Later, at the rink, Yuuri practiced his triple toe loops as the weight of the ornate box with the ring pressed tightly against his chest. It affected his skating, causing him to flub his landings, ungraceful as a bumbling ladybug landing on a flower petal.

Celestino watched him, apprehension of his student's future audition for the Papillion Guild shining in his green eyes. He blew his whistle, motioning Yuuri to skate lunges around the rink and wrap up his practice.

Yuuri sighed, frustrated with himself over the fact that he was letting a strange ring get to him. Why was he so wary of a stone set into a delicate loop of metal? It was just an accessory, nothing big. Nothing strange or weird should happen to him if he wore the ring like the old man recommended. In fact, it would complement his look very well. It would look really pretty on his ring finger. Maybe Phichit would even put it on his Instagram. Yuuri pushed off with his right leg, as he braced his body for the lunges.

He glided swiftly on the ice, his back leg pointed straight out, his left leg at a perfect 90 degrees. Yuuri, feeling himself, arched his back and lifted his arms artistically. Yes, the ring didn't matter much. It was just an free accessory for him to flaunt around. He should stop worrying.

He pulled his back leg out of the lunge, and pushed his left leg out, arms splayed out. He felt beautiful, ice shards flying out from under his skate blades. His sweat, sliding off his brow, glittering in the bright lights of the rink, highlighted his high cheekbones. Yuuri closed his eyes, dark eyelashes framing his face, enduring the delicious burn his thighs felt, as he skated yet another lap around the spacious rink. He decided to end his cool-down with a tentative triple toe loop. He stepped strongly off his right foot and leaped.

Yes! He nailed it!

Someone in the back started clapping. "Okay, Yuuri, you can stop showing off now." Yuuko shouted from the break room.

Yuuri skated a slow loop, openly panting, quick clouds of white emitting from his mouth. He smiled as he met his coach's smiling eyes.

"Finishing practice off with a bang, ay, Yuuri?" He said once Yuuri got within distance for him to pat him deftly on the back.

Yuuri blushed, as Celestino handed him his glasses back. "Thanks, Celestino! I have a lot more confidence about Friday, now."

"Perfect, that's what I like to hear. Go home after you stretch in the break room and help yourself to some hot chocolate Phichit made."

Yuuri nodded and made his way carefully to the break room, where he noticed Phichit and Yuuko huddled together in the corner. He sat on the bench opposite of them, and untied his skates' laces. He slowly slid off each skate, groaning as he finally felt the numbing ache of his sore feet.

Phichit and Yuuko were still huddled together, looking at something on Phichit's phone.

"Hey guys, whatcha lookin' at?" Yuuri slowly got up to peer over Phichit's shoulder. It was a Youtube video of him skating his lunges from 10 minutes ago. Yuuri watched himself, back arched, arms above his head, back leg taut and framing his plump butt, skate flawlessly around the rink. Phichit's camera even picked up on the shards of ice flying as he made smooth turns around the ice. The video ended with Yuuri's victorious triple toe loop, revolutions spectacular, landing a perfect ten, with his left leg raised. The video ended, the final frame with a close-up of Yuuri's sweaty face, dark eyelashes a stark contrast against his pale skin. Yuuri gaped.

"Yuuri... That… was beautiful," Yuuko breathed softly, as she clutched her nose.

Phichit stared at the phone at his hands. "Wow," eyes unmoving from the now-dark screen. "I filmed. A masterpiece."

Yuuri, face pale, clutched his chest. "Normally, I would disagree with you, but…" he trailed off.

"Chris, you're a fan of the marvel comics, aren't you?" Viktor, still in his cat suit, twirled his hair as he reclined on the couch with Makkachin, who decided to love him for who he was, regardless of the fact that he wearing material resembling The Enemy of All DogsTM. Viktor frantically tried to remain calm. He was 10 minutes late to the mandatory guild meeting, and Lilia was going to fry his ass, regardless of whether he was Paris' greatest skater.

"Viktor! I'm at practice! You can't just bring up stuff like that when the other boys~ are around!" Viktor rolled his eyes. Isn't it cool to be a Marvel fan or something?

"Isn't it cool to be a Marvel fan now? Anyway, Chris, I need to-"

"Why do you want to know, anyway?" Chris' tone seemed slightly suspicious. Viktor could feel himself start to sweat.

"I-I'm-" Viktor's eyes darted around the room, until they landed on the book discarded on his coffee table. "I'm writing a book!"

Chris scoffed. "Viktor, we full well know, that you don't write. Stop lying,"

"You're right, I'm actually writing," Viktor gritted his teeth, and held his phone away from his face. "Fanfiction."

Chris screamed. Makkachin lifted her head off of Viktor's knee in alarm, and they exchanged a look.

"Chris," Viktor plaintively called his best friend's name. "Can you please stop screaming so I can ask you a favor?"

"Ok, ok. Only if you let me give you a makeover this weekend." Viktor squeezed his eyes shut. Chris was never good at giving makeovers to people, despite the fact that he always looked glowing and beautiful. "And, read the fanfiction," he added.

Viktor gritted his teeth. "Fine. Now tell me, how do superheroes detransform from their costumes?"

Chris laughed. "That's such an easy question!" Viktor rolled his eyes. "They either detransform after fighting crime, using their signature move, or saying a certain catchphrase that's usually similar to how they transformed in the first place."

Viktor stared at his dog, mind frantic. He couldn't go out like this, not yet! He had no idea how to use the costume, to bend it to its every whim and will, to get it to submit to him and wield it like its true master would. He felt clumsy, frumpy, and overbearing in the suit, as if he was an overdressed, petulant child whose mother thought it was a good idea to gloss the child's lips with a bright red lipstick.

He didn't know what the special move was for this suit, either. Yurio wasn't much help, and the small cat clearly hated him in the suit, too.

"What's the opposite of 'transform me'?" he muttered to himself, forgetting Chris was still on the line.

"What?" Chris said, breaking Viktor's fragile train of thought. "What did you say? Viktor?"

Viktor ended his call with Chris and set his phone down. "Yurio, detransform me." He watched in awe as green light flashed down his body, revealing his clothes. Yurio drifted down slowly, to the coffee table, where he began to yowl hungrily.

"Pirozhki," he squeaked, voice raspy, as loud as a tiny angry cat could get. "Feed me, I'm hungry, I need food!"

Viktor rushed to the kitchen to heat up some frozen pierogies for his new kwami to eat. Guess he wasn't going to the guild meeting. He had to get answers out of Yurio as soon as possible.

Who was he now, with the mask on? What hidden powers did he have? What did this mean for Paris?

Viktor glanced outside of his kitchen window, the sky a dark indigo blue, now that the sun was setting earlier and earlier. If he, a superhero, now existed, then didn't it mean that something malicious and evil was swirling around Paris? Superheroes were meant to fight bad guys; one couldn't exist without the other.

Was he the only force meant to serve as a barrier between the city of Paris and evil?

It was already pretty dark when Yuuri finally left the break room to go home. He still couldn't believe his friends had the audacity to film him secretly while he was practicing, and more so the audacity of himself to look so goddamn amazing when he was just messing around and exaggerating some quick stretches around the rink.

At least the excitement from practice made him forget his anxieties about the ring.

Darn, the ring. It was still in his pocket.

Yuuri waited until he was finally in the safety of his bedroom to open the ring box and slide the pretty ring onto his ring finger. A hot flash of red seared his corneas.

"W-what the heck was that?" he stammered. He glanced at his new ring, twinkling delicately. Where did that red flash come from?

"HELLO! I'M YOUR NEW KWAMI, MINAMI, AND I'M GONNA HELP YOU BE A MIRACULOUS SUPERHERO!" A blurry, red object, zoomed into his cheek. Yuuri tried to swat it away. What the hell was going on? Who was talking?

A tiny, adorable looking, chicken nugget shaped creature, with red skin and black spots, and two long antennae protruding from the top of its bulbous head, raised its miniature arms in happiness.

"YOU FINALLY OPENED THE RING BOX AND PUT ON THE RING AND NOW WE CAN FINALLY BE BEST FRIENDS AND SAVE THE WORLD!" The tiny creature named Minami smiled brightly at Yuuri, glittering brown eyes awash with adoration. Was the little bug-thing crying?

Yuuri fainted.