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.
	[color=ed1c24]“No one told me being a hero would hurt so much.” [/color]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.

	[color=8dc73f]“He is a crier for the people is he not?” [/color]The kwami serpent would say every time Tonya broached the topic. [color=8dc73f]“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.”[/color] 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.

	[color=ed1c24]“See you later dad.” [/color]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.

	[color=ed1c24]“Hey, morning Eddie, yeah, yeah the homework wasn’t so bad. But you won’t believe what happened to me yesterday at the mall.”[/color] Tonya gloated not wasting second before diving straight into her tale. [color=ed1c24]“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?”
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