bait for her companions? Or was the Instructor planning something else for them. Furitta knew that she had to kick this door down to get out. Taking a deep breath, she began attempting to break down the door in hopes that she could get to the others before something bad happens.

Talon nodded as he tonfa popped open again. "From the looks of it, they seem to be dragging her down Park St. Only teen hangouts that way are Luna's Lunar Lounge and Double Dragon Karate Studio. I doubt he'd go after the karate kids, though. I'll fly ahead and check it out. Be ready for my call." With a smile, he leapt off the building before spinning his tonfas to begin flying. He was just showing off and he knew it. He didn't like being the only boot on the team. But at least he wasn't the youngest. It wasn't long before he was landing on the LLL building and looking around. He found a good way in and began sneaking around. He heard banging from behind one of the doors and stopped to investigate with a knock of his own. "Hello?!"