The sudden turn caught everyone off guard. Before their eyes, the girl who had been proudly lifting her little face for praise suddenly had her legs turn into a blue-purple fish tail. Her feet-no, her tail-gave way, and she tripped over herself, toppling sideways.
Red Hood, who had experienced something similar before, reacted first. Taking advantage of his proximity, he darted forward to catch Miaomiao before she lost her balance and fell, then pulled the cape behind her around to the front to cover her transformed body. But her tail was so long that even the full-length cape could not cover it completely.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Holding her steady, Red Hood looked at the stretch of fish tail swaying beneath the cape's hem and raised an eyebrow.
"What happened? Are you hurt?"
Batman suddenly appeared, frowning as he looked the girl over.
Although Miaomiao had mentioned that juvenile merfolk could not transform reliably, she had always managed very well. Normally, she could keep her legs for at least twenty-four hours, and most nights, she turned back into her tailed form to sleep in the water. She had never suddenly transformed against her will.
Seeing everyone gather around, Miaomiao flushed. "I'm fine. I'm not hurt... I just used a little too much spiritual power, and my body couldn't adjust in time..."
Perhaps because the situation was so embarrassing, Miaomiao's great tail seemed to have a mind of its own. The more she wanted everyone to ignore her botched transformation, the harder that beautiful tail flopped, slapping away enthusiastically as though afraid no one would notice it.
The result was that her constantly slapping tail forcibly drew everyone's attention, and their gazes made Miaomiao even more embarrassed, which only made her tail thrash more energetically.
For the first time, Miaomiao