Miraculous World: Georgia Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Teamwork

It was dark in Lizzy’s room. That happens at midnight, though, especially when the girl in question wasn’t sleeping there. The sisters liked sleeping in the same room when they could, something they had done since they were barely old enough to decide they wanted to, and the room they did it in was Sarah’s. This meant that, for the first time in a while, Dag the Whale Shark Kwamii was free to float around. Lizzy was a reader, so he got to enjoy a few of her books. Including giggling at a joke book. His deep voice echoed a bit in the empty room, but he didn’t have to care. It wasn’t like anyone would find him.

“Dag? Dag, is that you?”

The voice was a woman’s, but it wasn’t Lizzy’s. No, the whale shark Kwamii dropped the book to see a flamingo hovering in the middle of the room. Varod. Another Kwamii. “What are YOU doing here? I thought Liirii and Sparrow wanted us to scatter?”

“She did!” The flamingo was as confused as the whale shark. “I was granted to a partner after she proved herself worthy!”

“So was I!”

“All of America available and two of us end up under the same roof? Five states away from where we were granted? What are the chances?”

In between them, a penguin popped out of the floor. “How about three?” Both of the others had to suppress yelps of surprise as Kerah kept talking. “I got hungry and went for a snack when I heard voices up here. So, all three of the girls were worthy, I guess. We aren’t allowed to reveal them directly to each other… but I think I have a plan for how to let them figure it out.”

It was about seven hours later, bright and early Monday morning, and five people were gathered around the breakfast table to eat and get ready for their day. The omelets were great, the parents enjoyed their coffee, but the chatter was about one thing. Heroes. Normally Anna would be the one dominating the conversation, but this time Sarah was the one who was all in on it. “Can you believe it? FOUR young heroes showing up in a week?”

Her father took a deep breath before answering. “Yep, four of them. All unregistered vigilantes, looking like impulsive high schoolers. They have a lot to learn if they want to be real heroes.”

“Impulsive? I don’t know about that. Tux and Deep Blue look like they know what they’re doing, anyway. Blaster’s doing a lot of damage, and I don’t know about anyone who calls themself The Present Feather. What kind of featherhead would do that?”

Anna twitched a bit at that, but kept on eating as she reached for her chocolate milk. Lizzy smiled as she nibbled on her toast.

Their mother was the one to reply. “It doesn’t matter if they’re effective or not, none of them are doing this the right way. The rules exist for a reason, and if they can’t follow a few basic steps then how are we supposed to tell them from the supervillains? Anyway, all four of them are making rookie mistakes, too. Getting hurt, leaving collateral damage. They need training.” Her watch beeped at her. “Looks like we got sidetracked. Again. Finish up, girls, you need to get to the bus stop.”

The controlled chaos of the morning dissolved into a scramble as the girls ran to get their bags and get out the door. Their mother hopped into the car to get going to work as their dad shouted something about getting the dishes before he went out himself. All in all, a normal Monday morning in the Fischer household. This time, they all made it to the bus without further incident.

School was… well, it was school. Morning classes went as smoothly as they ever did, even if Anna had to scramble a bit to make sure her homework was done for English Lit. Still, she got it done before her teacher asked for it, and that’s what counts. Same with her second period, then lunch time. While her sisters liked to stick near the edges of the cafeteria most days, if they even ate inside (and it looked like Lizzy was taking advantage of the sunshine to eat outside instead), Anna always went to the heart of it all. In the center was always the best place to hear everything. Today proved no different.

The boys’ table was not one she liked sitting at. Too rowdy, too much to prove, but boy was the gossip good. One of them, a blond sophomore named Paul, had sunglasses on. He was saying something to his friends, though. “Yeah, got a doctor’s note about it yesterday evening. I was working on some electronics and the light just flashed in my eyes from two inches away, I could hardly see anything the rest of the evening. Doctor says I’ll get it back in a day or two, but it’s slow. I get to wear shades until then.”

Wait a second. Blond, right build, and half-blinded by a light flash? Oh, I’d bet my birthday gifts this year that he’s Blaster! Wait, if he’s Blaster, and I’m Bright Feather, could the other two heroines be at this school? There are only a couple of others in the area.

She tried to run to tell Lizzy, but by the time she got to the door her middle sister wasn’t in sight. There would be no telling where she was! Though, if she had known, Anna might have tried to catch up. Lizzy was about four feet outside the door and to the left, out of sight and talking to her backpack.

“What is so important that you’re risking being seen, Dag?” Lizzy kept looking around, wondering if someone was going to come across them.

“Look, just got a sense. You need to be at the baseball field behind the school, as Deep Blue, as soon as you can after the last bell.” Dag’s deep voice came from her backpack, but quietly enough that it would not carry. “Do you have any fish in the lunchbox? I might get hungry afterwards.”

“You know it. Alright, I already used up my freebie, so I hope that Slipstream and Tidal don’t show.” She looked up at the clock and realized that she only had a few minutes before the end of lunch. She grabbed a protein bar from her lunchbox, ate it as fast as she could, drank her juice box, and got running towards her next class just before the bell.

All three of the sisters had gotten messages like that during lunch. Their bus was almost always the last one to leave, too, so they thought there might be time to get what they needed done and still make it back on schedule. Hopefully.

The last bell rang, and in three corners of the school three quiet call were made:

“Kerah, skate!”

“Dag, from the depths!”

“Varod, stand tall!”

As the students streamed towards the front of the school, the back was empty. Baseball was not going on today, and physical education was over for the day, too. When the tuxedo-clad form of Tux landed on home plate, the baseball diamond was empty.

“Okay, Kerah. I know you can’t respond, but where is this emergency…”

A large form hopped over the fence at first base. “You got a warning, too? Tux, isn’t it? I saw you on the news.”

Tux nodded back. “I am. You’re Deep Blue. I saw you, too. If it was enough for two people to get the call then I’m glad to have the assistance here.”

“Three people!” A smaller woman, clad in pink armor, landed on third base. “I’m Bright Feather. Looks like something big must be coming.”

Tux looked to the left at her. “At least you’re working on that name.” There was a noise in the distance. All three of the rookie heroines looked over… and up. They could barely see it in the distance, a helicopter was high in the air and heading their way. All of them recognized it. The news helicopter, probably carrying that same reporter who had been catching the attacks recently. It was Tux who put two and two together fastest. “He’s constantly following monsters! If that helicopter is in the air, get ready!”

Almost before the words left her mouth, he struck. From across the field, a cold wind blew. In New York, that would have been unremarkable. In Georgia, that was as rare as the sun deciding to rise in the west. Suddenly, a dust devil rushed across the open grass, and when it reached the second base it stopped. Hovering there was a tornado the size of a large man, red eyes glowing with anger and a dark core within. The eyes narrowed, seemingly in shock but it was hard to tell. “Three heroes come to fight me? Fine then. None of you can do anything to me, and the other heroes aren’t here to save you this time!”

Elemental charged straight over the pitcher’s mound, right at Tux! She managed to leap to the side and swung her axe at him, but it didn’t seem to do anything. Bright Feather leapt in to defend the tuxedo-clad hero, but her own ribbon didn’t find anything to grab onto. With an evil laugh, Elemental summoned a burst of wind to blow the two of them backwards, just in time for Deep Blue to get up to him and take several swings with her oar. None of them hit, either, and his next attack threw her back into the pile of heroines.

Tux got to her feet. “This isn’t working! Our weapons don’t have anything to hit!”

From next to her, Bright Feather was standing dusting off her armor. “I can see the core! That was his weak point when I fought him, but it doesn’t look solid this time.”

Deep Blue knew the answer as she got herself ready. “He absorbs elements from his environment. Looks like we can’t hurt air… but you two wanna bet we can hurt something else? Just have to force him to absorb it.”

Tux’s eyes widened. “That’s it! Girls, I saw your powers on the news, and I think I know how to do this!” They exchanged words quickly as Elemental gazed on, seeming to wonder whether they would just decide to run away.

Here’s a hint, they didn’t.

“GLIDE!” Tux dashed straight in, moving way faster than the creature thought. The whirlwind might not be able to be hurt, but trying to do anything to the tuxedo-clad speedster wasn’t working either and he was getting frustrated. Suddenly, she leapt backwards, just in time for…

“TITANIC!” The suddenly-huge Deep Blue jumped at the whirlwind monster, who had allowed himself to get drawn out into the dry and dusty midfield. When she landed, the impact kicked up a choking cloud of dust. Elemental had just enough time to realize Deep Blue had her eyes closed for some reason when another shout came.

“DAZZLE!” He was looking straight at the bright-pink Bright Feather when she suddenly got much, much brighter. A detonation of light and sound blinded him, and though he couldn’t be hurt the pain was plenty.

He couldn’t see as Tux reversed course and shot straight back in, the dust now clinging to his body and outlining a piece of him in the middle. When she swung her axe, she struck his core directly, and this time it was solid enough to hit. With an agonized scream, Elemental turned and ran as fast as the winds could carry him. Up and away from the school, to where nobody knew but him.

There was silence, briefly, ended by the cheers of the three heroines. They had done it! They’d chased off Elemental without help!

There was a sudden clang, the sound of someone vaulting over the fence, and they were no longer alone. Clad in blue and orange, the blonde hero Blaster was there, looking around with wide eyes. Eyes that were mostly hidden behind dark shades. “What the?”

Tux looked over at him. “You’re a few minutes late, Blaster. We already took care of this one. Maybe we’ll let you help if you’re on time next time.”

“Oh, heck no. I’m out of here!” He turned, jumped back over the fence, and ran off.

The three of them giggled a bit at the embarrassed boy, but the giggles were interrupted. Beeping sounds came from all three of them. Bright Feather looked at the other two sharply. “Wait, you two are powered by Miraculous, too?” She looked down at her bracelet. “Oh, no! It looks like we only have a minute left!”

Deep Blue looked around quickly. “There’s no cover out here to hide in, and that helicopter is still in the sky. We can’t let a reporter see us transform back!”

Tux saw the solution. “You two aren’t going to like this. Door to the gymnasium, hurry!” The three took off at a sprint, Tux getting there fastest thanks to the last few seconds of Glide she had left and throwing open the door. Behind it was the empty gymnasium, but the bleachers were flat against the wall and there was no large equipment there. “There’s no time for us to hide from each other. Looks like we get to find out exactly who we are. Are you two ready?” They nodded.

Tux stepped forward. “Kerah, chill.”

Deep blue was next. “Dag, return to the depths.”

Finally was Bright Feather. “Varod, stand back.”

Sarah, Lizzy, and Anna found themselves standing in a circle, their Kwamiis with them. The humans all wore expressions of shock. Of all the possible people the other heroes could have been, the sisters? They had eaten breakfast together THAT MORNING.

Give Sarah credit, she recovered fast. “Anna? YOU’RE Present Feather?”

Anna nodded. “Bright Feather, but yep. I’ve been trying to practice at it.”

“Okay, I officially apologize for half of the times I made fun of your superhero name.”

“Half? What about the rest of them?”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’d have said those whether I knew it was you or not, so I’m not apologizing for them.”

“GIRLS!” Lizzy interrupted them. “I think we’re missing something important. Dag?” She looked at the whale shark Kwamii, who was digging in her backpack for the fish still in her lunch box. “How long have you three known?”

He peeked out of her backpack. “We only figured it out around midnight last night.”

Lizzy frowned. “Well, I’m glad you all warned us about the attack.”

The floating penguin, Kerah, looked embarrassed. “We actually didn’t know about that! Dag, Varod, and I just thought that if you met up you’d work well together.” The other two glared at him. “Alright, and I thought you might be able to figure out each other! We aren’t allowed to tell you the identities of other Miraculous holders until you do.”

Sarah shook her head. “I guess it worked out, then. We can talk about this later, but now comes the hard part. I know the buses have to be gone by now and that attack was definitely on the news. Mom and Dad are going to be worried sick!”

Lizzy already had her phone out and was dialing. “Wish me luck.” The other two waited with breath held as Lizzy put the phone on speaker.

It rang once before their mother picked up. “Lizzy! Where are you three? There was a monster attack at your school, then none of you answered your phones, your father and I are worried sick!”

“We’re alright, Mom! The attack made us miss the bus, but we’re all safe. Can… you come pick us up?”

“I’ll be there in six minutes and you three had better be waiting for me up front when I get there!” There was a click, and the line went quiet. Sarah and Anna let go of the breath they had been holding… and then the three of them ran to get to the pickup circle. Monsters were one thing, but none of them wanted to risk an angry mother.

About seven or eight hours later, after many tearful reassurances and the girls getting to sleep, the three Kwamiis were floating in Lizzy’s room again. The plan had definitely succeeded, but there was a lot for them to talk about. Kerah the penguin started. “Okay! Now that they know each other’s identities, they can work together way better. It’ll help us train them, and they’ll be stronger with  teamwork.”

Varod did a backflip in the air, just happy that bit of stress was gone. “They can cover for each other, too, in case one has to go be a hero. Being able to talk to their best friends about this stuff will really help.”

Dag nodded. “We just have to be careful. The two real heroes didn’t show up, but the girls definitely got caught on camera doing superhero things when they should not have. If Slipstream and Tidal figure out who they are, it could be game over.”

“You’re a few hours late on that one.” Through the window floated two more Kwamiis. One brown, one tan. Maya and Mishpah, the Otter Kwamiis of Family, did not look happy. The brown boy, Mishpah, was the speaker. “The heroes know who your Miraculous holders are, now. We all figured it out today after that stunt of yours. What were you thinking?”

Kerah stood tall. “We were thinking it would be best for our partners.”

Maya shook her head. “Slipstream and Tidal sent us to warn you one last time. You’re all in deep trouble, and I do mean all six of you.” She fixed the penguin, whale shark, and flamingo with such a sharp glare that they floated back a foot or two. “If you get spotted again before going through the process right, they’re going to seize your Miraculous. We can’t have that power in irresponsible hands!”

Tux exhaled sharply. “And what happens if the girls get attacked again? Are they just supposed to let a monster roll right over them?”

Mishpah looked at them all. “If there is a next time, then you need to help the girls hide then come get us. Don’t make us have this conversation again. It will not end anything like the way you want it to. Come on, Maya, we need to go.” The otters floated out through the window, leaving the other three with much more serious topics to discuss before their holders woke up.