"So, you're a… what?"'

"A kwami," Ict'laa said again, still cheerily, despite it being the fourth time she'd explained the situation to her chosen. "It means quantic god! I am, for all intents and purposes, a tiny godling!" Ict'laa flew over to hover in front of Zoe, who was still staring at the kwami in shock. "I am linked to the pins you're wearing—which, if I can break off-topic for a moment, I have never seen worn in that fashion! Very interesting style choice and I must say I like it—and when you put on the pins and I became linked with you, we became partners!"

"Partners in… what, exactly?" Ventus had quickly ridden home, stabling Whirlwind and brushing him down—because even in his shocked state, the young man put his duties first and foremost—before taking Tapia up to his room, a mid-sized apartment built over the garage of the three-story ranch house. There, the young man had begun his questioning, and the kwami had answered while it explored his room, every now and then asking a question of her own—as Ventus had quickly found, the small creature was female, and was very quick to remind him of the fact if the young man slipped up—about some of the things Tapia found as she flew around his room.

"In being a superhero! What is this big box with a glass mirror in it? Are those people trapped inside there?"

"A superhero?" Bianca looked at the small white kwami skeptically. After spotting the spider-like kwami, the young girl had put as much distance between herself and the creature as possible before starting to question Silidri.

"Yes. With the brooch you now have, I can use my godly powers to transform you, enhancing your strength, speed, endurance, and senses. Of course, there are side-effects…"

"Yes, yes, I remember. You remind me of thisss at least every-"Alabaster clapped his hands over his mouth, but it was too late, and Tiberas turned to smile smugly at him. The young hero sighed. "I remember the speech-"

"It is not about remembering it, it is about understanding! You need to understand that as long as you have and are using that miraculous—you will slowly continue to take on the aspects of a snake. With a human's short life span-" Alabaster shot Tiberas a glare, which the kwami returned as he continued "-most of the wielders I've had have not developed more than two or three snake traits, though to a one they were all immune to poison."

"So, I get super powers and I'll start acting more like a bear, you say? I don't see much of a downside here." Tony and Huan were back in the young man's van. After the incident in the bathroom—during which Tony had splashed water on the small kwami to scare him off, resulting in a wet godling and a scolding for Tony; starting with, "I'm not a giant flying rodent, you dolt!" and going on for a minute—the young man had put Huan in his pocket and walked them both back out to the van, where they'd locked themselves inside and Tony had sat down, eager to question the tiny godling.

"Yes, most do, right up until the urge to hibernate sets in. Upon transforming, you will find yourself in a suit that should give you extra protection against most threats, and you will be imbued with my power, causing you to start taking on the qualities of the miraculous animal. In this case, a bear."

"A firefly? Does that mean I'll be able to fly?" Volt's eyes were dinner plates as they fixed on the kwami.

Rayzz sighed and shook his head. "Why do they always ask that first?" The small godling flew to hover in front of his chosen. "Yes, you'll be able to 'fly' when you're in the costume. But if you change back in midair, you could get hurt. Or worse…"

The two had snuck away from Volt's family and the prying eyes of the townspeople before Rayzz had felt comfortable talking. Volt had insisted his family were trustworthy, but Rayzz was adamant that no one—not even the young man's family—was to know of the existence of kwamis or Volt's new status as a superhero.

Volt hadn't been happy with the decision.

"Yeah, yeah, 'great power comes with great responsibility to not get yourself killed' or whatever. I get to fly?" Volt's eyes were as big as dinner plates as he grinned at his kwami, and Rayzz sighed.

"Yes, you can fly. But flying is just one part of this! You're going to be a superhero!"

"A superhero? You mean like Black Adder?" Amell's voice was flooded with skepticism.

The two had settled on Amell's bed, with Amell sitting at the foot of the mattress, his feet shuffling nervously on the carpet. While the kwami, having made a dip in one of the young man's pillows that the godling had settled into, eyes locked on Amell's.

"Black Adder?" The kwami's head cocked to the side, golden eyes curious though his face didn't betray anything.

"Yeah, he's a… Like a snake themed superhero? He pops up all over the country, saving people and stopping crime, but no one is sure how to feel about him because he never talks to anyone, like doing T.V. interviews or anything. In fact, I had to look for hours on the Internet to find out his name!" Amell chuckled, then noticed his kwami's confused look. "What's wrong?"

"'T.V.'? 'Internet'? I have knowledge of what nets are- my last chosen liked to catch butterflies with them- but what do the letter 't' and the letter 'v' have in common? And why would they contain any interviews? Letters do not do such things! And how does one 'enter' this 'net'?"

"This… Black Adder, does he wear a special costume, have special powers, and the traits of a snake?" Ict'laa asked, her eyes on her new charge. Zoe had finally stopped staring at the kwami, and had taken to sitting on the floor, her legs crossed beneath her as she stared out her window lost in thought.

"…Black Adder? Did I mention-? Oh! Right. Well, no one really knows a lot about him." Zoe's hand wondered while she was lost in thought and found a new nervous habit in rubbing gently over the small gold pin she wore at her hip. "He usually only strikes at night, in darkness or whatever. He must be pretty technical or something, because-"

"Technical?"

"Yeah, he's good with computers and such." Ventus had managed to calm his own kwami down enough to get Tapia to stop darting around the room and instead leisurely float in front of the television.

"Oh, that weird box you told me about earlier? He is good with attacking people with those?" Tapia glanced over at the Ventus' computer, giving it a critical once over. "It does not seem like it would make an effective weapon."

Ventus shook his head. "You'd be surprised…"

"At any rate, that isn't what I meant." Bianca had returned to admiring her broach in her mirror as she spoke with her kwami. The young woman had decided that panic was not that answer in this situation but had been unable to figure out how else to respond. So, instead, she had simply gone back to a situation she understood—new jewelry.

"The what did you mean, dear?" Silidri was admiring Bianca's dress. The small creature had caught the strap for the dress between her limbs and was rubbing the material against her skin. "Mmmm, so soft…So nice…"

"I just mean that he can use technology to his advantage. Usually to stay hidden from the public." Tony had taken Huan into a stall. He knew that they wouldn't be able to talk privately here long, but the young man had needed some time to come to terms with the fact that a small creature had suddenly appeared from nowhere.

"So he uses devices to stay hidden? I have heard tales of those that use new developments in technology to hide themselves. In Japan many centuries ago, such were called the ninja."

"Wait, you got to work with a ninja?"

"At any rate, yeah, so, Adder's been around for like, a bunch of years, but no one knows anything other than that he saves people." Volt had found a tree stump to sit on, and had finally seemed to forget about flying. For the most part. "Well, saves people and stops crime."

"That is very interesting. We had an Adder in my time as well, but-"

"I've been meaning to ask you about that. So, like, you seem pretty ancient or whatever, and you said you're thousands of years old, but if you've been around so long, why don't you know anything about the modern world?"

"We- or at least, I- haven't been awake in… You said that it was two thousand and sixteen A.D? I have not been awake in over a century. My last owner was forced to relinquish me, and I was put into a deep slumber to await my next wielder."

Volt's eyes were blown wide. "So you've been asleep for a hundred years?"

Rayzz nodded. "More or less."

"But that is not the issue right now." Ace flew to face Amell. "It is time. You have to decide. Are you ready for this responsibility?"

"Right now?" Amell took a step back, his hands coming up defensively as though to ward off an attack. "But I'm not ready! How can I decide that now?"

"Because it's time. Because the first hard decision as a hero is whether or not to be a hero. You have to decide now, whether to accept this responsibility. You have to decide. Are you a hero?'

Zoe took a deep breath and stood up. "You're right. How do we do this?"

Ict'laa smiled and flew to float in front of her charge's face. "It's easy! To activate the miraculous and your powers, all you have to do is say-"

Ventus stared at his kwami, who was lounging in midair. "That's all I have to say to activate my powers?"

Tapia nodded, flipping herself upright in the air. "Yes! After that, I will go into the miraculous, and my power will give you your superpowers! After that, you'll be able to fight crime, or stop evil, or whatever might come up!

"But that seems so simple!" Bianca's head was spinning. Her entire life, superheroes had gotten their powers or activated their abilities in complicated and somewhat unbelievable ways. And now her new kwami friend- who was also apparently to be her partner to fight crime- had made the process sound mundane, an easy task.

"But of course, doll! Activating your powers is simplicity itself! Using them may be slightly more… complicated, but I'm quite sure that you will master them in no time!" Silidri ran a limb gently through Bianca's hair admiringly. "Such lovely hair, darling… You must care for it well."

Alabaster's head snapped up as an alarm rang out from a jewelry store they were passing. An elderly voice cried out, "No, please! Don't hurt us!"

"… Time to transform." The young hero stood, even though the limousine was still moving, already reaching for the discarded overcoat his cufflinks were pinned in.

"I have not had very long to recharge. You won't have much time," Tiberas warned.

Alabaster's face was grim, though a smile of amusement played at his lips. "It will be long enough."

"And you're sure that this 'transformation' is that simple? I don't have to, I don't know, duck into a phone booth every time I want to become a superhero?" Tony was bouncing around the inside of his van excitedly, but there was still a note of doubt in his voice. The young man hadn't ever considered himself hero material, and of course, Huan's explanation sounded more magical than Tony liked.

"Yes. Of course, it is up to you to decide how the costume will look, what weapon you will have, or-"

Volt's eyes lit up. "Do I get a transformation sequence?"

Rayzz looked at Volt in confusion. "A… transformation sequence?"

Volt nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Like, will I be able to do a cool dance while I transform or whatever?"

The small kwami stared at the young man for several long moments, before nodding slowly. "Yes, I suppose… You could technically transform however you wanted. You control the transformation, so…"

"Jivin'."

Amell took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Ace watched him, the kwami's face completely blank. The young man began to pace around the room, his thoughts in a whirl trying to process everything his new kwami partner had said.

Suddenly, Amell stopped, and faced Ace. "If I do this, I can help people? Save them?"

Ace's head cocked to the side. "Yes, that would be the point of being a hero, Master?"

"I told you not to call me that." Amell grabbed his hairpin and spun away from the small creature. That single thought repeated in his head. 'I can save people.'

You can't save everyone. Amell's grandfather's voice echoed in his head.

"But I can save more people like this." Amell let his hands drop, and slowly faced Ace.

"What do I say?"

"Pincers out!"

"Let's howl!"

"Eyes open!"

"Let'ssss slither!"

"Fur on!"

"Let's shine!"

"Feathers fly!"

A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! After the last chapter, things took a turn for the worse for all of us here on the Miracle Seven team, but things have improved for all of us, so now we're back- not from outer space, unfortunately, but writing? Definitely- and we'll try to start updating regularly again! Thank you for your patience, and I hope you'll all join us once more for this wild ride!

We still have our tumblr up! Here you'll find what's going on with the story, any announcements that we might need to make, fan art, and so much more! Here's the link: blog/miraculouseven ! Come join us there!

As always, thank you so much to my wonderful editor and pre-reader! My editor has helped me so much with all of these character, and without him, I would not be able to do this. I can't thank him enough for all he does for us, so thank you so much Plaggerism! And thank you to my amazing pre-reader! Without her proof reading this and ensuring that its ready to be published, this story would definitely not be as wonderful as it is. Though she wishes to remain anonymous, I'd still like to thank her!

And thank you to all of you reading this! I hope that you'll stick with us as we continue to follow this story until it's end!

Thank you for reading!