To armadas: Oh, Rose is going through a roller coaster… Hopefully it will all be worth it in the end. And Rose having "Daisy" is pretty hilarious! Although "Daizzi" actually comes from Journey to the West (one of the nicknames for Pigsy).
To yellow 14: They are really cute together!
The next morning, Kagami and the others joined Paola and her two companions in the restaurant for breakfast before they all left the hotel together and piled into the SUV for the brief ride to the Cidade Nova, where the Carnival festivities would begin that afternoon. Kagami found herself sandwiched between Juleka and Rose in the back seat; Luka had taken the middle bench with Kevin (K-Man) and Hector (Alpac-Man).
"Is this normally what it's like to go on a mission like this?" wondered Hector, staring out the window at the new decorations festooning the street down which they drove.
"Like what?" Luka asked.
"A lot of running around and work, and not a lot of sightseeing," Hector replied, chuckling.
Rose shrugged. "I wouldn't know," she answered. "This is my first time."
"Really?" Hector turned and gave her an evaluating look, wagging an eyebrow.
Kagami cleared her throat, drawing his attention and glaring at him through narrowed eyes. Hector swallowed and turned back to the window. "I suppose it depends," she told him finally. "Viperion and I have only done this kind of trip once, and that was by accident. But that time we were too busy staying alive to sightsee."
Kevin hummed. "If we're going to go on a mission to fight Murciélago and save people from his poison, I sure hope we get a chance to do it. I bet I can take him!"
From the front seat Mira called, "You'd better hope you're not trying to do it alone if you're facing the Bat. More experienced miraculous users than you have tried and failed."
"Yeah, but can he handle all eight of us?" asked Kevin, grinning eagerly.
"All the eagerness of youth," Paola observed, raising an eyebrow in amusement.
Kagami frowned. "Just don't get in one another's way when it happens," she warned. "If you do, then our numbers advantage turns into his numbers advantage." She met Luka's eye in the rearview mirror and smiled. "In some ways, it's better to have two people who know each other intimately and can fight together perfectly, than it is to have a whole army that can't work together."
As Kevin and Hector bickered about the mission, Kagami turned to look out the window over Rose's shoulder. Every other side street they passed had been cordoned off overnight to prepare them for weekend's street festivals. Vendors were arranging their stands, bands were rehearsing, and a small number of sightseers were already starting to move around and find seats for the parades – both the main parade at the Sambadrome and the neighborhood parades scattered around the city. Paola pulled into a reserved parking space behind the Sambadrome, next to the Red Cross tent, and all of them transformed, the SUV momentarily filled with lights that left spots in Kagami's eyes.
Onça Feroz turned to K-Man and Alpac-Man and, in brisk Spanish, ordered them, "Stay close to the Sambódromo and keep your eyes out for any signs of Murciélago. And if you even think you spot him, report it in. Above all, do not try to fight him yourselves."
K-Man nodded firmly and climbed out, followed by Alpac-Man, grinning eagerly. In sync, they jumped onto the scaffolding in front of the SUV and climbed to the top of the Sambadrome. Ryoku watched carefully as they moved in opposite directions along the back of the stands, hopping from one set of stands to the next.
Onça Feroz sighed, shaking her head. "They are eager at least."
Viperion glanced back at the others and raised an eyebrow. "Can you keep an eye on them?"
Bengalia's mouth set in a thin line, and she and Miss Pinky slipped out of the SUV to follow the two American heroes. In step, they raced through a tunnel underneath the stands and ran across the parade field toward the stands on the opposite side of the Sambadrome. A couple minutes later, Ryoku caught a flash of pink on the top of the opposite stands.
Ryoku pursed her lips, her eyes flitting up and down the parking lot around them. "How much do Os Guardas know?" she asked Onça Feroz. "About Night Bat, I mean."
"Nothing," replied Onça Feroz, shaking her head. "I told them that there might be a super-villain looking to cause trouble at Carnival, but nothing more than that. This is a miraculous matter, after all; we don't need everyone to know about the Atlantean Miraculous wandering about homeless. Even if Os Guardas are now our allies."
Viperion hummed contemplatively. "That's a fair point. But it would be good to let them know that if they do see a super-villain, they should let us know. I would hate for O Brasileiro to try to fight him and get himself killed." Onça Feroz nodded in acquiescence, and Viperion glanced at Hato Gozen. "Assuming Night Bat is here, you should probably stay at the Red Cross tent so he doesn't realize you're in Rio – you're our secret weapon, after all. Ryoku and I will roam around the city. After last year, seeing us might be enough to draw him out."
Hato Gozen shrugged. "I can help Mão Curadora while I wait," she agreed. "But when you see him, the Bat is mine."
Ryoku smirked. "I'll arm wrestle you for it!"
"I wouldn't mind another crack at him, myself," Onça Feroz observed, raising an eyebrow. "But for now I need to stay here to coordinate things." She glanced down at her wrist and nodded. "If he's following the schedule he gave me, O Brasileiro is doing a walk-through of the block parties in the north suburbs right now."
"We'll keep an eye out for him," Viperion told her as they got out of the car.
While Hato Gozen and Onça Feroz entered the Red Cross tent, Ryoku took Viperion's hand and followed his lead, walking in the opposite direction that Bengalia and Miss Pinky had gone, through the line of buildings that had been built up alongside the Sambadrome and into the neighborhood beyond. More and more people were starting to gather in the parking lot they walked through, from school groups wearing matching uniforms to bands and even a number of parade floats. Ryoku scanned each group that they passed, searching for Night Bat's beady black eyes in each face.
After walking up and down that side of Rio, later in the afternoon they were walking through a block that would be hosting a street festival the next day when Ryoku's miraculous-enhanced hearing picked up a quiet sob from the direction of a bus shelter. A slight stiffening in Viperion's posture indicated that he had heard the sound also. Ryoku squeezed his hand reassuringly before she let it go and jogged in that direction, following the sound of crying. The weeping grew louder the closer she came to the bench, so Ryoku knelt on her hands and knees and looked underneath. A small girl with blonde pigtails sat on the ground, hugging her knees, sniffling into her hand.
"Hi, sweetheart," Ryoku greeted her in English. The girl started, staring at her in fear. "Um… ¿Buenos días?" No response. "Bom Dia?"
"What are you?" the girl asked, also in Portuguese.
"I'm a hero," she replied, giving her a reassuring smile. "My name is Ryoku. And I am here to help people. Do you need help?"
Wide-eyed, the girl nodded. "My–my mom got lost."
Ryoku gasped. "Oh, how terrible for your mom! Can I help you find her?" The girl crawled out and grabbed the hand that Ryoku held out to her. "What is your name?"
"B–Bruna."
"Can you describe your mom for me?" Ryoku led her over to where Viperion was waiting near the middle of the street. "What color hair does she have? Is she as tall as my partner?"
"Um… her hair is like mine," Bruna began hesitantly. "And she's as tall as you. And she's wearing a Rio shirt!" she added.
"Okay – that's good," Ryoku praised her, squeezing her shoulder. "I'm going to find your mom, but you need to stay here with Viperion, okay?" Bruna eyed Viperion nervously. He smiled down at her, and Ryoku gave him a kiss on the cheek. "He's actually really sweet," Ryoku confided to Bruna. When Bruna took Viperion's hand, Ryoku held out her arms and called "Wind Dragon!"
It was less than three minutes later when Ryoku rematerialized in front of a very startled Bruna, who squeezed Viperion's hand tightly, hiding behind his leg. "I found your mom," Ryoku announced. "Just like I said I would! She's only a couple blocks away. Come on!" Bruna hesitantly looked at Ryoku before shaking her head and clutching Viperion's hand tighter instead.
"I guess we know who her favorite is now!" Viperion teased, swinging the girl up into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Ryoku rolled her eyes affectionately and led the way back along the main road toward the Sambadrome. They were only a couple blocks from the Red Cross tent when she slowed down and turned down the next street to find a woman with blonde hair talking to a police officer. "Is that your mom?" she asked Bruna.
"Mamãe!" Bruna squirmed out of Viperion's arms, dropped to the ground, and raced across to the woman, who turned around, gasped, and dropped to her knees, hugging the girl tightly.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Viperion observed wryly, taking Ryoku's hand and giving her a tug to return to the main road. Ryoku watched Bruna and her mother for a moment longer until she tore her gaze away from the sight and followed Viperion's lead. With a glance down at the time display on his lyre, Viperion let out a breath. "We may as well head back," he told her, turning toward the Sambadrome rising above the skyline in the distance. Someone in a bright green faux-leather outfit, carrying a curved diamond-shaped shield, turned onto the street a couple blocks ahead of them.
Ryoku cocked her head, staring at the figure. "Is that…?"
Viperion shrugged. "I don't know who else it could be."
O Brasileiro turned toward them and waved as they sprinted down the street to meet him. When they reached him, he held out his hand to Viperion, who shook it firmly. "Heroes of Paris?" he asked. When they nodded, he grinned. "Nice to meet you! Glad you joined us for Carnival, though I doubt you'll find much in the way of crime – people just don't want to hurt each other during the festival."
"As true as that may be," Viperion allowed, "you never know. It's always possible this year could be the exception."
O Brasileiro shrugged. "I hope you are wrong, though if not you can be sure they won't get very far – not with us around!" He glanced up and frowned. "The parade will start shortly," he told them. "If you'll excuse me…"
"We'll see you over there probably," Ryoku replied as he broke into a sprint toward the beginning of the parade route on the far end of the Sambadrome. The two of them continued at a slower pace, arriving near the Red Cross tent as the opening strains of the first band performance drifted to them above the sound of the crowd noise.
Viperion let out a heavy sigh. "I hope he's right," he finally told her.
"But you know he's not?" Ryoku prompted.
He nodded. "Yeah… I'm pretty sure he's not." He frowned. "I admit I'm a little nervous about having all five of us here, to say nothing of Onça Feroz's team and Os Guardas. What if something happens and we get into a fight with Night Bat?"
Ryoku grinned and squeezed his hand. "If that happens, then it'll be too bad for him," she replied. "Regardless of having the others around, there's no way he stands a chance against all four of us with you directing us – not on his own. Mira and I pretty much had him on the ropes last spring, and that was just the two of us without any experience fighting together; add in Jules and Rose and we can definitely take him now."
"I hope so," he agreed. "But what if it's another Tokyo? What if I have to make another choice? I don't want to watch you get hurt again. But I don't want to see Juleka or Rose hurt, either. And I really don't want to have to choose who lives and who dies…"
Ryoku put her hand on his cheek. "You don't have to worry about us," she assured him. "All of us trust you to make those decisions. If I have to get hurt again for us to succeed, then that's okay."
He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, resting his chin on her hair. "I hope that doesn't happen."
She hugged him back tightly, sighing in contentment. "I know you'll find the best way through it," she whispered.