To yellow 14: Actually, I'm pretty happy with where "Knight" ended; anything after that would just be stating the obvious. A couple of the last "Patrol Logs" in the first volume showed how Nath and Marc's relationship had changed, as well as some indication of how Ondine has been handling her newfound knowledge that Kim is a hero. However, the story for the Teutonic Knight isn't over: I already have the sequel to "Knight" written, exploring how Dietrich continues as an open, public hero. That story will come directly after "Rite."
As the parade began marching down the center of the Sambadrome below them, Bengalia clambered to the top of the stands, looking down over the enormous crowd that had gathered to watch the school groups and bands processing down the street. According to Onça Feroz, other smaller parades and parties were happening all across the city – Miss Pinky and Alpac-Man had gone to take a lap around the city and check on as many of those as they could, while she and K-Man watched the main event. Bengalia's lips turned down into a frown. Why did Onça Feroz feel the need to separate them? Perhaps they were more experienced than either K-Man or Alpac-Man, but the two of them worked together so much better. And while she trusted Miss Pinky and knew that she could protect herself, after last summer… She let out a breath. If Night Bat was here and he hurt her again, Bengalia would introduce him to her claws. Down below she could see Viperion and Ryoku working their way through the crowd on ground level along the stands on the opposite side of the parade; near the far end of the parade route was a man in green who matched Onça Feroz's description of O Brasileiro.
"Ever been to something like this?" asked K-Man, balancing on the edge of the stand, his dark green miraculous suit almost disappearing in the twilight. Lights from the parade below them reflected off of their miraculous suits and illuminated the sky above.
Bengalia shook her head. "Not exactly," she replied. "We have plenty of parties and parades and stuff in Paris, but none quite like this." She allowed herself a small laugh. "Although I suppose the last Heroes' Day parade got pretty close!"
He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Heroes' Day parade?" he wondered, turning to examine her fully. "An entire parade just for the Heroes of Paris?"
She nodded. "A few years ago the city started the parade as a way to say thank you to Ladybug and Cat Noir," she explained. "Now it's a celebration of Hawk Moth's defeat."
"Huh." K-Man chuckled. "You're lucky. We're so secret, I don't think anyone really knows about us. So no parades for us…"
Bengalia shrugged. "Well, you also don't have to deal with people like Hawk Moth on a regular basis," she pointed out. She clenched her jaw. Unbidden, the memory of waking up after her second Akumatization came back to her, of watching her heroes – whom she now knew to be her friends – celebrating together after an exhausting battle. Of knowing that her emotions and her insecurities had been used by Hawk Moth in another attempt to hurt people. And now they were here in Rio, searching for another miraculous-using villain. "Nope, now it's just Night Bat."
K-Man grinned. "If we defeat him, do you think they'll throw us a parade?"
Bengalia raised an eyebrow and hummed. "If we defeat him, I'm pretty sure the world should throw a parade!"
He laughed, his eyes drifting back down to the parade continuing past below them. "So, do you have any outfits looking like that for your parades?" he wondered, nodding toward a group of women flanking an enormous float and wearing elaborate, ornate outfits bedecked with jewels and feathers.
Bengalia took a closer look and stared at them, her jaw dropped. She had worn some strange and unusual outfits in her year of modeling for Agreste – Marinette's winter line had included a couple of more elaborate outfits that she had only included as eye candy to draw attention to the advertisements – but nothing quite like this. Her eyes narrowed against the brilliant lights and swirling colors, she stared at the closest woman. Covered in swirls of beads over skin-toned cloth with a wild feathered headdress weaved into her hair, Bengalia could barely tell where the fabric ended and where the model's skin began. "No one show Ladybug those outfits…" she muttered, giggling to herself. "I don't think I could wear anything like that."
"Are you a model?" asked K-Man, cocking his head.
She nodded. "Occasionally, at least," she replied. "I actually model for Ladybug." She took a closer look at another outfit and grinned. "I don't think Miss Pinky would mind that one!"
K-Man grinned. "They do seem to go all out here, don't they?"
"As long as they're just going 'all out' on the fashion…" Bengalia narrowed her eyes, examining the people in the stands below them, her miraculous ears twitching. The stands were packed to bursting with people, all dancing with the music from the band parading down the Sambadrome below them and leading the closest float. In spite of herself, Bengalia started tapping along with the beat. She and Rose had started writing some of their own music over the winter, though they hadn't gotten too far yet. But maybe this could give them some ideas for their song…
K-Man cocked his head in confusion, watching her bob in time with the music. "Do you sing?"
She stopped in surprise and shook her head. "Sorry. I wouldn't really say that I sing. I mean, I can, but it's not my strong suit. Singing is more Miss Pinky's thing. Mine's bass."
He hummed. "I've never been much of one for music," he told her. "I listen to it plenty, but can't carry a tune in a bucket!"
She chuckled. "Remind me to tell you sometime about our first band rehearsal – I think we shattered every window in a two-kilometer radius before Viperion managed to get the levels right!"
"Seriously? Now that is my kind of music!"
"If you're interested, Ryoku probably has a few CDs along to sell you!"
A school group followed the band, with students waving their hands wildly and holding up Brazilian flags. Two older students carried a banner proclaiming the name of their school. Followed the school, a small float motored along with a group of children on it, reenacting a scene that looked to be taken from Brazilian history. The parade had been going for close to an hour now, and it still showed no signs of slowing down. The two heroes raced along the back of the stands, outpacing the float, jumping from one set of stands to the next to get back ahead of the school group. Bengalia landed catlike on the railing at the top of the stands, moving further down right away to make room for K-Man behind her. The group directly beside them, standing up at the very top of the stands, was waving wildly to the school kids, who waved back just as excitedly. Bengalia watched them for a moment before starting to turn and move further up the parade route. However, before she had taken more than two steps, a couple of people in the group closest to them coughed.
"So tell me about this Night Bat guy," K-Man asked Bengalia. "Paola hasn't said too much, just that we shouldn't try to fight him alone."
Bengalia shrugged. "Not much to tell. He's been around for something like a millennium, manipulating things behind the scenes – at least according to Hato Gozen. His miraculous ability allows him to can make an illness spread quicker or be deadlier. And he does magic."
K-Man stared at her in shock. "Seriously? Immortality and magic? That's a little hard to believe."
"I can't help if that's the truth," Bengalia retorted, scoffing.
"That's why you people came here?"
"That's why we're here," she confirmed, nodding. "Hato Gozen thinks he's behind whatever this illness is."
K-Man furrowed his brows in thought, watching the people in the stands below them. He pointed. "Could that have something to do with your Night Bat?"
Bengalia followed his gaze and frowned. The man standing at the very top of the stands was doubled over, coughing into his elbow. Finally the coughing stopped and he took several long swigs from his water bottle. With a groan he dropped into his seat. And yet, as Bengalia watched the rest of the group, the same story was repeated several times. After watching them for almost two minutes, she pursed her lips: almost everyone in the group was coughing. "That's a lot of people really close together, all coughing at the same time," Bengalia observed slowly. "I suppose it could be normal, but it might not be. Think we should check it out?"
He shrugged and hopped down to land beside the group, who jumped in surprise. He said something to them in Spanish, but they responded in Portuguese. He next tried repeating himself in English, but they shook their heads. Finally he groaned in frustration. "We need Onça Feroz," he announced into the communicator.
"Sorry; I'm busy down here," came Onça Feroz's reply, followed by a string of angry Portuguese.
"I'll be right there," Hato Gozen called, moments before Bengalia head a flapping noise from behind the stands. Hato Gozen alit on the railing beside her and looked down at where K-Man was still trying to communicate with the people in the stands gesturing repeatedly, only for the woman in front of him to shake her head regretfuly. "I take it he doesn't speak Portuguese?" Hato Gozen observed wryly.
Bengalia arched an eyebrow. "There's more than one reason we brought you along," she teased. "Think you can help us figure out what's going on?"
Hato Gozen shrugged and climbed down toward K-Man and the group of revelers, Bengalia trailing behind her. People parted in either direction as the heroes passed, forming a pathway for them. Seeing them coming, K-Man glanced away from the man with whom he was talking and let out a frustrated groan. Hato Gozen put her hand on K-Man's shoulder, and he moved aside. Quickly she asked the people a question in Portuguese, which they answered. "They say they come from Magé," she reported presently. "The school down there is from their city, the only school group from outside Rio to be admitted to this particular parade, and they all came to watch." She listened intently for a minute and nodded before asking another question. Her eyes widened. "This doesn't sound natural at all…" she murmured, pursing her lips.
"What's up?" asked Bengalia.
"The illness came on suddenly, without any warning. One day everything was fine; the next, she had a fever and couldn't stop coughing."
"And they came to Carnival anyways?" demanded K-Man, a dubious expression on his face.
Hato Gozen said something to the woman and listened to her response. "She says that her daughter is down there. Her daughter has been looking forward to this all year, and she wasn't going to miss out on watching it. Even though she was feeling sick."
Bengalia hummed, her eyes narrowing as she examined the parents. This felt like their best clue yet toward the source of this illness. "Where were they when they started feeling sick?"
Hato Gozen repeated the question, and frowned at the answer. "They were home." She nodded to one man. "He said that he was feeling sick a few days ago, but he started feeling better before they came." She furrowed her brows in thought. "Magé might be closer to where the sickness originated."
"Meaning Night Bat?" asked Bengalia, mouth setting in a thin line.
"Meaning the Bat."