[IC] Miraculous America

[Rockin Strings]

Talon watched Furitta with a smirk as she pierced the bat. Looking at the teacher, he changed back, remembering nothing of his time as the Instructor. With him out of the way and the brainwashed kids back to normal, it wouldn't take a genius to see Rouge-Bat was outnumbered. Talon flew as fast as he could, asking another kick towards the villain. Whether the kick landed or not, he began flying towards the window Serpentine had shattered when agree jumped through it. "Furitta, get out of here!" he called, nearing the window. "I'm almost out of time and you can't take him on your own yet!" He waited by the window, the kid in the gi ready to block the villain if he tried chaffing after the pair.

[Dusty]

“That. Was. Awesome!” Serpentine yelled patting Belle heartily on the back. The snake themed hero was surrounded by a number of very confused individuals who’d just been released from Mr. Johnson’s control. They were the folk marauding outside, freed once Furitta purified the akuma. That sat around blinking in the sunlight and rubbing at their eyes while they conversed amongst themselves over what’d occurred. None of them remembered of course, but they recognized a large patch of their memory was simply, gone. Serpentine ignored them, instead reenacting Belle’s exploits with her hands and words. “You were great bunny, you were like whoosh, boom! And then he was like augh, ow! And you used him as a trampoline and flew through the window. It was totally wild! Who are you?”

At that moment a single grousing, final bleep sounded from Serpentine’s miraculous and her suit began fading away, Ossar’s time spent to the last second. First the gloves and boots went, then the skirt and hood, shrinking and sparking into nonexistence revealing her sweat drenched school clothes underneath. Releasing an undignified squeak of surprise Tonya put her hand up to her mouth turning away from Belle and the window so no one could see her face. She tried to run but a second later the suit fizzled out of existence and Ossar dropped exhausted into her hands. “No, no, I – I’m sorry but I need to go.” Tonya yelled to Belle, hoping the other girl would understand and not follow her, and explain to the others. Clutching Ossar’s limp form in her hands Tonya sprinted away making for the nearest gas station available.

~*~

The rogue laughed, his humorous guffaws cruel and maniacal. In his left hand Rouge-Bat’s whip stiffened into a quarterstaff and he pointed it menacingly at Furitta, deeming her the greatest challenge to overcome. “What destruction girl? The wreckage of a few cars, and a hangout, and a mall? What is it to me or you in the greater scheme of things? We are beyond such measly, worldly comforts and distractions. We- I am powerful, and mighty beyond measure. I am not the starry-eyed and egalitarian young fool I once was, I have matured and see everything as it truly is, and so should you. You of all of them should recognize this, you look old enough to understand the futility of it all, but young enough to have not become captured in the web of lies this world tries to sell. I could make this world meaningful, I can make this world safer than it has ever been, I COULD SAVE THE WORLD FROM ITSELF!” The green displays that formed the eyes of Rouge-Bat’s suit flashed red and he set his feet into the ground bracing for Furitta’s attack.

“All I have done are actions deemed acceptable for the greater good, clearly you have no perspective you sniveling brat. If you won’t take the easy rout offered, then I shall force them from you the hard way. You cannot weasel your way out of this one! The Miraculouses are as good as mine!” The wire retracted sparking and whirring as it slid through his fingers clanking off the protective armor. Snarling Rouge-Bat sank his heels into the floor feeling the title crack beneath the massive Newtonian forces applied. The seismic sound rippled through the ground and air giving Rouge-Bat an almost prefect view of the Lounge. His echolocation in full effect he took a huge intake of air, holding his breath and falling backward. His body transformed, almost peacefully like a petal disintegrating into dust as he took on his mist-form. Thanks to his heightened sense and echolocation he executed this maneuver just in time to avoid Talon’s taloned boot. The move didn’t disable the flying hero who barely seemed to notice, instead he performed a one eighty and beat a hasty retreat across the lounge. Rouge-Bat released the oxygen trapped in his lungs and his body reformed allowing him to take a few deep breaths. Recovering fast he took his staff in both hands bringing the weapon down in an arc trying to catch Furitta and Talon both in a single powerful swing. “You cannot escape me you blind sheep, I AM ROUGE-BAT!”

[Tenma Tendo]

A bit surprised herself, Bella was greeted by an equally surprised and excited Serpentine, who patted her on the back, causing her to stumble forward a bit. She was barely able to cover the bright smile forming on her face at how the other was trying to explain what she did...and in all honesty, it was a lot better than what she could come up with. Taking a quick look around while Serpentine tried to do said explaining, Bella noted the glossy looks on the controlled's faces was replaced with a more confusing one. It was clear that they were freed from the spell they were under. How? Bella still didn't understand, but so long as everything seemed to be alright in the end, she didn't need to know right?

Bella's attention was soon brought back to Serpentine, who asked who she was. Of course she couldn't give her real name, but it wasn't like she had a name in mind. Before she had a chance to explain her predicament, a final, resounding beep came from the snake hero, her suit fizzling away as if it never existed in the first place. From the gloves to her hood, Serpentine was being de-masked right in front of her. Having at least some decency, Bella covered her eyes to avoid seeing who Serpentine really was, but not before unintentionally catching sight of some of her school clothes.

Hearing the girl state she had to leave, Bella nodded quickly, understanding that she was putting herself in danger by still being present and out of her suit.
"I-It's okay! Be careful out there! Oh, and it's...it's Usagi!" She managed to blurt out, surprising herself at the name she decided to give herself. The Japanese word for 'rabbit', huh...that would have to work then...

Unable to collect herself and run through the events that happened, Bella, no, Usagi, frowned as she heard what was going on in the building. She shouldn't get involved, and if Serpentine's transformation told her anything, it was that she was probably about to change back too.

Instead, she focused on the confused people surrounding the slight dangerous building.
"U-Uh..everyone! Please remain c-calm! Return to your homes or evacuate the area! If you are in need of medical attention, please let me know and I'll take you to the hospital!" She shouted out as she quickly began to herd the confused teens to where they needed to go.

[Polaris North]

Furitta didn't want to admit it. She really didn't want to. But Rogue Bat had really gone crazy - far beyond that which she imagined. She shook her head at the speech Rogue Bat let out. "I do realize this. The world isn't so black and white, just like how we all saw it as children." She admitted. She wasn't about to lie through her teeth and say that good's everywhere or some optimistic thing like that. She's grown out of that phase. Ever since she had seen the darker side of the world, she didn't quite see things the same anymore. It happens when you reach your older teenage years. Thing just change. You don't know when, you don't know how - it just does. Suddenly, you understand why adults do things they do when as a child you hated it.

"Tell me this, then. If you're really looking out for the world, then why not just do it with us? Why do you need to take our Miraculous away from us? We were given the chance to finally contribute to something that's important to us. I can't speak for the others but I want to help make the world a safer place, and you'll just rob that from us?" She knew there was no use in talking, but she continued on anyway.

When the wire zipped back to her, she clicked her tongue when Rogue Bat managed to expertly landed. She hated the guy, but she had to admit that he was pretty damn elegant. Furitta managed to flip back just in time for the staff to make an arc - so she avoided it. She spotted the one thing that might save their life - the control panels for the multiple tech for the lounge. Furitta looked over to Talon and muttered, "Go." She hoped he understood this as a signal to escape as she turned back to Rogue Bat. "If you ever think about teaming up, just holler alright?" Furitta pressed a button and smoke began to spew out of the smoke machines and created a thick cover for them.

Furitta turned and ran for the exit as fast as she could, and considering her Miraculous - she had gotten out of there in mere seconds. She spotted Usagi and then motioned for her to get the hell out while they had the time. "Transform back!" She mouthed. Once they were in their civilian forms, not even Rogue Bat could recognize them. Following her own advice, she quickly lept into one of the alleys of the city and transformed back before hurrying out of the area. Gods, she hoped the others made it out safely.

[Rockin Strings]

Talon watched the window from above as he saw Furitta leap out to safety. The bunny girl, whom he heard tell Serpentine her hero name as Usagi, seemed to be waiting for them. He called from the roof with a smile. "Get to safety, girls. I need to head home too. See you next time." With that, he disappeared, going they would be fine. It wasn't long before he was forced to change back. He caught Beek in his own palms before depositing him into his hood, followed shortly after by another Cadbury creme egg. With a long day of hero work finished, he returned home.

[Tenma Tendo]

As she was finally managed to get the rest of the confused people in the area to evacuate, Usagi was startled by the sudden smoke billowing out of the building in mere seconds. She was worried at first, that maybe something went wrong and that the other two superheroes were in danger, but seeing the two of them come out unscathed caused her to release a quiet breath of relief. Getting the gist from both of them that she could get going, Usagi bowed before taking her leave, pulling down on her rabbit hood in the process.
"Serpentine already left but be careful on you way back everyone!" She called out before bending her knees and taking to the skies, jumping to and fro to gain more distance away from the others in case she ended up suddenly changing back like she saw prior.

[Polaris North]

Alex had transformed back into her normal self once she reached a friend's house. Taken over by pure exhaustion, she couldn't even think of going back to her house. Poyzz had landed on her shoulder, also particuarly tired. The kwami didn't even speak before retreating into her jacket and heading into her inside pocket, nibbling on the beef jerky left out from earlier. Ringing the doorbell, she leaned on the railing beside the door and took a deep breath.

The door flung open and out came her friend. "Alex, you're okay!" The girl practically yelled as she threw her arms around Alex who returned it with a pat on her back.

"Can I crash here for a while?" Alex asked, letting out a yawn. "Just need a place to rest you know? All that shebang at Luna's Lounge really-"

"You told me you were at home!"

"Yeah well I lied." She smiled at her friend who let out an exasperated sigh.

The two headed inside and Jess let her stay in the guest room where she promptly hit the bed and nearly passed out after letting Poyzz out of her jacket. The kawmi promised to stay out of sight. Well, it wasn't like Jess would enter anyway since Alex did ask her not to disturb her for a while since she was really tired and the girl had agreed immediately. Out of all of the people she knew, she could really trust Jess huh?

[Dusty]

The tiny bell above the door heralded her entrance into the little convenience store on the corner of 2nd and Manze. Keeping Ossar hidden away in her pockets Tonya slunk to the back where the cold racks were, selecting bottle of whole milk from the array of cokes, Gatorades, and caffeinated drinks lining the shelves. Casting a nervous glance over her shoulder Tonya popped the bottle’s top, holding down close to her pocket.

“That shall do nicely Miss Tonya.” Ossar slithered from pocket and made as if to dive headfirst into the proffered bottle, but Tonya pulled it away closing the lip back up and doing her best to hide the fact that the seal was broken.

“Wait,” she hissed grabbing Ossar from where he was floating and shoving him back into her pocket. “I’ve got to pay for it first. Otherwise it’d be stealing.” Strolling up to the checkout counter Tonya placed the milk and a candy packet for herself next to the register. A bored, middle-aged women with a very wrinkly face stepped forward, painstakingly sliding the items across the scanner multiple times until an audible beep sounded.

“Did you see the news young lady?” The women asked, Tonya shook her head. Pointing over her shoulder at a fuzzy old television the woman drawled on, expressing a slow monotone that frustrated the tired and hurried Tonya to no end. “Some crazy man started attacking kids with a whip, twice. It made everyone go bonkers. Police are still trying to figure out what happened, but the local news is crediting Rouge-Bat’s return to stopping him.”

“What!”

“I know right, it’s been a long time since Rouge-Bat vanished, this city needs a brave hero like him again.”

“No, it’s bad!” Tonya argued sweeping her purchased items off the counter. “Those people, they must not be able to remember what happened, so of course when they came around and saw him running away they must’ve thought he’d saved them!”


“Wha- I don't understand?”

“Thanks ma’am, but I gotta go!” Spinning on her heel Tonya marched away, the aged cashier’s patronizing warning to remain careful ringing in her ears as she stepped out onto the street. Munching on her candy and allowing Ossar to have his fill of the milk Tonya inwardly fumed all the way home. Of course the ex-hero would take the credit for defeating Mr. Johnson. The city needed no further explanation than a slight rumor, and would continue to adore him despite his newfangled, albeit unknown wicked deeds. Tonya and her team needed some way to expose the devious scoundrel for who he truly was. And just as she reached home and opened the door to her room, Tonya thought she might’ve figured out just how to go about doing it.

[Rockin Strings]

Eddie woke the next morning with a groan. He smacked his clock to turn of the alarm before groggily sliding out of bed. Before he had a chance to go anywhere, though, Beak flew out from behind his hiding spot in Eddie's dresser. The teenager jumped before remembering the previous day. "Morning, Beek." he yawned, patting the Kwami on his tiny head.

Beek lazily flew over to Eddie's pillow, waiting for his friend to return. It was almost an hour later when Eddie ran in to finish getting ready for school. Beek, seeing a creme egg slide in Eddie's hood, flew as quick as he could to begin eating.

Eddie knew what time he had to leave to catch Tonya. He ran to catch up to her. "Morning." he smiled. He tried hard to hide his attraction towards her. He thought she only saw him as a friend or classmate. Still, it was a chance to get to know her and he would take what he could get. "Did you have trouble with the math homework?" he asked as he slowed to walk with her.

[Dusty]

Sliding out of bed like a slimy gelatinous mass Tonya stretched and groaned, her muscles aching from the previous day’s exertions. She sat hunched over on the disarrayed covers, easing the soreness from her back and thighs.
“No one told me being a hero would hurt so much.” She ran her fingers through her scraggly black hair and down her face, tracing the slight swelling forming under her jaw line. A souvenir from her bout with Mr. Johnson. Her father noticed the mark last night, and attempted to question its appearance. His initial concern was well masked, but Tonya suspected he fretted over whether she’d been one of the many kids brainwashed and injured yesterday at the Lounge. She’d denied ever going near the place of course insisting she’d received the mark on accident, and after a good deal of trying to press the subject he seemed to accept her explanation, and resigned to other topics of conversation. Though Tonya doubted he didn’t still suspect something amiss. It felt wrong bald-face lying to him like that, but Tonya also felt she had no choice. Ossar insisted she tell no one, giving root to all sorts of horror stories about Rouge-Bat hurting her, or her father should everyone and anyone know her true identity.

“He is a crier for the people is he not?” The kwami serpent would say every time Tonya broached the topic. “Though the sand might shift and change, and show any sign or symbol; once the wave crashes upon the shore the sand’s true face will always be revealed. Heed my warning young Miss Tabbet, only thou must know who bears the Serpentine Miraculous burden, and that is how it must stay.” Eventually even Tonya for all her wit and wile became lost in the web of analogies and anecdotes Ossar used and much like her father, dropped the matter altogether.

Stretching and yawning one last time Tonya set about preparing for the school day, brushing her teeth and hair, pulling on some clothes and throwing a few stray books into her bag. She spent a little extra time in her sock drawer, fishing around until she produced a video camera. That too went into the bag.

A single firm knock sounded on her bedroom door and her father stuck his head inside, nodding once he saw Tonya awake and more or less prepared. “You looked tired last night, I was worried you might sleep in. Come on, I’ve made breakfast. Hurry before you’re late.” After eating a rushed meal of oatmeal and apple slices with her father, Tonya made as if to leave, sneaking some pop tarts from the kitchen pantry as she headed for the door.

“See you later dad.” She called waving goodbye before descending the outdoor stairs of the apartment complex, stepping out onto the road towards school. She lived within a mile of the High School, close enough to walk without even breaking a sweat. Fellow classmates and friends occasionally joined her on the short walk too. One such classmate, a sweet boy about her age named Eddie came jogging up. She always found his mismatch eyes very strange, and he wore his hair in a ponytail. He was a little odd at times, but Tonya appreciated his presence. She’d been dying to tell someone her story, or, at least as much as she could tell other people without breaching Ossar’s warning.

“Hey, morning Eddie, yeah, yeah the homework wasn’t so bad. But you won’t believe what happened to me yesterday at the mall.” Tonya gloated not wasting second before diving straight into her tale. “You heard about what happened yesterday on the news, right? That creepy teacher attacking kids and stuff. Well I saw him, and something else. When these teens grabbed me, and started dragging me towards the guy, some masked kids in super hero costumes swooped in and rescued me. They had powers and everything. I got away after that, but they stayed and fought him. And I won too, if the reporters aren’t fibbing. Cool right?”

[Polaris North]

"Hey, wake up!"

Maybe it was the sudden shouting, or maybe it was because her muscles decided to spike in defiance, or maybe it was because of that horrible nightmare she had gotten, but Alex was awake now. And now, she figured that it took all three of those to wake her up, and she was normally a person who was easy to wake. But from what she could tell from the clock, she was already going to run late if she didn't wake up at that moment. It took another second to realize that someone was standing at the foot of her bed. With her hands crossed and her eyebrow raised, Jess looked absolutely done with what she was doing.

"Good morning sleepyhead." A smile broke onto the blonde girl's face. There were only a few things Alex could stand in the morning, when her mind was still racing to catch up to her already awake body, and the only friend she could really trust with her life was one of those. No matter how annoying she might seem to others... or how annoying she looked with that smug look on her face that clearly told Alex that Jess had beat her to the punch of waking the other up. "Mom cooked us breakfast. She threw a fit when you didn't join us for dinner yesterday, so I think you should join us now."

"Alright, let me just get prepared for school." Alex said as she stood up. Her friend nodded and then left to give her some privacy. She stretched her limbs - grimacing at the fact that it was aching more than her brain. Every single event yesterday was just as unrealistic as she remembered them to be. If you weren't there, you wouldn't believe it. However, the hovering kwami in front of her also reminded her that none of that was a dream and for better or for worse, she had to continue doing all that for what could certainly possibly be the rest of her life.

Comforting thought.

"Yesterday was a real doozy huh?" Poyzz claimed as he sat down on her shoulder as she stood up and began looking through the cabinets. She had stayed over for enough times to leave her clothing here. Even if others were to use the room, this cabinet was for her and her only. Guess Jess unlocked it before she woke up. "But you did good. The others did too but-"

SHe pulled out some simple clothing and placed Poyzz on the drawer looking away from her. "It's worrying that Rouge Bat is the one behind this?" She continued his thought as she started changing her clothing.

The kwami was kind enough not to turn around to speak to her. "Yeah, I mean, I get that us Miraculous would have to do whatever our master tells us to do but... how'd he get his hands on a Miraculous in the first place if he was like that?" Quite obviously, Poyzz wasn't around at the time Rogue Bat was at his prime. Alex went on to explain all about what he was like before and the Miraculous seemed to understand why the man possessed a Miraculous. For once, Poyzz stayed silent. Perhaps he realized the amount of betrayal Alex had felt when she saw her respected hero as the enemy.

Alex was not finished and then invited Poyzz to stay inside her inside pocket - something she had always considered when picking outfits - and then proceeded outside after promising the kwami she'll get him beef jerky later. She had happily consumed the breakfast Jess' mom cooked up for them. She had finished way faster than Jess, who was struggling to finish her own food. This sparked a pang of guilt in Alex's chest. Jess was recovering from her eating disorders. After her mother had found out, she did everything she could to help the girl get her appetite back. Alex felt partially responsible for not stopping it early - or at least, not having found out early.

After a few more minutes, Jess had finished though she had leftovers. They weren't about to push her to eat more. With that, the two friends left the premises. They spoke heartily about others things - though Jess did most of the speaking - and Alex veered off any coneersation about what had happened yesterday. Her sharp friend thankfully did not catch on. As they moved towards the school, one that covered everything from elementary to highschool - and one of the very few schools in this diverse city, she noticed two younger kids moving along.

They looked vaguely familiar. Had she been with them before on school excursions? She had always been put up to the task of accompanying the younger children, figuring that her calm demeanor would avoid conflict with any other children. Putting the thought aside, the girl was talking about the masked heroes that saved her from odd instructor. Oh, so that was why. The girl had been the one they saved before. At least hearing that was pretty nice. Alex kept walking with Jess, however, as she had no business with people below her year. It wasn't like she knew them personally either.

[Tenma Tendo]

Bella woke up with a slight start, her eyes slowly opening as if she was just pretending to be asleep the whole time. She was glad that she thought ahead once she returned home, via her room window, and took some medicine before heading straight to bed. And while she wasn't fully 100% as she normally would be in the morning, it was far better than waking up with muscle pains. Unfortunately, the cold feeling of loneliness washed over her when she realized that none of the housemaids even realized her absence, let alone questioned what she needed the medicine for.

The young teen's eyes slowly shifted to the silver colored jewelry box on her dresser, her sleepy expression now replaced with a curious one. With everything that happened last night, Bella had quickly grown attached to the little rabbit thing, immediately feeding her carrots after a job well done. A Miraculous, is what she, Hoppi, had told her just before she went to bed. Bella wasn't the type to question too many things, so when Hoppi spoke briefly about what this partnership meant and how she was now expected to do what she did the night before more regularly alongside other heroes, she quickly accepted. Being a superhero was far more cooler than being cooped up in such a large house with no one else to talk to. At least as Usagi, she didn't have to worry about people perceived her since they didn't know her true identity.

Slowly pulling herself up to a sitting position, Bella glanced at the wall clock that hung parallel to the wall her large bed was touching. She could still sleep for another half hour or so and still be on time, but instead of doing so, the petite girl hopped out of bed and hurried out of her room, messy locks of electric blue hair bouncing to and fro as she shuffled down the spiral staircase and into the kitchen. Greeting and thanking one of the housemaids as she was handed a clothed lunch box, Bella proceeded to get a few carrots from the fridge then bounded back up to her room. Shen then broke said carrots into uneven pieces before laying them around the silver jewelry box in a perfect circle. Hoppi seemed to still be sleeping so at least Bella could safely get ready for school without worrying about the other getting hungry...

Completing her morning routine by wearing an of white dress that stopped around her knees, a pastel pink beanie, white ankle socks and sneakers, Bella walked back over to her beside dresser to put on some bracelets, only to see Hoppi pigging out on the pieces of carrot she left behind.
"I could get use to this!" The Miraculous giggled before Bella caught her attention. "Ooh~ you look so cute! Have someone special?" Now this comment forced Bella's face to burn with embarrassment. "N-No! It's nothing like that a-a all. I-It's just how I like to dress." She stuttered as she took the rabbit pin and placed it on her dress. "Aw, don't be like that! I was just kidding!" Hoppi laughed, stuffing her mouth with a rather large carrot piece before hovering up in he air and hiding herself inside of Bella's beanie.

"R-Right...sorry..." Bella frowned as she sat at the very last step in front of her house entrance. She took off her shoes and replaced them with a pair of green and yellow in-line skates, as well as knee and ankle pads. Placing her shoes in her bag alongside her lunch, Bella left her home without a goodbye, nor a farewell.

Skating leisurely to school, Bella eavesdropped on various conversations, most of which pertained to the events of last night. And while she wouldn't want something like that to ever happen again, Bella couldn't help but feel a little joy when she heard people talking about her.

As Bella got closer to school and more students were walking the same general path, she tried to beat the 'traffic' by speeding up a little bit. This only seemed to backfire, however as she felt her elbow bump right into a dark haired upperclassmen walking next to a blonde haired girl. Almost immediately, the girl whipped around in her skates, her dress billowing slightly in the process, and bowed with both hands clasped in front of her.
"I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean to bump into you, really..." She spoke, her voice quickly dropping down to a whisper by the end of what she wanted to say. Too embarrassed to say anything else, Bella turned back to face forward, electric blue hair swaying from the motion, and skated away. As she was creating distance to avoid confrontation, Bella's eyes moved to a boy and a girl walking together. Were they dating perhaps? Or maybe just good friends? Sounded like they were talking about the incident too... Choosing not to be any more nosy, Bella slowly glided past them, glance curiously at them, before continuing onward.

[Rockin Strings]

"They rescued you?" he asked, smiling. "That's good. I would want anything to happen to you. You're practically the only person I cab talk to about certain things."

He heard a younger girl apologizing to an upperclassman and glanced back to see she was wearing skates. "Nice wheels." he called to her, holding his hand out for a high-5 as she passed.

He then turned his attention back to Tonya. "What do you remember about them?" he asked, spinning to walk backwards. "I think I saw them at Luna's but there were too many zombie kids and I ran."

As the pair talked, Beek carefully peeked out, looking around. He looked over Eddie's shoulder and gasped in surprise. Was this girl the snake? Beek knew he couldn't tell Eddie but he wanted to at least see some of his old friends He remembered being young, although it was a few millennium ago, playing with Ossar and the others as they each learned what they were meant to be. He began formulating a plan, one he would have Eddie tell the rest of the heroes at a later date.

[Dusty]

“I didn’t realize…” Tonya couldn’t help but feel a little confused by Eddie’s admission. She’d never considered herself a sympathetic ear to him, or vice versa, and his chosen words implied so much more trust between them that she never even knew existed. Tittering nervously Tonya tried to redirect the conversation back towards more comfortable waters, discussing yesterday’s fascinating events. Her ability to share details was limited, more by practicality and adherence to Ossar’s instructions then diminished memories. Everything remained fresh in her mind, from their first battle with Mr. Johnson, to Usagi’s appearance, and finally their escape from Rouge-Bat and the conclusion of their day-long confrontation.

“Well, the news reports claim it was all Rouge-Bat’s doing that saved the day.” Tonya rolled her eyes, showing obvious annoyance at this claim. “However I didn’t see Rouge-Bat doing any fighting, and I know all about him. My dad wrote about him nearly every day when he was actually here saving the city. There was four new heroes from what I saw.” Tonya stalled for a moment, worried that her story might fall apart. Her part, or at least the part that she could tell without revealing her identity as Serpentine, was limited to the knowledge of only two heroes. Talon and Furitta. Her own entrance as Serpentine dated after her rescue and supposed escape from the mall, even more so when it came to Usagi eventual arrival. She doubted Eddie was actually Talon, but any of the girls walking and talking all around them could listen in and potentially be one of the other heroes, calling her out. The chance was small, but there was always that chance. Lowering her voice Tonya continued her story, hoping Eddie didn’t key in on her change in tone.

“The first was a ferret hero, I think I heard her name was Furitta, she had these little ferret ears and everything. She was the one who initially saved me. Then there was, ah, the rabbit hero Usagi, she wore like this green dress and could bounce really far. And thirdly, the coolest one I thought was Serpentine, she had like these metal fans for weapons and this red and blue scale armor, like a snake. Those were the girls, and then there was Talon. He was…” Tonya wasn’t sure how to describe Talon properly without getting too personal, so she left it at that, once again changing the subject to avoid embarrassment. “We’re almost to school, c’mon I’ll race you to the door.”

[Polaris North]

Alex continued to listen to her friend's rambling while also trying to eavesdrop. However, the girl didn't get much information from the two younger students and from Jess. However, because of her focus on everything else, she didn't hear the telltale signs of someone on their skates. It wasn't a bad crash into each other - it was just the rider's elbow brushing against her.

The young girl spun around almost immediately and apologized. "It's..." Before she could finish her very short sentence, the girl already sped away. "Fine. And she's gone." She rubbed the back of her head. She looked like she was a pretty shy and nervous young girl. While she would have liked to assure the girl that it was completely fine, since it wasn't even anything bad, but she was already gone.

She'll just keep her in mind for later. It should be easy to find a blue haired girl in their school.

"Wasn't that the Frazier kid?" Jess questioned as she watched the retreating figure.

Alex looked back at her blonde haired friend. Frazier - wasn't that a rich family? She looked back at the blue haired kid and then back at Jess. "That so? Huh, I didn't notice..." Well, it didn't really matter.

The two friends finally got to the school. Hopefully, this day would be a normal day. She got so drained from yesterday that she wasn't even sure if she could pull it off today as well. Alex wasn't sure of what would happen if another villain would appear today, but hopefully, Rouge Bat would take a rest today as well.

"In any case, we have to hurry to class. Ms. Rowler told us we have a quiz today right?" Alex pointed out, crossing her arms in thought.

Jess blanched and it had become obvious that she wasn't expecting that. Alex rolled her eyes as her friend started panicking. Alex reassured the girl that she would be fine. Biology class wasn't too bad. It was more difficult than when they were in middle school, but she wasn't having that much trouble. Jess quickly opened Alex's bag and then took her Biology notes - laughing and telling her that she'll be borrowing it for a while.

---

Luna's Lunar Lounge

A young woman sighed to herself. She had been the one on duty at the time when that... villain person and those hero guys fought. And now the owner apparently wanted for her to clean up because it was her fault. She wanted to just get this over with. They call themselves heroes but they don't even help with cleaning up. They just wanted to fight - not to help. Yeah, that was it. Those people weren't heroes. If they were, they would have helped out.

They weren't heroes.

[Rockin Strings]

Rouge-Bat approached the girl from behind, releasing a bat to bite her and bury into her spray bottle. "You now have the power to take down those so-called heroes. All you need to do is give me their miraculouses. Obey me and we will save the city from them and show everyone how those teenagers and nothing but troublemakers." He laughed, reaching for the girl's shoulder. "Show them the power of the Baristriss and Rouge-Bat! Now, start some trouble. They're bound to show up son enough."

[Tenma Tendo]

As she made her quick escape from the two upperclassmen she assumed she interrupted, Bella was caught off guard by a boy complimenting her skates before raising his hand in front of her. What...what did he want, exactly? Completely clueless to what the boy was trying to do, Hoppi had to jump in in order to help Bella out.
"High five! High five!" The Miraculous whispered, causing Bella to let out a quiet 'oh' before smiling sheepishly and connected the high five with a little laugh. "Th-Thank you very much." She responded, speaking to both the boy and Hoppi. Who knows what would have happened if she didn't say anything?

Eventually getting to school about a minute or so after the altercation, Bella quickly changed to her sneakers before heading to her classes.

[Rockin Strings]

Eddie took notice of Tonya's tone shift but said nothing. He had a feeling she was not telling him everything. Then she told him about the heroes. When she got to Talon, she stopped and tried changing the subject. After she said she wanted a race, he reached to grab her shoulder. "What's wrong with Talon? Did he call you cute or something? Do you like him or something?" He had a feeling she would try to dodge the question. He stopped in front of her, looking in her eyes. "You're hiding something from me."

Eddie didn't realize Beek was looking over his shoulder. If Tonya and the 2 older girls were looking carefully, they would be able to see him. Beek didn't know he was almost in plain view as he was looking for a place any of the other Kwamis could be hiding. He thought Ossar could possibly be hiding in her hair or her bag. But she might be Usagi... Hoppi... Where would that little rabbit be hiding? He couldn't think of where. Everything seemed to be lost as he fell back asleep, nearly falling to the ground.

[Dusty]

Shocked by Eddie’s sudden intensity Tonya stopped dead in her tracks, staring down at the sidewalk as if to find the answer inscribed there. Worried others might begin whispering about the confrontation Tonya slapped Eddie’s hand from her shoulder and tried to walk away only to find the boy standing in front of her, interrogating her over the hero Talon. Embarrassed and angry the girl placed her hands on her hips, glaring up at Eddie, her face flushing crimson and red. “No I don’t, I mean he didn’t, he’s not, well… Why are you acting like this all of a sudden, and what’s it to you? Talon might’ve called me whatever he wanted, but you can be sure that he was nicer and more tactful than you!” People were definitely listening now, their fellow classmates had stopped all around them and were curiously watching the spat going on in front of the school doors.

Huffing in short temper Tonya dodged around Eddie stalking away from her classmate, feeling ashamed at her outburst while simultaneously irritated by Eddie’s questions. “Just leave me alone alright Eddie, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” Storming away in high dudgeon she failed to notice Beek, however Ossar peering out from the base of her neck hidden beneath her brown hair blinked once in recognition of the eagle kwami before vanishing back into his hiding place.

[Polaris North]

"Such an interesting school you have here." Poyzz said with a small grin as he peeked out of Alex's jacket - looking back from where she had come from. The kwami had seen the others - mainly just Beek since he was the only one who was in plain sight. Why Beek had been so obvious in his hiding place was beyond Poyzz but he decided that it didn't really matter anymore as he was pushed back into the jacket.

"Don't do that." Alex whispered as she disguised pushing back the kwami by fixing her jacket. "Someone might see you and we'll be in a whole lot of trouble." She continued. She didn't want to explain why there was a floating, talking stuffed animal with her. That would be a headache she did not want to deal with. Not right now at the very least. It was a good thing Jess was not paying attention since she was too busy with studying to notice Alex's struggle with herself.

Alex turned to see the young girl from earlier storming into the school. The decision to ask her what was wrong passed through her mind but she decided to let it go. She didn't know the girl personally so it would probably look weird and she might not like her stepping too much into her boundaries.

The two entered their classroom and was immediately thrown into the quiz. Ugh, she hated how the teacher started early despite everything.

---

Luna's Lunar Lounge

Baristriss blinked as she was transformed into something. She looked at Rogue Bat and then nodded - amused - by the development. Spinning the spray bottle in her hand and then grabbing a bottle from her stash, she grinned. "I shall get their Miraculouses for you." With that, she broke away from the former hero and then headed out. She threw the bottle at the ground near a group of people and it exploded - releasing what looks to be purple gas. The people inside began to cough and fall before passing out. What better way to attract these so called heroes than wreaking havoc in the city?